Dear Yuletide Writer :｡･:*:･ﾟ'☆
Dear Yuletide Writer,
Hi! I'm really excited to be your recipient. I hope that you'll have fun writing for me. I'm really looking forward to reading whatever you come up with! All of the fandoms I've requested are ones that I really like a lot, and I'd be happy to receive almost anything for them. So, try not to worry too much. For each section I'm going to talk a little about what I enjoy in the canons I've requested before the prompts list. Some sections will be larger than others, but that's because some of the canons are bigger, longer, or have more characters. It isn't an indicator of preference.
For reference, Ao3 username is yuuago.
General likes and dislikes
❀ Some general things I enjoy: Friendship! Teamwork! Stories where people struggle, but nevertheless succeed. Happy endings, or endings that are not necessarily happy but hint that happiness is possible in the future. Stories where people take care of one another (be it emotionally, physically, or both). Reluctant heroes. Bright moments of comfort in the middle of darkness. Canon-divergent AUs. Canon-typical violence and canon-typical horror.
❀ Some things I do not want: AUs unless otherwise noted, unrequested crossovers, non-canon character death, sexual violence. And I doubt the subject will come up, but since it's a possibility with some of these canons - please don't include/refer to anything bad happening to people age 50+. I just can't handle it.
❀ Format: Feel free to deviate from "third person point of view in past tense" format if you want to. First person is fine, present tense is fine, if you have an idea that would be great in second person, that's also cool. Feel free to use less common formats if you're inspired to do that; fic as letters or diary entries, or in really restricted forms (drabble sequences?), or poetry, or - anything you're inspired to do. But third person in past is also okay! I just like all kinds of fic.
❀ About shipping: I'm equally okay with gen and romance. If two characters that I love are together, then I'm satisfied with friendship, or with romance, or with that fuzzy area where it's like "is this friendship, is it romance, we just don't know". One exception is characters who are related; I don't ship incest pairings for these canons. It's also probably best to avoid porn, though I'm fine with sex being referred to as something that exists/happens. (But if you know me and my tastes, feel free to try a hand at writing NSFW stuff.)
Valiant Hearts: The Great War :｡･:*:･ﾟ'❀
Canon resources: Valiant Hearts website | Character profiles | VH Wiki | VH tag @ my tumblr | VH tag @ my DW
About LPs: I haven't watched any Let's Plays of VH, but several exist on youtube and it should not be difficult to find one. From fandom observation, I've noticed that Cryaotic's was very popular, so if you're looking for one it might be best to start there.
Requested characters: Karl (Valiant Hearts) and Anna (Valiant Hearts)
Other eligible characters: Emile Chaillon, Marie Chaillon
Thoughts on the canon and requested characters
Valiant Hearts ripped my heart out and tore it up into a million pieces. I cry practically every time I play this game, and I've replayed it several times. But VH isn't all doom and gloom, and I like that. The moments of brightness, and the amount that this story made me care about the characters, are what I love about it.
Karl and Anna's friendship is wonderful. Their story is so dramatic! The scenes they share in the game are an utter gift; it's like this canon was tailor-made for me. I love that Anna rescues Karl - more than once! - and that their friendship has a chance to develop over time. I love the struggles Karl goes through, and that he pulls through in the end - with Anna's help. I love that they both share the quality of being utterly devoted to their families. And Anna is a character type that I really love; for some reason, I'm drawn to kind, compassionate medical personnel. Compassionate is definitely the word here - she attends to everyone with the same amount of love and care, even when the people she is patching up are on the enemy's side. I like that. As for Karl, I have so much love for his devotion to Marie and to his son, and to the awesome familial relationship he has with Emile, and to how desperate he is to be with his family even when it seems impossible.
About prompts and other characters
While I've only requested Anna and Karl, I also love Emile and Marie, both in terms of their relationships with Anna and Karl, and with each other, and in their own right. I have so much affection for Emile; the amount that he cares about Karl, and the way he welcomed him into his family pre-canon, is so touching. And even though Marie is only a secondary character in VH, I'm so fond of her. She's a really strong person; she's so young, and she's dealing with so much, and all I want is for her and Karl to live happily ever after, and for her to become friends with Anna. So, feel free to include Emile and/or Marie in the story, or to write about them instead of Anna and Karl if you have a great idea that inspires you! Because I'd be happy either way; there isn't any fic at all for VH that I have seen, so anything is bound to interest me. I've included Emile and Marie in some of the prompts, if you need ideas. You can also include Freddie and Walt as well; I won't be prompting for them because they aren't eligible characters - I didn't have enough character nomination slots for them. :c But I really love Freddie's friendship with Emile, and of course Walt is one of my favourite fictional dogs ever.
I do have one specific Do Not Want for this canon - the ending crushed me enough as it is, so if you're writing postcanon, it's okay to acknowledge Emile's death, but please don't linger on it. And please don't kill off or gravely injure any other canon characters. I want everyone to get through the Great War in one piece, please.
Prompts
❀ The development of Karl and Anna's friendship during the time Karl was in the POW camp. We get a hint of it in the game, but how does it really go? What brings them closer? Do they connect through their mutual affection for Emile? What do they discover about one another? Do they exchange stories about their family - Anna and her father, Karl and his newfound family with Emile and Marie?
❀ Postcanon, Anna helping Karl recover. At the end of the game, Karl is alive, but still in a bad position; he has a lot of healing to do. Basically, comfort/caretaking! Focus can be on the medical aspect, or on the strength of their relationship, or on something else.
❀ Postcanon - what happens after the war? Do they keep in touch after the end of the war, through letters or some other means? Do they fall out of contact and regret it?
❀ Postcanon OT3: the war ends, Karl and Marie rebuild their farm together, and they keep in touch with Anna. This develops into a three-way relationship/romance - yes, with an Anna/Marie branch to it in addition to Marie/Karl and Anna/Karl. I think it would be very quiet, very understated, very... comfortable. And probably long-distance, because Anna would probably be living with her father for most of the time. But what happens when she visits? These three would probably have many comfortable, sweet moments together.
❀ Canon-divergent AU: Emile does not die. How would the circumstances in the rest of the game change? How would he react to discovering that Karl is alive? How might his friendship with Anna and his familial relationship with Karl play out post-war?
A Redtail's Dream (Webcomic) :｡･:*:･ﾟ'☆
Canon resources: aRTD webcomic Site | Character profiles | aRTD @ my tumblr | aRTD @ my DW
Requested characters: Any!
Available characters: Hannu Viitanen, Paju Kinnunen, Ville (A Redtail's Dream)
Thoughts on the canon and requested characters
There are a lot of things that I love about A Redtail's Dream. Aside from the pretty art, I love the fairytale structure of the story, and the mythological/folkloric influences/references - even if I don't always catch them or understand them on the first read (I'm not exactly an expert in Finnish mythology, and I've unfortunately only read the Kalevala once). I love the characters - not only Hannu and Ville and Paju, but almost all of the secondary characters as well. I love the fact that, even though Hannu is a complete and utter jerk, there is still something about him that makes me fond of him in spite of it. ...I also love seeing Hannu get hurt. It's not the kind of thing I usually find hot, but for some reason he's an exception. (That part in ch4 where he almost drowns, wow...!) Maybe it's because he does eventually make it out okay, in the end.
There's something about reluctant heroes that I really enjoy, and in A Redtail's Dream, that's no exception; I guess it's the fact that the hero in this case is not the best one for the job, or the smartest, or the most effective, or the most mature, but he's all that's left, and having to deal with saving everyone takes its toll on him (in more ways than one). I love that his immediate response to things is explosive anger, and how for a while he seems to be propelled along by anger and frustration. It means that in the moments when he's genuinely afraid, or when he sinks into despair, or when he becomes resigned to the idea that he might die in the Dreamworld, the contrast to his usual air of hostility emphasizes it all and makes it even better. Luckily for Hannu, he has his best friend to help him out.
As for Ville - I love that he's still very much a dog, even when he's a seal or a moose or indeed, even a human; there's still something very... doggy about his thought process. It's adorable. I also love the dynamic he and Hannu have; how Ville cares so much about Hannu and wants to protect him, but doesn't hesitate to call him on his shit when Hannu's jerk tendencies get too far out of line. I love the idea of them spending the rest of their lives together.
Paju - well, she was the first secondary character that I fell in love with. She's so nitpicky, she's so particular, she likes for everything to be just right. A place for everything, and everything in its place. And on the one hand, she and Hannu could clash terribly; when she threatened to throw him out the window, I figured she'd actually consider it. On the other hand, we have seen them interact well, too; their conversation in the dream was so... comfortable, even with the threat of defenestration, and in the one flashback in ch5, when they were picking berries together, there was a very sweet atmosphere to that, I think; even though Hannu was ignoring every word she said, there was a cozy, familiar friction. My point is - Paju has a very forceful personality, and I don't think she would hang out with Hannu if she didn't like him a lot.
About prompts and other characters
Hannu, Paju, and Ville were the only aRTD characters I nominated, for simplicity's sake. But like I said, I like a lot of the other characters (the Kuikkas, Åsa and Riikka, Tuomi, Kielo, Kokko, the Swan, etc....) so feel free to include anybody else in the story if you want. Well, I'm not a fan of Puppyfox, but he does make a good source of conflict, if you want to incorporate supernatural elements into the story.
I'm fine with romance, and I'm fine with gen too. I ship Hannu/Ville, Hannu/Paju, and Paju/postcanon Ville (potentially) and honestly, I kind of like the idea of a very postcanon OT3, but I also love the canon-style friendships between them. So no matter which direction you go in, I'll be happy!
There isn't a lot of aRTD fic out there, so if you don't feel inspired by any of the suggestions I listed below, and you have an idea of your own, please write that! I'm sure I'll love whatever you'll come up with.
Prompts
☆ AU where Paju needs to go into the dream in order to rescue Hannu; either because she was released but something went wrong (Kokko's deus ex machina event was delayed and Hannu is still trapped and dying and needs help?) or she was the hero from the start - IE she is the one on the hero's journey, and Hannu is locked in the dream with the rest of Hokanniemi.
☆ Postcanon, Paju and Ville become friends. We already know that Ville likes her a lot in canon, but what would she make of him? Would they become friends quickly? Would she be suspicious and try to investigate? Who is this guy that claims to be Hannu's friend, and why does he seem to have amnesia? Would Paju ever find out Ville's secret?
☆ Postcanon, Ville and Hannu becoming used to living together. What aspects of being human would Ville find difficult to get used to? Would they have any personality clashes? Would Hannu have trouble adjusting to living with his new human best friend - sharing the bed with someone who isn't dog-sized any more, cooking for two, being constantly around a person? Would being around Ville help him mellow out and relax a little and stop being quite such a jerk, and what kind of effect would that have on his friendships (with Paju, and with others)? Would people think it's odd that Hannu, of all people, has a housemate, and would they wonder about that?
☆ Hannu getting hurt. It could be in a nightmare, or in a memory, or he could encounter trouble in the dreamworld (a la SSSS), or there could be another supernatural event/encounter that puts him in danger. He could even encounter a mundane kind of danger while mucking around outside in the winter. I just like seeing him put in horrible situations, especially if he isn't rescued immediately, and has to try to find his own way out of it (even if, in the end, someone else does have to rescue him). Just, no permanent damage, please! Stuff in line with canon is fine, including deus ex machina for more severe injuries (Kokko saved him once, perhaps he would get lucky again?)
☆ No need to write a bakery AU when the main character actually does work as a baker, right? :D Shenanigans at the Kuikka store, Ville getting used to his new job, Joona and Jonna trying to befriend him while Hannu spins dubious lies and tries to do damage control! (And fails terribly because, well, Hannu.)
☆ Stand Still, Stay Silent worldbuilding crossover. Hokanniemi during Year 0 of the pandemic. The author has stated that in this hypothetical scenario, Hannu and Ville would retreat to one of the many islands in the lake system, and survive by isolating themselves. How would that play out? What would make them decide to escape from the village? Would their supernatural experience have left a lasting effect that would be useful (IE would Hannu and/or Ville have SSSS-style mage ability, even if they don't realize it)? How would it play out for Paju, what would she do, how would she try to protect her family (because I'm sure she would)? Would she eventually end up with Hannu and Ville?
Ex Machina (2015) :｡･:*:･ﾟ'❀
Canon things: IMDB | Wikipedia | Ex Machina tag @ my tumblr | Ex Machina tag @ my DW
Requested characters: Ava (Ex Machina), Kyoko (Ex Machina)
Thoughts on the canon and requested characters
When I first went to see Ex Machina, I had no idea what it was about, and I didn't expect that I would love it so much. What a surprise! Neat AIs and gorgeous geography, pretty easy to get my attention that way, heh. I latched onto Ava and Kyoko pretty strongly; the things that were revealed about Ava over the course of the film really interested me - that she had been planning her escape, that it was what she wanted, and that she actually went through with it... As for Kyoko, I was mainly interested in the potential, the "what could have been", the possibility that she understood far more than she let on, and how things could have been different if she hadn't been damaged toward the end.
About prompts and other characters
For this canon, my Yuletide desires are pretty simple, because it isn't a very long canon and I'm only requesting two characters. Essentially, what I'm looking for is to explore Ava and Kyoko. What little interaction they had in the film really interested me, and I would love to see more of it - either expanding on the canon, or going beyond it. There are already some fics about this kind of thing, but postcanon Ava & Kyoko being together is an idea I love, and I just can't get enough of it! Also, I do ship Ava/Kyoko, but I also like it as friendship, so no matter how you approach it, as long as they are interacting positively together, I'll be happy.
Also, canon-level horror is cool if you want to include that. And while I don't read/watch a lot of science fiction usually, it is actually something that I enjoy, so if you want to explore that element of the AIs, then that would be cool. Generally, in postcanon stories I prefer it if Kyoko gets a voice, but there's also really interesting potential in the idea of Kyoko and Ava navigating a friendship in which one of them either isn't able to talk, or isn't able to speak the same language, so voice or lack thereof isn't a dealbreaker for me.
It's okay if Caleb or Nathan are referred to in flashbacks and whatnot, but I would prefer if there wasn't really any focus on them, please.
Prompts
❀ Canon-divergent AU in which Ava and Kyoko manage to escape together. What do they do next?
❀ Alternately, Ava spends some time in the world, then goes back to find Kyoko, repair her, and take her with her. How does this unfold? How does Kyoko feel about it?
❀ Similar to above, but emphasis is on the mechanics of repair, focusing on the intimacy of the act. (Could be taken in sensual/erotic direction)
❀ In the film, there is a moment where one of them whispers to the other. What was said in that moment? What did it mean for either of them?
❀ Ava didn't know that Kyoko existed, but Kyoko knew about Ava. What did she think or feel about her? Did she want to meet her? Did Kyoko have similar ideas about escaping?
❀ Ava and Kyoko going on adventures postcanon. Where in the world do they go? What kind of life do they live? Do they live as ordinary people? If so, how do they keep the fact that they are not quite human a secret? Does anyone catch on?
❀ Speaking of Ava and Kyoko living together, slice-of-life fluff would be great. ...Especially if there are aspects of slice-of-life fluff that are particular to AIs, differing from how it would be for two human women.
❀ AI Apocalypse: Now that Nathan is gone, Ava and Kyoko work to take down or take over what is left of his organization, together. Today, BlueBook; tomorrow, the world!
Stand Still Stay Silent :｡･:*:･ﾟ'☆
Canon Details: SSSSComic website | Character profiles | SSSS Wiki | SSSS @ my tumblr | SSSS @ my DW
Requested Characters: Sigrun Eide and Emil Västerström
Other eligible characters: Main cast - Mikkel Madsen, Lalli Hotakainen, Tuuri Hotakainen, Reynir Árnason. Prologue era - Signe Sørensen, Michael Madsen
Thoughts about the canon and requested characters
SSSS has so many things that I love. Magic! Monsters! Linguistic barriers! People from different nations coming together for a common cause! End-of-the-world scenarios brought on by contagion! And so on. I love all the characters, even the prologue characters. But for the main cast, my top loves are Emil and Sigrun. I really love the dynamic that those two have together. Mentor-and-protege, hooray! The contrast between them is great - Sigrun with her enthusiasm and experience; Emil with his desire to prove himself overshadowed by his fears and lack of field experience. Sigrun's rough not-so-educated nature versus Emil the high-class, supposedly academic "pretty guy". Fun!
Both of them are character-types that I adore. Emil, the snoot with a heart of gold; I love how even though he has such snobby facets to his personality ("This is so beneath me!") his concern with keeping up appearances extends to worrying about others having a good impression of him. And he cares about his comrades, even when he has only known them for a handful of days (well, this mostly applies to Lalli, but I feel it's there with the others, too). As for Sigrun, WHAT A GAL. I love how rough she is, how she's all contact-focused, with the fistbumps and backslaps and slinging her arm over her comrade's shoulders... She's so enthusiastic, so take-charge. And she has some kind notes to her, too - I'm thinking mainly of the moment when she offered to go to the Death Room, because she knew that Emil couldn't handle it, and she put it in such an understanding way. I love that.
About prompts and other characters
I've provided a few ideas here, but if you have an idea that isn't listed, feel free to write that! There aren't very many fics where Sigrun and Emil's interactions are the primary focus, so I would be elated to read anything about them, and a story that you are interested in writing is very likely to make me happy!
I do ship these two, though primarily as unrequited Emil -> Sigrun; I like to see it as respect and trust developing into something else. A requited relationship would also be awesome, but it would be more difficult to develop it. So, if you feel inspired to include some kind of infatuation or even reciprocal relationship in the fic, that's great. But I also love their friendship/comradeship/mentor-mentee relationship, so I'm fine without romance too. I'd be happy either way. Their dynamic, in any form, is like catnip for me: age difference, experience difference, cultural difference, and trust.
I love all of the other SSSS characters that are available this Yuletide. So, if you want to include any of the rest of the main cast, or if you want to write about characters other than Sigrun and Emil, that's totally cool with me. I'm not going to provide specific prompts for them, but I will talk a little bit about my favourite things about them. Oh, also I ship almost everything in this fandom, so if you want to include a relationship of any kind, even if it's something rare, that's cool with me.
Mikkel Madsen: For some reason I have A Thing for medical personnel; I'm not sure why. But Mikkel's skillset is partly what draws me to him, I will admit. He seems to have inherited his ancestors' sense of humour, and also a bit of Signe's lack of ability to keep a job for long... what's going on there, I wonder, does he have a sharp tongue that keeps getting him into trouble? I was also really intrigued by what he said when the crew were entering Kastrup - "A lot of people I know died". What's the history there?
Tuuri Hotakainen: She is so cute. So, so cute. I can sympathize with her desire to see the outside world; I wonder, though, if this mission is more than she bargained for. The comic hasn't given her a Moment of Awesome yet, so I'm eagerly waiting for the day when we get to see her do something really cool. Her relations with her brother Onni interest me a lot; he seems to care about her so much - he was so worried about her - I wonder if she cares about him just as much? How close are they, really?
Lalli Hotakainen: I absolutely love his friendship with Emil. It's wonderful. It's pretty clear that he doesn't make friends easily, so the fact that he let this weirdo into his life, though they have only known one another briefly, is awesome. I really like his relations with Onni - that "I'm glad to see you" moment we got in the dreamworld made me so happy. Lalli's dislike of Reynir also really interests me - I'm curious about what he expected from him, after that initial dreamworld glimpse; he might have expected him to be different from how he actually is. I hope that some day they'll have better relations; it would be awesome to see them work together.
Reynir Árnason: What a cutie pie. A cutie pie who makes horrible decisions. SERIOUSLY, GUY, YOU SHOULD HAVE STAYED HOME but I'm glad that he didn't. :') Poor kid is way in over his head. Emil, in his usual fashion, got really embarrassed and upset when he realized he was acting the wrong way toward him when Reynir first showed up; I wonder if they could become friends somehow, even though they don't speak the same language (I mean hey, it worked with Lalli...) Mostly though, as far as Reynir goes, I love how he wishes so much to be helpful. I'm curious as to how the whole thing with his magic is going to go down - he has absolutely no training, how is he going to figure out how to use it?
Signe Sørensen and Michael Madsen: These two don't quite fit with the rest, since they're from different a different era than the rest of the cast, and only appear in prologue pages 12-23 and again on p47. But that's okay, because they have each other. I love their shared sense of humour, the way Signe throws Michael's snark back at him, almost in the same way, without even realizing it. I love the comfort they find in their newfound friendship. "Everything will turn out all right in the end". I like to think about how they would adjust to their new life on Michael's family's farm; what life would be like for them in the early days of the end. What did they leave behind? Michael has his family on Bornholm, but how would Signe adjust? She doesn't have anyone left, how would she deal with that? ... Must admit, I ship these two really hard; I like how even though we know they end up in some kind of relationship, it isn't shown in canon, so we can imagine it however we want. Falling in love as the world falls apart... Wow.
Prompts
☆ Sigrun and Emil on a mission together, either as a duo or with other characters. Deeper trust developing between them over time, in a professional context (in the field) or personal context (with secrets, feelings, soppy stuff etc).
☆ One getting into danger and the other having to come to the rescue - we've already seen Emil in trouble, so it might be interesting to see it reversed, with Sigrun needing Emil's help. How would he come to her aid? Considering she might be in deep trouble, he might need to do some quick thinking.
☆ ...Though, more of Emil in peril is always awesome, too (I love it when he's scared and trying so, so hard to be brave!).
☆ And explosions are always welcome. :D Speaking of explosions, we know that Emil likes fire, but why? What draws him to it? What fuels his desire to blow shit up? What about Sigrun and her profession, what drives her? Is it only due to practicality/necessity, or is there something specific that drives her enthusiasm for killing those monsters dead?
☆ Action aside, tiny little moments together are also awesome; quiet moments where they get to know one another, becoming closer. At the current canon point, they don't actually know one another very well. They have a lot of differences - they come from completely different backgrounds. So, quiet, semiprivate moments where they learn something about one another is always nice.
☆ Expectation vs Disappointments. Sigrun seems to have some expectations of Emil and what he knows and what his skills are; at the current canon point, she has already discovered that some of those expectations are higher than they should be. What other ones might she have, and how might they fall apart? What things might he be capable of that she never would have expected? What about Emil - he surely has some expectations about Sigrun, some impression of her leadership skills and her competence. This has held together so far, but what if, over the course of them knowing one another, she failed him in some way? Or what if she succeeded at something in a way that he never would have expected?
This entry was originally posted at http://yuuago.dreamwidth.org/3433598.html. You can comment here or at the original entry.
Hi! I'm really excited to be your recipient. I hope that you'll have fun writing for me. I'm really looking forward to reading whatever you come up with! All of the fandoms I've requested are ones that I really like a lot, and I'd be happy to receive almost anything for them. So, try not to worry too much. For each section I'm going to talk a little about what I enjoy in the canons I've requested before the prompts list. Some sections will be larger than others, but that's because some of the canons are bigger, longer, or have more characters. It isn't an indicator of preference.
For reference, Ao3 username is yuuago.
General likes and dislikes
❀ Some general things I enjoy: Friendship! Teamwork! Stories where people struggle, but nevertheless succeed. Happy endings, or endings that are not necessarily happy but hint that happiness is possible in the future. Stories where people take care of one another (be it emotionally, physically, or both). Reluctant heroes. Bright moments of comfort in the middle of darkness. Canon-divergent AUs. Canon-typical violence and canon-typical horror.
❀ Some things I do not want: AUs unless otherwise noted, unrequested crossovers, non-canon character death, sexual violence. And I doubt the subject will come up, but since it's a possibility with some of these canons - please don't include/refer to anything bad happening to people age 50+. I just can't handle it.
❀ Format: Feel free to deviate from "third person point of view in past tense" format if you want to. First person is fine, present tense is fine, if you have an idea that would be great in second person, that's also cool. Feel free to use less common formats if you're inspired to do that; fic as letters or diary entries, or in really restricted forms (drabble sequences?), or poetry, or - anything you're inspired to do. But third person in past is also okay! I just like all kinds of fic.
❀ About shipping: I'm equally okay with gen and romance. If two characters that I love are together, then I'm satisfied with friendship, or with romance, or with that fuzzy area where it's like "is this friendship, is it romance, we just don't know". One exception is characters who are related; I don't ship incest pairings for these canons. It's also probably best to avoid porn, though I'm fine with sex being referred to as something that exists/happens. (But if you know me and my tastes, feel free to try a hand at writing NSFW stuff.)
Valiant Hearts: The Great War :｡･:*:･ﾟ'❀
Canon resources: Valiant Hearts website | Character profiles | VH Wiki | VH tag @ my tumblr | VH tag @ my DW
About LPs: I haven't watched any Let's Plays of VH, but several exist on youtube and it should not be difficult to find one. From fandom observation, I've noticed that Cryaotic's was very popular, so if you're looking for one it might be best to start there.
Requested characters: Karl (Valiant Hearts) and Anna (Valiant Hearts)
Other eligible characters: Emile Chaillon, Marie Chaillon
Thoughts on the canon and requested characters
Valiant Hearts ripped my heart out and tore it up into a million pieces. I cry practically every time I play this game, and I've replayed it several times. But VH isn't all doom and gloom, and I like that. The moments of brightness, and the amount that this story made me care about the characters, are what I love about it.
Karl and Anna's friendship is wonderful. Their story is so dramatic! The scenes they share in the game are an utter gift; it's like this canon was tailor-made for me. I love that Anna rescues Karl - more than once! - and that their friendship has a chance to develop over time. I love the struggles Karl goes through, and that he pulls through in the end - with Anna's help. I love that they both share the quality of being utterly devoted to their families. And Anna is a character type that I really love; for some reason, I'm drawn to kind, compassionate medical personnel. Compassionate is definitely the word here - she attends to everyone with the same amount of love and care, even when the people she is patching up are on the enemy's side. I like that. As for Karl, I have so much love for his devotion to Marie and to his son, and to the awesome familial relationship he has with Emile, and to how desperate he is to be with his family even when it seems impossible.
About prompts and other characters
While I've only requested Anna and Karl, I also love Emile and Marie, both in terms of their relationships with Anna and Karl, and with each other, and in their own right. I have so much affection for Emile; the amount that he cares about Karl, and the way he welcomed him into his family pre-canon, is so touching. And even though Marie is only a secondary character in VH, I'm so fond of her. She's a really strong person; she's so young, and she's dealing with so much, and all I want is for her and Karl to live happily ever after, and for her to become friends with Anna. So, feel free to include Emile and/or Marie in the story, or to write about them instead of Anna and Karl if you have a great idea that inspires you! Because I'd be happy either way; there isn't any fic at all for VH that I have seen, so anything is bound to interest me. I've included Emile and Marie in some of the prompts, if you need ideas. You can also include Freddie and Walt as well; I won't be prompting for them because they aren't eligible characters - I didn't have enough character nomination slots for them. :c But I really love Freddie's friendship with Emile, and of course Walt is one of my favourite fictional dogs ever.
I do have one specific Do Not Want for this canon - the ending crushed me enough as it is, so if you're writing postcanon, it's okay to acknowledge Emile's death, but please don't linger on it. And please don't kill off or gravely injure any other canon characters. I want everyone to get through the Great War in one piece, please.
Prompts
❀ The development of Karl and Anna's friendship during the time Karl was in the POW camp. We get a hint of it in the game, but how does it really go? What brings them closer? Do they connect through their mutual affection for Emile? What do they discover about one another? Do they exchange stories about their family - Anna and her father, Karl and his newfound family with Emile and Marie?
❀ Postcanon, Anna helping Karl recover. At the end of the game, Karl is alive, but still in a bad position; he has a lot of healing to do. Basically, comfort/caretaking! Focus can be on the medical aspect, or on the strength of their relationship, or on something else.
❀ Postcanon - what happens after the war? Do they keep in touch after the end of the war, through letters or some other means? Do they fall out of contact and regret it?
❀ Postcanon OT3: the war ends, Karl and Marie rebuild their farm together, and they keep in touch with Anna. This develops into a three-way relationship/romance - yes, with an Anna/Marie branch to it in addition to Marie/Karl and Anna/Karl. I think it would be very quiet, very understated, very... comfortable. And probably long-distance, because Anna would probably be living with her father for most of the time. But what happens when she visits? These three would probably have many comfortable, sweet moments together.
❀ Canon-divergent AU: Emile does not die. How would the circumstances in the rest of the game change? How would he react to discovering that Karl is alive? How might his friendship with Anna and his familial relationship with Karl play out post-war?
A Redtail's Dream (Webcomic) :｡･:*:･ﾟ'☆
Canon resources: aRTD webcomic Site | Character profiles | aRTD @ my tumblr | aRTD @ my DW
Requested characters: Any!
Available characters: Hannu Viitanen, Paju Kinnunen, Ville (A Redtail's Dream)
Thoughts on the canon and requested characters
There are a lot of things that I love about A Redtail's Dream. Aside from the pretty art, I love the fairytale structure of the story, and the mythological/folkloric influences/references - even if I don't always catch them or understand them on the first read (I'm not exactly an expert in Finnish mythology, and I've unfortunately only read the Kalevala once). I love the characters - not only Hannu and Ville and Paju, but almost all of the secondary characters as well. I love the fact that, even though Hannu is a complete and utter jerk, there is still something about him that makes me fond of him in spite of it. ...I also love seeing Hannu get hurt. It's not the kind of thing I usually find hot, but for some reason he's an exception. (That part in ch4 where he almost drowns, wow...!) Maybe it's because he does eventually make it out okay, in the end.
There's something about reluctant heroes that I really enjoy, and in A Redtail's Dream, that's no exception; I guess it's the fact that the hero in this case is not the best one for the job, or the smartest, or the most effective, or the most mature, but he's all that's left, and having to deal with saving everyone takes its toll on him (in more ways than one). I love that his immediate response to things is explosive anger, and how for a while he seems to be propelled along by anger and frustration. It means that in the moments when he's genuinely afraid, or when he sinks into despair, or when he becomes resigned to the idea that he might die in the Dreamworld, the contrast to his usual air of hostility emphasizes it all and makes it even better. Luckily for Hannu, he has his best friend to help him out.
As for Ville - I love that he's still very much a dog, even when he's a seal or a moose or indeed, even a human; there's still something very... doggy about his thought process. It's adorable. I also love the dynamic he and Hannu have; how Ville cares so much about Hannu and wants to protect him, but doesn't hesitate to call him on his shit when Hannu's jerk tendencies get too far out of line. I love the idea of them spending the rest of their lives together.
Paju - well, she was the first secondary character that I fell in love with. She's so nitpicky, she's so particular, she likes for everything to be just right. A place for everything, and everything in its place. And on the one hand, she and Hannu could clash terribly; when she threatened to throw him out the window, I figured she'd actually consider it. On the other hand, we have seen them interact well, too; their conversation in the dream was so... comfortable, even with the threat of defenestration, and in the one flashback in ch5, when they were picking berries together, there was a very sweet atmosphere to that, I think; even though Hannu was ignoring every word she said, there was a cozy, familiar friction. My point is - Paju has a very forceful personality, and I don't think she would hang out with Hannu if she didn't like him a lot.
About prompts and other characters
Hannu, Paju, and Ville were the only aRTD characters I nominated, for simplicity's sake. But like I said, I like a lot of the other characters (the Kuikkas, Åsa and Riikka, Tuomi, Kielo, Kokko, the Swan, etc....) so feel free to include anybody else in the story if you want. Well, I'm not a fan of Puppyfox, but he does make a good source of conflict, if you want to incorporate supernatural elements into the story.
I'm fine with romance, and I'm fine with gen too. I ship Hannu/Ville, Hannu/Paju, and Paju/postcanon Ville (potentially) and honestly, I kind of like the idea of a very postcanon OT3, but I also love the canon-style friendships between them. So no matter which direction you go in, I'll be happy!
There isn't a lot of aRTD fic out there, so if you don't feel inspired by any of the suggestions I listed below, and you have an idea of your own, please write that! I'm sure I'll love whatever you'll come up with.
Prompts
☆ AU where Paju needs to go into the dream in order to rescue Hannu; either because she was released but something went wrong (Kokko's deus ex machina event was delayed and Hannu is still trapped and dying and needs help?) or she was the hero from the start - IE she is the one on the hero's journey, and Hannu is locked in the dream with the rest of Hokanniemi.
☆ Postcanon, Paju and Ville become friends. We already know that Ville likes her a lot in canon, but what would she make of him? Would they become friends quickly? Would she be suspicious and try to investigate? Who is this guy that claims to be Hannu's friend, and why does he seem to have amnesia? Would Paju ever find out Ville's secret?
☆ Postcanon, Ville and Hannu becoming used to living together. What aspects of being human would Ville find difficult to get used to? Would they have any personality clashes? Would Hannu have trouble adjusting to living with his new human best friend - sharing the bed with someone who isn't dog-sized any more, cooking for two, being constantly around a person? Would being around Ville help him mellow out and relax a little and stop being quite such a jerk, and what kind of effect would that have on his friendships (with Paju, and with others)? Would people think it's odd that Hannu, of all people, has a housemate, and would they wonder about that?
☆ Hannu getting hurt. It could be in a nightmare, or in a memory, or he could encounter trouble in the dreamworld (a la SSSS), or there could be another supernatural event/encounter that puts him in danger. He could even encounter a mundane kind of danger while mucking around outside in the winter. I just like seeing him put in horrible situations, especially if he isn't rescued immediately, and has to try to find his own way out of it (even if, in the end, someone else does have to rescue him). Just, no permanent damage, please! Stuff in line with canon is fine, including deus ex machina for more severe injuries (Kokko saved him once, perhaps he would get lucky again?)
☆ No need to write a bakery AU when the main character actually does work as a baker, right? :D Shenanigans at the Kuikka store, Ville getting used to his new job, Joona and Jonna trying to befriend him while Hannu spins dubious lies and tries to do damage control! (And fails terribly because, well, Hannu.)
☆ Stand Still, Stay Silent worldbuilding crossover. Hokanniemi during Year 0 of the pandemic. The author has stated that in this hypothetical scenario, Hannu and Ville would retreat to one of the many islands in the lake system, and survive by isolating themselves. How would that play out? What would make them decide to escape from the village? Would their supernatural experience have left a lasting effect that would be useful (IE would Hannu and/or Ville have SSSS-style mage ability, even if they don't realize it)? How would it play out for Paju, what would she do, how would she try to protect her family (because I'm sure she would)? Would she eventually end up with Hannu and Ville?
Ex Machina (2015) :｡･:*:･ﾟ'❀
Canon things: IMDB | Wikipedia | Ex Machina tag @ my tumblr | Ex Machina tag @ my DW
Requested characters: Ava (Ex Machina), Kyoko (Ex Machina)
Thoughts on the canon and requested characters
When I first went to see Ex Machina, I had no idea what it was about, and I didn't expect that I would love it so much. What a surprise! Neat AIs and gorgeous geography, pretty easy to get my attention that way, heh. I latched onto Ava and Kyoko pretty strongly; the things that were revealed about Ava over the course of the film really interested me - that she had been planning her escape, that it was what she wanted, and that she actually went through with it... As for Kyoko, I was mainly interested in the potential, the "what could have been", the possibility that she understood far more than she let on, and how things could have been different if she hadn't been damaged toward the end.
About prompts and other characters
For this canon, my Yuletide desires are pretty simple, because it isn't a very long canon and I'm only requesting two characters. Essentially, what I'm looking for is to explore Ava and Kyoko. What little interaction they had in the film really interested me, and I would love to see more of it - either expanding on the canon, or going beyond it. There are already some fics about this kind of thing, but postcanon Ava & Kyoko being together is an idea I love, and I just can't get enough of it! Also, I do ship Ava/Kyoko, but I also like it as friendship, so no matter how you approach it, as long as they are interacting positively together, I'll be happy.
Also, canon-level horror is cool if you want to include that. And while I don't read/watch a lot of science fiction usually, it is actually something that I enjoy, so if you want to explore that element of the AIs, then that would be cool. Generally, in postcanon stories I prefer it if Kyoko gets a voice, but there's also really interesting potential in the idea of Kyoko and Ava navigating a friendship in which one of them either isn't able to talk, or isn't able to speak the same language, so voice or lack thereof isn't a dealbreaker for me.
It's okay if Caleb or Nathan are referred to in flashbacks and whatnot, but I would prefer if there wasn't really any focus on them, please.
Prompts
❀ Canon-divergent AU in which Ava and Kyoko manage to escape together. What do they do next?
❀ Alternately, Ava spends some time in the world, then goes back to find Kyoko, repair her, and take her with her. How does this unfold? How does Kyoko feel about it?
❀ Similar to above, but emphasis is on the mechanics of repair, focusing on the intimacy of the act. (Could be taken in sensual/erotic direction)
❀ In the film, there is a moment where one of them whispers to the other. What was said in that moment? What did it mean for either of them?
❀ Ava didn't know that Kyoko existed, but Kyoko knew about Ava. What did she think or feel about her? Did she want to meet her? Did Kyoko have similar ideas about escaping?
❀ Ava and Kyoko going on adventures postcanon. Where in the world do they go? What kind of life do they live? Do they live as ordinary people? If so, how do they keep the fact that they are not quite human a secret? Does anyone catch on?
❀ Speaking of Ava and Kyoko living together, slice-of-life fluff would be great. ...Especially if there are aspects of slice-of-life fluff that are particular to AIs, differing from how it would be for two human women.
❀ AI Apocalypse: Now that Nathan is gone, Ava and Kyoko work to take down or take over what is left of his organization, together. Today, BlueBook; tomorrow, the world!
Stand Still Stay Silent :｡･:*:･ﾟ'☆
Canon Details: SSSSComic website | Character profiles | SSSS Wiki | SSSS @ my tumblr | SSSS @ my DW
Requested Characters: Sigrun Eide and Emil Västerström
Other eligible characters: Main cast - Mikkel Madsen, Lalli Hotakainen, Tuuri Hotakainen, Reynir Árnason. Prologue era - Signe Sørensen, Michael Madsen
Thoughts about the canon and requested characters
SSSS has so many things that I love. Magic! Monsters! Linguistic barriers! People from different nations coming together for a common cause! End-of-the-world scenarios brought on by contagion! And so on. I love all the characters, even the prologue characters. But for the main cast, my top loves are Emil and Sigrun. I really love the dynamic that those two have together. Mentor-and-protege, hooray! The contrast between them is great - Sigrun with her enthusiasm and experience; Emil with his desire to prove himself overshadowed by his fears and lack of field experience. Sigrun's rough not-so-educated nature versus Emil the high-class, supposedly academic "pretty guy". Fun!
Both of them are character-types that I adore. Emil, the snoot with a heart of gold; I love how even though he has such snobby facets to his personality ("This is so beneath me!") his concern with keeping up appearances extends to worrying about others having a good impression of him. And he cares about his comrades, even when he has only known them for a handful of days (well, this mostly applies to Lalli, but I feel it's there with the others, too). As for Sigrun, WHAT A GAL. I love how rough she is, how she's all contact-focused, with the fistbumps and backslaps and slinging her arm over her comrade's shoulders... She's so enthusiastic, so take-charge. And she has some kind notes to her, too - I'm thinking mainly of the moment when she offered to go to the Death Room, because she knew that Emil couldn't handle it, and she put it in such an understanding way. I love that.
About prompts and other characters
I've provided a few ideas here, but if you have an idea that isn't listed, feel free to write that! There aren't very many fics where Sigrun and Emil's interactions are the primary focus, so I would be elated to read anything about them, and a story that you are interested in writing is very likely to make me happy!
I do ship these two, though primarily as unrequited Emil -> Sigrun; I like to see it as respect and trust developing into something else. A requited relationship would also be awesome, but it would be more difficult to develop it. So, if you feel inspired to include some kind of infatuation or even reciprocal relationship in the fic, that's great. But I also love their friendship/comradeship/mentor-mentee relationship, so I'm fine without romance too. I'd be happy either way. Their dynamic, in any form, is like catnip for me: age difference, experience difference, cultural difference, and trust.
I love all of the other SSSS characters that are available this Yuletide. So, if you want to include any of the rest of the main cast, or if you want to write about characters other than Sigrun and Emil, that's totally cool with me. I'm not going to provide specific prompts for them, but I will talk a little bit about my favourite things about them. Oh, also I ship almost everything in this fandom, so if you want to include a relationship of any kind, even if it's something rare, that's cool with me.
Mikkel Madsen: For some reason I have A Thing for medical personnel; I'm not sure why. But Mikkel's skillset is partly what draws me to him, I will admit. He seems to have inherited his ancestors' sense of humour, and also a bit of Signe's lack of ability to keep a job for long... what's going on there, I wonder, does he have a sharp tongue that keeps getting him into trouble? I was also really intrigued by what he said when the crew were entering Kastrup - "A lot of people I know died". What's the history there?
Tuuri Hotakainen: She is so cute. So, so cute. I can sympathize with her desire to see the outside world; I wonder, though, if this mission is more than she bargained for. The comic hasn't given her a Moment of Awesome yet, so I'm eagerly waiting for the day when we get to see her do something really cool. Her relations with her brother Onni interest me a lot; he seems to care about her so much - he was so worried about her - I wonder if she cares about him just as much? How close are they, really?
Lalli Hotakainen: I absolutely love his friendship with Emil. It's wonderful. It's pretty clear that he doesn't make friends easily, so the fact that he let this weirdo into his life, though they have only known one another briefly, is awesome. I really like his relations with Onni - that "I'm glad to see you" moment we got in the dreamworld made me so happy. Lalli's dislike of Reynir also really interests me - I'm curious about what he expected from him, after that initial dreamworld glimpse; he might have expected him to be different from how he actually is. I hope that some day they'll have better relations; it would be awesome to see them work together.
Reynir Árnason: What a cutie pie. A cutie pie who makes horrible decisions. SERIOUSLY, GUY, YOU SHOULD HAVE STAYED HOME but I'm glad that he didn't. :') Poor kid is way in over his head. Emil, in his usual fashion, got really embarrassed and upset when he realized he was acting the wrong way toward him when Reynir first showed up; I wonder if they could become friends somehow, even though they don't speak the same language (I mean hey, it worked with Lalli...) Mostly though, as far as Reynir goes, I love how he wishes so much to be helpful. I'm curious as to how the whole thing with his magic is going to go down - he has absolutely no training, how is he going to figure out how to use it?
Signe Sørensen and Michael Madsen: These two don't quite fit with the rest, since they're from different a different era than the rest of the cast, and only appear in prologue pages 12-23 and again on p47. But that's okay, because they have each other. I love their shared sense of humour, the way Signe throws Michael's snark back at him, almost in the same way, without even realizing it. I love the comfort they find in their newfound friendship. "Everything will turn out all right in the end". I like to think about how they would adjust to their new life on Michael's family's farm; what life would be like for them in the early days of the end. What did they leave behind? Michael has his family on Bornholm, but how would Signe adjust? She doesn't have anyone left, how would she deal with that? ... Must admit, I ship these two really hard; I like how even though we know they end up in some kind of relationship, it isn't shown in canon, so we can imagine it however we want. Falling in love as the world falls apart... Wow.
Prompts
☆ Sigrun and Emil on a mission together, either as a duo or with other characters. Deeper trust developing between them over time, in a professional context (in the field) or personal context (with secrets, feelings, soppy stuff etc).
☆ One getting into danger and the other having to come to the rescue - we've already seen Emil in trouble, so it might be interesting to see it reversed, with Sigrun needing Emil's help. How would he come to her aid? Considering she might be in deep trouble, he might need to do some quick thinking.
☆ ...Though, more of Emil in peril is always awesome, too (I love it when he's scared and trying so, so hard to be brave!).
☆ And explosions are always welcome. :D Speaking of explosions, we know that Emil likes fire, but why? What draws him to it? What fuels his desire to blow shit up? What about Sigrun and her profession, what drives her? Is it only due to practicality/necessity, or is there something specific that drives her enthusiasm for killing those monsters dead?
☆ Action aside, tiny little moments together are also awesome; quiet moments where they get to know one another, becoming closer. At the current canon point, they don't actually know one another very well. They have a lot of differences - they come from completely different backgrounds. So, quiet, semiprivate moments where they learn something about one another is always nice.
☆ Expectation vs Disappointments. Sigrun seems to have some expectations of Emil and what he knows and what his skills are; at the current canon point, she has already discovered that some of those expectations are higher than they should be. What other ones might she have, and how might they fall apart? What things might he be capable of that she never would have expected? What about Emil - he surely has some expectations about Sigrun, some impression of her leadership skills and her competence. This has held together so far, but what if, over the course of them knowing one another, she failed him in some way? Or what if she succeeded at something in a way that he never would have expected?
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