Yuletide 2019 Letter

[ashglory]

Hello! I am ashglory on AO3 and thank you so much for writing for me! I'm very easy to please and I will love almost anything, so please don't stress out too much over creating something for me. Some requests have more prompts than others, but don't take that as a sign that I'd be less happy to receive that. Every canon I request is one that I absolutely love with all my heart, I just happen to be quite bad at thinking of prompts sometimes.

There are a few things that I absolutely love and will continue to love no matter how many times I receive them, or read them in general. You can refer to my Likes list below if no fandom-specific prompts inspire. None of it is a must, of course, so if you have to go ODAO, feel free to go ODAO!

Also, please consider this as OR matching. That is, I don't require you to include every character we matched on in the same fic – with one exception, for Magical Otoge Ciel. I would like both my requested characters to appear in the fic. For all other fandoms, you're free to write about only one, or any combination of my requested characters you would prefer!

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Likes
Do Not Wants (DNWs)

My requests:
HERO
Cinderella Phenomenon
Magical Otoge Ciel
Fallen Hero series
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

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Likes

• Time travel. Time loops are a particular love, especially when played for tragedy and romance. I also like Peggy Sue-style time travel, time travel where the character takes the place of a figure they knew in their past (if you're familiar with Discworld, think Keel-Vimes), or time travel to a bad future.


• Whump aftermath and hurt/comfort, doesn't matter if it's psychological, emotional, physical. I like any ratio of hurt to comfort that you want, as long as both of them are in there.


• Handcuffed together, Canadian shack, arranged marriage, anything that forces two people to be stuck together for a long period of time. Especially for an enemies-to-lovers relationship progression.


• Good old-fashioned mutual pining!


• 5+1 fic formats. Drabble series and collections. Constrained writing in general, or anything that relies on having a specific structure. If you want to get crazy with formatting and work skins, I won't stop you!


• Second and third person POV


• I am also opting into receiving Interactive Fiction for any of my requests! This post has a little bit more detail about what I like in IF.

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DNWs
If you see something in an individual request that contradicts my DNWs, the request details take priority over avoiding that DNW.

• First person POV


• Alternate universes aside from canon divergence/for want of a nail, with the exceptions of the following which I always love: His Dark Materials fusions/daemon AU, Pacific Rim fusions, roleswaps/ageswaps. If you're unsure where something falls in terms of whether I'd like it or not, please don't hesitate to ask!


• Entirely unhappy endings. I am okay with bittersweet endings, or endings where characters still have hope for a happier future despite dire circumstances in the present.


• Infidelity. If you are writing a non-canon ship, I would prefer that the canon ship had just never gotten together in the first place, or have had an amicable split.

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HERO - Any characters (The Narrator | Lost, Valentine, Ganymar)

HERO is a webcomic by Hwei Lim Lin, about 300 pages long and currently incomplete.

Prompts:

• I am definitely open to worldbuilding and exploration about the general universe. Consequences of the war? Some exploration into demons and their hearts, or lack thereof? What are some other cities that Valentine and Lost could have gone to?


• Very optional, but if you want to do worldbuilding, I would be interested in a crossover with Calvino's Invisible Cities if going the above route!


• Not quite father-son bonding between Ganymar and Lost would be lovely, as would general friendship bonding between Valentine and Lost. For both relationships: addressing, or not addressing, the elephant in the room that is Eira. Or no-stakes, lighthearted fun (adventures in the City of Delight, maybe?)


• I can kind of see enemies-to-friends-to-lovers between Valentine and Ganymar! Are they two tired people with their own, occasionally intersecting, griefs coming together? Something self-destructive for the both of them?


• I would actually be quite interested in seeing how a mundane AU of HERO would work, considering the circumstances surrounding Lost and Eira. How would you translate that to a modern day setting?

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CINDERELLA PHENOMENON - Lucette, Waltz, Fritz

Cinderella Phenomenon is a visual novel by Dicesuki, available for free through itch.io and Steam.

Prompts:

• I would love to see Lucette post-canon (any route you wish!) as she navigates being the heir to the kingdom again. What's her relationship with her family like? Some fluff with her love interest? How goes her magic training? Slice of life, investigating loose ends (for example, searching for Varg/Fritz in the routes where that reveal doesn't happen), anything goes.


• Honestly, the only three characters I can't see myself shipping Lucette with are Genaro, Ophelia, and Alcaster. I'd be so interested in seeing Lucette paired with someone who isn't one of the main love interests. Emelaigne? Parfait? Jurien and/or Garlan? Mythros? Anything that floats your boat!


• I'm also very interested in seeing some of Waltz's backstory as Hildyr's apprentice. What were those days like? How did he and Myth get along? Seeing the moment that he decides to betray her would be interesting too, how does he approach Genaro? Childhood fluff with a young Lucette and Waltz would be lovely as well!


• I find Fritz's situation super interesting. Consider this a free space to write about Varg as well as, or even in place of, Fritz. Any kind of exploration into his mental state would be really cool, especially of any similarities between him and Varg. An AU where he's aware of Varg? Or even one where he and Varg are siblings? His relationship with the other knights? I'd definitely be down for anything Lucette/Fritz. Angsty and dark, plotless WAFF, anything in between.

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MAGICAL OTOGE CIEL - Ciel, Anton

Magical Otoge Ciel is a visual novel by batensan. It can be found for free on itch.io or Steam.

Prompts:

• A canon divergence AU where Anton remained as Ciel's knight would be lovely! Or for something that is more canon-compliant, give me all the (eventually requited!) pining during the years that Anton couldn't be with Ciel! Something post-canon, where they're already in a relationship. Possibly interacting with other characters, like Ciel's dad, or Florien? Another haunted house trip?


• Out of all my requested canons, this is the one that I'm most interested in something lighthearted for. Not to say that I wouldn't like some angst for it too, in the form of hurt/comfort, but I just lean more towards fluff and sweet silliness for this canon.

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FALLEN HERO - Sidestep, Ortega, Dr. Mortum

The Fallen Hero series is a series of interactive fiction games by Malin Rydén, published through the Hosted Games label on Choice of Games. The first game is available on many platforms (including on the browser, the Apple Store, and Google Play) for approximately USD 4.

Currently the demo for the second game is available online for free, containing approximately 75% of the story content. I am familiar with all content in the demo, as well as supplementary and early/prototype content on the author's tumblr, so I'm not concerned about spoilers. If you want to only stick with officially released material, that's perfectly fine by me as well!

I have no preference as to the genders of any of the characters, so feel free to go with your heart.

Prompts:

• This is absolutely the most optional out of all my optional details, but I would absolutely love anything (and I literally mean almost anything – feel free to ignore my unhappy ending and alternate universe DNWs for this) that incorporated my Sidestep! I have written a bit about her on my tumblr and if you do want to write her, I'm very happy to clarify any additional information you might need. If you don't want to write her, then go ahead and use a generic Sidestep (I love second person POV, especially for this canon, if that makes things easier for you!)


• For Sidestep and Ortega interactions: Reveal scenes! Villain reveal, or [spoiler] reveal, or both at the same time! Suspicious Ortega and sympathetic Ortega are both welcome. Or for something that may be a little more lighthearted(?), a [spoiler] reveal where Sidestep decides to admit it during their hero days would be very interesting.


• I totally did not expect how much I would come to love Dr. Mortum's romance route. They're honestly one of the sweetest of the ROs, and I adore that they're so considerate and caring. And the fact that they can be one of the first to really start having strong suspicions about Sidestep's identity is so great. I really love them, and I'd be so interested in any interactions where Mortum is aware that Sidestep is the villain.


• I am very fond of the theory that Dr. Mortum was been one of the doctors that worked on Ortega after their accident. Just, something about them having known each other in the past. If you want to write some interaction between them with this history in mind, I'd love it!


• A poly romance involving all three is also something I'd be excited to see. That said, some potential situations with the puppet run close to my infidelity DNW. I would appreciate it if the puppet was not romantically involved with either Dr. Mortum or Ortega if going this route. Or, feel free to just disregard the puppet's existence altogether if you don't want to address it at all.

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HARD-BOILED WONDERLAND AND THE END OF THE WORLD - Any characters (Narrator, Narrator's Shadow)

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the world is a novel by Haruki Murakami. The story is told in two parts, with chapters alternating between the sci-fi Hard-Boiled Wonderland, and the dreamy fantasy End of the World. My requests are mostly to do with the End of the World narrative, but the two are intertwined.

Prompts:

• Post-canon, the Narrator's life in the town. Does he regret staying? Does he emphatically not regret it? How are his interactions with the Gatekeeper, after the Gatekeeper realizes that his Shadow has escaped?


• I'd also love some post-canon adventures from the Shadow's side, if there is anything that exists outside of the Town. I'd love some weird/creepy/atmospheric fantasy world that he has to navigate. Does he still have a connection to the Narrator, somehow? Does he resent being alone?


• Anything from the time where the Shadow is still imprisoned and under the Gatekeeper's thumb. Go as dark as you want!