Fandom 5k 2020 Letter

[jaggedwolf]

AO3 username: jaggedwolf

Thanks for reading my letter! I have a little about what I like about each requested character/group below, along with some prompts, but if you already have something in mind for the tags we matched on, feel free to go for it. My tumblr is also jaggedwolf

General likes: Pining, competence, loyalty kink, hurt/comfort, found family, characters hiding physical/emotional hurts, fake dating, casual touches, friends-to-lovers, unexpected kindness

Excluding my Haikyuu requests, assume I would be 100% down in any of my mentioned ships/friendships for hurt/comfort where one of them's hurt to the point of being insensible but still trying to press through, and the other finds them and helps.

DNWs: Noncon, actually unrequited pining, underage (<16) sex, infidelity, unhappy endings, requested characters permanently dying, unrequested non-canonical f/m

Critical Role | Haikyuu | The Strange Case of Starship Iris | Tacoma

Critical Role

Freeform Tags: Canon-Style Plot, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, Mystery/Procedural

A bunch of nerdy-ass voice actors sit around playing Dungeons and Dragons. The campaign 2 playlist is here. In the event they come off hiatus before exchange fics are out, feel free to assume that I'll stay caught up on the episodes if you want to include aspects from new ones.

I love this crew of disasters, and as you might guess from my specific requests, I especially enjoy Beauregard's role in that. She's constantly ready to fight, unable to leave a question unanswered, so ready to put herself in danger for the Nein and so oddly fatalistic in expecting her current joy to end. I love how far she's come from impulsive monk to the person helming a conversation with the Dwendalian king. She's an excellent whump candidate.

Jester's light-heartedness and flippancy sometimes covers very real sadness and anger, and I love the way her conceptions of romance have been getting deconstructed throughout the campaign.

Beauregard

I'm equally down for genfic or shipfic here, or even Beau having her usual flings in between her plotty endeavours. Particular favorites for shipping options are Jester, Yasha, both of them, or Keg. Friendship-wise, I like the poorly socialized duo she makes with Caleb, her odd secret-sharing with Nott, and how Caduceus seems to think Beau has it 100% together.

Prompts

• Investigating a mystery. Beau's got a doggedness when it comes to noticing something amiss. Perhaps a small observation leads to a larger discovery, and the situation escalates.
• Classic whump. Maybe she hides an injury or nasty after-effect from an enemy spell, maybe she gets kidnapped and tormented for intel, etc, and then the rest of the Nein find out/rescue her and comfort ensues, along with reluctant acceptance of said comfort.
• Beau and Caleb fixing things. They have a great fraught friendship. I wouldn't mind something about the two of them uncovering and eliminating corruption within the Empire, cleverly and carefully and efficiently.
• Hag offer fallout. Honestly, anything more about that. Beau's been a little off-kilter since then, and I wonder if any of the Nein have noticed, or made the connection to that terrible family conversation.

Beau & Jester or Beau/Jester

I adore their dynamic, platonic or romantic. Beau's softer with Jester in ways she isn't with anyone else, and Jester seems to care very much that Beau knows how well Jester thinks of her. They had those easygoing, never-question each other vibes in the early days, and now it feels like they question each other more without quite landing on the same page as easily. Exploring either period would be cool to me.

Prompts

• Revival ritual feelings. Either one would feel like they'd failed to protect/heal the other, and might have quite a bit to say about that, given how ready Beau is to die for her friends and how convinced Jester was she'd failed Beau in the final Obann battle.
• Beau dealing with her crush. It was a misunderstanding in that episode she almost didn't room with Jester, but how would things play out if Beau really did try distancing herself from Jester?
• Accomplishing a heist/scheme together! Whether it's infiltrating a fancy party or breaking into a dungeon as a duo, it'd be cool to see their skillsets build on each other. Also a possible opportunity for fake dating.
• The Traveler. He could be a real point of tension between them. Jester mostly still thinks he's everything, and Beau thinks very little of him. I could see that blowing up spectacularly between the two of them with some careless words, and the two of them having to negotiate/resolve that.

Haikyuu

Freeform Tags: Canon-Style Plot, Getting Together, Humor,

Canon-specific DNW: Kiyoko/Tanaka

A volleyball anime/manga with a lot of heart and wonderful characters and it's funny as hell. I consume both the anime and manga, so don't worry about references that might be in one but not the other. Everyone's great, but Karasuno's definitely my favorite team, with their rebuilding and underdog story.

For both these pairings, I'd be interested in them meeting back up as adults after falling out of touch. Of course, I'd also enjoy school-era fic with their current dynamics. It's up to you how you want to handle sexuality in Haikyuu's Japan, as long as sexuality angst itself isn't the crux of the fic - I don't care for internalized homophobia or any of their fellow teammates/coaches being homophobes, but I don't mind not knowing each other's sexuality being a factor in the pining, them keeping things secret from some friends/family, or it simply being a factor in how they arrange their adult lives. Alternatively, it could just be a non-issue completely!

Kiyoko/Yachi

The best managers. Kiyoko is quietly but fiercely devoted to the team, and the little reveal of her being a hurdler in middle school made so much sense and was an utter joy to watch. Yachi using the assistant manager job as a way to claim being the protagonist of her own story was very endearing. Their dynamic is a delight, with Yachi accidentally saying yes to the job in the face of Kiyoko's...everything, and how Kiyoko too has gained something from Yachi's presence as well. Their bath scene in both the latest anime season and in the manga is really lovely and full of feels <3

Prompts

• Keeping in touch while Kiyoko's in university. Maybe they text sometimes, or Yachi occasionally visits and stays the night, and the proximity leads to someone confessing/making a move.
• Passing the job on. There could be a bunch of final logistics/information/procedures Kiyoko has to pass on before she graduates, which is an excellent excuse for the two of them to be hanging out without the volleyball guys around.
• Slow burn. They start hanging out without volleyball-related reasons, almost by accident, and before they know they're suddenly spending a lot of time together, just the two of them.

Hinata/Kageyama

Freak-quick monsters who I could watch be idiots or be amazing at volleyball together all day. I love Hinata's never-ending energy and stubbornness to improve himself, from his pre-high school practicing to his post-graduation Brazil plan. I love that Kageyama is a genius at volleyball but not much anything else, his brusque manner, and the awkward way her remakes himself at Karasuno. The two of them continually push each other to be better, learn more of each other's quirks and could probably eat out an entire restaurant as the only customers, ha.

Prompts

• 3rd years. The manga montage made me want to know so much more about their final year at Karasuno. I'd love a story where they get together along the same timeline they make it the farthest in Nationals they ever have before, and all the triumphs and frustrations that go with that, whether they decide to break things off after graduation or somehow stay together.
• Dating as (semi-functional) adults. How does it work when you're on opposite teams and you really want to defeat the other dumbass?? Or if you're both on the Olympic team together??
• Other jobs. I wouldn't mind a canon-divergence AU where they meet up again as adults and either/neither is a professional volleyball player - maybe they got injured, or couldn't make the cut, or just found a different career as a passion. They probably still watch/coach somehow, but I'd like to see what brings them together in those lives.

The Strange Case of Starship Iris

Freeform tags: Action/Adventure, Angst, AU-Canon Divergence, Canon-Style Plot, Established Relationship, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort

Canon-specific DNW: Use of the actors' names as aliases/etc, Arkady wearing a dress/makeup

A space opera podcast about the crew of a small smuggling ship finding themselves unraveling a government conspiracy. Found family feels, romance and purple aliens abound. There's a 10 episode season and 1 minisode out, with transcripts for the season here

I adore everyone on this show, and will be happy with the appearance of any of the crew, but I especially adore the four characters in my requests. Arkady is clearly very good at the three things she mentions (hacking, fighting, lying), but kind of a disaster at regular human interaction, so protective of the crew under feigned irreverence and so fond of stories with happy endings. Violet presses through sincerely all this chaos that's upended her life, as anxious and snarky as she gets, and slowly comes to feel at home with the crew. Sana's a genuinely good and caring captain with a firm core to her, unwilling to risk her crew in a way that makes her a threat. Park is ordinarily complicit until Zone Z happens to him, and still manages to keep a dry sense of humor about it all.

For all of these guys, the IGR/random other criminals being very terrible to them, and then the crew being very nice to them, is a genre I'm always here for.

Agent Park

Boring agent man that I'm very attached to. I like how he suddenly becomes part of the story he's logging, and that even then, clearly knowledgeable about how the IGR works, he makes a point to protect McCabe. It's like a sad remnant of solidarity that the IGR hasn't managed to eliminate. I'm most interested in his interactions with McCabe (they look to him as such an example!), Sana (new style of leadership + he remembered her "Lenny" joke even after Zone Z) or Violet (the person he's been reporting on from the beginning), but seeing him bounce of the rest of the crew would also be great.

Ship-wise, I'd be down for Park/Sana or the entertaining potential of Park/Brian/Krejjh, but I'd rather the ship not be the overwhelming focus of the fic.

Prompts

• Zone Z. Anything exploring his time there: him learning exactly what goes on there, getting interrogated, how he got his various injuries - which were from punishments, or experiments, or both, for instance - and finally, other Violet's people somehow getting in contact with him.
• Adjusting to his post-finale life. He sounds like he's spent years living the good IGR life, then had a very short, very painful time in Zone Z. He might betray himself with ingrained instincts: Taking responsibility for a mistake of McCabe's, being careful about what he says about the captain when she's not around, twitching internally when regulations are broken. Or he could be surprised by McCabe or someone else looking out for him in turn.
• A Rumor-crew style scheme! Something more light-hearted than the finale scheme, where he gets to be very competent in some very illegal shenanigans while making dry remarks about the whole thing.
• AU first meeting. The Rumor crew are exploring/taking down Zone Z, for whatever reason, and stumble across a very injured man, who none of them have met before...but he seems to recognize their voices and knows their name. Park wonders if he's hallucinating. Other AU-first-meeting scenarios would be cool too.

Violet/Arkady

I enjoy how Violet's weird sincerity throws Arkady off-balance, how they clash with words in ways that bring them closer together, their shared morbid senses of humor, how impressed by each other's competencies they are. Their sometimes awkward misunderstandings and resolutions of those are excellent, every time. I love their getting together conversation in the S1 finale - I'm equally okay with going with it or pretending it didn't happen for fic purposes.

Prompts

• One hurt to make the other talk. Whichever way around works for me. The finale moment was good, but I wouldn't mind something more drawn out, with them arguing with each other about who should get hurt/who they can afford to get hurt, with comfort once they escape or are rescued. Could be the fault of the IGR, Dwarnian mobs, random mercs, take your pick.
• Attempts to date on the Iris 2. Hilarious to awkward to heartwarming to anywhere in between. They probably have equally awkward relationship conversations as they do pre-relationship, and given that they both have important roles on the ship, they might get interrupted more than they like.
• Slower burn. Violet doesn't confess, and without the adrenaline rush of Plan B's success, the two of them revert to their usual not-making-a-move idiocy. What's holding each of them back? How does it get resolved? A mission/job where they have to work together, a ship malfunction trapping them in a small room, etc.
• Secret relationship. On the other hand, what if they'd gotten together between learning about the nanoswarm and actually getting rid of the nanoswarm? But neither of them want to give the IGR any more ammunition, so they somehow do so without anything too audibly clear, and all the difficulties that entail. They might also keep it secret from Sana, Brian and Krejjh, and which means even more sneaking around and shenanigans.

Arkady & Sana or Arkady/Sana

God, I love how much history there is between them, the sincerity with which Sana calls Arkady her best friend and depends on her even as she worries about having her do the dirty work, how clearly Arkady believes in what she says about taking a bullet for Sana being the best thing she could do with her life and the way she says "I knew her. She didn't know me" about their time in Cresswin. They both have such different takes on the world, but they get each other.

Prompts

• Early days on the Rumor. Arkady must have been even pricklier back then, maybe actually tight-lipped, and I'd love to see that slow unthawing, as Sana proves just how good she is, and Arkady's defenses get replaced with the kind of loyalty we see from her during canon.
• FWB. I think they make a good pair for friends-with-benefits to something serious, perhaps aided at the beginning with some moonshine or the adrenaline rush of a job completed. Arkady's convinced herself that sleeping with the captain is somehow very separate from her very intense feelings about dying for said captain. Sana has fun with Arkady and doesn't push for more, even if some part of her might want it. What might make them get over that hump?
• Loyalty kink. At what point does Sana realize how obviously Arkady would die for her? What could happen to make Arkady realize that Sana's quite protective of her too, that this isn't a one-way street?
• Cresswin memories. Someone who arrived on Cresswin as an adult may have different memories of the place than someone who was born and bred there. It could be funny or sad to explore where their memories overlap, and where they diverge, especially keeping in mind that Arkady knew of Sana back then, but Sana has no memory of her from then.

Violet/Arkady/Sana

I've addressed the other ships above, but I'm also fascinated by the Violet/Sana angle. The quick "yes" of understanding from Sana when Violet asks if she's ever been able to taste the disrespect someone has for you, the crew jacket that does mean something to Violet, how even Sana manages to be out-earnested by Violet's job application speech. I like seeing them interact more.

As a trio, I love how obvious to Violet the Arkady-Sana connection is that she's unsurprised by the Cresswin story, and that Sana has her own sort of quiet glee at Violet/Arkady.

Prompts

• Pining + established relationship. Violet convinced there's no place for her in the shared history of Arkady/Sana, or Sana as captain being happy for Violet/Arkady and pushing her own inconvenient feelings aside. An excellent opportunity for fake dating with Violet/Sana, if you're inclinations lay that way.
• Violet is perceptive and interrogatory at times, and Sana is deft at deflecting from her personal feelings to crew feelings. I'd love to see that clash, and what Arkady's response to that might be.
• The three of them get captured for interrogation by the IGR. Does the IGR try to use them against each other? How do they get out of this situation, or at least endure till they get rescued? Do they each, in different ways, try to keep the agents' attentions on themselves?
• Cresswin AU. The bad timeline where Cresswin never shuts down, and Violet Liu accidentally angers the wrong IGR official and gets sent there as an adult. How does her meeting with these versions of Arkady and Sana go, and how has the longer imprisonment affected the latter two? Do they work together to make an uprising happen?

Tacoma

Freeform Tags: Action/Adventure, Character Development, Hurt/Comfort, Science Fiction

Another great 3-4 hour game from Fullbright Studios, where you play Amitjyoti "Amy" Ferrir exploring an evacuated space station. I love how the gameplay and AR records makes the player invested in the crew and ODIN. And for me at least, by the end of it I was invested in Amy too. ODIN is so protective of his crew, as trapped by circumstance as he is, and I love how Sareh, past the guilt and the panic, truly rises to the occasion in the way she knows best.

I wouldn't mind more sci-fi elements/world-building, either. Exploring the station was so viscerally satisfying, be it floating, or the magnetic boot and glove transitions between the hub and a pod, or peering into folks' AR desktops.

ODIN & Sareh Hasmadi

They have a great friendship - ODIN knowing how to respond to Sareh's panic attack, the way Sareh is the one person of the crew who treats him the most like a person.

Prompts

• Them getting to know each other over that first year. Sareh's only previously mentioned AI interactions was with the medical one, and that didn't end well. There's a book by a third AI on mindfulness found in her room. Was she wary about talking to ODIN? Comfortable but distrusting? ODIN's apparently a pretty old AI, so how usual or unusual was Sareh's friendship to him?
• Being reunited after the game's events. I'd love to see them catch up and be able to speak openly to each other about Venturis for the first time. Or even comfort each other about how close they each came to non-existence.

ODIN & Amitjyoti Ferrier

I spent the final moments of the game desperately hoping the player would get to make a choice about keeping ODIN from Venturis - you can imagine my delight at the final reveal. I love that Amy was playing the long con as a subcontractor, and yet am also curious as to her motivations for watching the AR recordings.

Prompts

• Adventures in dodging whatever Venturis sends after them! I'm sure Venturis wouldn't let their AI go quietly, and that Amy must have accounted for that, and ODIN has some opinions on the whole matter.
• As old as ODIN is, what does it feel like to be offered for the first time a choice like the one Amy gives him? It could lead to some interesting conversations with a human who really does believe self-determination is a right he has. Maybe ODIN could learn what brought Amy to the AILF.
• Updates on the crew. ODIN spends the entire game trying to convince Amy the lives of his crew have value - I'm sure he'd really like to know how they're doing, and Amy could have those answers.