strangeh

Hi! Glad we matched. Whether you’re an old hand or a newbie, I hope you’ll have fun working on this. I’ve been taking part for a few years now, and I find it a really enjoyable, positive fandom experience, as well as a decent writing exercise. I’m already super excited to see what you’ll come up with.

This year, I’m bringing back some of my usual requests, and adding a couple of new things and a five-minute fandom. The prompts will contain spoilers, but I’ll keep the summaries spoiler-free.

You can find me on Tumblr and AO3 if you’d like to get to know me a little better.


General Likes & Dislikes
Likes: romantic and sexual tension (the little things – incidental or secret touches, meaningful stares… I’m a sucker for buildup), domesticity, unusual situations (i.e. stuff they might not typically encounter in canon), capers, travel fics, powerplay, awkwardness, fake dating that Turns Real, exhibitionism (not necessarily sexual, could be showing off their lover/relationship in public in a PG way), exploration of LGBT identity (especially in a historical context, but also in contemporary adversity or victory), pining, obsessive love

Dislikes: Omegaverse/AOB, Mpreg, genderswap, second person, poly

I don’t really have any strong DNWs, so even fairly niche topics or triggering content will most likely be fine. As you’ll see from my requested fandoms (and my fics, if you check out my AO3), I enjoy relationship dynamics that range from completely healthy to very dangerous, so go hog wild there too. Any ratings are cool.



Eastern Promises
Kirill, Nikolai
Eastern Promises is a 2007 film about a midwife tracing back the origins of an orphaned baby to the heart of London’s Russian mob – the Vory v Zakonye. Kirill, the bratty, alcoholic son of mob boss Semyon, is canonically in love with his bodyguard/driver Nikolai, who has some secrets of his own. The Kirill/Nikolai dynamic is very interesting and is meant to be the focus of the sequel, which has been stuck in development hell for about a decade :^) hooray.

I’m responsible for most of the gay fanart for EP, which you can find on my Tumblr amidst screencap and gif reblogs and complaining about the sequel being cancelled over and over again.

Common plot points: Russian culture, tattoos, mob culture, homophobia (internalized and externalized), unhealthy relationship dynamics, unhealthy family dynamics, domestic violence, identity, human/sex trafficking, violence, alcoholism, hurt/comfort

Eastern Promises holds a very special place in my heart, as it’s the centre of a Venn diagram of my interests: Russia, horrible masculinity, unhealthy relationship dynamics, and a dumbass bottom (aka Kirill). Viggo Mortensen and Vincent Cassel have to be applauded for the layers they bring to Nikolai and Kirill’s relationship – they have excellent chemistry and you can feel the desire radiating off Kirill in every scene they share. I love the awful world they inhabit, and the way tradition and family loyalties stretch and knead them like taffy. Although neither the screenwriter nor the director are Russian, I think they’ve brought a very Russian melancholic vibe to the production that’s A+. I also like the inherent tragedy of their characters: Nikolai is clearly driven and intelligent enough to have lived a successful “straight” life if circumstances were different, and although I don’t want to excuse him at all, I think it’s clear that Kirill is fundamentally unsuited for his position as mob prince, from his sexuality to his emotional vulnerability to his softness with children. It’s a bum deal for everyone involved and as a shitty gremlin, I love it.

I prefer stories where Nikolai has/develops feelings for Kirill (dare I ask for a somewhat positive ending?), especially if this interferes with his professional responsibilities.

Some ideas:

• I’m interested in Kirill’s relationship with his family. Semyon mentions that Kirill is his only son, so he must have at least one sister, since he has his niece Maria. (I like to imagine he has a bunch of bossy sisters who bully him but are also really protective) How does he reconcile doting on Maria and being in this female-heavy family with his involvement in human trafficking? How does the rest of his family feel about Semyon’s treatment of Kirill, and his incarceration? How do they feel about Nikolai? Does Kirill want his own family, and is part of his torment with his sexuality the belief that he can never achieve this goal? What if he intercepts the sale of a baby and wants to raise it as his own, and Nikolai has to bring him down gently without fucking up his cover or their relationship?


• Knowing more about Nikolai’s family/home life would be cool too, especially in contrast with Kirill’s. How does he fit into the family dynamics when he starts hanging about the restaurant more and more? Did he actually have a shitty upbringing, or is that story part of his cover?


• It’d be interesting to have the boys thrust into a situation they’re not confronted with in the movie. How do the very loud, public Pride events in London make Kirill feel? How does Kirill act when he goes out partying around town, and how does Nikolai deal with his increasingly drunk, boisterous charge? Kirill totally comes across as the kind of guy who starts fights in clubs constantly.


• Some sort of witness protection program situation, where Kirill is sent to [redacted] and allowed to make a new life in exchange for helping the cops, and Nikolai is also there because of reasons. How do they cope with their new circumstances, especially Kirill?


• Finally, if you want to include and/or focus on just filth... that's Okay In My Book. Your mileage may vary but from Kirill's dancing in the brothel scene, his nestling against Nikolai's feet when they come home drunk, and his general bratty and eager personality, I feel like he has a sub streak a mile wide and he just wants the opportunity to let loose and be totally dominated. This doesn't even preclude angst/plot in any way, since he's got more issues than Vogue related to his domineering, violent father, his self-hatred and experience with domestic violence, his no doubt horrific sexual history under the thumb of his fucking horrible dad, etc. Then there's Nikolai's own feelings about committing (consensual) violence on his lover, etc. 

The Servant
Tony, Hugo Barrett
The Servant is a 1963 film about Tony, a young upper class man, hiring a valet, Hugo, who slowly starts to take control of his life. Both Robin Maugham, the original novella’s author, and Dirk Bogarde, who plays Hugo, were same-sex attracted, and the film has a strong homoerotic vibe that’s made it a gay classic.

Common plot points: British social class dynamics, unhealthy relationship dynamics, unhealthy power dynamics, D/s undertones, servitude, abuse, drugs, blackmail

I watched this as a young man and it’s informed my interests in complex power dynamics and gay cinema. I love Tony’s naivety and how calculated Hugo is. I’m more like poor Tony in a lot of ways, and you do feel sorry for him, but there’s an undeniable satisfaction in seeing Hugo tear down someone upper class. There’s just so many layers and so much potential for exploration both of their relationship and of their pasts. I’m still amazed at how much they got away with considering this was filmed in 1963. This is a pretty good Crueltide contestant.

Some ideas:

• After the events of the film, how do Tony and Hugo spend their days? How do Tony’s high society friends and relations see their clearly messed up (especially with the class element thrown in) dynamic? Does Tony develop a thrill for serving Hugo?


• I’d like to read about when their relationship becomes sexual. That doesn’t necessarily mean making it porny - I just feel like it’s something Hugo would do and I’d like to read Tony’s thoughts and feelings, as he’s clearly smitten. I imagine Hugo might want to demean Tony at some big function, indulging in some exhibitionism, maybe?


• In my mind, Tony becomes totally dependent on Hugo and is desperately in love, and Hugo starts to develop feelings for Tony after some time but wrestles with his emotions and takes it out on his master. I’d be interested to see that explored, or your own headcanon if you have one!


• How they cope with and/or navigate through events that happened in real life in the years/decades after the movie, like the legalisation of homosexuality, the social unrest and class clashes of the 70s and 80s, etc. How does their rapport change in the long run?

The Browning Version
Andrew Crocker-Harris, Frank Hunter
The Browning Version is a 1948 play about Andrew Crocker-Harris, a Classics teacher at an English public school being forced to retire due to ill health. He is made to reckon with his professional failures, as he is widely despised and feared by the students and belittled by his colleagues, and with his personal failures, as his abusive wife Millie flaunts her relationship with the apprehensive Science teacher Frank Hunter. The play is a poignant portrayal of everyday tragedies. Playwright Terence Rattigan was gay, and this can be seen in his work in ways that flew over the heads of most of his contemporary audience. Though the requested fandom is the play, I think it’s worth mentioning that both the director (Anthony Asquith) and the lead actor (Michael Redgrave) of the 1951 adaptation were same-sex attracted and almost certainly gay. The discourse about Andrew and Millie’s incompatible needs, their ‘different kinds of love,’ smacks of veiled homoeroticism.

Common plot points: British public schools, British social class, unhealthy relationship dynamics, repression, emotional abuse, teachers and teaching, ill health, Classics (Latin and Ancient Greek), post-WWII Britain, hurt/comfort, age gap

I’ve always given this play and its film adaptations a gay reading, for reasons I’ve partly explained above, and I think it’s a very underrated work overall. Andrew is a potent tragic figure, trapped in a loveless marriage with a woman who also doesn’t deserve having to live unsatisfied physically and emotionally. Frank is interesting as a symbol of a younger generation, unwilling to abide by conventions he considers illogical and outdated – there’s a reason he teaches science while Andrew teaches classics. The play is very short, and you can read it in about an hour, and I absolutely love the 1951 film version. I do ship Andrew and Frank, but you don’t have to go down that route.

Some ideas:

• Andrew’s settled into his new position at his new school, and Frank comes to visit, as he said he would. How does that play out? How did things turn out with Millie, for both of them? Is Andrew more assertive now, more satisfied?


• How did Millie and Andrew’s relationship evolve over time? They must have liked each other enough to want to get married in the first place. It’d be interesting to see it from her point of view – slowly realizing her marriage isn’t at all what she thought, seeing her hopes of social climbing dashed, having her lover choose her husband… Millie obviously comes off poorly in the story, and she is abusive, but I can imagine how she’d get to this stage, and I’d like to see your take.


• Has Andrew ever had a satisfying relationship, intellectual or physical? I’m very interested in LGBT lives in history and it would be cool to read about his development, his realisation of his sexuality, etc. Being brought up in boarding schools, attending Oxford to do Classics, and visiting Greece must have led to some exploring, or some deliberate evasion of opportunities to explore. What’s Frank’s life been like where all of that is concerned, as well? It’d be interesting to have their dynamic turned on its head a little – the assertive, younger Frank being eager to start a relationship but being a bit clueless, and the withdrawn, shy Andrew having a bit more experience.