Letter for Fic in a Box exchange
Sep. 3rd, 2024 02:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wallwalker posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
personalapocalypseAll ten fandoms are covered. I hope it helps.
Media requested across the board - Writing (multiple lengths,) Art (multiple media), Meta, Illustrated Texts.
General Likes: Exploration of strange and unique lands. Plot threads and/or characters that don't get much attention in a game, or that get mentioned and then dropped abruptly. People dealing with strange customs. Culture shock. Overcoming differences in the name of friendship/love/family (or whatever.) Complicated relationships. Relationships in the past that have changed with time and separation, sometimes for the better and sometimes not. People who care about each other trying to solve conflict (even if they don't always succeed.) Studies of dysfunctional relationships as dysfunctional. Happy endings for non-dysfunctional relationships, or at least happily-for-now endings. Stories about characters getting the catharsis that they need. Friends becoming lovers, or former lovers who remain good friends. Rivals becoming friends and/or lovers. For NSFW, porn with feelings/plots that are as hot/involved as the porn.
Art: Historical styles are always fun (impressionism, art nouveau, art deco, baroque, etc....) Alternate costumes and redesigns are great. Using lots of plants/gemstones as a design element is great.
General DNWs: Non-con, dub-con, character bashing, underage characters + sex, abuse treated as romantic by the narrative, unrelenting angst without at least a hopeful ending.
Fandoms:
The Dig:
Info: This is an adventure game by Lucasarts that was released shortly before The Curse of Monkey Island and has a similar visual style; it's an original science fiction story about an asteroid that's coming to strike Earth, but very quickly turns into a story about three humans exploring a beautiful but abandoned alien civilization. They find horrific beasts, advanced technology and loads of puzzles to solve, and rifts inevitably start to form between the team.
Links:
GOG sale link
Longplay (3h, covers both ending variations, no commentary.)
Requests and ideas:
This is a short list because I want to give a bit more than "Everything." This is a very small fandom and there's not much out there about it.
- The three mains - what do they do after the ending of the game? Do they stay on Earth? Do any of them decide to go back to the alien planet? They've been through a lot - how do they reconcile? Do they reconcile?
- Brink - what exactly did the crystals do to him? How much does he remember about any of it? At the ending he's brought back a few decades older than he was at the start; did he actually live those many years, or was his body aged through some other means? How were they able to release his mind from the influence of the crystals?
- The alien civilization - They offer to help teach the humans at the end, with the implied threat that if any humans start trouble they'll be quickly put down. What sort of relationships do the two civilizations have? Do any of the aliens go to visit Earth? Also, we see a lot about their science and technology, but what about other aspects of their civilization? Do they have music? Literature? Art?
Fandom-specific DNW: For this event, at least, I'd like to avoid the ending where the main character breaks his promise about using a certain item on one of his companions.
Final Fantasy IV:
Info: Part of Square's Final Fantasy series, and the first of the 16-bit games. It was the second game in the series for non-Japanese players, so it was the first game to feature a lot of the series' staples (like Chocobos) for many players. The plot is relatively simple now - a group of people caught up in a fight to end a world-ending plot by some dark force while simultaneously handling their own demons - but still holds up well. There've been multiple re-releases, in both 2D (the original SNES version, GBA, and the recent Pixel Remake) and 3D (the remake for the Game Boy DS which is now on Steam as well.)
(A sequel was also released, which I fully intend to try after I finish my replay of the 3D version, which is MUCH harder than I remembered... so I haven't gotten there yet.)
Links:
Longplays: SNES, DS
Requests and Ideas:
Worldbuilding - I asked for a lot of worldbuilding on this because there isn't that much given in the game, and would like to read just about anything (meta or story) about how some of these countries run, or how the Summoners' magic works, or so forth. Any kind of worldbuilding/in-universe documents or art would be great.
Characters - Likewise I requested a lot of solo characters. I am 100% happy with gen. For relationships I'm pretty open to relationship-building between just about any of the main characters, romantic or not.
Ships - The only romantic relationship I requested for this fandom was Cecil/Kain/Rosa, which has been a favorite for years. A few ideas for tropes/prompts taken from earlier letters:
- Cecil and Rosa find out where Kain is and take a secret airship trip out to get him.
- Navigating a relationship where the rest of Baron (and much of the world) still distrusts Kain but the King and Queen do not.
- Kain writes them letters he didn't mean to send, but *somehow* they get to the others anyway.
- Baron is in trouble and Kain comes back to save them.
- Cecil, being the King and therefore able to do this, declares that Kain is legally part of their union; how would others react?
Fandom-Specific DNWs: No spoilers for Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, please. I still haven't played it.
Final Fantasy VI:
Info: The sixth Final Fantasy game and the third released overseas, this one dealt with an empire that rose after resurrecting a long-lost magical force and combining it with steampunk machinery, opposed by a small group of resistance fighters... and a former Imperial weapon, who was somehow born with the ability to use magic and shift into a bestial shape. There's no brief summary I can really give that would describe everything here.
There have been multiple releases and ports for this game as well, but they've all pretty much stayed close to the original SNES release (no full 3D version.) The original release is infamous for its translation, with later releases changing it quite a bit. The most recent re-release, the Pixel Remaster, is currently available on Steam and various other consoles.
Links:
Longplays: Pixel Remaster (15h), SNES (Multiple parts, title screen shown as Final Fantasy III.)
Prompts and Ideas:
Worldbuilding - Once again I asked for a number of locations; I listed four in particular but I'd be happy to see just about any worldbuilding info about any of the game's locations or countries under the WB: Any tag. (A few ideas for locations I couldn't fit into nominations - Figaro Castle, the Ancient Castle, the Serpent Trench.)
I also asked for a few WB topics regarding the Empire, specifically Magitek, because as horrible as it is, I've always been fascinated by the workings of it - both the infusion process for Magitek Knights and the building of armors and technology that use magic.
Characters and Relationships: A few ideas.
- Anything about the Warring Triad, who they were, why they started the War of the Magi, and why they finally chose to end the war. We're given very little about them - are they gods, or humans who somehow became gods?
- Celes and Terra as two people who know what it's like to have magic at a young age, and how they might've navigated that together after meeting... there's not much chance for them to talk during the game. Or either of their relationships with Locke - I get the impression that neither of them would need a designated protector and they could help him realize that.
- Any combination of Daryl/Maria/Setzer pre-game; I love the idea that part of the reason that Setzer decided to kidnap Maria was because he and Daryl had known each other before and possibly been lovers. Any kind of relationship would be good here, just something about what kinds of lives they had before Daryl's disappearance.
- Sabin/Shadow, Shadow trying to stay apart and Sabin overcoming his boundaries. Maybe some version of the Coliseum fight when recruiting him where Sabin decides to be the one to get him, or maybe a fix-it fic where Shadow does try to stay behind as the Tower falls, but Sabin rescues him either as it falls or digs him out after the fact. On that same note - Shadow trying to have some sort of relationship with Relm, and Sabin trying to help him... and maybe having some trouble getting along with him on his own.
- Sabin and Edgar's relationship as children, how close they were and what interests they might've found in common. Or, Sabin coming back to Figaro after the game and having to adjust to this sort of life after years of living an aesthetic lifestyle.
Final Fantasy VIII:
Info:
Another Final Fantasy game? Yes, but the last one on my request list this time. This one was released on the PSX after the impossible-to-follow FFVII, and it took a turn into science fiction, with a plot based on a military academy for teenagers and a battle against a series of powerful Sorceresses. Really, these games are hard to summarize.
Links:
Longplay - Remastered PC version (20 hours.)
Prompts and Ideas:
Worldbuilding: Most of my WB prompts for this one involved Sorceresses (Origin of Sorceresses and The Lunar Cry) because I'm really curious about how they were created. There's some backstory in the game but not as much on how they became so feared and hated.
Also, I added Blue Magic, which in this game is Quistis' limit break. I love the concept of blue magic in general and I'd love to see some interpretations and worldbuilding on what it is - is it an ancient concept or a new one? Is it a form of power related to the Sorceresses or is it something else? How does one learn blue magic? (It looks in the game like Quistis just uses part of a monster and it teaches her an ability, but there has to be something more than that.)
Characters and relationships:
- Anything about Cid in general. How did he meet and marry Sorceress Edea? How'd he manage to start Garden, even with the aid of his backers, and how did the deal with Galbadia come to be? Slightly related to that - did Caraway have anything to do with the Garden deal?
- Anything about Caraway's relationship with his family, or his friendships with the Garden owners, because he's one of my favorites and I want to know more about him, especially since he was the one who apparently finally said "enough" and decided Deling was going too far. And what about him and his daughter? Was it difficult for him, being the husband of a woman who became famous for singing about another lover who vanished?
- How did Laguna, Ward and Kiros end up being as ride-or-die as they were in the games? Anything about them would be great.
- Rinoa spends quite a bit of time being possessed by Ultimecia - was she aware? How did she react to the possession? (Was it voluntary, or involuntary?) Is there any sort of connection to them in the future? (I am not 100% sold on the Rinoa-is-Ultimecia theory but I would be cool with an exploration of the idea, or some variation of it.)
The Locked Tomb series:
Info: A series of three (so far) books. More info about them on B&N here. They're very irreverent, with at least one character who use memes that were probably old when he was a kid, and the plot and worldbuilding are lots of fun.
Prompts:
- Any kind of requested worldbuilding. In-universe art or documentation.
- Ortus is a favorite character of mine and I'd like to see him get some good things coming to him, even if he IS dead. Please feel free to take full advantages of the liminal spaces to put characters back together.
- Anything involving body-sharing, like Varun's possession of Judith and Palamedes and Camilla sharing a body, and how it affects relationships with others around them, would be great. Also more about Paul and what sort of being they turn out to be, what of their pasts they remember, etc.
- Noodle being adorable.
- Ok so I'm fond of any of the relationships John has with his apostles because they're all extremely fucked up in different ways. My favorites are probably with Augustine and Mercy (because they stay together so long and they're just so familiar with each other and he thinks he knows everything, hell, knows he knows everything, except that they end up surprising him,) and with Ulysses and Titania (the first two "kids" that he animates and befriends in a way, although he doesn't get their souls until after he re-creates the solar system, presumably. How did he find their souls? DID he find their souls or did he maybe cobble something together? Was he surprised by what he learned about them, once he brought them back?)
Quest for Glory:
Info:
My fandom promo contains several longplays and other links, along with information.
Prompts and Ideas:
My favorite games are 1 and 4, and it probably shows in my prompts, but I'd be fine with references from any of the games.
Worldbuilding - I listed several organizations, creeds and such that I'd love to know more about it. I've always been curious about the Thieves' Guild - how DO they stay in "business," as it were, in some of the more remote areas. More training materials from the Correspondence School, or accounts of Paladins breaking the law in the name of rightness, things like that.
Characters and relationships - I selected a few of my favorites here. A few prompts:
- Yorick staying with Elsa, helping to raise her into a brigand and keep her safe, and how a jester has to turn into a wizard to hide himself from the brigands.
- Elsa and Barnard - what in the world happened between them, to drive Elsa out of her own country?
- I really like Erana and the various peaceful places she created and would love to see more about her - art of her and some of her creations would also be great!
- The Dark Master and Ad Avis - really, anything about them, I really love their mutual hatred and his scheming and her being well aware that he's scheming and not at all scared of him.
Skies of Arcadia:
Info: A Dreamcast RPG developed by Sega, later re-released on Nintendo Gamecube, this focuses on a crew of sky pirates who find a mysterious young woman captured by a world-spanning Empire. While the plot is not exactly original, the worldbuilding is great and the gameplay and characters are lots of fun.
Links:
Longplay: Gamecube (3 parts, about 35 hours.)
Ideas and Prompts:
Worldbuilding - Arcadia has a fantastic world with tons of potential for worldbuilding. The six moons apparently have elemental properties that affect the world, and the entire game is spent on floating islands. How did this even happen? There are also rumors of another moon that may or may not have existed, the Black Moon, which is a huge mystery in and of itself... the Dark Rift, which is a very mysterious place as well.
Characters and relationships:
- Vyse, Aika and Fina are the three main characters and also pretty much my first OT3, anything about them would be fantastic - exploring Arcadia (or beyond, maybe the stars or the world below? There has to be more to it than that.)
- I picked out a few of the admirals, because I do enjoy their interactions. (The Moonstone Mines in Ixa'taka is great because of the interactions between Alfonso and De Loco, it's hilarious.) And Belleza has one of the most tragic stories in the game.
- Drachma and Polly - I loved their friendship from the first time I saw them - she seems to be one of the few people who can really convince him to change his mind. I'd love to know anything about how they met, or if they stayed friends after the game.
Star Ocean 2:
Info/Links: An RPG that was released for the PS1 back in 1999. and has been re-released a couple of times - the most recent on Playstation, Steam and Switch with a large number of QOL updates that the original really needed. Anonfeather's promo post has information and links about the game.
Prompts:
Worldbuilding - My two main requests were the Technology of Nede and the Symbology of Expel - the latter being the game's system of magic and the former being very similar to the latter, but turned up to eleven. Canonically Symbology was introduced to Expel from "beings from afar" as well, so I'd really love to see speculation about that, and even whether or not the two practices are related.
Also, artifacts - maps of the world or of various ruins, or interpretations of the Ancient Text or other ancient writings that are discussed in the game. Expel is implied to have had a lot of ancient and possibly otherworldly civilizations and a lot of artifacts left behind. Show off some of those artifact ideas.
Characters - I put down a relatively small selection of characters and relationships that I'd like to see explored. I'm trying to come up with individual prompts, but the truth is that I'd be happy with just about anything. But I have a few.
- Rena studying at Linga university. Maybe she and Precis are roommates or eventually girlfriends (Precis strikes me very much as thinking she has to like boys because she's sixteen in-game but possibly growing to realize differently in a couple of years.) Maybe Claude is their long-distance boyfriend who has to keep going back and forth to Earth for work, but comes and visits whenever they can. Anyway, feel free to run with any of that.
- Ashton after the game, whether he's alone, whether he has his little sister/friend Eleanor to visit, or whether he's traveling with others. (I listed Ashton/Noel and Ashton/Claude in my signup, and I'm also open to Ashton/Dias, although I'm still not sold on it. Polycules would also be fine.) But no matter what his situation is, how does he handle living with the dragons? Does he eventually find a way to separate them from him without harming them, or is there always some sort of connection? I can see a psychic connection even after physically separating them as a possibility. Or, what was his early life like? (I'm not sure if the game says anything about his past. I got the impression that he was from El, which you don't get to explore much in the game because it's already mostly exploded, but I don't know if that's based on anything, so feel free to go where you'd like with his backstory.)
- The Ten Wise Men are favorite villains of mine, mostly because of the secret information you find on them (I feel like it explains some of the contradictions in their behavior.) What was their "birth" and subsequent programming like, especially for Gabriel? (This is getting into spoiler territory so I don't want to push too far with this question.)
- Any group of characters (especially the solo characters I requested) trying to build Expel up after the game. We know, for instance, that Precis is able to become a highly-acclaimed engineer - what else might people become if they had the opportunity?
Fandom-Specific DNW: So there were a lot of translation differences between the earliest version of the game (PSX) and the later remakes. Most of them are fine by me (i.e. Heraldry to Symbology, or the names of the Ten Wise Men that were restored to the original angel-inspired names in the remakes.) The only name change I cannot get used to is for Ashton's dragons. So I'm asking, if you're writing using their names, please use their names from the original translation, Gyoro and Ururun, which is basically a romanization of their Japanese names (I confirmed this on the newest release by listening to the Japanese audio, they're called that in the cutscene in Japanese speech.) Their new names are translations of the old ones, but I cannot get used to thinking of them as Creepy and Weepy.
Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth:
Info: I already posted a promo post about this and I don't want to repeat myself too much. I also have a few fairly-low-spoiler posts about it on PF under the tag replaying vpl.
Prompts:
Worldbuilding - As usual I'd love to see anything about the various countries in the game, or the realms' histories - we know canonically that Midgard has basically been falling apart for the past century, so what's going on there? The Forest of Spirits is the home of the Elves, as well as the World Tree; are they being impacted by the same? The Tombs of Amenti is a dungeon that appears to be inspired by ancient Egypt and is a pretty fascinating place on its own and I'd like to see more things inspired by it as well. Also - how is life in Asgard for the Einherjar? Are they treated as gods or are they eventually sent away? I'd love to see more ideas about that.
Relationships and characters -
- I requested Lenneth/Lucian and Platina/Lucian because I like the idea of how their relationship would've turned out if they'd been mortal, and also how their relationship as gods (or close to it) would compare to what they would've expected. How do two former mortals carry out a relationship that lasts forever?
- I'm also very fond of Claire and her relationship with Lucian, and I'm glad that she was (implied to be) saved from her predicament. The game shows it was hard for her, loving someone who was in love with someone else, and I'd love to see more about her.
- Lezard is a major villain and a horrible person and I love seeing more about him. I don't like the idea of him in a happy relationship with anyone, but he and Mystina obviously know each other, and seem to have some history.
- Honestly I don't really want to keep saying how much I love all these people, it feels like I'm saying the same thing every time. So anything about any of my requests is very welcome! (One of them, Janus, is a relatively minor character and I've posted a lot about him on my PF link above, which might be helpful. I'll probably add a bit about Jayle and Fahn later.)
Yakuza/Like a Dragon series:
Info: A series of open-world games, starting with the PS3 and moving onward since then. There've been eight mainline games and several gaidens and spinoffs. It's a LOT to get into and to be honest I am not sure how to start. The games are mostly available on Steam, especially now that they're on sale to hype up a new TV series (that I know little about.) I would probably agree that Yakuza Zero (a prequel that came out after several games were released) is a good starting point, and there are remakes of the first and second game as well.
Prompts:
Worldbuilding - I mostly asked for two things here, both of which figure heavily in earlier games (chronologically) in the series. Sunflower is the orphanage where the main character of the first few games grew up, and figures heavily in Yakuza Kiwami 1 and 2 as well (especially 2 as we get to help the place out a lot and get a lot of letters and such from the kids.) It's an interesting concept, especially once you know the backstory for it, and more about it is good. The second is Pocket Circuit (one of the most memed substories from Yakuza 0 and Yakuza Kiwami 1 from what I've seen,) which had a set of substories in 0 that continued in 1, that I really enjoyed. (It's notably absent in Yakuza Kiwami 2. What happened? That's another good topic.)
Characters and Relationships:
Yakuza: Like a Dragon was not the first Yakuza game I played, but I did fall in love with a lot of its characters, and so a lot of the relationships I requested involve characters from that game. The four mains have a great dynamic, and I love the joking between the barkeep and Adachi and the tension between Seoung-Hui and Saeko.
For Kiryu and Haruka, I most enjoy how they interacted when she was a young child - maybe something in the year between 1 and 2 when he was taking care of her?
A few random ideas that came to mind for this.
- Dress-up games - I had to include this because of Y:LaD's job system and the fact that they all get different uniforms. What would other characters look like in that situation? What other wacky jobs can you think of to give any of them?
- AUs are fine for this fandom - For instance, what would Ichiban's party and friends do if they were in the zombie apocalypse or samurai AUs, a la Dead Souls or Ishin?
Media requested across the board - Writing (multiple lengths,) Art (multiple media), Meta, Illustrated Texts.
General Likes: Exploration of strange and unique lands. Plot threads and/or characters that don't get much attention in a game, or that get mentioned and then dropped abruptly. People dealing with strange customs. Culture shock. Overcoming differences in the name of friendship/love/family (or whatever.) Complicated relationships. Relationships in the past that have changed with time and separation, sometimes for the better and sometimes not. People who care about each other trying to solve conflict (even if they don't always succeed.) Studies of dysfunctional relationships as dysfunctional. Happy endings for non-dysfunctional relationships, or at least happily-for-now endings. Stories about characters getting the catharsis that they need. Friends becoming lovers, or former lovers who remain good friends. Rivals becoming friends and/or lovers. For NSFW, porn with feelings/plots that are as hot/involved as the porn.
Art: Historical styles are always fun (impressionism, art nouveau, art deco, baroque, etc....) Alternate costumes and redesigns are great. Using lots of plants/gemstones as a design element is great.
General DNWs: Non-con, dub-con, character bashing, underage characters + sex, abuse treated as romantic by the narrative, unrelenting angst without at least a hopeful ending.
Fandoms:
The Dig:
Info: This is an adventure game by Lucasarts that was released shortly before The Curse of Monkey Island and has a similar visual style; it's an original science fiction story about an asteroid that's coming to strike Earth, but very quickly turns into a story about three humans exploring a beautiful but abandoned alien civilization. They find horrific beasts, advanced technology and loads of puzzles to solve, and rifts inevitably start to form between the team.
Links:
GOG sale link
Longplay (3h, covers both ending variations, no commentary.)
Requests and ideas:
This is a short list because I want to give a bit more than "Everything." This is a very small fandom and there's not much out there about it.
- The three mains - what do they do after the ending of the game? Do they stay on Earth? Do any of them decide to go back to the alien planet? They've been through a lot - how do they reconcile? Do they reconcile?
- Brink - what exactly did the crystals do to him? How much does he remember about any of it? At the ending he's brought back a few decades older than he was at the start; did he actually live those many years, or was his body aged through some other means? How were they able to release his mind from the influence of the crystals?
- The alien civilization - They offer to help teach the humans at the end, with the implied threat that if any humans start trouble they'll be quickly put down. What sort of relationships do the two civilizations have? Do any of the aliens go to visit Earth? Also, we see a lot about their science and technology, but what about other aspects of their civilization? Do they have music? Literature? Art?
Fandom-specific DNW: For this event, at least, I'd like to avoid the ending where the main character breaks his promise about using a certain item on one of his companions.
Final Fantasy IV:
Info: Part of Square's Final Fantasy series, and the first of the 16-bit games. It was the second game in the series for non-Japanese players, so it was the first game to feature a lot of the series' staples (like Chocobos) for many players. The plot is relatively simple now - a group of people caught up in a fight to end a world-ending plot by some dark force while simultaneously handling their own demons - but still holds up well. There've been multiple re-releases, in both 2D (the original SNES version, GBA, and the recent Pixel Remake) and 3D (the remake for the Game Boy DS which is now on Steam as well.)
(A sequel was also released, which I fully intend to try after I finish my replay of the 3D version, which is MUCH harder than I remembered... so I haven't gotten there yet.)
Links:
Longplays: SNES, DS
Requests and Ideas:
Worldbuilding - I asked for a lot of worldbuilding on this because there isn't that much given in the game, and would like to read just about anything (meta or story) about how some of these countries run, or how the Summoners' magic works, or so forth. Any kind of worldbuilding/in-universe documents or art would be great.
Characters - Likewise I requested a lot of solo characters. I am 100% happy with gen. For relationships I'm pretty open to relationship-building between just about any of the main characters, romantic or not.
Ships - The only romantic relationship I requested for this fandom was Cecil/Kain/Rosa, which has been a favorite for years. A few ideas for tropes/prompts taken from earlier letters:
- Cecil and Rosa find out where Kain is and take a secret airship trip out to get him.
- Navigating a relationship where the rest of Baron (and much of the world) still distrusts Kain but the King and Queen do not.
- Kain writes them letters he didn't mean to send, but *somehow* they get to the others anyway.
- Baron is in trouble and Kain comes back to save them.
- Cecil, being the King and therefore able to do this, declares that Kain is legally part of their union; how would others react?
Fandom-Specific DNWs: No spoilers for Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, please. I still haven't played it.
Final Fantasy VI:
Info: The sixth Final Fantasy game and the third released overseas, this one dealt with an empire that rose after resurrecting a long-lost magical force and combining it with steampunk machinery, opposed by a small group of resistance fighters... and a former Imperial weapon, who was somehow born with the ability to use magic and shift into a bestial shape. There's no brief summary I can really give that would describe everything here.
There have been multiple releases and ports for this game as well, but they've all pretty much stayed close to the original SNES release (no full 3D version.) The original release is infamous for its translation, with later releases changing it quite a bit. The most recent re-release, the Pixel Remaster, is currently available on Steam and various other consoles.
Links:
Longplays: Pixel Remaster (15h), SNES (Multiple parts, title screen shown as Final Fantasy III.)
Prompts and Ideas:
Worldbuilding - Once again I asked for a number of locations; I listed four in particular but I'd be happy to see just about any worldbuilding info about any of the game's locations or countries under the WB: Any tag. (A few ideas for locations I couldn't fit into nominations - Figaro Castle, the Ancient Castle, the Serpent Trench.)
I also asked for a few WB topics regarding the Empire, specifically Magitek, because as horrible as it is, I've always been fascinated by the workings of it - both the infusion process for Magitek Knights and the building of armors and technology that use magic.
Characters and Relationships: A few ideas.
- Anything about the Warring Triad, who they were, why they started the War of the Magi, and why they finally chose to end the war. We're given very little about them - are they gods, or humans who somehow became gods?
- Celes and Terra as two people who know what it's like to have magic at a young age, and how they might've navigated that together after meeting... there's not much chance for them to talk during the game. Or either of their relationships with Locke - I get the impression that neither of them would need a designated protector and they could help him realize that.
- Any combination of Daryl/Maria/Setzer pre-game; I love the idea that part of the reason that Setzer decided to kidnap Maria was because he and Daryl had known each other before and possibly been lovers. Any kind of relationship would be good here, just something about what kinds of lives they had before Daryl's disappearance.
- Sabin/Shadow, Shadow trying to stay apart and Sabin overcoming his boundaries. Maybe some version of the Coliseum fight when recruiting him where Sabin decides to be the one to get him, or maybe a fix-it fic where Shadow does try to stay behind as the Tower falls, but Sabin rescues him either as it falls or digs him out after the fact. On that same note - Shadow trying to have some sort of relationship with Relm, and Sabin trying to help him... and maybe having some trouble getting along with him on his own.
- Sabin and Edgar's relationship as children, how close they were and what interests they might've found in common. Or, Sabin coming back to Figaro after the game and having to adjust to this sort of life after years of living an aesthetic lifestyle.
Final Fantasy VIII:
Info:
Another Final Fantasy game? Yes, but the last one on my request list this time. This one was released on the PSX after the impossible-to-follow FFVII, and it took a turn into science fiction, with a plot based on a military academy for teenagers and a battle against a series of powerful Sorceresses. Really, these games are hard to summarize.
Links:
Longplay - Remastered PC version (20 hours.)
Prompts and Ideas:
Worldbuilding: Most of my WB prompts for this one involved Sorceresses (Origin of Sorceresses and The Lunar Cry) because I'm really curious about how they were created. There's some backstory in the game but not as much on how they became so feared and hated.
Also, I added Blue Magic, which in this game is Quistis' limit break. I love the concept of blue magic in general and I'd love to see some interpretations and worldbuilding on what it is - is it an ancient concept or a new one? Is it a form of power related to the Sorceresses or is it something else? How does one learn blue magic? (It looks in the game like Quistis just uses part of a monster and it teaches her an ability, but there has to be something more than that.)
Characters and relationships:
- Anything about Cid in general. How did he meet and marry Sorceress Edea? How'd he manage to start Garden, even with the aid of his backers, and how did the deal with Galbadia come to be? Slightly related to that - did Caraway have anything to do with the Garden deal?
- Anything about Caraway's relationship with his family, or his friendships with the Garden owners, because he's one of my favorites and I want to know more about him, especially since he was the one who apparently finally said "enough" and decided Deling was going too far. And what about him and his daughter? Was it difficult for him, being the husband of a woman who became famous for singing about another lover who vanished?
- How did Laguna, Ward and Kiros end up being as ride-or-die as they were in the games? Anything about them would be great.
- Rinoa spends quite a bit of time being possessed by Ultimecia - was she aware? How did she react to the possession? (Was it voluntary, or involuntary?) Is there any sort of connection to them in the future? (I am not 100% sold on the Rinoa-is-Ultimecia theory but I would be cool with an exploration of the idea, or some variation of it.)
The Locked Tomb series:
Info: A series of three (so far) books. More info about them on B&N here. They're very irreverent, with at least one character who use memes that were probably old when he was a kid, and the plot and worldbuilding are lots of fun.
Prompts:
- Any kind of requested worldbuilding. In-universe art or documentation.
- Ortus is a favorite character of mine and I'd like to see him get some good things coming to him, even if he IS dead. Please feel free to take full advantages of the liminal spaces to put characters back together.
- Anything involving body-sharing, like Varun's possession of Judith and Palamedes and Camilla sharing a body, and how it affects relationships with others around them, would be great. Also more about Paul and what sort of being they turn out to be, what of their pasts they remember, etc.
- Noodle being adorable.
- Ok so I'm fond of any of the relationships John has with his apostles because they're all extremely fucked up in different ways. My favorites are probably with Augustine and Mercy (because they stay together so long and they're just so familiar with each other and he thinks he knows everything, hell, knows he knows everything, except that they end up surprising him,) and with Ulysses and Titania (the first two "kids" that he animates and befriends in a way, although he doesn't get their souls until after he re-creates the solar system, presumably. How did he find their souls? DID he find their souls or did he maybe cobble something together? Was he surprised by what he learned about them, once he brought them back?)
Quest for Glory:
Info:
My fandom promo contains several longplays and other links, along with information.
Prompts and Ideas:
My favorite games are 1 and 4, and it probably shows in my prompts, but I'd be fine with references from any of the games.
Worldbuilding - I listed several organizations, creeds and such that I'd love to know more about it. I've always been curious about the Thieves' Guild - how DO they stay in "business," as it were, in some of the more remote areas. More training materials from the Correspondence School, or accounts of Paladins breaking the law in the name of rightness, things like that.
Characters and relationships - I selected a few of my favorites here. A few prompts:
- Yorick staying with Elsa, helping to raise her into a brigand and keep her safe, and how a jester has to turn into a wizard to hide himself from the brigands.
- Elsa and Barnard - what in the world happened between them, to drive Elsa out of her own country?
- I really like Erana and the various peaceful places she created and would love to see more about her - art of her and some of her creations would also be great!
- The Dark Master and Ad Avis - really, anything about them, I really love their mutual hatred and his scheming and her being well aware that he's scheming and not at all scared of him.
Skies of Arcadia:
Info: A Dreamcast RPG developed by Sega, later re-released on Nintendo Gamecube, this focuses on a crew of sky pirates who find a mysterious young woman captured by a world-spanning Empire. While the plot is not exactly original, the worldbuilding is great and the gameplay and characters are lots of fun.
Links:
Longplay: Gamecube (3 parts, about 35 hours.)
Ideas and Prompts:
Worldbuilding - Arcadia has a fantastic world with tons of potential for worldbuilding. The six moons apparently have elemental properties that affect the world, and the entire game is spent on floating islands. How did this even happen? There are also rumors of another moon that may or may not have existed, the Black Moon, which is a huge mystery in and of itself... the Dark Rift, which is a very mysterious place as well.
Characters and relationships:
- Vyse, Aika and Fina are the three main characters and also pretty much my first OT3, anything about them would be fantastic - exploring Arcadia (or beyond, maybe the stars or the world below? There has to be more to it than that.)
- I picked out a few of the admirals, because I do enjoy their interactions. (The Moonstone Mines in Ixa'taka is great because of the interactions between Alfonso and De Loco, it's hilarious.) And Belleza has one of the most tragic stories in the game.
- Drachma and Polly - I loved their friendship from the first time I saw them - she seems to be one of the few people who can really convince him to change his mind. I'd love to know anything about how they met, or if they stayed friends after the game.
Star Ocean 2:
Info/Links: An RPG that was released for the PS1 back in 1999. and has been re-released a couple of times - the most recent on Playstation, Steam and Switch with a large number of QOL updates that the original really needed. Anonfeather's promo post has information and links about the game.
Prompts:
Worldbuilding - My two main requests were the Technology of Nede and the Symbology of Expel - the latter being the game's system of magic and the former being very similar to the latter, but turned up to eleven. Canonically Symbology was introduced to Expel from "beings from afar" as well, so I'd really love to see speculation about that, and even whether or not the two practices are related.
Also, artifacts - maps of the world or of various ruins, or interpretations of the Ancient Text or other ancient writings that are discussed in the game. Expel is implied to have had a lot of ancient and possibly otherworldly civilizations and a lot of artifacts left behind. Show off some of those artifact ideas.
Characters - I put down a relatively small selection of characters and relationships that I'd like to see explored. I'm trying to come up with individual prompts, but the truth is that I'd be happy with just about anything. But I have a few.
- Rena studying at Linga university. Maybe she and Precis are roommates or eventually girlfriends (Precis strikes me very much as thinking she has to like boys because she's sixteen in-game but possibly growing to realize differently in a couple of years.) Maybe Claude is their long-distance boyfriend who has to keep going back and forth to Earth for work, but comes and visits whenever they can. Anyway, feel free to run with any of that.
- Ashton after the game, whether he's alone, whether he has his little sister/friend Eleanor to visit, or whether he's traveling with others. (I listed Ashton/Noel and Ashton/Claude in my signup, and I'm also open to Ashton/Dias, although I'm still not sold on it. Polycules would also be fine.) But no matter what his situation is, how does he handle living with the dragons? Does he eventually find a way to separate them from him without harming them, or is there always some sort of connection? I can see a psychic connection even after physically separating them as a possibility. Or, what was his early life like? (I'm not sure if the game says anything about his past. I got the impression that he was from El, which you don't get to explore much in the game because it's already mostly exploded, but I don't know if that's based on anything, so feel free to go where you'd like with his backstory.)
- The Ten Wise Men are favorite villains of mine, mostly because of the secret information you find on them (I feel like it explains some of the contradictions in their behavior.) What was their "birth" and subsequent programming like, especially for Gabriel? (This is getting into spoiler territory so I don't want to push too far with this question.)
- Any group of characters (especially the solo characters I requested) trying to build Expel up after the game. We know, for instance, that Precis is able to become a highly-acclaimed engineer - what else might people become if they had the opportunity?
Fandom-Specific DNW: So there were a lot of translation differences between the earliest version of the game (PSX) and the later remakes. Most of them are fine by me (i.e. Heraldry to Symbology, or the names of the Ten Wise Men that were restored to the original angel-inspired names in the remakes.) The only name change I cannot get used to is for Ashton's dragons. So I'm asking, if you're writing using their names, please use their names from the original translation, Gyoro and Ururun, which is basically a romanization of their Japanese names (I confirmed this on the newest release by listening to the Japanese audio, they're called that in the cutscene in Japanese speech.) Their new names are translations of the old ones, but I cannot get used to thinking of them as Creepy and Weepy.
Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth:
Info: I already posted a promo post about this and I don't want to repeat myself too much. I also have a few fairly-low-spoiler posts about it on PF under the tag replaying vpl.
Prompts:
Worldbuilding - As usual I'd love to see anything about the various countries in the game, or the realms' histories - we know canonically that Midgard has basically been falling apart for the past century, so what's going on there? The Forest of Spirits is the home of the Elves, as well as the World Tree; are they being impacted by the same? The Tombs of Amenti is a dungeon that appears to be inspired by ancient Egypt and is a pretty fascinating place on its own and I'd like to see more things inspired by it as well. Also - how is life in Asgard for the Einherjar? Are they treated as gods or are they eventually sent away? I'd love to see more ideas about that.
Relationships and characters -
- I requested Lenneth/Lucian and Platina/Lucian because I like the idea of how their relationship would've turned out if they'd been mortal, and also how their relationship as gods (or close to it) would compare to what they would've expected. How do two former mortals carry out a relationship that lasts forever?
- I'm also very fond of Claire and her relationship with Lucian, and I'm glad that she was (implied to be) saved from her predicament. The game shows it was hard for her, loving someone who was in love with someone else, and I'd love to see more about her.
- Lezard is a major villain and a horrible person and I love seeing more about him. I don't like the idea of him in a happy relationship with anyone, but he and Mystina obviously know each other, and seem to have some history.
- Honestly I don't really want to keep saying how much I love all these people, it feels like I'm saying the same thing every time. So anything about any of my requests is very welcome! (One of them, Janus, is a relatively minor character and I've posted a lot about him on my PF link above, which might be helpful. I'll probably add a bit about Jayle and Fahn later.)
Yakuza/Like a Dragon series:
Info: A series of open-world games, starting with the PS3 and moving onward since then. There've been eight mainline games and several gaidens and spinoffs. It's a LOT to get into and to be honest I am not sure how to start. The games are mostly available on Steam, especially now that they're on sale to hype up a new TV series (that I know little about.) I would probably agree that Yakuza Zero (a prequel that came out after several games were released) is a good starting point, and there are remakes of the first and second game as well.
Prompts:
Worldbuilding - I mostly asked for two things here, both of which figure heavily in earlier games (chronologically) in the series. Sunflower is the orphanage where the main character of the first few games grew up, and figures heavily in Yakuza Kiwami 1 and 2 as well (especially 2 as we get to help the place out a lot and get a lot of letters and such from the kids.) It's an interesting concept, especially once you know the backstory for it, and more about it is good. The second is Pocket Circuit (one of the most memed substories from Yakuza 0 and Yakuza Kiwami 1 from what I've seen,) which had a set of substories in 0 that continued in 1, that I really enjoyed. (It's notably absent in Yakuza Kiwami 2. What happened? That's another good topic.)
Characters and Relationships:
Yakuza: Like a Dragon was not the first Yakuza game I played, but I did fall in love with a lot of its characters, and so a lot of the relationships I requested involve characters from that game. The four mains have a great dynamic, and I love the joking between the barkeep and Adachi and the tension between Seoung-Hui and Saeko.
For Kiryu and Haruka, I most enjoy how they interacted when she was a young child - maybe something in the year between 1 and 2 when he was taking care of her?
A few random ideas that came to mind for this.
- Dress-up games - I had to include this because of Y:LaD's job system and the fact that they all get different uniforms. What would other characters look like in that situation? What other wacky jobs can you think of to give any of them?
- AUs are fine for this fandom - For instance, what would Ichiban's party and friends do if they were in the zombie apocalypse or samurai AUs, a la Dead Souls or Ishin?
