Dear Fic in a Box Creator,
Sep. 3rd, 2023 03:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
paleomnesisI'm looking forward to seeing whatever you create for me - I've put in some prompts for specific media, but I'd be thrilled with fic or for a few fandoms, your choice of media too! (in the case of my AU requests, I'd be perfectly fine with media that reflect if you've changed that setting over as long as it's cohesive).
Casablanca (1942)
Rick Blaine/Victor Laszlo (Casablanca)
One's a gruff, secretly noble guy who pretends not to give a damn, but has a history of very much giving a damn about doing the right thing,. The other's the embodiment of hope and truth, beloved by all to the point that even the villains respect him. Together they fight Nazis, most likely get turned on by each other's past heroism, and probably have their biggest quarrels over who gets to sacrifice themselves this time! It's been a while since I've requested this and received a lovely story for it, but I was reminded of how much I adored it recently!
I do really love the two of them together, so I'd love to see something where they get their own happy ending. Maybe it's set after the war is over with them still fighting the remnants of the Nazi regime by tracking down the ones that fled and bringing them to justice? Or maybe it's a divergence where Victor and Rick met from the beginning or neither hooked up with Elsa and now all the emotional baggage is shared between the two of them and their differing philosophies on the Resistance? I'd also take something completely AU – co-pilots trying to cancel the apocalypse! Fighting the evil space empire (because those always exist)! Or just a simple one where maybe Victor's the client that keeps getting death threats and Rick's the one that keeps trying to save his noble ass!
DNWs: No animal harm, extreme underage, scat/watersports, no focus on unrequested pairings involving nominated characters (mentions of past canon relationships are fine), no permanent nominated character death (character transformation/resurrection is fine). If you do include Ilsa in the story, please have her either never having hooked up with them, or having had an amicable break-up (please don't kill her off or make her into a villain.)
Opt In Medium Prompts:
Medium Opt-In: Art - Propaganda Poster
This just seems like a perfect fit for this – there's plenty of amazing posters out there in various archives that could serve as inspiration (apparently, more than 200,000 were produced for the U.S.) or if you already have an idea of what would work, that'd be great too!
Medium Opt-In: Audio - FST (Fan Soundtrack)
Oh, FST comm on LJ, I miss you so – I'd love a soundtrack for this pairing (bonus points if it involves period-appropriate music!)
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - In-Universe Exhibition Catalogue
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - In-Universe Scrapbook
These two sort of go hand in hand – the idea that objects or writings of a sort, scraps of a life that separate might have little meaning, but put together, tell a story that's more than the sum of its parts.
Medium Opt-In: Instructions - Cocktail Recipes
Some of my favorite drinks come from this era, so I'd love anything that would feel right at home in Rick's.
Medium Opt-In: Writing – Epistolary
Letters written as they travel the world, punching Nazis and pining over each other because the war has to be their top priority?
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In Universe Classified Documents
How would the government react to some of the things that Victor and Rick get up to? Would there be some attempt to use them once it was realized how effective they were?
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Magazine Article
I'd love any type of magazine or range of dates – maybe it's something in Life about a couple of notable war heroes, or maybe it's a retrospective decades later on Medium as someone unearths a piece of history that recontextualizes a relationship.
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Memoir
How would either one of them write about their experiences years later (or how would both?)
Dark City (1998)
John Murdoch/Daniel Schreber (Dark City)
WB: The Creation of the City (Dark City)
Murdoch/Schreber: Any relationship that basically has one character inserting themselves into all of the other's memories just to make them the savior of humanity has got attention and adoration. I really loved how John and Daniel grew from wariness to grudging allies to pretty much the most important person in each other's lives by the end and I'd love to see something that plays with that. What must it be like, knowing someone for all your life and realizing that not only do you not really know them at all, they don't know themselves either? How do you deal after you've won and you're basically a god, capable of bending anything to your will and perhaps fearing what that sort of power will do to you?
Worldbuilding: While I do love the characters in this story, I'm deeply fascinated by how the city came to be – one doesn't just seize upon the 1940s noir style as an alien race just on a whim. What drew them to create a city like this and were there attempts made before with different styles/periods of time ? Perhaps there are other cities like this that either failed and were destroyed or still exist as ghost “towns,” abandoned like the humans that were meant to be kept there were too. And the Strangers, how did they decide who would fulfill each role at the beginning and how they would rotate both identities and relationships? It would be really fascinating to see other characters not explored in the film – the people who haven't awakened to who they are or perhaps the ones who did far too soon and paid the price. Or the Strangers, the ones that were tasked with the more mundane, minor details – did any rebel against what they were doing, either because they valued their creations more than the grand plan, or because they didn't value them at all?
DNWs: No animal harm, extreme underage, scat/watersports, no focus on unrequested pairings involving nominated characters (mentions of past canon relationships are fine), no permanent nominated character death (transformation/resurrections are fine and OC death is fine).
Opt In Medium Prompts:
Medium Opt-In: Art - Location Interior Design
There's a lot of places we see in the city – what might one of the ones we don't see explored look like?
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - Excerpts from a Journal/Notebook/Sketchbook
Medium Opt-In: Writing – In-Universe Scientific Documents
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - In-Universe Scrapbook
Schreber is one of the few to actually keep his memory while the city shifts around him – what might he choose to preserve above all else? How does he document what experiments work and which ones fail?
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - In-Universe Advertisement
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - In-Universe Exhibition Catalogue
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Advice Column
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Transcript of Podcast or Radio Show
I'm just fascinated by what living in a city that constantly changes might be like. Are there any things that stay permanent or is memory a constantly fallible thing? Does the advice change when the partner or the advice-giver does? How do you get something to stick in someone's brain when everything resets all the time?
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - In-Universe Travel Literature
Medium Opt-In: Unique Rules - Map: City
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Travelogue
“Arriving at each new city, the traveler finds again a past of his that he did not know he had: the foreignness of what you no longer are or no longer possess lies in wait for you in foreign, unpossessed places.” – Italo Calvino
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Mythology
If The Strangers are gone, what sort of story is told about the man who replaced them?
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Non-Linear Narrative
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Rashomon (1950)-style Conflicting Narratives
There's so much uncertain ground and unreliable narration in the story that I feel Shell Beach is almost unnecessary – everything is built on shifting sand.
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Theatre Script – Play
I have no idea how this would work, but I am deeply intrigued by what might come of it.
The Fugitive (Movies)
Samuel Gerard/Richard Kimble (The Fugitive)
I just found myself rewatching the other day and oh, wow, did this bring back some fond memories! Just all of Sam and Richard's interactions are so good – the way Sam keeps insisting he doesn't care and is just doing his job and by the end everyone around them is like, sure, Sam, that's why you're going to all this trouble to keep him alive (the novelization of this movie really just goes for the gold in slashiness with all its significant soul-searching looks between the two). And Richard, constantly torn between wanting to run from the one man who can catch him and still needing him to believe in him because no one else can understand how he thinks.
There's so many things that I'd love. Anything set after the movie would be great – Sam and Richard dealing with the new dynamic of no longer being pursuer and pursued, and having to figure out what that means. (I'm familiar with the second movie, but I have no strong feelings about it so feel free to use or ignore as much of that canon as you would like). I'd also love a canon divergence where maybe Sam ends up getting injured during the chase and Richard has to save his life – how does that impact the rest of the film if Sam owes his life to the man he's chasing as a killer? Or even something where Sam knew Richard before the events of the film and of course, he knows he's got to stay out of this mess except Richard and his own feelings, damn them, keep drawing him back.
DNWs: No animal harm, extreme underage, scat/watersports, no focus on unrequested pairings involving nominated characters (mentions of past canon relationships are fine), no permanent nominated character death (character transformation/resurrection is fine).
Opt In Medium Prompts:
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - In-Universe Tabloid Article
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Gifset & Writing) - In-Universe Newspaper Article
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Magazine Article
Any sort of in-universe coverage would be great – how would the Kimble trial, escape, and reveal of the true killer have been covered in the media? How would the NY Times coverage differ from say, the National Enquirer? Would there be a longform piece done years later on miscarriages of justice and how would the story change in the years since it first happened?
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Bureaucratic Paperwork
There had to have been a lot of paperwork involved after the end – getting Kimble's name cleared, setting up trials for Sykes and Nichols, reinstatement of Kimble's medical license plus possible restitution... the list goes on.
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Memoir
You know, a memoir from either one of them would be fascinating and a bestseller in-universe.
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Screenplay
The meta is real and hilarious and I'd love to see any take on this – competing TV movies of the week (back when they used to make them)? One of those generic action movies on Netflix? Someone gets a hold of it on the CW and now everyone's hot and way too young for their job, and I don't think Imagine Dragons is really the right choice for this scene but what do I know?
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Transcript of Podcast or Radio Show
The question is not if there's a podcast about the Kimble murder, the question is how many of them and who beat whom to the punch.
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Rashomon (1950)-style Conflicting Narratives
In other words, this movie because everyone seems to have a different perspective on what just happened.
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Reddit: In-Universe Reddit Post On Any Subreddit (Post + Replies)
You just know that some sort of history or crime subreddit would go into great detail on the Kimble case – maybe someone wondering, hey, what happened to that Kimble guy, and then the reddit would explode when it turns out that he and Gerard are... well, it's Reddit so they're already deleting and banning as we speak.
John Wick (Movies)
John Wick/Winston (John Wick)
Just when I think the series can't possibly give me any more of what I love – namely, badass fights, fine tailoring, and loyalty kink like you wouldn't believe, John Wick turns around and goes, oh, I'm sorry, did you think you were finished with me? Like seriously, these movies are just filled with all the kinds of things I adore, especially the bond between John and Winston. I just have always had a thing for mentor/protégé ships, especially when it involves classy suits, fine dining, and murder. There's just something about the way Winston and John interact that always made me want more - more tailoring, more teaching, more of the two of them just sitting and talking and ending up in a far too intimate relationship that everyone realizes is a terrible idea, but hey, that's what this series is made of .
I'd love something where Winston really is just faking John's death at the end of the fourth movie, or John survives but it's touch and go, just anything where John survives his death even if it means it's not a tragically poetic ending. Also, I've had so many great stories that have given me cool twists on canon and I'll happily devour more! Maybe John ends up working for the Continental under Winston and he becomes privy to Winston's grand schemes that way. Or maybe something where Helen was the assassin, not John, and after her death, John starts researching her background.
DNWs: No animal harm, extreme underage, scat/watersports, no focus on unrequested pairings involving nominated characters (mentions of past canon relationships are fine and if you want to refer to past Winston/Charon, I wouldn't say no), no permanent nominated character death (transformations are fine). Also, I'd prefer nothing specifically related to The Continental TV show.
Opt In Medium Prompts:
Medium Opt-In: Art - Coat of Arms/Heraldic Crest
Medium Opt-In: Art - Playing Card
Medium Opt-In: Art - Stained Glass
This movie series is such a visual feast that revels in juxtaposing the modern with the very old and I'd love something that plays with that – stained glass windows of saints that eerily close to certain characters? A deck of cards (marked all the way)? A coat of arms because they
Medium Opt-In: Art - Costume Design
Medium Opt-In: Art - Floorplan/Architectural Style Drawing
Medium Opt-In: Art - Weapon Schematics
More stylish stuff related to the movies! They're all about the suits in this movie, so I'd love to see something that explores the very tailored world of assassination. Also, weapons, because yes, that is something as equally polished. And hey, we see a lot of the NY branch of The Continental in the film, but maybe there's some nooks and crannies the films haven't explored yet?
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - Official Workplace Documentation
There are rules for everything, and forms as well, and if you get injured on the job, the paperwork is probably the more excruciating part.
Medium Opt-In: Instructions - Cocktail Recipes
Yes, please – what kind of custom beverages have the bartenders at The Continental come up with and how many of them were inspired by people just staring at John for an hour?
Medium Opt-In: Writing – Epistolary
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Personal Documents
This would probably be the heartbreaking category – what might John and Winston say in writing that they would never do out loud?
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Mythology
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Rashomon (1950)-style Conflicting Narratives
Because you know the Baba Yaga inspired a shit ton of stories, both from the people that know what he does and the people that just saw a dude in the suit stab someone in the throat with a pencil.
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Sequel To Previous Gift To Me By The Same Author
I've received so many great gifts in this fandom and any of them would be amazing to have more of!
Three Days of the Condor (1975)
G. Joubert/Joseph Turner (Three Days of the Condor (1975))
I'm kind of a sucker for these type of dynamics – suave, professional assassin hunting a less experienced, but more creative person on the run, who then meet face to face only to realize that they're not so different after all (even the non-assassin doesn't want to admit it). And Three Days of the Condor is just so great with this! I love Joubert, all classy and calm, growing to respect and possibly even root for Turner (that last speech he gives him is just perfect). Then there's Turner, outwitting everyone until the very end, rejecting Joubert's advice, but not his gun, because there's always that car and that day and both of them know it. I'd love to have something more with the two of them – we really don't get nearly enough in the movie with them together, which is such a shame.
There's a lot of ground that could be covered after the movie – it's left deliberately ambiguous as to whether anything will be revealed or if the truth will just be buried. Does Turner get himself in a situation he can't get out of on his own (that car ride to nowhere) and Joubert ends up saving his life? Or does it all come out and—nothing happens, nothing changes, and now Turner has to reckon with that (perhaps Joubert helps him do so in more hospitable surroundings?) Or I'd love a canon divergence where Turner had taken Joubert up on his offer – maybe out of desperation, maybe because he thought he could expose a larger conspiracy, but in either case, there they are jetsetting around the world, training in the field of professional assassination. An AU would be fun too – conspiracies are so much harder to take down when the opposition can literally wave a wand and make it all go away.
DNWs: No animal harm, extreme underage, scat/watersports, no focus on unrequested pairings involving nominated characters (mentions of past canon relationships are fine), no permanent nominated character death (transformation/resurrections are fine).
Opt In Medium Prompts:
Medium Opt-In: Any - Creator's Choice: 3+ Diff In-Universe Mediums/Work That Fit The Canon Setting
There's a lot of fun to be had here with all the different factions in this series.
Medium Opt-In: Art - Conspiracy Board
Hey, maybe it's a completely different conspiracy instead? There's plenty of them to go around.
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - Bureaucratic Paperwork
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In Universe Classified Documents
I'm sure the CIA produces plenty of unnecessary paperwork that's never supposed to see the light of day, but I also am sure that at least some of it would be because there'd be notes written on it going, “so, I think Joubert might have a thing for this guy, should we check into it?”
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - In-Universe Magazine Article
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Newspaper Article
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Transcript of Podcast or Radio Show
The film ends with Turner trying to get his story out to the public, which seems doomed to fail or if it succeeds, get him killed, so I'd be interested in anything that runs the gamut of those possible responses. Does he get some version out that's not quite right, but close to it? Does it take years for even a fraction of the real truth to be unearthed?
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Epistolary
I'd love to see Joubert corresponding with Turner, perhaps sending him jovial letters and postcards and trying to tempt him to pack it all up and come to Europe.
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Memoir
I'm not entirely sure Joubert would ever publish a memoir, given the crimes he would have to admit to, but perhaps he has an unfinished manuscript lying around, or maybe it's Turner that gets his own story out (or also left unpublished, because certain people need to make sure it never sees the light of day).
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Rashomon (1950)-style Conflicting Narratives
I imagine that Joubert and Turner would see certain incidents in completely different ways, or even those watching them – you know that Atwood definitely didn't see the same thing that Joubert did.
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Sequel To Previous Gift To Me By The Same Author
I've already received one lovely gift in this fandom and I'd love more of it!
Original Work
Older Reluctant Ex-Hero Turned To Villainy/Younger Eager New Partner With Big Plans (M/M) (OW)
So this is one of those things that's just been percolating in my brain for a while and you know what, I'm just going to go ahead and pour myself a cup of it. I just can't get over the idea of this older hero that's forced to become the thing he used to fight against. Maybe he got betrayed by other heroes, who saw him as an aging liability, too soft against the villains he was supposed to be crushing, and they set him up in a hopeless position. Or maybe he just left on his own, having lost everything in his life but his work, only to realize that there was now no one to support him when he started to fall. In either case, he's in a prime position for a plucky young and up coming villain to come along and scoop him up (maybe even literally, there are giant robots and psychic powers out there).
I'd love any kind of set-up for their partnership here – maybe it's an actual bureaucratically mandated one where the ex-hero has no choice because his contract was sold to the villains and he could break it, but Bad Things would happen if he did . Or maybe it's more freelance and he joins up with this rising star of supervillainy, thinking maybe he's there to foil their plans and get his old life back (little does he know, that their plans always involved him from the start and they'll take much better care of them than those others did). I just really want something where this ex-hero just feels like he's at the bottom, while the new villain is like, oh, but that's where the real fun starts.
DNWs: No animal harm, extreme underage, scat/watersports, no focus on unrequested pairings involving nominated characters (mentions of past canon relationships are fine), no permanent nominated character death (transformation/resurrections are fine).
Opt In Medium Prompts:
Medium Opt-In: Art - Costume Design
What might their costumes look like – how would our older ex-hero's change as he went into villainy and did our younger partner go through a few trial runs of his own?
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - Bureaucratic Paperwork
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Mission Report
It doesn't matter if you're a hero or a villain, there's always paperwork to fill out (at least when you're a villain, you can turn it in late and then just say “screw you, that's why” and have that be an acceptable excuse).
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - In-Universe Tabloid Article
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Action Figure Packaging Bio
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Fan letters
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe RPF
Just any of the reactions that might occur with the ex-hero going over to the villainous side. Would their action figure be pulled from the market only to be reissued in a different line? Would the fan letters shift tone as their target demographic changed? Is it cool to ship this couple since there's an age gap and why is most of the fic being produced by this one guy (it's kind of creepy how much he knows about them?)
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Internet Forum Posts
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Reddit: In-Universe r/Relationships Post (Post + Replies)
Hey, I have this “friend” that I'd like to be more than friends with, but they're having a tough time in life lately. I think they'll realize how important they are to me if I vaporize their ex? That's cool, right?
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Interview
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Memoir
I'd love to see contrasts over time – maybe someone looking back over how they were first starting out and realizing much later how much they still had left to learn.
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Rashomon (1950)-style Conflicting Narratives
The ex-hero thinks one thing is happening, his partner knows it's another, and those that witness it see something else quite different.
Squid Game (TV 2021)
Hwang Inho | Front Man/Hwang Junho (Squid Game)
This show hits all the right things for me - the reveal that the enemy you've been fighting all this time is your brother? And he's trying to get you to join him? And he's messed-up and kind of evil and damn it, played by Lee Byong-hun? Well, that's just going to hit all the right buttons. I like Jun-ho, too. In any other show, he'd be the hero, but instead, he's the side plot that sort of just... well, falls off a cliff. But before that, we get to him basically do anything to find his brother and that level of devotion (obsession) is both admirable and in the world of Squid Game, really unfortunate.
I'd love something about the two of them and their close relationship – how their connection seems to be their greatest weakness and yet neither one of them really can give it up because it's all tied up in love and loyalty and what you owe to the other person and when murder games get involved, it does tend to mean that people make terrible decisions that are still, often the least terrible of what they can do. Canon divergence is great here – maybe a Junho who entered the games as a participant or Inho just took him along before he could even cause any problems in the first place? Also, vampires.
DNWs: No animal harm, extreme underage, scat/watersports, no focus on unrequested pairings involving nominated characters (mentions of past canon relationships are fine), no permanent nominated character death (transformation/resurrections are fine).
Opt In Medium Prompts:
Medium Opt-In: Art - Costume Design
Medium Opt-In: Art - Location Interior Design
Everything is an aesthetic there, even murder and I wonder how it would change from game to game, or in the off-time, when the games are not being run..
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Internet Forum Posts
I could picture a world where Junho decides to float the idea out about what might have happened to his brother and the responses he gets are your usual ones – completely wrong conspiracy theories, people calling fake, even a few kernels of possible truth sprinkled in – and then... well, that would be telling.
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - Bureaucratic Paperwork
Medium Opt In: Writing - Legal Documents
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Medical Report
Medium Opt In: Writing - Official Workplace Documentation
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Psychological Evaluation Report
Oh, you know the paperwork here is so very specialized and stylish and utterly horrible and I'd love to see how Inho bringing Junho in would be handled.
Medium Opt In: Writing - In-Universe Personal Documents
I think there's a lot of unexplored history between when Inho played the game and when Junho showed up undercover and it would be interesting to explore that and/or something post-game.
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Non-Linear Narrative
Medium Opt In: Writing - Rashomon (1950)-style Conflicting Narratives
The essence of this show means I think these are natural fits – the idea that different people can see different things in the manner of how a game is conducted or how a person dies, or that time can lose meaning when you're trapped in a nightmarish reality.
XCOM (2012 Reboot Series)
John "Central" Bradford/Male Commander (XCOM)
I really do love these two and their utter devotion to each other. I mean, Bradford's loyalty is so obvious it could be seen from space – you don't spend that many years looking for your commander, shrug off a bullet to your shoulder, and then promptly abdicate the leadership of your organization to a guy basically out of brain surgery without having deep faith and complete trust in him. But I like to think the Commander sticks around, not just because the message of “save humanity and destroy ADVENT and win the day” is so strong, but also because Bradford is believing in him, willing to sacrifice everything to save him, and how could he not live up to what Bradford thinks he is?
There is so much I would love to see about the two of them and their relationship. Maybe something where they use a more subtle conditioning on the Commander and Bradford has to break through his brainwashing to save him? Or maybe ADVENT takes Bradford because they know what he means to the Commander and now the Commander is torn between doing what Bradford would want him to do (ignore him, go kill aliens) or do what his heart wants him to do instead (kill aliens, rescue Bradford, kill more aliens for daring to take him in the first place). Or ooh, they're captured together and have to escape and it's made slightly more difficult by the fact that they both keep trying to take the bullet for the other one (you know Geist is sensing this and mentally rolling his eyes deeply before he dispatches his Templars).
DNWs: No animal harm, extreme underage, scat/watersports, no focus on unrequested pairings involving nominated characters (mentions of past canon relationships are fine), no permanent nominated character death (transformation/resurrections are fine).
Opt In Medium Prompts:
Medium Opt-In: Art - Propaganda Poster
Right, so these posters are canon, and yet we have no bonded posters featuring the Commander and Bradford making out over an alien? Sacrilege!
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - Mission Report
Oh, no, most of them would involve “and then someone shot at one of the fuel tanks and now everything's on fire.”
Medium Opt-In: Unique Rules - In-Universe Spreadsheet - Expense Report
I really want to know how XCOM funds itself, because there seem to be unlimited grenades for the taking and I have no idea how the Resistance drops pay for that.
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Epistolary
The letters to each other get longer and longer until Shen reminds everyone that she technically has to review everything that goes through the firewall on their system and her eyes can only take so much and there are now hotels for that kind of thing that don't have lamps that spy on you.
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Memoir
Bradford's would be 95% about the Commander and 5% telling utter bullshit lies.
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Mythology
Of course, the recruits have their own stories about the Commander, but what's even more interesting is that ADVENT does as well.
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - In-Universe Scientific Documents
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Bureaucratic Paperwork
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Medical Report
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Psychological Evaluation Report
The Commander's return brought with it quite a bit of evaluations and reports before he would be released, contrary to that really quick cutscene where you get to be in charge because Bradford waves his hand and says it's okay.
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Internet Forum Posts
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe RPF
They really should have seen it coming when they started recruiting all those specialists, but how were they to know that they'd set up such a thriving intranet with such posts as “Stop Eating My Food, You Dick!” and “Which One of Them Tops: Poll!”
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Screenplay
The story of XCOM, now on the big screen! Except the Commander doesn't remember Bradford being so young, or blonde, or having—well, the sweater does show off the cleavage now.
Far Cry 4
Ajay Ghale/Pagan Min (Far Cry 4)
Look, one of my things is that I have a horrible tendency to fall in love with the charismatic villain and want to defect to his side, no matter how shitty a person he is, because he often has pretty compelling arguments (and eyes). And in Far Cry 4, they made it even worse by being like “oh, everyone's morally gray and any choice you make will be terrible for someone,” so I think, can I stay with the guy who gives me free crab Rangoon, a helicopter ride, and basically cuts through all the bullshit to tell me how much of a dick my dad was? No? Damn it.
So I'd definitely love something where Ajay's on Pagan's side – he stuck around for the food? He realized that ruling Kyrat was going to be a shit-ton of work and enlisted Pagan? Pagan won and kept Ajay as a reluctant, but pampered hostage/captive. Or an even further back AU in which he met Pagan under different circumstances, ones that probably still ended up with Ajay running around getting almost murdered by honey badgers and eagles. Also, I'm deeply fond of the tag “If I Must Solve A Dozen Geopolitical Problems Just To Have Sex With You Then I Will,” so you know, there's that too. In regards to Pagan's relationship with Ishwari, I'm fine with it being referenced or even a source of mild angst/pining, but I don't want it to be “I loved her and now I will never move on from her and/or I will use you as a replacement and never love you” to Ajay.
DNWs: No animal harm (references to canon-level violence are fine), extreme underage, scat/watersports, no focus on unrequested pairings involving nominated characters (mentions of past canon relationships are fine), no permanent nominated character death (transformation/resurrections are fine).
Opt In Medium Prompts:
Medium Opt-In: Art - Propaganda Poster
Yeah, these would be something – I think Ajay would probably squint at his and then recoil in horror.
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - Excerpts from a Journal/Notebook/Sketchbook
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Epistolary
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Memoir
I would just love to see how Ajay would go from “I have no idea what's fucking going on” to “okay, I have a slight idea and everyone is insane” to “I am now with Kyrat and reality has no meaning.”
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - In-Universe Exhibition Catalogue
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - In-Universe Religious Text
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Mythology
How would Ajay become mythologized over the years as he rules Kyrat? Would there be stories about Pagan that also change over the years and how would the two of them be seen decades from when the game took place?
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - In-Universe Travel Literature
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Travelogue
I think most guides to Kyrat are pretty much “don't fucking do it unless you have a death wish and even then, it has to be a very specific wish (read: kink).”
Medium Opt-In: Unique Rules - In-Universe Spreadsheet - Expense Report
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Bureaucratic Paperwork
Well, at least we know for sure that Pagan's budget is NOT going to candles, so there's that, but the leather pants line item and the random wild animals are definitely eating up the budget (and someone should really try to get that paper away from the tiger).
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Internet Forum Posts
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe RPF
Pagan would be the sort to not only read the RPF, but come up with his own, because if they're going to do this, they're going to do it right. (Also, his arguments about the problematic “age gap” would be legendary).
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Screenplay
They definitely give Pagan a British accent, because how else are you supposed to know that he's EVIL! Ajay's still trying to figure out why “Ajay” has a sex scene every five minutes.
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Transcript of Podcast or Radio Show
Rabi Ray Rana has a special report on what's going on in Kyrat and someone's throwing their radio off the balcony by the end of it.
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Reddit: In-Universe r/AmITheAsshole Post (Post + Replies)
Yes.
Casablanca (1942)
Rick Blaine/Victor Laszlo (Casablanca)
One's a gruff, secretly noble guy who pretends not to give a damn, but has a history of very much giving a damn about doing the right thing,. The other's the embodiment of hope and truth, beloved by all to the point that even the villains respect him. Together they fight Nazis, most likely get turned on by each other's past heroism, and probably have their biggest quarrels over who gets to sacrifice themselves this time! It's been a while since I've requested this and received a lovely story for it, but I was reminded of how much I adored it recently!
I do really love the two of them together, so I'd love to see something where they get their own happy ending. Maybe it's set after the war is over with them still fighting the remnants of the Nazi regime by tracking down the ones that fled and bringing them to justice? Or maybe it's a divergence where Victor and Rick met from the beginning or neither hooked up with Elsa and now all the emotional baggage is shared between the two of them and their differing philosophies on the Resistance? I'd also take something completely AU – co-pilots trying to cancel the apocalypse! Fighting the evil space empire (because those always exist)! Or just a simple one where maybe Victor's the client that keeps getting death threats and Rick's the one that keeps trying to save his noble ass!
DNWs: No animal harm, extreme underage, scat/watersports, no focus on unrequested pairings involving nominated characters (mentions of past canon relationships are fine), no permanent nominated character death (character transformation/resurrection is fine). If you do include Ilsa in the story, please have her either never having hooked up with them, or having had an amicable break-up (please don't kill her off or make her into a villain.)
Opt In Medium Prompts:
Medium Opt-In: Art - Propaganda Poster
This just seems like a perfect fit for this – there's plenty of amazing posters out there in various archives that could serve as inspiration (apparently, more than 200,000 were produced for the U.S.) or if you already have an idea of what would work, that'd be great too!
Medium Opt-In: Audio - FST (Fan Soundtrack)
Oh, FST comm on LJ, I miss you so – I'd love a soundtrack for this pairing (bonus points if it involves period-appropriate music!)
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - In-Universe Exhibition Catalogue
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - In-Universe Scrapbook
These two sort of go hand in hand – the idea that objects or writings of a sort, scraps of a life that separate might have little meaning, but put together, tell a story that's more than the sum of its parts.
Medium Opt-In: Instructions - Cocktail Recipes
Some of my favorite drinks come from this era, so I'd love anything that would feel right at home in Rick's.
Medium Opt-In: Writing – Epistolary
Letters written as they travel the world, punching Nazis and pining over each other because the war has to be their top priority?
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In Universe Classified Documents
How would the government react to some of the things that Victor and Rick get up to? Would there be some attempt to use them once it was realized how effective they were?
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Magazine Article
I'd love any type of magazine or range of dates – maybe it's something in Life about a couple of notable war heroes, or maybe it's a retrospective decades later on Medium as someone unearths a piece of history that recontextualizes a relationship.
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Memoir
How would either one of them write about their experiences years later (or how would both?)
Dark City (1998)
John Murdoch/Daniel Schreber (Dark City)
WB: The Creation of the City (Dark City)
Murdoch/Schreber: Any relationship that basically has one character inserting themselves into all of the other's memories just to make them the savior of humanity has got attention and adoration. I really loved how John and Daniel grew from wariness to grudging allies to pretty much the most important person in each other's lives by the end and I'd love to see something that plays with that. What must it be like, knowing someone for all your life and realizing that not only do you not really know them at all, they don't know themselves either? How do you deal after you've won and you're basically a god, capable of bending anything to your will and perhaps fearing what that sort of power will do to you?
Worldbuilding: While I do love the characters in this story, I'm deeply fascinated by how the city came to be – one doesn't just seize upon the 1940s noir style as an alien race just on a whim. What drew them to create a city like this and were there attempts made before with different styles/periods of time ? Perhaps there are other cities like this that either failed and were destroyed or still exist as ghost “towns,” abandoned like the humans that were meant to be kept there were too. And the Strangers, how did they decide who would fulfill each role at the beginning and how they would rotate both identities and relationships? It would be really fascinating to see other characters not explored in the film – the people who haven't awakened to who they are or perhaps the ones who did far too soon and paid the price. Or the Strangers, the ones that were tasked with the more mundane, minor details – did any rebel against what they were doing, either because they valued their creations more than the grand plan, or because they didn't value them at all?
DNWs: No animal harm, extreme underage, scat/watersports, no focus on unrequested pairings involving nominated characters (mentions of past canon relationships are fine), no permanent nominated character death (transformation/resurrections are fine and OC death is fine).
Opt In Medium Prompts:
Medium Opt-In: Art - Location Interior Design
There's a lot of places we see in the city – what might one of the ones we don't see explored look like?
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - Excerpts from a Journal/Notebook/Sketchbook
Medium Opt-In: Writing – In-Universe Scientific Documents
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - In-Universe Scrapbook
Schreber is one of the few to actually keep his memory while the city shifts around him – what might he choose to preserve above all else? How does he document what experiments work and which ones fail?
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - In-Universe Advertisement
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - In-Universe Exhibition Catalogue
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Advice Column
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Transcript of Podcast or Radio Show
I'm just fascinated by what living in a city that constantly changes might be like. Are there any things that stay permanent or is memory a constantly fallible thing? Does the advice change when the partner or the advice-giver does? How do you get something to stick in someone's brain when everything resets all the time?
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - In-Universe Travel Literature
Medium Opt-In: Unique Rules - Map: City
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Travelogue
“Arriving at each new city, the traveler finds again a past of his that he did not know he had: the foreignness of what you no longer are or no longer possess lies in wait for you in foreign, unpossessed places.” – Italo Calvino
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Mythology
If The Strangers are gone, what sort of story is told about the man who replaced them?
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Non-Linear Narrative
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Rashomon (1950)-style Conflicting Narratives
There's so much uncertain ground and unreliable narration in the story that I feel Shell Beach is almost unnecessary – everything is built on shifting sand.
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Theatre Script – Play
I have no idea how this would work, but I am deeply intrigued by what might come of it.
The Fugitive (Movies)
Samuel Gerard/Richard Kimble (The Fugitive)
I just found myself rewatching the other day and oh, wow, did this bring back some fond memories! Just all of Sam and Richard's interactions are so good – the way Sam keeps insisting he doesn't care and is just doing his job and by the end everyone around them is like, sure, Sam, that's why you're going to all this trouble to keep him alive (the novelization of this movie really just goes for the gold in slashiness with all its significant soul-searching looks between the two). And Richard, constantly torn between wanting to run from the one man who can catch him and still needing him to believe in him because no one else can understand how he thinks.
There's so many things that I'd love. Anything set after the movie would be great – Sam and Richard dealing with the new dynamic of no longer being pursuer and pursued, and having to figure out what that means. (I'm familiar with the second movie, but I have no strong feelings about it so feel free to use or ignore as much of that canon as you would like). I'd also love a canon divergence where maybe Sam ends up getting injured during the chase and Richard has to save his life – how does that impact the rest of the film if Sam owes his life to the man he's chasing as a killer? Or even something where Sam knew Richard before the events of the film and of course, he knows he's got to stay out of this mess except Richard and his own feelings, damn them, keep drawing him back.
DNWs: No animal harm, extreme underage, scat/watersports, no focus on unrequested pairings involving nominated characters (mentions of past canon relationships are fine), no permanent nominated character death (character transformation/resurrection is fine).
Opt In Medium Prompts:
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - In-Universe Tabloid Article
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Gifset & Writing) - In-Universe Newspaper Article
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Magazine Article
Any sort of in-universe coverage would be great – how would the Kimble trial, escape, and reveal of the true killer have been covered in the media? How would the NY Times coverage differ from say, the National Enquirer? Would there be a longform piece done years later on miscarriages of justice and how would the story change in the years since it first happened?
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Bureaucratic Paperwork
There had to have been a lot of paperwork involved after the end – getting Kimble's name cleared, setting up trials for Sykes and Nichols, reinstatement of Kimble's medical license plus possible restitution... the list goes on.
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Memoir
You know, a memoir from either one of them would be fascinating and a bestseller in-universe.
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Screenplay
The meta is real and hilarious and I'd love to see any take on this – competing TV movies of the week (back when they used to make them)? One of those generic action movies on Netflix? Someone gets a hold of it on the CW and now everyone's hot and way too young for their job, and I don't think Imagine Dragons is really the right choice for this scene but what do I know?
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Transcript of Podcast or Radio Show
The question is not if there's a podcast about the Kimble murder, the question is how many of them and who beat whom to the punch.
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Rashomon (1950)-style Conflicting Narratives
In other words, this movie because everyone seems to have a different perspective on what just happened.
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Reddit: In-Universe Reddit Post On Any Subreddit (Post + Replies)
You just know that some sort of history or crime subreddit would go into great detail on the Kimble case – maybe someone wondering, hey, what happened to that Kimble guy, and then the reddit would explode when it turns out that he and Gerard are... well, it's Reddit so they're already deleting and banning as we speak.
John Wick (Movies)
John Wick/Winston (John Wick)
Just when I think the series can't possibly give me any more of what I love – namely, badass fights, fine tailoring, and loyalty kink like you wouldn't believe, John Wick turns around and goes, oh, I'm sorry, did you think you were finished with me? Like seriously, these movies are just filled with all the kinds of things I adore, especially the bond between John and Winston. I just have always had a thing for mentor/protégé ships, especially when it involves classy suits, fine dining, and murder. There's just something about the way Winston and John interact that always made me want more - more tailoring, more teaching, more of the two of them just sitting and talking and ending up in a far too intimate relationship that everyone realizes is a terrible idea, but hey, that's what this series is made of .
I'd love something where Winston really is just faking John's death at the end of the fourth movie, or John survives but it's touch and go, just anything where John survives his death even if it means it's not a tragically poetic ending. Also, I've had so many great stories that have given me cool twists on canon and I'll happily devour more! Maybe John ends up working for the Continental under Winston and he becomes privy to Winston's grand schemes that way. Or maybe something where Helen was the assassin, not John, and after her death, John starts researching her background.
DNWs: No animal harm, extreme underage, scat/watersports, no focus on unrequested pairings involving nominated characters (mentions of past canon relationships are fine and if you want to refer to past Winston/Charon, I wouldn't say no), no permanent nominated character death (transformations are fine). Also, I'd prefer nothing specifically related to The Continental TV show.
Opt In Medium Prompts:
Medium Opt-In: Art - Coat of Arms/Heraldic Crest
Medium Opt-In: Art - Playing Card
Medium Opt-In: Art - Stained Glass
This movie series is such a visual feast that revels in juxtaposing the modern with the very old and I'd love something that plays with that – stained glass windows of saints that eerily close to certain characters? A deck of cards (marked all the way)? A coat of arms because they
Medium Opt-In: Art - Costume Design
Medium Opt-In: Art - Floorplan/Architectural Style Drawing
Medium Opt-In: Art - Weapon Schematics
More stylish stuff related to the movies! They're all about the suits in this movie, so I'd love to see something that explores the very tailored world of assassination. Also, weapons, because yes, that is something as equally polished. And hey, we see a lot of the NY branch of The Continental in the film, but maybe there's some nooks and crannies the films haven't explored yet?
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - Official Workplace Documentation
There are rules for everything, and forms as well, and if you get injured on the job, the paperwork is probably the more excruciating part.
Medium Opt-In: Instructions - Cocktail Recipes
Yes, please – what kind of custom beverages have the bartenders at The Continental come up with and how many of them were inspired by people just staring at John for an hour?
Medium Opt-In: Writing – Epistolary
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Personal Documents
This would probably be the heartbreaking category – what might John and Winston say in writing that they would never do out loud?
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Mythology
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Rashomon (1950)-style Conflicting Narratives
Because you know the Baba Yaga inspired a shit ton of stories, both from the people that know what he does and the people that just saw a dude in the suit stab someone in the throat with a pencil.
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Sequel To Previous Gift To Me By The Same Author
I've received so many great gifts in this fandom and any of them would be amazing to have more of!
Three Days of the Condor (1975)
G. Joubert/Joseph Turner (Three Days of the Condor (1975))
I'm kind of a sucker for these type of dynamics – suave, professional assassin hunting a less experienced, but more creative person on the run, who then meet face to face only to realize that they're not so different after all (even the non-assassin doesn't want to admit it). And Three Days of the Condor is just so great with this! I love Joubert, all classy and calm, growing to respect and possibly even root for Turner (that last speech he gives him is just perfect). Then there's Turner, outwitting everyone until the very end, rejecting Joubert's advice, but not his gun, because there's always that car and that day and both of them know it. I'd love to have something more with the two of them – we really don't get nearly enough in the movie with them together, which is such a shame.
There's a lot of ground that could be covered after the movie – it's left deliberately ambiguous as to whether anything will be revealed or if the truth will just be buried. Does Turner get himself in a situation he can't get out of on his own (that car ride to nowhere) and Joubert ends up saving his life? Or does it all come out and—nothing happens, nothing changes, and now Turner has to reckon with that (perhaps Joubert helps him do so in more hospitable surroundings?) Or I'd love a canon divergence where Turner had taken Joubert up on his offer – maybe out of desperation, maybe because he thought he could expose a larger conspiracy, but in either case, there they are jetsetting around the world, training in the field of professional assassination. An AU would be fun too – conspiracies are so much harder to take down when the opposition can literally wave a wand and make it all go away.
DNWs: No animal harm, extreme underage, scat/watersports, no focus on unrequested pairings involving nominated characters (mentions of past canon relationships are fine), no permanent nominated character death (transformation/resurrections are fine).
Opt In Medium Prompts:
Medium Opt-In: Any - Creator's Choice: 3+ Diff In-Universe Mediums/Work That Fit The Canon Setting
There's a lot of fun to be had here with all the different factions in this series.
Medium Opt-In: Art - Conspiracy Board
Hey, maybe it's a completely different conspiracy instead? There's plenty of them to go around.
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - Bureaucratic Paperwork
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In Universe Classified Documents
I'm sure the CIA produces plenty of unnecessary paperwork that's never supposed to see the light of day, but I also am sure that at least some of it would be because there'd be notes written on it going, “so, I think Joubert might have a thing for this guy, should we check into it?”
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - In-Universe Magazine Article
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Newspaper Article
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Transcript of Podcast or Radio Show
The film ends with Turner trying to get his story out to the public, which seems doomed to fail or if it succeeds, get him killed, so I'd be interested in anything that runs the gamut of those possible responses. Does he get some version out that's not quite right, but close to it? Does it take years for even a fraction of the real truth to be unearthed?
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Epistolary
I'd love to see Joubert corresponding with Turner, perhaps sending him jovial letters and postcards and trying to tempt him to pack it all up and come to Europe.
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Memoir
I'm not entirely sure Joubert would ever publish a memoir, given the crimes he would have to admit to, but perhaps he has an unfinished manuscript lying around, or maybe it's Turner that gets his own story out (or also left unpublished, because certain people need to make sure it never sees the light of day).
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Rashomon (1950)-style Conflicting Narratives
I imagine that Joubert and Turner would see certain incidents in completely different ways, or even those watching them – you know that Atwood definitely didn't see the same thing that Joubert did.
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Sequel To Previous Gift To Me By The Same Author
I've already received one lovely gift in this fandom and I'd love more of it!
Original Work
Older Reluctant Ex-Hero Turned To Villainy/Younger Eager New Partner With Big Plans (M/M) (OW)
So this is one of those things that's just been percolating in my brain for a while and you know what, I'm just going to go ahead and pour myself a cup of it. I just can't get over the idea of this older hero that's forced to become the thing he used to fight against. Maybe he got betrayed by other heroes, who saw him as an aging liability, too soft against the villains he was supposed to be crushing, and they set him up in a hopeless position. Or maybe he just left on his own, having lost everything in his life but his work, only to realize that there was now no one to support him when he started to fall. In either case, he's in a prime position for a plucky young and up coming villain to come along and scoop him up (maybe even literally, there are giant robots and psychic powers out there).
I'd love any kind of set-up for their partnership here – maybe it's an actual bureaucratically mandated one where the ex-hero has no choice because his contract was sold to the villains and he could break it, but Bad Things would happen if he did . Or maybe it's more freelance and he joins up with this rising star of supervillainy, thinking maybe he's there to foil their plans and get his old life back (little does he know, that their plans always involved him from the start and they'll take much better care of them than those others did). I just really want something where this ex-hero just feels like he's at the bottom, while the new villain is like, oh, but that's where the real fun starts.
DNWs: No animal harm, extreme underage, scat/watersports, no focus on unrequested pairings involving nominated characters (mentions of past canon relationships are fine), no permanent nominated character death (transformation/resurrections are fine).
Opt In Medium Prompts:
Medium Opt-In: Art - Costume Design
What might their costumes look like – how would our older ex-hero's change as he went into villainy and did our younger partner go through a few trial runs of his own?
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - Bureaucratic Paperwork
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Mission Report
It doesn't matter if you're a hero or a villain, there's always paperwork to fill out (at least when you're a villain, you can turn it in late and then just say “screw you, that's why” and have that be an acceptable excuse).
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - In-Universe Tabloid Article
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Action Figure Packaging Bio
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Fan letters
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe RPF
Just any of the reactions that might occur with the ex-hero going over to the villainous side. Would their action figure be pulled from the market only to be reissued in a different line? Would the fan letters shift tone as their target demographic changed? Is it cool to ship this couple since there's an age gap and why is most of the fic being produced by this one guy (it's kind of creepy how much he knows about them?)
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Internet Forum Posts
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Reddit: In-Universe r/Relationships Post (Post + Replies)
Hey, I have this “friend” that I'd like to be more than friends with, but they're having a tough time in life lately. I think they'll realize how important they are to me if I vaporize their ex? That's cool, right?
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Interview
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Memoir
I'd love to see contrasts over time – maybe someone looking back over how they were first starting out and realizing much later how much they still had left to learn.
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Rashomon (1950)-style Conflicting Narratives
The ex-hero thinks one thing is happening, his partner knows it's another, and those that witness it see something else quite different.
Squid Game (TV 2021)
Hwang Inho | Front Man/Hwang Junho (Squid Game)
This show hits all the right things for me - the reveal that the enemy you've been fighting all this time is your brother? And he's trying to get you to join him? And he's messed-up and kind of evil and damn it, played by Lee Byong-hun? Well, that's just going to hit all the right buttons. I like Jun-ho, too. In any other show, he'd be the hero, but instead, he's the side plot that sort of just... well, falls off a cliff. But before that, we get to him basically do anything to find his brother and that level of devotion (obsession) is both admirable and in the world of Squid Game, really unfortunate.
I'd love something about the two of them and their close relationship – how their connection seems to be their greatest weakness and yet neither one of them really can give it up because it's all tied up in love and loyalty and what you owe to the other person and when murder games get involved, it does tend to mean that people make terrible decisions that are still, often the least terrible of what they can do. Canon divergence is great here – maybe a Junho who entered the games as a participant or Inho just took him along before he could even cause any problems in the first place? Also, vampires.
DNWs: No animal harm, extreme underage, scat/watersports, no focus on unrequested pairings involving nominated characters (mentions of past canon relationships are fine), no permanent nominated character death (transformation/resurrections are fine).
Opt In Medium Prompts:
Medium Opt-In: Art - Costume Design
Medium Opt-In: Art - Location Interior Design
Everything is an aesthetic there, even murder and I wonder how it would change from game to game, or in the off-time, when the games are not being run..
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Internet Forum Posts
I could picture a world where Junho decides to float the idea out about what might have happened to his brother and the responses he gets are your usual ones – completely wrong conspiracy theories, people calling fake, even a few kernels of possible truth sprinkled in – and then... well, that would be telling.
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - Bureaucratic Paperwork
Medium Opt In: Writing - Legal Documents
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Medical Report
Medium Opt In: Writing - Official Workplace Documentation
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Psychological Evaluation Report
Oh, you know the paperwork here is so very specialized and stylish and utterly horrible and I'd love to see how Inho bringing Junho in would be handled.
Medium Opt In: Writing - In-Universe Personal Documents
I think there's a lot of unexplored history between when Inho played the game and when Junho showed up undercover and it would be interesting to explore that and/or something post-game.
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Non-Linear Narrative
Medium Opt In: Writing - Rashomon (1950)-style Conflicting Narratives
The essence of this show means I think these are natural fits – the idea that different people can see different things in the manner of how a game is conducted or how a person dies, or that time can lose meaning when you're trapped in a nightmarish reality.
XCOM (2012 Reboot Series)
John "Central" Bradford/Male Commander (XCOM)
I really do love these two and their utter devotion to each other. I mean, Bradford's loyalty is so obvious it could be seen from space – you don't spend that many years looking for your commander, shrug off a bullet to your shoulder, and then promptly abdicate the leadership of your organization to a guy basically out of brain surgery without having deep faith and complete trust in him. But I like to think the Commander sticks around, not just because the message of “save humanity and destroy ADVENT and win the day” is so strong, but also because Bradford is believing in him, willing to sacrifice everything to save him, and how could he not live up to what Bradford thinks he is?
There is so much I would love to see about the two of them and their relationship. Maybe something where they use a more subtle conditioning on the Commander and Bradford has to break through his brainwashing to save him? Or maybe ADVENT takes Bradford because they know what he means to the Commander and now the Commander is torn between doing what Bradford would want him to do (ignore him, go kill aliens) or do what his heart wants him to do instead (kill aliens, rescue Bradford, kill more aliens for daring to take him in the first place). Or ooh, they're captured together and have to escape and it's made slightly more difficult by the fact that they both keep trying to take the bullet for the other one (you know Geist is sensing this and mentally rolling his eyes deeply before he dispatches his Templars).
DNWs: No animal harm, extreme underage, scat/watersports, no focus on unrequested pairings involving nominated characters (mentions of past canon relationships are fine), no permanent nominated character death (transformation/resurrections are fine).
Opt In Medium Prompts:
Medium Opt-In: Art - Propaganda Poster
Right, so these posters are canon, and yet we have no bonded posters featuring the Commander and Bradford making out over an alien? Sacrilege!
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - Mission Report
Oh, no, most of them would involve “and then someone shot at one of the fuel tanks and now everything's on fire.”
Medium Opt-In: Unique Rules - In-Universe Spreadsheet - Expense Report
I really want to know how XCOM funds itself, because there seem to be unlimited grenades for the taking and I have no idea how the Resistance drops pay for that.
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Epistolary
The letters to each other get longer and longer until Shen reminds everyone that she technically has to review everything that goes through the firewall on their system and her eyes can only take so much and there are now hotels for that kind of thing that don't have lamps that spy on you.
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Memoir
Bradford's would be 95% about the Commander and 5% telling utter bullshit lies.
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Mythology
Of course, the recruits have their own stories about the Commander, but what's even more interesting is that ADVENT does as well.
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - In-Universe Scientific Documents
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Bureaucratic Paperwork
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Medical Report
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Psychological Evaluation Report
The Commander's return brought with it quite a bit of evaluations and reports before he would be released, contrary to that really quick cutscene where you get to be in charge because Bradford waves his hand and says it's okay.
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Internet Forum Posts
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe RPF
They really should have seen it coming when they started recruiting all those specialists, but how were they to know that they'd set up such a thriving intranet with such posts as “Stop Eating My Food, You Dick!” and “Which One of Them Tops: Poll!”
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Screenplay
The story of XCOM, now on the big screen! Except the Commander doesn't remember Bradford being so young, or blonde, or having—well, the sweater does show off the cleavage now.
Far Cry 4
Ajay Ghale/Pagan Min (Far Cry 4)
Look, one of my things is that I have a horrible tendency to fall in love with the charismatic villain and want to defect to his side, no matter how shitty a person he is, because he often has pretty compelling arguments (and eyes). And in Far Cry 4, they made it even worse by being like “oh, everyone's morally gray and any choice you make will be terrible for someone,” so I think, can I stay with the guy who gives me free crab Rangoon, a helicopter ride, and basically cuts through all the bullshit to tell me how much of a dick my dad was? No? Damn it.
So I'd definitely love something where Ajay's on Pagan's side – he stuck around for the food? He realized that ruling Kyrat was going to be a shit-ton of work and enlisted Pagan? Pagan won and kept Ajay as a reluctant, but pampered hostage/captive. Or an even further back AU in which he met Pagan under different circumstances, ones that probably still ended up with Ajay running around getting almost murdered by honey badgers and eagles. Also, I'm deeply fond of the tag “If I Must Solve A Dozen Geopolitical Problems Just To Have Sex With You Then I Will,” so you know, there's that too. In regards to Pagan's relationship with Ishwari, I'm fine with it being referenced or even a source of mild angst/pining, but I don't want it to be “I loved her and now I will never move on from her and/or I will use you as a replacement and never love you” to Ajay.
DNWs: No animal harm (references to canon-level violence are fine), extreme underage, scat/watersports, no focus on unrequested pairings involving nominated characters (mentions of past canon relationships are fine), no permanent nominated character death (transformation/resurrections are fine).
Opt In Medium Prompts:
Medium Opt-In: Art - Propaganda Poster
Yeah, these would be something – I think Ajay would probably squint at his and then recoil in horror.
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - Excerpts from a Journal/Notebook/Sketchbook
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Epistolary
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Memoir
I would just love to see how Ajay would go from “I have no idea what's fucking going on” to “okay, I have a slight idea and everyone is insane” to “I am now with Kyrat and reality has no meaning.”
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - In-Universe Exhibition Catalogue
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - In-Universe Religious Text
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Mythology
How would Ajay become mythologized over the years as he rules Kyrat? Would there be stories about Pagan that also change over the years and how would the two of them be seen decades from when the game took place?
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - In-Universe Travel Literature
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Travelogue
I think most guides to Kyrat are pretty much “don't fucking do it unless you have a death wish and even then, it has to be a very specific wish (read: kink).”
Medium Opt-In: Unique Rules - In-Universe Spreadsheet - Expense Report
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Bureaucratic Paperwork
Well, at least we know for sure that Pagan's budget is NOT going to candles, so there's that, but the leather pants line item and the random wild animals are definitely eating up the budget (and someone should really try to get that paper away from the tiger).
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Internet Forum Posts
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe RPF
Pagan would be the sort to not only read the RPF, but come up with his own, because if they're going to do this, they're going to do it right. (Also, his arguments about the problematic “age gap” would be legendary).
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Screenplay
They definitely give Pagan a British accent, because how else are you supposed to know that he's EVIL! Ajay's still trying to figure out why “Ajay” has a sex scene every five minutes.
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Transcript of Podcast or Radio Show
Rabi Ray Rana has a special report on what's going on in Kyrat and someone's throwing their radio off the balcony by the end of it.
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Reddit: In-Universe r/AmITheAsshole Post (Post + Replies)
Yes.
