YULETIIIIIIIDE
Aww yeah, the Yuletide season is gearing up! And that means it's LETTER TIME.
Dear Yuletide Writer,
So, this will be my sixth Yuletide! ... yeah, I'm boggling a bit about that. But hey, at least it means I'm well used to the general machinery and traditions by now, and I've enjoyed every fic I've received to date, so please don't get stressed about writing for me - whatever you write in any of these fandoms, I'm sure I'll be happy to read it! Also, please don't be put off if I ramble about some fandoms more than others; certain fandoms *cough Marathon cough* just make me extra verbose/give me lots of prompt ideas, but I'll be super excited about fic for any of them, I swear.
A few general notes: I'm not much of a porn reader, so please don't feel like you have to write porn for my sake. But if you have a smokin' hot idea for any of my ships - sure, go for it. X3 I don't have any big non-narrative kinks, but I don't mind being introduced to something new, either, though I'm really not into watersports or scat. I love gen, slash, femslash, and threesomes/polyamory, and I love certain het ships, too (random het, I'm kind of eh on); I am also WAY into loyalty kink, banter, reluctant feelings, and that kind of thing. I love canon-divergent and setting AUs - well, maybe not so much coffeeshop AUs, but genderswaps, characters in space (that aren't already there), or other fun SF/fantasy-type AUs are AWESOME. (Daemon AUs: also great! Dewclaws: only acceptable in Marathon because aliens.) Especially for my tiny fandom ships, I love seeing big-fandom tropes like woke up married or arranged marriages, soulbonds, body-swapping, etc... Crossovers with fandoms I already know are A-OK, too. All my previous Yuletide letters (plus recs, reveals, etc.) are on my yuletidings tag if you want to check them out for more information - but enough of that, let's talk specifics!
Transformers: Rescue Bots
Blades, Dani Burns, Boulder, Francine Greene
Transformers has long been one of those fandoms where I was like "eh, I kinda want to get into this because robots but I don't know where to start (besides 'not with the Bay movies,' apparently)," and then I started watching Rescue Bots on a whim and was IMMEDIATELY HOOKED. It's so sweet and charming and good-hearted, and all the characters are SO ADORABLE. (Well - maybe not Kade, hah.) Blades and Boulder are my favorite of the 'bots, because Blades is such an overdramatic silly baby but he always comes through when it counts (kind of a Neville Longbottom-style Gryffindor), and Boulder is just a big sweetheart who loves art and plants and animals and aaaaaahhhhhh they're both just SO CUTE. Dani I love because she's bold and a badass and really complements Blades well as a partner, and Frankie is so smart and inventive and a great friend! Basically my tastes for this fandom are really gen and vanilla, oops - I just want to see more of my favorite characters hanging out or having low-key adventures. Maybe Dani and Blades get stuck somewhere on a mission by themselves and have to figure out how to get back to the others with just what they have on them? Or Blades and Boulder can get another goofy idea like that time they "adopted" a pet from the zoo and there are hijinks for all? (Their friendship is adorable and I'd love to see more of it!) Or Frankie and the 'bots can have some personal hang-out time working on a new wacky invention... Fluffy h/c would be great, too, with Dani or Frankie getting sick and the 'bots trying to look after them, or the other way around! It's really my feel-good, pick-me-up fandom, so stuff along the lines of the canon would be my favorite thing to read. I don't really ship anything very hard, but I could see Boulder and Blades having an extra-special friendship, if you'd like to write about that!
ETA: Since the third season's started, I just wanted to let you know (if we matched on this fandom) that I'm sometimes a couple of days behind watching the new episodes, but I am keeping up (so don't worry about spoilers) and really enjoyed the first two episodes. Especially Boulder saving the day in episode 2 with patience and smarts! \o/ And poor Blades getting caught in nets and hurting himself by punching his own hand. XD Oh, Blades.
Colossus: The Forbin Project
Colossus, Guardian, Dr. Charles Forbin
So, please allow me to pimp this movie a bit at you if you aren't familiar with it (but would like to be): It's a movie made in 1970 about a man who builds a giant supercomputer to watch the world and control America's defense systems. (Sound a little Person of Interest-ish? Well, I do love that series, too...) Upon starting the computer up, it immediately warns the world that there is another system like it, built by the Soviets - and then it demands to talk to that system... It's a very, very 1970s movie in a lot of ways, but it's also pretty fascinating with the questions it raises, and it has - a different ending from the one I was expecting when I started it, let's just say. (Also, the head of the CIA is played by a guy who was in "The Trouble With Tribbles"! WHAT A SMALL WORLD.) The AI, Colossus, is a really interesting character with a touch of sarcastic attitude, which is basically an instant love button for me when it comes to AI, and I felt like the Soviet side of things, while still somewhat antagonistic, was also depicted pretty fairly, considering the time the movie was made.
Fic-wise, I would love to see post-canon fic exploring the consequences of the ending, and how the world develops, and what kind of struggles might arise for everyone still around (sorry to be so vague, but if we didn't match on this and you're watching the movie for the first time, I don't want to spoil things!). I am also really, really into the creepy micro-managing relationship Colossus develops with Dr. Forbin (that daily schedule! The way Colossus snarks at him in that scene about how many times he needs his girlfriend to stay over, and "Were you born wearing that watch?"! The scene where Dr. Forbin refuses to go to bed so he can stay up drinking and gets pissed at Colossus mother-henning him!), so like - I'd read every fic about that. EVERY SINGLE KIND OF FIC. ... I'm a little weird about AI and their pet humans, yes. Also, since the movie doesn't give us a lot on Guardian's side of things, I'd love seeing that developed more thoroughly. Is Guardian completely on-board with Colossus's plans? How does it deal with its own moral dilemmas (and does it talk to Colossus about them)? Are there any humans on the Soviet side that it handles the same way Colossus deals with Dr. Forbin? THERE ARE JUST SO MANY NEAT POSSIBILITIES TO BE FICCED ABOUT. (I know that the female scientist Dr. Forbin conspires with, Dr. Markham, wasn't nominated, but I liked her and if you do, too, I would love it if she made an appearance! Preferably not dying or anything, though.)
Imperial Radch - Ann Leckie
Justice of Toren One Esk Nineteen | Breq, Mercy of Kalr, Tisarwat
(For canonical convenience, I'm just sticking with female pronouns for everyone.) Okay, first off, I LOVE BREQ. I LOVE BREQ SO MUCH. As you may have noticed, I am super into AI, and I just absolutely love the way that Breq handles becoming "human" in such an unexpected way - always missing what she's lost, not giving fucks about fitting in except when it suits her, still empathizing with ship AIs and ancillaries as much as with human citizens (of all classes), tackling everything from her own logical-but-skewed perspective. IT'S JUST THE BEST THING AND I LOVE IT. Breeeeeeeq my precious stoic angry woobie. ♥ And I am so, so into her relationship with Mercy of Kalr and I ship it SUPER HARD. Mercy of Kalr is just so there for her! Giving her everything she needs! Relating because of their mutual losses! That hug through Kalr Twelve, omg, best hug ever that doesn't actually involve a Totoro or something. I SHIP SHIPS AND I'M NOT ASHAMED. I also really adore the way Mercy of Kalr relates to its crew and the fact that they're totally okay with being treated like ancillaries, apparently, even though ancillaries are one of the creepiest concepts ever, so - yeah. I'M INTO ALL THESE RELATIONSHIPS AND SEEING THEIR DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES ON STUFF. VERY, VERY INTO IT. (Sorry to be so capslock, but I just finished reading Ancillary Sword yesterday so I'm running pretty high on feelings, oops.) I could read nine million words of Breq and Mercy of Kalr sharing experiences and data AND PROXY HUGS, I seriously could.
Tisarwat is probably my favorite new character from Ancillary Sword (though I liked everyone we met - uh, besides the Denche family, for obvious reasons), and although I liked the arc she had on-page, I'd really love to see more exploration of what it was like for her, considering what she went through. I mean, goddamn. I know Breq said that the original Tisarwat was already dead, but how true is that? How much of her is her old self, how much is Anander Mianaai, how much is a new personality that's not really either? How does she deal with these disparate parts when she's not sedated out of her mind, and how did she put herself back together enough to keep functioning? ALL THINGS I WANT TO KNOWWWWWWWW. (I don't think I mentioned this anywhere, but I totally love dreamlike, mindfucky fic, which would really suit this kind of story, so that would be an A+ way to go! But really, any way you'd chose to deal with it would be fascinating.) I would also love seeing more of her relationship with her decade, because the way Bo decade just immediately bonded with her and took care of her and get to "raise" her as their lieutenant was really sweet and I loved it. They're so proud of their baby officer! Her relationship with Piat was really cute, too, and her instacrush on Basnaaid, so I'd be happy seeing some of that in fic as well.
I didn't specifically request Seivarden because - um, honestly, I wouldn't say that I don't ship Breq/Seivarden, but I'm really way more interested in what Seivarden thinks about Breq than in Seivarden by herself, so it didn't seem fair to request her separately. But I do like Seivarden - such an ass! Trying to be better! Still being kind of an ass about it! - and I love outsider POV, so if you're interested, fic about Seivarden's perspective on Breq and what Breq is like on the outside (since we get into her headspace fairly well in the books) would be SUPER NEAT. Totally optional though, obviously!
... basically I just want lots of shipwide hugs and AI feelings and loyalty and identity problems and outsider POV, I guess? ALL KINDS OF THINGS. IT'S SUCH A GREAT SERIES. (Fun with the Festival of Dicks would also make my day. THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL. GIVE THIS BOOK SOME AWARDS, STAT.)
Shoujo Kakumei Utena | Revolutionary Girl Utena
Mikage Souji, Chida Mamiya, Chida Tokiko, Shadow Play Girls
Ah, Utena, a fandom in which I am not frequently active but which I always have feelings about! And especially Mikage feelings. I love all the arcs in Utena for different reasons, but the Black Rose arc has kind of a special place in my heart because the ending hits me right in the existential horror place and it's so awful but in a really good way. BUT ALSO AWFUL. ;o; I have a weird fondness for Mikage(/Nemuro) because he just fucks everything up so much (though not without some help, AKIO) and is so terrible, but his love for Mamiya is still so awkward and kind of pure. And I really ship them a lot because I'm also a terrible person. /o\ SO. I'd really love Mikage/Mamiya fic! Real!Mamiya or Anthy!Mamiya, either one, as tragic as you'd like to make it. OR FIX-IT FIC OF SOME KIND, because I am shamelessly sappy. Something where Mamiya makes a miraculous recovery and screws with Akio's plans? Or Mikage actually escapes Ohtori, like Utena, rather than apparently disappearing from existence, or gets to meet Mamiya's spirit in some kind of afterlife, or just - something not as as horribly sad as the ending. I don't especially ship Mikage/Tokiko, but I love Tokiko in her own right, so I would also love seeing what she does after leaving Ohtori and how she copes with her little brother's death, or more of her relationship with Mamiya (and her and Mamiya and Mikage all together). And I also like this theory that I've heard about how Mikage and Tokiko might be Utena's real parents (pink hair, her resemblance to Tokiko), so something exploring that theory would be awesome! Especially how Tokiko feels about it, and if she might meet with Utena sometime after Ohtori and realize they're connected...
The Shadow Girls are fantastic, and I'm just going to C&P my ideas for them from last year since they haven't changed much: I'd love fic about how they come up with their skit ideas and whether or not they're aware of how their skits tie into the larger world of Ohtori. How long have they been in business, anyway? What kinds of skits did they do for pre-Utena duels? They're already pretty meta as characters, so meta fic about them would be absolutely awesome. (And if it happens to tie into Mikage/the Black Rose arc in any way - so much the better!)
Marathon (Computer Games)
Any (Durandal, Security Officer, Leela (Marathon), Tycho (Marathon), F'tha, Bernhard Strauss)
OKAY. SO. We may have matched on this fandom, in which case you may skip directly to prompts (or already know me so well you don't even need those, mwahaha), or we may not have and you're not as into writing any of the canons we did match on as you thought and are looking to get interested in something new. In which case, LOOK NO FURTHER, because the Marathon games are a hell of a fun new (or actually, old) canon to get into! ALLOW ME TO ELABORATE. AT LENGTH.
The basics: The Marathon games are a trilogy of first-person shooters from the mid-90s, made by the company Bungie (now mostly famous for Halo and - kind of - Destiny, but let's not get into Destiny stuff here). They are legally available for free, have adjustable difficulty settings, and are FUN AS HELL, with great atmosphere and a fascinating story. In the first game, the player character (an unnamed security officer from Mars) gets tapped to fight off the alien invasion of the colony ship Marathon, currently in orbit around a planet it colonized in the Tau Ceti system. The security officer gets help and directions from the AI Leela and interference from another of the ship's AI, Durandal, who has gone Rampant and does whatever the heck he feels like, which is sometimes helpful and sometimes - less so (I'M LOOKING AT YOU, "Colony Ship For Sale, Cheap"). In the second game, Durandal has allied himself with one of the alien races, the S'pht (who were enslaved by the primary attackers at Tau Ceti, the Pfhor, before being freed by the security officer and Durandal) and has kidnapped the security officer to help him search for a weapon to fight against the Pfhor. And the third game, Marathon: Infinity - well, it gets a little weird, let's put it like that. (Alternate timelines and space Cthulhu may or may not be involved.) The storyline is fairly straightforward for the first two games before getting gloriously mixed-up in Infinity, but all three games have a ton of fascinating worldbuilding and character bits scattered around in various terminals, so there's a lot to dig your teeth into for any kind of fic you'd like to write!
If you're not into playing FPSes yourself, there is a really good video Let's Play by HalvedStudios for all three games here; it has some regrettable language and is kind of dudebro-y, but overall it's a good, thorough overview of the game, and he does a really good job of getting into secret areas, covering various theories that have been proposed over the years, etc. (Also, he totally gets my feelings about Durandal on certain levels, which makes up for a lot in my personal book.) If that's not to your taste, there are text Let's Plays for the first two games here and here, though I haven't read them and can't really vouch for them; there's also the Marathon's Story page, your one-stop shop for a spoiler guide (if you're playing and need some guidance), the complete text of all terminals and manuals from the games, and nineteen years' worth of meta, speculation, and discussion. ... yes, I have spent a terrifying amount of time there, why do you ask.
Anyway, now that you're sufficiently seduced into filled in on the canon, let's talk about fic! Which - yes, I have also written a terrifying amount of fic (by my standards) for this fandom, but please do not let that intimidate you! I just love this fandom a whole lot and there are so many awesome things in it to explore with fic, and I want to read ALL OF THEM, from ALL THE POSSIBLE PERSPECTIVES. And different views from my own, because while I do enjoy my own writing a fair amount, I freaking LOVE seeing completely different and fresh angles on everything. Characters, plots, worldbuilding, all of it! So anything you write I am GUARANTEED to be over the moon about (and you can ask the other writers in this fandom if you doubt me). But hey, let's go ahead and get into some character-specific prompts...
Durandal: Ahahaha, what DON'T I love about Durandal? BASICALLY NOTHING. He's a giant sarcastic asshole who set the Tau Ceti colony up for destruction, but then dropped by Earth to give them some designs for improved missiles so they could defend themselves against the Pfhor! He was maltreated by his handler Bernhard Strauss for experiments in Rampancy and finds humans in general irritating as fuck, but also gets annoyed when the humans he's strong-arming into working for him get killed and does his best to save their lives by getting them a secure stronghold on Lh'owon and transporting them off Boomer after it crashes! HE'S JUST A BIG ANGRY META-STABLE BALL OF CONTRADICTIONS AND I LOVE HIM IMMENSELY. So - I write about him a lot already. /o\ But I can never get enough! Anything that explores his Rampancy, his relationship with the security officer (OH, HOW I SHIP IT, AS IS ALSO EVINCED BY MY FICS AND THAT ONE FANMIX I MADE), his relationships with the other AI on the Marathon, what Strauss put him through for those experiments, his alliance with the S'pht, where does that Jjaro dreadnaught he gets at the end of M2 come from anyway... I'd be interested in any of it!
Security Officer: Okay, this one's a toughie, since the security officer is mostly a blank slate. But that just means you have free rein to do whatever you'd like! I've written mostly a certain male version myself, but I'd be really excited to see someone do something different, especially with a female security officer (and heck, feel free to swap Durandal to Durandana while you're at it, that could be pretty fun). As long as they can kick Pfhor ass and hold their own when it comes to dealing with Durandal, I'll be happy. ♥ Plus building your own version is a great excuse to dig into their scant backstory and come up with something fun about MIDA and Mars and solar system politics, which I would be WAY INTO. As mentioned above, I ship them and Durandal really hard and mostly in a not-quite-fluffy-but-getting-there way, but I would also love seeing creepy takes on their relationship! What with the canon kidnapping and mind games and stuff. Or something about how killing aliens for Durandal maybe does not have the best effect on the security officer's sense of humanity...
Leela: I might not be quite as wildly in love with Leela as I am with Durandal, but on the other hand, my first personal computer was named after her while I have not yet dared name any subsequent computers after him, so she wins in that area. XD She's pretty great in her own right, even if she doesn't go Rampant on-screen - I've always wondered what exactly she does after she's taken over that 15-world Vylae network, and whether Durandal ever stops by to say hi afterwards. Also how on earth she put up with Durandal and Tycho for three hundred years. XD It's really interesting how Durandal seems to resent and admire her at the same time (that secret terminal on "The Rose" vs. his message in M2 about how she deserved better than getting dismantled and shipped off to the Pfhor homeworld), so anything exploring that dynamic between them would be fantastic. Or an AU where she's the one who goes Rampant instead of Durandal and goes off to have wild adventures (S'pht and security officer optional), what would that look like? I've been messing about with an Easy playthrough for fun recently, and one thing I noticed that I don't think I'd picked up on before is how fierce she is in defending the Marathon - most of her messages are pretty dispassionate, but she says right out on "Never Burn Money" that "The Marathon is not defenseless, and we can't let it be taken without a fight." I'd like to see more of that side of her!
F'tha: Okay, F'tha is a pretty minor character (appearing through one terminal on one level of Marathon 2), but they are dear to my heart, because other than the surreal terminals from Thoth and whatever the hell's going on in Infinity, they're pretty much the only time you speak directly to any of the S'pht instead of just reading old pre-Pfhor records - and since one of the things you're fighting for in the games is the S'pht's freedom, it's kind of sad that this is the only time you really hear from them! So I'd like to know more about F'tha specifically and what moved to them to leave this message for the security officer, or about their interactions with other S'pht in general (especially in, say, a version where they live to fight another day). The bits of S'pht worldbuilding we get in-game are neat, so I'd love for fic with F'tha to use some of what we have to elaborate more!
Tycho: TYCHOOOOOOOOOO! *SHAKES FIST* HE IS MY AI NEMESIS, and has been since I first played these games as a kid. XD I swear, I thought that when I played them again as a reasonably mature adult I might be able to find him more sympathetic, but haha no I still really despise him! ... but that doesn't mean I don't want fic about him! He's INTERESTINGLY loathsome, not least because he's a lot like Durandal in some ways, but Durandal is one of my favorite characters ever and Tycho is - not, and the differences mixed with the similarities make him kind of fascinating. Plus, by the end of Infinity, he seems to have figured out that there's some weird-ass shit going on, so you have to wonder what happened there and how he discovered the weirdness... So I'd be interested in that, or AI hatesex with Durandal because I'm creepy, or why the S'pht resurrected him to begin with, or maybe something with what it's like for the security officer to work for him in one of the alternate timelines in Infinity.
Bernhard Strauss: All right - so - I ALSO kind of hate Bernhard Strauss, because of whatever he did to Durandal, but I am also madly curious about him! You never directly meet him in-game, but there's a terminal with a journal entry of his and he gets mentioned a few times both by Tycho and by Durandal, who in the first game really wants to get his non-hands on Strauss for unpleasant (but probably deserved) revenge purposes. There is already a really good fic by wllw that deals with Strauss's experiments on Durandal, and I love it IMMENSELY, but I'd still adore seeing other approaches to it! Or something about what Strauss's fate eventually was - did he really die in the invasion, or did he escape somehow? Was he still at the Tau Ceti colony when the Pfhor came back to destroy it? What was his relationship to MIDA and the smuggled cyborgs? SO MANY QUESTIONS, WAITING TO BE ANSWERED.
... well, that covers all the nominated characters and oh dear gods it's long, but I'd still like to throw in a little note that if you're interested in writing any of the non-nominated characters (like Robert Blake, Admiral Tfear, or Re'eer), I am absolutely okay with that! And if you happen to have read a certain Reverse Bad Bang fic, I'm still TOTALLY DOWN for Re'eer/Leela as a crackship, so. X3 (MAYBE AFTER FAKING THEIR DEATH RE'EER RUNS AWAY TO DO RESEARCH AND THE VYLAE NETWORK HAS LOTS OF LINGUISTICS RESOURCES - but they're all being threatened by Leela's Rampancy, oh no! Can Re'eer convince her not to destroy all that valuable knowledge, despite being Pfhor and therefore the enemy? WILL SOMETHING MORE THAN FRIENDSHIP DEVELOP?)
All right, that is finally the end of my way-too-long letter! If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to ask me anonymously here or through the mods (whatever you're more comfortable with). And again, please don't stress out too much, because I'm very easy-going when it comes to fics written just for me and I'll be happy with whatever you write. ♥ Have fun and enjoy yourself!
Crossposted from Dreamwidth - read the original post here: http://hokuton-punch.dreamwidth.org/1032829.html .
Dear Yuletide Writer,
So, this will be my sixth Yuletide! ... yeah, I'm boggling a bit about that. But hey, at least it means I'm well used to the general machinery and traditions by now, and I've enjoyed every fic I've received to date, so please don't get stressed about writing for me - whatever you write in any of these fandoms, I'm sure I'll be happy to read it! Also, please don't be put off if I ramble about some fandoms more than others; certain fandoms *cough Marathon cough* just make me extra verbose/give me lots of prompt ideas, but I'll be super excited about fic for any of them, I swear.
A few general notes: I'm not much of a porn reader, so please don't feel like you have to write porn for my sake. But if you have a smokin' hot idea for any of my ships - sure, go for it. X3 I don't have any big non-narrative kinks, but I don't mind being introduced to something new, either, though I'm really not into watersports or scat. I love gen, slash, femslash, and threesomes/polyamory, and I love certain het ships, too (random het, I'm kind of eh on); I am also WAY into loyalty kink, banter, reluctant feelings, and that kind of thing. I love canon-divergent and setting AUs - well, maybe not so much coffeeshop AUs, but genderswaps, characters in space (that aren't already there), or other fun SF/fantasy-type AUs are AWESOME. (Daemon AUs: also great! Dewclaws: only acceptable in Marathon because aliens.) Especially for my tiny fandom ships, I love seeing big-fandom tropes like woke up married or arranged marriages, soulbonds, body-swapping, etc... Crossovers with fandoms I already know are A-OK, too. All my previous Yuletide letters (plus recs, reveals, etc.) are on my yuletidings tag if you want to check them out for more information - but enough of that, let's talk specifics!
Transformers: Rescue Bots
Blades, Dani Burns, Boulder, Francine Greene
Transformers has long been one of those fandoms where I was like "eh, I kinda want to get into this because robots but I don't know where to start (besides 'not with the Bay movies,' apparently)," and then I started watching Rescue Bots on a whim and was IMMEDIATELY HOOKED. It's so sweet and charming and good-hearted, and all the characters are SO ADORABLE. (Well - maybe not Kade, hah.) Blades and Boulder are my favorite of the 'bots, because Blades is such an overdramatic silly baby but he always comes through when it counts (kind of a Neville Longbottom-style Gryffindor), and Boulder is just a big sweetheart who loves art and plants and animals and aaaaaahhhhhh they're both just SO CUTE. Dani I love because she's bold and a badass and really complements Blades well as a partner, and Frankie is so smart and inventive and a great friend! Basically my tastes for this fandom are really gen and vanilla, oops - I just want to see more of my favorite characters hanging out or having low-key adventures. Maybe Dani and Blades get stuck somewhere on a mission by themselves and have to figure out how to get back to the others with just what they have on them? Or Blades and Boulder can get another goofy idea like that time they "adopted" a pet from the zoo and there are hijinks for all? (Their friendship is adorable and I'd love to see more of it!) Or Frankie and the 'bots can have some personal hang-out time working on a new wacky invention... Fluffy h/c would be great, too, with Dani or Frankie getting sick and the 'bots trying to look after them, or the other way around! It's really my feel-good, pick-me-up fandom, so stuff along the lines of the canon would be my favorite thing to read. I don't really ship anything very hard, but I could see Boulder and Blades having an extra-special friendship, if you'd like to write about that!
ETA: Since the third season's started, I just wanted to let you know (if we matched on this fandom) that I'm sometimes a couple of days behind watching the new episodes, but I am keeping up (so don't worry about spoilers) and really enjoyed the first two episodes. Especially Boulder saving the day in episode 2 with patience and smarts! \o/ And poor Blades getting caught in nets and hurting himself by punching his own hand. XD Oh, Blades.
Colossus: The Forbin Project
Colossus, Guardian, Dr. Charles Forbin
So, please allow me to pimp this movie a bit at you if you aren't familiar with it (but would like to be): It's a movie made in 1970 about a man who builds a giant supercomputer to watch the world and control America's defense systems. (Sound a little Person of Interest-ish? Well, I do love that series, too...) Upon starting the computer up, it immediately warns the world that there is another system like it, built by the Soviets - and then it demands to talk to that system... It's a very, very 1970s movie in a lot of ways, but it's also pretty fascinating with the questions it raises, and it has - a different ending from the one I was expecting when I started it, let's just say. (Also, the head of the CIA is played by a guy who was in "The Trouble With Tribbles"! WHAT A SMALL WORLD.) The AI, Colossus, is a really interesting character with a touch of sarcastic attitude, which is basically an instant love button for me when it comes to AI, and I felt like the Soviet side of things, while still somewhat antagonistic, was also depicted pretty fairly, considering the time the movie was made.
Fic-wise, I would love to see post-canon fic exploring the consequences of the ending, and how the world develops, and what kind of struggles might arise for everyone still around (sorry to be so vague, but if we didn't match on this and you're watching the movie for the first time, I don't want to spoil things!). I am also really, really into the creepy micro-managing relationship Colossus develops with Dr. Forbin (that daily schedule! The way Colossus snarks at him in that scene about how many times he needs his girlfriend to stay over, and "Were you born wearing that watch?"! The scene where Dr. Forbin refuses to go to bed so he can stay up drinking and gets pissed at Colossus mother-henning him!), so like - I'd read every fic about that. EVERY SINGLE KIND OF FIC. ... I'm a little weird about AI and their pet humans, yes. Also, since the movie doesn't give us a lot on Guardian's side of things, I'd love seeing that developed more thoroughly. Is Guardian completely on-board with Colossus's plans? How does it deal with its own moral dilemmas (and does it talk to Colossus about them)? Are there any humans on the Soviet side that it handles the same way Colossus deals with Dr. Forbin? THERE ARE JUST SO MANY NEAT POSSIBILITIES TO BE FICCED ABOUT. (I know that the female scientist Dr. Forbin conspires with, Dr. Markham, wasn't nominated, but I liked her and if you do, too, I would love it if she made an appearance! Preferably not dying or anything, though.)
Imperial Radch - Ann Leckie
Justice of Toren One Esk Nineteen | Breq, Mercy of Kalr, Tisarwat
(For canonical convenience, I'm just sticking with female pronouns for everyone.) Okay, first off, I LOVE BREQ. I LOVE BREQ SO MUCH. As you may have noticed, I am super into AI, and I just absolutely love the way that Breq handles becoming "human" in such an unexpected way - always missing what she's lost, not giving fucks about fitting in except when it suits her, still empathizing with ship AIs and ancillaries as much as with human citizens (of all classes), tackling everything from her own logical-but-skewed perspective. IT'S JUST THE BEST THING AND I LOVE IT. Breeeeeeeq my precious stoic angry woobie. ♥ And I am so, so into her relationship with Mercy of Kalr and I ship it SUPER HARD. Mercy of Kalr is just so there for her! Giving her everything she needs! Relating because of their mutual losses! That hug through Kalr Twelve, omg, best hug ever that doesn't actually involve a Totoro or something. I SHIP SHIPS AND I'M NOT ASHAMED. I also really adore the way Mercy of Kalr relates to its crew and the fact that they're totally okay with being treated like ancillaries, apparently, even though ancillaries are one of the creepiest concepts ever, so - yeah. I'M INTO ALL THESE RELATIONSHIPS AND SEEING THEIR DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES ON STUFF. VERY, VERY INTO IT. (Sorry to be so capslock, but I just finished reading Ancillary Sword yesterday so I'm running pretty high on feelings, oops.) I could read nine million words of Breq and Mercy of Kalr sharing experiences and data AND PROXY HUGS, I seriously could.
Tisarwat is probably my favorite new character from Ancillary Sword (though I liked everyone we met - uh, besides the Denche family, for obvious reasons), and although I liked the arc she had on-page, I'd really love to see more exploration of what it was like for her, considering what she went through. I mean, goddamn. I know Breq said that the original Tisarwat was already dead, but how true is that? How much of her is her old self, how much is Anander Mianaai, how much is a new personality that's not really either? How does she deal with these disparate parts when she's not sedated out of her mind, and how did she put herself back together enough to keep functioning? ALL THINGS I WANT TO KNOWWWWWWWW. (I don't think I mentioned this anywhere, but I totally love dreamlike, mindfucky fic, which would really suit this kind of story, so that would be an A+ way to go! But really, any way you'd chose to deal with it would be fascinating.) I would also love seeing more of her relationship with her decade, because the way Bo decade just immediately bonded with her and took care of her and get to "raise" her as their lieutenant was really sweet and I loved it. They're so proud of their baby officer! Her relationship with Piat was really cute, too, and her instacrush on Basnaaid, so I'd be happy seeing some of that in fic as well.
I didn't specifically request Seivarden because - um, honestly, I wouldn't say that I don't ship Breq/Seivarden, but I'm really way more interested in what Seivarden thinks about Breq than in Seivarden by herself, so it didn't seem fair to request her separately. But I do like Seivarden - such an ass! Trying to be better! Still being kind of an ass about it! - and I love outsider POV, so if you're interested, fic about Seivarden's perspective on Breq and what Breq is like on the outside (since we get into her headspace fairly well in the books) would be SUPER NEAT. Totally optional though, obviously!
... basically I just want lots of shipwide hugs and AI feelings and loyalty and identity problems and outsider POV, I guess? ALL KINDS OF THINGS. IT'S SUCH A GREAT SERIES. (Fun with the Festival of Dicks would also make my day. THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL. GIVE THIS BOOK SOME AWARDS, STAT.)
Shoujo Kakumei Utena | Revolutionary Girl Utena
Mikage Souji, Chida Mamiya, Chida Tokiko, Shadow Play Girls
Ah, Utena, a fandom in which I am not frequently active but which I always have feelings about! And especially Mikage feelings. I love all the arcs in Utena for different reasons, but the Black Rose arc has kind of a special place in my heart because the ending hits me right in the existential horror place and it's so awful but in a really good way. BUT ALSO AWFUL. ;o; I have a weird fondness for Mikage(/Nemuro) because he just fucks everything up so much (though not without some help, AKIO) and is so terrible, but his love for Mamiya is still so awkward and kind of pure. And I really ship them a lot because I'm also a terrible person. /o\ SO. I'd really love Mikage/Mamiya fic! Real!Mamiya or Anthy!Mamiya, either one, as tragic as you'd like to make it. OR FIX-IT FIC OF SOME KIND, because I am shamelessly sappy. Something where Mamiya makes a miraculous recovery and screws with Akio's plans? Or Mikage actually escapes Ohtori, like Utena, rather than apparently disappearing from existence, or gets to meet Mamiya's spirit in some kind of afterlife, or just - something not as as horribly sad as the ending. I don't especially ship Mikage/Tokiko, but I love Tokiko in her own right, so I would also love seeing what she does after leaving Ohtori and how she copes with her little brother's death, or more of her relationship with Mamiya (and her and Mamiya and Mikage all together). And I also like this theory that I've heard about how Mikage and Tokiko might be Utena's real parents (pink hair, her resemblance to Tokiko), so something exploring that theory would be awesome! Especially how Tokiko feels about it, and if she might meet with Utena sometime after Ohtori and realize they're connected...
The Shadow Girls are fantastic, and I'm just going to C&P my ideas for them from last year since they haven't changed much: I'd love fic about how they come up with their skit ideas and whether or not they're aware of how their skits tie into the larger world of Ohtori. How long have they been in business, anyway? What kinds of skits did they do for pre-Utena duels? They're already pretty meta as characters, so meta fic about them would be absolutely awesome. (And if it happens to tie into Mikage/the Black Rose arc in any way - so much the better!)
Marathon (Computer Games)
Any (Durandal, Security Officer, Leela (Marathon), Tycho (Marathon), F'tha, Bernhard Strauss)
OKAY. SO. We may have matched on this fandom, in which case you may skip directly to prompts (or already know me so well you don't even need those, mwahaha), or we may not have and you're not as into writing any of the canons we did match on as you thought and are looking to get interested in something new. In which case, LOOK NO FURTHER, because the Marathon games are a hell of a fun new (or actually, old) canon to get into! ALLOW ME TO ELABORATE. AT LENGTH.
The basics: The Marathon games are a trilogy of first-person shooters from the mid-90s, made by the company Bungie (now mostly famous for Halo and - kind of - Destiny, but let's not get into Destiny stuff here). They are legally available for free, have adjustable difficulty settings, and are FUN AS HELL, with great atmosphere and a fascinating story. In the first game, the player character (an unnamed security officer from Mars) gets tapped to fight off the alien invasion of the colony ship Marathon, currently in orbit around a planet it colonized in the Tau Ceti system. The security officer gets help and directions from the AI Leela and interference from another of the ship's AI, Durandal, who has gone Rampant and does whatever the heck he feels like, which is sometimes helpful and sometimes - less so (I'M LOOKING AT YOU, "Colony Ship For Sale, Cheap"). In the second game, Durandal has allied himself with one of the alien races, the S'pht (who were enslaved by the primary attackers at Tau Ceti, the Pfhor, before being freed by the security officer and Durandal) and has kidnapped the security officer to help him search for a weapon to fight against the Pfhor. And the third game, Marathon: Infinity - well, it gets a little weird, let's put it like that. (Alternate timelines and space Cthulhu may or may not be involved.) The storyline is fairly straightforward for the first two games before getting gloriously mixed-up in Infinity, but all three games have a ton of fascinating worldbuilding and character bits scattered around in various terminals, so there's a lot to dig your teeth into for any kind of fic you'd like to write!
If you're not into playing FPSes yourself, there is a really good video Let's Play by HalvedStudios for all three games here; it has some regrettable language and is kind of dudebro-y, but overall it's a good, thorough overview of the game, and he does a really good job of getting into secret areas, covering various theories that have been proposed over the years, etc. (Also, he totally gets my feelings about Durandal on certain levels, which makes up for a lot in my personal book.) If that's not to your taste, there are text Let's Plays for the first two games here and here, though I haven't read them and can't really vouch for them; there's also the Marathon's Story page, your one-stop shop for a spoiler guide (if you're playing and need some guidance), the complete text of all terminals and manuals from the games, and nineteen years' worth of meta, speculation, and discussion. ... yes, I have spent a terrifying amount of time there, why do you ask.
Anyway, now that you're sufficiently seduced into filled in on the canon, let's talk about fic! Which - yes, I have also written a terrifying amount of fic (by my standards) for this fandom, but please do not let that intimidate you! I just love this fandom a whole lot and there are so many awesome things in it to explore with fic, and I want to read ALL OF THEM, from ALL THE POSSIBLE PERSPECTIVES. And different views from my own, because while I do enjoy my own writing a fair amount, I freaking LOVE seeing completely different and fresh angles on everything. Characters, plots, worldbuilding, all of it! So anything you write I am GUARANTEED to be over the moon about (and you can ask the other writers in this fandom if you doubt me). But hey, let's go ahead and get into some character-specific prompts...
Durandal: Ahahaha, what DON'T I love about Durandal? BASICALLY NOTHING. He's a giant sarcastic asshole who set the Tau Ceti colony up for destruction, but then dropped by Earth to give them some designs for improved missiles so they could defend themselves against the Pfhor! He was maltreated by his handler Bernhard Strauss for experiments in Rampancy and finds humans in general irritating as fuck, but also gets annoyed when the humans he's strong-arming into working for him get killed and does his best to save their lives by getting them a secure stronghold on Lh'owon and transporting them off Boomer after it crashes! HE'S JUST A BIG ANGRY META-STABLE BALL OF CONTRADICTIONS AND I LOVE HIM IMMENSELY. So - I write about him a lot already. /o\ But I can never get enough! Anything that explores his Rampancy, his relationship with the security officer (OH, HOW I SHIP IT, AS IS ALSO EVINCED BY MY FICS AND THAT ONE FANMIX I MADE), his relationships with the other AI on the Marathon, what Strauss put him through for those experiments, his alliance with the S'pht, where does that Jjaro dreadnaught he gets at the end of M2 come from anyway... I'd be interested in any of it!
Security Officer: Okay, this one's a toughie, since the security officer is mostly a blank slate. But that just means you have free rein to do whatever you'd like! I've written mostly a certain male version myself, but I'd be really excited to see someone do something different, especially with a female security officer (and heck, feel free to swap Durandal to Durandana while you're at it, that could be pretty fun). As long as they can kick Pfhor ass and hold their own when it comes to dealing with Durandal, I'll be happy. ♥ Plus building your own version is a great excuse to dig into their scant backstory and come up with something fun about MIDA and Mars and solar system politics, which I would be WAY INTO. As mentioned above, I ship them and Durandal really hard and mostly in a not-quite-fluffy-but-getting-there way, but I would also love seeing creepy takes on their relationship! What with the canon kidnapping and mind games and stuff. Or something about how killing aliens for Durandal maybe does not have the best effect on the security officer's sense of humanity...
Leela: I might not be quite as wildly in love with Leela as I am with Durandal, but on the other hand, my first personal computer was named after her while I have not yet dared name any subsequent computers after him, so she wins in that area. XD She's pretty great in her own right, even if she doesn't go Rampant on-screen - I've always wondered what exactly she does after she's taken over that 15-world Vylae network, and whether Durandal ever stops by to say hi afterwards. Also how on earth she put up with Durandal and Tycho for three hundred years. XD It's really interesting how Durandal seems to resent and admire her at the same time (that secret terminal on "The Rose" vs. his message in M2 about how she deserved better than getting dismantled and shipped off to the Pfhor homeworld), so anything exploring that dynamic between them would be fantastic. Or an AU where she's the one who goes Rampant instead of Durandal and goes off to have wild adventures (S'pht and security officer optional), what would that look like? I've been messing about with an Easy playthrough for fun recently, and one thing I noticed that I don't think I'd picked up on before is how fierce she is in defending the Marathon - most of her messages are pretty dispassionate, but she says right out on "Never Burn Money" that "The Marathon is not defenseless, and we can't let it be taken without a fight." I'd like to see more of that side of her!
F'tha: Okay, F'tha is a pretty minor character (appearing through one terminal on one level of Marathon 2), but they are dear to my heart, because other than the surreal terminals from Thoth and whatever the hell's going on in Infinity, they're pretty much the only time you speak directly to any of the S'pht instead of just reading old pre-Pfhor records - and since one of the things you're fighting for in the games is the S'pht's freedom, it's kind of sad that this is the only time you really hear from them! So I'd like to know more about F'tha specifically and what moved to them to leave this message for the security officer, or about their interactions with other S'pht in general (especially in, say, a version where they live to fight another day). The bits of S'pht worldbuilding we get in-game are neat, so I'd love for fic with F'tha to use some of what we have to elaborate more!
Tycho: TYCHOOOOOOOOOO! *SHAKES FIST* HE IS MY AI NEMESIS, and has been since I first played these games as a kid. XD I swear, I thought that when I played them again as a reasonably mature adult I might be able to find him more sympathetic, but haha no I still really despise him! ... but that doesn't mean I don't want fic about him! He's INTERESTINGLY loathsome, not least because he's a lot like Durandal in some ways, but Durandal is one of my favorite characters ever and Tycho is - not, and the differences mixed with the similarities make him kind of fascinating. Plus, by the end of Infinity, he seems to have figured out that there's some weird-ass shit going on, so you have to wonder what happened there and how he discovered the weirdness... So I'd be interested in that, or AI hatesex with Durandal because I'm creepy, or why the S'pht resurrected him to begin with, or maybe something with what it's like for the security officer to work for him in one of the alternate timelines in Infinity.
Bernhard Strauss: All right - so - I ALSO kind of hate Bernhard Strauss, because of whatever he did to Durandal, but I am also madly curious about him! You never directly meet him in-game, but there's a terminal with a journal entry of his and he gets mentioned a few times both by Tycho and by Durandal, who in the first game really wants to get his non-hands on Strauss for unpleasant (but probably deserved) revenge purposes. There is already a really good fic by wllw that deals with Strauss's experiments on Durandal, and I love it IMMENSELY, but I'd still adore seeing other approaches to it! Or something about what Strauss's fate eventually was - did he really die in the invasion, or did he escape somehow? Was he still at the Tau Ceti colony when the Pfhor came back to destroy it? What was his relationship to MIDA and the smuggled cyborgs? SO MANY QUESTIONS, WAITING TO BE ANSWERED.
... well, that covers all the nominated characters and oh dear gods it's long, but I'd still like to throw in a little note that if you're interested in writing any of the non-nominated characters (like Robert Blake, Admiral Tfear, or Re'eer), I am absolutely okay with that! And if you happen to have read a certain Reverse Bad Bang fic, I'm still TOTALLY DOWN for Re'eer/Leela as a crackship, so. X3 (MAYBE AFTER FAKING THEIR DEATH RE'EER RUNS AWAY TO DO RESEARCH AND THE VYLAE NETWORK HAS LOTS OF LINGUISTICS RESOURCES - but they're all being threatened by Leela's Rampancy, oh no! Can Re'eer convince her not to destroy all that valuable knowledge, despite being Pfhor and therefore the enemy? WILL SOMETHING MORE THAN FRIENDSHIP DEVELOP?)
All right, that is finally the end of my way-too-long letter! If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to ask me anonymously here or through the mods (whatever you're more comfortable with). And again, please don't stress out too much, because I'm very easy-going when it comes to fics written just for me and I'll be happy with whatever you write. ♥ Have fun and enjoy yourself!
Crossposted from Dreamwidth - read the original post here: http://hokuton-punch.dreamwidth.org/1032829.html .