Yuletide Letter 2017
Happy Yuletide, author! I'm excited that we share a fandom and wish you the best this season.
In general, I love magical realism, plotty stories, character development, cyphers, mysterious artifacts, stories that involve trains or rail travel, and stories of all ratings. I'm not interested in receiving seasonal or holiday stories.
Prompts for Ghost Hound, Frozen Teardrop, Ookiku Furikabutte!, and Shingeki no Bahamut are below the cut!
Shinreigari GHOST HOUND - Komori Tarou, Oogami Makoto
Request: I'm here for anything about these two and their fraught relationship! Another kidnap and rescue, if you like high drama, would be awesome. I'd love to get into interpersonal relationship drama, if they are openly struggling to be friends despite the difficulty between the branches of the family-- or more than friends if you're inclined to explore the ways they are broken-but-together. On a different note from teens struggling with their senses of self, I would be interested to see the future where they both try to fulfill their places in the family businesses- Makoto as the fortune teller and Taro making truly mind-altering sake, or having traded family trades. If you're into writing poetical things, it would be wonderful to see Taro help Makoto try to turn their hauntings into a song, or getting together with Makoto to make or use gadgets to catch supernatural sounds for sampling in Makoto's music. Nightmares, or being trapped together, or some outside force pushing them to work together through their feelings of connectedness and forced separation- the scarier and more vulnerable for them, the better! I'm excited for gen fic as well as ship fic for these unhealthy cousins. I am a sucker for anything resembling a bully-to-protector redemption arc. I love how much tension and distance there is between Taro and Makoto at the beginning of the show, and the underlying current of affection and concern that they have for each other - a mutual desire to protect the other from harm (including the potential harm of dealing with each other, early on). I love them as awkward friends or distant relatives as much as I love them as bonded or brotherly, and anything about their difficult progress together will make me happy. I should probably note that when I say "bully to protector", I don't mean to imply that Makoto is necessarily always the bully or the protector in any of these situations, and I'd love a fic about his feelings (including those of resentment) with regards to Taro and their connections or shared experiences, for example.
Yes, Please: body horror, darkfic, established or developing relationships, angst, trauma and dissociation
DNW: character deaths without haunting, vivid descriptions of maggots, scat play, 24/7 D/s relationships, and graphic self-harm.
I think of Ghost Hound as primarily about trauma, but if you’re interested in writing the comfort payoff to all that hurt, bring it on! I could really get behind some familial comforts-of-togetherness or friends-in-solidarity bonding time.
Feel free to include other members of the cast if you are comfortable doing so! I love the needling Masayuki provides, but how different his friendship is toward each of the others is my favorite thing about him. I love how Masa's abrasiveness seems to soften over time, and Michio's confidence (and trust in the others) blossoms under the encouragement of the group. I think of Miyako as the strongest and most mature of the protagonists, and would not mind at all seeing her willingness to spring to action come into play in this gift, if you’re interested in including her.
If you came here looking for more information about the horror component I mentioned, I am SO EXCITED. I love the unsettling quality of dreams and dreamspace in the canon, and the sense of disorientation (as with the transitional space between waking and dreaming) it seems to emphasize the characters are living in. Hallucinations, physical transformations, uncontrollable emotional-bleed and memory loops are all excellent things to highlight. The canon felt very exposed to me, vulnerable and distressing but also clinical. I love the atmosphere, and how quickly it went from mundane to surreal and back. Don’t be afraid to go into elaborate detail with your scary hallucinations or flashbacks -- fresh gore and other terrors are welcome, but please avoid vivid descriptions of decomposition (especially worms or maggots).
FROZEN TEARDROP - Any (Kathy Po, Father Maxwell, Master Chang, Instructor W)
Request: I know these light novels are much loathed by a lot of the fandom, but I really enjoyed some of the character building details and the glimpse of the Mars Century the characters were dreaming of in their After Colony days. I love Kathy, and her no-nonsense attitude despite the fact that she is a Gundam novel protagonist doomed to deal with a lot of nonsense from the new generation and old fogeys alike. I'd love to see more of her thoughts on the other nominated characters and how the legend of who they were was built up, not just by her mom in fond recollection, by the society their interventions created. Chang's long-term management in the Preventers sticks out as one of the few consistencies in the lives of the pilots postwar experiences-- sure enough, he gets the job done through persistence and has a lasting effect unlike any other. All of these poor fools at the end of the epilogue having to deal with Father Maxwell becoming President Maxwell would also make for a great adventure-- maybe involving Mars' new high speed railways? Maybe a smuggling case involving Instructor W's work as a disavowed-and-disowned castoff of the Winner corporation sees new suits or full-body/spinal column mech integration plans for the Zero System's next next next gen fall into dangerous hands, or former debtors are leaning on Maxwell for a sweet business deal? Kathy as interpersonal investigator of the wreckage of these friendships, or Chang's Girl Friday, or the spitting image of Sally not taking any of Maxwell's shit or W's sweetness would warm my little heart.
Yes Please: casefic, stories in the form of news or reports, on-the-job-training, office comedy, hard sci-fi setting treated as utterly mundane, Kathy matchmaking, character studies, found family.
DNW: holiday stories, Relena-hate or 1xR bashing, references to 1x2 (Heero/Duo) or 13x5 (Treize/Wufei), a/b/o dynamics.
If you're into including more than the nominated four, I love all of the original series cast, and new characters Alpha, Duo Junior and Trowa Phobos. If you'd like to include pairings, anything goes with the nominated adults but please keep Kathy with her peers.
OOKIKU FURIKABUTTE - Haruna Motoki, Mihashi Ren
Request: I've been re-reading lately and thinking fondly of Mihashi and Haruna having their pitching genius bonding session while Abe and Akimaru sort of sulked and watched the pitchers grope each other. My simple desires are for Mihashi to have a friend who appreciates his strength and stamina despite being definitively better and encouraging him to go pro, and for Haruna to have a kouhai or friend who isn't terrified of him or tired of his shit, who can give him a chance to shine as a teacher and motivator. I feel like their dynamic could take many roads to infuriatingly good friendship, or build a future dynamic between them as a pro starter and relief team, and want to read all the possibilities your heart (or theirs) might contain. I love that these baseball nuts have fun together, despite how different they seem. Do they come up with a scheme during Haruna's draft season? Could they be secret training buddies? I'd love to see Haruna preening at the chance to show off his knowledge, dedication and prowess, and Mihashi's diligence and hunger for pitching power and speed getting them both fired up.
Yes, Please: nonverbal communication, rivals-to-friends and friends-to-rivals, secret relationship tropes, buddy comedy, road trip or shopping trip hijinx, montage or vignettes of developing relationships, after hours at the batting cages, hero worship, body worship, bullying as bonding, story in the form of text logs/modern epistolary
DNW: holiday/seasonal stories, Akimaru as Haruna's lackey, internalized homophobia, vivid descriptions of joint injuries, career-ending injuries, angst without a hopeful ending, jealousy as a plot point, a/b/o dynamics.
I have been re-reading since the hiatus ended but am not caught up to the chapters in volume 28, so I'd prefer no game spoilers for current manga arc ETA: I have volume 28 now and MY FEELINGS so you can include references to whatever canon you like! If you're anime-only, never fear-- anything about Mihashi's awe of Haruna's ability or emphasizing their mutual respect for how hard they each work is delightful. Maybe they risk watching or playing a pickup game with younger neighborhood kids? If you want to include pairings, but not with the requested characters, they are welcome-- so long as the focus is on Haruna and Mihashi building a better understanding of each other (and the catcher they have in common). I just love everyone in this canon, so additional characters joining the fun will be a treat.
SHINGEKI NO BAHAMUT: VIRGIN SOUL - Nina Drango, Favaro Leone
Request: Thirsty Redheads: Apprentice and Mentor Edition! That is to say, I loved the episode focused on Nina and Favaro's brief training time together, and greatly enjoy their dynamic and the way she mirrors a lot of his traits from Genesis. Missing scenes from their time as "Master" and "apprentice", or scenes from the present-day of the canon of their adventurous hijinks fomenting civil unrest in the capitol would lend to the sort of swashbuckling action the show does so well. I'd be interested in a postcanon take on their feelings around Amira and Charioce, or Bahamut and Chris. Favaro meeting Nina's totally epic grandma and trading a tall tale for some secret power or object (or the company of the right beauty, knowing that guy) would make for a fun re-telling by Nina to the gang over drinks. Precious dragon girl and her sneakthief teacher/big brother/dirty uncle lying through their teeth badly and still managing to get away from some high class banquet with a whole roast pig and a bandolier of turkey legs sounds about perfect. If you want to go the sex-comedy route, Nina trying to get advice about her first time from this asshole Favaro would be great. EDITED TO ADD-- now that the series is over, I can also say that I loved the ending, so if you want to jump off of the canon into future adventures, I would love to see how they go!
Yes, Please: buddy comedy, slapstick, lying badly, lying brilliantly, unreliable narrators, tall tales or campfire stories, found family, unwise advice, cast cameos and background pairings (especially Rita/Kaisar, or Rita/Kaisar/Favaro)
DNW: jealousy as a plot point, angst without a hopeful ending, holiday/seasonal stories.
I was so delighted to find that Nina is a mirror to Favaro and guessed that these happy-go-lucky redheads must be connected- I was thrilled to discover Favaro "mentored" Nina in the art of bounty hunting and knew I would want to ask for their adventures this year. Canon divergence and other fantasy AUs are welcome! I haven't played the Shingeki no Bahamut mobile game though, so please explain any gameplay or mechanics you might reference if you go that route.
IF the fancy strikes you to write a mundane AU or fusion/crossover, the series was done by MAPPA and they released an April fool's joke promotion suggesting Favaro was going to be swapped out of the show for Viktor Nikiforov from the studio's other project (that had a collaboration with the game earlier in the year), Yuri!!! On Ice. Nina and Favaro meeting Coach Viktor and wreaking havoc in Hasetsu would be a fun and welcome surprise-- so long as Nina and Favaro are still in the spotlight.
Thanks for reading!
In general, I love magical realism, plotty stories, character development, cyphers, mysterious artifacts, stories that involve trains or rail travel, and stories of all ratings. I'm not interested in receiving seasonal or holiday stories.
Prompts for Ghost Hound, Frozen Teardrop, Ookiku Furikabutte!, and Shingeki no Bahamut are below the cut!
Shinreigari GHOST HOUND - Komori Tarou, Oogami Makoto
Request: I'm here for anything about these two and their fraught relationship! Another kidnap and rescue, if you like high drama, would be awesome. I'd love to get into interpersonal relationship drama, if they are openly struggling to be friends despite the difficulty between the branches of the family-- or more than friends if you're inclined to explore the ways they are broken-but-together. On a different note from teens struggling with their senses of self, I would be interested to see the future where they both try to fulfill their places in the family businesses- Makoto as the fortune teller and Taro making truly mind-altering sake, or having traded family trades. If you're into writing poetical things, it would be wonderful to see Taro help Makoto try to turn their hauntings into a song, or getting together with Makoto to make or use gadgets to catch supernatural sounds for sampling in Makoto's music. Nightmares, or being trapped together, or some outside force pushing them to work together through their feelings of connectedness and forced separation- the scarier and more vulnerable for them, the better! I'm excited for gen fic as well as ship fic for these unhealthy cousins. I am a sucker for anything resembling a bully-to-protector redemption arc. I love how much tension and distance there is between Taro and Makoto at the beginning of the show, and the underlying current of affection and concern that they have for each other - a mutual desire to protect the other from harm (including the potential harm of dealing with each other, early on). I love them as awkward friends or distant relatives as much as I love them as bonded or brotherly, and anything about their difficult progress together will make me happy. I should probably note that when I say "bully to protector", I don't mean to imply that Makoto is necessarily always the bully or the protector in any of these situations, and I'd love a fic about his feelings (including those of resentment) with regards to Taro and their connections or shared experiences, for example.
Yes, Please: body horror, darkfic, established or developing relationships, angst, trauma and dissociation
DNW: character deaths without haunting, vivid descriptions of maggots, scat play, 24/7 D/s relationships, and graphic self-harm.
I think of Ghost Hound as primarily about trauma, but if you’re interested in writing the comfort payoff to all that hurt, bring it on! I could really get behind some familial comforts-of-togetherness or friends-in-solidarity bonding time.
Feel free to include other members of the cast if you are comfortable doing so! I love the needling Masayuki provides, but how different his friendship is toward each of the others is my favorite thing about him. I love how Masa's abrasiveness seems to soften over time, and Michio's confidence (and trust in the others) blossoms under the encouragement of the group. I think of Miyako as the strongest and most mature of the protagonists, and would not mind at all seeing her willingness to spring to action come into play in this gift, if you’re interested in including her.
If you came here looking for more information about the horror component I mentioned, I am SO EXCITED. I love the unsettling quality of dreams and dreamspace in the canon, and the sense of disorientation (as with the transitional space between waking and dreaming) it seems to emphasize the characters are living in. Hallucinations, physical transformations, uncontrollable emotional-bleed and memory loops are all excellent things to highlight. The canon felt very exposed to me, vulnerable and distressing but also clinical. I love the atmosphere, and how quickly it went from mundane to surreal and back. Don’t be afraid to go into elaborate detail with your scary hallucinations or flashbacks -- fresh gore and other terrors are welcome, but please avoid vivid descriptions of decomposition (especially worms or maggots).
FROZEN TEARDROP - Any (Kathy Po, Father Maxwell, Master Chang, Instructor W)
Request: I know these light novels are much loathed by a lot of the fandom, but I really enjoyed some of the character building details and the glimpse of the Mars Century the characters were dreaming of in their After Colony days. I love Kathy, and her no-nonsense attitude despite the fact that she is a Gundam novel protagonist doomed to deal with a lot of nonsense from the new generation and old fogeys alike. I'd love to see more of her thoughts on the other nominated characters and how the legend of who they were was built up, not just by her mom in fond recollection, by the society their interventions created. Chang's long-term management in the Preventers sticks out as one of the few consistencies in the lives of the pilots postwar experiences-- sure enough, he gets the job done through persistence and has a lasting effect unlike any other. All of these poor fools at the end of the epilogue having to deal with Father Maxwell becoming President Maxwell would also make for a great adventure-- maybe involving Mars' new high speed railways? Maybe a smuggling case involving Instructor W's work as a disavowed-and-disowned castoff of the Winner corporation sees new suits or full-body/spinal column mech integration plans for the Zero System's next next next gen fall into dangerous hands, or former debtors are leaning on Maxwell for a sweet business deal? Kathy as interpersonal investigator of the wreckage of these friendships, or Chang's Girl Friday, or the spitting image of Sally not taking any of Maxwell's shit or W's sweetness would warm my little heart.
Yes Please: casefic, stories in the form of news or reports, on-the-job-training, office comedy, hard sci-fi setting treated as utterly mundane, Kathy matchmaking, character studies, found family.
DNW: holiday stories, Relena-hate or 1xR bashing, references to 1x2 (Heero/Duo) or 13x5 (Treize/Wufei), a/b/o dynamics.
If you're into including more than the nominated four, I love all of the original series cast, and new characters Alpha, Duo Junior and Trowa Phobos. If you'd like to include pairings, anything goes with the nominated adults but please keep Kathy with her peers.
OOKIKU FURIKABUTTE - Haruna Motoki, Mihashi Ren
Request: I've been re-reading lately and thinking fondly of Mihashi and Haruna having their pitching genius bonding session while Abe and Akimaru sort of sulked and watched the pitchers grope each other. My simple desires are for Mihashi to have a friend who appreciates his strength and stamina despite being definitively better and encouraging him to go pro, and for Haruna to have a kouhai or friend who isn't terrified of him or tired of his shit, who can give him a chance to shine as a teacher and motivator. I feel like their dynamic could take many roads to infuriatingly good friendship, or build a future dynamic between them as a pro starter and relief team, and want to read all the possibilities your heart (or theirs) might contain. I love that these baseball nuts have fun together, despite how different they seem. Do they come up with a scheme during Haruna's draft season? Could they be secret training buddies? I'd love to see Haruna preening at the chance to show off his knowledge, dedication and prowess, and Mihashi's diligence and hunger for pitching power and speed getting them both fired up.
Yes, Please: nonverbal communication, rivals-to-friends and friends-to-rivals, secret relationship tropes, buddy comedy, road trip or shopping trip hijinx, montage or vignettes of developing relationships, after hours at the batting cages, hero worship, body worship, bullying as bonding, story in the form of text logs/modern epistolary
DNW: holiday/seasonal stories, Akimaru as Haruna's lackey, internalized homophobia, vivid descriptions of joint injuries, career-ending injuries, angst without a hopeful ending, jealousy as a plot point, a/b/o dynamics.
I have been re-reading since the hiatus ended but am not caught up to the chapters in volume 28, so I'd prefer no game spoilers for current manga arc ETA: I have volume 28 now and MY FEELINGS so you can include references to whatever canon you like! If you're anime-only, never fear-- anything about Mihashi's awe of Haruna's ability or emphasizing their mutual respect for how hard they each work is delightful. Maybe they risk watching or playing a pickup game with younger neighborhood kids? If you want to include pairings, but not with the requested characters, they are welcome-- so long as the focus is on Haruna and Mihashi building a better understanding of each other (and the catcher they have in common). I just love everyone in this canon, so additional characters joining the fun will be a treat.
SHINGEKI NO BAHAMUT: VIRGIN SOUL - Nina Drango, Favaro Leone
Request: Thirsty Redheads: Apprentice and Mentor Edition! That is to say, I loved the episode focused on Nina and Favaro's brief training time together, and greatly enjoy their dynamic and the way she mirrors a lot of his traits from Genesis. Missing scenes from their time as "Master" and "apprentice", or scenes from the present-day of the canon of their adventurous hijinks fomenting civil unrest in the capitol would lend to the sort of swashbuckling action the show does so well. I'd be interested in a postcanon take on their feelings around Amira and Charioce, or Bahamut and Chris. Favaro meeting Nina's totally epic grandma and trading a tall tale for some secret power or object (or the company of the right beauty, knowing that guy) would make for a fun re-telling by Nina to the gang over drinks. Precious dragon girl and her sneakthief teacher/big brother/dirty uncle lying through their teeth badly and still managing to get away from some high class banquet with a whole roast pig and a bandolier of turkey legs sounds about perfect. If you want to go the sex-comedy route, Nina trying to get advice about her first time from this asshole Favaro would be great. EDITED TO ADD-- now that the series is over, I can also say that I loved the ending, so if you want to jump off of the canon into future adventures, I would love to see how they go!
Yes, Please: buddy comedy, slapstick, lying badly, lying brilliantly, unreliable narrators, tall tales or campfire stories, found family, unwise advice, cast cameos and background pairings (especially Rita/Kaisar, or Rita/Kaisar/Favaro)
DNW: jealousy as a plot point, angst without a hopeful ending, holiday/seasonal stories.
I was so delighted to find that Nina is a mirror to Favaro and guessed that these happy-go-lucky redheads must be connected- I was thrilled to discover Favaro "mentored" Nina in the art of bounty hunting and knew I would want to ask for their adventures this year. Canon divergence and other fantasy AUs are welcome! I haven't played the Shingeki no Bahamut mobile game though, so please explain any gameplay or mechanics you might reference if you go that route.
IF the fancy strikes you to write a mundane AU or fusion/crossover, the series was done by MAPPA and they released an April fool's joke promotion suggesting Favaro was going to be swapped out of the show for Viktor Nikiforov from the studio's other project (that had a collaboration with the game earlier in the year), Yuri!!! On Ice. Nina and Favaro meeting Coach Viktor and wreaking havoc in Hasetsu would be a fun and welcome surprise-- so long as Nina and Favaro are still in the spotlight.
Thanks for reading!