jaclynhyde

I'm slowly going through the list of comics in 1001 Comics You Must Read Before You Die with the help of a random number generator (plus grabbing a few at my library out of order). I sporadically post reviews at League of Comic Geeks. Favorites are in bold, and I've noted what parts I read if I didn't read everything.

Next Up:

#327: Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth
#492: The Ballad of Halo Jones

( Read )

Dear Yuletide Writer,

Thank you for writing for me! I've loved my past Yuletide fics and I can't wait for yours. A summary of this letter: I ship things and would like fic for those relationships, but I’d love gen of their relationships too. I include prompts if you want them, but I’d be just as happy to read your ideas. I will pretty much adore whatever you write. I am jaclynhyde on Tumblr and AO3 if you want to stalk. Thank you so much! Also treats are very welcome!

Stuff I love:

Shipping! I am a ridiculous shipper at heart, so my favorite thing would be ship fic for the pairings I request, or gen fic focusing on their relationship that could be pre-ship; getting-together fic with a plot and eventually-resolved sexual tension is my absolute fave. Porn or no porn are both great--it's the ship more than the smut I'm into. I love pining and hurt/comfort and cuddling to avoid hypothermia and all those wonderful fanfic tropes.
Identity porn! As defined by Fanlore, it's focusing on people who have secret identities which focus on the consequences of using multiple personas". So Character A is in disguise, interacting with Character B, who may or may not know who Character A really is, and there may be kissing.
Dramatic reunions! Considering how many of my requests over the years have included at least one character that canonically dies, well... I love seeing characters brought back from the dead (or not actually dead, or whatever plot device works) reunited with someone who's been mourning them. If shippy, I really love if the living person had feelings for the other and regrets never confessing them.
Bad guys turning good! I love villains who discover that their worldview is wrong, especially by getting to know one of the good guys. I also love villains who aren't entirely bad, and good guys who can learn from them too.
Lots of story types--adventure, what-ifs, canon continuations, everyone is mysteriously alive somehow, etc. Both happy and bittersweet/sad fics are great, as long as the angst isn't from the pairing's relationship not working out.
Interactive fiction! I love both parser and choice or whatever weird mix you come up with. I don't have any specific prompts, but would love it for any fandom--you can use my other prompts or go wild. If you're writing IF with multiple endings, feel free to ignore my major character death DNW for the bad ends. I secretly crave dating sims for every canon--if you do this, feel free to pair off requested characters with everyone (the weirder the better) as long as the couple I requested are at least one of the ends!

Stuff I don't want (DNWs):

Noncon; dubcon is great. The noncon line for me is one character forcing another into sex acts; dub-con examples I like are sex pollen, aliens make them do it, fighting turning into sex (even if they're still trying to kill each other), a villain sexually teasing a hero who is trying not to respond but is into it. Verbal consent is not needed. Canon past noncon and repercussions are great.
Character bashing, including canon love interests.
Non-canon permanent major character death (except that Starman prompt). Mourning during non-permanent or presumed death is great.
Unrequested crossovers and AUs of the setting instead of plot (mundane AUs, everyone is ponies, etc.). Other DC "crossovers" with Starman and Infinity, Inc. are fine. Other Forgotten Realms characters for Legend of Drizzt is also fine.
Unrequited love (one or both parties incorrectly thinking it's unrequited is fantastic!) and shooting down pairings I requested.
Unrequested ships for my requested characters. Past relationships I didn't DNW are fine.
Outsider POV.
Established relationship fic. This isn't a hard DNW like the others, but I prefer getting together, pre-relationship fic, or shippy gen for ships.

( Fandoms: Infinity, Inc., Legend of Drizzt, My Teacher Is an Alien, Starman )

Judging period is over--I made it through 43 out of 67. I'll update this once I get through the rest for my final recommendations!

Favorites

Choice

An Account of Your Visit to the Enchanted House and What You Found There (Walkthrough): Following an invitation from a stranger, explore a house full of magical beings. Charming and cozy with a great narrative voice and really entertaining characters.
The Apothecary's Assistant: Take some time out of your day to help out at a magical apothecary. You're meant to play this for a few minutes per day over the course of some days; the daily scenes are cute and simple, and the optional cryptic crosswords and real-life charity donations add a lot to it.
A Dream of Silence, Act 3 (Hints): Astarion is trapped in a nightmare of his old life that is slowly killing him; you've entered the nightmare and are finally helping him escape. I highly recommend playing the first two parts, as the process of gaining Astarion's trust and making yourself perceptible to him makes this hit harder. Normal mode is pretty hard, but extremely replayable. No idea how well this works if you don't know Baldur's Gate 3 but Astarion fans should play this immediately.
Eikas: Plan meals and make friends in a fantasy world as you run a community kitchen. A lovely, cozy management game; planning themed meals, making money to buy your ingredients, and helping community members makes for a nicely complex game.
The Maze Gallery (Walkthrough): Escape a surreal art museum. This is a huge game made by a ton of collaborators, but it somehow coalesces perfectly into a weird whole. Go with the flow and explore everything.
Miss Gosling's Last Case (Walkthrough): You're a Miss Marplesque detective, and you've suddenly died. As a ghost, steer your well-trained dog to prove you were murdered and find the perpetrator. A charming, cozy mystery with a fun gimmick. Watson is the goodest boy.
Sidekick (Walkthrough (ZIP file)): When an Old Western town is terrorized by bandits, never fear, Buck McSwagger is there! And you, his sidekick, trying to keep his dumb ass alive and save the day. Hilarious premise and really fun puzzles that make you feel smart for getting them. The clickable parser format also works really well.
Winter-Over: Your brother has been murdered at an Antarctic research station; can you find the killer without succumbing to winter-over syndrome? A great setting for a closed-circle mystery with fun mechanics and an effectively oppressive atmosphere.

Parser

Forsaken Denizen (Walkthrough): When a collections agency turns the people of your colony into monsters, save them with the help of your princess girlfriend whose fault this definitely is not. A funny and creepy survival horror game, with great gameplay and a snarky but sweet lesbian love story at the heart of it.
A Very Strong Gland: After a disaster hits the spaceship onto which you have been abducted, fix the ship and help the aliens. A single-character parser makes figuring out the bizarre alien technology a ton of fun.

Other Recommendations

Choice

Birding in Pope Lick Park: A really chill birding simulator with lots of bird photos. Makes me want to go birding.
The Dragon of Silverton Mine: As an apprentice mage, explore a caved-in mind to rescue the miners trapped there and find out what happened. A straightforward but delightful dungeon crawl with fun characters and some really nice cover art.
A few hours later in the day of The Egocentric: Figure out how to investigate a suspect in the space of a four-panel comic. It's a short game with a really unique concept: you move from location to location through comic panels, with the comic progressing forward every time you move.
Imprimatura: As an artist, look through the paintings your deceased relative and mentor left behind and decide how to finish your final collaboration. A thoughtful study of a complicated person with a great use of art. Note the content warnings.
The Killings in Wasacona (Walkthrough): As a new FBI agent, investigate a series of murders in a college town. Many different options and endings make this an interesting play, and luck, logic, and deductive reasoning are all required to get the best outcome. Note the content warnings; sexual assault isn't described in detail but is a fairly important part of the case.
The Saltcast Adventure: An ordinary woman makes a desperate attempt to provide for her family in a cave full of monsters. A dark, atmospheric story with fantastic fantasy worldbuilding--I'd read a novel set in this world.
Welcome to the Universe: Live from childhood to old age though a weird and meta game. Hilarious writing and very thoughtful; playing as yourself instead of a character makes it more rewarding. Note the content warnings.
You: YOU are in a strange forest, and something about YOU is wrong. A charming gender allegory with fun Wonderlandian puzzles.

Parser

Forbidden Lore (Walkthrough): Examine your grandfather's magical study to finish the research he left behind. The parser is incredibly picky and you'll probably need hints, but something about the atmosphere of getting thrown in the deep end of research to discover what you can and need to do is really charming.
A Warm Reception (Walkthrough): As a medieval tabloid reporter, find out what happened at the royal wedding you skipped (and solve a big problem left behind). A simple, fun game that would make a great introduction to parser games.

None of the Above

Uninteractive Fiction (Walkthrough): The only winning move is not to play. ...look, it made me cackle. Sound on and make sure to check the walkthrough afterwards.

Dear Artist,

Thank you so much for creating for me! I mostly hang on the fic side of things so I'm not great at prompting for art, but I love a wide variety of art and styles so definitely don't feel beholden to my art likes! I will be thrilled with, like, my OTP standing next to each other or my blorbo looking cool/goofy/etc.!

Likes:

Limited and/or unusual color palettes, greyscale with one splash of color
Pixel art
Mixed media, collage, papercraft, etc.
Looking into a cracked mirror where one piece shows a memory or the person they used to be, etc.
Fibercraft (if you make me a pattern I will make it)
Art Deco (especially for Opal City denizens!)
Tarot cards
Comics! My other letters have fic prompts with more ideas for sequential art.
Recreations of classic art/comic covers/etc.
Facial expressions! I love fun facial expressions--think Kevin Maguire.
Cool swirly magic/powers/etc
Dramatic silhouettes
Adorable animals/creatures/monstrosities, especially with baby animals/creatures/monstrosities

My ship art likes:

A very broad definition of shippy--I love pre-ship stuff too, so don't worry if it's too gen if they're in the same picture.
Moments before their first kiss, just looking at each other with their hearts in their throats.
Shippy canon moments (what counts as shippy? Yes).
Just barely touching hands, reaching for each other, etc.
The thing where they're upside down/mirroring each other.
Forehead touching.
Slow dancing.
Hurt/comfort - A helping a wounded B to safety, huddling for warmth, clinging to each other, etc.
Kissing, banging, etc. - Y'know. I prefer clothes staying at least partially on (both because it's easier to identify them and because it's hot), but otherwise go to town!
Sexy use of powers. See individual requests for more details!

Do Not Want:

Heavy bodily fluids, especially spit connecting people's mouths. Sweat & blood are a-ok.
Detailed gore. Once again, blood is good, just don't detail the wounds.
Animal harm to the adorable animals/creatures/monstrosities.
Unrequested pairings for requested characters. (Defining it narrowly here--drawing a character's canonical wedding ring is fine, drawing unrequested character A smooching requested character B is not.) Exceptions are listed under requests.

( Fandoms: Baldur's Gate, Crossover Fandom, DC Comics, Legend of Drizzt, Planescape: Torment )

Dear Candy Heart Sexer,

Thank you so much for writing for me! If you're here for treats, I'd be thrilled to get fic or art treats for current or past Candy Hearts/Chocolate Box requests. This letter is under construction!

Stuff I love:

Shipping! I am a ridiculous shipper at heart, so my favorite thing would be ship fic for the pairings I request; I love sexual tension, slow burn, pining, and lots of other stuff. Porn or no porn are both great--it's the ship more than the smut I'm into. I also love characters falling for others that they never would have expected, as is probably obvious from my ships. I love pining and hurt/comfort and cuddling to avoid hypothermia and all those wonderful fanfic tropes. Shippy pre-relationship stuff is also great!
Identity porn! As defined by Fanlore, it's focusing on people who have secret identities which focus on the consequences of using multiple personas". So Character A is in disguise, interacting with Character B, who may or may not know who Character A really is, and there may be kissing. This has obvious implications for secret identities (bonus points if it's hero/villain), but anywhere you can fit it in I will love it. Relatedly, I'm always up for mask kink and identity reveals. I feel like this is nigh-impossible for any Shade ship but if you manage it, I'd be really impressed!
Bad guys turning good! I love villains who discover that their worldview is wrong, especially by getting to know one of the good guys. I also love villains who aren't entirely bad, and good guys who can learn from them too.
Dramatic reunions! I love seeing characters brought back from the dead (or not actually dead, or whatever plot device works) reunited with someone who's been mourning them. I really love if the living person had feelings for the other and regrets never confessing them.
Lots of story types--adventure, what-ifs, canon continuations, everyone is mysteriously alive somehow, etc. Both happy and bittersweet/sad fics are great, as long as the angst isn't from the pairing's relationship not working out. Scenes or snippets from any of these are also great.
Your own prompts! I throw out a few specific story prompts for each pairing, but I will be thrilled to read any ideas you have! My prompts tend to lean towards longer stories, but please don't feel like you have to follow them.
Interactive fiction! (This is more relevant for longer minimum exchanges, but I keep this in just in case.) I like choice, parser, or any combination; my secret wish is dating sims for every canon. Character death, AU, and other pairings are fine for different endings in IF.

DNWs:

Non-con. Dub-con is great. The non-con line for me is one character forcing another into sex acts; dub-con examples I like are sex pollen, aliens make them do it, fighting turning into sex (even if they're still trying to kill each other), a villain sexually teasing a hero who is trying not to respond but is into it. Verbal consent is not needed. Canon past non-con and repercussions are fine.
Character bashing, including canon love interests.
Unrequested current ships or crushes for characters I request.
Non-canon permanent major character death (except that Jack/Shade prompt).
AUs of the setting instead of plot (mundane AUs, everyone is ponies, etc.)
Unrequited love (one or both parties incorrectly thinking it's unrequited is great) & shooting down pairings I requested.
Outsider POV.
Non-requested crossovers (e.g. outside of DC universes). References to anything vaguely DC-related is great, especially throwing in comic details for TV fic and vice-versa.

Don't Like but not DNW-level:

Established relationship fic. This isn't as set in stone as the others, but I love seeing my OTPs get together and/or have UST.

( Fandoms: Crossover Fandom, DC Comics, My Teacher Is an Alien, Planescape Torment )

My local comic shop sells dollar bundles of random comics and I’m reviewing them on Tumblr ~~so I can buy more~~!

Bundle #1

Secret Weapons #4 (Valiant, 1993)
There’s Something Wrong With Patrick Todd #1 (Aftershock, 2022)
The Omega Men #10 (DC, 2016)
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #4 (Marvel, 2016)
Sandman Mystery Theater: Sleep of Reason #3 (DC, 2007)

Bundle #2

Eternal Warrior #15 (Valiant, 1993)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 #10 (Dark Horse, 2012)
Bloodshot #12 (Valiant, 1993)
Stormwatch #3 (DC, 2011)
The Twelve #7 (Marvel, 2012)

Bundle #3

Paradise Too #9 (Abstract Studio, 2002)

Edit: treats are very welcome which I forgot to put in my signup!

Stuff I love:

Shipping! I am a ridiculous shipper at heart, so my favorite thing would be ship fic for the pairings I request, or gen fic focusing on their relationship that could be pre-ship; getting-together fic with a plot and eventually-resolved sexual tension is my absolute fave. Porn or no porn are both great--it's the ship more than the smut I'm into. I love pining and hurt/comfort and cuddling to avoid hypothermia and all those wonderful fanfic tropes.
Identity porn! As defined by Fanlore, it's focusing on people who have secret identities which focus on the consequences of using multiple personas". So Character A is in disguise, interacting with Character B, who may or may not know who Character A really is, and there may be kissing.
Dramatic reunions! Considering how many of my requests over the years have included at least one character that canonically dies, well... I love seeing characters brought back from the dead (or not actually dead, or whatever plot device works) reunited with someone who's been mourning them. If shippy, I really love if the living person had feelings for the other and regrets never confessing them.
Bad guys turning good! I love villains who discover that their worldview is wrong, especially by getting to know one of the good guys. I also love villains who aren't entirely bad, and good guys who can learn from them too.
Lots of story types--adventure, what-ifs, canon continuations, everyone is mysteriously alive somehow, etc. Both happy and bittersweet/sad fics are great, as long as the angst isn't from the pairing's relationship not working out.
Interactive fiction! I love both parser and choice or whatever weird mix you come up with. I only have a specific prompt for Nier IF, but would love it for any fandom--you can use my other prompts or go wild. If you're writing IF with multiple endings, feel free to ignore my major character death DNW for the bad ends. I secretly crave dating sims for every canon--if you do this, feel free to pair off requested characters with everyone (the weirder the better) as long as the couple I requested are at least one of the ends!

Stuff I don't want:

Non-con; dub-con is great. The non-con line for me is one character forcing another into sex acts; dub-con examples I like are sex pollen, aliens make them do it, fighting turning into sex (even if they're still trying to kill each other), a villain sexually teasing a hero who is trying not to respond but is into it. Verbal consent is not needed. EDIT: Canon past noncon and repercussions are fine.
Character bashing, including canon love interests.
Non-canon permanent major character death (except that Starman prompt).
Unrequested crossovers and AUs of the setting instead of plot (mundane AUs, everyone is ponies, etc.). Other DC "crossovers" with Starman are fine.
Unrequited love (one or both parties incorrectly thinking it's unrequited is fantastic!) and shooting down pairings I requested.
Unrequested ships for my requested characters. Past relationships I didn't DNW are fine.
Outsider POV.
Established relationship fic. This isn't as a hard DNW like the others, but I prefer getting together, pre-relationship fic, or shippy gen for ships.

Requests:

"Stop that," said Broxholm. He shook his head. "You earthlings! You never know what you want. If you'd stop trying to hold on to everything, you'd be a lot happier."
It wasn't until he spoke that I realized I was crying. "Sorry," I whispered, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand.
Broxholm touched my shoulder. "Don't look back," he said softly. "Look up!"

Fandom: My Teacher Is an Alien - Bruce Coville
Characters I Requested: Broxholm, Peter Thompson

My Teacher Is an Alien likes: futurefic, older Peter/Broxholm, worldbuilding, all the other characters, Poot

My Teacher Is an Alien DNWs: requited Broxholm/Peter with Peter under 17, Broxholm as an overt father figure, specific current events/current problems

What I Want:

I absolutely adore this series; it's one of my childhood favorites and got me into sci-fi as a whole. I love how it goes from a fun kids vs. adults adventure in the first books to an exploration of humanity and how to find our better nature. I love Peter's love of science fiction and his desperation to escape, and how that turns into his willingness to stay behind and do the hard work to teach humanity how to be better. I love Broxholm and his bluntness and his pacifism and his deep caring for the species he watches over. I love the worldbuilding and the really alien aliens and the deep respect for teachers. I just want more of it! For Yuletide fic, I'd prefer not going in-depth into the problems of humanity part of the canon, cause hoo boy I don't want to be hideously depressed. If you write something like the missions in the fourth book, a generic setting would work; feel free to ask through the mods if you're worried about skirting the line.

I also really want what I did not get from the series, which is Peter/Broxholm! I love their relationship; Peter running after the alien invader, begging him to take him with him, was absolutely formative for me. While the books framed Broxholm as a father figure, I love the idea of Peter growing up to realize his attachment to Broxholm is more than just wanting a replacement for his father (especially now that his relationship with his father's much better). And I love the idea that his fascination with aliens is, well, a fascination. I'd like adult Peter if shipping them; a childhood crush on Peter's side is great, but no pursuit or requited interest until he's at least 17. I'd prefer college-age or later. As for the other series characters, pair/multi/don't pair them up however you want! If you're not into shipping for this, just their canon friendship, especially how it changes as Peter grows older, would be lovely.

Prompts:

Peter being an amazing teacher! How does he bring what he's learned back to humanity? I also love the idea of Broxholm staying behind to teach with him; maybe he comes back after Peter's been on his own for a while, when he's really missing the stars and his friends. Does he get Broxholm to loosen up a bit as a teacher? Do their colleagues notice their bond and get the wrong (right) idea?
Peter is happy to be on Earth to help humanity grow, but he still misses the stars. Broxholm (with or without the others) spirits him away for a Very Important Meeting that turns out to be an excuse for summer vacation. Where do they go? Does Peter have some things on Earth to show him in return? Does Peter realize that a big part of his missing space is missing Broxholm?
Look, the first book keeps going into how handsome Mr. Smith is, and Broxholm may not be able to use that particular face but I want Peter getting distracted by how handsome his human face is. Which he could just ignore because it's not real, except it's not just his human disguise he's interested in. If you can somehow get fake dating or having to kiss to not get caught out of this (especially since Broxholm almost certainly does not know how to kiss), yes please!
Peter is surreptitiously very interested in what courtship looks like for Broxholm's species, for reasons he may or may not admit to himself. And with telepathic connections to his human friends (not to mention some pretty clever alien friends), this may not stay secret for long. And if Broxholm finds out, is dating something he's ever considered?

"Only you can see this battle to its conclusion. I wish you luck...my friend."<

"...You can't! I swore to fight by your side!"

"Bah! You are an exceedingly stubborn man. You know that, don't you? Perhaps that's why I've so enjoyed our time together. But I fear this is where our journey ends."

"Weiss!"

"Oh, and remember what I told you about using my full name?"

"Ergh..."

"Well, forget it. I've...grown rather fond of Weiss."

Fandom: NieR Gestalt | NieR Replicant | NieR (Video Games)

Characters requested: Grimoire Weiss, Nier

Nier Likes: Kainé, Nier/Weiss/Kainé, Emil, Fyra, the King of Facade, sidequests

What I want:

Since I last requested this, an entire remake has come out and even more people have actually played this! I'm specifically requesting Papa Nier, meaning Nier Gestalt; you can add the new stuff from the remake, but adapt it to Papa Nier if you do.

My promotion post goes over much of what I love about Nier; I think my absolute favorite part is how much love drives everyone's actions. Together, both versions of Nier manage to fuck up the world badly enough that they ensure the destruction of all forms of humanity--and everything they do is for single-minded love of Yonah. And so many people fight and die for Nier, and in the end, it's all for love. I love how both great and terrible things come from good intentions, and how people can find each other even in a dying world.

And with two of Nier's party canonically being in love with him, of course it's Nier/Weiss I ship. I really love their relationship and how important they become to each other so quickly. They dislike each other for about five minutes after Nier beats the magic out of Weiss, and then Weiss immediately starts showing concern for Yonah and Nier's situation. No matter how much Weiss falls back on his stuffiness and sense of superiority, he cares for his friends more than for his purpose. The developers joked about how "I've grown rather fond of Weiss" was Weiss' confession of love, and I can't help but see it that way--because Weiss is rejecting the very thing he was made for, all because he's come to care. Human Weiss would be great but I'd like him to have been a book during the canon events.

I really love everyone in this game and would love to see other characters if they fit, especially Kainé. The Kainé/Nier relationship in the game broke my heart, but I'd rather focus on Nier/Weiss for fic. That said, Kainé/Nier/Weiss would be amazing; just focus on the Nier/Weiss and Weiss/Kainé parts of it if you do so. If you're not tackling the OT3 you can handle Nier/Kainé by tweaking it to something just as strong but familial or platonic or just having Nier in a poly relationship with both separately. I also ship Kainé/Tyrann (in a weirdly sweet way) and I love Emil having a crush on Nier. Lastly, you can use the backstory/info in Grimoire Nier or not, whichever you prefer; I am fond of Weiss's backstory (And Then There Were None).

Prompts:

Nier/Weiss! There's so many ways this can be approached. What is it like for Weiss to rediscover parts of his humanity, from friendship to loyalty to love? Had he had the opportunity to connect with anyone at all before he was made a grimoire? Why does Weiss let Nier manhandle him and stick in tabs and pictures, anyway? Also, Walt Whitman's "Whoever You Are Holding Me Now In Hand" really strikes me as a Nier/Weiss poem if you want inspiration!
What was the five-year timeskip like? Nier and Weiss have changed a great deal, and not for the better. Some things that jump out at me: Nier seems to have rubbed off on Weiss, because he's also a lot more bloodthirsty than he was. They're more domestic--Weiss has been living with him for five years straight, after all. How does Weiss keep him sane...ish?
Fix-it fic, sweet Jesus. I'd also love fic as depressing or bittersweet as canon, but I would certainly not object to something fixing Ending D. Nier has sacrificed everything for Yonah, and then for Kainé--could he handle living after that, when there's nothing to fight? What would he say if he somehow saw Weiss after his sacrifice? What if Weiss didn't recognize him (and vice versa if Weiss is his human self), but felt he was someone very special? A version of the remake's Ending E that also saves Weiss would also be interesting!
Nier Automata spoilers: The data of humanity is still stored on the moon--what would happen if Nier and Weiss (and Kainé and Emil) were able to meet again? Would they recognize each other? Are they just data chatting through networks, or do they get android bodies? Could they make a new start for humanity, or just live for what's left of it? (Bonus points for Weiss really disliking Pod 042 for no apparent reason...) I don't play FFXIV but if you can fit Papa Nier/Weiss into whatever the hell is going on in the raids, feel free! I don't mind FFXIV spoilers but please keep the focus on the Nier cast.
If you're into writing interactive fiction or meta fic, another adventure in the Forest of Myth would fit in quite well! I was really amused by how little Weiss liked being in a world of words, and also by Nier's caliber of problem-solving skills. Any scenario where they revisit the Forest, or get to visit some more dreams, would be great. What if they visited each others' dreams/nightmares (and Nier realizes that Weiss has them at all)?

"Remember Opal is a city. Beautiful, but in the end just a city. San Francisco is just a city, too. You made Opal what it is to you. You can do the same in any place if you have love and happiness."
"I'm amazed to hear you say all this, Shade."
"Frankly, so am I. But in the end a rose is a rose is a rose."

Fandom: Starman (Comics)
Characters I Requested: Richard Swift, Jack Knight

Starman Likes: Opal City, antiquing, painter Jack, gay/primarily into men Shade, Shade being in love with Jay Garrick, Shade being horny for superheroes, the whole supporting cast, the Shade's painted nails, the Shade's sexy shadow powers, Mikaal, Smudge

Starman DNWs: Hope/Shade

What I Want:

I wrote so many words about why I love Starman in my promo post, and that really covers why I love it so much! The Shade is my forever favorite DC character (along with Renee Montoya), and Jack is just such a fantastic character. I'm a big DC fan, especially of the JSA crew, but I absolutely don't expect background knowledge of anything outside of Starman; if you're already a fan, though, feel free to throw in whatever you want from the rest of the universe! Within Starman itself, I adore the other Starmen and Nash and the Dibneys and basically everyone.

I have a lot of favorite parts of Starman, but the one that snuck up on me was Jack and the Shade's relationship. From the first time the Shade showed up at Jack's place to annoy him, I was intrigued; upon rereading. I went from "they'd be fun together" to "oh I really ship them" to "they're so good for each other and also they're falling in love." I love these two and how their roles as protectors of Opal grew into a real friendship. I adore how the Shade just decides Jack is going to be his mentee and friend, and that he accomplishes it by dumping his life story onto Jack. I love how much he professes to be uncaring and heartless while he very clearly holds his friendships dear. And the way he talks about Jack versus the other Starmen, like he's been waiting for someone who loves Opal like him all his life...and then how he tells Jack "a rose is a rose is a rose" when he leaves the city and doesn't hold it against him. I love their shared love for old things and Opal and being pretentious, and how Jack has no time for the Shade's bullshit (but secretly he does) and how the Shade just throws more bullshit at him in response.

For Jack/Sadie, I prefer it having not worked out or it just didn't happen. As for Shade, I'd prefer focus on past gay relationships over his het ones; mentions of past het is fine (outside of Shade/Hope, which I'd prefer didn't happen), but I'd like the focus on his relationships with men. If you want to make up any past queer ships or flirtations for him, go wild!

Prompts:

Jack and Shade stay in touch after Jack leaves for San Francisco through writing letters and Shade occasionally stopping by. Jack and Sadie don't work out, and then the Shade keeps dropping hints that Jack could return to Opal City and still stay retired. It takes a while for Jack to realize that the Shade just likes his company, and even longer to realize how much he likes the Shade's.
After reading enough of the Shade's journals, Jack starts to suspect he had a Thing for Jay Garrick. Does he ask the Shade about it, and does the Shade admit it? Does the Shade still have some hangups about his attraction to men, especially admitting it? Does Mikaal have to teach Jack what bisexuality is? Does Jack subsequently realize some things about himself?
The Shade is good with kids and dotes on Teddy and tells him stories of his father and grandfather and, well, Jack isn't made of stone. Extra points for Smudge (who is FINE) also doting and calling him Squire Teddy.
Jack has to pretend to stop the Shade's villainy for whatever reason (for charity? drawing out some supervillain?) and the Shade is really into that.
After Jack's death (at the end of a long and happy life), the Shade meets him on Jack's birthday, Talking With David style. The Shade didn't realize how much the loss would affect him, and he can finally tell him some things he never did in life. Or, long after Jack's death, he meets his reincarnation and old feelings/attraction that he never acted on flare up.

EDIT: 59 out of 74 games judged by end of comp! I'm planning to get through the rest to complete my recommendations.

Favorites

Choice

My Brother; The Parasite: A parasite allows you to speak to your abusive brother after his death; can you ever find closure for a lifetime of pain? Gorgeous art and presentation of a moody story where the horror accentuates the real. Mind the content warnings.
Paintball Wizard (Walkthrough): As a pledge at a wizard fraternity, it's up to you to learn enough spells to win the wizard paintball game. A really fun magic system and surprisingly sweet story make this a blast to play, and the many Easter eggs are an incentive to use that magic system to the fullest.
Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head: Sneak inside your abandoned studio to save your deceased boss's beloved puppets--but the puppets aren't the only things there. A surprisingly touching take on mascot horror, with fun gameplay and ridiculous amount of missable dialogue and interactions between the puppets.

Parser

Citizen Makane (Walkthrough): As the last man on earth, reintegrate yourself into society and solve problems by leveling up your sexual prowess. It's a deckbuilder deconstruction of an old porn game that's hilarious and straight-up fun to play. There's a bunch of optional cards to find and alternate resolutions to quests, so worth replaying, too. Making a non-creepy game about a dude banging tons of women is impressive.
Dr. Ludwig and the Devil (Walkthrough): As a mad scientist, make a deal with the devil (but not before figuring out how to wriggle your way out of it). Hilarious and delightful, and I love all the queer characters!
Gestures Towards Divinity (Walkthrough): In a gallery displaying Francis Bacon's art, learn more about its subjects. A haunting, heavy game diving into art, biography, and ethics; I recommend pulling up the works in question while you play. Definitely heed the content warnings!
Honk! (Walkthrough): A phantom is haunting your circus; can a clown save the day? A hilarious game full of clever puzzles and charming characters--it's a joy to play. You can pet the goose.
LAKE Adventure (Walkthrough): At 13, a boy made a text adventure about going to a friend's sister's birthday party. Decades later, you play while he commentates. A really cool concept which, as far as I can tell, is actually an expanded game the author made as a teen. CW for
spoilers
a child dying of cancer.
The Little Match Girl 4 (Walkthrough): The Little Match Girl, having been adopted by Ebeneezer Scrooge and become a vampire-slayer/general heroine, must collect pearls to prevent war between fairies and humans. A super-enjoyable Metroidvania with tons of fun puzzles, sidequests, and clever descriptions. There's five previous games in the series, but the introduction tells you the important backstory.
Ribald Bat Lady Plunder Quest (Walkthrough): As a cheerfully amoral bat lady, conquer a suitable birthday present for your lover. The florid and hilarious fantasy prose makes exploring and examining everything a treat. It is extremely, explicitly horny; the particular style isn't my thing, but it has so much fun with sex that it just adds to the atmosphere.

Other Recommendations

Choice

All Hands: Follow the songs and board the ship. A short, atmospheric horror story. The system (Texture) is less buggy on mobile for me.
All the Troubles Come My Way: As a cowboy stuck in the future, find your hat. A short, hilarious game with a bit of Disco Elysium flair.
Antony & Cleopatra: Case !V: The Murder of Marlon Brando: As Antony and Cleopatra, investigate the murder of Marlon Brando in a synchronous two-player mystery. The mystery is genuinely tricky to figure out, and the bizarre cast of characters adds to the fun of the setting. I recommend playing with a friend in-person or with voice chat, but it's possible to play in two windows to experience the writing.
Detective Osiris: As a newborn god, interact with your loved ones and the Egyptian pantheon to solve your own murder. A fun little mystery with enjoyable characters and great art. You can pet the dog and crocodile!
Dysfluent: An ordinary day of a person with a stutter. A really effective exploration of what it's like to have a stutter and how other people treat you.
The Gift of What You Notice More (Walkthrough): You're packing to leave--but first you have to confront what went wrong. A surreal game of diving back into memories, solving puzzles, and figuring out what's important. I had to walk around trying everything on everything a lot, but the overall experience was worth it.
Last Valentine's Day: You try to bring a Valentine's gift to your lover, over and over. An effective take on the end of a relationship told through a time loop. The Greek mythology trappings don't really work for me, but it stands well on its own.
Lunium (Walkthrough): Free yourself from a locked room in order to catch a murderer. An impressive translation of an escape-the-room adventure game to Twine, with nice visuals and an entertaining mystery.
My Pseudo-Dementia Museum (Download recommended): A museum of the author's time of mental health recovery. The focus on objects makes for an interesting perspective, and it meant a lot as someone with mental illness to see the little things that gave someone else's life meaning. Mind the content warnings and take it as an exhibition, not a game.
One Does Not Simply Fry: Lord of the Rings meets cooking competitions as competitors attempt to fry the One(ion) Ring. Funny and super replayable with four contestants to choose from and a bunch of achievements.
The Ship (Walkthrough): As a ship captain, follow a mysterious poem left by a parent to find your path. A really cool concept with a lot of minigames and a fun, surreal narrative.
Tricks of light in the forest (Walkthrough): Take a walk through the woods, finding specimens and taking photos. A lovely exploration game, with the hints of worldbuilding suggesting a lurking darker story.
The Whale's Keeper: You're a cetologist who has been swallowed by a whale. Do you try to escape or discover what truly lives in the belly of the whale? The mood of not-quite horror is perfect for the ocean setting. The platform is annoying but worth dealing with to play.
The Whisperers: An interactive play taking place in Moscow, 1938, that allows the will of the people to decide the lives of four neighbors. I really want to see this as a play!
Xanthippe's Last Night With Socrates: As Socrates' wife, spend one last night with him in his jail cell. Lots of bawdy, black humor, frank discussions of philosophy and death, and sex.

Parser

Bright Brave Knight Knave (Walkthrough): Hail, hold! This tale told through rhymes is a sale sold that will have you rhyming forever. The puzzles can be obscure, but a robust hint system (and lots of guessing) makes sure you won't have to bail bold.
How Prince Quisborne the Feckless Shook His Title (Download only): Help a prince become less useless in a staggeringly detailed fantasy adventure. I've only finished the two-hour tutorial, meant for IFComp judging, but the amusing and wordy writing makes me want to luxuriate in the full adventure. You can pet the dog, but probably shouldn't.
The Vambrace of Destiny (Walkthrough): Go dungeon crawling for spell gems with single-letter commands. An ingenious interface and control scheme makes for some fun puzzles, and the many optional treasures allow for some brainteasers.

Working on a blackout for

comment_bingo!

a work from an event from 2021	a work from another event	a work by someone you've come across recently	a work that has two of your favorite tags	a work from a book canon
a work from an "old" fandom (canon aired/released pre-1990)	a work that inspired you	a work posted in 2019	a work with under 10 comments	a work from a horror canon
the first comment on a work	a work from a mystery/thriller canon	FREE SPACE	a work from an event from 2014	a work from a rec list
a work from a fandom with an open/ongoing canon	a work by a creator you admire	a work from an event from 2017	a work posted in 2014	a work from a tv show canon
a work by a creator you've never commented on before	a work that made you sad	a work posted in 2011	a work from a new creator	a work set in an AU

( Works by Prompt )

No Archive Warnings Apply

Title: come to the water
Creator: thraced
Prompt: a work by a creator you admire
Fanwork Type: fic
Fandom: Black Adam (Movie 2022)
Characters/Pairing(s): Carter Hall/Kent Nelson
Word Count: 6,643
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Summary: "If Kent is wandering, how do I find him?”
“Cut out your own heart and throw it into the Nile,” she says, with bored contempt.
Carter watches her expression shift as he holds her unblinking gaze. “Do I need a special knife or will a regular dinner one do the job?”

Carter Hall of all people knows that death is not always as straightforward as it might seem. He just needs a little reminder.
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Title: Someday The Sadness Will End
Creator: ferriswheelsdayoff
Prompt: a work by a creator you've never commented on before
Fanwork Type: fic
Fandom: DC Comics
Characters/Pairing(s): Alan Scott/Richard Swift
Word Count: 1,071
Rating: General Audiences
Summary: “I am an optimist because I understand the concept of futility, and recognize that if everything is going to end and I will likely be around to see it, I might as well not be miserable in the meantime.”

Alan Scott and Richard Swift watch the stars fall and talk about life.
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Title: Title
Creator:
Prompt:
Fanwork Type:
Fandom:
Characters/Pairing(s):
Word Count:
Rating:
Summary:
Warnings:

( Works by Fandom )

What is Starman?
Starman is a story about legacy. It's about loving the past, and it's about using the things you love about it to shape the present and the future. It's about telling stories, and family both biological and found, and confronting the parts of yourself you pretended you left behind. It's about the absurdity of superheroes and the joy of flying and how to find inspiration in the past even if you're not taking up all their fashion choices. It's about remembering the forgotten and what really matters about those grand good vs. evil battles.

It's a story about Starmen.

Starman is about Jack Knight, the son of Ted Knight, the Golden Age Starman. (The comic itself explains the older generation of heroes, but in sum: Ted Knight was a member of the Justice Society of America, the original superhero team in the DC Universe. They were active around the 40, but their aging was slowed so they're still relatively spry in the 90s when the series takes place.) He's a hipster antiques dealer who dresses like he stepped out of the 1950s and has absolutely no interest in superheroics. When the story begins, Jack's brother David has just taken up the mantle of Starman, the protector of Opal City, a few weeks ago. The story begins when David is shot and killed while out on patrol; Jack soon discovers that the killer was the son of the Mist, his father's old nemesis. Jack, thrown into the middle of this fight, finds himself reluctantly taking up the mantle of Starman with the help of his father. When Jack kills David's killer in return, he sets a chain of events into motion that will change the course of his superhero career and his beloved Opal.

Starman is interested in more legacies than that of the Knights, however, and no one exemplifies this more than the deuteragonist of the series, the Shade. The Shade, a mysterious shadowy gentleman dressed incongruously in all-black Victorian-era clothing, is a former villain who menaced the Golden Age Flash but retired to Opal City. He introduces himself to Jack by teleporting uninvited into his apartment, handing him his two-hundred-year-old diary, and badgering him to read his memoirs to become the hero Opal deserves. These memoirs lead to one of the features that makes Starman stand out: the Times Past issues. About a quarter of Starman's 80 issues are entries from the Shade's journals, telling single-issue stories of the past of the Justice Society, Opal City, and the supporting cast of Starman. It's a fantastic introduction to a long-standing universe (well, if you don't mind a few retcons), and really lets you feel the weight of these legacies even if you've never picked up another DC comic.

Speaking of legacies, there sure were a lot of superheroes named Starman in the DC universe! And by god, this Starman series is tying all of them together. Jack will meet every single superhero named Starman through the course of this series, and not just as detours to the Knight family as the real Starman. Everyone who took up the name, no matter how briefly, was Starman, and so many of them end up saving each other. Mikaal Tomas, the disco alien Starman from the 70s who only appeared in one issue? Jack saves him from captivity and they become as close as brothers, taking a rocketship to space together. That trip to space is to save the 80s Starman, Will Payton, whose sister refused to believe he really died back in that major event. (A note to anyone who's already a fan of Starman v2: read Starman v1, because this series really did the Paytons dirty). There's also the other alien Starman, and the future Starman, and the future future Starman, and the Starman of '51 invented for this series, and Stargirl, and the point is that all their stories deserve to be told, even if it's only when they briefly intersect. Even David, dead in the first issue, gets his story told: every year on Jack's birthday, he's visited by David in his dreams for a Talking With David issue. It's a lovely way to see both Jack and David grow, and to let Jack mend his relationship with his brother and his father.

Do I recommend this even outside of a fannish context? Absolutely. It's a story that really cares about the emotions inherent to the superhero genre, and for a series that starts with Jack decrying Dad's old spandex costume as ridiculous, it's absolutely bursting with love for the genre as a whole. It takes the stories it tells seriously, even the parts it's poking fun at; all these heroes may have superpowers and flashy costumes and brawls with their nemeses, but the important part is how they feel and grow and love. My favorite example is the first annual issue. It features the Shade, still alive millions of years in the future, on the planet he's named in honor of Opal City. He's telling the story of two of the Starmen to a gaggle of children, and it's clear that he constantly tells the stories of Jack and Opal and all the people he knew and loved. Starman is considered one of DC's classic runs for a reason. James Robinson wrote the entire run, meaning that characterization stays consistent throughout and the story arcs build up to a satisfying ending. The two major artists (Tony Harris for the first half and Peter Snejbjerg for the second) are both great; the Times Past issues all have different artists, most of them fantastic.

As for content warnings, the major one is rape: Nash, the new Mist, drugs and rapes Jack and uses the resulting baby as leverage. There's some period-typical homophobia, but less than you'd normally expect from a 90s comic; Mikaal is bi and dating a man, and has one of the earlier on-panel gay kisses appearing in a major comic. (His boyfriend is fine in this comic, and anything that happens in later bullshit events can be safely ignored!) There are other archive warnings applying, particularly violence and death--feel free to ask if you'd like to know about anything specific.

How do I read Starman?
Starman consists of 81 original issues, two miniseries about the Shade, and various special issues with side stories; this reading order collects all of them (and some extra JSA stuff including Jack). If you only want the main story, Starman #0-80 (plus the two Power of Shazam issues) will cover everything. The 80-page Giant, Annuals, 1 Million, The Mist, and Secret Files are recommended side content, as are the two Shade series (4 issues and 12 issues respectively). The rest on the reading list is cool but not necessary. There's a number of ways to read it:

DC Universe Infinite: $8/month or $75 a year for digital access to bucketloads of DC comics. Includes a 7-day free trial if you read extremely fast. Does not include the first Shade miniseries for some reason.
Starman Compendiums: Two extremely massive paperbacks (~1500 pages each) collecting the series and both Shade miniseries.
Starman Omnibi: 6 hardcovers covering the series and the first Shade mini. These are the only collections including the Shade's Journal, which are excellent text pieces with a lot of characterization. I'd recommend these if you're going for physical books. (If you really love it, go for the Compendiums, but they're less convenient to read and probably less likely to be in libraries.)
Starman TPBs: 10 paperbacks for the main series and one for the second Shade series. Long out of print, but libraries may have them.
Single issues: Make sure you're reading Starman volume 2, starting in 1994; Starman v1 (starting in 1988) is delightful but a different 45-issue series.
A lovely Tumblr user transcribed the Shade's Journal text pieces, which are reblogged on my the shade's journal tag.

Characters

These are just the four I'm nominating for Yuletide—Starman features a ton of great characters, major and minor.

The Shade

Two panels from Starman #4 during the Shade and Jack's first meeting. Panel 1: The Shade is summoning something out of shadows. Jack is sitting off-panel, a fancy journal labeled "The Opal" in front of him. Shade: And...I've another gift for you. Jack: Oh, yeah? Let me guess, Bela Lugosi's autograph? Shade: Something that might curb your glib tongue. I was in the museum, the wing your mother bequeathed...the one the Mist's high jinx laid waste to. Among the rubble... Panel 2: Shade holds out a plaque labeled "Adele Doris Knight: Dedicated 1959." Shade: ...I found this. The plaque honoring her. I thought you'd want it. Jack: I...I...guess I do. Um...I guess I should say thanks, as well. Shade: Thank me by reading my journal.

First off, if you loved the Shade in Stargirl, I highly recommend reading the comics; his adaptation is so good that watching Stargirl sent me right back into DC Comics hell. Plus I am absolutely dying for some comics details to sneak their way into Stargirl fic (the love of dogs it's the love of dogs let him pet Buddy!!!). If you love comics Shade why haven't you watched Stargirl yet?? He's in love with Charles McNider and may have adopted Alan Scott's children, it's adorable.

The Shade is an immortal supervillain with sinister shadow-based powers who squared off against the Golden Age Flash, Jay Garrick. When we meet him in Starman, he's more or less retired in his beloved Opal City; in Jack, he sees the person who can be the protector Opal deserves. He's more than willing to use his powers for questionable ends, but now, everything he does is to protect his Opal. He's charming, mysterious, and witty, playing his villainous role to the hilt even when he's actually doing good. He loves to make a dramatic entrance (and even more dramatic exits), and he absolutely refuses to act like anything but himself.

A panel from Starman #26 showing the Shade and the devil (appearing as another villain) in Hell, which looks like a snowy street in London. Devil: And do you love? Shade: I have loved, though not in a while. Devil: And why would that be? Shade: Lovers die.

A panel from Starman #26 showing the Shade and the devil (appearing as another villain) in Hell, which looks like a snowy street in London. Devil: And do you love? Shade: I have loved, though not in a while. Devil: And why would that be? Shade: Lovers die.

And then there's the really fun thing about him: the hangups his immortality have given him about love in all its forms, and how deeply he loves despite that. He was close friends with Oscar Wilde and abandoned him when Oscar started aging while he never would. He states dogs are proof of god's love, but he can't bear to own a pet who would die so quickly. He claims he hasn't loved since his last lover betrayed him in the 30s, but he continues growing close to people and writing treatises on how magnificent they are. Half of his nemesis's evil plan was making him look bad in front of his "beloved" Jay Garrick. He gives the reincarnation of his best friend, and his family, a first edition of Great Expectations for Christmas and disappears before he has to spend time at a celebration. He gives a speech and cries at an old foe's funeral. He shows Jack his home, the first person he's taken there for decades, and gives him a rose from his garden. His attachment to others and his fear of losing them informs his whole mysterious villainous act and I love him for it.

Jack Knight

Jack does not want to be a superhero. Let David take up their dad's mantle and all the do-gooding and spandex; Jack just wants to run his antique shop and watch old movies. But long ago, before he became a rebellious teen and his relationship with his father became even more complicated, he did. And as he grows into his role as Starman, we see him grow up. He looks past the ridiculous parts of superheroing (and makes himself a cool jacket instead of picking up spandex himself) and discovers what it is that drew him to superheroes as a kid, and how human all those larger-than-life figures are. By the end, he isn't afraid to be sincere, or to cry, or to let himself be vulnerable around the people he loves.

A panel from Starman #20 featuring Jack Knight talking to an elderly Dian Belmont, the wife of Wesley Dodds (Sandman). Jack has a slightly goofy look on his face. Jack: Yes. Here...to see Sandman. Jack's narration: Why did I say it like that? I sounded like an idiot. Get a grip, Jackie. Dian: Well, I think 'Sandman' prefers simply being called Wesley, nowadays. Jack: Wa.

A panel from Starman #20 featuring Jack Knight talking to an elderly Dian Belmont, the wife of Wesley Dodds (Sandman). Jack has a slightly goofy look on his face. Jack: Yes. Here...to see Sandman. Jack's narration: Why did I say it like that? I sounded like an idiot. Get a grip, Jackie. Dian: Well, I think 'Sandman' prefers simply being called Wesley, nowadays. Jack: Wa.

The next two panels. Panel 1: Dian looks confused. Dian: We? Oui? I don't understand, Jack. Jack's narration: 'Whispers in Darkness is my favorite book, Miss Belmont.' Say it, Jack. Say it and you can save this mess." Panel 2: Jack stares dazedly, clearly not saving this mess. Jack: Dar.

Jack's also just a lot of fun. He's a giant nerd for obscure pop culture and will quip and reference weird retro stuff that no one else has heard of (yes this makes writing him An Experience), and he never really gets over the absurd or amazing parts of his new job. He gets so worked up he can't speak when he meets his favorite author. He just sells a magic shirt to the guy threatening him over it, cause why else would it be in his shop? He defends the artistry of mimes often enough that both the Shade and his father comment on it. In his big dramatic climactic fight he's thinking "I'm such a loser. I think I just peed my pants." There's a Howdy Doody doll sitting over his bed. He's ridiculous and obsessed with the past and, deep down, a hero.

Mikaal Tomas

When we first meet Mikaal, he been kept drugged and in captivity for decades. After Jack rescues him, he relearns how to speak as he recovers under the eye of Ted Knight; we learn that he came to Earth in the 70s (and was called Starman after David Bowie) in order to stop his warlike species from invading the planet. And it makes his character arc really interesting, because in his recovery and trip to space with Jack, he goes from a gentle, kind soul to a warrior. He’s not conqueror like his species was meant to be, but there’s an edge to him as he grows into becoming a Starman again.

Two panels from Starman #45 showing Mikaal Tomas and his boyfriend, Tony. Panel 1: Tony is cradling Mik's head, Mik holding his arm. Mikaal: But they are enough that no matter what I find out there with Jack... Panel 2: They kiss. Mikaal: ...I'll come back to you.

Two panels from Starman #45 showing Mikaal Tomas and his boyfriend, Tony. Panel 1: Tony is cradling Mik's head, Mik holding his arm. Mikaal: But they are enough that no matter what I find out there with Jack... Panel 2: They kiss. Mikaal: ...I'll come back to you.

Plus he’s a canon queer character! I’m not sure if he’s officially considered bi or gay, but his planet doesn’t follow human concepts of sexuality and he’s been involved with women and men. During the course of the series, he has a loving boyfriend named Tony; they’re a background pairing but Mik’s love for Tony motivates him throughout. Tony isn’t sure what to make of the new Mikaal after his trip to space, but whether or not they last, their love for each other is meaningful.

Nash

Four panels from Starman: The Mist showing Nash, holding her infant son Teddy, talking to Mary Marvel. Panel 1: Nash lowers a gun pointing at Mary. Nash: What was that? In your voice? Did you stutter just then? Mary, off-panel: No. Panel 2: Closeup on Nash. Teddy is crying. Nash: Look at you. How old are you? You're just a girl. I guess I didn't notice that before. I knew a girl who stuttered. She was gentle. Panel 3: Closeup on Mary. Mary: What happened to her? Panel 4: Nash is fading away into mist, Teddy still crying. Nash: She went away.

Oh, Nash, my problematic fave. She's an awful, compelling person, and she makes such a fascinating mirror for Jack. Her father, the Mist, always treated her as a nuisance compared to her brother Kyle, who he expected to be the heir to his name; she was a scared, stuttering girl, until a moment of mercy towards Jack turned her life upside down. After Kyle killed David, Nash had Jack at gunpoint, but he convinced her to let him go. Jack fought Kyle, and in a moment of anger, killed him to avenge his brother. Now both Nash and Jack had lost their brothers, the heir to their fathers' names—and Nash knew she couldn't be the kind of person who would show mercy anymore. But while Jack's mantle drew him closer to his father, the Mist, even in his rare moments of lucidity, never accepted his daughter. Nash, projecting all her anger and sorrow onto Jack, drugged and raped him, had a son, and began raising him to hate his father. I love her flashes of humanity (especially in her one-shot) and Jack's complicated sympathy for her.

Shade/Jack

A page from Starman #10. Jack is making coffee in his boxers, griping at the Shade. The Shade is sitting at his kitchen table, smoking a shadowy pipe. Jack: Look, I agreed to read your damn books. That I agreed to. But I am not your trained monkey boy. You need a favor, go fin a friend. For the last time, I...am...not...your...amigo, amigo. You got that?

A page from Starman #10. Jack is making coffee in his boxers, griping at the Shade. The Shade is sitting at his kitchen table, smoking a shadowy pipe. Jack: Look, I agreed to read your damn books. That I agreed to. But I am not your trained monkey boy. You need a favor, go fin a friend. For the last time, I...am...not...your...amigo, amigo. You got that?

Because I have to throw in a little ship manifesto for my rare OTP! The Shade and Jack have such a fantastic relationship throughout the series. The Shade's been waiting for a protector worthy of his Opal for decades, and he recognizes from the start that Jack loves Opal as much as he does. And from the start, I mean that when Jack's been operating for a week at most and already nearly died, the Shade materializes in his house to tell him how special he is and ask if he's a reincarnation of his dead ~~boyfriend~~ best friend. Jack finds his assigned reading and inability to knock annoying as hell, and is more than willing to bicker with the Shade every time he shows up in his apartment.

A panel from Starman #26, showing Shade and Jack resting on a ledge overlooking Opal. Shade: You look blue, Jack. Jack: Just mulling over events. I've been to Hell. Shade: Indeed. And back. We beat the Devil. Jack: We beat a demon. There's a difference. Anyway, I'd have thought that fact might provoke something of a smile.

A panel from Starman #26, showing Shade and Jack resting on a ledge overlooking Opal. Shade: You look blue, Jack. Jack: Just mulling over events. I've been to Hell. Shade: Indeed. And back. We beat the Devil. Jack: We beat a demon. There's a difference. Anyway, I'd have thought that fact might provoke something of a smile.

But as time goes on, Jack starts to warm up to the Shade. With all they go through together, up to and including going to Hell, and all the drama of the life Jack's in now, a sinister but helpful weirdo is the least of his problems. Besides, they're both changing: Jack is learning who he really wants to be, and the Shade's reluctance to let himself be close to people is wearing down.

A panel from Starman #43. The Shade is stepping into a shadowy portal directly into Jack's bedroom. While Jack and Sadie were about to have sex. Shade: Oh, how wonderful. Like something out of a saucy French postcard. Sadie: Jeepers! Jack: Shade. Jeezus. Don't you every knock? Can't you act like a human being? Shade: I shall avert my eyes. Your lady friend deserves some small consideration. And the sight of all your tattoos might prompt me to get one. And I know I should regret it...in two or three hundred years.

Guy still needs to learn to knock, though.

A panel from Starman #50. Jack is helping a rumpled Shade walk while Mikaal and two other superheroes look on. The Shade is smiling. Jack: Are you all right, Shade? Shade: I'm fine, Jack. I'm fine. It's good to see you.

A panel from Starman #50. Jack is helping a rumpled Shade walk while Mikaal and two other superheroes look on. The Shade is smiling. Jack: Are you all right, Shade? Shade: I'm fine, Jack. I'm fine. It's good to see you.

By the middle of the series, Jack is glad to refer to the Shade as a friend, and the Shade is willing to be more vulnerable in front of Jack (even beyond ~~forcing him to~~ letting him read his extensive private diaries). And at the end of it all, when Jack has to face a monster taking revenge on their Opal--

Two panels from Starman #70, showing Jack fighting a villain with shadow powers while the Shade narrates through his journal. Shade's narration: I wasn't there...not for that part of the ballet. Jack, my understudy in the role I was destined to play. The combatant of Culp. My role of a lifetime spent. And Jack rose to it. He was magnificent. Jack's thoughts: I am such a loser. Shade's narration: He was fearless. Jack's thoughts: I think I just peed myself.

The Shade obviously thinks the world of him. And I won't spoil their last conversation in the comic, but it's incredibly sweet and my favorite moment between the two.

I adore their changing relationship, their banter, and their shared love for Opal. Jack calls himself a man in love with the past, and it's harder to find a person who exemplifies the past more than Shade. And the Shade is extremely queer-coded, what with his friendship for Oscar Wilde and his adoration for Jay Garrick; I can easily see him falling for Jack but keeping him at arm's length, like he does Jay, assuming it will never happen and that it's better for everyone to not disrupt Jack's life by courting him. And Jack, if he figured that out--well, he's always happy to call out the Shade's bullshit.

Tell me more!

I natter about Starman a lot on Tumblr--check out my starman, jh reads starman, and the shade tags for a good chunk of random panels and little thoughts.

Dear Artist,

Thank you so much for creating for me! This is my first art exchange and I a) am thrilled to participate, and 2) have no idea how to prompt for art! I love a wide variety of art and styles, so please feel free to go wild with your own style or something you've always wanted to try. (I also default to saying "draw", but please substitute paint/sculpt/whatever verb where appropriate.) If you'd prefer working off my likes, I enjoy:

Limited and/or unusual color palettes, greyscale with one splash of color
Pixel art
Mixed media, collage, papercraft, etc.
Fibercraft (if you make me a pattern I will make it)
Art Deco (especially for Opal City denizens!)
Tarot cards
Comics! My other letters have fic prompts with more ideas for sequential art.
Recreations of classic art/comic covers/etc.
Facial expressions! I love fun facial expressions--think Kevin Maguire.
Cool swirly magic/powers/etc
Dramatic silhouettes
Adorable animals/creatures/monstrosities, especially with baby animals/creatures/monstrosities.

My ship art likes:

A very broad definition of shippy--I love pre-ship stuff too, so don't worry if it's too gen if they're in the same picture.
Moments before their first kiss, just looking at each other with their hearts in their throats.
Shippy canon moments (what counts as shippy? Yes).
Just barely touching hands, reaching for each other, etc.
The thing where they're upside down/mirroring each other.
Forehead touching.
Slow dancing.
Hurt/comfort - A helping a wounded B to safety, huddling for warmth, clinging to each other, etc.
Kissing, banging, etc - Y'know. I prefer clothes staying at least partially on (both because it's easier to identify them and because it's hot), but otherwise go to town!
Sexy use of powers. See individual requests for more details!

Do Not Want:

Heavy bodily fluids, especially spit connecting people's mouths. Sweat & blood are a-ok.
Detailed gore. Once again, blood is good, just don't detail the wounds.
Animal harm to the adorable animals/creatures/monstrosities.
Unrequested pairings for requested characters. (Defining it narrowly here--drawing a character's canonical wedding ring is fine, drawing unrequested character A smooching requested character B is not.)

Blackwell Series

Group: Joey Mallone/Rosangela Blackwell

I ship them so much! I love how they grow so important to each other and their tragic ending (and their tragic middle and beginning). Any permutation of alive and ghost is good, as is during or post-ending.

Joey sadly touching a photo of Rosa or them together after she's gone.
A reunion hug! Either when they're both ghosts or Rosa somehow coming back to life. They just need to hug.
Dancing! They're both alive or Joey's just careful not to move through her.
Touching each other using the tie--can be wistful or sweet or UST or sexy.
Joey watching Rosa while she's sleeping.
Interacting with a cat, cause Joey playing with a cat is the cutest thing.

Creator's Choice of Fandom

Creator's Choice of Scene from Recipient's AO3 Fic

Art of any of my fic would make me over the moon! Some suggestions:

Shade giving Jack a shadow tattoo from With the Stars Up Above in Your Eyes
Merlin visiting Roman's dream from So Familiar a Gleam
Caster Alexander from Beyond the Horizon
Gilgamesh kneeling before Cor from A Man of His Mettle
Rosa and Golbez fighting or hugging from Voices Calling

DC Comics

Canon-specific Do Not Wants: evil Max, Commissioner Renee

JLI-adjacent

Group: Dan Garrett & Jaime Reyes & Ted Kord: I just love the Beetles and want them to hang out! Any combo is good for this. Booster Gold (and Ted/Booster) is welcome to come, as is the JLI or Jaime's crew (Milagro with action figures?). Anything with them geeking out or teaching each other would be great; Dan & Jaime would be especially interesting! I also find it hilarious that Khaji Da just fucking hates Ted, so anything with that would be amazing.
J'onn J'onnz: I loooove his John Jones detective persona--hat and trenchcoat, human-looking except for his glowing red eyes. His human looks can draw from any existing version (comics, various TV) or be your own design. Something noirish would go great with this. As for alien J'onn, any existing or new design is great! I'm most used to JLI-style if I had to pick.
- Noirish John Jones, tipping his hat so his glowing eyes are just visible
- J'onn just enjoying something simple and human - watching a sunset, feeding birds, stargazing. Or Chocos.
- Melancholy! Stargazing at Mars, him looking small in a vast landscape, etc.
- Goofing off with the JLI, Diane Meade, M'gann, or whoever.
Group: J'onn J'onnz/Maxwell Lord: See above for J'onn! For Max, I want his JLI look--suit, tie, used-car-saleman looking--or other clothing that fits that.
- Max ~~sleazing on~~ flirting with this handsome detective John Jones.
- Slumped on each other completely exhausted while JLI hijinks have clearly happened offscreen/are happening behind them
- Having a nice vacation in Kooey Kooey Kooey, possibly ignoring JLI disasters happening offscreen/behind them
- Hurt/comfort after Max rejects Kilg%re and collapses bloodily on the ground

Milestone

Carlos Quinones Jr. (Dakotaverse): I have read one full issue with Fade and I fell in love instantly. I love his look, I love his powers, I love that he's closeted and tragically in love with his dead teammate. Just go wild showing off his powers! I prefer old-continuity Fade (unless it's new and old Fade together), and I'd love to see the rest of the Blood Syndicate and Fade/Tech-9, Fade/Masquerade, or any other guy you ship him with. I'll be starting on the Milestone Compendium so any canon references will eventually be understood!

Renee Montoya

Group: Crispus Allen & Renee Montoya: Cris is so underappreciated and his partnership with Renee is the best. I'm especially fond of Cris as the Spectre plus Renee as the Question, but civilian garb is great too! To steal some prompts from Renee & Vic, I'd love them posing dramatically, kicking ass, or having a tearful reunion hug.
Group: Renee Montoya & Vic Sage: I love theeeeeem! Anything from 52 or with both of them as the Question would be wonderful. I love angst and post-death reunions and Charlie annoying the crap out of Renee. My favorite looks for both of them are in 52, but with red hair out of costume for Vic.
- Posing dramatically together! Kicking ass together! Making bad question puns together!
- Reunion hug! I legit cannot keep track of current continuity but I'm pretty sure they're both alive so any scenario that allows them to tearfully hug.
- Just hanging out together without impending doom hanging over them.
- Vic/Helena/Renee! Question sandwich!!!

Starman

Setting: Opal City: I just love Opal in all its pretentious Art Deco glory. Any sort of landscape would be lovely, especially including tiny Jack or Shade or Mik or other Opal characters doing their thing.
Group: Creator's Choice of Starmen: I just love them and think they should hang out! Any and all are welcome; if you'd like suggestions, Mikaal and Will need more love. Anything from a lineup to a duo just sharing stories to a Starman cookout is great! Courtney and Sylvester can come too, along with whatever side characters (esp. Tony for Mik and Jayne for Will).
Group: Jack Knight/Richard Swift: Check my journal's Starman tag for lots of (fic) prompts and gushing! I love them and I would love any art of them! See below for the Shade's appearance preferences; for Jack, I love the goatee, brown eyes, and hideous shirts.
- Shade being a gentleman: offering his arm, kissing Jack's hand, etc.
- Mirroring each other as Opal's protectors.
- Sexy times with shadows caressing Jack. Just linking this one cover for no reason,
- Shade and Teddy bonding while Jack's heart melts. (Tea party? Tea party.)
Group: Jay Garrick/Richard Swift: You cannot convince me that the Shade is not in love with Jay. I like both one-sided or reciprocated for this prompt, and I'm fondest of older Jay. Jay/Joan is great too! I prefer Shade's modern outfit but also Jay reminding him of his Golden Age outfit is comedy gold.
- Shade being a gentleman (see above), or Jay being a gentleman and Shade just not knowing how to deal with it.
- A playful clash for old time's sake, or Shade teasing him villainously while they're just hanging out.
- Hanging out as friends for the first time! Joan bringing coffee while Shade is surprisingly flustered just sitting across the table from Jay, etc.
Richard Swift: I love him!!! I love his fancy outfits and flair for the dramatic and sexy shadow powers. I like his modern look; my fave artists for him are Tony Harris, Peter Snejbjerg, and Cully Hamner, so any combo of those or your own style is great! Painted nails are my favorite little detail.
- Sexy shadows! Just doing anything cool or stylized with his shadow powers is great.
- Storytelling! Telling stories to OCs or whatever canon children is delightful.
- Smudge! I love Smudge and I love the Shade doting on him or vice versa. Smudge painting the Shade's nails!!!
- Any combo of Shades--comics, Stargirl, DCAU, Young Justice, etc. I'm fond of all of them and would love to see what they make of each other.
- Shade just slightly rumpled or unbuttoned is my catnip.
Group: Richard Swift & Creator's Choice of Dogs: That one journal entry where the Shade says dogs are proof of god's love is my favorite thing. Let him hug a dog! Let a small dog tug at a tailcoat like a Coppertone ad! Any existing DCU or OC dogs would be delightful!

Final Fantasy XII

Ivalice cockatrices are the best birds in Final Fantasy and that is saying something because I love chocobos. They're so round!!! Just give me adorable cockatrices and/or chickatrices romping, rolling, nesting together, chatting with Vaan, etc. They're also super adorable in Tactics Advance, so feel free to draw based on that. Other Ivalice creatures are also great, especially if the cockatrice is gently nesting on them.

My Teacher Is An Alien Series
Canon-specific Do Not Want: porn

Broxholm

I was reminded of how much I love this series; I'd love to see any sort of art of it! You can go off the original illustrations or whatever interpretation you like. I'm requesting Broxholm cause he's my favorite, but feel free to throw in anyone else from the canon because I adore it all! I'd especially love to see post-canon and see what the human cast is up to as adults. I love the weirder aliens and also Poot is always welcome. I don't have a ton of specific prompts for this canon, but anything with Broxholm and/or the other aliens and humans, on Earth or in space, would be amazing. Really anything is great for this canon!

Group: Broxholm/adult Peter

I kind of love the idea of Peter realizing he has a crush on Broxholm as he grows up and they keep working together (and let Peter go back to space!). Something with them just hanging out together, looking at the stars, or casually touching, or Peter secretly looking up how his species dates "just out of curiosity" would be great.

Stargirl

Group: Barbara Whitmore & Richard Swift: I want more of their friendship! I'd love them having tea or awkwardly becoming friends or Barbara being gentle with him while he's "dying" on her couch. Anything with Barbara reminding Richard of his sister would be lovely. I'd also love combining this with the Crocks, with Shade and Paula vying for Barbara's attention while she's just trying to have a morning cup of coffee.
Group: Beth Chapel & Charles McNider: They are so cute I can't stand it! I want them being BFFs or badasses together or absolutely anything with the two of them. Or HOOTY LET BETH PET AN OWL. I love their costumes and Beth's amazing civilian fashion sense, so any version is good. Just let them have a good time!!
Group: Charles McNider/Richard Swift: Check my journal's Stargirl tag for gushing about these two!
- Having a nice chat when they're supposed to be fighting (possibly while the JSA and ISA are beating the crap out of each other in the background)
- Cool shadow powers/night vision posing
- Shade being a gentleman, slow dancing, sexy shadow powers, anything from my other Shade prompts
- Reunion hug! Hurt-comfort in general! Let them cling to each other!!
- The absinthe on the night of the funeral.
Group: Larry Crock/Pat Dugan & Group: Barbara Whitmore/Paula Brooks: I am so here for the OT4! (I ship the married couples too but these are my favorite permutations). Anything with the Crocks bothering/romancing the Whitmore-Dugans would be delightful, as would reunion hugs after they turn up Perfectly Fine post-season 3. I also adore Artemis, and the families just having a(n excruciatingly healthy) cookout or something would be lovely!
Group: Jennie-Lynn Hayden & Richard Swift & Todd Rice: Including just one of the siblings with Shade is fine. Jennie and Shade have the most hilarious relationship, and I want more of him awkwardly attempting to mentor her and Todd. I'd love Shade and Jennie annoying each other, Shade teaching Todd how to control his shadow powers, anything from the spinoff that didn't happen, or anything else! Shade/Todd shippiness is good too, especially if aged-up (just not with a parental angle).

Dear Candy Heart Sexer,

Thank you so much for writing for me! If you're here for treats, I'd be thrilled to get fic or art treats for current or past Chocolate Box requests. This letter is under construction and should be finished before assignments are out!

Stuff I love:

Shipping! I am a ridiculous shipper at heart, so my favorite thing would be ship fic for the pairings I request; I love sexual tension, slow burn, pining, and lots of other stuff. Porn or no porn are both great--it's the ship more than the smut I'm into. I also love characters falling for others that they never would have expected, as is probably obvious from my ships. I love pining and hurt/comfort and cuddling to avoid hypothermia and all those wonderful fanfic tropes. Shippy pre-relationship stuff is also great!
Identity porn! As defined by Fanlore, it's focusing on people who have secret identities which focus on the consequences of using multiple personas". So Character A is in disguise, interacting with Character B, who may or may not know who Character A really is, and there may be kissing. This has obvious implications for secret identities (bonus points if it's hero/villain), but anywhere you can fit it in I will love it. Relatedly, I'm always up for mask kink and identity reveals. I feel like this is nigh-impossible for any Shade ship but if you manage it, I'd be really impressed!
Bad guys turning good! I love villains who discover that their worldview is wrong, especially by getting to know one of the good guys. I also love villains who aren't entirely bad, and good guys who can learn from them too.
Dramatic reunions! I love seeing characters brought back from the dead (or not actually dead, or whatever plot device works) reunited with someone who's been mourning them. I really love if the living person had feelings for the other and regrets never confessing them.
Lots of story types--adventure, what-ifs, canon continuations, everyone is mysteriously alive somehow, etc. Both happy and bittersweet/sad fics are great, as long as the angst isn't from the pairing's relationship not working out. Scenes or snippets from any of these are also great.
Your own prompts! I throw out a few specific story prompts for each pairing, but I will be thrilled to read any ideas you have! My prompts tend to lean towards longer stories, but please don't feel like you have to follow them.
Interactive fiction! (This is more relevant for longer minimum exchanges, but I keep this in just in case.) I like choice, parser, or any combination; my secret wish is dating sims for every canon. Character death, AU, and other pairings are fine for different endings in IF.

DNWs:

Non-con. Dub-con is great.
Character bashing, including canon love interests.
Non-canon permanent major character death (except that Jack/Shade prompt).
AUs of the setting instead of plot (mundane AUs, everyone is ponies, etc.)
Unrequited love (one or both parties incorrectly thinking it's unrequited is great) & shooting down pairings I requested.
Outsider POV.
Non-requested crossovers (e.g. outside of DC universes). References to anything vaguely DC-related is great, especially throwing in comic details for TV fic and vice-versa.

Don't Like but not DNW-level:

Established relationship fic. This isn't as set in stone as the others, but I love seeing my OTPs get together and/or have UST.
Pure PWP--porn along with other stuff is great, but I'm more interested in the character interactions. (For treats, go wild!)

Crossover Fandom

Crossover likes: Shade/Jack, Shade/McNider, Shade/Jay, Laszlo/Nadja, Laszlo/Shade/Nadja, Laszlo/everyone, Guillermo/Nandor, / or & for requested pairings

Crossover DNWs: Shade/Hope, heavy embarrassment squick (WWDITS-typical ridiculousness is usually fine, just have Shade take it in stride)

Laszlo Cravensworth (WWDITS)/Richard Swift (Stargirl)
Laszlo Cravensworth (WWDITS)/Richard Swift (DC Comics)

I don't know whether they'd be bitter rivals, frenemies, best friends, or fuckbuddies, but I need the Shade and Laszlo to know each other. They are both absolutely ridiculous immortals who have abandoned England for America ~~and have banged their way through history~~. They have almost certainly made old-timey gay porn together. Comic Shade has an adopted vampire daughter. Feel free to use either Shade and refer to any Shade pairings, canon or not (besides Shade/Hope).

Prompts:

Laszlo and Richard Make A Porno. This would be especially hilarious with other Starman/Stargirl supporting characters finding this out and it is awful (and/or kind of hot). Jack finds it in an antique store? Fiddler finds it while he's draining the Shade's bank accounts?
Shade and Nadja get along famously even if Shade and Laszlo are bitter enemies. Especially if Shade and Laszlo are bitter enemies. They can bond over having reincarnating boyfriends and scheming to get rid of that awful fucking hat!
Shade and Lazslo discuss fatherhood! I cannot even fathom what a playdate between Young Colin Robinson and La Sangre would be so I need it. Jenny finding there is actually someone more annoying than the Shade: Laszlo and pretty much everyone he knows.
The Shade having to deal with WWDITS-typical hijinks, especially if he inevitably gets dragged into whatever incredible bullshit is going on.

Richard Swift (DC Comics) & Richard Swift (Stargirl)

Quite simply, I want both Shades to meet, get along wonderfully, and annoy everyone they've ever met. I love how much Stargirl Shade and Starman Shade have the same essence, even though the particulars are different, and I'd love to see them compare notes. Whatever multiverse weirdness gets them in one place is great (transported to the other's Earth? They share the same Shadowlands?), and anything from saving the world to having coffee and tea would be delightful. Bonus points for trash-talking whoever's the most intolerable at the moment (Sylvester Pemberton, Crocks, poor dear sweet dead David Knight), gushing about McNider and Jack and *~Jay Garrick~*, and everyone else's dawning horror at realizing there's two of them now. Also they can bang/threesome/foursome! No specific prompts for this one, just go wild.

DC Comics

DC Comics likes: Opal City, Shade being in love with Jay Garrick, Shade being horny for superheroes, Smudge, Starman supporting cast, the Shade's painted nails, the Shade's sexy shadow powers, Justice League International, JLI-typical ridiculousness, Booster/Beetle, Fire/Ice(/Guy), L-Ron, Jaime Reyes, the Questions, Secret Six (all flavors)
DC Comics DNWs: Shade/Hope, evil Max (see exception in prompts), dead Ted Kord, JLI never being Max's friend

Jack Knight/Richard Swift

From the first time the Shade showed up at Jack's place to annoy him, I was hooked. I love these two and how their roles as protectors of Opal grew into a real friendship. I adore how the Shade just decides Jack is going to be his mentee and friend, and that he accomplishes it by dumping his life story onto Jack. The Shade is one of my favorite DC characters, and I love how much he professes to be uncaring and heartless while he very clearly holds his friendships dear. And the way he talks about Jack versus the other Starmen, like he's been waiting for someone who loves Opal like him all his life...and then how he tells Jack "a rose is a rose is a rose" when he leaves the city and doesn't hold it against him. I love their shared love for old things and Opal and being pretentious, and how Jack has no time for the Shade's bullshit (but secretly he does) and how the Shade just throws more bullshit at him in response. For Jack/Sadie, I prefer it having not worked out or it just didn't happen. Their daughter can be with Sadie or not exist, whatever works.

Prompts:

Jack and Shade stay in touch after Jack leaves for San Francisco through writing letters and Shade occasionally stopping by. Jack and Sadie don't work out, and then the Shade keeps dropping hints that Jack could return to Opal City and still stay retired. It takes a while for Jack to realize that the Shade just likes his company, and even longer to realize how much he likes the Shade's.
After reading enough of the Shade's journals, Jack starts to suspect he had a Thing for Jay Garrick. Does he ask the Shade about it, and does the Shade admit it? Does Mikaal have to teach Jack what bisexuality is? Does Jack subsequently realize some things about himself?
The Shade is good with kids and dotes on Teddy and tells him stories of his father and grandfather and, well, Jack isn't made of stone. Extra points for Smudge (who is FINE) also doting and calling him Squire Teddy.
Jack has to pretend to stop the Shade's villainy for whatever reason (for charity? drawing out some supervillain?) and the Shade is really into that.
After Jack's death (at the end of a long and happy life), the Shade meets him on Jack's birthday, Talking With David style. The Shade didn't realize how much the loss would affect him, and he can finally tell him some things he never did in life. Or, long after Jack's death, he meets his reincarnation and old feelings/attraction that he never acted on flare up.

Maxwell Lord/J'onn J'onnz

I adore Justice League International, and I love Max's original characterization: a sleazy, sometimes sinister businessman who, in the end, chose to be good. And J'onn was proud of him for that! They worked wonderfully as the reasonable parental figures of this band of jokers (who, deep down, were just as ridiculous as the rest of them). I love their friendship, and how J'onn believes that he can be a good person even with sketchy powers and his questionable morals and a mind-controlling computer. Please no post-Infinite Crisis Max or the retcons that came along with it (like the JLI never really liking him) except if it's explicitly an alternate universe.

Prompts:

Identity porn! Max meets a charming detective and finds himself treating him like an old friend from the beginning. And maybe he's flirting with him a little, it's just a bit of fun. Meanwhile, J'onn, in human disguise for whatever reason, is oddly flattered and it's not like he's flirting back, right?
Sex pollen Chocos. Don't worry about this being too PWP, just...sex pollen Chocos. Max trying to be a gentleman (maybe) (a little) (not really) while J'onn is extremely interested in stripping Max. Well, it's practically his job as manager of the JLI to take one for the team!
Max meets J'onn from another universe who seems to think he's a supervillain who killed Ted Kord. Which is ridiculous, obviously, but Max finds himself more unsettled than he's like to admit. How can he save this other Ted and prove to J'onn that he's not that person?
Any and JLI-typical hijinks. Do Max and J'onn need to get married for tax purposes? Is there only one bed in the hotel because J'onn's Choco rampage destroyed the others? Do they have to hold a sexy carwash for fundraising?

( Fandoms: Crossover Fandom, DC Comics (Starman), A House of Many Doors, Stargirl )

A House of Many Doors

I like: mask kink, Abbas, like all the other crew, good Captain, Vanch or the Plague or both using his body, any gender Captain

I don't like: eating the apple, the Plague infecting other worlds/otherwise winning, COVID references

The setting of the House blows me away—all the different locations and factions and characters were so creative and well-written that I wanted every last drop of it. And then Dr. Vanch punched me right in the feelings. I was already predisposed towards plague doctors and found Vanch’s grumpy obsessiveness harming, but the reveal that he’d been infecting himself with the diseases he communicated with made him tragic. And the Plague! That choice hurt; I let the Plague take his body because I couldn’t see him forgiving the Captain for passing up the opportunity to eradicate it. (And then I took the Plague with me upon escaping and I didn’t think that through.) I’d love to see the Captain finding a way to save Vanch and control the Plague; I’d also love to see the Captain and the Plague in a person suit become weirdly close. Or just sexual tension before all that because I’m always up for a good-looking guy wearing a mask!

Prompts:

The Captain convinces the Plague to let them talk to Vanch before making the decision to hand over his body, and both find themselves becoming very worked up over the conversation. Vanch is prepared to give his life up and can't understand why the Captain won't just do it, and the Captain doesn't want to lose him.
After a good amount of UST, the Captain convinces Vanch that sex doesn't have to involve taking off any protective clothing. (Mask and glove kink! Mask and glove kink!!)
Vanch is still conscious when the Plague has his body and finds a way to communicate with them or the Captain. If the Captain has befriended? the Plague, maybe they work out a bodysharing arrangement.
After leaving the House, the Captain lands on a world that has a way to bring Vanch back without letting the Plague run rampant. How does Vanch feel coming back after being prepared to give his life? Does he look like his old self or do the diseases' effects on his body stay? ~~Can they smooch~~

Stargirl

Stargirl likes: Beth and Chuck being BFFs, the Crocks, the Whitemore-Dugan-Crock polycule, the Shade and the Crocks annoying each other, Barbara & Shade's friendship
Stargirl DNWs: the Crocks being dead, mixing Shade as Todd's parent with Shade/Todd

Hearing that the Shade was in Stargirl and subsequently bingeing it got me back into DC Comics, which is both a blessing and a curse! I love the earnest fun of Stargirl, and I love this version of the Shade in all his overdramatic, benevolently sinister glory. About the only thing I didn't love in Stargirl was what happened to the Crocks, so all other plot points or ships (canon or fanon) are great to play with! I haven't read much Stargirl or Infinity Inc comics, but if you have, you can pull in anything from them or stick to show-only.

Charles McNider/Richard Swift

The Doctors Mid-Nite are both incredibly adorable, and the Shade’s friendship with Chuck is so sweet. I love that “deciding a superhero is my best friend and manifesting in their house” is the Shade’s modus operandi in TV as well as the comics, and McNider’s fondness for him is delightful. As for Chuck’s wife, I prefer her remarried, amicably separated after his return, or not mentioned.

Prompts:

Back in the old days, the Shade plays cat-and-mouse with McNider and flirts profusely, which Chuck does not notice. Sexy shadow powers!
After some years have passed, the Shade realizes that McNider is alive in the Shadowlands and goes to rescue him (looking as cool and heroic as he can, of course). What would their reunion be like if the Shade wasn’t dramatically dying while surrounded by people? Bonus if Shade had been the one feeding Hooty.
McNider comes to visit Beth at the Whitmore-Dugan house and finds Shade and the Crocks there (to everyone’s dismay). Does the Shade plot a way to make his intentions known to Chuck even in all the chaos? Does Barbara end up counseling the Shade’s relationship woes?
Post-canon, both Shade and McNider are mentoring the new JSA; considering Shade officiates Beth's wedding, maybe he became closer to them by Just Happening to pop by while Chuck is teaching her Mid-Nitey things.

Barbara Whitmore & Richard Swift

The other Season 2 relationship I wish showed up in Season 3! I love how reformed supervillains are just magnetically attracted to Barbara (and not-so-reformed supervillains but we don't talk about Icicle). I love the Shade projecting the sister he abandoned onto her, and how he dramatically collapses on her couch for nefarious reasons but really does like her, and how Barbara is kind to him but won't take that much of his shit.

Richard and Paula vying for Barbara's attention, especially if Paula is trying to seduce her (while Crusher's doing the same to Pat) and Dickie just wants attention and gossip.
Pat tells Barbara a little about what happened in the Shadowlands, and she convinces Shade to open up about his sister.
In the comics, Shade mentions in his journals that he considers dogs to be proof of god's love and he can't get a dog because he couldn't bear their short lifespans. I want Shade visiting Barbara yes to visit her but also because he wants the excuse to dote over Buddy and tell him he's a good boy and bring him gourmet peanut butter from Opal.

Jennie-Lynn Hayden & Richard Swift & Todd Rice

I am devastated we could have had an entire spinoff with the Shade mentoring these two but we live in the worst timeline. It is absolutely hilarious that Shade immediately becomes mortal enemies with the nicest person in the world by being incredibly annoying. And I would love to see Shade awkwardly mentoring another person with his powers (whose father he maybe sort of contributed to killing). I'd love to see Shade and Jennie bickering, Shade and Todd bonding, and Jennie and Todd figuring out how to be a family after so much time. I like Shade either more-or-less adopting them or Shade being more of an eccentric mentor figure who can't help meddling and growing attached.

Alan follows in the footsteps of all the others and comes back to life. His kids are okay! A supervillain is raising them! Somehow, Jennie and Todd prevent murder.
Shade coming to terms with having children while dealing with guilt from his past life. He's failed his family before (and in the comics, he was married with children before he was turned immortal); does he really deserve to have another one?
Todd finds out that he and the Shade are more similar than he thought when the Shade casually comes out to him (when Todd angsts about whether his father would accept him? when Shade mentions an ex-boyfriend?). This could go with Alan being gay from the comics and Shade being gay or bi.

Richard Swift/Todd Rice

I just want Todd to find out his hot shadow powers mentor is queer too and also to develop a crush on him. Most of the above prompts also apply here, just steer away from Shade as a father figure to either of them. I prefer fic set a few years in the future where they've known each other for longer, but canon age is also fine.

Jennie realizes Todd is crushing on the Shade. Somehow, Todd prevents murder.
Training shadow powers somehow turns into sexy uses of shadow powers.

Judging is over! View the results or browse and play on the IFDB.

Favorites

Choice

The Absence of Miriam Lane: A wife and mother has disappeared from memory and reality; tell her story to bring her back. An amazing premise that makes for fascinating gameplay while telling the story of a life that will stick with you. I loved searching for clues to who the woman who gave so much to everyone else really was. Just fantastic.
One Way Ticket: A surreal, charming adventure that reminds me of The Little Prince. Brave jackals, corn, a chess-obsessed priest, corn, a man with four right hands, corn, and more to get to whatever your destination was. Clunky and weird and probably my favorite IFComp game this year.
Prism: You're a downtrodden courier in a fantastical city, and you've found the tools to make a difference. Thoughtful and atmospheric with very compelling worldbuilding. The Spotify soundtrack really adds to it too.

Parser

The Only Possible Prom Dress: An extremely long and even more detailed game about acquiring your daughter's perfect prom dress in a closed mall. I cannot emphasize enough how involved this is--dozens of shops and puzzles and items and some really asshole puzzles. The puzzles were a bit too old-school hard for me, but I had a blast just exploring and examining and solving what I could, supplemented with the hint system and walkthrough. Download the map unless you really love mapping! I'm about a bajillion hours in and haven't even discovered all the rooms!
Trouble in Sector 471: Basically a parser Metroidvania--get upgrades and solve puzzles to destroy bugs. Seems overly simple at first, but gets more complex (especially the optional puzzles). Addictive and super enjoyable!

Other Recommendations

Choice

Admiration Point: An "anti-romance" about not having an affair (but not in an anti-dating sim way). Most importantly really cool worldbuilding and digital museum exhibits that I really want to visit.
Am I My Brother's Keeper?: A short, dreamy horror game about saving your sister. Uses an uncommon IF engine really well.
The Archivist and the Revolution: A harrowing look at a trans woman archivist surviving the dystopia after the revolution fails. An extremely transphobic society building off modern-day transphobia is the main focus, but there is hope. I want to read all the decoded messages I'm archiving!
January: A man, a cat, and the zombie apocalypse. Absolutely stunning stylization and beautiful prose. Be warned, it's very emotionally and viscerally upsetting (even though the cat is fine).
Lucid: You try to escape the dark as a surreal, poetic narrative traps you in a loop. Gorgeous and unsettling writing--definitely mind the content warnings.
Under the Bridge: A short, atmospheric game of being the monster under the bridge. The sound and illustrations lead to a dark fairytale vibe, and the multiple endings give replayability.
You Feel Like You've Read This in a Book: Explore a town finding references to famous books. Oh, and there's that little matter of the neurotoxin in your head that will kill you if you don't bring $50k to a dark alley within the day. Clever & replayable.

Parser

According to Cain: An alchemist travels to a young and lonely earth to learn the true story of Cain. A really cool premise: discovering the proper resources and mixes to coax memories from objects important to him. The reference book is frustrating to use, and the nuance given to Cain is taken from the rest of his family. The atmosphere is great, though. You can't heal yourself.
The Alchemist: A fun puzzler of an alchemist's mansion, with a clunky but delightfully nostalgic interface. You cannot pet the cat.
Low-Key Learny Jokey Journey: A barrage of wordplay that will have you thinking in rhymes for days. Some of the puzzles are a tad obscure, but there's tons of hint systems charged by incorrect guesses (which also give amusing responses)..
Thanatophobia: A psychotherapy session to find the cause of your patient's fears. Unique implementation (chatbot-based IF!) makes this fascinating to puzzle out.
A Walk Around the Neighborhood: I tried to go for a walk and instead spent the day fucking around on the couch in no pants, making this the most relatable game in the comp. Entertaining help system and endings. Don't be like me, examine the couch after standing up.
You May Not Escape!: You're trapped in a maze because of who you are--now can you escape? Enjoyable mapping gameplay with undertones many, many people will find relatable. Really nice optional puzzles. Cannot pet the lizard.

Dear Rare Male Slash Author,

Thank you so much for writing for me! If you're here for treats, I'd be thrilled to get fic or art treats.

Stuff I love:

Shipping! I am a ridiculous shipper at heart, so my favorite thing would be ship fic for the pairings I request; I love sexual tension, slow burn, pining, and lots of other stuff. Porn or no porn are both great--it's the ship more than the smut I'm into. I also love characters falling for others that they never would have expected, as is probably obvious from my ships. I love pining and hurt/comfort and cuddling to avoid hypothermia and all those wonderful fanfic tropes. Shippy pre-relationship stuff is also great!
Identity porn! As defined by Fanlore, it's focusing on people who have secret identities which focus on the consequences of using multiple personas". So Character A is in disguise, interacting with Character B, who may or may not know who Character A really is, and there may be kissing. This has obvious implications for secret identities (bonus points if it's hero/villain), but anywhere you can fit it in I will love it. Relatedly, I'm always up for mask kink and identity reveals.
Bad guys turning good! I love villains who discover that their worldview is wrong, especially by getting to know one of the good guys. I also love villains who aren't entirely bad, and good guys who can learn from them too.
Dramatic reunions! I love seeing characters brought back from the dead (or not actually dead, or whatever plot device works) reunited with someone who's been mourning them. I really love if the living person had feelings for the other and regrets never confessing them.
Lots of story types--adventure, what-ifs, canon continuations, everyone is mysteriously alive somehow, etc. Both happy and bittersweet/sad fics are great, as long as the angst isn't from the pairing's relationship not working out. Snippets from any of these are also great.
Your own prompts! I throw out a few specific story prompts for each pairing, but I will be thrilled to read any ideas you have! My prompts tend to lean towards longer stories, but please don't feel like you have to follow them.
Interactive fiction! I like choice, parser, or any combination; my secret wish is dating sims for every canon. Character death, AU, and other pairings are fine for different endings in IF.

DNWs:

Non-con. Dub-con is great.
Character bashing, including canon love interests.
Non-canon permanent major character death (except that Jack/Shade prompt).
AUs of the setting instead of plot (mundane AUs, everyone is ponies, etc.)
Unrequited love (one or both parties incorrectly thinking it's unrequited is great) & shooting down pairings I requested.
Outsider POV.
Non-requested crossovers. Comics and Arrowverse characters in the DC requests are fine.

Don't Like but not DNW-level:

Established relationship fic. This isn't as set in stone as the others, but I love seeing my OTPs get together and/or have UST.
Pure PWP--porn along with other stuff is great, but I'm more interested in the character interactions. (For treats, go wild!)

Crossover Fandom

Crossover likes: the Legends breaking time, Firestorm, Mick, whatever combination of Legends you want, Leonard and Shade crushing on superheroes, Sara banging her way through history, John banging his way through history

I love Legends of Tomorrow in all its ridiculousness, and I think the Shade should be subjected to it and the Legends' most eligible bi/pansexual bachelors. Feel free to pull from comics or TV canon for any of the characters; I know less about comics Cold but comics Shade and Constantine are delightful. A threesome is also good!

Prompts:

Leonard and the Shade bond over their not-so-adversarial relationships with superheroes and their not-so-villainous lives. For comics!Shade, they have a shared history as Flash rogues; for Stargirl!Shade, his friendship with McNider. Also Leonard or other Flash characters bringing up whatever the hell the Arrowverse Shade was, much to Richard's displeasure.
Constantine runs into Eclipso or some other magic he can't control, and he happens to have a business card from a friend of a friend who just might be able to help.
The Legends have to foil an especially ridiculous villainous plan of the Shade's, which was not what it seemed and now time is broken again. At least this gives the Shade and Snart and/or Constantine a chance to take a liking to each other. I don't know which Legend calls him Dickie but someone has to.

DCU (Comics)

DC Comics likes: Opal City, Shade being in love with Jay Garrick, Shade being horny for superheroes, Starman supporting cast, the Shade's painted nails, the Shade's sexy shadow powers, Justice League International, JLI-typical ridiculousness, Booster/Beetle, Fire/Ice(/Guy), L-Ron, Jaime Reyes the Questions, Secret Six (all flavors)

DC Comics DNWs: Shade/Hope, evil Max (see exception in prompts), dead Ted, JLI never being Max's friend

Jack Knight/Richard Swift

From the first time the Shade showed up at Jack's place to annoy him, I was hooked. I love these two and how their roles as protectors of Opal grew into a real friendship. I adore how the Shade just decides Jack is going to be his mentee and friend, and that he accomplishes it by dumping his life story onto Jack. The Shade is one of my favorite DC characters, and I love how much he professes to be uncaring and heartless while he very clearly holds his friendships dear. And the way he talks about Jack versus the other Starmen, like he's been waiting for someone who loves Opal like him all his life...and then how he tells Jack "a rose is a rose is a rose" when he leaves the city and doesn't hold it against him. I love their shared love for old things and Opal and being pretentious, and how Jack has no time for the Shade's bullshit (but secretly he does) and how the Shade just throws more bullshit at him in response. For Jack/Sadie, I prefer it having not worked out or it just didn't happen. Their daughter can be with Sadie or not exist, whatever works.

Prompts:

Jack and Shade stay in touch after Jack leaves for San Francisco through writing letters and Shade occasionally stopping by. Jack and Sadie don't work out, and then the Shade keeps dropping hints that Jack could return to Opal City and still stay retired. It takes a while for Jack to realize that the Shade just likes his company, and even longer to realize how much he likes the Shade's.
After reading enough of the Shade's journals, Jack starts to suspect he had a Thing for Jay Garrick. Does he ask the Shade about it, and does the Shade admit it? Does Mikaal have to teach Jack what bisexuality is? Does Jack subsequently realize some things about himself?
The Shade is good with kids and dotes on Teddy and, well, Jack isn't made of stone.
Jack has to pretend to stop the Shade's villainy for whatever reason and the Shade is really into that.
After Jack's death (at the end of a long and happy life), the Shade meets him on Jack's birthday, Talking With David style. The Shade didn't realize how much the loss would affect him, and he can finally tell him some things he never did in life. Or, long after Jack's death, he meets his reincarnation and old feelings/attraction that he never acted on flare up.

Maxwell Lord/J'onn J'onnz

Identity porn! Max meets a charming detective and finds himself treating him like an old friend from the beginning. And maybe he's flirting with him a little, it's just a bit of fun. Meanwhile, J'onn, in human disguise for whatever reason, is oddly flattered and it's not like he's flirting back, right?
Sex pollen chocos. Don't worry about this being too PWP, just...sex pollen chocos. Max trying to be a gentleman (maybe) (a little) (not really) while J'onn is extremely interested in stripping Max. Well, it's practically his job as manager of the JLI to take one for the team!
Max meets J'onn from another universe who seems to think he's a supervillain who killed Ted Kord. Which is ridiculous, obviously, but Max finds himself more unsettled than he's like to admit. How can he save this other Ted and prove to J'onn that he's not that person?
Any and JLI-typical hijinks. Do Max and J'onn need to get married for tax purposes? Is there only one bed in the hotel because J'onn's choco rampage destroyed the others? Do they have to hold a sexy carwash for fundraising?

The Sinking City

Sinking City likes: eldritch critters, Graham Carpenter, King in Yellow references

Johannes van der Berg/Charles Reed

So Malevolent had me primed to like a King in Yellow/detective relationship...and then I played The Sinking City and van der Berg was a charming thorn in Reed's side and I was hooked. I love van der Berg's friendly manipulation of Reed (especially framing him for his own murder) and Reed's increasingly sarcastic reactions to this suspiciously knowledgeable man. And the way van der Berg wears his true identity on his sleeve, if you know where to look... I just want more of van der Berg annoying the shit out of Reed.

Prompts

Post-escape ending, van der Berg shows up with a friendly greeting and a tsunami. Is this the first time he's come to visit Reed since he escaped Oakmont? Has he come just to rub it in that Reed didn't truly escape, or has he come to enjoy the company of someone who won't take his shit?
Reed figures out who van der Berg really is. Does something about this god in human form draw him in, despite everything? Does he have a newfound interest in the arts? Any crossover with the King in Yellow (or Malevolent) is great.
Why did van der Berg choose Reed in the first place? Is that one person who looks exactly like Reed a coincidence? (I initially thought that meant Reed was a creation of van der Berg/Oakmont with false memories--something playing with that would be fun.) Does he like him beyond what he can do for him?
Are the King's Robes canon? How exactly did van der Berg gift him his suit, and what makes Reed wear it?

Stargirl

Stargirl likes: Beth and Chuck being BFFs, the Crocks, the Shade and the Crocks annoying each other, Barbara & Shade's friendship

Hearing that the Shade was in Stargirl and subsequently bingeing it got me back into DC Comics, which is both a blessing and a curse! I love the earnest fun of Stargirl, and I love this version of the Shade in all his overdramatic, benevolently sinister glory. And McNider!! The Doctors Mid-Nite are both incredibly adorable, and the Shade’s friendship with Chuck is so sweet. I love that “deciding a superhero is my best friend and manifesting in their house” is the Shade’s modus operandi in TV as well as the comics, and McNider’s fondness for him is delightful. As for Chuck’s wife, I prefer her remarried, decided just to be friends with Chuck, or not mentioned.

Prompts:

Back in the old days, the Shade plays cat-and-mouse with McNider and flirts profusely, which Chuck does not notice. Sexy shadow powers!
After some years have passed, the Shade realizes that McNider is alive in the Shadowlands and goes to rescue him (looking as cool and heroic as he can, of course). What would their reunion be like if the Shade wasn’t dramatically dying while surrounded by people? Bonus if Shade had been the one feeding his owl.
McNider comes to visit Beth at the Whitmore-Dugan house and finds Shade and the Crocks there (to everyone’s dismay). Does the Shade plot a way to make his intentions known to Chuck even in all the chaos? Does Barbara end up counseling the Shade’s relationship woes?
Stargirl Shade and comics Shade meet and get along fabulously while everyone else is slightly horrified at the idea of two of them. Well, Chuck and/or Jack may be secretly intrigued…

Tales of Vesperia

Vesperia likes: the whole party, Schwann brigade, Duke, Raven & Repede's friendship, Ristelle, Leblanc/Kaufman
Vesperia DNWs: Raven/Judy (mild flirting's okay), Karol/Nan, Zagi

Yuri/Raven

These two!!! Raven is my favorite Tales character overall, and I absolutely adore his changing relationship with Yuri. The snark and Yuri taking none of Raven's shit from the beginning is amazing, and then Raven opening up about his past just a little...as he's increasingly tormented about his double life and who is he really? And then Yuri accepts him even after everything he's done and is furious that another friend thinks his life is worth nothing and Raven gives his life to ~~him~~ Brave Vesperia. And oh man The Empty Mask is absurdly shippy for them, with all the blatant comparisons between Casey and Yuri and how much Yuri is a light for him to follow. You don't have to read it for my sake but 100% look if up if you're a Raven fan who hasn't!

As for Flynn/Yuri, I prefer it as unrequited Yuri pining after straight Flynn (unless OT3, see below); I kind of love the idea of Yuri being into knights in uniform, to his annoyance, and then whoops turns out Raven's one of them too! Just not bringing up Flynn is fine too. Raven flirting with all the ladies is good, just please not too much Raven/Judy. I love past Raven/Casey (unrequited) and Raven/Don (requited or not).

Prompts:

Yuri being protective of Raven after he returns to Brave Vesperia, especially about his blastia. This would be great for hurt/comfort--Raven gets a hit to the blastia, or he hasn't gotten a checkup like Yuri suggested, or he Blast Hearts and it takes a lot out of him. I love Yuri being absolutely furious with him for not taking his life seriously, and Raven suddenly realizing it's because Yuri cares a lot more than Raven thought. Also great: Yuri kissing him in (angry) relief, especially if it's during a battle and Raven has no idea what just happened.
Captain Schwann. Identity porn. This ship is made for it. Identity porn (not actually porn) is the consequences of having secret identities and/or multiple personas; I would absolutely love the tension if Yuri meets Schwann, who's trying to hide his identity, and he's not sure if the belligerent flirting means Yuri's figured out his secret or not… Or after the reveal, Raven has to dress up as Schwann for Reasons and Yuri flirts with the Captain (maybe because he's not ready to admit he cares for Raven, but Schwann's totally a different guy?).
Raven knows how to flirt with girls, even if he's playing it up a lot as Raven. But when he starts flirting with Yuri (maybe because Yuri starts flirting with him), it's...different. Maybe Raven thought he wasn't into guys (Don was definitely just hero worship, right?), or maybe because Yuri just reminds him of Casey more and more and the idea that it means so much is frightening. Does Yuri realize Raven's flirting, or does he think his growing feelings for Raven are unrequited?
Yuri starts to get a thing for Raven before he disappears with Estelle, and then all that happens and his feelings are a lot more complicated. Bonus if Raven stays "dead" for longer than he did in canon.
Raven and Yuri are becoming closer post-game (you know, when Raven comes over to lose to Repede at chess), and Raven tells Yuri his original name. And then Yuri calls him Damuron and huh Raven feels like his heart's shattered again, why is that? Also good is Yuri liking his hair down, Schwann-style, which gives Raven confused feelings because Schwann and Damuron are dead anyway, what does any of this matter?

Yuri/Raven/Flynn

Because lbr Flynn is 100% into Captain Schwann, whether he's otherwise straight or not. I'd like the focus to be mostly on Raven/Yuri and/or Raven/Flynn for this. Feel free to add Flynn into any of the Yuri/Raven prompts or:

Yuri and Flynn are together, and Raven is (to his dismay) starting to catch feelings for Yuri or both of them. He accepts he has no chance, and he's used to just loving people from afar anyway...and then Flynn sweetly kisses him while his hair is down, or Yuri tells him to stop pining, old man, and get in here already.
Identity porn! An AU from before the reveal: Flynn had a thing for Schwann in the knights, and there's something about this Raven guy... Yuri absolutely is not attracted to Raven (untrue), he's definitely not into people who annoy him (extremely untrue), but he keeps running into Captain Schwann and there's something about him…

I wrote But Gentle Pulls the Strings for Chocolate Box 2022, and turns out I have a lot to say about it! This post will spoil the fic and Malevolent through public episode 19 (one mention of an episode 20 detail not in the fic). My beta vanishinghitchhiker/Spooky was an absolute wonder and was invaluable for this fic!
( The yellow jester does not play but gentle pulls the strings )

Dear Chocolate Box Author,

Thank you so much for writing for me! If you're here for treats, I'd be thrilled to get art treats and treats for any current or past Chocolate Box requests.

Stuff I love:

Shipping! I am a ridiculous shipper at heart, so my favorite thing would be ship fic for the pairings I request; I love sexual tension, slow burn, pining, and lots of other stuff. Porn or no porn are both great--it's the ship more than the smut I'm into. I also love characters falling for others that they never would have expected, as is probably obvious from my ships. I love pining and hurt/comfort and cuddling to avoid hypothermia and all those wonderful fanfic tropes. Shippy pre-relationship stuff is also great!
Identity porn! As defined by Fanlore, it's focusing on people who have secret identities which focus on the consequences of using multiple personas". So Character A is in disguise, interacting with Character B, who may or may not know who Character A really is, and there may be kissing. This has obvious implications for shapeshifters and characters with masks/secret identities (bonus points if it's hero/villain), but anywhere you can fit it in I will love it. Relatedly, I'm always up for mask kink and identity reveals.
Bad guys turning good! I love villains who discover that their worldview is wrong, especially by getting to know one of the good guys. I also love villains who aren't entirely bad, and good guys who can learn from them too.
Dramatic reunions! I love seeing characters brought back from the dead (or not actually dead, or whatever plot device works) reunited with someone who's been mourning them. I really love if the living person had feelings for the other and regrets never confessing them.
Lots of story types--adventure, what-ifs, canon continuations, everyone is mysteriously alive somehow, etc. Both happy and bittersweet/sad fics are great, as long as the angst isn't from the pairing's relationship not working out. Snippets from any of these are also great.
Your own prompts! I throw out a few specific story prompts for each pairing, but I will be thrilled to read any ideas you have! My prompts tend to lean towards longer stories, but please don't feel like you have to follow them.
Interactive fiction! This is mostly relevant for Yuletide, but I figured I'd throw it in here in case anyone wants an excuse to write some. Character death, AU, and other pairings are fine for different endings in IF.

DNWs:

Non-con. Dub-con is great.
Character bashing, including canon love interests.
Non-canon permanent major character death. For Malevolent, death leading to the Dark World is fine.
AUs of the setting instead of plot (mundane AUs, everyone is ponies, etc.)
Unrequited love (one or both parties incorrectly thinking it's unrequited is great) & shooting down pairings I requested.
Outsider POV.
Non-requested crossovers.

Don't Like but not DNW-level:

Established relationship fic. This isn't as set in stone as the others, but I love seeing my OTPs get together and/or have UST.

Crossover Fandom

John (Malevolent) & Hastur | The Feaster (Identity V)

I like: MINI FEASTER, John/Arthur, Feaster/Eli, Feaster/anyone, Arthur/Feaster
I don't like: Arthur learning about the child sacrifice thing

Look I just think these incarnations of the King in Yellow should chat. Is Feaster another splinter of the King’s soul, or the whole thing from a different universe? What does John make of stage musical Feaster (who’s helpful and sings in Hungarian), or game Feaster (who devours human sacrifices but likes cooking and goofing off with Survivors and Hunters alike)? I’d love to see the contrast between the roles they play and the ones they rejected. If Arthur’s involved, does he trust Feaster because he reminds him of John? Any Feaster pairings are great, but I especially love the idea of John encountering another Hastur dating a blind guy (Eli) or detective (Orpheus) and realizing to his horror that Kings in Yellow have a type.

Also I love Mini Feaster with my whole heart and Arthur would find him adorable. John would fucking hate him.

Prompts:

When in the Dreamlands, John and Arthur meet a mysterious entity who seems awfully familiar to John, which John does not like. Does Arthur agree, or does he trust him half to spite John? What is Hastur's game? Is he trying to get back to his own world, or escape from the games? What if the King figures a different part of his soul will serve just fine?
John and Arthur are scooped into IDV, and guess who the Hunter of their first game turns out to be? Do John and Hastur recognize each other? (Is this what John looked like?) How does the game go off the rails?
John, separated from Arthur and panicking about it, meets Feaster. How does he react to realizing this version of the King has friends (or loved ones) too? Or does Feaster remind him of what he doesn't want to be?
Arthur is a little charmed and/or turned on by Feaster, and John is torn between being insanely jealous and being elated/terrified that Arthur can find eldritch beings attractive.
Arthur is extremely charmed by mini Feaster. John is Not.

A House of Many Doors

Captain/Dr. Mobius Vanch

I like: mask kink, Abbas, like all the other crew, good Captain, Vanch or the Plague or both using his body, any gender Captain

I don't like: eating the apple, the Plague infecting other worlds/otherwise winning, COVID references

The setting of the House blows me away—all the different locations and factions and characters were so creative and well-written that I wanted every last drop of it. And then Dr. Vanch punched me right in the feelings. I was already predisposed towards plague doctors and found Vanch’s grumpy obsessiveness harming, but the reveal that he’d been infecting himself with the diseases he communicated with made him tragic. And the Plague! That choice hurt; I let the Plague take his body because I couldn’t see him forgiving the Captain for passing up the opportunity to eradicate it. (And then I took the Plague with me upon escaping and I didn’t think that through.) I’d love to see the Captain finding a way to save Vanch and control the Plague; I’d also love to see the Captain and the Plague in a person suit become weirdly close. Or just sexual tension before all that because I’m always up for a good-looking guy wearing a mask!

Prompts:

The Captain convinces the Plague to let them talk to Vanch before making the decision to hand over his body, and both find themselves becoming very worked up over the conversation. Vanch is prepared to give his life up and can't understand why the Captain won't just do it, and the Captain doesn't want to lose him.
After a good amount of UST, the Captain convinces Vanch that sex doesn't have to involve taking off any protective clothing. (Mask and glove kink! Mask and glove kink!!)
Vanch is still conscious when the Plague has his body and finds a way to communicate with them or the Captain. If the Captain has befriended? the Plague, maybe they work out a bodysharing arrangement.
After leaving the House, the Captain lands on a world that has a way to bring Vanch back without letting the Plague run rampant. How does Vanch feel coming back after being prepared to give his life? Does he look like his old self or do the diseases' effects on his body stay? ~~Can they smooch~~

Identity V

Eli Clark | Seer/Hastur | The Feaster (Identity V)
Hastur | The Feaster/any (Identity V)

Canon-specific likes: sexy menacing with tentacles, MINI FEASTER, xeno, things you like from the stageplays and promo images (cooking! singing!), blind Eli

This is entirely Malevolent's fault; I was looking up the King in Yellow and saw Feaster's fantastic design and, well, here we are. I love Identity V's mix of cute and macabre, from the dark backstories to the goofy promo art. I'm new to the lore, but I really love the concept of all these monsters and innocents (well, mostly not-so-innocents) having to live in the mansion together in between these games. What's it like to live with a Lovecraftian monstrosity who alternates between viciously hunting you down and cooking? What's with that thing that needs human sacrifices singing in Hungarian? How is the miniature version of him that follows you around so adorable??

I'd love to see how flirting/sexual tension/sexy menacing with Feaster works out in this weird situation--between a Hunter and a Survivor, between an eldritch octopus god and a human, and so on. As for who, whoever you think would make an interesting ship! I lean towards M/M and Feaster/Survivor, but I'd love any ship you'd like to write. Multiple ships, poly, and any background ships you like are great too!

Prompts:

A Survivor's properly terrified after losing their first game with Hastur…only to come back to the mansion and find him genially cooking for everyone. So he's strangely sweet sometimes, that doesn't mean they want to be around him (except, somehow, it keeps happening).
A Survivor is starting to realize they're into tentacles, and getting tied up, and getting tied up with tentacles; Hastur is also starting to realize this. They're not even in a game when Hastur starts chasing the Survivor around the grounds…
Someone (or many someones) flirt with a handsome stranger at the Spring Festival…and then they find out it's Feaster. Or maybe they don't, and something's so familiar about him it's driving them crazy. Is the Feaster just having fun fucking with people, or is he enjoying himself more than he meant to? Does Hastur back in his normal body have a string of admirers to everyone else's confusion?
Tying in the original King in Yellow stories to this version of Hastur. The original King had a strong connection to artists, with a play spreading the idea of him and driving creatives to madness—does Feaster have this connection with the artists, writers, and performers in the mansion?
Hastur is an ancient, terrifying god and why is everyone cooing over mini Feasters. Why are the mini Feasters serving cupcakes.
I know very little about the stage plays but Hastur as a benevolent god who helps both Hunters and Survivors, and sings in Hungarian to comfort them, is the greatest thing I've ever heard. And very shippy.

Malevolent

Arthur Lester/John (Malevolent)
Arthur Lester/King in Yellow/John (Malevolent)
Arthur Lester & Blinky & John (Malevolent)

I like: voice kink, praise kink, Blinky the Glowing Lizard, sharing a body or John getting his own body, Patreon spoilers (or not), playing music and reciting poetry, sexy menacing by the King
I don't like: the King absorbing John permanently, Blinky having done anything wrong, ever, in his life

I wasn’t even into podcasts, but John and Arthur’s relationship was so up my alley that I started Malevolent anyway and now I’m hooked. I love Arthur’s stubborn refusal to give up, his complicated relationship with the piano, and the way he can stand up to a god. And JOHN. I love John’s journey to becoming his own person, how he can be sweet and petty and cruel and so very human. And their relationship!!! I love how John lasted five minutes trying to manipulate Arthur before starting to bicker and that they never stopped. I love how their stories parallel each other and how they’re both atoning for things they can never make right. And I love how much they care for each other, how they trust each other and believe in each other, how John is entranced by Arthur’s piano and poetry and how Arthur tells him the worst thing he’s done and calls him friend. I want to see them arguing and surviving and hating and loving each other.

Prompts:

IDENTITY PORN. John gets separated from Arthur and gets his own body (or hitches a ride with a cultist volunteer) and helps Arthur without letting him know it's him because Arthur is still furious with him. And Arthur is missing John more than he wanted to and John is happy that he's trusting him but pissed off that he's trusting a random stranger and they make a great team. Any other sort of AU that facilitates identity porn is fantastic, especially if Arthur's attracted to John before realizing who it is.
The King absorbs John, but John is still himself and planning how he can take control of the King (at least long enough for Arthur to escape). John can see Arthur standing up against the King and it kills him that he can't help yet without giving away that he's still him. And then he sees Arthur crying over him and well there's the will he needs to make his move.
The King falling for Arthur too, or just finding his own humanity through Arthur. This could be after absorbing John, with John and his feelings for Arthur influencing the King just like Arthur did for John; or just when he's captured Arthur and is trying everything he can think of to to break him. Or he just menaces Arthur and Arthur's kind of into it and John's furious that he's into it and the King is so annoyed by their arguing he gives up. Or fucks them in a futile attempt to shut them up.
John pining without realizing it. Everything Arthur's showing him, the poetry and the music and kindness, is so lovely and it doesn't occur to him that's because it's Arthur sharing it. If he gets his own body, then suddenly he's able to have some reactions and oh.
Arthur is bi but has represses the hell out of it because he's more into women anyway, he has enough to deal with without opening that Pandora's box. And then along comes John, with his gorgeous voice and all those adrenaline-fueled situations and how awed he is by Arthur's piano and poetry and. Well. But he has even more shit to deal with now…and then they're safe and Arthur has to deal with these feelings. If John gets his own body, bonus if something about him takes Arthur's breath away (human or not).
Everything above, but with Blinky because I love that lizard. John being all “we can't take it with us!” and it's not his left hand petting Blinky, it must have been Arthur's muscle memory. Blinky saving the day! Blinky being so comforting Arthur wants to cry!

Planescape: Torment

Mortimer “Morte” Rictusgrin/The Nameless One (Planescape: Torment)

I like: Chaotic good TNO, the whole party (esp. Annah & Dak’kon), Adahn the Imaginary, other incarnations, head skritchies

I don’t like: evil current incarnation TNO, giving TNO a name (him saying he's Adahn is great)

Planescape Torment is my absolute favorite game (tied with Disco Elysium now). The world, the writing, the ways you can change the nature of a man (belief, it’s totally belief); it’s just an absolutely beautiful story of a man figuring out who he was and, more importantly, who he wants to be.

Also I think the corpse man and the skull should kiss.

I love how Morte immediately sets the mood of the game by perving on zombies, and I love that TNO immediately starts ragging on him and they keep bantering through the whole game. And then he finds out the last line of his tattoo, and what Morte’s torment is, and the most lighthearted relationship in the game turns out to have considerably darker underpinnings. I love that it’s the inverse of TNO’s other relationships, where he’s fixing what his previous incarnations broke; I love that it’s the Mark of Torment and both their betrayals that draws them together, but that they can change the nature of their relationship.

Prompts:

Morte trying very hard not to get attached to this version of TNO—just because he remembers some lives now, just because he's a good incarnation that seems to care about him, just because he reminds him of past incarnations that he liked, a lot, and even the first one that he betrayed…there's not going to be a happy ending for either of them, and there's no use wishing for it.
TNO tries to be nicer to Morte when he finds out what some other incarnations did to him; Morte ups the mockery 800% and that's how TNO knows he appreciates it. I'd love them having a rare honest talk, where both of them maybe admit they appreciate each other.
Through a sensory stone or other means, Morte and TNO find out what really happened when they met in their first lives. (Sex. It was sex.)
Annah calling out their banter as flirting, and Morte plays up his lascivious act with TNO. TNO certainly isn't going to back down first…and that's how Morte finally gets to first base with a corpse.
Disco Elysium crossover! TNO and Morte find a portal to Martinaise or vice versa, and Harry and TNO bond over being amnesiacs whose personalities have a lot of possibilities and Morte and Kim bond over handling their weird-ass partners. Harry/Kim is my OTP buuuut TNO/Morte's best parallel is probably Harry/Horrific Necktie so go crazy, bratan!

Media featuring the King in Yellow/Hastur/Feaster from Afar/etc. Italics for things I haven't consumed yet.

Books

The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers: A book of short stories, the first four of which created the King. He may or may not actually exist.
The Hastur Cycle ed. Robert M. Price: Collection of short stories encompassing Hastur's role in the Cthulhu Mythos, from Bierce's creation of the name to Chambers to Lovecraft to post-Lovecraft.
Cassilda's Song ed. Joseph S. Pulver: Short stories about the King written by female authors.

Podcasts

Malevolent: A detective wakes up with amnesia, without sight, and with a voice in his head telling him it has his eyes. They love each other. KiY features heavily.

Tabletop Games

Call of Cthulhu

Television

True Detective (season 1): Two detectives on a murder case get entangled in a cult. Probably not actually supernatural, but…

Video Games

Identity V: 1v4 monster vs. prey game where Hastur is a playable character. The stage plays feature him singing in Hungarian. Also features Mini Feaster, the most precious and perfect thing to ever exist.
Parsnip: An adorable adventure game with cute little oldschool animated animals that is on this list for no particular reason.
The Sinking City

It's the most wonderful time of the year~ https://ifcomp.org/ballot

Loved

Dr. Horror's House of Terror: Parser. You're a B-movie actor discovering the horror creeps much further than the styrofoam sets. Hilarious and delightful, with perilous situations that entertain without frustrating.
The Golden Heist: Choice. An entertaining romp to empty Emperor Nero's treasury, featuring three possible companions and many ways to bumble your way through.

Liked

The Libonotus Cup: Parser/Choice. An entertaining pirate race with a fun mix of both parser and choice during different phases, and even feelies! The humor is fun and Monkey Islandesque, but the finicky parser makes some tasks frustrating (including using the hint system).

Dear Author,

Thank you so much for writing for me! This letter is under construction and will be finished by the time assignments go out; for now I've copied and pasted the relevant parts from old letters. If you're here for treats, I'd be thrilled to get art or fic treats. I've been playing through the Tales series all through quarantine and have fallen in love with pretty much all of it! Feel free to include references/spoilers to any of the Tales Series I've played (Symphonia, Abyss, Vesperia, Xillia 1&2, Zestiria, Berseria, Crestoria); throwaway references to the others are fine, but no spoilers please!

Stuff I love:

Shipping! I am a ridiculous shipper at heart, so my favorite thing would be ship fic for the pairings I request; I love sexual tension, slow burn, pining, and lots of other stuff. I love characters falling for others that they never would have expected, as is probably obvious from my ships. I love pining and hurt/comfort and cuddling to avoid hypothermia and all those wonderful fanfic tropes. Shippy pre-relationship stuff is also great!
Identity porn! As defined by Fanlore, it's focusing on people who have secret identities which focus on the consequences of using multiple personas". So Character A is in disguise, interacting with Character B, who may or may not know who Character A really is, and there may be kissing. This has obvious implications for shapeshifters and characters with masks/secret identities, but anywhere you can fit it in I will love it. Relatedly, I'm always up for mask kink and identity reveals.
Hurt/comfort and angst with a happy or hopeful ending. I love catharsis...
Dramatic reunions! I love seeing characters brought back from the dead (or not actually dead, or whatever plot device works) reunited with someone who's been mourning them. I really love if the living person had feelings for the other and regrets never confessing them.
Lots of story types--adventure, what-ifs, canon continuations, everyone is mysteriously alive somehow, etc. Both happy and bittersweet/sad fics are great, as long as the angst isn't from the pairing's relationship not working out. Snippets from any of these are also great!
Your own prompts! I throw out a few specific story prompts for each pairing, but I will be thrilled to read any ideas you have!
Interactive fiction! Besides any of my other prompts or your plots, I would love a dating sim with Luke or Raven romancing everyone. Character death, AU, and other pairings are fine for different endings in IF. I like all IF formats.

DNWs:

Non-con. Dub-con is great.
Character bashing, including canon love interests.
Non-canon major character death. Temporary "death" or coming back from canon death is great.
AUs of the setting instead of plot (mundane AUs, everyone is ponies, etc.)
Unrequited love (one or both parties incorrectly thinking it's unrequited is great) & shooting down pairings I requested.
Outsider POV.
Non-Tales crossovers.

Don't Like but not DNW-level:

Pure PWP--porn along with other stuff is great, but I'm more interested in the character interactions. (For treats, go wild!)
Established relationship fic. This isn't as set in stone as the others, but I love seeing my OTPs get together and/or have UST. I'm 100% fine with pre-relationship fic if it's shippy!

Tales of the Abyss

Abyss likes: the whole party, Tear!!!, rappigs, Guy & Luke's friendship, friend with benefits Jade/Peony, past Jade/Dist, past unrequited Luke/Van
Abyss DNWs: Ending Person as a combination of Luke and Asch

Luke/Jade

Luke and Jade's relationship is one of my favorite parts of Tales of the Abyss; I love how much they change each other, and I love how much Jade grows to care for Luke. I love how Luke is the second person Jade can't save, and how much it's the mistakes he made the first time that caused it all to begin with; I love how he tries so hard not to show how much he cares (and Luke's happy surprise when Jade calls him a friend!). And I love how Luke desperately wants love and support, and how he finds that in someone who's outwardly a bastard but truly cares in contrast to Van. And the entire contamination sidequest, Jade keeping Luke's secret, the way he looks like he's about to cry at the ending…

For Luke/Tear, I prefer Luke having an unrequited thing for a lesbian Tear or just going with the platonic, big sister relationship. I also like Luke having had a big thing for Van, but Van keeping his manipulation emotional instead of physical. As for Jade, I'd prefer Jade/Peony as friends with benefits or platonic, and Jade/Dist...pretty much like canon (Dist's obsessed with Jade, maybe a past relationship where Dist was much more emotionally invested). Other ships I like: Tear/Natalia, Natalia/Asch, Anise/Ion, Anise/Florian.

Prompts:

Jade realizing how strong his feelings for Luke are only when he knows he's dying. This would go great with sharing some unexpectedly tender moments, Luke asking Jade more about Nebilim, or Jade taking Luke somewhere he's never been (maybe somewhere Jade had never appreciated the beauty of before?). This would go great with Jade wrestling with romantic feelings for the first time (especially if Peony or Guy realize what's going on with him and Jade is in denial that it's even possible). And maybe Jade tries to put distance between them by being extra caustic, but now Luke is hurt and Jade is only feeling more protective towards him and well that backfired.
Luke is the one who comes back at the end, and Jade has already mourned him and absolutely does not know how to deal with Luke's return. (Or Asch comes back first and Luke makes it the next year?) Or he's been suppressing his feelings and and he didn't know how much he missed him until he sees him again. What if Luke wrote about his feelings for Jade instead of Tear in his diary, or wrote letters to everyone, and Jade had to deal with this knowledge?
Jade begins flirting with Luke to aggravate him (nibble~) and Luke blows up at him for making fun of him just because he noticed Luke has a thing for him. Jade had not, in fact, noticed this before Luke told him.
Groundhog Day loop! I'd love to see Luke accepting his death and the consequences of his actions...and then he finds himself replaying the events, and there's definitely a whole Thing about not being able to bring back the dead but what is he supposed to do, anyway? And Jade would of course figure it out immediately, but Luke still has to keep his distance because Jade wouldn't believe how close they were in the end if he told him. How does Jade come to care this time?
Soulmate AU! There is SO MUCH crap that can happen with soulmarks and replicas. Replicas don't have them? Asch had Natalia and they just tattooed it on Luke? Duke Fabre had Luke's removed because a) he's engaged to Natalia anyway, and b) like hell his soulmate is a Malkuth colonel? Jade absolutely does not believe in them, of course. Or just put them into the Score (in which case, saying forget the Score and getting together despite who the Score says works too)!
Tales of the Rays verse: I'm new to TotR and it doesn't need to be TotR canon compliant; some similar AU is fine. The important part of the setting is Jade and Luke are transported to a new world (from near the end of Abyss) and Luke's fonons are no longer separating. Luke and Jade are the only ones from their friend group at first, and they keep each other's secrets while Jade keeps an eye on Luke's health. How does Luke deal with having his future back and not having his life planned out? How does Jade deal with the grief and emotions Luke's coming death stirred up in him, now that they're gone? Do they become even closer when they're the only ones the other's got?

Tales of Crestoria

Crestoria likes: the whole party, demon Vicious, Vicious & Yuna's friendship, other Tales faves in weird Crestoria AUs, Yuna/Penelope
Crestoria DNWs: Makina

Crestoria has such a good story for a gacha game, and wow I love Vicious a lot. I love that the Great Transgressor is such a crass, hilarious edgelord...and that he barely ever does anything bad. I love how he's responded to being hated by the whole world with "Guess I'd better give them a reason to hate me!" and how he's manage to surround himself with people who care about him. And I really love the completely off-the-wall AUs some characters are giving (Eizen with good luck??), so feel free to throw in any of my faves in (cough secret transgressor Raven cough). I prefer Kanata and Misella aged up to 16/17 or fic set in the future; just not mentioning their ages is fine too.

Vicious/Kanata

Vicious and Kanata had a fun dynamic from the start and then it just exploded into Kanata is Vicious's reason for living??? Holy crap? I adore how important this do-gooder became to Vicious, and how freely and openly Kanata cares for the Great Transgressor. I really love the idea that both of them not quite realizing they're falling for each other (Vicious because he doesn't think he's capable of those type of feelings, Kanata because he didn't know liking guys was an option).

If not OT3, I like Kanata being poly with Misella or her just not mentioned; I don't want Misella being jealous because Kanata isn't interested in her. (Being jealous even though he is is a-ok and is pretty much canon.)

Demon Vicious! Demon Vicious!! I love Kanata being fascinated by Vicious's demon form, and Vicious being thrown completely off-guard by that. Does he try to show him how scary he can be (which, obviously, backfires)? Does Kanata convince Vicious to get used to being in that form around him? Does Kanata have to cool him down with a hug (or kiss)?
Kanata realizes just how important he is to Vicious, possibly at the same time Vicious realizes this. Is it Yuna's meddling? Does Vicious panic when Kanata gets seriously hurt or presumed dead? Does the revelation piss Vicious off or does he just take what he wants while trying not to think of feelings too hard?
Any ridiculous event that could lead to romance. Do they have to defend a hot spring? Do they finally get Vicious to act? Fake dating? I love the events in this game, and pretty much any fun trope can fit into them.

Vicious/Kanata/Misella

Vicious and Misella's dynamic is absolute gold; any heroine that just straight-up stabs a party member to death in his sleep is right up my alley. I love how Misella has absolutely no time for Vicious and how he's corrupting Kanata, and how he's just exasperated with her never-ending attempts to get rid of him. And how he sometimes sounds like he's flirting, juuuust a little.

Misella is convinced Vicious wants to corrupt Kanata sexually (along with every other way he's obviously corrupting him). Vicious thinks that's just as ridiculous as everything else she says about him, except...now that she says it... Does Vicious start openly flirting with Kanata just to annoy her except oh, Kanata's reactions are awakening something in him? Does Misella determinedly seduce Vicious first to keep him away from Kanata?
Anything where the three of them have to travel alone and Kanata goes from being happy to be with his two favorite people to realizing he is really turned on by his two favorite people and this is awkward.

Tales of Vesperia

Yuri being protective of Raven after he returns to Brave Vesperia, especially about his blastia. This would be great for hurt/comfort--Raven gets a hit to the blastia, or he hasn't gotten a checkup like Yuri suggested, or he Blast Hearts and it takes a lot out of him. I love Yuri being absolutely furious with him for not taking his life seriously, and Raven suddenly realizing it's because Yuri cares a lot more than Raven thought. Also great: Yuri kissing him in (angry) relief, especially if it's during a battle and Raven has no idea what just happened.
Captain Schwann. Identity porn. This ship is made for it. Identity porn (not actually porn) is the consequences of having secret identities and/or multiple personas; I would absolutely love the tension if Yuri meets Schwann, who's trying to hide his identity, and he's not sure if the belligerent flirting means Yuri's figured out his secret or not… Or after the reveal, Raven has to dress up as Schwann for Reasons and Yuri flirts with the Captain (maybe because he's not ready to admit he cares for Raven, but Schwann's totally a different guy?).
Raven knows how to flirt with girls, even if he's playing it up a lot as Raven. But when he starts flirting with Yuri (maybe because Yuri starts flirting with him), it's...different. Maybe Raven thought he wasn't into guys (Don was definitely just hero worship, right?), or maybe because Yuri just reminds him of Casey more and more and the idea that it means so much is frightening. Does Yuri realize Raven's flirting, or does he think his growing feelings for Raven are unrequited?
Yuri starts to get a thing for Raven before he disappears with Estelle, and then all that happens and his feelings are a lot more complicated. Bonus if Raven stays "dead" for longer than he did in canon.
Raven and Yuri are becoming closer post-game (you know, when Raven comes over to lose to Repede at chess), and Raven tells Yuri his original name. And then Yuri calls him Damuron and huh Raven feels like his heart's shattered again, why is that? Also good is Yuri liking his hair down, Schwann-style, which gives Raven confused feelings because Schwann and Damuron are dead anyway, what does any of this matter?

Yuri/Raven/Flynn

Because lbr Flynn is 100% into Captain Schwann, whether he's otherwise straight or not. I'd like the focus to be mostly on Raven/Yuri and/or Raven/Flynn for this. (For Raven/Flynn, my beta vanishinghitchhiker has some great prompts!) Feel free to add Flynn into any of the Yuri/Raven prompts or:

Yuri and Flynn are together, and Raven is (to his dismay) starting to catch feelings for Yuri or both of them. He accepts he has no chance, and he's used to just loving people from afar anyway...and then Flynn sweetly kisses him while his hair is down, or Yuri tells him to stop pining, old man, and get in here already.
Identity porn! An AU from before the reveal: Flynn had a thing for Schwann in the knights, and there's something about this Raven guy... Yuri absolutely is not attracted to Raven (untrue), he's definitely not into people who annoy him (extremely untrue), but he keeps running into Captain Schwann and there's something about him…
Any of my beta's Flynn/Raven prompts plus Yuri!

Favorite fandoms, characters, and ships. Links are to my fic or exchange letters gushing about them, bold are OTPs. Full list

Final Fantasy IV

Golbez
Rubicante
Luca
Kain/Golbez (letter)
Edge/Rubicante (fic)
Cecil/Rosa(/Golbez)

Final Fantasy V

Faris Scherwiz
Gilgamesh
Galuf Halm Baldesion
Bartz/Gilgamesh (letter)
Faris/Bartz(/Gilgamesh) (fic)
Bartz/Galuf (letter)
OTParty (letter)

Final Fantasy VI

Gogo
Sabin Rene Figaro
Edgar Roni Figaro
Sabin/Shadow

Final Fantasy VII (not technically finished)

Reeve Tuesti
Barret Wallace
Reno/Rude
Barret/Cloud

Final Fantasy IX

Freya Crescent
Vivi Ornitier
Freya/Amarant

Final Fantasy X & X-2

Auron
Tidus
Yuna
Jecht
Auron/Tidus (letter)
Yuna/Jecht (letter)
Auron/Braska
Ormi/Logos
Bartello/Auron

Final Fantasy XII

Ashelia B'Nargin Dalmasca
Balthier
every cockatrice
Balthier/Vaan

Final Fantasy XIII

Sazh Katroy
Oerba Yun Fang
Fang/Vanille

Final Fantasy XV

Ardyn Izunia
Noctis lucis Caelum
Gilgamesh
Sania Yeagre
Ardyn/Noctis (fic)
Cor/Gilgamesh (fic)
ChocobroT4 (esp. Noct/Gladio & Noct/Ignis)

Final Fantasy Mystic Quest

Benjamin's shrug

Final Fantasy Theatrhythm

Profile

jaclynhyde

October 2024

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	31

Syndicate

Page Summary

Style Credit

Style: by timeasmymeasure

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

Page generated May. 31st, 2025 02:09 am

Recent Entries

Sticky: 1001 Comics You Must Read Before You Die Reading Project

Dear Yuletide Letter 2024

IFComp 2024 Recommendations

Multifandom Doodle 2024 Round 1 Letter

Candy Hearts 2024 Letter

Comic Mystery Bundles Review Masterpost

Dear Yuletide Letter 2023

IFComp 2023 Recommendations

Comment Bingo Round 4

Starman (1994) Promo Post

Multifandom Doodle 2023 Letter

Candy Hearts 2022 Letter

IFComp 2022 Recommendations

Rare Mare Slash 2022 Letter

But Gentle Pulls the Strings Commentary

Chocolate Box 2022

Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?

IFComp 2021 Recommendations

Press Start 2021 Letter

Fandoms and Faves - Final Fantasy

Profile

October 2024

Syndicate

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags