jaclynhyde: Any Questions? (Default)
Favorite fandoms, characters, and ships. Links are to my fic or exchange letters gushing about them, bold are OTPs. Full list
 
Tales of the Abyss
  • Jade Curtiss
  • Tear Grants
  • Jade/Luke
  • Asch/Natalia
  • Anise/Ion
Tales of BerseriaTales of Crestoria
  • Vicious
  • Vicious/Kanata
  • Jade/Yuri (White Day Bastards)

Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon X
  • I haven't played it but fuck I love Rondoline

Tales of the Rays (in progress)


Tales of Symphonia/Dawn of the New World (in progress)
  • Zelos Wilder
  • Raine Sage
  • Kratos Aurion
  • Richter Abend
  • Zelos/Lloyd
  • Emil/Richter

Tales of Vesperia
  • Raven
  • Yuri Lowell
  • Rita Mordio
  • Yuri/Raven
  • Rita/Estelle
  • Raven/Casey
  • Raven/Don
Tales of Xillia & Xillia 2
  • Alvin
  • Milla Maxwell
  • Fractured Milla
  • Rollo Kresnik
  • Balan
  • Gaius
  • Jude/Alvin (letter)
  • Balan/Jude/Alvin (fic)
  • Milla/Jude/Alvin
  • Ludger/Gaius
  • Gaius/Wingul
  • Rollo/food
Tales of Zestiria
  • Rose
  • Dezel
  • Zaveid
  • Dezel/Rose
  • Sorey/Mikleo
  • Zaveid/everyone
jaclynhyde: Any Questions? (Default)
Favorite fandoms, characters, and ships. Links are to my fic or exchange letters gushing about them, bold are OTPs.


Anime/Manga ) Books ) Comics/Webcomics ) Television/Animation ) Video Games ) Other Media )
jaclynhyde: Any Questions? (Default)
Dear Author,

Thank you so much for writing for me! 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 (Abyss, Vesperia, Xillia 1&2, Zestiria, Berseria, Crestoria); throwaway references to the others are fine, but no spoilers please! This letter has spoilers for Vesperia and Abyss in their respective sections, as well as minor spoilers for early Tales of the Rays in the Abyss section.

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. (ex. fic from Mieu's POV thinking "wow Master and Jade are getting close!!!")
  • Non-Tales 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. 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 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. (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…
jaclynhyde: Any Questions? (Default)
 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!
  • 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 or commonly squicky stuff like scat. Dub-con is great.
  • Character bashing, including canon love interests.
  • Non-canon major character death. Temporary "death" is okay for Servants and Ozpin, as is people coming back from the dead.
  • 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:
  • 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. 


Fate/Grand Order


I got into Fate/ after seeing Iskandar/Waver fanart, then watching Fate/Zero, then consuming everything else I could get my hands on, and now I adore this series. I love the endless possibilities of Fate/, and how Servants bring their past lives to their new ones and form new and reinvent old relationships. I play on NA FGO, but feel free to use stuff from JP if you don't need to have played it to appreciate it. Don't worry about spoilers from any Fate/series, and don't feel like you have to know any other canons to write for me--include whatever details you want or don't want to! These prompts are spoilery through Lostbelt 1.

I love a lot of other FGO characters, so if you want to include other characters or have some cameos, some favorites are: Roman, David, Merlin, Mordred, Waver, Iskandar, Chen Gong, Lu Bu, Red Hare, Astolfo, Drake, Nightingale, Kojirou, Nito, Martha, Shakespeare, Da Vinky??, Fran, Moriarty, Yan Qing, Sheba, Abby, QSH, Li Shuwen, Jing Ke, FOU. Any historical fan Servants are great, especially those connected to the characters I requested.

I'm requesting Guda as any gender; I normally lean towards Gudako myself, but I also love the idea of more m/m for Gudao. I like Guda as a charismatic, Riyo-inspired force of chaos (minus the harassment); Gudao strikes me as more of a bottom, but whichever works for the fic! I think of almost everyone as poly in FGO--at the very least, I like the idea of Guda banging their way across Chaldea, so feel free to assume Guda/everyone for any of these. 

Avicebron/Fujimaru Ritsuka

I thought Avicebron was the coolest even watching Apocrypha, and then he got a starring role in a Lostbelt and I absolutely fell in love. I love his nerdery over golems, his matter-of-fact misanthropy, and his deep sorrow and guilt for what he did to his old Master. I'd love to see Guda growing closer with Avicebron, as Avicebron tries to figure out why he actually wants to spend time with them. I also love Guda becoming increasingly curious about what he looks like and Avicebron angsting over his skin condition. Also historically Avicebron wrote love poetry, so the misanthropic and romantic sides of him warring would be great! If you want to bring in Apocrypha, I like the idea that the weirdness of that war pushed him to extremes, so he's not evil but the presence of that darkness will always worry him.

I like: mask kink!, Judaism (David? Jewish Guda?), shorter Avicebron

First Hassan/Fujimaru Ritsuka

I just love the Hassans, okay? They're criminally underrated and perfectly suited for some mask kink and I think they should date/bang Guda! I especially love First Hassan's Valentine's scene, where Guda makes a goddamn wedding bells joke to the incarnation of death. I love Gramps being nonplussed by Guda being completely unintimidated by him; I'd love Guda trying to learn more about him and Hassan being "what is this stop that" or Hassan discovering he's actually charmed by Guda's over-the-top hitting on him. I'd also love a Guda/every Hassan fic (First Hassan critiquing all the other Hassans' courtship/sex moves until he steps in to show how it's done?). Just cover Guda in Hassans.

I like: mask kink!!!, voice kink, all Hassans (ship or gen)

Caster Gilgamesh/Kingu


I'd casually shipped Gilgamesh/Enkidu for a while...and then Babylonia happened and I fell completely in love with Kingu. I love how Enkidu's feelings push Kingu to Gil, and how Gil recognizes he's different and still offers him kindness and friendship. And I love Kingu's anger and pain at that kindness, and his reluctant formation of his own identity (how did he end up with a gender, anyway?). I'd love to see their talk in Babylonia go a little further (kissing! kissing!), or what would happen if he found a way to live for Gil instead of die for him. I'd also love Kingu being summoned in Chaldea with CasGil - is Enkidu there? How would Kingu deal with being surrounded by people who accept him? What exactly could Gil do with two shapeshifters? See my Yuletide letter for more!

I like: past and current Gilgamesh/Enkidu, Enkidu/Gilgamesh/Kingu
I don't like: more than a little Archer Gil, Kingu/Gil as lesser than Gil/Enkidu, jealous Enkidu, Enkidu and Gil as Kingu's parents
 
Littlewood
Dark/Male Hero

Littlewood is a super-charming Stardew Valley-alike where you play as an amnesiac JRPG hero rebuilding a home after the world has been saved. The cast of characters is delightful and, especially relevant to my interests, includes the also-amnesiac former final boss. I hardcore romanced Dark from the first time I met him, and I want to see so much more of their relationship. Did they bond over their amnesia and shared experiences (if from different sides)? How did their awkward reintroductions turn to friendship turn to love? Did they have a spark before they lost their memory? Is the Hero kind of into the whole villain aesthetic now that it's not attempting to murder him? I'd really love UST or pre-relationship for this, especially with one or both of them realizing their feelings. I also love the other villagers (especially Zana and Terric); feel free to pair everyone up or not! 

RWBY

I did not expect to get so invested in RWBY, but Oz and Qrow absolutely captured my heart. I love the world and the characters, and everything about Ozpin and his curse were absolutely made for me. I love the cool mysterious mentor type, and finding out that he was sharing his mind with generations of personalities and was so mysterious because he was so very tired of losing people just cemented him as my favorite. And then Oscar, and his frustration with being just another Ozma and Ozpin recognizing that frustration from so many times before is fantastic. And Qrow! I love people cursed with bad luck (see: Eizen and Dezel from Tales), and I love his increasingly poor coping mechanisms and he claws himself up from rock bottom but still isn't sure how to protect those he cares for. I also love team RWBY and the background pairings Ruby/Penny, Yang/Blake(/Weiss), and Port/Oobleck.

Ozpin/Qrow Branwen

I adore these two and how their relationship has progressed through canon--from cool headmaster letting Qrow into a secret world, to trusted (but not completely trusted) allies, to Qrow serving as protector to carry on Ozpin's mission, to their falling out because everything that they've been trying to avoid was forced to the surface. I absolutely love a long period of mutual pining for them, with Ozpin having avoided relationships for several lifetimes because he's tired of losing them, and Qrow only not jumping his bones because he doesn't want his semblance to hurt yet another person. (I also love Qrow growing closer to Ozpin because an immortal man has better odds of surviving his semblance than most!)

I adore post-S6 and post-fight scenarios; if you don't want to deal with Oscar, either an AU where Ozpin regains his own body or one where Oz is in a different host (identity porn!!!) would work. I really want to see Ozpin and Qrow make up without demonizing anyone's actions; the fight really showed how important they were to each other (Ozpin crying over him!!!), and I love the tension it brought to their relationship. I love Qrow being devastated that Ozpin didn't trust him as much as he thought (and maybe a little terrified that he still loves Salem and could never love him), and Ozpin regretting that he was so scared of losing Qrow that he didn't tell him what could have kept him. I'd love to see Ozpin offering to tell him anything else he wants to know after a reconciliation and Qrow just asking how he really feels about him.

Other things I'd like to see: Ozpin revealing his immortality or entrusting Qrow to find his next body, Qrow flirting and Oz not exactly discouraging it, sharing one kiss before Oz's death.

Ozpin/Qrow Branwen & Oscar Pine
Oscar/Ozpin/Qrow Branwen

I love the twistiness of the three of them, and either Oscar pulled into their mutual pining or Oscar having to deal with these two morons when he can feel exactly how Ozpin feels would be great. I'm fine with aged-up Oscar, or futurefic if you go the ship route; canon-age underage is also fine, but I'd like Qrow to be reluctant about that. I like Oscar crushing on Qrow (and being really annoyed when he realizes it's not just Ozpin's feelings leaking through) and Qrow genuinely liking Oscar but missing his Ozpin so much. Also fun: Oscar growing up (without completely merging) and Qrow realizing oh no he's hot.

Ozma/Qrow Branwen

The way Qrow got right up to Ozma in Jinn's vision... I just want Qrow being into Ozma and/or every Oz incarnation. However you can finagle this (time travel, a more powerful Jinn vision), I'll take it! Also great if Ozma has his memories as Ozpin and Qrow is shocked to see how much he means to Oz.

Tales of Vesperia

I picked up Vesperia because of quarantine and it dragged me into the entire Tales series fandom. I love everything about the game: the worldbuilding, the characters, the party relationships, the voice acting, and the rest. And Raven! I didn't know about traitors yet, so Raven's boss fight shocked me and made me fall in love. I love his deliberately annoying, breezy persona that's masking a Lot of issues; the way both Schwann and Raven are masks after Damuron died; and the way Yuri and Brave Vesperia convince him to live again. And Yuri! Yuri's snark and honor and hands-on way of fixing things are wonderful, and his relationship with Raven is fantastic. 

I love the whole cast and I'd love to see them around (especially Repede, Rita, and Duke);. If you're not doing Flynn/Raven/Yuri, I like Flynn/Yuri as one-sided with gay Yuri being into straight Flynn.

I like: Repede's friendship with Raven and Yuri, Rita/Estelle 
I don't like: Raven/Judy (mild flirting's okay), Karol/Nan, Zagi

Raven/Yuri Lowell

I love how a relationship beginning with annoying/ragging on each other grows into Yuri showing Raven a reason to live. Their banter from early on is great, especially Yuri having zero patience for his antics, and I love that they grow to care while still bantering. And then Schwann reveals himself, and tries to goad Yuri into killing him, and Yuri is so furious that yet another friend thinks his life is worth nothing... And then Raven pledges his life to Yuri Brave Vesperia, which could go a lot of places. I also really love how the side manga The Empty Mask treats their relationship, with Yuri serving as a shining light for Raven to follow like he did Casey and the Don. (Also I like the idea of Raven having had a bit of a crush on the Don as well!) I'd love to see more followup on Yuri's concern about Raven's blastia (is he pissed off when Raven keeps using Blast Heart?), Raven cooking dessert for Yuri, Raven flirting differently when it's real than he usually does, a pre-final battle conversation, Schwann identity porn (see below), etc.

Flynn Scifo/Raven/Yuri Lowell

I like the way the three of them interact, and Raven's double life gives some great excuses for identity porn. What if Flynn had a crush on the amazing Captain Schwann? What if Yuri has to admit that he really has a thing for knights? I'd also love to see Raven with a thing for Yuri or both of them thinking he doesn't have a chance because they're obviously too caught up in each other, right until they invite him in. I'd like the focus to be on Raven/Yuri and Raven/Flynn rather than Yuri/Flynn.



Tales of Xillia

This went from "aw, Alvin's touchy-feely, I can ship this" to "Wow this game is all about Alvin becoming a better person because he fell in love." I tend to love the traitors in Tales, and Alvin is no exception; I love his cool, flirty persona, and how it's hiding how lost he is, and I love that he teases and betrays over and over until he finally breaks. And then he finds his home and finds people who matter to him, and takes the long path to becoming a better person. And Jude! I love how he's kind and brilliant and how he finds his place in the world, and how he goes from near-suicidal depression to taking up Milla's mission whether she's with him or not. The cast and world of Xillia are delightful, and fractured dimensions give even more room to play around.

As for Milla, I'd love any of my prompts with Alvin/Jude/Milla as well; I love her blunt personality and how she comes to care for her humans. If you don't go the OT3 route, either Jude/Milla in an open relationship or Jude and Milla not being together after she leaves to the spirit realm are great. (Alvin being jealous of Jude/Milla without realizing Jude or both are into him too is wonderful!) Past or fractured dimension Alvin/Presa is good too, and I kind of love the idea of Jude being jealous of Presa for meaning so much to Alvin and Presa being jealous of Jude because he changed for Jude like he couldn't for her.

I love a whole lot of the Xillia characters and would love to see them as well. Favorites include Balan (esp. tormenting Alvin and/or hinting to Jude that Alfred has a thing for him), ROLLO, both Millas, Gaius, ROLLO, Ludger, the Chimeriad, etc. For background ships, I especially like Ludger/Gaius, Ludger/anyone, Rowen/anyone, and Balan/anyone, but anything but Gaius/Muzet is cool.
 
Alvin/Jude Mathis
Alvin/Jude Mathis/Milla Maxwell

I absolutely adore Alvin/Jude; I think my favorite part is no matter how exasperating or traitorous Alvin is, Jude is always willing to forgive him and always wants to trust him. And Jude clearly means so much to Alvin, enough that he can leave the people who have been his last trace of home, enough that he could choose someone else over the easy solution for the first time. During Xillia 1, I'd love to see Jude crushing on this charming touchy-feely guy and becoming more attached even when seeing his worst side, and Alvin just realizing how much he cares for this kid who treats him so much better than he deserves. In Xillia 2, I'd love to see them repairing their relationship, with Alvin learning to let someone in and Jude learning to be happy after Milla; also fractured dimensions! I'm not opposed to canon-age underage, but I still think a 15-year-old med student is ridiculous. Feel free to age Jude up a few years (keeping an age gap) or just keep it as-is. See my Yuletide letter for more prompts!
 

jaclynhyde: Any Questions? (Default)
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 love shipfic for those relationships, but gen or preship delving into them is great 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 ereamijh on Twitter and jaclynhyde on AO3 if you want to stalk. Letter section lengths are based on when I wrote them, not how much I want the fandom. Thank you so much!

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 ideal. 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 (cough Tales traitors). 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 like any format; I don't have specific prompts this year, so 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 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.
  • Character bashing, including canon love interests.
  • Non-canon major character death. Fractured versions in Xillia and Servant deaths in Fate/ are fine.
  • Unrequested crossovers and 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 fantastic!
  • Unrequested ships for my requested characters (canon past relationships are fine). Check the fandom sections for exceptions.
  • 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.

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Prompts:


"Though counterfeit, you fight with your own desires. You and I are the same." 
 
Fandom: ロード・エルメロイⅡ世の事件簿 - 三田誠 | Lord El-Melloi II Case Files - Sanda Makoto
Character Requested: Faker
What I Want:
 
I love pretty much any character who could be called Faker, and "Hephaestion" is no exception. I love her rashness and rage, her loyalty to Iskandar and her duty while deeply resenting the Hetairoi she would have had a place in. And I'm fascinated by how she claims the name and role of her brother, when her own relationship to Iskandar was clearly important beyond her usefulness to him. Case Files is such a delightful show, and seeing Waver confront his past through confronting Iskandar's was a great twist.
 
I'd love to see what would happen if she were summoned elsewhere, if she had more time to interact with Waver and Gray within the existing plot, what it was like to have her life dedicated to Iskandar whether she wanted it or not. I listed a few ship prompts below; I don't have an OTP for Faker, so if you have any preferences, feel free to pair her with anyone but Iskandar or Hephaestion!  Same goes for gen; I want to see Faker played off anyone from Case Files (besides the below, Shishigou is a favorite) or Fate/.
 
I've only watched the show and read summaries of the light novels with Faker in them; feel free to include whatever you know. As for historical accuracy, I'd be happy with anything from historically accurate to throwing in history & Renault easter eggs to fuck it, it's Fate/, anything goes. If you include Hephaestion, just keep him male and Iskandar's lover and anything else goes. 
 
Fandom DNWs: Faker/Iskandar (strong feelings are fine, just not explicitly romantic), explicitly ruling out Iskandar/Hephaestion or Iskandar/Waver
 
Prompts: 
  • Faker's life with Iskandar, Hephaestion, and the Hetairoi. What kind of curses did she have to deal with? How did her friendship with Iskandar begin? Did she resent Hephaestion at all? Did she share Iskandar's dream at some point? (Is she jealous of Waver that he still can?) I'd love to see them meeting again as Servants, especially if there's some plot reason they're summoned to the same place.
  • Faker is summoned in a real Grail War or to Chaldea--what are the circumstances? I kind of love the idea of Waver accidentally summoning her (perhaps because someone else has summoned Iskandar first?). Or does she somehow end up helping Waver and Rin dismantle the Holy Grails?
  • Faker/Gray. I love that Faker has a civil conversation with her after their fight, and that she recognizes their similarities but freaks out when Gray gets too close to the truth. What if Faker became a dark mentor to Gray, like Iskandar was for Waver? What if they were trapped together for longer (huddling for warmth! huddling for warmth!). Canon-age underage is fine for this.
  • Faker/Waver. I see Waver as gay, buuuut I love the idea of him making Very Bad Choices and rationalizing Faker is as close as he can get to Iskandar right now. Or just having hatesex while she's taunting him about knowing Iskandar for longer than Waver did (or being his lover, if she's still claiming to be Hephaestion).
  • Fate/Grand Order crossover (Babylonia spoilers): I want Faker to meet Kingu, because two fake Servants pretending to be the lovers of their kings who they have very complicated feelings about probably have something to talk about. How long does she hold out before getting involved in Chaldea's weird shenanigans? Does she hang out with Yan Qing and Emiya and the other fakers? I'm not familiar with the Case Files event, but throw that in there if it fits. 

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"Consider it revenge for Theodora. I'll be the one who finally puts you out of your misery. But I'll only kill you once you've  stopped being yourself... Only then."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. I swear by my full name, Fylk Zahdeya... Zaveid the Oathkeeper."
"Ufemew Wexub... That's my true name."
"I'll remember it."


Fandom: Tales of Berseria
Characters requested: Eizen, Zaveid
What I want:

I shipped this when I played Zestiria ("aww, Zaveid totally wants to bang that dragon"), and then I played Berseria and was blown away by how shippy they were. And Eizen! I love Eizen so much. I love how he looks like this dark and gritty edgelord at first...and then he turns out to be an absolute nerd who will wax poetic about antiques for hours and write beautiful letters to his sister. And Zaveid as a pacifist, still loud and brash but desperately protecting someone he loves, was just heartbreaking. I love the world of both games; I bring up Zestiria a lot, but don't feel obligated to include anything from there. (The basics are that 2k years after Berseria, Eizen is a dragon, Zaveid is still trying to keep his promise, and Edna is Not Happy about it. Eventually, after the new Shepherd and friends take down a dragon, Edna admits her brother isn't coming back and they successfully kill him. Until then, I had thought Berseria was a sequel and Eizen would be fine! It was upsetting!)

I really love the relationship between Eizen and Zaveid, and how much Eizen changed Zaveid. It's great how they go from fighting physically and verbally, thinking their entire outlooks on life are impossible to reconcile, to Zaveid realizing  how personally Eizen knows that killing is an act of mercy. I love that Zaveid's outrageous persona and flirtation is in part hiding his anguish over losing someone he loves, and I can't help but think that eventually that applies to Eizen as well as Theodora. And come on, exchanging true names while making a promise that will last for centuries is romantic as hell.

Like every Tales game, I love the other characters and would love to see them too! Magilou, Van Aifread, Velvet, Dyne, Grimoirh, and Kurogane are my favorites, but anyone except Bienfu is great. And sylphjays and pengyons (secretly human or not) are always a plus! If you're going into Zestiria territory, Edna would be amazing (including her friendship with Zaveid) and I love everyone else too. For background ships, I like Velvet/Magilou, Velvet/Eleanor, Rokuro/Kurogane, Dezel/Rose, and Sorey/Mikleo; also, casual Zaveid/anyone is fine as long as his heart belongs to Eizen.

Prompts:
  • Eizen and Zaveid bonding over the years. I love how the Zestiria anime has Zaveid yelling while he's fighting Eizen: "He's forgotten everything. How often we've battled, the dangerous travels we went on, how often we got drunk together...You've forgotten all of it, Eizen!" How did they become close, and how did it feel for Zaveid knowing he was going to lose him? Besides the angst potential, I love Eizen's seriousness in ridiculous situations and this is a great excuse for that (Eizen taking Zaveid to Normin Island or Katz Korner, Zavied taking a shift at that godforsaken restaurant, more fun testing the curse). This would also go really well with Zaveid later bonding with Edna.
  • Eizen trying to keep Zaveid away because the more he cares, the more likely it is the curse will destroy Zaveid, too. I'd love to see Zaveid slamming his way past his defenses, especially once his crew can't see him, and if this ends with him convincing Eizen to actually visit his goddamn sister I won't complain. I like the idea of Zaveid just laying on the charm more and more, until he finally realizes that Eizen is trying to protect him and blows up at him for wasting so much time they could have had together.
  • Dragon sex and/or romance. Zaveid seems to have a thing for people who turn into dragons and keeps making suggestive comments about monsters, so... With this, I'd like to see an Eizen who can still speak and who's still himself; think xeno instead of bestiality. He could be purified (Zestiria anime-style) or just still be in the process of turning into a dragon. This would also be great with romance or friendship, especially if he's regained himself after centuries of being a mindless dragon.
  • Tales of the Rays crossover. I don't actually play Tales of the Rays, so I don't care about canon knowledge; the conceit is Tales characters transported to another dimension(?) where everyone gets to hang out, and the important part is Berseria-era Eizen and Zesteria-era Zaveid get to be together. These videos (with English subtitles) are stupidly romantic: Cherry Trees & The Vagabond of the Wind and An Old Promise (includes Tales of the Abyss spoilers). I love that Zaveid and Eizen get to meet again at a romantic cherry blossom festival, and that Zaveid explicitly wants to be by his side, and that Zaveid will remember his oath for as long as they live. I want to see what Eizen thinks of Zaveid now, and Zaveid finally getting the chance to see his friend again after so many years.

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
 

"I'd watch your back around him. He's just playing with you now, and someday he'll throw you away."
"I'd like to think Alvin knows how I feel." 

Fandom: Tales of Xillia
Characters requested: Alvin, Jude Mathis
What I want:

 
This went from "aw, Alvin's touchy-feely, I can ship this" to "Wow this game is all about Alvin becoming a better person because he fell in love." I tend to love the traitors in Tales, and Alvin is no exception; I love his cool, flirty persona, and how it's hiding how lost he is, and I love that he teases and betrays over and over until he finally breaks. And then he finds his home and finds people who matter to him, and takes the long path to becoming a better person. And Jude! I love how he's kind and brilliant and how he finds his place in the world, and how he goes from near-suicidal depression to taking up Milla's mission whether she's with him or not. The cast and world of Xillia are delightful, and fractured dimensions give even more room to play around. I'm also here for everyone lives AUs!

I absolutely adore Alvin/Jude; I think my favorite part is no matter how exasperating or traitorous Alvin is, Jude is always willing to forgive him and always wants to trust him. And Jude clearly means so much to Alvin, enough that he can leave the people who have been his last trace of home, enough that he could choose someone else over the easy solution for the first time. During Xillia 1, I'd love to see Jude crushing on this charming touchy-feely guy and becoming more attached even when seeing his worst side, and Alvin just realizing how much he cares for this kid who treats him so much better than he deserves. Afterwards, I'd love to see them repairing their relationship, with Alvin learning to let someone in and Jude learning to be happy after Milla. I'm not opposed to canon-age underage, but I still think a 15-year-old med student is ridiculous. Feel free to age Jude up a few years (keeping an age gap) or just keep it as-is.

As for Milla, I'd love any of my prompts with Alvin/Jude/Milla as well; I love her blunt personality and how she comes to care for her humans. If you don't go the OT3 route, either Jude/Milla in an open relationship or Jude and Milla not being together after she leaves to the spirit realm are great. (Alvin being jealous of Jude/Milla without realizing Jude or both are into him too is wonderful!) Past or fractured dimension Alvin/Presa is good too, and I kind of love the idea of Jude being jealous of Presa for meaning so much to Alvin and Presa being jealous of Jude because he changed for Jude like he couldn't for her.

I love a whole lot of the Xillia characters and would love to see them as well. Favorites include Balan (esp. tormenting Alvin and/or hinting to Jude that Alfred has a thing for him), ROLLO, both Millas, Gaius, ROLLO, Ludger, the Chimeriad, etc. For background ships, I especially like Ludger/Gaius, Ludger/anyone, Rowen/anyone, and Balan/anyone, but anything but Gaius/Muzet is cool.

Prompts:
  • Linking. How much are they in sync while linking? What if Jude starts getting through Alvin's very strong mental blocks during Xillia 1 and finds out some things Alvin really doesn't want him to know? What if Alvin finds out how much Jude is crushing on him wants to trust him and doesn't understand it?
  • Identity porn! I don't have many ideas for this but I would adore it however you could fit it in. Does Jude have a secret Exodus contact that's warning him? Is Jude penpals with some guy named Alfred? Does Jude figure out something's strange with his mana lobe before he knows about Elympios and start investigating?
  • Alvin and Jude investigate a fractured dimension where their relationship is very different. Maybe they're together, or Alvin killed Jude and has regretted it ever since, or the fractured versions are in the middle of the Xillia 1 betrayals. Do the prime and fractured characters have to team up, or will they fight to the death to save their dimension and their version of Alvin/Jude? Do one or both of the prime versions have sexual tension with fractured version and/or realize their feelings because of them? Feel free to angst it up for the fractured dimension, or figure out a way for them to survive. Or at least have a threesome/foursome.
  •  Alvin and Jude becoming closer after Xillia 1. I love Xillia 2, but I really wish it had a lot more on their relationship; feel free to set your fic as Xillia 2 compliant or not. How does Alvin deal with someone who knows all his faults and secrets and still, incredibly, wants him around? Does Alvin keep Jude from retreating into his work after Milla leaves? Does Alvin show Jude around Elympios, and does Jude take an interest in his world and his past? Does Jude try to put some distance between them because he's convinced Alvin's flirting to needle Jude about his crush? Does Balan matchmake because he loves Alfred (and loves keeping little Alfie on edge)?
 
Thank you again, dear Yuletide writer, and may you get the fic of your heart!
 
Yours,
JH
jaclynhyde: Any Questions? (Default)
2020 IFComp entrants: https://ifdb.org/viewcomp?id=zkwmnr8k90q7wb2

Loved:
  • The Cursèd Pickle of Shireton (choice): Hanon Ondricek's games are always weird and funny and very meta, and this was a delight to play. It starts off as a text MMORPG (which is fun on its own) and goes off the deep end. Winning another scenario is necessary to progress the main plot; it can be repeated upon dying.
  • Ferryman's Gate (parser): An edutainment game about grammar with a fun world and a good sense of humor. Makes me want to proofread my review.
  • Stuff of Legend (parser): A charming game following a village idiot becoming a knight, sort of. You can pet the horse, and cow, and cat, and--
Liked:
  • Academic Pursuits (As Opposed To Regular Pursuits) (parser): An intriguing story revealed through unpacking.
  • Babyface (choice): Creepy southern gothic with great use of sound and visuals.
  • Desolation (parser): A fun horror game that uses puzzles for great narrative effect. A sequel to a game I haven't played (Two Braids Girl), but works well in media res.
Flawed with cool bits:
  • (s)wordsmyth (choice): A thoughtful, entertaining story about revenge (or the absence of it). The inexplicable visual novel interface makes playing (especially replaying after the frequent deaths) far more annoying than it should be.
jaclynhyde: Any Questions? (Default)
 Dear Chocolate Box Author,

Thank you so much for writing for me! I'm in a Fate/ mood, so all Fate/ this year! If you're here for treats, I'd be thrilled to get art treats and past Chocolate Box requests, along with my fic requests for this year.

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.
  • 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.
  • Other characters! Fate/ has tons of characters and I love to see more of them. I've mentioned my favorites in FGO section, but all of the cast would be great!
  • 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.
  • 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! 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 or commonly squicky stuff like scat. Dub-con is great.
  • Character bashing, including canon love interests.
  • Non-canon major character death. Temporary "death" is okay for Servants, as is people coming back from the dead.
  • 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-Fate/ crossovers (I don't know other Type/Moon stuff but cameos are cool).
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. 

Crossover Fandom


Kingu (Fate/Grand Order) & Faker (Lord El Melloi II Case Files)

See below for what I love about Kingu and Faker! I want Faker to meet Kingu, because two fake Servants pretending to be the lovers of their kings who they have very complicated feelings about probably have something to talk about. The easiest way is summoning Faker in Chaldea (come on, Case Files event rerun...), but if they both somehow get summoned elsewhere, that would be fantastic! I'd love them to bond over their anger and resentment (while firmly denying they're bonding, who needs other people?), and maybe end up being good for each other. If they're in Chaldea, there are So Many Hijinks that could ensue. Do they end up wrapped up in one of the sillier events, or find themselves something to fight for? Do they meet up with the other fakers (Emiya, Yan Qing, Kojirou, etc.)? Do they spy on a Gil and Iskandar king's banquet (or hell, Gil/Iskandar)? If Kingu/Faker ends up shippy, go wild!

I like: Gilgamesh/Kingu
I don't like: Enkidu/Gil without Gil/Kingu (unless it's Kingu pining hinted to be requited), Iskandar/Faker
 

Fate/Grand Order


I got into Fate/ after seeing Iskandar/Waver fanart, then watching Fate/Zero, then consuming everything else I could get my hands on, and now I adore this series. I love the endless possibilities of Fate/, and how Servants bring their past lives to their new ones and form new and reinvent old relationships. I play on NA FGO, but feel free to use stuff from JP if you don't need to have played it to appreciate it. Don't worry about spoilers from any Fate/series, and don't feel like you have to know any other canons to write for me--include whatever details you want or don't want to! These prompts are spoilery through Epic of Remnant.

I love a lot of other FGO characters, so if you want to include other characters or have some cameos, some favorites are: David, Mordred, Alexander, Lu Bu, Astolfo, Drake, Nightingale, Kojirou, Gilles, Bedivere, Lartoria, Marie, Martha, Shakespeare, Mash, Gudako, Da Vinci, Fran, Moriarty, Yan Qing, Sheba, Abby, FOU. Any historical fan Servants are great, especially those connected to the characters I requested.

I'm requesting Guda as any gender; I normally lean towards Gudako myself, but I also love the idea of more m/m for Gudao. I like Guda as a charismatic, Riyo-inspired force of chaos (minus the harassment); Gudao strikes me as more of a bottom, but whichever works for the fic! I think of almost everyone as poly in FGO--at the very least, I like the idea of Guda banging their way across Chaldea, so feel free to assume Guda/everyone for any of these. 

First Hassan/Fujimaru Ritsuka
Hassan of the Cursed Arm/Fujimaru Ritsuka


I just love the Hassans, okay? They're criminally underrated and perfectly suited for some mask kink and I think they should date/bang Guda! I especially love their Valentine's return gifts, where Cursed Arm is so touched and blushing from Guda's gift and Guda makes a goddamn wedding bells joke to the incarnation of death. For Cursed Arm, I'd love seeing Hassan being surprisingly sweet for an evil assassin; maybe telling Guda about his past while in Camelot, or being indulgent of Guda in Chaldea without realizing it's because of Feelings. For First Hassan, I love Hassan being nonplussed by Guda being completely unintimidated by him; I'd love Guda trying to learn more about him and Hassan being "what is this stop that" or Hassan discovering he's actually charmed by Guda's over-the-top hitting on him. I'd also love a Guda/every Hassan fic (First Hassan critiquing all the other Hassans' courtship/sex moves until he steps in to show how it's done?). Just cover Guda in Hassans.

I like: mask kink!!!, Hundred Personas & Serenity (ship or gen)


Caster Gilgamesh/Kingu
Enkidu/Caster Gilgamesh/Kingu


I've casually shipped Gilgamesh/Enkidu for a while...and then Babylonia happened and I fell completely in love with Kingu. I love how Enkidu's feelings push Kingu to Gil, and how Gil recognizes he's different and still offers him kindness and friendship. And I love Kingu's anger and pain at that kindness, and his reluctant formation of his own identity (how did he end up with a gender, anyway?). I'd love to see their talk in Babylonia go a little further (kissing! kissing!), or what would happen if he found a way to live for Gil instead of die for him. I'd also love Kingu being summoned in Chaldea with CasGil - is Enkidu there? How would Kingu deal with being surrounded by people who accept him? What exactly could Gil do with two shapeshifters? See my Yuletide letter for more!

I like: past and current Gilgamesh/Enkidu
I don't like: Archer Gil, Kingu/Gil as lesser than Gil/Enkidu, jealous Enkidu, Enkidu and Gil as Kingu's parents


Romani Archaman/Fujimaru Ritsuka

This is tied with Roman/Merlin for my Roman OTP (TTP?); I adore how important they are to each other (even if Guda didn't realize quite how much until he dies), and how much Guda's opinion of sweet and goofy Roman changes when he reveals his past and sacrifices himself. I love the idea of Roman trying not to become too attached because she'll miss him if he has to use his trump card (and also because he's a bit of a coward). I'd love to see Guda finding a way to get him back with the other people who loved him; I'd also love identity porn set during the Singularities, like Guda sharing Solomon's dreams and getting to talk to/crush on him. I'm not caught up on JP but am caught up on Romani-related spoilers, so anything involving those possibilities are good! With Gudao, I'd also like Romani being a little in denial that he likes guys too (he had 700 wives and 300 concubines, he's totally straight! David stop talking about Jonathan!!!).

I like: identity porn!!!, Guda bonding with David, Guda bonding with da Vinci and/or Sheba over loving Roman, hot tattoos and nail polish
I don't like: Roman feeling weird over Guda/Mash (either Mash said it's okay or don't bring up Guda/Mash)


Romani Archaman/Merlin

This pairing has grown on me so much and I love them. I love how much they parallel each other, with Roman finally getting to experience emotions while Merlin completely denies his; I love how Merlin is the biggest pain in the ass to Roman and catfishes him but still gives Roman good advice. I really like the idea that Merlin caught feelings for Roman and is in absolute denial about it, and that Roman knows deep down who Magi☆Mari is but that doesn't mean he has a thing for Merlin, that bastard!!! I'd love to see them bickering and secretly having feelings about each other, and I'd love to see Merlin moving heaven and earth to get him back. Or they get Solomon back without his memories, and Merlin tries to convince himself he's okay with that (while Merlin's poorly-hidden feelings are awakening Solomon's memories). This is also great for identity porn, but with Magi☆Mari instead of Solomon; I'd love Roman desperately trying to suppress his suspicions about Magi☆Mari while angrily realizing he's getting feelings for Merlin, too. 

I like: Magi☆Mari, Merlin bonding with David (and others) over Roman despite himself, Fou showing his disapproval of Merlin


Fujimaru Ritsuka/Romani Archaman/Merlin

See the above for what I like about these individual Roman pairings; with two incorrigible flirts and an easily flustered object of affection, this threesome is made to happen. I'd love to see Roman and Merlin's denied feelings involved; maybe Guda, who's involved with both of them, is trying to set them up. Or Merlin/Guda happens while Roman is gone and despite Merlin's intentions, they grow closer over their "unrequited" feelings for Roman; what happens when they get him back? Or Merlin pops up in Guda's dreams about Roman (or vice versa) and Guda drags him in once they're together. I like Guda and Merlin either as bros with benefits or having low-key feelings for each other, and both being in love with Roman.

I like: Any of the Roman/Guda or Roman/Merlin prompts made OT3



ロード・エルメロイⅡ世の事件簿 - 三田誠 | Lord El-Melloi II Case Files - Sanda Makoto

Came for the Waver, stayed for the Faker. I love pretty much any character who could be called Faker, and "Hephaestion" is no exception. I love her rashness and rage, her loyalty to Iskandar and her duty while deeply resenting the Hetairoi she would have had a place in. And I'm fascinated by how she claims the name and role of her brother, when her own relationship to Iskandar was clearly important beyond her usefulness to him.
 
I'd love to see what would happen if she were summoned elsewhere, if she had more time to interact with Waver and Gray within the existing plot, what it was like to have her life dedicated to Iskandar whether she wanted it or not. I love all the Case Files characters and I'd love to see any of them; besides the ones I prompted, I'd love more Kairi! As for other ships, Waver/Iskandar is my OTP; any other m/m Waver ships are good as long as it's not denying Waver/Iskandar, and any non-Waver Case Files ships are great except Gray/Svin and Iskandar/Faker. A Strange Fake crossover with Flat/Jack would also be wonderful!


Gray & Faker
Gray/Faker


I adored these two getting a chance to talk, and I want to see more of them! I love that Faker has a civil conversation with her after their fight, and that she recognizes their similarities but freaks out when Gray gets too close to the truth. I keep coming back to the idea of Faker being a dark mentor to Gray like Iskandar was to Waver. What if they were trapped together for longer? What if they had to huddle for warmth? I'd love to see Gray crushing on Faker and wanting to learn more about her (despite Waver's wariness). What if Gray somehow summoned her (or was summoned with her in Chaldea)? Do they bond over being molded into someone they aren't? Also good: Faker seducing Gray to piss off Waver and then catching feelings.

Iskandar & Faker

I would love to see Faker's life with Iskandar, Hephaestion, and the Hetairoi. What kind of curses did she have to deal with? How did her friendship with Iskandar begin? Did she resent Hephaestion at all? Did she share Iskandar's dream at some point? (Is she jealous of Waver that he still can?) I'd love to see Iskandar and Faker bonding, especially him trying to name her and Faker wrestling with her resentment and her desire to follow him. I'd also love to see both of them (and/or Hephaestion) summoned in the same place for some reason. A Greek Grail War? Chaldea? Who wanted to summon them, and how was Faker summoned? If you'd like to throw in historical accuracy or easter eggs, that's great; if not, I'm 100% okay with Fate/ifying it!

I like: Iskandar/Hephaestion (and Iskandar/Bagoas)
I don't like: non-male Hephaestion, Iskandar/Faker (strong feelings not specified as romantic from Faker are fine)

Waver Velvet & Faker
Waver Velvet/Faker


I just love the potential of these two interacting more, before or after Waver knows who she really is. Before, I'd love to see Waver agonizing over the thought that Iskandar had never told him about someone so important to him (never mind that she's actually a woman), and Faker just digging into that weak point. Even though Waver knows something's fishy, the what if? is killing him. After, I want to see them actually get to talk about Iskandar, and Faker furious at Waver wanting to get to know her. Faker had the opportunity to join the Hetairoi that Waver isn't sure he has, and she threw it away; Waver is following the dream Faker thinks is bullshit, after only knowing Iskandar for a short time. As for shipping, this is the one pairing where I don't want romantic feelings involved. I see Waver as gay, buuuut I love the idea of him making Very Bad Choices and rationalizing Faker is as close as he can get to Iskandar right now. Or just having hatesex while she's taunting him about knowing Iskandar for longer than Waver did (or being his lover, if she's still claiming to be Hephaestion).
  
I like: Waver/Iskandar
I don't like: straight Waver
jaclynhyde: Any Questions? (Default)
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 ereamijh on Twitter and jaclynhyde on AO3 if you want to stalk. Thank you so much!

(I also still love all the Yuletide fandoms I've requested in previous years, so if anyone feels like writing treats I'd be thrilled to get more of those!)

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 ideal. 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.
  • 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 applications to Kingu, but anywhere else would also be appreciated!
  • Dramatic reunions! Considering most of my requests include 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 like any format. I have specific prompts for Nier IF, but feel free to combine it with anything else! 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 or commonly squicky stuff like scat. Dub-con is fine.
  • Character bashing, including canon love interests.
  • Non-canon major character death. Temporary Servant death in Fate/ is fine, as long as my requested characters don't spend most of the fic dead.
  • Crossovers and AUs of the setting instead of plot (mundane AUs, everyone is ponies, etc.). Check the fandoms for exceptions!
  • Unrequited love. One or both parties incorrectly thinking it's unrequited is great.
  • Established relationship fic. This isn't as set in stone as the others, but I prefer getting together or pre-relationship fic for ships.
Requests: Fate/Grand Order; Lord El-Melloi II Case Files - Sanda Makoto; Nier Gestalt; 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea )

Fandom: Fate/Grand Order
Characters requested: Kingu (Fate/Grand Order), Gilgamesh | Caster (Fate/Grand Order)
What I want:

Babylonia is my favorite Singularity in F/GO. I love how it works as a standalone story, how there's room for downtime and getting to know Uruk and hijinks (and sheep!), and how well the drama pulls together for an epic battle. The cast is fantastic, and Kingu and CasGil are my favorites of them. I was never a big fan of Archer Gil, so I was also shocked to find Caster Gil one of my favorite characters. I love how his arrogance has mellowed and his selfishness morphed into love for his city and care for its inhabitants; I love his certainty that the age of the gods is over and his willingness to give his life so that humanity will live. And Kingu! As I mention in the Case Files section, I love any character that could be described as a faker. I love how he has to find his own identity, how he fights Enkidu's memories pushing him towards Gil and how he fights Gil's kindness that's not just because he's in Enkidu's body.
 
I'd casually shipped Gilgamesh/Enkidu for a while, historically and in Fate/...and then Babylonia happened and Gil/Kingu became my favorite pairing. I love the idea of Kingu blaming his attraction and love for Gil on his stupid body, and then being hit with the realization that no, he cares for him too. And I really want to know what's going on in Gil's head; he's not rattled by Kingu's appearance at all. Is he in denial? Is it just for Kingu's sake? Does that change if he realizes how much he cares for Kingu as his own person? If Enkidu's around, I'd like poly Gil (they were both made for him, of course he can have both!); either two separate pairs work, or an OT3 that focuses on the Gil/Kingu side. If you go the porn route, whatever genitals Kingu and Enkidu have are cool, up to and including things like tentacles to try to psych Gil out. I’m also really liking the anime’s take on all of them, so feel free to throw any of that in (unless they no-homo at some point).
 
As for other characters, I am an extreme multishipper for FGO; not only do I firmly believe that Gudako is mana transferring with 90% of her Servants, I'm also up for whatever background or side pairings you want to throw in. If they're in Chaldea, Waver/Iskandar is an OTP; if they're in Uruk, I like Benkei/Ushi, Gudako/Roman, Merlin/Roman, etc. If you want to include other FGO characters, some other favorites are: Siduri, just everyone in Babylonia, Waver, Iskandar, Mordred, Alexander, Darius III, Lu Bu, Astolfo, Drake, Nightingale, Kojirou, Gilles, Bedivere, Arjuna, Lartoria, Martha, Shakespeare, Mash, Gudako, Da Vinci, Dr. Roman, Hassans, Fran, Moriarty, Yan Qing, FOU
 
Fandom DNWs: Gil unfavorably comparing Kingu to Enkidu (or vice versa), Enkidu being jealous, focus on Archer Gil, mention of Gil/Artoria
 
Prompts:
  • Kingu is summoned to Chaldea and has to deal with a) being sort of alive, b) having the Master and a lot of people he tried to kill being nice to him, and c) Caster Gilgamesh being there. And now he's gone and sacrificed himself for Gil, so he definitely can't face him and pretend he doesn't care. Does Gil just barge into his room and aggressively be his friend? Are they forced together by important mission or incredibly stupid event? Does Gil realize how much Kingu cares for him (probably) and how much he wants Kingu (possibly)? Bonus: Kingu getting to meet Gorgon or any of the Medusas again.
  • Kingu is summoned to Chaldea and Caster Gilgamesh and Enkidu are there. How does he deal with all of the above points and his raging jealousy of Gil/Enkidu's relationship? I like the idea of Enkidu treating him like a brother, much to Kingu's annoyance, and realizing that Gil is serving the same function to Kingu that Enkidu did for Gil. Threesomes or Gil just having two clayfriends ensures.
  • Identity porn! Kingu is pretending to be Enkidu to Gil. Maybe he meets Gil in Babylonia before Gudako does, or maybe he's been summoned in Chaldea. (I love the idea that the Enkidu who shows up in Solomon is actually Kingu, especially since they have Kingu's purple eyes.) Gil knows from the start that it's not Enkidu, but lets Kingu keep thinking he's pulled it off. Does Kingu kiss him like he secretly really, really wants to? Is he more and more upset that Gil thinks it's the love of his life and not him?
  • Gil and Kingu have more time together, that last night before the final battle. Are they scared of dying, just a little? Do they share memories? Do they make out? Do they bang? 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Though counterfeit, you fight with your own desires. You and I are the same." 

Fandom: ロード・エルメロイⅡ世の事件簿 - 三田誠 | Lord El-Melloi II Case Files - Sanda Makoto

Character Requested: Faker
What I Want:

I love pretty much any character who could be called Faker, and "Hephaestion" is no exception. I love her rashness and rage, her loyalty to Iskandar and her duty while deeply resenting the Hetairoi she would have had a place in. And I'm fascinated by how she claims the name and role of her brother, when her own relationship to Iskandar was clearly important beyond her usefulness to him.
 
I'd love to see what would happen if she were summoned elsewhere, if she had more time to interact with Waver and Gray within the existing plot, what it was like to have her life dedicated to Iskandar whether she wanted it or not. I listed a few ship prompts below; I don't have an OTP for Faker, so if you have any preferences, feel free to pair her with anyone but Iskandar or Hephaestion!  Same goes for gen; I want to see Faker played off anyone from Case Files or Fate/, in the tagset or not (except, like, Blackbeard or Shinji).
 
I've only watched the show and read summaries of the light novels with Faker in them; feel free to include whatever you know. As for historical accuracy, I'd be happy with anything from historically accurate to throwing in history & Renault easter eggs to fuck it, it's Fate/, anything goes. If you include Hephaestion, just keep him male and Iskandar's lover and anything else goes. 

Fandom DNWs: Faker/Iskandar (strong feelings are fine, just not explicitly romantic), explicitly ruling out Iskandar/Hephaestion or Iskandar/Waver

Prompts: 
  • Faker's life with Iskandar, Hephaestion, and the Hetairoi. What kind of curses did she have to deal with? How did her friendship with Iskandar begin? Did she resent Hephaestion at all? Did she share Iskandar's dream at some point? (Is she jealous of Waver that he still can?) I'd love to see them meeting again as Servants, especially if there's some plot reason they're summoned to the same place.
  • Faker is summoned in a real Grail War or to Chaldea--what are the circumstances? I kind of love the idea of Waver accidentally summoning her (perhaps because someone else has summoned Iskandar first?). Or does she somehow end up helping Waver and Rin dismantle the Holy Grails?
  • Faker/Gray. I love that Faker has a civil conversation with her after their fight, and that she recognizes their similarities but freaks out when Gray gets too close to the truth. What if Faker became a dark mentor to Gray, like Iskandar was for Waver? What if they were trapped together for longer (huddling for warmth! huddling for warmth!).
  • Faker/Waver. I see Waver as gay, buuuut I love the idea of him making Very Bad Choices and rationalizing Faker is as close as he can get to Iskandar right now. Or just having hatesex while she's taunting him about knowing Iskandar for longer than Waver did (or being his lover, if she's still claiming to be Hephaestion).
  • Fate/Grand Order crossover (Babylonia spoilers): I want Faker to meet Kingu, because two fake Servants pretending to be the lovers of their kings who they have very complicated feelings about probably have something to talk about. How long does she hold out before getting involved in Chaldea's weird shenanagins? Does she hang out with Yan Qing and Emiya and the other fakers? I'm not familiar with the Case Files event, but throw that in there if it fits. (Crossing my fingers she's the new Servant for the rerun!)
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

"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
Characters requested: 
Grimoire Weiss, Nier
What I want:

Nier Automata was a big hit, so people actually know what this franchise is now! Which is weird! If you enjoyed Automata, I highly, highly recommend playing the original--the themes and the playing with gaming conventions were already there, but I found the original game's cast even better than Automata's (which is saying something). If you liked the themes, weird meta gameplay, and ending of Automata, you'll definitely like the original!  

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. If you address their relationship, either tweaking it to something just as strong but familial or platonic, or just Nier in a poly relationship with both separately (Weiss/Kainé is kind of amazing but would take over the fic) would be great. I also ship Kainé/Tyrann but I feel super guilty about it (just make her happy please), 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). And just to confirm, I definitely want Nier Gestalt & Papa Nier!


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?
  • 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...)
  • 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)?
----------------------------------------------------------------------

And to that question posed 6,000 years ago in the Book of Ecclesiastes--"Who can fathom the depths of the abyss"--only two men out of all humanity now have the right to respond.
Captain Nemo and I.
 
Fandom: Vingt mille lieues sous les mers | Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea - Jules Verne
Characters: Pierre Aronnax, Capitaine Nemo | Captain Nemo
What I Want:
 
Catalogs of fish I love this novel, and I love seeing it through Aronnax’s eyes--his wonder at the sights he’s seeing, his endless enthusiasm for science, and his fascination with Captain Nemo. Captain Nemo is probably my favorite fictional character ever. He's such a fascinating sympathetic villain, and I love the contrasts of his character. Someone who scorns society, but surrounds himself with the trappings of it; someone who commits monstrous acts in anger, but takes joy in the wonders of the sea. I love Nemo and Aronnax's connection, and how Aronnax's fascination with this new world is all tied up with his fascination with this brilliant, mysterious man. As you can probably guess, I ship them quite a bit; I especially love the ship from Aronnax's perspective, slowly earning the interest and affection of Nemo without quite realizing how deep his own fascination goes. I'm also very fond of the Disney movie, so references or easter eggs are great.
 
Plus 10,000 points if Nemo is actually Indian! I don’t care if you don’t identify his race/nationality, but if you do, going off his official life story would be awesome. If you haven’t read The Mysterious Island, it’s in Book 3, Chapter 16; long story short, he was an Indian prince named Dakkar who fought in the Sepoy Mutiny against the British, after which his wife and child were executed. 
 
Prompts:
 
  • During his time on the Nautilus, Nemo tells something of his past to Aronnax--maybe his name, nationality, his family. Is it because he expects Aronnax will never leave, or because he trusts him not to reveal it if he does? How do Aronnax's feelings for him change? Does it make him realize he has deeper feelings for Nemo than he thought?
  • What if Aronnax chose to stay on the Nautilus? Does he think he can save Nemo, or can he just not bear to leave him the sea? How would Nemo react to his prisoner staying of his own volition, and not because he wishes to join his crusade? I picture this as Aronnax helping Ned and Conseil escape, then escaping them at the last second.
  • If you’ve read The Mysterious Island (or are willing to Wiki it), I’d love to see Aronnax and Nemo meeting again during that book. The dates will require some fudging, as Nemo actually dies in The Mysterious Island before Twenty Thousand Leagues takes place, but anything just vaguely touching on “Nemo retired to a mysterious island and is mysteriously helping some castaways but Aronnax shows up” would be awesome. (Also identity porn—Aronnax shouldn’t even hope that this mysterious benefactor is Nemo, but...)
  • This is one fandom where I would welcome non-mundane setting AUs. 20,000 Leagues in space? Superheroes? Fantasy kingdoms? There's a ton of ways to adapt the basic story and Nemo and Aronnax's dynamic, and I'd love to see them! Plus xeno's always great.
  • Crossover with Kino's Journey: What if one of the nations Kino visits is a submarine? What would she think of Nemo, and what would Nemo think of her and Hermes? Would she manage to leave in three days? This scenario can leave out Aronnax, and if you manage to make Kino/Nemo work, I'd be extremely intrigued!
  • Fate/ AU: Aronnax summons Rider Nemo (but he's secretly an Avenger). This could work with Aronnax in his canon time and Nemo's history being different, or with a modern Aronnax where Aronnax was never a part of the novel. Fictional or historical Nemo is fine, just...please ignore the existing character who's probably Nemo and make him an adult who resembles his canon self. (But if he's that and also Little Nemo, sure)
 
Thank you again, dear Yuletide writer, and may you get the fic of your heart!

Yours,
JH

jaclynhyde: Any Questions? (Default)
I wrote Beyond the Horizon (Fate/Grand Order, Alex/Waver, Iskandar/Waver, past Iskandar/Waver) for Yuletide and I enjoyed the process of writing it immensely! It's the longest thing I've ever written (possibly excluding my thesis), and I ended up throwing a lot of historical references into it so I figured I'd write it up along with some commentary! Also if you liked it, please check out Spooky (vanishinghitchhiker), who beta'd and brainstormed and helped shape the fic immeasurably. 

Read the fic first, I spoil it completely here! Also one implied Babylonia spoiler, but nothing else from FGO.
Beyond Beyond the Horizon )
jaclynhyde: Any Questions? (Default)
Dear Chocolate Box Author,

Thank you so much for writing for me! I had a ton of fun with Chocolate Box last year and I'm happy to be back. I'm sticking with almost all Yuletide fandoms this year, and I'll be absolutely thrilled with fic for any of them! I've received delightful stories for some of these pairings and some are nonexistent, and I'm always happy with more of them.

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.
  • 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! Considering practically all of my requests include 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. I really love if the living person had feelings for the other and regrets never confessing them.
  • Other characters! I adore everyone in these canons and would love to see any of them who fit into the story.
  • 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.
  • 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! 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 or commonly squicky stuff like scat. Dub-con is great.
  • Character bashing, including canon love interests.
  • PWP--porn along with other stuff is great, but I'm more interested in the character interactions. (For treats, go wild!)
  • Non-canon major character death.
  • 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
  • Established relationship fic. This isn't as set in stone as the others, but I love seeing my OTPs get together!
Requests: Crossover Fandoms; Fate/Grand Order; Final Fantasy V; Final Fantasy X; Final Fantasy XV; Nier Gestalt )
jaclynhyde: Any Questions? (Default)
After finally finishing all the games, I figured I'd put my thoughts down. Check them out at https://ifcomp.org/ballot/ or https://ifcomp.org/comp/2018 (once judging is finished).

TL;DR, my top five choice and parser games:
Choice: Animalia, Cannery Vale, Dead Man's Fiesta, Erstwhile, Grimnoir
Parser: Alias 'The Magpie', Bascilica de Sangre, Diddlebucker!, StupidRPG, The Temple of Shorgil

Games! Games! Games! )
jaclynhyde: Any Questions? (Default)
  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!

(I also still love all the Yuletide fandoms I've requested in previous years (20172016201520142013) so if anyone feels like writing treats I'd be thrilled to get more of those!)

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; getting-together fic with a plot and eventually-resolved sexual tension is ideal. 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.
  • 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 applications to the Modhri and Waver, but anywhere else would also be appreciated!
  • Dramatic reunions! Considering all of my requests include 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 have specific prompts for FFV and Nier IF, but feel free to combine it with anything else! 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 or commonly squicky stuff like scat. Dub-con is fine.
  • Character bashing, including canon love interests.
  • Non-canon major character death.
  • Crossovers and AUs of the setting instead of plot (mundane AUs, everyone is ponies, etc.). Check the fandoms for exceptions!
  • Unrequited love. One or both parties incorrectly thinking it's unrequited is great.
  • Established relationship fic. This isn't as set in stone as the others, but I prefer getting together or pre-relationship fic for ships.
Requests: Fate/Grand Order; Final Fantasy V; Nier Gestalt; Quadrail Series; 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea )
jaclynhyde: Any Questions? (Default)
Dear Chocolate Box Author,

Thank you so much for writing for me! This is my first year doing Chocolate Box, and it looks delightful. I'm including a mix of Yuletide fandoms and larger ones, and I'll be absolutely thrilled with fic for any of them! I've received delightful stories for some of these pairings and some are nonexistent, and I'm always happy with more of them.

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.
  • 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. And sometimes, total assholes who the heroes connect with anyway (cough Ardyn).
  • Banter! I love the canon dialogue for the characters I'm requesting and would love to see some banter.
  • Other characters! I adore everyone in these canons and would love to see any of them who fit into the story.
  • 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.
  • 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!
DNWs:
  • Non-con or commonly squicky stuff like scat. Dub-con is great.
  • Character bashing, including canon love interests.
  • PWP--porn along with other stuff is great, but I'm more interested in the character interactions. 
  • Non-canon major character death.
  • AUs of the setting instead of plot (mundane AUs, everyone is ponies, etc.)
  • Established relationship fic. This isn't as set in stone as the others, but I love seeing my OTPs get together!
Requests: Crossovers; Final Fantasy IV; Final Fantasy V; Final Fantasy X; Final Fantasy XV; Nier Gestalt )
jaclynhyde: Any Questions? (Default)
 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 on those relationships, but I’d love gen 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!

(I also still love all the Yuletide fandoms I've requested in previous years (2016201520142013) so if anyone feels like writing treats I'd be thrilled to get more of those!)

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; getting-together fic with a plot and eventually-resolved sexual tension is ideal. 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.
  • 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 applications to the Modhri, but anywhere else would also be appreciated!
  • 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.
  • Banter! I love the canon dialogue for everyone I'm requesting and would love to see some banter.
  • Other characters! I adore everyone in these canons and would love to see any of them who fit into the story, nominated or not.
  • 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.
  • All of these canons! Some sections of my letter are longer than others, but that's entirely because I wrote them at different times. I will be thrilled with whatever you match on! 
  • EDIT: Interactive fiction! I have specific prompts for FFV and Nier IF, but feel free to combine it with anything else! If you're writing IF with multiple endings, feel free to ignore my major character death DNW for the bad ends.

Stuff I don't want:
  • Non-con or commonly squicky stuff like scat. Dub-con is fine.
  • Character bashing, including canon love interests.
  • Non-canon major character death.
  • Crossovers (except with Final Fantasy spinoffs) and AUs of the setting instead of plot (mundane AUs, everyone is ponies, etc.)
  • Established relationship fic. This isn't as set in stone as the others, but I prefer getting together or pre-relationship fic for ships. I generally prefer not shipping my OTPs with other people except in the past, but check the fandom sections for more details and exceptions.
Requests: Final Fantasy IV; Final Fantasy V; Nier Gestalt; Quadrail Series )
jaclynhyde: Any Questions? (Default)
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 on those relationships, but I’d love gen 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!

(I also still love all the Yuletide fandoms I've requested in previous years (201520142013) so if anyone feels like writing treats I'd be thrilled to get more of those!)

(Also, please do not take the length as an indicator of wanting one fandom more--FFIV is the new section and doesn't have a promotion post so I'm rambling more. I would adore fic for any of these fandoms!)


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; getting-together fic with a plot and eventually-resolved sexual tension is ideal. 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.
  • 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 applications to the Modhri and Golbez.
  • Bad guys turning good! I love villains who discover that their worldview is wrong, especially by getting to know one of the good guys. 
  • Banter! I love the canon dialogue for everyone I'm requesting and would love to see some banter.
  • Other characters! I adore everyone in these canons and would love to see any of them who fit into the story, nominated or not.
  • 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.

Stuff I don't want:
  • Non-con or commonly squicky stuff like scat. Dub-con is fine.
  • Character bashing, including canon love interests.
  • Non-canon major character death.
  • Crossovers (except with Final Fantasy spinoffs) and AUs of the setting instead of plot (mundane AUs, everyone is ponies, etc.)
  • Established relationship fic. This isn't as set in stone as the others, but I prefer getting together or pre-relationship fic for ships. I generally prefer not shipping my OTPs with other people except in the past, but check the fandom sections for more details.
  •  

Requests: Final Fantasy IV; Nier Gestalt; Quadrail Series )
jaclynhyde: Any Questions? (Default)
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 on those relationships, but I’d love gen 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!

(I also still love all the Yuletide fandoms I've requested in previous years (2014, 2013) so if anyone feels like writing treats I'd be thrilled to get more of those! Or go write for my girlfriend vanishinghitchhiker because we share like 80% of our fandoms and ships.)


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; getting-together fic with a plot and eventually-resolved sexual tension is ideal. 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.
  • 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 applications to Flim and the Modhri.
  • Banter! I love the canon dialogue for everyone I'm requesting and would love to see some banter.
  • Other characters! I adore everyone in these canons and would love to see any of them who fit into the story, nominated or not.
  • 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.

Stuff I don't want:
  • Non-con or commonly squicky stuff like scat. Dub-con is fine.
  • Character bashing, including canon love interests.
  • Non-canon major character death.
  • Crossovers (except with other Star Wars EU stuff for Hand of Thrawn) and AUs of the setting instead of plot (mundane AUs, everyone is ponies, etc.)
  • Established relationship fic. This isn't as set in stone as the others, but I prefer getting together or pre-relationship fic for ships. I'd also prefer not shipping my OTPs with other people except in the past (see Nier for specifics of that situation).


Nominations:


"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
Characters requested: 
Grimoire Weiss, Nier
What I want:


I just finished Nier last month (on Nier's birthday!), and I love it immensely. 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. If you address their relationship, either tweaking it to something just as strong but familial or platonic, or just Nier in a poly relationship with both separately (Weiss/Kainé is kind of amazing but would take over the fic) would be great. I also ship Kainé/Tyrann but I feel super guilty about it (just make her happy please), 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?
  • 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)?
 

----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
"Excuse me?"
"Nothing
. A classic line from a Human ditrec drama, Casablanca. Not important."
"I will have to view that someday."
"Yes, you should. I think you'd like it."


Fandom: Quadrail Series – Timothy Zahn
Characters requested: Frank Compton, The Modhri
What I want:

First of all, if you’ve read this series, I love you. If you haven’t read this, see my promotion post and go read it, whatever it is you’re actually writing fic on. So my favorite thing about this series is the Modhri: he’s a really cool alien concept, a menacing and competent villain, and eventually a being sick of being enslaved and learning to see things from a very alien viewpoint. And god help me, he’s strangely attractive despite the fact that he’s coral polyps inhabiting the bodies of, like, bird aliens.

So by the last two books, I was shipping Compton/Modhri like mad. Like I said in my promotion post, I really love the Enemy Mine trope; seeing Compton and the Modhri learn to trust each other, and the Modhri learn how much he wants a friend, was the greatest thing. If you’re up for working out weird interspecies parasitic hive-mind ships, Compton/Modhri would be amazing. (The other necessary participant(s) can either be consenting or just handwaved in some way if it gets physical.) But I would just love anything Modhri, with or without any other characters you’d like. Or even a focus on any of the series' characters because this fandom needs fic!


Prompts
:

  • Modhri/Compton after they start working together, because their friendship is so sweet. Compton seducing one of the Modhri's Eyes, to the Modhri's confusion? One of Modhri's Eyes accidentally seducing Compton, to the Modhri's confusion? Morse serving as go-between/third partner? Modhri wondering what this ~strange new feeling~ is? Fix-it fic after the last book? There are so many possibilities! (And I am fine with inclusion or lack of inclusion of weird alien biology if porn is involved.)
  • What if the Modhri took Compton as a willing host? Could be shippy or not--I'm just interested in what circumstances could force it and how they'd deal with it. Modhri & Morse would be great too.
  • Modhri and Compton solving more mysteries together! If you like writing casefic, I really love how the fourth book took an old-fashioned train mystery and gave it new twists due to sci-fi technology and alien biology. More like that would be awesome! This could work great with Modhri and Compton as friends or reluctant allies, depending on when it's set.
  • Anything from the Modhri's POV. How does he think? What becomes of him after the last book? What was his life like with the Shonklaa-raa? Any of the events of the books from his perspective would be great too, and/or any interactions with other characters. You can write Modhri alone for this prompt if Compton doesn't fit in, too.
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------


"And may I say to you, Admiral, how relieved I am that you're here. This whole thing has been a nightmare for me. An absolute nightmare."
"Of course," Pellaeon said gravely. "We'll have to make time later for you to tell me your tale of woe."
Flim half bowed. "I'll look forward to that, sir."


Fandom: Star Wars Legends: Hand of Thrawn - Timothy Zahn
Characters requested:
Flim
What I want:

So after requesting Thrawn Trilogy every year, I finally decided to nominate Hand of Thrawn so I could request Flim. Flim has somehow become my third-favorite Star Wars character (after Thrawn and Pellaeon), which is really saying something! I love that within the triumvirate, Flim is the one who isn't in it for the Empire at all--he's just an amazing goddamn actor and he's going to pull off the role of a lifetime. And despite not having Thrawn's brain, he's more clever than he might seem; he can think his way out a situation without breaking character, and he knows his limits. But, of course, he's in way over his head and is not too happy with the way he's increasingly sticking his neck out for this role. My headcanons about Flim are pretty evident in the fic I wrote about him (also the other fics there are fantastic go read them), but please feel free to deviate from them! I like him more on the lovable scoundrel side than irredeemable asshole side, but besides that, there's a lot to extrapolate from. (Also the song "Grace Kelly" makes me think of him...)

I requested Flim alone this time, but I really love what happens when you combine him with Thrawn/Pellaeon. Thrawn was so important to Pellaeon (and Pellaeon could have loved him, if you ship them like I do)--there's so much possibility with an actor who can do a perfect impersonation shows up. And if Thrawn's alive, or his clone is out there, that could just make the situation that much more interesting. Thrawn/Pellaeon is my forever OTP, but I also have a big soft spot for Flim/Pellaeon.


Prompts:

 
  • What happens to Flim after Hand of Thrawn? Timothy Zahn said at a con that he was out there doing...something, so presumably he wasn't stuck in jail forever. How did he get out of that one? What did he think of peace, or what happened to the galaxy afterwards? (I still haven't read the post-Hand of Thrawn books but I am familiar with the plot points, so include that or not.) Does he keep running around with the former Empire, or with other scoundrels, or does he get tangled up in the New Republic? Does he keep acting and end up starring in the Annual Life Day Revue with Jefferson Starship?
  • Flim/Pellaeon! This is extra optional since I just requested Flim, of course. I like the idea of Flim having a soft spot for Pellaeon, and it's adorable how friendly he is with him after Pellaeon ended the con. What if Pellaeon decided to proposition Flim, knowing he was as close to Thrawn as he could get? What if Flim decided to proposition Pellaeon as a way to keep his ass out of jail, or because he wants to make up for everything he put him through? I would also secretly love a fic where Flim begins to fall for him despite himself (because Pellaeon is the best). Does Pellaeon grow to care for him in return, or does Flim only painfully remind him of someone he loved? I'm usually not into unrequited love, but it could definitely work here. I'd also like to read Flim shipped with pretty much anybody besides Disra, so go wild!
  • I have fewer prompts for Flim because I am not very good at coming up with plots but I love him and I just want more of him. Young Flim conning/acting his way through the galaxy, how he got involved with Disra (prompt stolen from bluehooloovo, who has great taste), older Flim conning/acting his way through the galaxy (Timothy Zahn also said he would have been great in Scoundrels 2!), Flim having a chance to show off his smarts, Flim trying to get the hell out of it if the con worked, anything.
 
Thank you again, dear Yuletide writer, and may you get the fic of your heart!

Yours,
JH
jaclynhyde: Any Questions? (Default)
I'm nominating the video game NieR for Yuletide. Why should you play it and/or read a Let's Play? Well, here's the first thing you see when you start up the game:





What is NieR?


NieR is a 2010 action RPG for the Playstation 3 and XBox 360, starring a man in a post-apocalyptic world looking to save his sick family member. There are two versions of the game: Nier Replicant, released only in Japan and featuring a younger Nier caring for his sister, and Nier Gestalt, released everywhere and featuring an older Nier looking after his daughter. I'm nominating NieR Gestalt and Papa Nier:



 


NieR is made by Sith Lord Taro Yoko and his dearly departed company Cavia, who you might have heard of because of Drakengard, that series with giant babies and impossible rhythm games and terrible, terrible people. Nier is a spinoff of the strangest ending of Drakengard I, but the tone is a hell of a lot different and you don't need to know anything about Drakengard to understand Nier. The only relevant fact is that introducing a pure magical being to a world in a dimension that is not magical at all (ours) and killing it so magical particles spread everywhere is very, very bad for that world.

Also to everyone's surprise, there's a sequel coming out! As announced by Taro Yoko at E3:



He just dresses like that sometimes. Sometimes he uses sock puppets.


What makes it something very special?


The Story


Nier's story is tragic, gorgeous, and absolutely amazing. The game begins in the summer of 2049, with Nier and his daughter Yonah holed up in an abandoned supermarket while snow falls outside. As they are besieged by the monstrous Shades, a sinister-looking book urges Nier to sell his soul and use the book's power:



And after the prologue, it's suddenly a thousand years later and Nier and Yonah are living in an idyllic village. Nier does odd jobs and cares for Yonah; they're living in a dying world and everyone knows it, and the Shades are getting bolder. But if there's something that can cure Yonah--or at least ease her pain--Nier will find it. And when Yonah goes out looking for a flower that can grant a wish, Nier follows and ends up involved in a far larger quest for his daughter. Along the way, he teams up with a sarcastic talking book, a foul-mouthed half-shade, and a sweet young boy with terrible powers. I won't give the story away, but the game eventually leads to a confrontation with the Shadowlord.

And then you start the New Game Plus, and you can understand the language of the Shades.

It's hard to talk about without spoiling anything, but NieR is very good at turning what you think you know on its head and showing a sympathetic view of just about everyone. Possibly my favorite thing about NieR is that almost every action and every decision, good or bad, was made for love. Almost every character is morally ambiguous: doing the wrong thing for the right reasons, surviving the only way they know how, protecting the people they need to no matter what. Even minor NPCs are fleshed out, with sidequests providing a lot of flavor to the world. It's a depressing game--you're not on a grand quest to save the world, you're just helping those you can as it winds down. But there's just a little bit of hope, and that's because of love.


The Characters

The four main characters of NieR--Nier, Grimoire Weiss, Kainé, and Emil--are extremely well-written, especially their interactions with each other. While some of their relationships are more contentious than others (see: the opening rant), they are very much a found family. Besides Nier, they're all outcasts in one way or another, and finding someone who cares after a long time on their own changes them. Outside of the main story, there's also a ton of fantastic banter between them in sidequests:

You'll also notice that the voice acting is fantastic--and it's really good for pretty much every character. The main four are Jamieson Price, Liam O'Brien (doing a great James Mason), Laura Bailey, and Julie Ann Taylor, and they're all excellent actors. And let me tell you this cast makes playing Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward friggin' weird. (Play that too.)

I go into more detail about the characters below, but in short, they're complex characters with complex relationships and it's great.


The Music
Despite being a cult game that didn't sell overly well, NieR has about 500 very popular soundtracks out because the music is fucking amazing. It even has its own Wikipedia page! The music is composed by Kiichi Okabe, with lyrics and vocals by Emi Evans; they're the same team that did Drakengard 3. The songs are all in various fake languages, with most of them based on different real languages after 1000 years of linguistic drift. And probably a few hours of my playtime was just me letting the music play while I did other things.

For two of my favorites, there's Kainé Salvation:



And Song of the Ancients (this one's a cover but everyone should listen to it):


Just go listen to the whole soundtrack(s). Or get the Theatrhythm DLC, it's great.


The Gameplay

So the actual gameplay is NieR's weakest point--the fighting isn't terrible, but it's mediocre, and the sidequests are all fetch quests of various levels of annoying. But the thing about NieR is that it pulls off a lot of things that only a game could do, and it works well enough that it's more than worth playing. At one point you visit a creepy manor, and suddenly you're locked into the fixed camera angles of Resident Evil; when you visit a town locked in dreams, you find yourself in a text adventure that unnerves the hell out of Nier and Weiss. The genre switches are clever and really work with the story. Besides that, the story has a great deal more impact when you're playing as Nier, when you're doing what he has to do and watching his character change and realizing how much more there is to the world than he knows.

And then there's the true ending, which does something I've never seen a game do before and I would've loved NieR just for that. Definitely try to avoid spoilers if you plan on playing or reading/watching a Let's Play.

Also there's boar drifting!



Who are these characters?

Nier

"Do you often get asked to handle such inane shopping trips?"
"I don't think these trips are inane. I'm a father in a dying world. I'll take whatever job I can get. Everyone has it tough around here, so I've no right to complain. They give me honest work, and I'm grateful."

Nier, our burly protagonist who's allergic to shirts, lives for his daughter Yonah:



All his actions throughout the story stem from his need to protect Yonah, to save her from her illness and give her a happy life--even if he's so driven to save her that he misses the signs that she'd much rather have him home with her. What makes him a great protagonist is that he's a good man, but a stubborn man, stubborn enough that he fights even more single-mindedly while his friends, and the player, are starting to notice things that bring his goal into question. He's not the sharpest boar in the field, but at least some of that is willful ignorance--if killing Shades has solved his problems before, then that's what he'll keep on doing no matter what. But even as he becomes more violent, more single-minded, he cares for his friends and spurs them to change in a better direction than he is.


Grimoire Weiss

"You should not have turned your blades on me, foul creatures! With a single world, I, Grimoire Weiss, can shatter the very universe itself! Now! Prepare to..."
"Prepare to... Er... Uhh..."
"..."
"...Oh dear."


 
Grimoire Weiss, a blood magic-wielding floating book, is a stuffy, arrogant, egotist who quickly becomes Nier's closest friend. Even with amnesia from a Nier-induced beating, Weiss is the brains of the operation, constantly complaining keeping Nier on track and complaining about questioning Nier's obsession with sidequests. And yet, despite his wondering why Nier has to help all these people with their petty problems, he shows far more sympathy and kindness than he'd like to admit. He's the one by Nier's side the most, and Nier literally makes his mark on him (by taping in pictures of swords and carefully noting down how much mutton he's carrying). For someone who complains about not be treated with the proper respect, he's awfully fond of the people who treat him like a friend.


Kainé

"I like camping out with Kainé! It's kinda fun in a weird way. Sometimes we sit around the fire and tell stories, or roast-"
"Emil! That's enough! ...I got a fucking image to maintain."


Yes, she's dressed only in lingerie. Despite her design, the game mostly avoids the male gaze and Kainé is in no way there just for fanservice--she's possibly the most well-developed character in the game.

With that over with, a reminder on how she is introduced:



We first meet her in-game when Nier attempts to help her fight a giant Shade, only to get helpfully kicked in the head and told to get lost, she can handle this. It's not long before we find out that her bandages are covering part of her that's a Shade herself--and she's been ostracized all her life, forced to live outside her hometown while the townspeople badmouth her to outsiders. It's no wonder that she's abrasive and stand-offish. And yet, her musical theme is one of the sweetest in the game. With Nier and Emil's unconditional friendship, and even Weiss's (even if they spend every moment insulting each other), she begins to change. And once the New Game Plus shows Kainé's side of the story, we begin to see even more of why Kainé became who she is.


Emil

"I like being outside because I'm with you, Kainé. I'm weak, and sad, and lonely, but somehow you make me strong! You're my friend, and I need you!"


Emil is a precious cinnamon roll the end.

In more detail, Emil is a sweet young boy with the eyes of a Gorgon who lives in a creepy old mansion with only his questionably human butler for company. Due to his curse, he sequesters himself away from the world, spending all his time blindfolded just in case. Once the party comes to his mansion, he immediately strikes up a rapport with Kainé--Kainé, who's used to being hated all her life for something she can't control, who tells him his deadly eyes are not a curse. Despite his circumstances, he soon opens up to his new friends and reveals himself to be a cheerful, excitable boy who loves weddings and campouts and people with a dozen arms who can hold a dozen knives. He's the one most likely to give traditional JRPG Friendship Speeches, and it's especially heartwarming in such a grim world.


Why Yuletide?

Because two-thirds of his companions are canonically in love with Nier and the creators have joked that the third confessed their love too (and that they've written a harem game).

But seriously, the character interactions are so strong that there's so much to explore in fanfic. Found families, familial love and platonic love and romantic love, banter and bickering and people who would do anything for each other. And that's just the main characters! There are tons of characters that you want to know more about, friends and enemies and random NPCs who have just a brief moment of connection with Nier. And there is so much room for stories about the world itself, particularly with background information from the (very spoilery) Grimoire Nier.

And fix-it fic. Because there is nothing that doesn't need to be fixed.



Should I play it? Is there a Let's Play?

Fuck yes. The story, the characters, and the music are all worth playing it on their own; the PS3 and XBox 360 versions are identical, so if you have one of those systems, go for it! If you can't or don't want to play, there's an excellent screenshot Let's Play from The Dark Id that covers everything. Everything not in italics is game text. Make sure to listen to the music and watch the videos, though! I haven't watched any video Let's Plays, but are some out there if you prefer that--something-very-special's includes Tumblr posts with meta, and there are more if you search on YouTube.

If you play the game, just remember these things:

1. You don't have to play Drakengard to understand this. Please don't do that to yourself. I recommend reading The Dark Id's Drakengard Let's Play, though, if only to see exactly how batshit Drakengard is. I have never seen a game that hated the player so much for playing it.

2. Be prepared to play through at least Ending B to get the whole story. The game isn't overly long, and New Game Plus starts from the second half so subsequent playthroughs are even shorter. And Endings C and D only differ in a choice you make at the end, so you can save before the final dungeon and do both on your third playthrough.

3. You don't have to do every sidequest--most of them just give you money and banter. Start them all for the banter, but feel free to skip anything that requires way too many trips through the Junk Heap. And Life on the Sands. Don't do Life on the Sands.

4. When you have to fish, follow the arrow and don't just fish at the nearby beach. This is probably the hardest puzzle of the game.

5. No seriously don't do Life in the Sands. (Yes, I did Life in the Sands.)

And once you've experienced the game, there's a ton of background information in Grimoire Nier, which has a fan translation online. There's interviews, side stories, and explanations of how the world became the way it did; it features Brother Nier instead of Papa Nier, but everything else is relevant to NieR Gestalt. One warning: there's a lot of potentially triggery stuff in the game and more in Grimoire Nier. Just message me if there's anything in particular you want to avoid.

Play NieR! Read NieR! Watch NieR! Listen to NieR! Cry!


jaclynhyde: Any Questions? (Default)

In a nutshell: The Quadrail series is a series of five books by Timothy Zahn, best known for creating Mara Jade and Grand Admiral Thrawn in the Star Wars novels. The Quadrail books are film noir space opera centered around a space train with a boatload of cool alien species, conspiracies, mysteries, and enemies forced to work together who form a deep friendship.

In less of a nutshell: The Quadrail series follows Frank Compton, a disgraced government agent, who is hired by the aliens who run the Quadrail allowing transportation around the galaxy to investigate a threat known as the Modhri. The Modhri, it turns out, is a parasitic hive mind coral out to infect everyone he can get his metaphorical hands on—and the Quadrail is the perfect way to do it. With the help of Bayta, the mysterious woman his employers assigned to him, Compton fights the Modhri and slowly discovers an even larger threat.
If you’re a fan of Timothy Zahn from his Star Wars books, you know that he’s great at writing interesting, competent characters; here, he’s created a really cool universe. It actually feels a lot like Mass Effect with the variety of species that feel really alien, the mysterious galactic transportation central to the series, and the whole unironic space opera atmosphere. The addition of film noir makes for some really, really fun plots—there’s a train mystery! In space! With alien biologies and sci-fi weaponry and a hive mind all playing a part!

And if you’re as big a fan of the Enemy Mine trope (enemies forced to work together for a common goal) as I am, then you need to read this series right now. In fine tradition of Zahn villains, the Modhri is awesome—a hive mind that can be anyone, or everyone, makes for a creepily effective villain. But in the fourth book, said train mystery, the Modhri approaches Compton to say he didn’t murder this guy and he does not appreciate someone else murdering people without his knowing about it so will you solve this already? So they end up working together, and it looks to be turning into a tentative friendship—but then plot happens and it looks like their alliance may be off. And then there’s the fifth book. The one where it becomes clear the Modhri is lonely with only himself to talk to, where Compton’s opinion on the Modhri’s method of infection starts to matter to him, where they begin to deeply trust each other, when they friggin’ quote Casablanca at each other.
So everyone needs to read this series because I ship it so hard and you should too.

The series consists of five books: Night Train to Rigel, The Third Lynx, Odd Girl Out, The Domino Pattern, and Judgment at Proteus. I actually started with the second book and read the first one later, which was fine because I found the first one to be the weakest. The Enemy Mine relationship doesn’t start in earnest until The Domino Pattern, but you really should read the other books first to watch the story unfold.

Casablanca, man.
jaclynhyde: Any Questions? (Default)
Dear Yuletide Writer,

First of all, thank you in advance! I'm pasting a lot of prompts from my long-ass letter next year, so TL;DR: I ship things and would like fic on those relationships, but I’d love gen too. I like a lot of things and dislike a few, but go with what works for your story. 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!

Stuff I want: 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; getting-together fic with a plot and eventually-resolved sexual tension is ideal. I really like identity porn; as for regular porn, porn or no porn is great—it’s the ship that interests me more than the smut. And I’d be thrilled with any fic at all for these books, so no worries if you don’t ship it! I love adventure stories, stories expanding on canon moments, what-if stories, lots of things. I’m providing a bunch of prompts that pique my interest, but if you prefer something more open-ended or come up with something else, go ahead! Also, feel free to include characters I didn’t request—I like pretty much everyone in all these books. If you want to stalk me, I'm usually on Tumblr (and my three whole fics are on AO3).

Stuff I don’t want: No non-con or commonly squicky stuff (scat, etc.), please! I’d prefer not just PWP; I’d also like to avoid crossovers (except the one I suggest below), fic that’s all about a pairing I didn’t ask for, character bashing, and AUs in a different setting (like coffeeshop, everyone is ponies, etc.). I’m more interested in getting together (or pre-getting together) than established relationship. Again, I’m just happy you’re writing more fic for an awesome book.
 
Nominations: Quadrail Series; Star Wars: Outbound Flight; Star Wars: Thrawn Trilogy; 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea )

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