majorr | High Adrenaline Letter 2025 (Reply)

Dear Author,

Coming up with prompts is fun for me, but I’m totally fine if you get your own idea. I love surprises and look forward to reading whatever you come up with. Thank you so much for writing something for me!

AO3:

Major

General Likes: Family, Mutual Pining, Friends to Lovers, Slow Build, UST, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Misunderstandings, Jealousy, Vulnerability, Possessiveness, Codependency, Loyalty, Protectiveness, Get-Together or Established Relationship, 5 + 1, Storms, Stranded, Adventure, Wilderness Survival, Camping, Bed Sharing, Murder Mystery, Horror, Humor, Fluff, First Kiss, Hand Holding, Flirting, Trains, Banter, Bonding

Do Not Want: PWP, Mpreg, Incest, Babies/Pregnancies/Kidfic, Genderswap, Non-Con, Unrequited Love, De-aging, AUs (Except Canon Divergent or When Prompted), Animal Harm/Death, Fishing/Hunting, Second Person POV

Broadchurch
Alec Hardy/Ellie Miller

Their whole dynamic is hilarious to me. That short fuse, deeply loyal, often on the brink of a fight, rarely out of step on a case, push-and-pull partnership is very entertaining. I love that when Hardy becomes particularly annoying, Ellie either snaps at him in kind or decides to kill him with kindness, Hardy’s awkwardness in certain social situations, the way they figure they’ll go their separate ways but then get drawn back to each other. The cases are really interesting. I love a good mystery. And their distinct—sometimes emotionally rough, alternately protective, bantering, yelling, tempers-exploding—relationship was central to my enjoyment of the investigations. I’m primarily interested in their developing relationship so don’t feel obligated to mirror canon with a case fic. Mysteries are definitely welcome, but I’d be up for all kinds of fic in this fandom. Fic that takes place between cases or puts whatever case they’re working on in the background are also welcome.

Note: If you do decide to include a case, I’d prefer if it was a murder or missing person case and had nothing to do with rape or sexual assault.

Prompts:

Bad guy abducts and buries Ellie alive with an untraceable cell phone. She’s able to call Hardy, but she’s running out of air. Hardy being desperate to find her, Ellie struggling to be strong and make peace with the situation when it looks dire. Hardy not wanting to hear any kind of goodbyes because she absolutely cannot die, feelings realizations, the stress of time running out, Ellie being glad to have him with her even if only on a useless phone line if it’s going to be the end. Panic and angst and laughter that turns to crying, any kind of that good stuff that comes in high tension thriller situations would be great.

They’re driving somewhere at night when the car breaks down during a torrential storm. Arguing happens, and Ellie storms off in the rain, which only sets off Hardy’s temper worse because she’s putting herself at risk and that is a Hard No for him. Any direction you want to take this. Do they try to get to help on foot despite the conditions? Does one of them slip and hurt themselves in the storm, further complicating the situation? Are they trapped all night in the car or in some rigged shelter forced to work through the argument (and their feelings)?

Ellie goes to talk to a suspect and is attacked by him when he resists questioning or arrest (beaten up, stabbed, or shot) and the chaos that would follow that. Does Hardy arrive on the scene while she’s being hurt or does he get the call that she’s hurt when she’s already on the way to the hospital? Is there a rough moment where it looks like she might not make it, and Hardy is forced to realize his feelings for her are deeper than their work partnership?

Tom goes missing. I would love to see Hardy really step up and be supportive, be the cool head if Ellie needs to make decisions but gets too overwhelmed to think straight, make sure she’s not alone, stay over with her at night if they even sleep. Does this go on for days? Weeks? Is the stress to the level that previous boundaries go down because neither of them have energy for it? Like grabbing his hand when she needs to or Hardy clearly stepping into the romantic partner role for whatever she needs or to other investigators that she can’t deal with on her own with her fear where it is and him not needing to consciously decide to do it because she needs him and that’s the end of it. I’d also love it if he automatically helped with Fred or if his daughter, realizing (maybe even before he does) what Ellie means to him, steps up to help with Fred herself.

Daisy calls Ellie when she can’t get ahold of Hardy late at night because she heard a noise and got scared, and it’s coming home to find Daisy asleep slumped on the couch against Ellie that gets rid of Hardy’s denial and makes him realize that he both wants Ellie as more than a work partner and that she fits into his personal life in the most important way because Daisy loves her too.

The reverse. Tom starts going to Hardy unprompted for dad stuff, advice or questions or whatnot, and it starts to make Ellie see his place in her and her family’s life differently.

A chaotic scene results in Hardy being incorrectly told that Ellie was killed on the job. It wasn’t her, it was another officer, but the emotional hit he takes from the false news opens his eyes to how much she means to him.

Trapped in an elevator for hours and arguing their way toward realizing their feelings for each other was bad. The elevator starting to drop when a rescue team arrives and Ellie needing Hardy to lift her up to reach the emergency guys and squeeze her way out a narrow gap is worse. But at least almost dying is the last straw that forces them to realize they’re in love.

Muppet Treasure Island (1996)
Benjamina Gunn/Captain Abraham Smollett

There is no couple sweeter or more hilarious than Kermit and Piggy when they’re in full Kermit-and-Piggy mode. I love that, true to form, Benjamina is A Lot. She’s queen of the island pigs and the ultimate Drama Queen, and I am always here for her being over the top. Her aggression and ego and theatricality are extremely entertaining. Her sometimes (quite literally for him) overwhelming love for her ‘Smolly.’ Lol It’s so sweet that despite the way things temporarily ended for them, Captain Smollett still very clearly pined for her and regretted the way things went down. The way he kept a picture of her with him despite it all and pined for her at sea is both :( and :D. I love it. I love that (despite Arrow’s funny assessments), he is a very kind and compassionate, even-tempered captain as well as being smart and fair. He has a really good heart, and that good heart is full of Benjamina. It had to be to give him the strength to hold on to her as long as he did when they were suspended. I’d love more of that. Action, adventure, comedy, romance, any of it or all of it.

Prompts:

A handsome, well-muscled, charismatic boar Muppet gaining popularity as a pirate bachelor, is rescued at sea by the Hispaniola. He takes a shine to Benjamina, and Captain Smollett could do with about a hundred percent less of him trying to woo Benjamina away from him. It’s always so dangerous when people feed Piggy’s ego, lol. Flattery is gold. Fun jealousy, the pirate boar being a professional flirt, misunderstandings, insecurity/worry about competing with such a charming Muppet—but, as always, a deep love and commitment between Benjamina and Smollett that can’t be broken by anyone. No matter how many people swoon at the sight of the swashbuckler trying to steal her affections away. haha

Adventures on the high seas! Major disasters or new bad guys. Maybe the ship is caught in a storm with no hope of rescue. Or traffickers want to round up the women and sell them. Anything that centers Smollett and Benjamina being protective of each other, maybe taking turns saving each other from danger or making sacrifices on the other’s behalf. Adventure + Love = *~~Swedish~~ chef’s kiss*

Smollett wakes up to find that Benjamina isn’t in bed, and a search of the ship only reveals something of hers stuck to the plank (a scarf? rip from her dress?), leading everyone to believe she’s gone overboard. What happened to her? Where is she? And how does Smollett navigate his worry and panic to get her back?

Smollett and Benjamina’s beach wedding gets interrupted by Long John Silver who has a plot for revenge. Is his revenge blunt? Physically destroying the wedding ceremony and stealing from them? Or colder and more psychological, meant to come between them emotionally? Like a secret revealed or framing one of them for something they didn’t do to hurt the other? Planting a seed of doubt in Benjamina about Smollett’s love for her? Or trying to make Smollett believe she can’t be trusted? Something like that.

Lost at sea! Benjamina arranges a romantic picnic on one of the little lifeboats and for whatever reason (they fell asleep? a sudden storm hit? the ship speeds off without them not knowing they aren’t on board?), they drift out of sight of the ship. The theatrics of Benjamina when they realize the situation they’re in, love declarations when they think they’re going to die, shark attacks, hunger as food and water runs low, trying to create proper shade to avoid sunburns, suffering from freezing temperatures at night or heat during the day or poor cover during a storm: anything at all in this scenario. Maybe they have to make a long swim for shore when their boat starts to sink or the Hispaniola returns and fishes them out of the water; any happy ending is fine by me.

Benjamina starts sleepwalking, which wouldn’t be too big of an issue if they weren’t at sea. Smollett becomes fussy and overprotective, worried she’ll sleepwalk right overboard. Benjamina enjoys all the extra attention… until she does exactly that and has to be rescued from the water. With her stress manifesting in a truly inconvenient way and place, how does Smollett get to the root of the issue and break the cycle, and what does he do in the meantime to keep her safe?

While the ship is anchored and the crew is taking leave on an island, Smollett and Benjamina have a heated argument and she storms off, which is all fine. Until a hurricane level storm hits the island with no sign of Benjamina returning to the safety of their cabin. I love weather imagery and the helplessness that can frame a story against extreme conditions. I also love when a character is missing and the other character goes through a spectrum that starts somewhere near irritation (oh, it’s raining, I guess she’ll be back soon to pick up where she left off…), transitions to uneasiness (hey, rain is picking up there…), and eventually slams through concern to barely restrained panic and desperation. Basically, situations where a character being in danger overpowers the original issue because hey, they need to be found and safe and what were they even fighting about anyway?

The ship is sinking! The captain can’t leave the ship until everyone else is safely on lifeboats and orders his wife (and tadpole and piglet if they have kids (you can ignore the 'babies' DNW for this prompt)) to be put on a lifeboat as he tends to what needs to be done and oversees evacuations. That doesn’t fly with Benjamina who refuses to leave the ship without her Smolly. (If they have kids, I’d prefer that she definitely put them on a lifeboat, though.) Action/adventure or drama/romance or hilarity or some or all of it mixed together, I just want stubborn Benjamina making Smollett panic because he needs her to be safe but he also cannot leave no matter how bad the conditions get or how steeply the likelihood of survival drops until everybody else is off and accounted for.

Rose Red
Nick Hardaway/Steven Rimbauer/Rachel “Sister” Wheaton

I love that Nick is a gentleman, and I like how he immediately inserts himself as a wall between Sister and Annie and the nasty comments of Emery, that spark of recognition in him about Annie’s uniqueness and the easy way he slides into a protector role with authority and a tinge of physical intimidation. (I like Nick trolling Emery in general, lol, though I love that Emery seems to have grown a lot in the six month time jump at the end.) That instant connection between him and the girls is really sweet. Steve is also gentle with Annie right from the start, and I think the guys’ natural kindness and receptiveness to Rachel’s sister, the most important person in her life, creates a sweet foundation. She would never have to worry about either of them treating Annie badly or finding the sometimes complicated nature of Rachel’s guardian role in her life too difficult to maintain a relationship with her. I love the clever and insightful way that Nick looks at Steven. It feels like whatever he sees or knows about people creates curiosity and compassion instead of judgment. The way they see each other is a good base for a loving and supportive relationship where they can comfortably depend on one another in a healthy, safe way, something nice they can have for themselves, even if something spooky or dark is going on. I like that the group seems to have kept in touch after the experience at the end. I’d prefer canon divergence where Nick lived rather than a ghostly relationship.

Prompts:

Joyce’s mania by the end would make her a great main antagonist. What if she survived but she's deranged/dangerous, compelled by the house or her own madness, to stalk the group or go after Annie in particular? Does she want something from them or does she only want to kill them to feed their souls to Rose Red?

After the events of Rose Red, the three of them (and Annie?) form a paranormal investigative team aimed at helping people with supernatural problems. Nick uses his abilities, Rachel looks after Annie who uses hers, and Steven takes on a managerial role, picking cases and working out the logistics. The spookiness can take a major role in the setting/events or the case or cases can be in the background. I like this idea either way as a way for the three of them to spend more time together and fall in love.

Who makes the first move? Does Nick get flashes of a future where the three of them are happy and it makes him more comfortable pursuing it? Or would it make him more careful so as not to mess things up before they’re all on the same page? Does Steven’s poor relationship with Joyce make him hesitate to try the love thing again, or does it make him more determined to find real love? I could see a situation where mutual pining or not, Rachel might be hesitant to pursue a relationship with two men. What might push her into admitting her feelings and letting herself take the leap?

Horror of any flavor. Some ideas: Maybe Rachel was messing with a Ouija board and ends up going to Nick for help when she makes contact with something that won’t leave her alone. | A crossover supernatural case with Elise, Tucker and Specs from the Insidious movies. | A publicity stunt type thing that goes wrong when they stay at the Amityville House.

Established Relationship - The three of them move into their first home together (with Annie or is she off at school or something?) and the house turns out to be haunted or have a demonic presence in it.

The three of them move into the condominium that gets built over Rose Red, and everything is going great. Until people in the building start to die in mysterious ways.

During a heated argument about Annie, Rachel’s father hits her across the face. Steven is pissed, but it’s Nick, who’s normally so composed that confronts him in a cold fury. Whether it happens in front of them or they react to what happened after seeing a mark on her face, either way works for me. Are they already together at this point or does the strength of their reactions make them realize that the three of them are not just friends?

Annie dies in a freak supernatural accident, and the group comes together at her funeral. Whether this is a story about support and love at a time of grief or the group gathers to confront the evil that killed her (if there was intention behind whatever happened), either would be an enjoyable read for me.