foxinthestars (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
foxinthestars) wrote2013-06-16 08:47 pm
foxinthestars) wrote2013-06-16 08:47 pm
Entry tags:
Dear Parallelograph
Hello, and thanks for offering to write for Parallels! I hope my prompts are ones you can have fun with! I'm not so much into vids, but both fanfic and fanart are good (except on one prompt).
About Me (mostly C&Ped from my Yuletide letter ^_^;):
I’m actually more of a writer than a reader of fanfic generally, although I’m not as prolific as I might wish (you can read my stuff at FF.net or at Ao3), and I tend to be a genfic person. I’m mostly an Anime/Manga fan, with occasional flashes of mostly older and Japanese-made video games.
In writing for me, the big things to avoid (except where noted) would be humiliation, rape/noncon, and explicit sex (my comfort zone for the latter is too idiosyncratic to want to lead you into that minefield). Also brutal grimdark that would invite Frank Miller comparisons (although more sensitive forms of angst and tragedy are okay). I’m generally not interested in OOC, crossovers, or in AUs of the genre/setting-change type.
Things that excite and delight me include meditations on characters, situations, worldbuilding, etc.; playing in sticky messes (any sticky mess, but especially ones canon did not address); fixer-upper projects for canons with glaring holes or egregious shark-jumps, and suchlike. I do like AUs of the “whack canon in the knees at a strategic point and watch the changes spool out” type or the “how I would have written it/how I wish it had gone” type (have written more than one of those m’self).
Now, my prompts!
Natsume Yuujinchou
Fanfic or Fanart; Characters: Any
I'm easy on this one. I love this show, and I love (or at least could be interested to read about) pretty much everyone in it. Just try for the canon atmosphere of sentiment and warmth, don’t include explicit sex, and I’d rather you didn’t ship any of the high schoolers with characters above that age range or ship Matoba with anyone, really. Within that, anything you want to write or draw is fine. If you want some specific ideas, I could go on for an hour, but I'll try for a few (totally optional, just in hopes of stirring your creative juices)... For fan-art, any based on my NY fics would make my day (Seven Year Promise has some particularly nice scenes if I may say so myself). For fic, characters of particular interest include Taki (who never gets enough screentime) and Tanuma's Dad (whose sticky situation in all this isn't really acknowledged). Ships of particular interest include Natsume/Taki/Tanuma (or any permutation of those three), Shigeru/Touko, and Natori/Hiiragi (their fraught mutual stealth-caring doesn't even have a relationship tag on Ao3 yet, I can't believe it). Plot ideas could really get me going for an hour, but let's see... Have relatives Natsume used to live with stop by for dinner and things get tense. Give me the view from Nanatsujiya. Put Matoba through something bad enough to make him break a sweat (not asking out of vengeance, just to even imagine what it would look like). I'm usually not into A/Us or crossovers, but in this case I'd be interested in a Japanese historical period A/U or a crossover with Red Data Girl or with Shinrei Tantei Yakumo (the latter just to play with mutually exclusive seeing youkai vs. seeing ghosts). Really, though, whatever you want (within the few rules I gave).
Canon Review and Notes
The series on Crunchyroll: Seasons 1-3, Season 4
Now I really have to try not to go on for an hour... This post explains where I got one of the crossover ideas (with spoilers for the end of Red Data Girl). This past Yuletide finally got me on my butt to watch the whole series, and I just love it. Japanese lore about the supernatural interests me, and I love the deep compassion of it, how the youkai (and sometimes humans) aren't reduced to being monsters but it isn't glossed over that they can be dangerous and their values alien to ours, how the characters' emotions move forward with hope and humor and quiet courage without glossing over fear and sadness... As the show went on, I developed more love for the recurring characters and the ongoing arc plot and feel a mix of appreciation and frustration at how slowly it moves. Tanuma is probably my favorite, but I'd like to see/read about anyone here, even peripheral characters you wouldn't usually think about. So yeah, with the few noted exceptions, anything you want to do in this fandom is appreciated.
Maoyuu | Maou Yuusha
Fanfic or Fanart; Characters: Demon King, Lady Knight
Demon King/Lady Knight femslash! Hero being haplessly roped into a threesome by the two of them could also be adorable. I love that these two women are friends (pushing back on annoying rivalry tropes) and it hit me all at once what an excellent femslash invite they are. As such I would like a focus on their agency and their bond with each other. Warm, humorous tone preferred. I usually ask for no explicit sex and still don't want explicitly sexual images, but if you're writing a fic it would be okay (though totally not required) in this particular case. If you take this option, check my DW for tips on writing a sex scene for me.
Canon Review and Notes
The series on Crunchyroll (I've only seen the anime)
Maoyuu isn't like one of my favorite things ever, but I enjoyed it; I was always more into the characters than the economics and poli-sci angles, and the prompt is just something I want to see. As for the promised tips on writing me a sex scene (which you totally don’t have to, just an option on this one), the main thing I ask is that you avoid slangy or “vulgar” descriptors; don’t ask me why I’m so much more comfortable reading about penises and buttocks than cocks and asses, but I am. Err on the side of clinical if you have to, or on the side of metaphor --- even hack-romance silly-flowery, especially given the tone I’m asking for. With these characters, I’d like it warm and consensual, even cute (does not preclude kink, but no scat, please); if you do bring in Hero, I’m asking you to thread the needle and take advantage of his adorable romantic haplessness without letting it get rapey. I also have a general fondness for imperfect-but-good encounters, ones that don’t quite go according to textbook or plan but where the characters are able to negotiate it and have a mutually satisfying experience anyway.
Fushigi Yuugi
Fanfic or Fanart; Characters: Hongou Yui, Hotohori
These two may be a crack pairing, but they are my OTP for this fandom, and my request is basically just to see someone write Hotohori/Yui besides me (well, besides me and my estranged former co-author). Please do not include explicit sex or assume canon knowledge beyond the original TV anime. Switched-Miko A/U fic specifically is discouraged (on art it's okay), but don’t worry about canon compliance otherwise. There's kind of a long story behind this one, in my letter.
Canon Review and Notes
Can't help you with canon review on this one, sorry.
As for the promised long story, way, way, back in the day when I first saw FY in fansubs in my university anime club, I actually drew a chart of the love polyhedron and abstractly/jokingly observed that if we could fix up Hotohori and Yui we could solve most of everybody’s problems. Then, the more I thought about it, the more I thought that if you could manage the logistics, they would actually be good for each other; if Hotohori could get over the Suzaku no Miko fixation and be honest with himself, I think he’d be happier with a brainy type like Yui, and I think his kindness and devotion would be good for her, especially right now. They were the flagship couple of my (and a friend’s) epic, rather cracky, still-unfinished switched-Miko A/U (“Fushigi Yuugi: The Mirrorverse,” formerly known as “Fushigi Yuugi (sorta): Through the Looking Glass” --- the thing starts out with like thirty chapters of embarrassing old stuff, the first ten or so of which are REALLY embarrassing; don’t feel like you have to read it, but I discouraged another switched-Miko A/U fic because it would seem redundant after that; art in that vein, on the other hand, would fit with my story and be cool), but it could still be interesting to fix them up in a closer-to-canon situation and try to solve most of everybody’s problems that way --- yeah, I would have liked that much better than the ending we got. Actually in the second half FY jumped my personal shark so completely that I refer to it as the primal trauma of my fannish life and I haven’t re-watched it since university, so requesting it is kind of an adventurous move on my part... ^_^;
Utahime: The Songstress
Fanfic ONLY; Characters: Any
This is your gimme. Utahime: The Songstress by Aki is a one-volume fantasy manga (with very pretty art), and I love how it lays out a poetic but not overly-complicated fantasy worldbuilding concept and then works it out through the lens of an individual human situation. Options are wide open here, I’d just like to see fic for it. A day in the life of Lah as the new King. Another meeting between her and Kain (shipping optional, although I think it could be sweet). Troublesome or amusing measures to keep Kain’s standing in for his sister a secret. An exploration of Kain and Maria’s mother and why she did what she did. Another song village full of original characters who have a totally different situation (and how Lah might respond). Anything you want! Except no explicit sex, please.
Canon Review and Notes:
English version by DMP at Amazon, at ABE (careful of the TokyoPop one unless you read German)
Scanlation at MangaTraders (Login required)
Nothing else to say about this one, really. I made it alone Fanfic-only because I'm wanting someone to play with the characters and/or ideas in a way that a static image can't really do.
Allison & Lillia
Fanfic or Fanart; Characters: Merielle, Treize
Focus on Merielle preferred; we see her act like such a bully to her brother in the anime, I’d like to see a warm, fuzzy, familially loving side to their relationship, but without undercutting Merielle’s forceful personality. Optionally, a holiday theme might be nice even if it's unseasonable (we’ve seen a New Years’ tradition in their family which Treize might usually have to be left out of; that might give you something to work with). No incest, sex, or darkfic, please.
Canon Review and Notes
The series on Hulu
I’m basically asking you to give me some company in A&L's Ao3 category. The anime is based on light novels (which I haven’t read) by the same author as Kino no Tabi, and I’d say I like it most for its warm-heartedness and for the spirit of wide-eyed adventure more than any actual adventuring, but I also like that there’s a bittersweet undercurrent running though it that keeps it from feeling too sugary --- and, of course, the multigenerational aspect in the second half is something special and well done (like everyone who’s ever reviewed A&L has said that, because it’s true), plus a Fullmetal Alchemist-esque level of gender equality. It does, however, have more than its share of slapdashery, especially in the first two arcs, and there are holes in it you can drive a truck through, but for a writer, even that can have its advantages; I have driven some of those trucks, it’s fun.
Kemono no Souja Erin
Fanfic or Fanart; Characters: Erin, Ial
I want an Erin/Ial story, preferrably something quiet and thoughtful, or something fluffy; anything along that line would make me happy, really, but if you need an angle, maybe think about how he’s adjusting to his new life post-canon, and how Erin’s other friends are adjusting to this guy with his stone face and ninja vibes. Bonus points: include a warm, soft, furry animal, not necessarily an Ohjuu. No explicit sex, please.
Canon Review and Notes
The series on Crunchyroll
I loved this series (saw fansubs myself), and I wrote a review of it that you can see here. That's been a couple of years ago, but it stays with me. It’s based on novels (which I have not been able to read) by Nahoko Uehashi also of Moribito fame, and she is a master of well-grounded fantasy worldbuilding. As mentioned in the review, I loved the anime’s combination of the domestic and the epic, and Erin is such a great strong heroine --- brilliant and curious, always chasing her dreams and holding to her principles. Ial is the kind of (figuratively) scarred stone-faced pretty boy I have a weakness for, I admit it. I was happy with the kind of slow and subtle building of their relationship in canon --- Uehashi seems to be good at that, too ::coughBalsaTanda:: --- but I would like to see a bit more with these two.
Again, thanks, and I hope you have fun!
About Me (mostly C&Ped from my Yuletide letter ^_^;):
I’m actually more of a writer than a reader of fanfic generally, although I’m not as prolific as I might wish (you can read my stuff at FF.net or at Ao3), and I tend to be a genfic person. I’m mostly an Anime/Manga fan, with occasional flashes of mostly older and Japanese-made video games.
In writing for me, the big things to avoid (except where noted) would be humiliation, rape/noncon, and explicit sex (my comfort zone for the latter is too idiosyncratic to want to lead you into that minefield). Also brutal grimdark that would invite Frank Miller comparisons (although more sensitive forms of angst and tragedy are okay). I’m generally not interested in OOC, crossovers, or in AUs of the genre/setting-change type.
Things that excite and delight me include meditations on characters, situations, worldbuilding, etc.; playing in sticky messes (any sticky mess, but especially ones canon did not address); fixer-upper projects for canons with glaring holes or egregious shark-jumps, and suchlike. I do like AUs of the “whack canon in the knees at a strategic point and watch the changes spool out” type or the “how I would have written it/how I wish it had gone” type (have written more than one of those m’self).
Now, my prompts!
Natsume Yuujinchou
Fanfic or Fanart; Characters: Any
I'm easy on this one. I love this show, and I love (or at least could be interested to read about) pretty much everyone in it. Just try for the canon atmosphere of sentiment and warmth, don’t include explicit sex, and I’d rather you didn’t ship any of the high schoolers with characters above that age range or ship Matoba with anyone, really. Within that, anything you want to write or draw is fine. If you want some specific ideas, I could go on for an hour, but I'll try for a few (totally optional, just in hopes of stirring your creative juices)... For fan-art, any based on my NY fics would make my day (Seven Year Promise has some particularly nice scenes if I may say so myself). For fic, characters of particular interest include Taki (who never gets enough screentime) and Tanuma's Dad (whose sticky situation in all this isn't really acknowledged). Ships of particular interest include Natsume/Taki/Tanuma (or any permutation of those three), Shigeru/Touko, and Natori/Hiiragi (their fraught mutual stealth-caring doesn't even have a relationship tag on Ao3 yet, I can't believe it). Plot ideas could really get me going for an hour, but let's see... Have relatives Natsume used to live with stop by for dinner and things get tense. Give me the view from Nanatsujiya. Put Matoba through something bad enough to make him break a sweat (not asking out of vengeance, just to even imagine what it would look like). I'm usually not into A/Us or crossovers, but in this case I'd be interested in a Japanese historical period A/U or a crossover with Red Data Girl or with Shinrei Tantei Yakumo (the latter just to play with mutually exclusive seeing youkai vs. seeing ghosts). Really, though, whatever you want (within the few rules I gave).
Canon Review and Notes
The series on Crunchyroll: Seasons 1-3, Season 4
Now I really have to try not to go on for an hour... This post explains where I got one of the crossover ideas (with spoilers for the end of Red Data Girl). This past Yuletide finally got me on my butt to watch the whole series, and I just love it. Japanese lore about the supernatural interests me, and I love the deep compassion of it, how the youkai (and sometimes humans) aren't reduced to being monsters but it isn't glossed over that they can be dangerous and their values alien to ours, how the characters' emotions move forward with hope and humor and quiet courage without glossing over fear and sadness... As the show went on, I developed more love for the recurring characters and the ongoing arc plot and feel a mix of appreciation and frustration at how slowly it moves. Tanuma is probably my favorite, but I'd like to see/read about anyone here, even peripheral characters you wouldn't usually think about. So yeah, with the few noted exceptions, anything you want to do in this fandom is appreciated.
Maoyuu | Maou Yuusha
Fanfic or Fanart; Characters: Demon King, Lady Knight
Demon King/Lady Knight femslash! Hero being haplessly roped into a threesome by the two of them could also be adorable. I love that these two women are friends (pushing back on annoying rivalry tropes) and it hit me all at once what an excellent femslash invite they are. As such I would like a focus on their agency and their bond with each other. Warm, humorous tone preferred. I usually ask for no explicit sex and still don't want explicitly sexual images, but if you're writing a fic it would be okay (though totally not required) in this particular case. If you take this option, check my DW for tips on writing a sex scene for me.
Canon Review and Notes
The series on Crunchyroll (I've only seen the anime)
Maoyuu isn't like one of my favorite things ever, but I enjoyed it; I was always more into the characters than the economics and poli-sci angles, and the prompt is just something I want to see. As for the promised tips on writing me a sex scene (which you totally don’t have to, just an option on this one), the main thing I ask is that you avoid slangy or “vulgar” descriptors; don’t ask me why I’m so much more comfortable reading about penises and buttocks than cocks and asses, but I am. Err on the side of clinical if you have to, or on the side of metaphor --- even hack-romance silly-flowery, especially given the tone I’m asking for. With these characters, I’d like it warm and consensual, even cute (does not preclude kink, but no scat, please); if you do bring in Hero, I’m asking you to thread the needle and take advantage of his adorable romantic haplessness without letting it get rapey. I also have a general fondness for imperfect-but-good encounters, ones that don’t quite go according to textbook or plan but where the characters are able to negotiate it and have a mutually satisfying experience anyway.
Fushigi Yuugi
Fanfic or Fanart; Characters: Hongou Yui, Hotohori
These two may be a crack pairing, but they are my OTP for this fandom, and my request is basically just to see someone write Hotohori/Yui besides me (well, besides me and my estranged former co-author). Please do not include explicit sex or assume canon knowledge beyond the original TV anime. Switched-Miko A/U fic specifically is discouraged (on art it's okay), but don’t worry about canon compliance otherwise. There's kind of a long story behind this one, in my letter.
Canon Review and Notes
Can't help you with canon review on this one, sorry.
As for the promised long story, way, way, back in the day when I first saw FY in fansubs in my university anime club, I actually drew a chart of the love polyhedron and abstractly/jokingly observed that if we could fix up Hotohori and Yui we could solve most of everybody’s problems. Then, the more I thought about it, the more I thought that if you could manage the logistics, they would actually be good for each other; if Hotohori could get over the Suzaku no Miko fixation and be honest with himself, I think he’d be happier with a brainy type like Yui, and I think his kindness and devotion would be good for her, especially right now. They were the flagship couple of my (and a friend’s) epic, rather cracky, still-unfinished switched-Miko A/U (“Fushigi Yuugi: The Mirrorverse,” formerly known as “Fushigi Yuugi (sorta): Through the Looking Glass” --- the thing starts out with like thirty chapters of embarrassing old stuff, the first ten or so of which are REALLY embarrassing; don’t feel like you have to read it, but I discouraged another switched-Miko A/U fic because it would seem redundant after that; art in that vein, on the other hand, would fit with my story and be cool), but it could still be interesting to fix them up in a closer-to-canon situation and try to solve most of everybody’s problems that way --- yeah, I would have liked that much better than the ending we got. Actually in the second half FY jumped my personal shark so completely that I refer to it as the primal trauma of my fannish life and I haven’t re-watched it since university, so requesting it is kind of an adventurous move on my part... ^_^;
Utahime: The Songstress
Fanfic ONLY; Characters: Any
This is your gimme. Utahime: The Songstress by Aki is a one-volume fantasy manga (with very pretty art), and I love how it lays out a poetic but not overly-complicated fantasy worldbuilding concept and then works it out through the lens of an individual human situation. Options are wide open here, I’d just like to see fic for it. A day in the life of Lah as the new King. Another meeting between her and Kain (shipping optional, although I think it could be sweet). Troublesome or amusing measures to keep Kain’s standing in for his sister a secret. An exploration of Kain and Maria’s mother and why she did what she did. Another song village full of original characters who have a totally different situation (and how Lah might respond). Anything you want! Except no explicit sex, please.
Canon Review and Notes:
English version by DMP at Amazon, at ABE (careful of the TokyoPop one unless you read German)
Scanlation at MangaTraders (Login required)
Nothing else to say about this one, really. I made it alone Fanfic-only because I'm wanting someone to play with the characters and/or ideas in a way that a static image can't really do.
Allison & Lillia
Fanfic or Fanart; Characters: Merielle, Treize
Focus on Merielle preferred; we see her act like such a bully to her brother in the anime, I’d like to see a warm, fuzzy, familially loving side to their relationship, but without undercutting Merielle’s forceful personality. Optionally, a holiday theme might be nice even if it's unseasonable (we’ve seen a New Years’ tradition in their family which Treize might usually have to be left out of; that might give you something to work with). No incest, sex, or darkfic, please.
Canon Review and Notes
The series on Hulu
I’m basically asking you to give me some company in A&L's Ao3 category. The anime is based on light novels (which I haven’t read) by the same author as Kino no Tabi, and I’d say I like it most for its warm-heartedness and for the spirit of wide-eyed adventure more than any actual adventuring, but I also like that there’s a bittersweet undercurrent running though it that keeps it from feeling too sugary --- and, of course, the multigenerational aspect in the second half is something special and well done (like everyone who’s ever reviewed A&L has said that, because it’s true), plus a Fullmetal Alchemist-esque level of gender equality. It does, however, have more than its share of slapdashery, especially in the first two arcs, and there are holes in it you can drive a truck through, but for a writer, even that can have its advantages; I have driven some of those trucks, it’s fun.
Kemono no Souja Erin
Fanfic or Fanart; Characters: Erin, Ial
I want an Erin/Ial story, preferrably something quiet and thoughtful, or something fluffy; anything along that line would make me happy, really, but if you need an angle, maybe think about how he’s adjusting to his new life post-canon, and how Erin’s other friends are adjusting to this guy with his stone face and ninja vibes. Bonus points: include a warm, soft, furry animal, not necessarily an Ohjuu. No explicit sex, please.
Canon Review and Notes
The series on Crunchyroll
I loved this series (saw fansubs myself), and I wrote a review of it that you can see here. That's been a couple of years ago, but it stays with me. It’s based on novels (which I have not been able to read) by Nahoko Uehashi also of Moribito fame, and she is a master of well-grounded fantasy worldbuilding. As mentioned in the review, I loved the anime’s combination of the domestic and the epic, and Erin is such a great strong heroine --- brilliant and curious, always chasing her dreams and holding to her principles. Ial is the kind of (figuratively) scarred stone-faced pretty boy I have a weakness for, I admit it. I was happy with the kind of slow and subtle building of their relationship in canon --- Uehashi seems to be good at that, too ::coughBalsaTanda:: --- but I would like to see a bit more with these two.
Again, thanks, and I hope you have fun!