Trick or Treat 2016
Sep. 18th, 2016 03:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
person4Hello there, and thank you in advance for the trickery or treat-giving to come!
Before anything else, let me just say, in case assignments go out before I get home from work tomorrow and finish it, that because I signed up at almost the last minute right now this letter is still a work in progress other than the entries I could copy from last year and the first couple sections I was able to write before bed. Edit: Everything except Umineko is now complete, and nobody offered to create for that so I can at least be sure you have something for what we matched on (though I will be updating that part to, for anyone who wants to treat it, it's just gonna be a long section since there's a bunch of characters so I wanted to get everything else up first)! Sorry again for how long it took, life kept being lifey on me.
I tried to give you a wide range of things to work with, so hopefully one of the things I asked for works for you! I might have more to say about some characters than others but please don’t think that would mean I’d be unhappy to get something about anyone else; if I asked for a character I very much want to see more of them I just don’t necessarily have specific plots in mind.
First of all, a few general likes and dislikes. I prefer stories that aren’t 100% doom and gloom, it’s fine to go to dark places but I’d like the characters to get at least some light and not just angst away. Likewises, I’d prefer endings that at least have a note of hope in them. No non-con, please, or AUs where there world of the canon is totally changed. AUs where just some specific detail is changed and you explore how it changes how things go are A-OK though! (In other words, to pull an example from the most well-known of my requests. I’d rather not get “The Simpsons in Space!” but “Mona Simpson Never Abandoned Homer” would be fine by me.) And I’d rather not have pure plotless porn. And I'd rather not get anything with a first person POV please.
I like slice-of-life stories scenes exploring moments that must have happened during the canon but we didn’t get to see. If you write a shipping fic and don’t get with the pairing already being established I like slow-building romances. I have a soft-sport for couples finding a short moment of peace together when everything’s going to hell around them. But shipfic and gen are both equally welcome; in each section I’ll give you a list of pairings I like out of the characters I requested and then specific prompts just for each character that you can work romance into or not as you desire. If you go the trickery route I wouldn’t want something that’s just a straight gore-fest unless there’s plot around it to explain why everyone’s being ripped to shreds, but other than that I’m opened for pretty much anything; psychological horror, body horror, one of the characters dying and showing back up as a ghost, monsters or folkloric creatures showing up, whatever floats your boat! The prompts I give are mostly in the order of supernatural critters but that’s just because horror outside of them is so wide-ranging that I have trouble coming up with specific prompts, but I am Miss Survival Horror girl so don’t think that means I wouldn’t want you dipping into something more directly scary. The one weird request I’ll make is that if any corpses show up please don’t have any detailed depictions of maggots in them, I have a (very stupid, I know, I know) phobia of worms.
Now for specifics! I'd recommend ctrl+fing for whatever fandom you matched on, because I gave ever character I requested an individual block of prompts and that got long fast. For all of my fandoms I'm open to both tricks and treats, so whether one of my prompts takes you to a dark place or a happy fluffy place go ahead and run with it!
Baldur’s Gate
Viconia DeVir
Edwin Odesseiron
Female Charname
Summary
I've loved this series for years and would be happy without a story set at any time during it or both before and after. I haven't played either of the Enhanced Edition versions so please don't draw from anything that only happens in them, but otherwise you're all good.
Shipping Options: Edwin/Charname, Charname/Viconia (friendshipped as well as romantic, I have a soft spot for the running theme of Charname popping up to save Viconia from those who’d kill her)
Viconia: Deeper exploration of her turn from Lolth to Shar. Something exploring her relationship with her brother, or where he escapes with her to the surface. Some adventure by her own where she doesn’t end up endangered or abused, or if she does getting to see her successfully make her way out of it on her own. Something where she manages to make a place for herself in the world where she can be at peace, whether off somewhere that no one can bother her or by digging her heels in somewhere and refusing to give up until the people there accept her as part of their community. Or finding one of the towns you help during the game where the people won’t be dickholes to one of the people who helped them all out just because she has blue skin.
Edwin: Anything exploring his fallout with Thay. Was he already on the outs with them and hiding it in BG1, his witch hunt secretly a way to win back favor, or was his fall really completely between games? If Dynaheir had died in BG1 (which she almost always does in my games, I usually pull the ‘send her out to ‘tragically’ get herself killed without the party doing it themselves so I can get both Edwin and Minsc without conflict’ trick unless I’m shaking up my usual party) how would that have changed things? How did he hook up with Mae’Var? Even though he’s evil himself the dude really doesn’t seem like the type he’d want to be connected to, was he really unable to find anyone else to hide himself with? Something silly about how much he must like how he looks with a goatee to have it in spite of the red wizard thing against facial hair. Or about people reacting to his muttering to himself. Honestly, I’d be totally happy just with 300+ words of that muttering! The one thing I’ll ask is that you ignore his “stuck as a tavern wench forever ending”, dude’s my favorite character and I hate that as the ending to his story.
Female Charname: First off, my preferred Charname is a paladin named Adrian who’s very strong on the being good being more important than being lawful side of the ‘how do you play your paladin’ split but who’s more open than most to evil people because she genuinely believes it’s possible to redeem by example (basically that her cloistered librarybrat childhood means she’s shaped herself entirely around the romantic storybook knight she read about growing up in Candlehold and boggles everyone by actually living like that). Something about that childhood, about how the people in the know treated a Bhaalspawn in their midst and how they grow to care about her the way almost everyone there obviously does. Trying to spend time there again after BG1, exploring how it can no longer feel the same after everything that happened (though I prefer to believe that most of the people she cared about survive, the dopplegangers not actually having swapped in for them yet). Exploration of their life as a god if they chose to become one; do they ever regret making that choice?
Borderlands
Rhys
Fiona
Sasha
Handsome Jack
LoaderBot
August
Summary
As you can guess from the character selections, this is specifically a Tales From the Borderlands request, I've never played any of the main series games and would prefer that you didn't pull anything from them that would spoil me badly about anything if I do get to them (though I'll say I do know about Jack's daughter and the circumstances surrounding her, so if you matched me on him and feel like mentioning her don't worry about it) or not make much sense without the context from them.
Shipping Options: Rhys/Handsome Jack, Fiona, or Sasha, August/Sasha
Rhys: Something pre-game about his working his way up Hyperion’s ranks. Something during the timeskip or postgame, rebuilding Atlas, creating his own damned eye and arm. Is he worried at all that maybe he didn’t successfully rip out every part of him that Jack’s AI could have hidden in, that when he hooks up new bits he might find his own arm trying to strangle him again? Are there any scattered members of the Crimson Lance out there still loyal to the old company, does he find himself with a surprise army turning up as word gets out the Atlas is back (or a surprise army showing up to fight against him because they’re pissed off this guy they’ve never heard of is using their old company)? Does he make room for the Hyperion cultists in the new company? Just how clear does he need to be with them that backstabbing up the ranks is no longer allowed (but epic fingergun battles are a-okay)?
Fiona and Sasha: I’m putting these two together since otherwise there’d be a lot of prompt repetition. Anything about their childhood, being trained into thievery. Did they ever hope for anything more? Post-game do they try to get something more? What do they do with themselves during the timeskip? We have more of an idea what happened with Rhys than we do with them. Do they ever make amends with Felix, assuming he lives and they find out that he didn’t just swipe the money and run? Make up a con for them, past or future, successful or not.
Handsome Jack: AU where he had the tiny modicum of loyalty (or sanity, considering he seems to think Rhys would be happy with that plan) needed to, y’know, not plan to immediately turn the guy he genuinely seems to like (assuming you play the game to get along with him) into a robo-Jack as soon as he’s in a position to; what would it be like for him to really watch someone else run his company if he’s not planning to immediately take it back? Something about him still being aware if Rhys keeps the eye, able to watch the world through it but unable even to interact in the minimal way he could while possessing Rhys, or something where he actually gets brought back (in, if Rhys is the one to do it, a way that severely limits his way to do anything except snark) how does he deal with finally really being completely powerless? Something where he doesn’t tip his hand to soon and actually succeeds at his robo-Jack plan; does he on any level at all feel bad about doing that to the one person left in the world who could possibly be called his friend? Unseen entries in the Jack’opedia!
LoaderBot: Anything set during the timegap, pulling his new body together, searching out the others. Something after a playthrough where he and Rhys are close, is he one day godfather to baby LoaderBot? (Does even he say no, Rhys, do not name your firstborn LoaderBot.) Facing his fear of clowns! Or his love of poetry! Showing other LoaderBots another way to be, how they can create their own lives. Post-canon, as the most heroic character in the game does he keep that up, go out and protect those who need it in their cesspit world?
August: Anything pre-game, growing up with his horrible mother but somehow not actually ending up that awful a guy even though he tries to hide it, how did that happen? Considering just how badly he reacts to betrayal does it come from some past incident where someone he trusted turned on him? Also considering how badly he reacts to betrayal, does it eat at him at all that he can’t let go of his feeling for Sasha even after learning she was just using him? Is he able to keep Vallory’s gang together after her death, or does it fall apart or other members try to overthrow him without fear of his mother holding everyone together?
Brütal Legend
Eddie Riggs
Ophelia
Lita Halford
Lars Halford
Summary
This game is absolutely ridiculous and I love it to pieces, I know a lot of people got upset after EA's misleading advertising campaign with the way the singleplayer campaign is mostly just a way to introduce you to all the aspects for multiplayer, but damned if it isn't a hell of a lot more entertaining at doing so than a lot of other multiplayer-focused games with throwaway singleplayer modes. I'd be happy both with things that go as over the top METAL as the game itself does or with a more grounded look at the characters, either way's fine.
Shipping Options: Eddie/Ophelia or Lita, fucked up Lars/Lita maybe?
Eddie: Something exploring how he developed his mindset; certainly a good roadie stays out of the limelight, but boy does he take it to extremes not even accepting credit for saving humanity. Something about past artists how worked for, the long drift from folks he actually respected to the likes of Kabbage Boy. Or, combining the two, something about how to those in the know who still believed in oldschool metal he was actually more respected than the act he worked for back in his old life. Something coming up with a new legend for him to stumble his way into, he can’t very well spend the rest of his life making out with Ophelia (much as he might like to)! Does he ever stumble across some sad corner of the Age of Metal based off his hated Second Wave American Tween Melodic Rap Metalcore, and how hilarious would his reaction to that be? Anything exploring his heritage.
Ophelia: Something set during the Black Tear Rebellion, little Ophelia watching without comprehension what happens to her parents. The extra pain it must bring to the distrust she faces when she knows better than any of them what the tear drinkers were like and how obvious it should be that she isn’t some sleeper agent. And, going deeper into that, is there a difference between the tear drinkers of the past, doing it for the sake of power, over what happened to her drowning herself out of grief? Could that be why she’s even saveable, that letting the Sea of Black Tears in was never what she wanted when she was drawn to its shores? Something focusing on Drowned Ophelia, did the real version have any awareness of what she was doing?
Lita: Anything about her as a ruler, doing her best to do good by her people, to be better than she once was, worthy of her brother’s memory and of Eddie giving up the place that should by all rights be his to her. A private moment of her grieving for Lars. A past look at everything going horribly for humanity, grinding her into the bitter distrustful woman she was at the start of the game. Her making peace with Ophelia post-game.
Lars: I always feel lots of pity for poor Lars, the hero who never had his chance to be one. What was it like for the poor guy, to be struck down just when things finally seemed hopeful? Something in the past, about how he managed to remain an open idealist man in spite of everything? (Did Lita shield him from some of the worst of it even though she’s the younger sibling?) A look at his army slowly crumbling to the point it is at the start of the game, only three members left. What he’s doing at any point in the game when Eddie’s off recruiting and we don’t get to see what he’s up to.
Persona 4
Adachi Tohru
Dojima Ryotaro
Dojima Nanako
Persona 4 Protagonist
Tatsumi Kanji
Summary
With Persona 5 right on the horizon it seems like a good time to go back to my longtime love of Persona 4! This has been a long time go-to feel-good game for me, which is a bit silly to say considering the subject matter. I've only just recently gotten ahold of The Golden and haven't gotten very far yet so I'd prefer something that stay routed in the original game (although I did watch Adachi's route the moment it was up on youtube, so if you matched me on him don't worry about cutting off a big hunk characterization for him). And as an old-time fan I greatly prefer Seta Souji for the MC's name, if you're willing.
Shipping Options: Souji/Kanji, Dojima, or Adachi, Nanako puppydog crushing on anyone but her dad.
Adachi Tohru: Something exploring the “mistake” that got him sent to Inaba to begin with (though I should say I’d prefer if he’s never actually raped anyone, I know that to a lot of people it’s splitting hairs but part of the reason I’m still able to like him in spite of all his horribleness is that we don’t know whether he’d have gone through with more than being a skeevy bastard if surprise TV-portal hadn’t happened). Exploring his excitement at watching everything going on with Souji and Namatame even after he stops taking an active role himself, how much is he actually aware of considering you generally aren’t doing your dungeon crawling when he’d be able to watch on the midnight channel? Viewing through his eyes as basically a fun show to watch was he actually rooting for Souji to win as the hero or was he always hoping for more bodies to start piling up? Times that he was very very tempted to TV someone; it’s always interesting to me that he just completely stops doing it after Saki when he was so quick to shove her in (his buried and ignored conscious successfully raising its voice one time to go “Okay, after happening twice I can’t lie to myself about being in the TV definitely killing people instead of just sending them somewhere and can’t do it again” or a more pragmatic “That kid’s found a way to drag people back out, can’t risk them remembering I did it”). Or just ignore his dark side totally and give me something fun and happy with the Dojima family!
Dojima Ryotaro: Something set after his wife’s death, searching for her killer before losing hope. His attempts at being there enough for his daughter, and how aware he is (or isn’t) at how badly he’s failing at that. His suspicions of Souji during the events of the game; did he ever seriously think he could be the killer? Or was he mostly just worried that Souji might become a victim, since it doesn’t take much detective work to notice the running trend of people keep going missing then reappearing to join his nephew’s posse. How was he talked into taking Souji in the first place, did it take some doing or was he open to it from the start? His long recovery after Nanako was taken, how much it must have drove him nuts to be stuck in the hospital so long.
Dojima Nanako: Even though for the most part I’m open to both tricks and treats, I’d really rather not get a trick on the darker side that focuses on Nanako (I’m fine with her appearing in something very dark, I just don’t want her as the main character/victim), thanks. Cooking lessons with the investigation team (or via TV chefs if you’d rather), learning more than just eggs to make for herself when she’s alone. Post-game loneliness about being the only kid in the house again, even if now she has lots of big brothers and sisters watching out for her. Her time in Heaven giving her the ability to go into TVs herself with nobody realizing it since she didn’t gain a persona (ignoring how access actually works obviously), using the place that in her eyes was always lovely and safe but for Namatame even before the ending as her own private hidey-hole, and the shock that would come when she gets old enough for her own personal shadow to show up in her happy place.
Persona 4 Protagonist: Something about him absolutely not wanting to leave Inaba at the end of the game/post-game attempts to get back there to stay, either by getting his parents to agree to let him live with Dojima on a more permanent basis or trying to convince them it would be a great place to move. Something silly exploring the implications of his social stats, how he starts the game a dumb flighty coward who sucks at dealing with people and over the course of a year grows into this incredible man amongst men. How to his parents react to finding the son they left barely able to express himself now has a silver-tongue and the depth of knowledge needed to use it in any situation. The long lonely days near the end of the game, coming home to that sad empty house; I like to imagine than we don’t get to see it but all the social link characters keep up a running campaign of ‘Don’t let Souji be all alone there!’, like even ones with no connection to the main group “just happening” to stop in if they pass by and there’s no sign of activity, but a trick of those days just being miserable is also welcome (maybe he pokes at the persona in his head for company, even knowing they’re just aspects of his own self?)
Tatsumi Kanji: Something about his pre-game thuggery, perhaps with anyone who happens to pay enough attention noticing that even though he’s scary his actual actions tend to not be as bad as you’d expect. Anything with his doll-making hobby, maybe starting up lessons for the local kids? Inadvertently inspiring local elementary kids to totally accept making frilly dolls as a thing for guys too, ‘cause look how awesome tough that guy teaching them to make them is! (If you matched on him and want more prompts please feel free to have the mods poke me, I know there was more I meant to put here but a sleeping pill I took is starting to kick in and my brain’s gone woooosh, but I’ll try to remember to expand him more.)
Red vs. Blue
AI Program Epsilon | Leonard Church
Dexter Grif
Dick Simmons
Franklin Delano Donut
Lavernius Tucker
Sarge (Red vs. Blue)
Summary
As you can tell from the cast list, I am super into the Blood Gulch years; the more the series focused on the freelancers the more I fell out of the fandom. But I've been rewatching my DVDs lately and it's reawakened how much I loved the show, and want to keep that love going!
Shipping Options: Any of them/any of them honestly, though my favorite options are Church/Grif or Tucker and Simmons/Grif.
AI Program Epsilon | Leonard Church: Something where Church really is a ghost (honestly, I prefer ghost!Church to AI!Church anyway, that retcon never thrilled me), and is stuck to a more traditional haunting of a single place or person, or has to fight against getting dragged to some real afterlife because fuck that! Getting a new body, trying to get cool upgrades to it because, hey, if you’re gonna have a robot body why not have laser eyes or whatever? Said new body having stupid hilarious glitches! An unseen one of those times where he actually tries to do some leading, whether he succeeds or fails horribly or totally could have succeeded if anyone would just listen to him.
Dexter Grif: Something about a time where he’s surprisingly competent/cares enough to take an active role in whatever’s happening instead of just getting swept along. Something about his frankensteined body. More of a look at his disasterous time as sargeant at Rat’s Nest then we get in canon, or at his later attempts to become a good leader to avoid being like Sarge. Something about back when he was first drafted, and his reaction to that.
Dick Simmons: Something about his cyborg body; since it’s safe to assume that Sarge isn’t the greatest at melding man and machine is it ever painful to him and if so does he ever resent that Grif is right there with all Simmon’s original perfectly working (if they haven’t been ruined by a junk food diet) parts that he feels like shit without? (...I’m not really sure why I feel more like cyborg parts would leave someone with pain issues then turning into a patchwork person like Grif, maybe just because Grif would just flat-out be dead otherwise so he’ll take whatever shit comes with it while Simmons could have been fine without mad science shit being pulled on him). I always love that brief period of time where he joined the blue team, so something set then or where it lasts longer could be fun.
Franklin Delano Donut: More times Donut appears to die only to pop up later. Getting insulted as folks stop bothering to mourn because it’s Donut, everyone knows he’ll just be back later. Or something where he actually does die, and nobody can accept it because it’s become so unbelieveable that he’s not just gonna pop up later? Donut putting on another play! More of Agent Double-O Donut. Anything where he gets an adventure of his own, after how often he’s been out of the spotlight post-Blood Gulch!
Lavernius Tucker: More of his time off without the others prior to Recreation. Anything about his relationship with Junior, I have a soft-spot for how he comes to embrace his weird fatherhood (getting Junior in fifth grade basketball)! Anything about his gradual growth from a guy who gave so little shits that he just let Church play leader even though he outranked him to someone who actually cares some about the missions he takes on and the people he fights alongside.
Sarge: Anything playing with his mad sciencey tendencies. Something set during that period where he and Sis are the only ones left in the Gulch, I imagine that must have been a pretty hilarious period. Anything about his hatred of the blues conflicting with his gradually coming to respect those blue bastards, and how often they all end up working together. Just anything about the way he takes the whole war so much more seriously than anyone else.
The Simpsons
Lisa Simpson Sideshow Bob Nelson Muntz Bart Simpson
Summary
I probably don't have to say this since if you offered The Simpsons to begin with you probably feel comfortable with it, but please don't feel like you need to make something hilarious if you feel shaky writing humor, I have been there before and don't want to put anyone else in that position! As long as whichever characters you choose to use are recognizable as themselves (with the obvious exception of Maggie... uh, not because she needs to be funny, just because an older Maggie will be practically an original character) I don't care if they're a laugh a minute.
Shipping Options: Nelson/Lisa, far far far future Sideshow Bob/Bart
Lisa: Growing up trying to make the best of herself in spite of her family, the difficulties of trying to get ahead in life when you’re smart enough to make it but come from a family that’s poor enough to make doing so difficult. Sticking to jazz in spite of her stubby fingers. I have a giant soft spot for her as a stage magician after that episode about it, she just seems so happy learning new tricks and performing them for people. Nothing shipping her with Milhouse, please, not even mentions of them having a thing in the past.
Sideshow Bob: He could be the focus of a really dark trick if you want, but I’d also welcome something set during one of his periods of redemption. Does he ever reach a point where, even when he’s trying to be a good guy, he’s just kind of always on the lookout for whatever will inevitably drive him back to murder, be it Bart or no? How do things go once Maggie gets old enough to be involved in the fights against him, can he deal with the most hardcore badass Simpsons child of them all? A twisted look into his mind, this is a man who can slice off another person’s face and swap it with his own so his thoughts must go darker than we ever get to see on the surface. (Mind, you’re also free to ignore that he can go that dark, I know a lot of people prefer to ignore the face-swapping episode for going too far.)
Nelson: Something about him finding a spot for himself in the world, not feeling like he needs to hide his softer interests under his tough exterior. Anything about him letting folks see that squishier side. Finding something he’s really good at! Something depressing about his screwed up family. Something sweet about him pulling together a family he chooses for himself.
Bart: The futures we see for Bart tend to be almost inevitably downers, how about showing one where he actually does well for himself? Or something where he’s in high school and elective classes open up to him and he actually finds a subject he’s interested in at school. Does Lisa tease him about liking a class? Does he retain his French skills as he gets older and baffle all his teachers at how he’s able to get his high school language credit with ease when he struggles with so many other things?
I have trouble coming up with specifically tricksy prompts for the canon that don’t already show up in canon, but just run with whatever appeals to you!
Slayers
Lina Inverse
Xelloss
Summary
I saw this in the tagset and my heart burst all over with joy! Slayers was one of the first anime I got deeply into once I started exploring things I couldn't see on TV; I got the first three VHS tapes with my first check from my first job when I was 14, close to 20 years ago now. Still have them too!
Shipping Options: Lina/Xelloss. Though he’s not nommed so feel free to ignore it, I’m also a fan of either (or both?)/Zelgadis as well.
Lina: Something set during her years training at the Sorcerer’s Guild school. Her early experiments with magic fueled by the Lord of Nightmares. Speaking of LoN, does she have any little fragments of memories left from being possessed by her, or strange god-touched dreams from having that once in her head even just for such a short time? Something silly with her gaining new titles that she hates just as much as the ones she already has! Or her trying to spread one she makes up herself that she likes much more then Dragon Spooker or Enemy of All Who Live. Reaching a point where she has a hell of a time finding treasure the claim or bandits to slaughter because at the slightest rumor that she’s in the area they all pack up and going into hiding.
Xelloss: Anything exploring how much he’s actually personally interested in Lina’s team versus only acting as if he is due to orders. Are he and his master just long-term plotting so if Lina keeps right on fucking up the mazoku power structures they are the one smart group of them positioned within the realm of her good-graces? Something about a plot that sets them at odds with the main group! Something set years after the series when he’s the only one still around, does he ever think back on this gang of knuckleheads he used to hang out with, manipulate, and annoy with however much fondness a mazoku’s capable of, or do they just fall out of his memory entirely? (Along the same theme, I kind of have a fondness for reincarnation fic where he’s still around to watch Lina and the others suddenly reappearing in the world.)
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Q
Jean-Luc Picard
Summary
One of my very first fannish memories was my mom letting me stay up late just to watch "All Good Things..." Until then I'd only ever watched episodes in reruns earlier in the day, but I liked it enough that she decided to let me see how it all ended when it happened instead of waiting however long for the reruns to get around to it and probably hearing what happened from other people in the meantime. I still remember watching the final scene between Q and Picard in the empty courtroom and feeling like I knew I didn't quite get it but still being so happy with what was happening.
Shipping Options: I’m sure you realized it’s Picard/Q as soon as you saw the character choices, lol. Though if you do go with shippy fic, this is the one canon where I would really strongly prefer no on-screen sex at all; I’m always frustrated by how super-porny most stories for them are when I’m not too into that.
Q: Something about the birth of his fascination with humans, is it really just due to the Enterprise crew catching his eye? AU where Picard actually does let him join the crew, and all the insanity that would presumably come of that. Hanging around somewhere that’s really totally foreign to our pathetic human minds. Getting pissy about the fact that now that he’s interested in humanity he has to deal with the fact that they’ll up and die on him like it’s nothing.
Picard: Going back to check on worlds he’s helped in the past to see what’s become of them. Getting specifically requested as an ambassador in some big horrible conflict going on in the galaxy, just because he’s gotten well known for being able to smooth things out between people. Something set during The Inner Light, giving a closer look at how he slowly loses himself in being Kamin. (Though I’ve been avoiding shippy stuff in the individual prompts, and this doesn’t actually have to be shippy, I always like to imagine that Q periodically appears within the vision to stir up Picard’s memory of himself, because while he’s fine with the probe’s mission he’s not going to risk Kamin’s memories totally drowning out Picard’s). Coming across some new wonder of the galaxy.
The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Starscream (Transformers IDW) Windblade (Transformers IDW) Arcee (Transformers IDW)
Summary
Transformers IDW was my surprise love of the last year, after finally giving into a friend's insisting that it didn't matter that the only Transformers franchise I've ever gotten into before was Beast Wars, I would totally adore it anyway.
Arcee was the first character that totally won me over but Starscream's machinations to make himself the rightful ruler of Cybertron was the plotline that really grabbed me interest in RiD and then Windblade shows up and shakes everything up while never meaning to.
Shipping Options: Starscream/Windblade (preferably on the dark side, I don’t like them fluffy and romantic as a pair but I do like them as a pair who don’t like each other yet are attracted to each other), Arcee/Windblade might be interesting
Starscream: Anything about how he took on so much more than he was expecting when he gained Cybertron, and more of his machinations to keep it under his control. A private moment of him kicking himself over and over about inadvertently giving Megatron the spite-filled will to twist his trial to his advantage. Something dark going deeper into his thoughts about having killed his only friend, is there ever a part of him that tortures himself by coming up with other ways that situation might have gone. Or an AU where he didn’t take that shot, is his reign any more stable with a decentish (he can admittedly be an ass) guy that Starscream trusts as much as he’s able to trust anyone nudging him towards being a better leader. Something speculating about how Starscream’s reign inevitably crumbles, after all the times he's managed to dodge it. More conversations with the ghosts in his head, pulling in more than just Bumblebee if you'd like.
Windblade: The poor girl has so little time to actually have fun in her stories, how about something where she just gets to go out, explore Cybertron, see more of the good side of the world without Starscream breathing down her neck all the time? Or something sad, her processing what was up with Chromia at the end of her first miniseries, maybe missing Nautica since if she hadn’t taken off Windblade would have someone she’d feel comfortable talking about everything with. He’s not a nominated character so feel free to ignore it, but I love the sisterly role Windblade took with Waspinator and anything about that would be great. Or something tricksy about cityspeaking for a broken titan, it always felt to me like you could go somewhere dark with her dealing with all of Metroplex’s fragmented voices when she’s in contact with him.
Arcee: Arcee is another character that I don’t really have many prompts for, I just love her so much I’d love a story about her. She was the first character my heart grabbed onto when I started reading Robots in Disguise, this girl who’s so gleefully bloodthirsty yet on the side of good and gradually coming to fit better into that side without losing her edge.
Before anything else, let me just say, in case assignments go out before I get home from work tomorrow and finish it, that because I signed up at almost the last minute right now this letter is still a work in progress other than the entries I could copy from last year and the first couple sections I was able to write before bed. Edit: Everything except Umineko is now complete, and nobody offered to create for that so I can at least be sure you have something for what we matched on (though I will be updating that part to, for anyone who wants to treat it, it's just gonna be a long section since there's a bunch of characters so I wanted to get everything else up first)! Sorry again for how long it took, life kept being lifey on me.
I tried to give you a wide range of things to work with, so hopefully one of the things I asked for works for you! I might have more to say about some characters than others but please don’t think that would mean I’d be unhappy to get something about anyone else; if I asked for a character I very much want to see more of them I just don’t necessarily have specific plots in mind.
First of all, a few general likes and dislikes. I prefer stories that aren’t 100% doom and gloom, it’s fine to go to dark places but I’d like the characters to get at least some light and not just angst away. Likewises, I’d prefer endings that at least have a note of hope in them. No non-con, please, or AUs where there world of the canon is totally changed. AUs where just some specific detail is changed and you explore how it changes how things go are A-OK though! (In other words, to pull an example from the most well-known of my requests. I’d rather not get “The Simpsons in Space!” but “Mona Simpson Never Abandoned Homer” would be fine by me.) And I’d rather not have pure plotless porn. And I'd rather not get anything with a first person POV please.
I like slice-of-life stories scenes exploring moments that must have happened during the canon but we didn’t get to see. If you write a shipping fic and don’t get with the pairing already being established I like slow-building romances. I have a soft-sport for couples finding a short moment of peace together when everything’s going to hell around them. But shipfic and gen are both equally welcome; in each section I’ll give you a list of pairings I like out of the characters I requested and then specific prompts just for each character that you can work romance into or not as you desire. If you go the trickery route I wouldn’t want something that’s just a straight gore-fest unless there’s plot around it to explain why everyone’s being ripped to shreds, but other than that I’m opened for pretty much anything; psychological horror, body horror, one of the characters dying and showing back up as a ghost, monsters or folkloric creatures showing up, whatever floats your boat! The prompts I give are mostly in the order of supernatural critters but that’s just because horror outside of them is so wide-ranging that I have trouble coming up with specific prompts, but I am Miss Survival Horror girl so don’t think that means I wouldn’t want you dipping into something more directly scary. The one weird request I’ll make is that if any corpses show up please don’t have any detailed depictions of maggots in them, I have a (very stupid, I know, I know) phobia of worms.
Now for specifics! I'd recommend ctrl+fing for whatever fandom you matched on, because I gave ever character I requested an individual block of prompts and that got long fast. For all of my fandoms I'm open to both tricks and treats, so whether one of my prompts takes you to a dark place or a happy fluffy place go ahead and run with it!
Baldur’s Gate
Viconia DeVir
Edwin Odesseiron
Female Charname
Summary
I've loved this series for years and would be happy without a story set at any time during it or both before and after. I haven't played either of the Enhanced Edition versions so please don't draw from anything that only happens in them, but otherwise you're all good.
Shipping Options: Edwin/Charname, Charname/Viconia (friendshipped as well as romantic, I have a soft spot for the running theme of Charname popping up to save Viconia from those who’d kill her)
Viconia: Deeper exploration of her turn from Lolth to Shar. Something exploring her relationship with her brother, or where he escapes with her to the surface. Some adventure by her own where she doesn’t end up endangered or abused, or if she does getting to see her successfully make her way out of it on her own. Something where she manages to make a place for herself in the world where she can be at peace, whether off somewhere that no one can bother her or by digging her heels in somewhere and refusing to give up until the people there accept her as part of their community. Or finding one of the towns you help during the game where the people won’t be dickholes to one of the people who helped them all out just because she has blue skin.
Edwin: Anything exploring his fallout with Thay. Was he already on the outs with them and hiding it in BG1, his witch hunt secretly a way to win back favor, or was his fall really completely between games? If Dynaheir had died in BG1 (which she almost always does in my games, I usually pull the ‘send her out to ‘tragically’ get herself killed without the party doing it themselves so I can get both Edwin and Minsc without conflict’ trick unless I’m shaking up my usual party) how would that have changed things? How did he hook up with Mae’Var? Even though he’s evil himself the dude really doesn’t seem like the type he’d want to be connected to, was he really unable to find anyone else to hide himself with? Something silly about how much he must like how he looks with a goatee to have it in spite of the red wizard thing against facial hair. Or about people reacting to his muttering to himself. Honestly, I’d be totally happy just with 300+ words of that muttering! The one thing I’ll ask is that you ignore his “stuck as a tavern wench forever ending”, dude’s my favorite character and I hate that as the ending to his story.
Female Charname: First off, my preferred Charname is a paladin named Adrian who’s very strong on the being good being more important than being lawful side of the ‘how do you play your paladin’ split but who’s more open than most to evil people because she genuinely believes it’s possible to redeem by example (basically that her cloistered librarybrat childhood means she’s shaped herself entirely around the romantic storybook knight she read about growing up in Candlehold and boggles everyone by actually living like that). Something about that childhood, about how the people in the know treated a Bhaalspawn in their midst and how they grow to care about her the way almost everyone there obviously does. Trying to spend time there again after BG1, exploring how it can no longer feel the same after everything that happened (though I prefer to believe that most of the people she cared about survive, the dopplegangers not actually having swapped in for them yet). Exploration of their life as a god if they chose to become one; do they ever regret making that choice?
Borderlands
Rhys
Fiona
Sasha
Handsome Jack
LoaderBot
August
Summary
As you can guess from the character selections, this is specifically a Tales From the Borderlands request, I've never played any of the main series games and would prefer that you didn't pull anything from them that would spoil me badly about anything if I do get to them (though I'll say I do know about Jack's daughter and the circumstances surrounding her, so if you matched me on him and feel like mentioning her don't worry about it) or not make much sense without the context from them.
Shipping Options: Rhys/Handsome Jack, Fiona, or Sasha, August/Sasha
Rhys: Something pre-game about his working his way up Hyperion’s ranks. Something during the timeskip or postgame, rebuilding Atlas, creating his own damned eye and arm. Is he worried at all that maybe he didn’t successfully rip out every part of him that Jack’s AI could have hidden in, that when he hooks up new bits he might find his own arm trying to strangle him again? Are there any scattered members of the Crimson Lance out there still loyal to the old company, does he find himself with a surprise army turning up as word gets out the Atlas is back (or a surprise army showing up to fight against him because they’re pissed off this guy they’ve never heard of is using their old company)? Does he make room for the Hyperion cultists in the new company? Just how clear does he need to be with them that backstabbing up the ranks is no longer allowed (but epic fingergun battles are a-okay)?
Fiona and Sasha: I’m putting these two together since otherwise there’d be a lot of prompt repetition. Anything about their childhood, being trained into thievery. Did they ever hope for anything more? Post-game do they try to get something more? What do they do with themselves during the timeskip? We have more of an idea what happened with Rhys than we do with them. Do they ever make amends with Felix, assuming he lives and they find out that he didn’t just swipe the money and run? Make up a con for them, past or future, successful or not.
Handsome Jack: AU where he had the tiny modicum of loyalty (or sanity, considering he seems to think Rhys would be happy with that plan) needed to, y’know, not plan to immediately turn the guy he genuinely seems to like (assuming you play the game to get along with him) into a robo-Jack as soon as he’s in a position to; what would it be like for him to really watch someone else run his company if he’s not planning to immediately take it back? Something about him still being aware if Rhys keeps the eye, able to watch the world through it but unable even to interact in the minimal way he could while possessing Rhys, or something where he actually gets brought back (in, if Rhys is the one to do it, a way that severely limits his way to do anything except snark) how does he deal with finally really being completely powerless? Something where he doesn’t tip his hand to soon and actually succeeds at his robo-Jack plan; does he on any level at all feel bad about doing that to the one person left in the world who could possibly be called his friend? Unseen entries in the Jack’opedia!
LoaderBot: Anything set during the timegap, pulling his new body together, searching out the others. Something after a playthrough where he and Rhys are close, is he one day godfather to baby LoaderBot? (Does even he say no, Rhys, do not name your firstborn LoaderBot.) Facing his fear of clowns! Or his love of poetry! Showing other LoaderBots another way to be, how they can create their own lives. Post-canon, as the most heroic character in the game does he keep that up, go out and protect those who need it in their cesspit world?
August: Anything pre-game, growing up with his horrible mother but somehow not actually ending up that awful a guy even though he tries to hide it, how did that happen? Considering just how badly he reacts to betrayal does it come from some past incident where someone he trusted turned on him? Also considering how badly he reacts to betrayal, does it eat at him at all that he can’t let go of his feeling for Sasha even after learning she was just using him? Is he able to keep Vallory’s gang together after her death, or does it fall apart or other members try to overthrow him without fear of his mother holding everyone together?
Brütal Legend
Eddie Riggs
Ophelia
Lita Halford
Lars Halford
Summary
This game is absolutely ridiculous and I love it to pieces, I know a lot of people got upset after EA's misleading advertising campaign with the way the singleplayer campaign is mostly just a way to introduce you to all the aspects for multiplayer, but damned if it isn't a hell of a lot more entertaining at doing so than a lot of other multiplayer-focused games with throwaway singleplayer modes. I'd be happy both with things that go as over the top METAL as the game itself does or with a more grounded look at the characters, either way's fine.
Shipping Options: Eddie/Ophelia or Lita, fucked up Lars/Lita maybe?
Eddie: Something exploring how he developed his mindset; certainly a good roadie stays out of the limelight, but boy does he take it to extremes not even accepting credit for saving humanity. Something about past artists how worked for, the long drift from folks he actually respected to the likes of Kabbage Boy. Or, combining the two, something about how to those in the know who still believed in oldschool metal he was actually more respected than the act he worked for back in his old life. Something coming up with a new legend for him to stumble his way into, he can’t very well spend the rest of his life making out with Ophelia (much as he might like to)! Does he ever stumble across some sad corner of the Age of Metal based off his hated Second Wave American Tween Melodic Rap Metalcore, and how hilarious would his reaction to that be? Anything exploring his heritage.
Ophelia: Something set during the Black Tear Rebellion, little Ophelia watching without comprehension what happens to her parents. The extra pain it must bring to the distrust she faces when she knows better than any of them what the tear drinkers were like and how obvious it should be that she isn’t some sleeper agent. And, going deeper into that, is there a difference between the tear drinkers of the past, doing it for the sake of power, over what happened to her drowning herself out of grief? Could that be why she’s even saveable, that letting the Sea of Black Tears in was never what she wanted when she was drawn to its shores? Something focusing on Drowned Ophelia, did the real version have any awareness of what she was doing?
Lita: Anything about her as a ruler, doing her best to do good by her people, to be better than she once was, worthy of her brother’s memory and of Eddie giving up the place that should by all rights be his to her. A private moment of her grieving for Lars. A past look at everything going horribly for humanity, grinding her into the bitter distrustful woman she was at the start of the game. Her making peace with Ophelia post-game.
Lars: I always feel lots of pity for poor Lars, the hero who never had his chance to be one. What was it like for the poor guy, to be struck down just when things finally seemed hopeful? Something in the past, about how he managed to remain an open idealist man in spite of everything? (Did Lita shield him from some of the worst of it even though she’s the younger sibling?) A look at his army slowly crumbling to the point it is at the start of the game, only three members left. What he’s doing at any point in the game when Eddie’s off recruiting and we don’t get to see what he’s up to.
Persona 4
Adachi Tohru
Dojima Ryotaro
Dojima Nanako
Persona 4 Protagonist
Tatsumi Kanji
Summary
With Persona 5 right on the horizon it seems like a good time to go back to my longtime love of Persona 4! This has been a long time go-to feel-good game for me, which is a bit silly to say considering the subject matter. I've only just recently gotten ahold of The Golden and haven't gotten very far yet so I'd prefer something that stay routed in the original game (although I did watch Adachi's route the moment it was up on youtube, so if you matched me on him don't worry about cutting off a big hunk characterization for him). And as an old-time fan I greatly prefer Seta Souji for the MC's name, if you're willing.
Shipping Options: Souji/Kanji, Dojima, or Adachi, Nanako puppydog crushing on anyone but her dad.
Adachi Tohru: Something exploring the “mistake” that got him sent to Inaba to begin with (though I should say I’d prefer if he’s never actually raped anyone, I know that to a lot of people it’s splitting hairs but part of the reason I’m still able to like him in spite of all his horribleness is that we don’t know whether he’d have gone through with more than being a skeevy bastard if surprise TV-portal hadn’t happened). Exploring his excitement at watching everything going on with Souji and Namatame even after he stops taking an active role himself, how much is he actually aware of considering you generally aren’t doing your dungeon crawling when he’d be able to watch on the midnight channel? Viewing through his eyes as basically a fun show to watch was he actually rooting for Souji to win as the hero or was he always hoping for more bodies to start piling up? Times that he was very very tempted to TV someone; it’s always interesting to me that he just completely stops doing it after Saki when he was so quick to shove her in (his buried and ignored conscious successfully raising its voice one time to go “Okay, after happening twice I can’t lie to myself about being in the TV definitely killing people instead of just sending them somewhere and can’t do it again” or a more pragmatic “That kid’s found a way to drag people back out, can’t risk them remembering I did it”). Or just ignore his dark side totally and give me something fun and happy with the Dojima family!
Dojima Ryotaro: Something set after his wife’s death, searching for her killer before losing hope. His attempts at being there enough for his daughter, and how aware he is (or isn’t) at how badly he’s failing at that. His suspicions of Souji during the events of the game; did he ever seriously think he could be the killer? Or was he mostly just worried that Souji might become a victim, since it doesn’t take much detective work to notice the running trend of people keep going missing then reappearing to join his nephew’s posse. How was he talked into taking Souji in the first place, did it take some doing or was he open to it from the start? His long recovery after Nanako was taken, how much it must have drove him nuts to be stuck in the hospital so long.
Dojima Nanako: Even though for the most part I’m open to both tricks and treats, I’d really rather not get a trick on the darker side that focuses on Nanako (I’m fine with her appearing in something very dark, I just don’t want her as the main character/victim), thanks. Cooking lessons with the investigation team (or via TV chefs if you’d rather), learning more than just eggs to make for herself when she’s alone. Post-game loneliness about being the only kid in the house again, even if now she has lots of big brothers and sisters watching out for her. Her time in Heaven giving her the ability to go into TVs herself with nobody realizing it since she didn’t gain a persona (ignoring how access actually works obviously), using the place that in her eyes was always lovely and safe but for Namatame even before the ending as her own private hidey-hole, and the shock that would come when she gets old enough for her own personal shadow to show up in her happy place.
Persona 4 Protagonist: Something about him absolutely not wanting to leave Inaba at the end of the game/post-game attempts to get back there to stay, either by getting his parents to agree to let him live with Dojima on a more permanent basis or trying to convince them it would be a great place to move. Something silly exploring the implications of his social stats, how he starts the game a dumb flighty coward who sucks at dealing with people and over the course of a year grows into this incredible man amongst men. How to his parents react to finding the son they left barely able to express himself now has a silver-tongue and the depth of knowledge needed to use it in any situation. The long lonely days near the end of the game, coming home to that sad empty house; I like to imagine than we don’t get to see it but all the social link characters keep up a running campaign of ‘Don’t let Souji be all alone there!’, like even ones with no connection to the main group “just happening” to stop in if they pass by and there’s no sign of activity, but a trick of those days just being miserable is also welcome (maybe he pokes at the persona in his head for company, even knowing they’re just aspects of his own self?)
Tatsumi Kanji: Something about his pre-game thuggery, perhaps with anyone who happens to pay enough attention noticing that even though he’s scary his actual actions tend to not be as bad as you’d expect. Anything with his doll-making hobby, maybe starting up lessons for the local kids? Inadvertently inspiring local elementary kids to totally accept making frilly dolls as a thing for guys too, ‘cause look how awesome tough that guy teaching them to make them is! (If you matched on him and want more prompts please feel free to have the mods poke me, I know there was more I meant to put here but a sleeping pill I took is starting to kick in and my brain’s gone woooosh, but I’ll try to remember to expand him more.)
Red vs. Blue
AI Program Epsilon | Leonard Church
Dexter Grif
Dick Simmons
Franklin Delano Donut
Lavernius Tucker
Sarge (Red vs. Blue)
Summary
As you can tell from the cast list, I am super into the Blood Gulch years; the more the series focused on the freelancers the more I fell out of the fandom. But I've been rewatching my DVDs lately and it's reawakened how much I loved the show, and want to keep that love going!
Shipping Options: Any of them/any of them honestly, though my favorite options are Church/Grif or Tucker and Simmons/Grif.
AI Program Epsilon | Leonard Church: Something where Church really is a ghost (honestly, I prefer ghost!Church to AI!Church anyway, that retcon never thrilled me), and is stuck to a more traditional haunting of a single place or person, or has to fight against getting dragged to some real afterlife because fuck that! Getting a new body, trying to get cool upgrades to it because, hey, if you’re gonna have a robot body why not have laser eyes or whatever? Said new body having stupid hilarious glitches! An unseen one of those times where he actually tries to do some leading, whether he succeeds or fails horribly or totally could have succeeded if anyone would just listen to him.
Dexter Grif: Something about a time where he’s surprisingly competent/cares enough to take an active role in whatever’s happening instead of just getting swept along. Something about his frankensteined body. More of a look at his disasterous time as sargeant at Rat’s Nest then we get in canon, or at his later attempts to become a good leader to avoid being like Sarge. Something about back when he was first drafted, and his reaction to that.
Dick Simmons: Something about his cyborg body; since it’s safe to assume that Sarge isn’t the greatest at melding man and machine is it ever painful to him and if so does he ever resent that Grif is right there with all Simmon’s original perfectly working (if they haven’t been ruined by a junk food diet) parts that he feels like shit without? (...I’m not really sure why I feel more like cyborg parts would leave someone with pain issues then turning into a patchwork person like Grif, maybe just because Grif would just flat-out be dead otherwise so he’ll take whatever shit comes with it while Simmons could have been fine without mad science shit being pulled on him). I always love that brief period of time where he joined the blue team, so something set then or where it lasts longer could be fun.
Franklin Delano Donut: More times Donut appears to die only to pop up later. Getting insulted as folks stop bothering to mourn because it’s Donut, everyone knows he’ll just be back later. Or something where he actually does die, and nobody can accept it because it’s become so unbelieveable that he’s not just gonna pop up later? Donut putting on another play! More of Agent Double-O Donut. Anything where he gets an adventure of his own, after how often he’s been out of the spotlight post-Blood Gulch!
Lavernius Tucker: More of his time off without the others prior to Recreation. Anything about his relationship with Junior, I have a soft-spot for how he comes to embrace his weird fatherhood (getting Junior in fifth grade basketball)! Anything about his gradual growth from a guy who gave so little shits that he just let Church play leader even though he outranked him to someone who actually cares some about the missions he takes on and the people he fights alongside.
Sarge: Anything playing with his mad sciencey tendencies. Something set during that period where he and Sis are the only ones left in the Gulch, I imagine that must have been a pretty hilarious period. Anything about his hatred of the blues conflicting with his gradually coming to respect those blue bastards, and how often they all end up working together. Just anything about the way he takes the whole war so much more seriously than anyone else.
The Simpsons
Lisa Simpson Sideshow Bob Nelson Muntz Bart Simpson
Summary
I probably don't have to say this since if you offered The Simpsons to begin with you probably feel comfortable with it, but please don't feel like you need to make something hilarious if you feel shaky writing humor, I have been there before and don't want to put anyone else in that position! As long as whichever characters you choose to use are recognizable as themselves (with the obvious exception of Maggie... uh, not because she needs to be funny, just because an older Maggie will be practically an original character) I don't care if they're a laugh a minute.
Shipping Options: Nelson/Lisa, far far far future Sideshow Bob/Bart
Lisa: Growing up trying to make the best of herself in spite of her family, the difficulties of trying to get ahead in life when you’re smart enough to make it but come from a family that’s poor enough to make doing so difficult. Sticking to jazz in spite of her stubby fingers. I have a giant soft spot for her as a stage magician after that episode about it, she just seems so happy learning new tricks and performing them for people. Nothing shipping her with Milhouse, please, not even mentions of them having a thing in the past.
Sideshow Bob: He could be the focus of a really dark trick if you want, but I’d also welcome something set during one of his periods of redemption. Does he ever reach a point where, even when he’s trying to be a good guy, he’s just kind of always on the lookout for whatever will inevitably drive him back to murder, be it Bart or no? How do things go once Maggie gets old enough to be involved in the fights against him, can he deal with the most hardcore badass Simpsons child of them all? A twisted look into his mind, this is a man who can slice off another person’s face and swap it with his own so his thoughts must go darker than we ever get to see on the surface. (Mind, you’re also free to ignore that he can go that dark, I know a lot of people prefer to ignore the face-swapping episode for going too far.)
Nelson: Something about him finding a spot for himself in the world, not feeling like he needs to hide his softer interests under his tough exterior. Anything about him letting folks see that squishier side. Finding something he’s really good at! Something depressing about his screwed up family. Something sweet about him pulling together a family he chooses for himself.
Bart: The futures we see for Bart tend to be almost inevitably downers, how about showing one where he actually does well for himself? Or something where he’s in high school and elective classes open up to him and he actually finds a subject he’s interested in at school. Does Lisa tease him about liking a class? Does he retain his French skills as he gets older and baffle all his teachers at how he’s able to get his high school language credit with ease when he struggles with so many other things?
I have trouble coming up with specifically tricksy prompts for the canon that don’t already show up in canon, but just run with whatever appeals to you!
Slayers
Lina Inverse
Xelloss
Summary
I saw this in the tagset and my heart burst all over with joy! Slayers was one of the first anime I got deeply into once I started exploring things I couldn't see on TV; I got the first three VHS tapes with my first check from my first job when I was 14, close to 20 years ago now. Still have them too!
Shipping Options: Lina/Xelloss. Though he’s not nommed so feel free to ignore it, I’m also a fan of either (or both?)/Zelgadis as well.
Lina: Something set during her years training at the Sorcerer’s Guild school. Her early experiments with magic fueled by the Lord of Nightmares. Speaking of LoN, does she have any little fragments of memories left from being possessed by her, or strange god-touched dreams from having that once in her head even just for such a short time? Something silly with her gaining new titles that she hates just as much as the ones she already has! Or her trying to spread one she makes up herself that she likes much more then Dragon Spooker or Enemy of All Who Live. Reaching a point where she has a hell of a time finding treasure the claim or bandits to slaughter because at the slightest rumor that she’s in the area they all pack up and going into hiding.
Xelloss: Anything exploring how much he’s actually personally interested in Lina’s team versus only acting as if he is due to orders. Are he and his master just long-term plotting so if Lina keeps right on fucking up the mazoku power structures they are the one smart group of them positioned within the realm of her good-graces? Something about a plot that sets them at odds with the main group! Something set years after the series when he’s the only one still around, does he ever think back on this gang of knuckleheads he used to hang out with, manipulate, and annoy with however much fondness a mazoku’s capable of, or do they just fall out of his memory entirely? (Along the same theme, I kind of have a fondness for reincarnation fic where he’s still around to watch Lina and the others suddenly reappearing in the world.)
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Q
Jean-Luc Picard
Summary
One of my very first fannish memories was my mom letting me stay up late just to watch "All Good Things..." Until then I'd only ever watched episodes in reruns earlier in the day, but I liked it enough that she decided to let me see how it all ended when it happened instead of waiting however long for the reruns to get around to it and probably hearing what happened from other people in the meantime. I still remember watching the final scene between Q and Picard in the empty courtroom and feeling like I knew I didn't quite get it but still being so happy with what was happening.
Shipping Options: I’m sure you realized it’s Picard/Q as soon as you saw the character choices, lol. Though if you do go with shippy fic, this is the one canon where I would really strongly prefer no on-screen sex at all; I’m always frustrated by how super-porny most stories for them are when I’m not too into that.
Q: Something about the birth of his fascination with humans, is it really just due to the Enterprise crew catching his eye? AU where Picard actually does let him join the crew, and all the insanity that would presumably come of that. Hanging around somewhere that’s really totally foreign to our pathetic human minds. Getting pissy about the fact that now that he’s interested in humanity he has to deal with the fact that they’ll up and die on him like it’s nothing.
Picard: Going back to check on worlds he’s helped in the past to see what’s become of them. Getting specifically requested as an ambassador in some big horrible conflict going on in the galaxy, just because he’s gotten well known for being able to smooth things out between people. Something set during The Inner Light, giving a closer look at how he slowly loses himself in being Kamin. (Though I’ve been avoiding shippy stuff in the individual prompts, and this doesn’t actually have to be shippy, I always like to imagine that Q periodically appears within the vision to stir up Picard’s memory of himself, because while he’s fine with the probe’s mission he’s not going to risk Kamin’s memories totally drowning out Picard’s). Coming across some new wonder of the galaxy.
The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Starscream (Transformers IDW) Windblade (Transformers IDW) Arcee (Transformers IDW)
Summary
Transformers IDW was my surprise love of the last year, after finally giving into a friend's insisting that it didn't matter that the only Transformers franchise I've ever gotten into before was Beast Wars, I would totally adore it anyway.
Arcee was the first character that totally won me over but Starscream's machinations to make himself the rightful ruler of Cybertron was the plotline that really grabbed me interest in RiD and then Windblade shows up and shakes everything up while never meaning to.
Shipping Options: Starscream/Windblade (preferably on the dark side, I don’t like them fluffy and romantic as a pair but I do like them as a pair who don’t like each other yet are attracted to each other), Arcee/Windblade might be interesting
Starscream: Anything about how he took on so much more than he was expecting when he gained Cybertron, and more of his machinations to keep it under his control. A private moment of him kicking himself over and over about inadvertently giving Megatron the spite-filled will to twist his trial to his advantage. Something dark going deeper into his thoughts about having killed his only friend, is there ever a part of him that tortures himself by coming up with other ways that situation might have gone. Or an AU where he didn’t take that shot, is his reign any more stable with a decentish (he can admittedly be an ass) guy that Starscream trusts as much as he’s able to trust anyone nudging him towards being a better leader. Something speculating about how Starscream’s reign inevitably crumbles, after all the times he's managed to dodge it. More conversations with the ghosts in his head, pulling in more than just Bumblebee if you'd like.
Windblade: The poor girl has so little time to actually have fun in her stories, how about something where she just gets to go out, explore Cybertron, see more of the good side of the world without Starscream breathing down her neck all the time? Or something sad, her processing what was up with Chromia at the end of her first miniseries, maybe missing Nautica since if she hadn’t taken off Windblade would have someone she’d feel comfortable talking about everything with. He’s not a nominated character so feel free to ignore it, but I love the sisterly role Windblade took with Waspinator and anything about that would be great. Or something tricksy about cityspeaking for a broken titan, it always felt to me like you could go somewhere dark with her dealing with all of Metroplex’s fragmented voices when she’s in contact with him.
Arcee: Arcee is another character that I don’t really have many prompts for, I just love her so much I’d love a story about her. She was the first character my heart grabbed onto when I started reading Robots in Disguise, this girl who’s so gleefully bloodthirsty yet on the side of good and gradually coming to fit better into that side without losing her edge.