raspberryhunter (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
raspberryhunter) wrote2021-06-19 12:28 pm
raspberryhunter) wrote2021-06-19 12:28 pm
Entry tags:
Dear blackboxexchange
Hi! I am SO SORRY that I didn't come back and finish my letter when I said I would. Hopefully this hasn't been too much of a problem for you! I honestly think I don't have too much to add to the cut and paste I had before. The one thing I would really like to add is that I adore all these operas and I would love ANYTHING you want to write about them -- the prompts etc. in the letter should not be taken too seriously, I am really just interested to know what you think about these operas/plays and these characters!
Because of time constraints I've just cut and pasted from previous letters. One thing I do not generally have in those letters is art: I would LOVE art for these fandoms! I adore acts of fealty (like, one character kneeling to another) and loyalty, or really just any two characters interacting in any way, e.g., La Muse and the Four Villains looking at each other suspiciously? Any sort of complicated emotions (or a scene that would be reminiscent of a complicated emotion, like Posa and Carlos with a letter between them, lol) would be just amazing.
General: I am open to most things! I very much welcome alternative ways of telling stories -- IF, epistolary fic, text messages/tweets, poetry, DW-thread-comments, what-have-you, yes please!! Crossovers would also be more than fine between these fandoms. Darkfic/character death is great and even encouraged for all of these fandoms (with exceptions as noted). I love fork-in-the-road type AUs for any fandom. For setting-changed AUs, I would adore them for any fandom. Basically I'm okay with most things as long as you tag for it so I know what I'm getting into!
Things I love: (I don't expect all of these by any means, this is just a sampling of Things That Make Me Happy): I love worldbuilding fic and plotty fic. I love character-driven fic that thinks hard about the ramifications of characters' choices. I love most of all for there to be some sort of character arc, or characters (and/or the reader) coming to a greater understanding of something or someone during a fic. I love and adore deep friendship/partnerships. I love loyalty and duty bonds (and I have a special place in my heart for physical expressions of fealty bonds, like kneeling or ritualized oath-swearing). I love it when all the characters are understandable rather than straight-out villainous or malicious, or where expectations of malice are subverted. I love when something or some implication is clear to the reader that is not clear to the characters, or some subset of the characters, because we have knowledge (about the actual canon, for example) that they don't have.
DNW: PWP; unrequested poly; graphic gratuitous violence/gore. Please no references to current politics/current events.
Turandot (Group: Turandot & Liu) - I adore this opera and at the same time it totally hurts my head. There is the repeated, moving theme of sacrifice (but only for ROMANTIC LOVE!); the whole lovely idea of vulnerability, of putting your life in someone else's hands (this would have worked much better IF IT HADN'T BEEN FOR THE PART WHERE SHE JUST TORTURED AND KILLED HIS FRIEND); the concept of the ice maiden thawing, growing up and gaining the emotions of remorse and regret (IF ONLY IT HADN'T BEEN AS A RESPONSE TO SEXUAL HARASSMENT KISS); the feminist sensibilities of Turandot (if only they hadn't manifested in her KILLING PEOPLE, also in being completely betrayed in the last act); the incredibly sweet Timur-Liu filial relationship (terribly shortchanged by the revelation she's only taking care of him because Calaf smiled at her WHAT).
Write me a story where Turandot and Liu have a relationship that doesn't depend on Calaf! Friendship, loyalty-liege, rivalry, mentoring, romantic, frenemy, professional partners, whatever, I'm up for it. One thing I'd love to see is a rewriting of the fairy tale so that the romance is between Turandot and Liu -- how awesome would that be?? How would Calaf and Timur fit in? (I love Timur and the Three Ministers, by the way.) How would the riddles fit? Would the story end with Liu guessing the riddles or would there be some drama after that? Or! What about a story where there's some sort of loyalty and/or friendship between Turandot and Liu, either retconning the opera or having it develop somehow within the course of the opera, either would be wonderful. Or! What if Turandot and Liu were actually rival powers playing a dark game here (with Calaf a pawn?), for reasons you will tell me in the fic? Or write me a total AU! I would adore academia-Turandot (Professor Turandot, grad-student Liu, Calaf as a... oh, I don't know, project manager in industry? Administrator? Admin assistant?), lawyer draaaaama, SPAAAAACE, cyberpunk, random-fantasy-land, whatever!
I have no problems with Calaf being a major character (and would in fact rather he appear than not, although honestly feel free to change his character so he's less of a total jerk); however, if the story is going to be a happy ending (not dark) for both Turandot and Liu, I'd like him not to be killed by Turandot. (I am totally fine with her killing him in a less happy or darker story, or if he dies for some other reason. But come on Turandot, you can't just go around killing people because you feel like it, even if they are tenors!) I definitely do NOT want Liu to die specifically for Calaf in the story (although again if she dies for any other reason that's fine!)
DNW: Pairings that are both non-canon and non-requested, Turandot or Liu murdering another character if the story is not meant to otherwise be dark. Liu dying for Calaf.
Der Ring des Nibelungen: (Group: Brunnhilde & Sieglinde) - More Brunnhilde and Sieglinde please!! I would *love* an AU where Sieglinde survives and gets to actually parent Siegfried properly, maybe with Brunnhilde?? Or, if not parenting him together, how does it work when Brunnhilde meets Sieglinde again, and alt!Siegfried? Now that they can work together (and if Siegfried is raised to be wise and observant instead of an idiotic brat), can they somehow still take down the gods without all dying horribly? (And how does it even work if Siegfried is nice enough not to break Wotan's staff? Or is he wise enough to break it, even if he's nicer? Or is there another solution? How does all this interplay with the curse on the Ring?)
If that's not something you're interested in, I love their interaction and the emotions they have together, that amazing scene where Brunnhilde and Sieglinde really connect through Sieglinde's future child… Maybe a very slight AU where they have a bit more time before Brunnhilde has to face Wotan? What would they talk about? Can they support each other? (I'd love it if Sieglinde was also able to offer Brunnhilde some comfort and wisdom, if it were a mutual sort of thing.)
Canon DNW: For this one I'm totally okay with dark (source canon is the end of the world, after all), but a) I don't want Brunnhilde/Siegfried if she is acting in an explicitly parental role towards him, and b) if Siegfried is nicer, I'd like that to have some sort of positive effect, even if overall it ends badly for Our Heroes.
Pelleas et Melisande: (Worldbuilding) - OK, I love Pelleas et Melisande, I love the lovely ripply music and the mystery of it and how everything seems to exist in this sort of odd shadowy world where things lurk beneath the surface of what we actually see.
...And I realize this makes me a Philistine, but I found myself all through it wanting the actual magical-fantasy-fairy-tale story that keeps being hinted at instead of the highly-symbolic-characterizing-inner-emotions opera that it actually is. Please write this for me! Let the magic wood Golaud is lost in at the beginning be an actual magic wood! The ring Melisande lost -- in a well! -- that Golaud is so concerned about is a magic ring, right? That concerns the health of the kingdom? And what's going on with the cave? And all the water -- is Melisande a water-fairy? Or a nixie who doesn't understand humans? Or is this somehow a Grail story? If you want to put lots of character-specific symbolic stuff in, that's fine and I will be very pleased with it, but I do really want external plot/worldbuilding here if possible :) (If not, I totally understand! Perhaps a fork-in-the-road AU? What would happen if a small change was made -- could this lead to something better for the characters? Is there anything that could have stopped Golaud from his path at the end?)
Not necessary, but I will squee all over it if you redo the conflict between Pelleas and Golaud so either it doesn't exist (or exists in some much lighter form, like Pelleas and Golaud faking conflict for some reason) or is about something else other than a GIRL -- there are so many other possibilities; maybe they disagree as to how the kingdom should be run, or have an argument over how best to save the king or kingdom? Or perhaps Golaud is under a magical compulsion where he can't reveal the exact nature of the magic ring? And as for Melisande herself -- the production I saw had her wafting away in a boat in the end instead of dying, and I would love it if she didn't die, though it's fine if she does; it's canon, after all.
Don Carlos - Schiller: (Any) For this canon I am asking for Schiller specifically, not the opera, because I'm fascinated by how complicated all the characters are, particularly compared to the opera. Though Posa still loves Carlos (even there I'm not entirely sure what his feelings exactly are towards Carlos and how much of it has to do with Carlos agreeing with him about liberty, etc.) he is much more of a zealot and really rather a manipulative bastard, and doesn't particularly feel the loyalty to Philip that I think opera!Posa does, which makes him more complex and fascinating (if perhaps not hitting my loyalty buttons in the targeted way opera!Posa does). Elisabeth is openly political and cheerfully totally awesome and I love her very very much.
So -- give me something that shows off the complexity of the characters! One big thing I've been thinking about is that after I read the play, I thought that if Posa had told Carlos his plans (maybe Carlos forces him to?) that everything would have been okay. And of course that would have staved off the immediate problems, but it wouldn't have fixed the fundamental issues, because that whole Posa-Philip-Carlos triangle is still there and set to explode. (The Philip-Carlos-Elisabeth triangle, too, but let's face it, Posa is the fulcrum on which Philip and Carlos turn, really.) Is there a way to save this? Or does it inevitably become tragedy anyway? Please tag if ending in tragedy, but if tagged I am totally here for super tragic endings and also equally here for fix-it -- whatever works more naturally for your fic! (I must admit that for Schiller it seems to me that super tragic is a lot more likely.)
Or: Posa and the Queen seem very familiar with each other in the play -- how do they get to be such good friends? Perhaps hijinks in which they outwit the King before the start of the play? (Note: please no consummated attraction between Posa and Elisabeth. Because Elisabeth would never! Though one-sided admiration/fan-worship/attraction on Posa's part is pretty much canon and I'm totally here for that. And, I mean, I'm even up for Elisabeth secretly admiring and maybe even being attracted to Posa too (her last lines to him seem to imply a former admiration, at least), but she'd never act on it, even a bit.) (Wait! What if Posa/Philip were a thing and Elisabeth knew about it and their scene in Act IV, Scene III is all about that?? HMM.)
Or: Elisabeth is by far the most awesome character in the play. She is super awesome. Anything with her, really! I read the ending of the play as ambiguous; is there any way to save her? Can she somehow fix things with Philip? Does she even want to? Gosh, what is her private relationship like with Philip, who cares not at all about her Flanders ambitions (but she certainly cares) but who practically has a secret police reporting on everyone, so that she pretty much has no expectation of privacy?
Or: What is the relationship between Posa and Eboli? Posa is extremely suspicious of her the whole time (sometimes correctly, sometimes maybe a little more than he needs to be). Is there backstory there? Posa says he hasn't talked to her very much, but have they perhaps clashed before in some way? (...what if they fell into bed together? What would their pillow talk be like? Would it be full of them sniping at each other and suspecting each other of plots??)
Or: really anything that speaks to you about these complicated characters!
This one is an everything-goes shipping zone! Ship everyone with everyone else! or don't! I am here for all of it, except consummated romance with Elisabeth and anyone else (except for Philip, of course).
Canon notes: I have sadly not been able to see this one, so I have no headcanon based on actual sets or actors or anything. I have read the Gutenberg translation.
DNW: Different-setting AU's, for this one (canon divergence is always fine). Consummated attraction between Posa and Elisabeth (or Elisabeth and anyone except Philip). This Posa seems to be rather more loyal to his own vision than he is to either Carlos or Philip (honestly, part of what I think is so fascinating about him is that no one actually knows exactly his primary loyalty, probably not even him); don't make him into opera!Posa.
Les Contes d'Hoffman: (Group: La Muse & Dapertutto etc., GGroup: La Muse & the Four Villains (Met 2015 Hoffmann)) - I watched the 2015 Met On Demand version of this, with Thomas Hampson as the Four Villains and Kate Lindsey as Muse/Nicklausse, and it's staged so that the two of them are always very aware of each other, with Significant Glances and Body Language. Sometimes it almost seems like they're allies (after all, they both want Hoffman to dump the girl(s)), sometimes it seems like they're -- supernatural colleagues? not necessarily working together, but aware of each other's presence, with a certain professional respect, and knowing that they're both not natural, when no one else in the story seems to get how creepy both of them are? -- and sometimes it seems like they're icily polite enemies. I don't even know what's going on with them, but now I'm obsessed with their relationship. Write me a story about what's going on here, or draw me art of it. (I have imprinted on Hampson and Lindsey, and would prefer them in art, but do as you like -- for fic I don't care whether it's specifically 2015 or not, as long as it's about the two of them.) I don't ship them, but I don't oppose them being shipped if your story goes that way.
La Clemenza di Tito: (Any) - Ahhhh, all these super super strong loyalty and friendship and romantic relationships sometimes conflicting with each other and sometimes supporting each other! People struggling between their private emotional feelings and public duty! Duets where people profess their not-necessarily-romantic love and adoration and BFF-ness for each other! (although, okay, in the Met 2012 production I watched Tito/Sesto had clear romantic undertones, and yes, I have All The Feelings about that too.) The triumph of mercy and redemption and love over tragedy! I love it all!
I want... whatever you want to write. Seriously, I will take all of it, with as many characters as you want to give me; I asked for all four (*cough* five) and that is still my preference for this opera, but if your idea uses fewer characters then go for it. I want all the Annio and Sesto backstory, how did they get to be such great friends, you know Annio was intriguing on Sesto's behalf during the entire opera when he's not on stage in addition to when he's onstage, post-canon fic with them? In the Met 2012 production Tito sort of put Sesto and Vitellia together (although they kind of sprang apart once he was no longer right there, ha); tell me about Sesto and Vitellia after the opera -- do they stay together? do they tear each other apart? do Annio and Servilia save them from themselves? (I feel like they're terrible for each other, but I would be fine being convinced otherwise.) Annio and Servilia, both independently and together, are The Best, I would love anything about them, clearly they are a power couple who goes around Being Awesome, tell me about that! I love "Ah, perdona al primo affetto" so much, they are the best, tell me about another time either Annio or Servilia, or both, have to deal with that choice between private emotion and public duty (and kick butt at it, too). The Met 2012 staging of "Deh, per questo istante solo" immediately made me have lots of shippy feeligns for Tito and Sesto. (I am more than happy for you not to ship them! As I may have mentioned, I adore friendship/loyalty relationships without romance.) What does their relationship look like after the opera? (I got the sense from Met 2012 that Tito was distancing himself from and pairing off Sesto/Vitellia, which makes me wonder whether Tito and Sesto are just pining for each other afterwards, either as friends or romantically.) If they were romantically involved before the opera started, what did Vitellia think of it? (Heck. What did Servilia and Annio think about it?) In general it is so messed up for Vitellia to order Sesto to kill the man and emperor he loves, whether it's in a friendship or romance sort of way -- more exploration of that dynamic? Servilia and Vitellia need more time together! Maybe post-canon? Can Servilia teach Vitellia how to be a functional human being who doesn't manipulate her lovers to kill, er, their lovers? I would be okay with poly for this canon if your story goes that way.
Then there's all of the musing about what it means to be a good ruler and whether mercy is always the good choice etc., and I want alllll of the digging into that too. Is it always the good choice? Well, obviously it is always the right choice when it's my darling Sesto, but is this always true? (I also love poor put-upon Publio and would not mind more of him either.)
Canon notes: I very strongly imprinted on the Met 2012 version with Elīna Garanča as Sesto and Kate Lindsey as Annio. (Don't feel you need to watch it, but I think it's a great first one!) This is available on Met on Demand.
DNW: No death or really unhappy endings (ambiguous or unhappy-but-hopeful endings are fine). I enthusiastically welcome a darker take on the opera, or picking apart things which maybe aren't quite as cut-and-dry as the opera makes it look, but I love the opera partially for the way it's so hopeful, and I don't want any of them dead or super awful unhappy at the end of the fic.
Ballo in Maschera: (Any) Group: Amelia/Renato - I feel like Renato and Amelia are possibly the only couple in Verdi, maybe in any of the operas I've ever watched, that had a marriage of long standing that was actually mostly functional. At least, I assume this from their son presumably being older than a baby, and that they seem to have gotten along pretty well until Amelia got a crush on Riccardo. (And she is willing to do a pretty scary thing she totally doesn't want to do for her marriage's sake, and she never talks about not loving Renato, and indeed has lots of nice things to say about him when she's trying to fend off Riccardo.)
I have this headcanon that Renato and Amelia, until the events of Ballo, were a power couple where Amelia helped Renato ferret out, say, plots against Riccardo :D I would love to see a story like that set pre-Ballo. I will say that although I find Amelia being awesome totally supported by canon, the power-couple thing isn't maybe quite, so if you'd rather just write a story about Amelia being awesome in the company of Renato, that would be great too! If you do pre-Ballo fic, I would prefer relatively little angst for Amelia regarding Riccardo -- a little is fine, some disquieting attraction is fine, but I'd like this to be set before she develops a full-on crush on him.
Or I would love to see them wrestle post-canon with the events of the opera. I feel like Amelia would stop Renato from doing anything too drastic afterwards, and maybe they'd be able to figure out how to pick up their lives? (I would love a more mature-rated fic where some of this angst and recovery happened in bed, because of course it would have to. Or not! Your choice.)
It occurs to me that hot angsty makeup sex (or hot making out -- I could totally imagine Renato couldn't deal with sex right then) after Act III Scene 1 might be really interesting -- is Renato trying not to be attracted to her because he thinks she has betrayed him, or is he desperate for her affection despite himself? Or both? Is Amelia trying to distract Renato from his vengeance? Renato seems like he's probably usually extremely restrained; is there something in her that is turned on by all the emotions he's having, even though he's angry?
Although I don't mind dark up to the level of canon (yes to all the betrayal and subsequent guilt angst!) please let Renato, Amelia, and Oscar live, I don't care if it's unrealistic :)
Simon Boccanegra: (Any) - I love this opera so soooo much, all the characters (uh, except Adorno, who... is fine? But also with those tenor tendencies to accuse random people of infidelity) are so great, Simone is so awesome, Amelia is if anything even more awesome (and I think would make a super awesome ruler), and Fiesco is a really interesting and multi-faceted father-villain with one heck of a redemption aria/duet.
I honestly want anything! I'd love exploration of that relationship between Fiesco and Amelia. When they are in the Grimaldi house together, does she ever remind him of his daughter? Or of Simon? Does he do a better job parenting her (it seems like he's in a vaguely parental role) than he did of her mom? Is there anything about her that contributes to his terrible remorse in "Piango, perché mi parla"? How do they relate after Simone's death? Perhaps fic of Amelia ruling as Doge or the power behind the Doge (come on, Adorno should just get out of the way and let Amelia do it) and Fiesco advising her?
Simone and Fiesco have of course a terribly intense relationship. I love the way the opera fakes me out with Simone's "Gran Dio! Compiuto alfin di quest'alma è il desio!" to make me think he's been after revenge on Fiesco all these years too... but no, he just wants to make up. SIMONE I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. What has Fiesco been thinking about Simone, all those years? What has Simone been thinking?
Simone & Amelia: I adore them together THEY ARE THE BEST, do they have any other moving moments together before he dies? Does she learn from Simone's utter compassion? Does she think of him after his death, perhaps when she has her own children; does his example help her when she's ruling as Doge? okay I admit it this is totally my headcanon.
Forza: (Alvaro) - Don Alvaro is so great (SO great, especially for a tenor), and the opera just grinds him down into the ground; every time it seems like he's found some sort of peace it's flung away from him. Please fix things for him! This could mean all sorts of things, of course, and I'm happy with this going super dark as long as it ends up a little less dark than the opera, which shouldn't be hard, haha. Maybe it means he lives happily ever after with Leonora (which would be the happiest but also seems to me to be least interesting -- if you can make it interesting, though -- and honestly even if they'd escaped together at the beginning it wouldn't necessarily have been an easy life for them (and maybe Carlo still comes after them), so maybe it is more interesting than I think it is). Maybe it means he dies. (He'd certainly be a lot happier if he'd died in that battle, or if Carlo managed to kill him at the end instead of vice versa.) Maybe it means Carlo never looks through his freaking bag and they stay best friends. Maybe it means Carlo never finds him at the end (or dies while searching for him, I am cool with that) and he stays a monk (he seems like he's found peace as a monk) and maybe sees Leonora at the very end when they're both dying. Maybe it means all the events of the opera happen but post-opera there's some reason for it, because he went through all of that, those experiences, going through that horrific pain -- it allows him to -- I don't know -- save the monks, save Spain, save the world from aliens, save the kid who's on track to become the next Carlo di Vargas from himself, just as long as there's a reason why he specifically had to go through all that crap. And I'm here for Alvaro/Leonora or Alvaro/Carlo (assuming Alvaro thinks Leonora is dead) or neither (though not for OT3 unless Carlo works through a LOT of stuff first)
Because of time constraints I've just cut and pasted from previous letters. One thing I do not generally have in those letters is art: I would LOVE art for these fandoms! I adore acts of fealty (like, one character kneeling to another) and loyalty, or really just any two characters interacting in any way, e.g., La Muse and the Four Villains looking at each other suspiciously? Any sort of complicated emotions (or a scene that would be reminiscent of a complicated emotion, like Posa and Carlos with a letter between them, lol) would be just amazing.
General: I am open to most things! I very much welcome alternative ways of telling stories -- IF, epistolary fic, text messages/tweets, poetry, DW-thread-comments, what-have-you, yes please!! Crossovers would also be more than fine between these fandoms. Darkfic/character death is great and even encouraged for all of these fandoms (with exceptions as noted). I love fork-in-the-road type AUs for any fandom. For setting-changed AUs, I would adore them for any fandom. Basically I'm okay with most things as long as you tag for it so I know what I'm getting into!
Things I love: (I don't expect all of these by any means, this is just a sampling of Things That Make Me Happy): I love worldbuilding fic and plotty fic. I love character-driven fic that thinks hard about the ramifications of characters' choices. I love most of all for there to be some sort of character arc, or characters (and/or the reader) coming to a greater understanding of something or someone during a fic. I love and adore deep friendship/partnerships. I love loyalty and duty bonds (and I have a special place in my heart for physical expressions of fealty bonds, like kneeling or ritualized oath-swearing). I love it when all the characters are understandable rather than straight-out villainous or malicious, or where expectations of malice are subverted. I love when something or some implication is clear to the reader that is not clear to the characters, or some subset of the characters, because we have knowledge (about the actual canon, for example) that they don't have.
DNW: PWP; unrequested poly; graphic gratuitous violence/gore. Please no references to current politics/current events.
Turandot (Group: Turandot & Liu) - I adore this opera and at the same time it totally hurts my head. There is the repeated, moving theme of sacrifice (but only for ROMANTIC LOVE!); the whole lovely idea of vulnerability, of putting your life in someone else's hands (this would have worked much better IF IT HADN'T BEEN FOR THE PART WHERE SHE JUST TORTURED AND KILLED HIS FRIEND); the concept of the ice maiden thawing, growing up and gaining the emotions of remorse and regret (IF ONLY IT HADN'T BEEN AS A RESPONSE TO SEXUAL HARASSMENT KISS); the feminist sensibilities of Turandot (if only they hadn't manifested in her KILLING PEOPLE, also in being completely betrayed in the last act); the incredibly sweet Timur-Liu filial relationship (terribly shortchanged by the revelation she's only taking care of him because Calaf smiled at her WHAT).
Write me a story where Turandot and Liu have a relationship that doesn't depend on Calaf! Friendship, loyalty-liege, rivalry, mentoring, romantic, frenemy, professional partners, whatever, I'm up for it. One thing I'd love to see is a rewriting of the fairy tale so that the romance is between Turandot and Liu -- how awesome would that be?? How would Calaf and Timur fit in? (I love Timur and the Three Ministers, by the way.) How would the riddles fit? Would the story end with Liu guessing the riddles or would there be some drama after that? Or! What about a story where there's some sort of loyalty and/or friendship between Turandot and Liu, either retconning the opera or having it develop somehow within the course of the opera, either would be wonderful. Or! What if Turandot and Liu were actually rival powers playing a dark game here (with Calaf a pawn?), for reasons you will tell me in the fic? Or write me a total AU! I would adore academia-Turandot (Professor Turandot, grad-student Liu, Calaf as a... oh, I don't know, project manager in industry? Administrator? Admin assistant?), lawyer draaaaama, SPAAAAACE, cyberpunk, random-fantasy-land, whatever!
I have no problems with Calaf being a major character (and would in fact rather he appear than not, although honestly feel free to change his character so he's less of a total jerk); however, if the story is going to be a happy ending (not dark) for both Turandot and Liu, I'd like him not to be killed by Turandot. (I am totally fine with her killing him in a less happy or darker story, or if he dies for some other reason. But come on Turandot, you can't just go around killing people because you feel like it, even if they are tenors!) I definitely do NOT want Liu to die specifically for Calaf in the story (although again if she dies for any other reason that's fine!)
DNW: Pairings that are both non-canon and non-requested, Turandot or Liu murdering another character if the story is not meant to otherwise be dark. Liu dying for Calaf.
Der Ring des Nibelungen: (Group: Brunnhilde & Sieglinde) - More Brunnhilde and Sieglinde please!! I would *love* an AU where Sieglinde survives and gets to actually parent Siegfried properly, maybe with Brunnhilde?? Or, if not parenting him together, how does it work when Brunnhilde meets Sieglinde again, and alt!Siegfried? Now that they can work together (and if Siegfried is raised to be wise and observant instead of an idiotic brat), can they somehow still take down the gods without all dying horribly? (And how does it even work if Siegfried is nice enough not to break Wotan's staff? Or is he wise enough to break it, even if he's nicer? Or is there another solution? How does all this interplay with the curse on the Ring?)
If that's not something you're interested in, I love their interaction and the emotions they have together, that amazing scene where Brunnhilde and Sieglinde really connect through Sieglinde's future child… Maybe a very slight AU where they have a bit more time before Brunnhilde has to face Wotan? What would they talk about? Can they support each other? (I'd love it if Sieglinde was also able to offer Brunnhilde some comfort and wisdom, if it were a mutual sort of thing.)
Canon DNW: For this one I'm totally okay with dark (source canon is the end of the world, after all), but a) I don't want Brunnhilde/Siegfried if she is acting in an explicitly parental role towards him, and b) if Siegfried is nicer, I'd like that to have some sort of positive effect, even if overall it ends badly for Our Heroes.
Pelleas et Melisande: (Worldbuilding) - OK, I love Pelleas et Melisande, I love the lovely ripply music and the mystery of it and how everything seems to exist in this sort of odd shadowy world where things lurk beneath the surface of what we actually see.
...And I realize this makes me a Philistine, but I found myself all through it wanting the actual magical-fantasy-fairy-tale story that keeps being hinted at instead of the highly-symbolic-characterizing-inner-emotions opera that it actually is. Please write this for me! Let the magic wood Golaud is lost in at the beginning be an actual magic wood! The ring Melisande lost -- in a well! -- that Golaud is so concerned about is a magic ring, right? That concerns the health of the kingdom? And what's going on with the cave? And all the water -- is Melisande a water-fairy? Or a nixie who doesn't understand humans? Or is this somehow a Grail story? If you want to put lots of character-specific symbolic stuff in, that's fine and I will be very pleased with it, but I do really want external plot/worldbuilding here if possible :) (If not, I totally understand! Perhaps a fork-in-the-road AU? What would happen if a small change was made -- could this lead to something better for the characters? Is there anything that could have stopped Golaud from his path at the end?)
Not necessary, but I will squee all over it if you redo the conflict between Pelleas and Golaud so either it doesn't exist (or exists in some much lighter form, like Pelleas and Golaud faking conflict for some reason) or is about something else other than a GIRL -- there are so many other possibilities; maybe they disagree as to how the kingdom should be run, or have an argument over how best to save the king or kingdom? Or perhaps Golaud is under a magical compulsion where he can't reveal the exact nature of the magic ring? And as for Melisande herself -- the production I saw had her wafting away in a boat in the end instead of dying, and I would love it if she didn't die, though it's fine if she does; it's canon, after all.
Don Carlos - Schiller: (Any) For this canon I am asking for Schiller specifically, not the opera, because I'm fascinated by how complicated all the characters are, particularly compared to the opera. Though Posa still loves Carlos (even there I'm not entirely sure what his feelings exactly are towards Carlos and how much of it has to do with Carlos agreeing with him about liberty, etc.) he is much more of a zealot and really rather a manipulative bastard, and doesn't particularly feel the loyalty to Philip that I think opera!Posa does, which makes him more complex and fascinating (if perhaps not hitting my loyalty buttons in the targeted way opera!Posa does). Elisabeth is openly political and cheerfully totally awesome and I love her very very much.
So -- give me something that shows off the complexity of the characters! One big thing I've been thinking about is that after I read the play, I thought that if Posa had told Carlos his plans (maybe Carlos forces him to?) that everything would have been okay. And of course that would have staved off the immediate problems, but it wouldn't have fixed the fundamental issues, because that whole Posa-Philip-Carlos triangle is still there and set to explode. (The Philip-Carlos-Elisabeth triangle, too, but let's face it, Posa is the fulcrum on which Philip and Carlos turn, really.) Is there a way to save this? Or does it inevitably become tragedy anyway? Please tag if ending in tragedy, but if tagged I am totally here for super tragic endings and also equally here for fix-it -- whatever works more naturally for your fic! (I must admit that for Schiller it seems to me that super tragic is a lot more likely.)
Or: Posa and the Queen seem very familiar with each other in the play -- how do they get to be such good friends? Perhaps hijinks in which they outwit the King before the start of the play? (Note: please no consummated attraction between Posa and Elisabeth. Because Elisabeth would never! Though one-sided admiration/fan-worship/attraction on Posa's part is pretty much canon and I'm totally here for that. And, I mean, I'm even up for Elisabeth secretly admiring and maybe even being attracted to Posa too (her last lines to him seem to imply a former admiration, at least), but she'd never act on it, even a bit.) (Wait! What if Posa/Philip were a thing and Elisabeth knew about it and their scene in Act IV, Scene III is all about that?? HMM.)
Or: Elisabeth is by far the most awesome character in the play. She is super awesome. Anything with her, really! I read the ending of the play as ambiguous; is there any way to save her? Can she somehow fix things with Philip? Does she even want to? Gosh, what is her private relationship like with Philip, who cares not at all about her Flanders ambitions (but she certainly cares) but who practically has a secret police reporting on everyone, so that she pretty much has no expectation of privacy?
Or: What is the relationship between Posa and Eboli? Posa is extremely suspicious of her the whole time (sometimes correctly, sometimes maybe a little more than he needs to be). Is there backstory there? Posa says he hasn't talked to her very much, but have they perhaps clashed before in some way? (...what if they fell into bed together? What would their pillow talk be like? Would it be full of them sniping at each other and suspecting each other of plots??)
Or: really anything that speaks to you about these complicated characters!
This one is an everything-goes shipping zone! Ship everyone with everyone else! or don't! I am here for all of it, except consummated romance with Elisabeth and anyone else (except for Philip, of course).
Canon notes: I have sadly not been able to see this one, so I have no headcanon based on actual sets or actors or anything. I have read the Gutenberg translation.
DNW: Different-setting AU's, for this one (canon divergence is always fine). Consummated attraction between Posa and Elisabeth (or Elisabeth and anyone except Philip). This Posa seems to be rather more loyal to his own vision than he is to either Carlos or Philip (honestly, part of what I think is so fascinating about him is that no one actually knows exactly his primary loyalty, probably not even him); don't make him into opera!Posa.
Les Contes d'Hoffman: (Group: La Muse & Dapertutto etc., GGroup: La Muse & the Four Villains (Met 2015 Hoffmann)) - I watched the 2015 Met On Demand version of this, with Thomas Hampson as the Four Villains and Kate Lindsey as Muse/Nicklausse, and it's staged so that the two of them are always very aware of each other, with Significant Glances and Body Language. Sometimes it almost seems like they're allies (after all, they both want Hoffman to dump the girl(s)), sometimes it seems like they're -- supernatural colleagues? not necessarily working together, but aware of each other's presence, with a certain professional respect, and knowing that they're both not natural, when no one else in the story seems to get how creepy both of them are? -- and sometimes it seems like they're icily polite enemies. I don't even know what's going on with them, but now I'm obsessed with their relationship. Write me a story about what's going on here, or draw me art of it. (I have imprinted on Hampson and Lindsey, and would prefer them in art, but do as you like -- for fic I don't care whether it's specifically 2015 or not, as long as it's about the two of them.) I don't ship them, but I don't oppose them being shipped if your story goes that way.
La Clemenza di Tito: (Any) - Ahhhh, all these super super strong loyalty and friendship and romantic relationships sometimes conflicting with each other and sometimes supporting each other! People struggling between their private emotional feelings and public duty! Duets where people profess their not-necessarily-romantic love and adoration and BFF-ness for each other! (although, okay, in the Met 2012 production I watched Tito/Sesto had clear romantic undertones, and yes, I have All The Feelings about that too.) The triumph of mercy and redemption and love over tragedy! I love it all!
I want... whatever you want to write. Seriously, I will take all of it, with as many characters as you want to give me; I asked for all four (*cough* five) and that is still my preference for this opera, but if your idea uses fewer characters then go for it. I want all the Annio and Sesto backstory, how did they get to be such great friends, you know Annio was intriguing on Sesto's behalf during the entire opera when he's not on stage in addition to when he's onstage, post-canon fic with them? In the Met 2012 production Tito sort of put Sesto and Vitellia together (although they kind of sprang apart once he was no longer right there, ha); tell me about Sesto and Vitellia after the opera -- do they stay together? do they tear each other apart? do Annio and Servilia save them from themselves? (I feel like they're terrible for each other, but I would be fine being convinced otherwise.) Annio and Servilia, both independently and together, are The Best, I would love anything about them, clearly they are a power couple who goes around Being Awesome, tell me about that! I love "Ah, perdona al primo affetto" so much, they are the best, tell me about another time either Annio or Servilia, or both, have to deal with that choice between private emotion and public duty (and kick butt at it, too). The Met 2012 staging of "Deh, per questo istante solo" immediately made me have lots of shippy feeligns for Tito and Sesto. (I am more than happy for you not to ship them! As I may have mentioned, I adore friendship/loyalty relationships without romance.) What does their relationship look like after the opera? (I got the sense from Met 2012 that Tito was distancing himself from and pairing off Sesto/Vitellia, which makes me wonder whether Tito and Sesto are just pining for each other afterwards, either as friends or romantically.) If they were romantically involved before the opera started, what did Vitellia think of it? (Heck. What did Servilia and Annio think about it?) In general it is so messed up for Vitellia to order Sesto to kill the man and emperor he loves, whether it's in a friendship or romance sort of way -- more exploration of that dynamic? Servilia and Vitellia need more time together! Maybe post-canon? Can Servilia teach Vitellia how to be a functional human being who doesn't manipulate her lovers to kill, er, their lovers? I would be okay with poly for this canon if your story goes that way.
Then there's all of the musing about what it means to be a good ruler and whether mercy is always the good choice etc., and I want alllll of the digging into that too. Is it always the good choice? Well, obviously it is always the right choice when it's my darling Sesto, but is this always true? (I also love poor put-upon Publio and would not mind more of him either.)
Canon notes: I very strongly imprinted on the Met 2012 version with Elīna Garanča as Sesto and Kate Lindsey as Annio. (Don't feel you need to watch it, but I think it's a great first one!) This is available on Met on Demand.
DNW: No death or really unhappy endings (ambiguous or unhappy-but-hopeful endings are fine). I enthusiastically welcome a darker take on the opera, or picking apart things which maybe aren't quite as cut-and-dry as the opera makes it look, but I love the opera partially for the way it's so hopeful, and I don't want any of them dead or super awful unhappy at the end of the fic.
Ballo in Maschera: (Any) Group: Amelia/Renato - I feel like Renato and Amelia are possibly the only couple in Verdi, maybe in any of the operas I've ever watched, that had a marriage of long standing that was actually mostly functional. At least, I assume this from their son presumably being older than a baby, and that they seem to have gotten along pretty well until Amelia got a crush on Riccardo. (And she is willing to do a pretty scary thing she totally doesn't want to do for her marriage's sake, and she never talks about not loving Renato, and indeed has lots of nice things to say about him when she's trying to fend off Riccardo.)
I have this headcanon that Renato and Amelia, until the events of Ballo, were a power couple where Amelia helped Renato ferret out, say, plots against Riccardo :D I would love to see a story like that set pre-Ballo. I will say that although I find Amelia being awesome totally supported by canon, the power-couple thing isn't maybe quite, so if you'd rather just write a story about Amelia being awesome in the company of Renato, that would be great too! If you do pre-Ballo fic, I would prefer relatively little angst for Amelia regarding Riccardo -- a little is fine, some disquieting attraction is fine, but I'd like this to be set before she develops a full-on crush on him.
Or I would love to see them wrestle post-canon with the events of the opera. I feel like Amelia would stop Renato from doing anything too drastic afterwards, and maybe they'd be able to figure out how to pick up their lives? (I would love a more mature-rated fic where some of this angst and recovery happened in bed, because of course it would have to. Or not! Your choice.)
It occurs to me that hot angsty makeup sex (or hot making out -- I could totally imagine Renato couldn't deal with sex right then) after Act III Scene 1 might be really interesting -- is Renato trying not to be attracted to her because he thinks she has betrayed him, or is he desperate for her affection despite himself? Or both? Is Amelia trying to distract Renato from his vengeance? Renato seems like he's probably usually extremely restrained; is there something in her that is turned on by all the emotions he's having, even though he's angry?
Although I don't mind dark up to the level of canon (yes to all the betrayal and subsequent guilt angst!) please let Renato, Amelia, and Oscar live, I don't care if it's unrealistic :)
Simon Boccanegra: (Any) - I love this opera so soooo much, all the characters (uh, except Adorno, who... is fine? But also with those tenor tendencies to accuse random people of infidelity) are so great, Simone is so awesome, Amelia is if anything even more awesome (and I think would make a super awesome ruler), and Fiesco is a really interesting and multi-faceted father-villain with one heck of a redemption aria/duet.
I honestly want anything! I'd love exploration of that relationship between Fiesco and Amelia. When they are in the Grimaldi house together, does she ever remind him of his daughter? Or of Simon? Does he do a better job parenting her (it seems like he's in a vaguely parental role) than he did of her mom? Is there anything about her that contributes to his terrible remorse in "Piango, perché mi parla"? How do they relate after Simone's death? Perhaps fic of Amelia ruling as Doge or the power behind the Doge (come on, Adorno should just get out of the way and let Amelia do it) and Fiesco advising her?
Simone and Fiesco have of course a terribly intense relationship. I love the way the opera fakes me out with Simone's "Gran Dio! Compiuto alfin di quest'alma è il desio!" to make me think he's been after revenge on Fiesco all these years too... but no, he just wants to make up. SIMONE I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. What has Fiesco been thinking about Simone, all those years? What has Simone been thinking?
Simone & Amelia: I adore them together THEY ARE THE BEST, do they have any other moving moments together before he dies? Does she learn from Simone's utter compassion? Does she think of him after his death, perhaps when she has her own children; does his example help her when she's ruling as Doge? okay I admit it this is totally my headcanon.
Forza: (Alvaro) - Don Alvaro is so great (SO great, especially for a tenor), and the opera just grinds him down into the ground; every time it seems like he's found some sort of peace it's flung away from him. Please fix things for him! This could mean all sorts of things, of course, and I'm happy with this going super dark as long as it ends up a little less dark than the opera, which shouldn't be hard, haha. Maybe it means he lives happily ever after with Leonora (which would be the happiest but also seems to me to be least interesting -- if you can make it interesting, though -- and honestly even if they'd escaped together at the beginning it wouldn't necessarily have been an easy life for them (and maybe Carlo still comes after them), so maybe it is more interesting than I think it is). Maybe it means he dies. (He'd certainly be a lot happier if he'd died in that battle, or if Carlo managed to kill him at the end instead of vice versa.) Maybe it means Carlo never looks through his freaking bag and they stay best friends. Maybe it means Carlo never finds him at the end (or dies while searching for him, I am cool with that) and he stays a monk (he seems like he's found peace as a monk) and maybe sees Leonora at the very end when they're both dying. Maybe it means all the events of the opera happen but post-opera there's some reason for it, because he went through all of that, those experiences, going through that horrific pain -- it allows him to -- I don't know -- save the monks, save Spain, save the world from aliens, save the kid who's on track to become the next Carlo di Vargas from himself, just as long as there's a reason why he specifically had to go through all that crap. And I'm here for Alvaro/Leonora or Alvaro/Carlo (assuming Alvaro thinks Leonora is dead) or neither (though not for OT3 unless Carlo works through a LOT of stuff first)