Candy Hearts Letter 2026

[gratiaa]

General info/likes/DNWs

Dear Candy Hearts Creator,

Thank you for creating something for me! I'm so excited to see what you make for any of these much-loved pairings. This letter contains prompts that are entirely optional, so do feel free to ignore everything else I've written here if you have an idea of your own (just minding my few DNWs!). However, if you do want to read my more specific thoughts and a few prompts to follow as closely as you want or just use as jumping-off points for your own ideas, keep reading! Mostly, I hope you'll create something that you enjoy.

My AO3 profile is GratiaAngelorum. I am opting in to treats in any medium!

General Likes:
+Age-difference relationships, also power-difference, status-difference, all kinds of differences
+Canon-divergent AUs and/or AUs that add something to the setting without changing the basic setting/context the characters inhabit in canon (e.g. I'm less into total AUs, more into 'a character made one different choice' or 'everything is the same except there are also werewolves' type AUs)
+Casefic or adventure of the week type plots
+Crossdressing, as a disguise for plot purposes or just for fun and sexy roleplay (or anything else -- you really cannot go wrong with ANY kind of crossdressing for me!)
+Getting together, first times, feelings reveals, making a new relationship public or seeking the approval of friends/families
+Established relationship that has been hidden is revealed, whether on-purpose or accidentally
+Fixit fic that gives happy or hopeful endings to characters who don't get that in canon
+Fluff, happiness, and sweetness especially for characters whose lives are otherwise not so happy
+Hurt/comfort with an emphasis on the comfort rather than the hurt
+Kissing: gentle kisses, rough kisses, languid kisses, desperate kisses, cheek kisses, tongue kisses, hand kisses, ALL kisses
+Loyalty, one-sided or mutual
+Marriage, especially arranged, forced, of convenience, of necessity
+Mpreg, whether common in-universe, rare, or so unheard of that they didn't even know it was possible
+One night stands, only/last chance with someone they've pined for, supposed to be a fling but they can't stop thinking about it
+Outside perspective on a surprising/unexpected/secret relationship reveal
+Pining that turns out to be requited
+Smut, with or without plot
+Stoic/taciturn/grim characters who have given up on love finding themselves unexpectedly head over heels for sunshiney characters despite their reservations
+Time travel or time loop plots
+Touch-starved characters overwhelmed with their reaction to simple, innocuous physical contact

++For this exchange, I'd love anything Valentine's-Day related if it makes sense for the canon: I'm a sucker for romance tropes and holiday-themed works, so if you'd love to draw a special Valentine card from one character to another or write something about how they celebrate the holiday (or don't), that would be amazing.

+++My tastes are many and wide-ranging and include so many more things than I've thought of to put here. Basically, if I didn't DNW it, I'm open to receiving it, so if you have an idea that is none of these things, please feel free to go with it!

General DNWs:
-Permanent death of a requested character (temporary death in timeloops, etc. is fine; ghosts of requested characters are also fine; death of other characters is fine!)
-Body fluids other than spit or come involved in sex (outside of sex blood, etc. is fine)
-Harm to non-sapient animals (characters eating meat is fine, but e.g. no hunting scenes please)
-Omegaverse, biological D/s verse, modern AUs for historical canons
-Romance/sex involving characters under 14
-Trans/genderbent characters unless canonical via in-universe or Word of God confirmation

The Game and the Candle - Eleanor M. Ingram

John Allard/Tommy Desmond: Lately I've gotten so into Desmond and his feelings about John. Love the idea of them having a physical relationship as teenagers, and him coming back to ask him for money once he got out of prison was intended to be blackmail about that... except he couldn't go through with it because John is just so good and needs his help so much and his old tenderness for the guy blossomed anew! Guh. Or the two of them having a relationship while they're partners in crime, John turning to him for comfort when he's loneliest and most depressed, and Desmond having quiet crises about falling in love with this guy who could never see him as an equal...

Robert Allard/Tommy Desmond: Very similar to the above, and could easily be combined with it (maybe Desmond sexually initiated both the young masters when they were teens, whether John knew about it or not -- or maybe they all fooled around together, even!). Or, what if an AU where Desmond survives his cliffside climb and evades capture and eventually makes his way back to Sun-Kist, and with John in prison and beyond their help, he and Bertie help each other cope?

Robert Allard/Adrian Stanief: I'm infatuated with a Bertie-lives!AU where he comes to court for the coronation and Adrian gets a faithful, adoring Allard brother of his very own. However you want to make this work would be so fun, I just think they'd be neat together!

John Allard/Robert Allard: These two brothers are SO shippy and adore each other so ardently, I just want their love to go a little farther... whether this means youthful exploration and experimentation, maybe John coming back from college and showing Bertie all the neat things he's learned how to do, or their private farewell before John goes off to his life of crime with Desmond getting a little more passionate than they intended, or anything! I'm also very into a more dubcon scenario where they turn to sex work instead of counterfeiting to pay off their debt and someone is willing to pay a lot of money to watch two brothers perform together, sfkalkflskf.

John Allard/Adrian Stanief/Feodor Stanief: The Staniefs' tug-of-war over Allard ending up with them sharing him romantically and/or sexually would be delightful. Is it just the once? Is it a longer-term arrangement? Maybe a threeway is even Allard's brilliant idea to bring the cousins closer together, or maybe Feodor 'giving' him to Adrian at the beginning of the regency had some small-print details he forgot to tell Allard about... I would just love the both of them focusing their attention on Allard, making it a competition (Feodor's experience and knowledge of John vs. Adrian's youthful energy and deviousness), and finding out whether he really can choose between them. IDK man, I just find the Staniefs' whole tangle of love and loyalty and possessiveness and jealousy over Allard very hot and I think they should fuck about it.

The Payment - Eleanor M. Ingram

Gerald Allard/Feodor Stanief: Some backstory -- this novel(la?) is the magazine version of The Game and the Candle, published in December 1908 (the novel version was published in October 1909), and it's almost exactly the same text as the novel, with a few changes: most noticeably, John Allard's name is Gerald here, and most importantly for my purposes, there was no "five years ago in Palermo" meeting. Which means the prison-escape is the very first time these guys have ever laid eyes on each other; Feodor instantly decides that Gerald is too hot and too noble to languish in prison one minute longer, Gerald instantly decides Feodor is too hot and too noble not to trust with his life and freedom, and less than twenty-four hours later these total strangers are swearing eternal devotion to each other and telling each other their deepest secrets and laying their hearts in each other's hands and I just. It's wildly romantic and scorching hot! I'm very into it.

I'd really love anything exploring those first days/weeks together on the Nadeja, just because it must be so different from their TGATC counterparts who already know each other very well and can pick back up on the old intimacy of Palermo... in this version they know almost nothing about each other and yet the chemistry and trust are so immediate! I wonder if Allard might be more willing to be candid with the man who is suddenly his savior and patron and only friend than the TGATC version about some of the darker things in his life (what he endured in prison, or his relationship with and grief over Desmond) since this Stanief doesn't have that carefree, blissfully happy 21-year-old Allard to compare him to. Or, I'd love to see any of their 'firsts' -- kisses, sex, romantic declarations -- happen in the dangerous, guarded, watchful atmosphere of the imperial court, when Allard already ~belongs to~ Adrian, and all the complications that brings! Basically I am just fascinated with this version of the story, anything would be amaaazing <3

From the Car Behind - Eleanor M. Ingram

Allan Gerard/Corrie Rose: Their mentor/mentee relationship is so sweet to me and I would absolutely believe that Corrie's puppy crush on Gerard is extremely obvious to everyone who sees them together (perhaps especially Gerard and Rupert). What if Gerard became his mentor in... intimacy? :') They would just be so sweet together! I see this as more of a temporary if very tender friends-with-benefits arrangements where Gerard at least doesn't have any deeper feelings (though maybe Corrie does?), but is more than happy to help him explore and discover what he likes and they have a fun time together. Or, really, anything! I'd also be very into a marriage-of-convenience thing where Gerard marries Corrie to stop the gossip about the wrench incident, or (as ever) Corrie got knocked up by a no-good racecar guy during their season together, and Gerard marries him to save his reputation... I can really see it for these two.

Allan Gerard/Corrie Rose/Flavia Rose: A guy marrying an extremely close brother/sister pair is a very standard Eleanor M. relationship format and I'm really into it for the Rose siblings, who love each other a ridiculous amount. They both deserve Allan Gerard, the perfect man! I'd really love anything exploring an arrangement they might have where Flavia understands and supports the love her brother and husband share... and Gerard understands and supports the love Flavia and Corrie share.

Allan Gerard/Jack Rupert: God, the loyalty and devotion between these two...! I'm into it. An intense secret relationship they have to hide from Corrie while they're all living together at the western factory or traveling together on the racing circuit, casual friendly hooking up, extremely NOT casual hooking up in intense moments after winning or losing races... or dates out on the town, the pair of them being openly a couple in some queer space where it's safe for them to do so! I just love them and how they are about each other and I find it deeply romantic and hot, so more of that, please.

Corrie Rose/Jack Rupert: Ah, my doomed OTP, how I love them so. I'm into them every which way -- as a really complicated slow-burn romance, as bad-ideas rough and dirty hookups during those test runs in the Titan, as Rupert introducing young and fairly-innocent Corrie to queer culture in New York or during their travels to races during the season, or whatever else you like. Based on some things Rupert says in The Unafraid (Eleanor M.'s next book after the racecar ones, in which he shows up as a surprise supporting character!) we know that he and Corrie raced together for a while after FTCB, but Corrie's dad eventually made him stop racing and get a Real Job -- I have so many thoughts about how they were a couple until then and the professional breakup was also a romantic breakup... but maybe they could get back together afterwards? (Maybe Danilo can be involved too?? :) ) A happy ending of some sort for these two would be lovely but I'm really open to anything.

Allan Gerard/Corrie Rose/Jack Rupert: These three are such a complex tangle of devotion and trust and mistrust and love and loyalty and wrong assumptions and I adore the idea of Gerard trying to coax Corrie and Rupert together using his love for both of them as bait. I'd love the three of them feeling their way to romance despite everything, or maybe just sex as a teambuilding exercise or as an attempt to fix what's wrong between Corrie and Rupert, or like... anything would be great.

George/Corrie Rose: I'll be honest, I just think big George is so flirty with all the cute racetrack twinks and I think Corrie should fall prey to his wham-bam seduction! I feel like George is the love 'em and leave 'em type, so I'm not really looking for true romance or a long-term thing here, but I'd be into young Corrie falling fast in a whirlwind romance and thinking he's in love, and then having his first heartbreak (this could be really good as background to any other Corrie ship where Rupert or Gerard or anyone could come in afterward and pick up the pieces and show him real love ;___;). Or maybe Corrie knows George's reputation going in and isn't expecting anything more than a good time, and he gets it!

Corrie Rose/OMC: (Feel free to also read this as 'any character' if desired -- from the racecar books, from any other Ingram work, from a different thing entirely, I love crossovers!) I love Corrie so much, he is my blorb, my fave, my cinnamon roll too good too pure, etc. And I just think he's gay (it's in the text that his sister is the only woman he'd ever want to marry! oh, HONEY.) and it should either make him very happy or SUFFER, so do whatever you like with this: young Corrie's first racetrack hookup, or he has an affair with a married man, or his adventures in the queer subculture of 1910s New York, or make me very sad if he goes off to fight/drive/fly a plane in the Great War and has a tragic romance... or make me very happy if he figures out how to have a happy life one day with someone who adores him as he deserves! <3

The Twice American - Eleanor M. Ingram

Gil Granados/David Noel: The history between these guys of wartime bonding and sleeping under the same poncho and being unable to have an argument for one whole night without creeping in to cuddle together! The undying, unhesitating loyalty and willingness to put their lives on the line for each other! The way it's just taken for granted by everybody that when Dom David's not home, Marshal Granados takes charge of his house and affairs and his pet American! I love them so much, especially how David, who is not on the whole a trusting guy, puts everything important to him in Gil's hands and trusts him to keep it safe (and boy, his guilt and self-reproach when he doesn't, through no fault of his own on account of being drugged)!!! I'd love more of their backstory, or a missing scene during the novel -- what do they discuss or do on those long, intimate evening walks in the gardens, anyway? Facing down danger together, protecting each other, hurt/comfort when one is wounded... Or what does their future look like, with so many new faces in the little shoe house and more obligations for David and the looming war that might take Gil away as well as Corey; I'd love to see how the two of them navigate all the changes.

Corey Bruce/Nilo Valdez: I love them, sire. They honestly read as a romance to me throughout the book, from all Nilo's playful flirting and urging Corey out of his awkward shell, to the two of them holding hands so often and looking at each other for reassurance in tense moments, to Nilo's guilt and self-reproach over his unintentional betrayal of Corey and Corey's tender reassurances that he never blamed him, to the reveal of THE RING!!!! God, that ring still has me boggling. I sincerely think they're just straight up in love and basically engaged at the end of the book and it's delightful. Nilo has been in love so many times before, but it was never real before; Corey spent his whole life in hopeless boyish love with his cousin, but now he's a man and understands what love really is; man, I just love them so much I can't even. I'd love any glimpse of their relationship from its beginning to Corey going off to war (do they write each other passionate pining letters across the ocean? PLEASE yes, I would love this!), to him coming home, hopefully more or less whole, and them building a future together. Maybe having something like a wedding just for them, even though it can never be real. Or anything!

Corey Bruce/Gil Granados/David Noel/Nilo Valdez: The four of them living together in the little shoe house have the two obvious couples as seen above, but then also Nilo's adoring devotion to Dom David and Gil's intrigued fascination with Corey and the overwhelmingly intense Everything between David and Corey, wow... I really like the idea of these four guys having a complicated tangle of varying degrees of sexual and romantic relationships in every direction, and I'd love to see how that might work out. Outsider perspective might be especially fun for this one (Benito definitely Knows, right? ...also I wonder if Jacinto Meyer has seen some things while spying on them...), or like, whatever! Also very happy with a focus on one of the individual relationships with the foursome going on in the background. However this might work would be so fun (and hot).

Abel/Vasili Arloff: I love Rosalind's two dads so much :') They have such a bittersweet, fairy-tale-like relationship going on in the background, the tragic beautiful prince locked in his own mind after his accident, and his faithful, silent caretaker who's never left his side and protects his daughter, not to mention the wildly romantic artistic drama of Abel's music and Vasili's dancing... ahhh, they're so lovely. Anything with the two of them would be so amazing, honestly: backstory from their first dramatic meeting (Vasili saving Abel's life!), or their secret romance when Rosalind was young before Vasili's accident! The hard times after the accident and how Abel holds it together and cares for him while their future looks so uncertain, or bright moments once they have Rosalind back and are living in genteel poverty together, with nothing but each other... or what their future looks like when they move to the little shoe house! I think a fairy-tale AU, or very bittersweetly, Vasili's perspective where his life seems like a fairy tale where he's always young and beautiful and dancing and his daughter is always a child and Abel is always playing his cello for him would be so lovely. ;____; Please make me cry about them! Or smile! Or both!

Scarlet Runner - C. N. and A. M. Williamson

ALL THE SHIPS. I'm just putting brief ideas on what I would find fun/hot for all of these -- I'm still amazed and delighted about how Christopher manages to be SO shippy with every hot guy who crosses his path in all of his adventures, and I'd love a little romance or smut for literally any of these great ships, lol.

Max Lind/Christopher Race, Max Lind/Christopher Race/His Majesty: Christopher is actually a prostitute AU (or roleplay), schoolboy fantasies becoming reality, undercover as a couple for secret-agent missions, His Majesty rewards his faithful servants, luxury porn.

Christopher Race/Paul Western: Heavy flirtation in the sky, joining the mile-high club (or the hot-air-balloon equivalent), competitive sex, sexy bets/games, exhibitionism.

Ponsonby Fitzgerald/Christopher Race: Costume kink or roleplay with those highwayman and/or monk costumes, dubcon, bondage, wearing nothing but stolen jewelry, acting out the queerest scenes from Ponsonby's 'queer novel'.

Christopher Race/Mirko of Dalvania: Stolen moments during the trip to Dalvania, hurt/comfort i.e. the tender binding up of wounds, virgin Mirko getting a sex lesson from Christopher in preparation for his wedding, sneaking around/risk of discovery, Christopher's ~reward~ for his services to the prince.

Lorenzo Arnese (Marchese Baria)/Christopher Race: There was only one bed/blanket, Christopher giving the Marchese Baria the will to live again (with his dick), outdoor sex/exhibitionism, something (the Brothers Ravelli? the agents of the Emperor?) made them do it, last chance before Baria gets married.

Christopher Race/Gordon Race: Being cousins makes it hotter, attorney/client roleplay, desk sex, under-the-desk blowjobs/cockwarming, blackmail.

Fergus O'Brien/Christopher Race: Stakeouts lead to forced proximity, undercover as a couple to solve a case, the club they belong to has a strong hookup culture, captured by bad guys together, handcuffs, police/criminal roleplay.

Christopher Race/Walter Raven: Sir Walter paints Christopher like one of his French girls, sneaking around in hidden passageways, Christopher gets drugged by the bad guy and Sir Walter takes advantage, card games with sexy bets, military kink, outdoor sex.

Christopher Race/John Race: Spanking/caning/punishment, Christopher has to really please his uncle in order to earn his inheritance, Sir John discovers that Christopher is selling his body as well as his chauffeur services and buys him out, voyeurism, old-rich-family incest traditions.

Crossover Fandom

Adrian Cernief (I Am the Emperor) & Adrian Stanief (TGATC): If you're like me and love the theory that the Emperor in "I Am The Emperor" is the old Emperor in The Game and the Candle, and thus his only son is named after Adrian Cernief, the man he loved and killed... it would be utterly fascinating to see both Adrians together. Whether this happens through time travel in either direction, an AU where Adrian Cernief survives the Emperor's wrath and recovers (maybe a sympathetic guard helps him escape, or the Emperor can't go through with his execution after all?), or a lonely young Adrian S. meeting Adrian C.'s ghost, I think it could be anywhere from sweetly touching to mildly spooky to pure horror and I'm into it any which way. I'm also VERY into the idea that Adrian S. actually is Adrian C.'s son by the Emperor, who kept him in captivity for years and whom young Adrian (and/or Feodor or John) discover and rescue and learn the truth, ahhhh. (And if this is true, then the old Emperor's hatred of Feodor and paranoia about him taking the throne from Adrian makes even more sense, since Adrian is secretly a bastard and Feodor IS actually the only legitimate heir...!!!)

The Brothers Ravelli (Scarlet Runner) & Feodor Stanief (TGATC): Speaking of TGATC crossovers, I am very into the idea that the Emperor persecuting the dissidents in the Scarlet Runner story is Feodor's uncle, who has sent him on his yacht to capture Alexa and return her to the Empire, a task he would undertake very reluctantly... I just love it and I'd love to read anything that spins out that idea and what happens next. This request could be any or all of the brothers -- I especially like the idea that Feodor has 'captured' (saved!) poor Loris Ravelli and he's not actually dead in a ditch somewhere, and has him safe on his yacht and will quietly return him to his family after the excitement has died down.

Blorbo/Any Male Character ships:
Bernardo d'Allariz (Don Estevan's Honor)/Any Male Character (Creator's Choice of Fandom)
Christopher Race (Scarlet Runner)/Any Male Character (Creator's Choice of Fandom)
Corrie Rose (From the Car Behind)/Any Male Character (Creator's Choice of Fandom)
Danilo Lesendra (The Unafraid)/Any Male Character (Creator's Choice of Fandom)
Guido del'Isoletto (Guido del'Isoletto stories)/Any Male Character (Creator's Choice of Fandom)
Jack Rupert (Ingram stories)/Any Male Character (Creator's Choice of Fandom)

This is a carte-blanche request for any kind of crossover relationship for any of these guys! They are all my faves whom I find eminently shippable with everyone, so literally anything goes here. If you want more details/ideas, I've requested all of these guys and characters before, so feel free to browse all my requests ever, or just go with your heart!

Tom a Lincoln - Richard Johnson

Black Knight/Fairy Knight: I love this next-gen Arthurian fanfic from the turn of the 17th century largely because of these two guys, who are the identical-half-brother sons of the title character (making them grandsons of King Arthur!) and also canonically soulmates and have this great emo/sunshine opposites-attract dynamic. I'd love any kind of fic about their bond developing in a romantic direction Something about their adventures during the story, which are glossed over fairly quickly, or their continued lives together and where they go after the story ends... Or some later domesticity where they settle down and make a home together and figure out what two retired knights can do with the rest of their lives once all the dragons are slain and maidens are rescued! Other Arthurian characters (any kind of crossover within the broader legendarium is welcome!) meeting these two and trying to figure out what their deal is... are they brothers? Husbands? Both?? The gossip about them must be intense. For a smuttier take: fuck or die/sex pollen/etc. after trying to deny their desire leads to intense sex; the narcissistic semi-selfcest appeal of fucking someone who looks just like you; virgin Black Knight getting a thorough lesson in pleasure from experienced Fairy Knight; any kind of gender play/crossdressing (the Fairy Knight was raised in a society of all women, there's gotta be something there!).