Dear Yuletide Writer
I love all of the fandoms and characters I'm requesting, so if one section seems longer or shorter than another, it's due to how much I had to say, not how much I love the request (see: having requested "Any" for LLtQ and writing about each character possibly matched on). They are all fandoms of my heart, and I'm excited at the possibility of receiving any of them.
Also, this letter is super long, so please don't feel obligated to read it all. If you already have an idea of what you want to do from just the AO3 requests, go for it! This is all to (I hope) make it easier on you, and I am a big believer in optional details being optional. There being fic for my fandoms will make me happy. Everything else is icing for delicious, delicious cake.
This year I'm asking for four video game fandoms: Hatoful Kareshi/Hatoful Boyfriend (Tosaka Hiyoko|Hunter-Gatherer Girl, Iwamine Shuu), Long Live the Queen (any), Magical Diary (Ellen Middleton, Hieronymous Grabiner, Main Character), and Monster Loves You! (Spine Doctor). If you're really not feeling the request you matched on, here's hoping you know one of the others! They're all fairly short games and all available on Steam. They're also (in my fairly biased opinion) all lots of fun!
Fair warning: this letter will contain spoilers, so if you haven't played a game and want to go into it with fresh eyes, you'll want to skip that section.
For ease of stalking: tuesday on AO3 everysecondtuesday on tumblr
General Likes:
I'm happy with gen or romance. If you go the romance route, I'm good with f/f, f/m, m/m, poly, and ace.
I like both long and short fic, so go where the story leads you!
A list of tropes and themes I adore include AUs (modern, regency, historic, magic, college, cyberpunk, steampunk, canon divergence, everyone lives, end of the world, all the AUs), arranged marriage & marriage of convenience, soulbonds & soulmates, pining, first times, apocalypse, worldbuilding, friends to lovers, IN SPACE, family, found family, friendship, political machinations, intrigue, time travel, mysteries, time loops, didn't know they're dating, magic, ghosts, shenanigans, drunken shenanigans, woke up married, prank wars, wooing, extended courtships, whirlwind romance, political negotiations, alliances of convenience, training, slice of life, character study, plot, pwp, developing relationships/friendships, character has the chance to re-do/relive events, aliens, robots, mermaids, monsters, dragons, reincarnation, pregnancy/adoption/kid fic, matchmaking, mysteries, isolation, trapped together, comedy of errors, competence, communication, codas, future fic, fusions - this list could go on forever, so I'll finally stop myself here.
Feel free to go as dark or fluffy or creepy or cracked out as your heart desires. I'd prefer a happy, hopeful, bittersweet, or ray of light in the distance ending, even if it's just a where there's life there's hope situation.
DNWs:
Literally the only things that could keep me from reading a gift fic are non-con and rapeplay.
Because I listed AUs above, I feel like I should mention there are AUs I'm just not into anymore (though I have enjoyed some fic with them in the past) - slavery, serial killer, mafia, prison, and sex worker AUs.
I'm not really into infidelity (poly or marriage only as an arrangement is fine! I just prefer everyone involved to know and be okay with what's going on), underage (sixteen or up is fine), incest (my exceptions are not in any of these fandoms), or eye trauma.
As said above, I'd like even my unhappy endings to come with a grain of hope, so please no permanent major character death unless otherwise indicated. I'll go into this more (including talk of canon character deaths) in each fandom section, though I'll note here that there are options for where I'll happily roll with some character death in three of the four fandoms.
Hatoful Kareshi|Hatoful Boyfriend (Tosaka Hiyoko|Hunter-Gatherer Girl, Iwamine Shuu):
Short summary/promotion: Hatoful Boyfriend is a dating sim about pigeons. (No, wait, don't go!) It starts as a delightfully cracky send-up of the average dating sim. As you play, though, you get a number of indications that things aren't quite right in this world you inhabit (besides, y'know, being a human in an all-birds school where you still date your fellow students), and for such a weird premise, it hits you with a hell of a lot of feelings.
Links:
HF Dev site (includes free demo)
HF on Humble Bundle (50% off through the 20th)
HF on Steam
General talk:
I've played through every ending of Hatoful Boyfriend, including both Bad Boys Love endings. I haven't listened to any of the Drama CDs or read the comics, and I'm only vaguely familiar with Holiday Star. That said, if there's some detail from the extra canon you want to include, go for it! I'm cool with spoilers for this fandom.
Hiyoko is my favorite! Shuu was one of my favorite romances, mostly for the dark humor the game kept springing on me. ("Did . . . did I just eat the evidence of the murder I unknowingly aided? Is that what this gift was?")
Exceptions to my Likes/DNWs:
For this fandom, I'm okay with permanent character death so long as it's not Hiyoko, Shuu, or Oto San (if you randomly decide to include him). I don't consider the BBL canon endings to be permanent character death for Hiyoko. I mean, we've still got her head in a jar, right? Also, if you want to set something after the canon Hiyoko/Shuu ending (in the afterlife, I guess?), I would be fully alright with that (so, y'know, I guess you can go with them already killed off if you like!).
While I tend to prefer something with a happy, hopeful, or bittersweet ending, feel free to write darker themes if that's what grabs you.
This is the only fandom where porn is a DNW (unless you go for some sort of all human AU). Romance? Sure! Fade to black? Okay! Explicit? Not my thing for this fandom.
Prompts:
If you want something more specific than anything from that long list of likes, I have got you covered!
Something gen: What's it like to be the only human in an all-bird school? Does Hiyoko ever experience culture shock? What happened after her parents died (and is that related to why she lives in a cave and is doing the hunter-gatherer thing)? Taking BBL into account, how far do Shuu's machinations extend - is the promise why Hiyoko was chosen as the test case human?
Something shippy: What drew these two together? Exactly how much did Hiyoko suspect? Or maybe a canon branch AU in which Shuu actually managed to escape with Hiyoko's severed head into the night, free to resurrect his beloved lab assistant/favorite experiment subject and turn her into a cyborg abomination! Do they live happily ever after, or does a little bit of dissection and murder come between them?
Something dark: This fandom seems tailor made for body horror and apocafic. Alternately, if you want something dark and cracky, I feel like there's a lot to work with when it comes to the school store (does Shuu make those quill pens himself? in what other ways does the Hawk Party and its scientists brazenly do away with the evidence?) and Shuu's choice in presents (is it just courtship? or does he respond to giri-choco (giri-seeds, I guess?) with tasteful, gruesome gifts as well?).
Something explicit: You've decided to write that all humans AU? Two words: infirmary sex.
Long Live the Queen (Any):
Short summary/promotion: You play (and plot the development) of Elodie, Nova's princess and soon-to-be queen, recalled from boarding school with the death of her mother. Elodie has one year of tutors before she's crowned and takes on full-time duties, but she's still expected to make major decisions that will determine the shape of Nova's future (and her own). This game is a delightful mix of cracky and serious, with political intrigue galore. It's entirely too easy for Elodie to go on to her grave instead of to rule, but there are any number of vastly different play styles that can see her through, and the game lets you know what skill checks it makes, so you'll have an idea of what you might want to work on in future playthroughs. It's a quick game if you're concerned just with beating it, but if you're curious about the world and the possibilities, it can eat up a lot of time, as there are a ton of options for both how to win and how Nova (and Elodie) turns out.
Links:
LLtQ Dev site
LLtq on Steam
LLtQ Wiki
General talk:
I've asked for "any" because I seriously would be happy with literally any of the nominated characters in any combination of appearance. I love all eight of these ladies. Whatever character you offered, I'd love to read their fic!
If you're hoping to write ship fic this Yuletide, some ships I like for this fandom include Elodie/Brin, Elodie/Briony, and Julianna/Selene (though I'm not expecting this, as Selene wasn't even nominated). If none of those appeal, pretty much any femslash combo where they're not related is probably something I would be all over. Alternately, if you'd like to explore any of the canon relationships or any of the romance options, I'd be up for it.
Exceptions to my Likes/DNWs:
Kill everyone! Okay, no, wait, that came out wrong. What I'm saying here, though, is that this is a game where no one is safe, and I am cool with that. Want to write "Five (More) Ways Elodie Died"? Go for it! Interested in an "Elodie the bloodthirsty tyrant" story that explores how the other characters deal with that? So am I!
Prompts:
I'm doing this prompts section a bit different than the others, mostly because eight characters is a bit much for trying to have four prompt types each, especially when I don't know what combination you're offering (or if maybe, adventurously, you yourself chose "any"). Instead, you get something for each character, plus some prompts of each type that I hope will work for any of them.
Arisse: Arisse has so much going on! All the bits revealed by intrigue are just, well, intriguing! What's going on with her family? Oh, man, and the variety of relationships you can have with her - from a great ally to out to oust you. I pretty much fell in love with her, though, when Elodie danced with her at the ball. Also, the needlepoint cushion! Did she make that herself?
Brin: Brin is so much trouble, but adorable at the same time. War! Dancing! Poison flowers! Romancing her is a trip, but then, alternately, there is arranging a marriage for her. Just. Brin.
Briony: Briony's boredom and love for adventure made me fall for her. First I was excited about Elodie getting letters from someone, but then I got to go into the forest and be a daring knight! *___* Uh, and then I got a million death endings during my daring rescue, because I was too stubborn to go to the wiki for far too long. But seriously, Briony and adventure, whether with Elodie or others, is something I am all over. Also, man, her family - how does she deal with those revelations?
Charlotte: If Brin is adorable, Charlotte is adorable squared. She is such a good cousin and such a good person. She strikes me as really tenderhearted and kind of sheltered (almost as much as Elodie when you first start the game) - how did that happen with how sharp and delightfully scheming her mom is? Her relationship with her parents, her relationship with Elodie, her discovery of her Lumen powers (and how it works that she can use the healing side of them without her mom's crystal - is this like with what you find out about Elodie's extra powers if you have high enough Lore?), there is just so much about her I'd like to see explored.
Elodie: Elodie has my love in all her incarnations. My favorite playthroughs involve her being a Lumen, but wow was it satisfying to go all "softer" options and still win the day through the power of singing and words. Whether you write Elodie kind or cruel, intensely militaristic or into intrigue, a lumen or looking to win the day without magic, I'm sure I'll enjoy it.
Julianna: The aspect that most intrigued me about Julianna (besides, well, my rampant speculation about her relationship with Selene) was how determined she is to serve magic and the crown, not the queen. She's as patient as she needs to be, and while she seems to prefer trying the kinder path first, she doesn't shy away from harder options. The reveal about her basically being the keeper of the lore for Lumens and taking that very seriously makes so much sense to me when you pair it with all the different prison outcomes. (Yes, yes, I did get the killed by chains ending, why do you ask?)
Bonus: Not feeling any of these characters for some reason? There is always worldbuilding! Lumens and Nova's history both fascinate me. What exactly happened with the last capital? How do other countries treat Lumens? Are there other lurking horrors like the kraken, sleeping deep beneath and all too easy to wake? (Are there people who want to wake them?) There's a lot of interesting stuff that comes up in the flavor text and that's inherent to the setting. Feel free to explore any of it!
Something gen: What is court like? What's the average day in the life for [character of your choice]? What are their motivations, and what are they willing to do to achieve their goals?
Something shippy: How do [f/f ship of your choice] deal with the practicalities of line of succession/the need for an heir? The Elodie end option of openly taking a companion? The Elodie end option of arranging marriages in name and for progeny, but done in such a way as to more easily facilitate their preferred relationship? Naming a relative as successor and ignoring marriage entirely? Something else altogether?
Something dark: Lumen powers gone wrong! Assassins and intrigue! A monarch with a taste for blood! Roaming monsters and horrors in the deeps! I feel like there's a lot both in the setting and with the characters that can be made (or already is) as creepy or horrifying as anyone could ask for.
Something explicit: Lumen powers used for pleasure, stolen moments at a royal ball or in tents on the march, throne sex - whatever strikes your fancy.
Magical Diary (Ellen Middleton, Hieronymous Grabiner, Main Character):
Short summary/promotion: Magical Diary is by the same people who did Long Live the Queen. You play as a new wildseed (muggleborn) student at a magic school. There's romance, friendship, adventure, school clubs, and trying to pass your classes. Depending on what storyline and actions you pursue, you can be eaten by a demon, fall into an arranged marriage, help head a conspiracy, and more!
Links:
MD Dev site
MD on Steam
MD Wiki
MD detailed walkthrough
General talk:
While I'm personally fond of the tongue-in-cheek default of Mary Sue, any name you want to use for the MC is fine. My head canon for her tends toward Ellen's body shape and Virginia's skin tone, but again, I'm cool with whatever. It's always interesting to see what other people go with.
Though I've requested three characters, Ellen, Hieronymous, and the MC, if you want to write just Ellen and the MC or Hieronymous and the MC, that's fine! This is your official permission.
If you want to write ship fic, for the requested characters, I like both MC/Ellen and MC/Hieronymous.
Also, if you want to include other characters, even though I've not requested him, I do love Donald a lot (number one favorite friends path, number two favorite romance path to replay). I'm also super fond of Virginia, Minnie, Potsdam, and Big Steve. The only characters I have zero interest in reading about are Kyo and Damien (though I did greatly enjoy the many outcomes of Damien's path!).
Exceptions to my Likes/DNWs:
None.
Prompts:
Something gen: Ellen's conspiracy, omg, becoming an Architect was my favorite game moment. I would love more about this or about her applying the scientific process to magic in general. Or how about something to do with the game's other conspiracy, the revenge club? Maybe something with Ellen and the MC bonding over being wildseeds (perhaps that summer spent together if you took Ellen's friendship path)? If you'd prefer something with Grabiner, maybe something to do with his position overseeing the student council? How did he end up with that? What if in some universe the MC won the election for Student President? How might that go?
Something shippy: Ellen and MC, a day in the life of magic scientist girlfriends. Science dates! Planning cabal meetings in between make-outs! Or for a Grabiner prompt, perhaps something exploring their fake, forced marriage turning real? They decided to try at the end of the game - how does that turn out?
Something dark: Revenge club! Magic accidents! A world where there are demons that want to eat your essence! Ghosts! Bargains gone disastrously! The spirit world is creepy, and with magic, so much can go wrong.
Something explicit: Ellen and MC apply the scientific method - to sex. Does Ellen use her camera for this, too? MC and Grabiner finally consummate their marriage. Is he as kinky as MC snarked, or does he turn out to be rather vanilla and secretly romantic? For either ship, sex and magic, or perhaps sex magic? (Is that a thing in this setting?)
Monster Loves You! (Spine Doctor):
Short summary/promotion: Congratulations, you're a baby monster, determined to grow into an adult monster and take on everything life throws at you! You have a number of decisions to make, as what you do determines what you are (and what your world turns out like). Do you save your fellow monster baby from drowning, watch him die slowly with untempered fascination, or consume his delicious soon-to-be corpse? Do you defend the human child from those dastardly bullies, chortle at his delightful tears, or treat them all as a walking feast? Be kind, be clever, be brave, be fierce. Protect your loved ones or push them in the mud to watch them cry. Break things, fix things, figure out how this quirky world works. EAT EVERYTHING.
Links:
Dev site (includes app links)
Steam
General talk:
This is probably the fastest game to play, maybe an hour at most for a single playthrough, but I have something like ten on my Steam record, along with all the achievements. The world and culture of monsters fascinates me, as well as how they interact with that of the humans.
The Spine Doctor is probably my favorite character, but if you want to include any others (from named characters to one-events) or OCs, go for it! You'll probably want someone for the Spine Doctor to interact with, unless you want to go the "only monster left alive, living alone in the mountains and trying to get a new goo pool up and running" route, which could also be interesting! (No, seriously, I've just decided, let's make that one of my prompts. Apocafic in all its glory.)
Exceptions to my Likes/DNWs:
I've (obviously) played through every ending, and the only one I'm not interested in is the pets/monsters enslaved ending. Does this mean you can kill off any other character you bring in by going with one of the war or wiped out endings? Yes! Even if you want to ignore those endings - so long as the Spine Doctor survives, I am totally cool with character death here.
Prompts:
Something gen: What's the average day in the life like for the Spine Doctor? How does one become the Spine Doctor, anyway? Were there Spine Doctors before this one? Or maybe something about the Spine Doctor in position of mentor and unofficial counselor - is the player character the only one who's been sent to the forest for ferns and a spot of soul-searching?
Something shippy: What is monster romance like? Does the Spine Doctor have suitors? Maybe something about a star-crossed human-monster romance?
Something dark: This is a game in which you can collect baby teeth, eat your fellow monsters, and consume small children as you will. If writing about being the monster under the bed doesn't interest you, perhaps something to do with the spirits you encounter when transitioning to adulthood? And with the all monsters dead ending, this fandom is also ripe for apocafic.
Something explicit: With the whole genetic sludge pool thing, the question remains - do monsters have sex? What is that like? Perhaps an age of friendship ending in which that human-monster romance gets a happy ending in more ways than one?
If you've made it this far, I'd like to thank you for participating in Yuletide. This is my favorite yearly challenge, and I am ridiculously excited for and about it.
My number one hope for my gift fic is that my writer has a good time with it, so let me emphasize again that I'm just happy that there will be more fic for one of these fandoms. This monster of a letter was mostly an excuse to enthuse about tiny fandoms, and I truly hope it doesn't put you off or make you worry about whether you can make any of the prompts work. Whatever you end up writing, I'm hoping it's something you enjoy about the fandom and have fun writing.
Have a happy Yuletide! ♥
This entry was originally posted at https://everysecondtuesday.dreamwidth.org/104248.html. If you'd like, comment there with openID.(DW comment count:
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Also, this letter is super long, so please don't feel obligated to read it all. If you already have an idea of what you want to do from just the AO3 requests, go for it! This is all to (I hope) make it easier on you, and I am a big believer in optional details being optional. There being fic for my fandoms will make me happy. Everything else is icing for delicious, delicious cake.
This year I'm asking for four video game fandoms: Hatoful Kareshi/Hatoful Boyfriend (Tosaka Hiyoko|Hunter-Gatherer Girl, Iwamine Shuu), Long Live the Queen (any), Magical Diary (Ellen Middleton, Hieronymous Grabiner, Main Character), and Monster Loves You! (Spine Doctor). If you're really not feeling the request you matched on, here's hoping you know one of the others! They're all fairly short games and all available on Steam. They're also (in my fairly biased opinion) all lots of fun!
Fair warning: this letter will contain spoilers, so if you haven't played a game and want to go into it with fresh eyes, you'll want to skip that section.
For ease of stalking: tuesday on AO3 everysecondtuesday on tumblr
General Likes:
I'm happy with gen or romance. If you go the romance route, I'm good with f/f, f/m, m/m, poly, and ace.
I like both long and short fic, so go where the story leads you!
A list of tropes and themes I adore include AUs (modern, regency, historic, magic, college, cyberpunk, steampunk, canon divergence, everyone lives, end of the world, all the AUs), arranged marriage & marriage of convenience, soulbonds & soulmates, pining, first times, apocalypse, worldbuilding, friends to lovers, IN SPACE, family, found family, friendship, political machinations, intrigue, time travel, mysteries, time loops, didn't know they're dating, magic, ghosts, shenanigans, drunken shenanigans, woke up married, prank wars, wooing, extended courtships, whirlwind romance, political negotiations, alliances of convenience, training, slice of life, character study, plot, pwp, developing relationships/friendships, character has the chance to re-do/relive events, aliens, robots, mermaids, monsters, dragons, reincarnation, pregnancy/adoption/kid fic, matchmaking, mysteries, isolation, trapped together, comedy of errors, competence, communication, codas, future fic, fusions - this list could go on forever, so I'll finally stop myself here.
Feel free to go as dark or fluffy or creepy or cracked out as your heart desires. I'd prefer a happy, hopeful, bittersweet, or ray of light in the distance ending, even if it's just a where there's life there's hope situation.
DNWs:
Literally the only things that could keep me from reading a gift fic are non-con and rapeplay.
Because I listed AUs above, I feel like I should mention there are AUs I'm just not into anymore (though I have enjoyed some fic with them in the past) - slavery, serial killer, mafia, prison, and sex worker AUs.
I'm not really into infidelity (poly or marriage only as an arrangement is fine! I just prefer everyone involved to know and be okay with what's going on), underage (sixteen or up is fine), incest (my exceptions are not in any of these fandoms), or eye trauma.
As said above, I'd like even my unhappy endings to come with a grain of hope, so please no permanent major character death unless otherwise indicated. I'll go into this more (including talk of canon character deaths) in each fandom section, though I'll note here that there are options for where I'll happily roll with some character death in three of the four fandoms.
Hatoful Kareshi|Hatoful Boyfriend (Tosaka Hiyoko|Hunter-Gatherer Girl, Iwamine Shuu):
Short summary/promotion: Hatoful Boyfriend is a dating sim about pigeons. (No, wait, don't go!) It starts as a delightfully cracky send-up of the average dating sim. As you play, though, you get a number of indications that things aren't quite right in this world you inhabit (besides, y'know, being a human in an all-birds school where you still date your fellow students), and for such a weird premise, it hits you with a hell of a lot of feelings.
Links:
HF Dev site (includes free demo)
HF on Humble Bundle (50% off through the 20th)
HF on Steam
General talk:
I've played through every ending of Hatoful Boyfriend, including both Bad Boys Love endings. I haven't listened to any of the Drama CDs or read the comics, and I'm only vaguely familiar with Holiday Star. That said, if there's some detail from the extra canon you want to include, go for it! I'm cool with spoilers for this fandom.
Hiyoko is my favorite! Shuu was one of my favorite romances, mostly for the dark humor the game kept springing on me. ("Did . . . did I just eat the evidence of the murder I unknowingly aided? Is that what this gift was?")
Exceptions to my Likes/DNWs:
For this fandom, I'm okay with permanent character death so long as it's not Hiyoko, Shuu, or Oto San (if you randomly decide to include him). I don't consider the BBL canon endings to be permanent character death for Hiyoko. I mean, we've still got her head in a jar, right? Also, if you want to set something after the canon Hiyoko/Shuu ending (in the afterlife, I guess?), I would be fully alright with that (so, y'know, I guess you can go with them already killed off if you like!).
While I tend to prefer something with a happy, hopeful, or bittersweet ending, feel free to write darker themes if that's what grabs you.
This is the only fandom where porn is a DNW (unless you go for some sort of all human AU). Romance? Sure! Fade to black? Okay! Explicit? Not my thing for this fandom.
Prompts:
If you want something more specific than anything from that long list of likes, I have got you covered!
Something gen: What's it like to be the only human in an all-bird school? Does Hiyoko ever experience culture shock? What happened after her parents died (and is that related to why she lives in a cave and is doing the hunter-gatherer thing)? Taking BBL into account, how far do Shuu's machinations extend - is the promise why Hiyoko was chosen as the test case human?
Something shippy: What drew these two together? Exactly how much did Hiyoko suspect? Or maybe a canon branch AU in which Shuu actually managed to escape with Hiyoko's severed head into the night, free to resurrect his beloved lab assistant/favorite experiment subject and turn her into a cyborg abomination! Do they live happily ever after, or does a little bit of dissection and murder come between them?
Something dark: This fandom seems tailor made for body horror and apocafic. Alternately, if you want something dark and cracky, I feel like there's a lot to work with when it comes to the school store (does Shuu make those quill pens himself? in what other ways does the Hawk Party and its scientists brazenly do away with the evidence?) and Shuu's choice in presents (is it just courtship? or does he respond to giri-choco (giri-seeds, I guess?) with tasteful, gruesome gifts as well?).
Something explicit: You've decided to write that all humans AU? Two words: infirmary sex.
Long Live the Queen (Any):
Short summary/promotion: You play (and plot the development) of Elodie, Nova's princess and soon-to-be queen, recalled from boarding school with the death of her mother. Elodie has one year of tutors before she's crowned and takes on full-time duties, but she's still expected to make major decisions that will determine the shape of Nova's future (and her own). This game is a delightful mix of cracky and serious, with political intrigue galore. It's entirely too easy for Elodie to go on to her grave instead of to rule, but there are any number of vastly different play styles that can see her through, and the game lets you know what skill checks it makes, so you'll have an idea of what you might want to work on in future playthroughs. It's a quick game if you're concerned just with beating it, but if you're curious about the world and the possibilities, it can eat up a lot of time, as there are a ton of options for both how to win and how Nova (and Elodie) turns out.
Links:
LLtQ Dev site
LLtq on Steam
LLtQ Wiki
General talk:
I've asked for "any" because I seriously would be happy with literally any of the nominated characters in any combination of appearance. I love all eight of these ladies. Whatever character you offered, I'd love to read their fic!
If you're hoping to write ship fic this Yuletide, some ships I like for this fandom include Elodie/Brin, Elodie/Briony, and Julianna/Selene (though I'm not expecting this, as Selene wasn't even nominated). If none of those appeal, pretty much any femslash combo where they're not related is probably something I would be all over. Alternately, if you'd like to explore any of the canon relationships or any of the romance options, I'd be up for it.
Exceptions to my Likes/DNWs:
Kill everyone! Okay, no, wait, that came out wrong. What I'm saying here, though, is that this is a game where no one is safe, and I am cool with that. Want to write "Five (More) Ways Elodie Died"? Go for it! Interested in an "Elodie the bloodthirsty tyrant" story that explores how the other characters deal with that? So am I!
Prompts:
I'm doing this prompts section a bit different than the others, mostly because eight characters is a bit much for trying to have four prompt types each, especially when I don't know what combination you're offering (or if maybe, adventurously, you yourself chose "any"). Instead, you get something for each character, plus some prompts of each type that I hope will work for any of them.
Arisse: Arisse has so much going on! All the bits revealed by intrigue are just, well, intriguing! What's going on with her family? Oh, man, and the variety of relationships you can have with her - from a great ally to out to oust you. I pretty much fell in love with her, though, when Elodie danced with her at the ball. Also, the needlepoint cushion! Did she make that herself?
Brin: Brin is so much trouble, but adorable at the same time. War! Dancing! Poison flowers! Romancing her is a trip, but then, alternately, there is arranging a marriage for her. Just. Brin.
Briony: Briony's boredom and love for adventure made me fall for her. First I was excited about Elodie getting letters from someone, but then I got to go into the forest and be a daring knight! *___* Uh, and then I got a million death endings during my daring rescue, because I was too stubborn to go to the wiki for far too long. But seriously, Briony and adventure, whether with Elodie or others, is something I am all over. Also, man, her family - how does she deal with those revelations?
Charlotte: If Brin is adorable, Charlotte is adorable squared. She is such a good cousin and such a good person. She strikes me as really tenderhearted and kind of sheltered (almost as much as Elodie when you first start the game) - how did that happen with how sharp and delightfully scheming her mom is? Her relationship with her parents, her relationship with Elodie, her discovery of her Lumen powers (and how it works that she can use the healing side of them without her mom's crystal - is this like with what you find out about Elodie's extra powers if you have high enough Lore?), there is just so much about her I'd like to see explored.
Elodie: Elodie has my love in all her incarnations. My favorite playthroughs involve her being a Lumen, but wow was it satisfying to go all "softer" options and still win the day through the power of singing and words. Whether you write Elodie kind or cruel, intensely militaristic or into intrigue, a lumen or looking to win the day without magic, I'm sure I'll enjoy it.
Julianna: The aspect that most intrigued me about Julianna (besides, well, my rampant speculation about her relationship with Selene) was how determined she is to serve magic and the crown, not the queen. She's as patient as she needs to be, and while she seems to prefer trying the kinder path first, she doesn't shy away from harder options. The reveal about her basically being the keeper of the lore for Lumens and taking that very seriously makes so much sense to me when you pair it with all the different prison outcomes. (Yes, yes, I did get the killed by chains ending, why do you ask?)
Bonus: Not feeling any of these characters for some reason? There is always worldbuilding! Lumens and Nova's history both fascinate me. What exactly happened with the last capital? How do other countries treat Lumens? Are there other lurking horrors like the kraken, sleeping deep beneath and all too easy to wake? (Are there people who want to wake them?) There's a lot of interesting stuff that comes up in the flavor text and that's inherent to the setting. Feel free to explore any of it!
Something gen: What is court like? What's the average day in the life for [character of your choice]? What are their motivations, and what are they willing to do to achieve their goals?
Something shippy: How do [f/f ship of your choice] deal with the practicalities of line of succession/the need for an heir? The Elodie end option of openly taking a companion? The Elodie end option of arranging marriages in name and for progeny, but done in such a way as to more easily facilitate their preferred relationship? Naming a relative as successor and ignoring marriage entirely? Something else altogether?
Something dark: Lumen powers gone wrong! Assassins and intrigue! A monarch with a taste for blood! Roaming monsters and horrors in the deeps! I feel like there's a lot both in the setting and with the characters that can be made (or already is) as creepy or horrifying as anyone could ask for.
Something explicit: Lumen powers used for pleasure, stolen moments at a royal ball or in tents on the march, throne sex - whatever strikes your fancy.
Magical Diary (Ellen Middleton, Hieronymous Grabiner, Main Character):
Short summary/promotion: Magical Diary is by the same people who did Long Live the Queen. You play as a new wildseed (muggleborn) student at a magic school. There's romance, friendship, adventure, school clubs, and trying to pass your classes. Depending on what storyline and actions you pursue, you can be eaten by a demon, fall into an arranged marriage, help head a conspiracy, and more!
Links:
MD Dev site
MD on Steam
MD Wiki
MD detailed walkthrough
General talk:
While I'm personally fond of the tongue-in-cheek default of Mary Sue, any name you want to use for the MC is fine. My head canon for her tends toward Ellen's body shape and Virginia's skin tone, but again, I'm cool with whatever. It's always interesting to see what other people go with.
Though I've requested three characters, Ellen, Hieronymous, and the MC, if you want to write just Ellen and the MC or Hieronymous and the MC, that's fine! This is your official permission.
If you want to write ship fic, for the requested characters, I like both MC/Ellen and MC/Hieronymous.
Also, if you want to include other characters, even though I've not requested him, I do love Donald a lot (number one favorite friends path, number two favorite romance path to replay). I'm also super fond of Virginia, Minnie, Potsdam, and Big Steve. The only characters I have zero interest in reading about are Kyo and Damien (though I did greatly enjoy the many outcomes of Damien's path!).
Exceptions to my Likes/DNWs:
None.
Prompts:
Something gen: Ellen's conspiracy, omg, becoming an Architect was my favorite game moment. I would love more about this or about her applying the scientific process to magic in general. Or how about something to do with the game's other conspiracy, the revenge club? Maybe something with Ellen and the MC bonding over being wildseeds (perhaps that summer spent together if you took Ellen's friendship path)? If you'd prefer something with Grabiner, maybe something to do with his position overseeing the student council? How did he end up with that? What if in some universe the MC won the election for Student President? How might that go?
Something shippy: Ellen and MC, a day in the life of magic scientist girlfriends. Science dates! Planning cabal meetings in between make-outs! Or for a Grabiner prompt, perhaps something exploring their fake, forced marriage turning real? They decided to try at the end of the game - how does that turn out?
Something dark: Revenge club! Magic accidents! A world where there are demons that want to eat your essence! Ghosts! Bargains gone disastrously! The spirit world is creepy, and with magic, so much can go wrong.
Something explicit: Ellen and MC apply the scientific method - to sex. Does Ellen use her camera for this, too? MC and Grabiner finally consummate their marriage. Is he as kinky as MC snarked, or does he turn out to be rather vanilla and secretly romantic? For either ship, sex and magic, or perhaps sex magic? (Is that a thing in this setting?)
Monster Loves You! (Spine Doctor):
Short summary/promotion: Congratulations, you're a baby monster, determined to grow into an adult monster and take on everything life throws at you! You have a number of decisions to make, as what you do determines what you are (and what your world turns out like). Do you save your fellow monster baby from drowning, watch him die slowly with untempered fascination, or consume his delicious soon-to-be corpse? Do you defend the human child from those dastardly bullies, chortle at his delightful tears, or treat them all as a walking feast? Be kind, be clever, be brave, be fierce. Protect your loved ones or push them in the mud to watch them cry. Break things, fix things, figure out how this quirky world works. EAT EVERYTHING.
Links:
Dev site (includes app links)
Steam
General talk:
This is probably the fastest game to play, maybe an hour at most for a single playthrough, but I have something like ten on my Steam record, along with all the achievements. The world and culture of monsters fascinates me, as well as how they interact with that of the humans.
The Spine Doctor is probably my favorite character, but if you want to include any others (from named characters to one-events) or OCs, go for it! You'll probably want someone for the Spine Doctor to interact with, unless you want to go the "only monster left alive, living alone in the mountains and trying to get a new goo pool up and running" route, which could also be interesting! (No, seriously, I've just decided, let's make that one of my prompts. Apocafic in all its glory.)
Exceptions to my Likes/DNWs:
I've (obviously) played through every ending, and the only one I'm not interested in is the pets/monsters enslaved ending. Does this mean you can kill off any other character you bring in by going with one of the war or wiped out endings? Yes! Even if you want to ignore those endings - so long as the Spine Doctor survives, I am totally cool with character death here.
Prompts:
Something gen: What's the average day in the life like for the Spine Doctor? How does one become the Spine Doctor, anyway? Were there Spine Doctors before this one? Or maybe something about the Spine Doctor in position of mentor and unofficial counselor - is the player character the only one who's been sent to the forest for ferns and a spot of soul-searching?
Something shippy: What is monster romance like? Does the Spine Doctor have suitors? Maybe something about a star-crossed human-monster romance?
Something dark: This is a game in which you can collect baby teeth, eat your fellow monsters, and consume small children as you will. If writing about being the monster under the bed doesn't interest you, perhaps something to do with the spirits you encounter when transitioning to adulthood? And with the all monsters dead ending, this fandom is also ripe for apocafic.
Something explicit: With the whole genetic sludge pool thing, the question remains - do monsters have sex? What is that like? Perhaps an age of friendship ending in which that human-monster romance gets a happy ending in more ways than one?
If you've made it this far, I'd like to thank you for participating in Yuletide. This is my favorite yearly challenge, and I am ridiculously excited for and about it.
My number one hope for my gift fic is that my writer has a good time with it, so let me emphasize again that I'm just happy that there will be more fic for one of these fandoms. This monster of a letter was mostly an excuse to enthuse about tiny fandoms, and I truly hope it doesn't put you off or make you worry about whether you can make any of the prompts work. Whatever you end up writing, I'm hoping it's something you enjoy about the fandom and have fun writing.
Have a happy Yuletide! ♥
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