straightforwardly (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
straightforwardly) wrote2018-10-12 08:00 am
straightforwardly) wrote2018-10-12 08:00 am
Entry tags:
Yuletide 2018 Letter
Dear Writer,
In this letter, I’ve tried to give a clear overview of my likes, dislikes, and general wishes. Fic based on my general likes rather than any specific prompt is, of course, always welcome. Hopefully there’s something here that inspires you! Overall, I think I'm fairly easy to please—as long as you avoid my DNWs and treat the characters and canons I requested with love and respect, I'll be happy.
AO3: straightforwardly
Previous Letters: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
General Likes
Do Not Wants
Requested Fandoms
The Fox, The Protagonist
DNW: any mentions of the real world.
I’m in love with the aesthetic of this game. I love its take on magic and how words are used to shape it, I love the way the world literally unfolds around the protagonist as she explores, I love the piecemeal way we’re given the story of this world and how that story etches itself into the earth, and most of all, I loved how exploring this world gave me a sense of there having been a great history to this world and the feeling of civilizations lost—of exploring a place where people once had been but no longer were, for reasons mysterious and strange.
What is the fox, exactly? A familiar? A spirit made flesh? Who is the protagonist, and why is she exploring this place? How did she come here? Was it deliberate? Or an accident? Did the fox summon her, somehow? Was this once her home, or is she a stranger to this place? Anything that plays with the magic system would be a delight, as would anything that takes any of the locations in the game and digs deeper into its atmosphere, its story, and the time that the fox and the protagonist spend there.
You can leave the protagonist nameless; I also like the name that she has in the script (though please disregard its take on the game’s events).
As everything that I’ve written above might imply, I didn’t particularly like framing story or the ending for this game. I’ve read the script, and I know what the canonical explanation for the narrator’s story is, but I’m not interested in that aspect of the game at all. I’m purely interested in explanations for the world and story which focus on what we see in the origami world itself.
Katarina Claes
DNW: anything focusing on one of the characters being heartbroken over Katarina ending up with someone else
Usually, I tend to dislike characters who Really Are That Dumb, but somehow Katarina utterly charmed me! Apparently, her harem-gathering abilities extend even past the fourth wall. I love her obsession with farming, her genuine kindness, her skewed perception of herself, and those moments where we get to see the contrast between that perception and how other people view her.
I ship her with essentially everyone who falls in love with her in the period between when she first regained her memories of her past life to when Maria fell in love with her, but don't ship her with the characters who fell in love with her after that. (Mentions of their crushes on her are definitely fine, though.) I’m also not interested in seeing Katarina’s engagement work out as planned, nor, though I enjoy their interactions in the light novel a lot (especially after the festival kidnapping!), am I interested receiving a story solely about Jared/Katarina.
Some prompts: While working together at the Ministry, Maria continues to ply Katarina with sweets while Katarina slowly begins to realize that she’s in love with her. An accident at the Ministry leads to the opening of a portal to the original Fortune Lovers universe, where Katarina promptly accidentally makes the original Katarina Claes fall in love with her. Keith takes her with him on a tour of their family’s lands, but they find themselves stranded somehow. Anyone takes her travelling with them to anywhere. Mary invites her a on a tour of the country’s finest farms and gardens? Alan accidentally triggers an ancient tradition which forces him and Jared to switch fiancées, much to Jared’s (and maybe Mary’s) displeasure. Weird ancient traditions in general. Anything that plays with Sophia being A-chan’s reincarnation.
Katarina ending up with a literal harem would be excellent, as would be poly arrangements in general! Nikol/Sophia/Katarina comes to mind as the obvious one, but I’d be into any other possibility as well. Maybe Mary, in her desperation not to lose Katarina, discovers an ancient tradition in their kingdom, and essentially uses her abilities to revive sedoretu-style marriages amongst nobility?
Or, if you’re only interested in writing about Katarina by herself, I’m always very weak for cozy stories about gardening and farming. (Think Harvest Moon, Stardew Valley, Ursula Vernon/T. Kingfisher’s stories.) I’m also very fond of her relationship with Anne.
Fang Runin, Yin Nezha
This novel contained two tropes that I’m always weak for: female characters who start out as relatively decent people, but slowly start becoming both more capable/competent and more ruthless over time; and when enemies/rivals face something worse than each other and end up becoming friends. Which is my tl;dr way of saying: I adore Rin, I adore her relationship with Nezha, and also I ship them pretty hard, though I’d also be happy with fic where they’re just friends.
I’m firmly convinced that Nezha didn’t actually die. So: how could he have survived? At one point, the novel seems to hint at him having a connection to the Dragon like Rin has with the Phoenix; is that the reason? If he does have a connection with the Dragon: how long has he known about it? How much control does he have?
And how do they find each other again? Because I do desperately want them to meet again. Kitay is horrified by what Rin does at the end (and understandably so), but I feel like Nezha would understand her choices. I’d love to see them raining terror down upon their enemies together, especially as rogues outside the context of a military structure.
Basically, I’m here for the brutality of war, terrible choices, and friendship and/or falling in love with the one person who understands you and the horrible things you’ve done. Feel free to go dark with this one, if you'd like—I don't want either of these two betraying each other, but other than that, I'd be up for anything that isn't in my DNW list, including major character death. On that note, I did make a Crueltide request for this fandom. If you're interested, see see the list of dark tropes that I like that I left in that comment.
Maria, Rhea
I’ve been slowly making my way through Ursula Vernon/T. Kingfisher’s work over the past few years, and all of them have been delightful, but this book might be one of my favorites. I love Rhea, dearly. One of my favorite moments in the book was when Lord Crevan thinks he’s set this impossible moral dilemma before her by asking her to kill someone in exchange for her own freedom, but she doesn’t even have to think twice about it, because of course she’d never do that. Her relationship with Maria was also fantastic, hence this request.
What I would really like is post-canon mentor!fic with Maria teaching Rhea more about magic. Feel free to play up the coziness of Ursula Vernon/T. Kingfisher’s writing—or the horror! I adore both. I also really loved the familiar aspect, especially in regards to Rhea and her hedgehog. Feel free to let the hedgehog play as large of as role as you like.
Or, if you’re in the mood for something plottier, maybe something where Rhea stumbles across another fairytale-inspired plot and ends up aiding the main character in some way, big or small?
As a side note, I do ship Maria/Sylvie quite a bit, and would love to see them as a background relationship if you happen to ship them as well. I do really love outsider POV fics, so Sylvie’s point of view on Maria and Rhea’s relationship could be interesting, as would be something where Rhea slowly realizes over the course of the story that Maria and Sylvie are closer than she thought. I’m not interested in a romance for Rhea.
The Ironbird, The Player (Female)
DNW: The player character betraying the ironbird. Either of them dying.
Confession time: Up until recently, I’d never been able to bring myself to do any other ending other than Ironbird’s Prophet, and when I did try to do another ending (the Scarf & Feather society one, for the record), I felt so horrible about it that I immediately promised myself that I’d never do any other ending again. I adore the ironbird, and am incredibly attached to its relationship with a player character who is kind to it. How could I not, with moments like this?: “Despite the ice all around you, you settle into the lee of a blasted wall and sleep with the ironbird standing watch. In the morning your hands and feet are cold, but the ironbird's happy crooning eases something in your heart.” The ironbird’s protectiveness of the player character, how, in the Ironbird’s Prophet ending, it looks upon her with “darkly affectionate eyes”— I love it all. Even learning that it’s the bringer of a planet-wide apocalypse hasn’t dimmed my affection.
I’d love anything dealing with the Ironbird’s Prophet ending. Anything. The progression of the growing hold the ironbird has on the player character, the strangely insular, possessive, and possibly codependent relationship they form, the player character aiding in planetary genocide for its sake— really, take any of the darker/more unsettling elements of that path and run with it. Sometimes I reach the beginning of the Ironbird’s Prophet ending with a high enough Ice stat already, but sometimes it’s relatively low and I need to build it up before I can continue. I would love a story about the latter scenario—where the main character has thrown her lot in with the ironbird, but isn’t quite cold-hearted enough yet to kill everyone (/destroy her home, if she’s Irian-born), and deliberately forces herself to harden her heart in order to help the ironbird.
Or, what happens after the game ends? I’d love stories about that journey they take together, about how the main character’s relationship with the ironbird develops during that journey as her own humanity deteriorates. I’d also love stories about when they reach their next destination, and see what role she plays in the next winterstrike.
Sweetly unsettling fic about the time the player character spends together with the ironbird before the ending would also always, always be adored. Honestly, I’d be delighted with anything in the tone of their relationship in canon. Or—maybe something from the point of view of the ironbird itself? I’m a huge fan of alien, distinctly non-human POVs.
I usually go with the native-Irian background for the player character, but I’m also fine with her background being undefined. In regards to her name, I would prefer one of three options: that you give her an epithet like the other characters have in-game (e.g., The Unsmiling Thief, The Vision-Reaver, etc.), you avoid the issue entirely and just refer to her by she/her pronouns, or you write the fic in the second-person.
I did make a Crueltide request for this fandom. If you're interested, see see the list of dark tropes that I like that I left in that comment.
In this letter, I’ve tried to give a clear overview of my likes, dislikes, and general wishes. Fic based on my general likes rather than any specific prompt is, of course, always welcome. Hopefully there’s something here that inspires you! Overall, I think I'm fairly easy to please—as long as you avoid my DNWs and treat the characters and canons I requested with love and respect, I'll be happy.
AO3: straightforwardly
Previous Letters: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
General Likes
- canon divergence AUs
- canon settings; world-building
- dysfunctional or otherwise complicated relationships, especially if the people involved genuinely care about one another
- emotional hurt/comfort
- enemies (reluctantly/forced to/willingly) working together, enemies becoming friends, enemies becoming lovers
- hand-holding, casual touching, any focus on hands
- huddling for warmth
- loyalty kink
- quiet / subtle / low-key romances
- shrines, castles, abandoned ruins, dark forests, places with a deep sense of atmosphere and/or history. nature in general
- time-travel related scenarios: standard time travel, time loops, peggy sue, etc.
- trapped/stranded together scenarios, especially when paired with survival scenarios or huddling for warmth
- unusual formats (e.g., epistolary, interactive fiction, non-linear storytelling, etc.)
- winter/autumn settings and atmosphere
Do Not Wants
- porn without plot (sex scenes that are integrated with the story are fine)
- eye injuries
- zombies / any of the rotting undead
- pregnancy, childbirth, small children, non-political weddings, and (unless requested) non-canonical marriages.
- cannibalism; anything being eaten alive
- crack!fic, A/B/O, and complete AUs
Requested Fandoms
- Epistory - Typing Chronicles
- I Reincarnated Into An Otome Game As A Villainess With Only Destruction Flags
- The Poppy War - R. F. Kuang
- The Seventh Bride - T. Kingfisher
- Winterstrike
Epistory - Typing Chronicles
The Fox, The Protagonist
DNW: any mentions of the real world.
I’m in love with the aesthetic of this game. I love its take on magic and how words are used to shape it, I love the way the world literally unfolds around the protagonist as she explores, I love the piecemeal way we’re given the story of this world and how that story etches itself into the earth, and most of all, I loved how exploring this world gave me a sense of there having been a great history to this world and the feeling of civilizations lost—of exploring a place where people once had been but no longer were, for reasons mysterious and strange.
What is the fox, exactly? A familiar? A spirit made flesh? Who is the protagonist, and why is she exploring this place? How did she come here? Was it deliberate? Or an accident? Did the fox summon her, somehow? Was this once her home, or is she a stranger to this place? Anything that plays with the magic system would be a delight, as would anything that takes any of the locations in the game and digs deeper into its atmosphere, its story, and the time that the fox and the protagonist spend there.
You can leave the protagonist nameless; I also like the name that she has in the script (though please disregard its take on the game’s events).
As everything that I’ve written above might imply, I didn’t particularly like framing story or the ending for this game. I’ve read the script, and I know what the canonical explanation for the narrator’s story is, but I’m not interested in that aspect of the game at all. I’m purely interested in explanations for the world and story which focus on what we see in the origami world itself.
I Reincarnated Into An Otome Game As A Villainess With Only Destruction Flags
Katarina Claes
DNW: anything focusing on one of the characters being heartbroken over Katarina ending up with someone else
Usually, I tend to dislike characters who Really Are That Dumb, but somehow Katarina utterly charmed me! Apparently, her harem-gathering abilities extend even past the fourth wall. I love her obsession with farming, her genuine kindness, her skewed perception of herself, and those moments where we get to see the contrast between that perception and how other people view her.
I ship her with essentially everyone who falls in love with her in the period between when she first regained her memories of her past life to when Maria fell in love with her, but don't ship her with the characters who fell in love with her after that. (Mentions of their crushes on her are definitely fine, though.) I’m also not interested in seeing Katarina’s engagement work out as planned, nor, though I enjoy their interactions in the light novel a lot (especially after the festival kidnapping!), am I interested receiving a story solely about Jared/Katarina.
Some prompts: While working together at the Ministry, Maria continues to ply Katarina with sweets while Katarina slowly begins to realize that she’s in love with her. An accident at the Ministry leads to the opening of a portal to the original Fortune Lovers universe, where Katarina promptly accidentally makes the original Katarina Claes fall in love with her. Keith takes her with him on a tour of their family’s lands, but they find themselves stranded somehow. Anyone takes her travelling with them to anywhere. Mary invites her a on a tour of the country’s finest farms and gardens? Alan accidentally triggers an ancient tradition which forces him and Jared to switch fiancées, much to Jared’s (and maybe Mary’s) displeasure. Weird ancient traditions in general. Anything that plays with Sophia being A-chan’s reincarnation.
Katarina ending up with a literal harem would be excellent, as would be poly arrangements in general! Nikol/Sophia/Katarina comes to mind as the obvious one, but I’d be into any other possibility as well. Maybe Mary, in her desperation not to lose Katarina, discovers an ancient tradition in their kingdom, and essentially uses her abilities to revive sedoretu-style marriages amongst nobility?
Or, if you’re only interested in writing about Katarina by herself, I’m always very weak for cozy stories about gardening and farming. (Think Harvest Moon, Stardew Valley, Ursula Vernon/T. Kingfisher’s stories.) I’m also very fond of her relationship with Anne.
The Poppy War - R.F. Kuang
Fang Runin, Yin Nezha
This novel contained two tropes that I’m always weak for: female characters who start out as relatively decent people, but slowly start becoming both more capable/competent and more ruthless over time; and when enemies/rivals face something worse than each other and end up becoming friends. Which is my tl;dr way of saying: I adore Rin, I adore her relationship with Nezha, and also I ship them pretty hard, though I’d also be happy with fic where they’re just friends.
I’m firmly convinced that Nezha didn’t actually die. So: how could he have survived? At one point, the novel seems to hint at him having a connection to the Dragon like Rin has with the Phoenix; is that the reason? If he does have a connection with the Dragon: how long has he known about it? How much control does he have?
And how do they find each other again? Because I do desperately want them to meet again. Kitay is horrified by what Rin does at the end (and understandably so), but I feel like Nezha would understand her choices. I’d love to see them raining terror down upon their enemies together, especially as rogues outside the context of a military structure.
Basically, I’m here for the brutality of war, terrible choices, and friendship and/or falling in love with the one person who understands you and the horrible things you’ve done. Feel free to go dark with this one, if you'd like—I don't want either of these two betraying each other, but other than that, I'd be up for anything that isn't in my DNW list, including major character death. On that note, I did make a Crueltide request for this fandom. If you're interested, see see the list of dark tropes that I like that I left in that comment.
The Seventh Bride - T. Kingfisher
Maria, Rhea
I’ve been slowly making my way through Ursula Vernon/T. Kingfisher’s work over the past few years, and all of them have been delightful, but this book might be one of my favorites. I love Rhea, dearly. One of my favorite moments in the book was when Lord Crevan thinks he’s set this impossible moral dilemma before her by asking her to kill someone in exchange for her own freedom, but she doesn’t even have to think twice about it, because of course she’d never do that. Her relationship with Maria was also fantastic, hence this request.
What I would really like is post-canon mentor!fic with Maria teaching Rhea more about magic. Feel free to play up the coziness of Ursula Vernon/T. Kingfisher’s writing—or the horror! I adore both. I also really loved the familiar aspect, especially in regards to Rhea and her hedgehog. Feel free to let the hedgehog play as large of as role as you like.
Or, if you’re in the mood for something plottier, maybe something where Rhea stumbles across another fairytale-inspired plot and ends up aiding the main character in some way, big or small?
As a side note, I do ship Maria/Sylvie quite a bit, and would love to see them as a background relationship if you happen to ship them as well. I do really love outsider POV fics, so Sylvie’s point of view on Maria and Rhea’s relationship could be interesting, as would be something where Rhea slowly realizes over the course of the story that Maria and Sylvie are closer than she thought. I’m not interested in a romance for Rhea.
Winterstrike
The Ironbird, The Player (Female)
DNW: The player character betraying the ironbird. Either of them dying.
Confession time: Up until recently, I’d never been able to bring myself to do any other ending other than Ironbird’s Prophet, and when I did try to do another ending (the Scarf & Feather society one, for the record), I felt so horrible about it that I immediately promised myself that I’d never do any other ending again. I adore the ironbird, and am incredibly attached to its relationship with a player character who is kind to it. How could I not, with moments like this?: “Despite the ice all around you, you settle into the lee of a blasted wall and sleep with the ironbird standing watch. In the morning your hands and feet are cold, but the ironbird's happy crooning eases something in your heart.” The ironbird’s protectiveness of the player character, how, in the Ironbird’s Prophet ending, it looks upon her with “darkly affectionate eyes”— I love it all. Even learning that it’s the bringer of a planet-wide apocalypse hasn’t dimmed my affection.
I’d love anything dealing with the Ironbird’s Prophet ending. Anything. The progression of the growing hold the ironbird has on the player character, the strangely insular, possessive, and possibly codependent relationship they form, the player character aiding in planetary genocide for its sake— really, take any of the darker/more unsettling elements of that path and run with it. Sometimes I reach the beginning of the Ironbird’s Prophet ending with a high enough Ice stat already, but sometimes it’s relatively low and I need to build it up before I can continue. I would love a story about the latter scenario—where the main character has thrown her lot in with the ironbird, but isn’t quite cold-hearted enough yet to kill everyone (/destroy her home, if she’s Irian-born), and deliberately forces herself to harden her heart in order to help the ironbird.
Or, what happens after the game ends? I’d love stories about that journey they take together, about how the main character’s relationship with the ironbird develops during that journey as her own humanity deteriorates. I’d also love stories about when they reach their next destination, and see what role she plays in the next winterstrike.
Sweetly unsettling fic about the time the player character spends together with the ironbird before the ending would also always, always be adored. Honestly, I’d be delighted with anything in the tone of their relationship in canon. Or—maybe something from the point of view of the ironbird itself? I’m a huge fan of alien, distinctly non-human POVs.
I usually go with the native-Irian background for the player character, but I’m also fine with her background being undefined. In regards to her name, I would prefer one of three options: that you give her an epithet like the other characters have in-game (e.g., The Unsmiling Thief, The Vision-Reaver, etc.), you avoid the issue entirely and just refer to her by she/her pronouns, or you write the fic in the second-person.
I did make a Crueltide request for this fandom. If you're interested, see see the list of dark tropes that I like that I left in that comment.