highadrenalineexchange Letter!

[iserlohna]

Dear creator for this very exciting highadrenalineexchange,

don't panic and good luck with this speed writing experience! I hope you fnd something here you can work and have fun with!

I'm also open to receiving art and below are also some concepts of what I like in art.

GENERAL LIKES:

- angst
- action/adventure
- political intrigue
- mirror verse/trapped in a VR-world/dream/alternate universe
- rivals/enemies to lovers
- friends to lovers
- strong trust
- competency/competence kink
- hurt/comfort (physical or emotional) or hurt with no to little comfort
- backstories
- bridal carries
- dramatic rescue
- heroes doubting themselves and coming through in the end
- tsundere
- unrequited or unknowingly requited crushes/pining/mutual pining
- PWP
- mysteries
- ghost stories
- tragedy
- humor – especially with a side of angst
- canon divergence/what-if
- undercover stories
- time travel
- time loops
- emotionally repressed people fighting their feelings
- mirror verses and people getting sucked into alternate/parallel universes
- fluff
- domesticity
- hand holding and hugging
- family/found family
- jealousy
- possessiveness
- neediness
- team bonding
- fake dating & accidental/convenience/forced marriages
- amnesia
- sex pollen/alien made them do it
- repressed person saying I love you in complicated ways or being forced to reveal their emotions
- dub con where they both like each other but consent isn’t clear/not negotiated/things get out of hand
- PTSD
- dark pasts haunting the present
- huddling for warmth/sharing a bed/snowed in
- costume/uniform kinks
- death fic
- handcuffs/being tied up/being tied together
- kidnapping/imprisonment/torture
- mind control/memory alteration
- 5 things or 5+1 style works

I’m okay with non-con elements (but not overly explicit please) and character death. I love bitter-sweetness and hopeful endings. I’m fine with open endings. I’m also fine with canonical background relationships or characters being in other (canonical or implied) relationships before ending up in the requested relationship.

Kinky likes (in case it becomes relevant):

- possessive behavior leading to rough sex
- emotionally charged sex
- frottage, intercrural sex, tribbing
- slow love making that turns frantic
- shower sex
- wall sex
- ghost sex
- married sex
- massage escalating into sex
- sex magic/ritual sex
- hand jobs/fingering
- voyeurism
- sex pollen/aliens made them do it
- empathic bonds/Newtype bonds/mind melds
- biting, bruises, marking someone on purpose
- fantasizing/dreaming about sex
- uniforms/costumes kink and clothe sharing
- mind control/possession/hypnotism/manipulation via drug use
- light bondage that is unnegotiated and happens in the heat of the moment – or was planned by one for a long time surprising the other
- captivity, kidnapping, prison sex, stockholm/lima syndrome
- black mail, sexual coercion, threatening loved ones
- dominant behaviour during sex
- invading the fuck out of somebody's personal space
- aliens/xeno/tentacles

I’m fine with dub scenarios that involve drugs/aphrodisiacs and drunk sex.

DNWs: explicit underage porn/loli/shota, ageplay, mundane AUs, setting AUs, formalized and 24/7 D/s (light D/s play is fine), A/B/O (where not specifically mentioned in the prompts/fandom details), breath play.

Mobile Suit Gundam/Universal Century Gundam

Char Aznable/Amuro Ray
Char Aznable/Amuro Ray/Lalah Sune
Amuro Ray/Lalah Sune
Char Aznable & Sayla Mass & Amuro Ray
Kamille Bidan/Amuro Ray

I’ve nominated the broadest possible fandom for this - so it’s up to you to pick if this spirals out of original Mobile Suit Gundam or Zeta Gundam, Char’s Counterattack or anything else in the UC universe. I was probably thinking of the original MSG, The Origins, and Zeta the most, but any canon divergence where they’re all around in Unicorn or Hathaway would also be absolutely fine with me.

If you're looking for a fandom to catch up with quickly this encompasses a lot but if you want to focus on the Amura, Char, Lalah, Sayla character options I've listed, you can can catch up with the original Gundam series by watching the three summarizng movies that (thanks to Hathaway premiering) and „Char's Counterattack.“ All are now also available on Netflix in some parts of the world.

Plot ideas:

– Time travel in this fandom for added angst and discovery about backstories would be loved too.
– Amuro gets stuck in a Mirrorverse version of their world and meets a very different Char (is he even Char?) The actual Char comes after him to get him back.
– Kamille and Amuro get to talk about Lalah and Four – and that changes the plot of Zeta for the better.
– Instead of only meeting once on neutral ground Lalah, Char and Amuro meet a few times and Char realizes much sooner that the boy is the Gundam’s pilot. How does that influence the battles and years to come?
– They share dreams of a world where Lalah is alive and they’re all happy together – just to wake up to what the world really is like
– Amuro is kept under house arrest in his fancy home in Cheyenne, isolated from friends and the rest of the world, the army pulling him in as Newtype guinea pig now and then. Char learns about it years before Zeta Gundam and doesn’t even know why he feels compelled to check up on him. (Obviously someone has to make Amuro run away for his own good.)
– Amuro is there – either because he followed Char to space or because he wanted to be there for Kamille – and the last fight against Paptimus Scirocco goes very differently.
– Amuro goes to Kamille when he hears of his coma – maybe Kamille called out to him?
– Char is the one who dies and Lalah survives instead
– Any canon divergence or time travel that lets Amuro, Sayla and Char interact more at any point in their lives – and that changes things for brother and sister and the friends/enemies among them
– Any of the mentioned pairings living somewhere tugged away and anonymous after they've gone missing/are presumed dead/ran away from the war

I’m fascinated by Newtype powers and love that Amuro defies expectation as an Earthnoid - and that Lalah, also born on Earth, is another equally powerful Newtype. I wonder what that says about all the theories of Zeon that new humanity develops in space? And I can't help but wonder how Char feels about that who never reached that level?

Amuro really is one of my all time faces and I would have loved his PTSD to be explored even more in the part of Gundam that he was in - and honestly I would have loved him to survive and mourn Char in „Char's Counteratack“ - even though quite honestly them dying together meets quite a few of my narrative kinks.

There’s so much here to explore - the seven years between MSG and Zeta, canon divergence where he and Char get to work together more, where he goes to space with “Quattro” after all - anything really. How would that change things for them and for Kamille? Or any AU that spins out of Origins - their mother comes with them, they get groomed by the Zabis, they get to stay in Spain and everyone forgets about them - what would that mean for “Edouard” who never meets a Char. Does he end up in space or going to Zeon anyway or does he end up with Sayla on Side 7? I admit I enjoy Char’s darker side and his archnemisis qualities - but I also like it when he shows that he cares and that he's just very much broken in too many ways to ever live a normal life. He does try to mentor Kamille, he does try to get Amuro to come with him, he really cared for Lalah or her death wouldn’t have meant so much - and he did try to get Sayla to leave White Base to be safe…

Char is just one of the best and most complicated antagonists/compatriots - at the same time he really is an ass. He manipulates people until everything falls in place for him and his on plans - and he has so many reasons to want revenge, to want to shape a new world - to even think he’s entitled to - but at the same time he had so many chances to stop, to stop fighting and hating or making Amura his forever rival. It’s funny that Newtypes could in theros communicate so much better and yet he never understands Amuro fully. Take all that and turn it into a bit of a possessive streak that makes him realize he really wants something from Amuro that isn’t fighting and I’m all there...

I love that scene where Amuro’s car gets stuck and Char and Lalah drive by and they have the awkward interaction where Amura Newtype recognizes Char, but Char doesn’t know he’s the Gundam pilot and Lalah has only just met Amura once very briefly before… That is a bit like identity porn with superheros in an even more complicated way that can’t be held up (add Char’s many aliases and names..) I’d love anything where they get to interact with each other on neutral ground like this - or like later in Zeta where they can discover that things they think they know may not actually be true.

Lalah is a very fascinating figure for me and I would simply have loved to know more about her, see her interact more with Amura especially, see her survive and make her own choices - with or without Char. How much did she know about him being Casval and about what he really was doing in that war at the time? Could she have helped him? Where would she have ended up and how could she have survived. I’d love to see a threesome story where things turn out very happy or extremely tragic - up to you.

Kamille is a character who I didn't like much at first and who then grew on me along with his growth – even though Zeta is probably the bleakest and most sexist part of Gundam that I can think of... But I really liked him and how he grew into his Newtype powers, his friendship/relationship with Fa, the way he genuinely cares so much for Four right from the start, the working with Quattro and Amuro and Bright. I would have loved him and Amuro to have more time together and mor interactions and I'd love to see a relationship that's post canon and maybe even a few years down the line.

As Newtype bonds are very much a thing in this canon anything you can think of involving soulmate trope variations would be awesome too. As would be political marriages to stop all the warring.

Side note: Generally this canon influenced LoHG backstory as well as gets referenced for all Sunrise jokes in Gitnama so often that a crossover or cameo in the above would be absolutely fine with me. ＼(٥⁀▽⁀ )／

Legend of Galactic Heroes – Neue These & 1980s OVE

Neue These:

Yang Wenli & None,
Walter von Schenkopp/Yang Wenli
Reinhard von Lohengramm/Yang Wenli
Reinhard von Lohengramm & Yang Wenli
Jessica Edwards/Jean Robert Lappe/Yang Wenli

OVA:
Walter von Schenkopp/Yang Wenli
Siegfried Kircheis & Yang Wenli
Reinhard von Lohengramm/Yang Wenli
Reinhard von Lohengramm & Yang Wenli
Frederica Greenhill/Walter von Schnekopp/Yang Wenli

Not an easy canon to quickly catch up with. The OVA is loooooong and has side stories and additional movies, but Neue These (a remake that sticks closer to the novels this is based on with some adaptions and unique takes) so far only has the first two seasons and if you can track it down there are three summarizing movies for those that should give a well enough impression of the characters and main plot points.

Plot ideas

Yang lives, being rescued from imprisonment, battlefield wounds, philosophical debates, New Years Celebrations on Iserlohn, making a home in a war zone, unexpected allies, writing your own history, Yang gets to drink tea and read books – and maybe finally study history, Julian’s first days with Yang after the adoption, peace treaties, for once things go Yang’s way and no politician on the home front or Earth cults or anyone turns things on him, enemies become friends
– Either of them gets the chance to go back in time and/or redo a critical moment in their lives – how will that shape their relationship or the war or the political messes Yang gets stuck in
– A murder mystery on Iserlohn – and it’s not clear if it’s just a killer or a traitor, someone after Yang (from which side???) and Schönkopf needs to solve it because he’s in charge of Fortress security – and also because nobody gets past him to hurt Yang.
– Any sort of mission/battle gone wrong scenario where one needs to do whatever necessary to save the other
– Schönkopf has family in the Empire and everyone expects him to be the next traitor – so someone reaches out with a proposition. What happens?
– Reinahrd really is bugged by the fact Yang never replied to that first message – and for some canon divergent reason they meet at a peace summit or mission to a planet where they both have to deal with broken down supply lines and broken down ships he gets to ask Yang about it who is all “huh? I did that?”
– Offers are made for peace if Yang gets handed over
– Anything where listed characters are stuck together need to work together to get out
– Flirting to rile Yang up turns very real, very fast instead

I’m absolutely a Yang Fleet/Free planets girl. But if you want to build a plot that also involves the Empire side and Reinhard and the amazing people he has gathered around himself or involve the political machinations going on in this version of space from (Heinessen to Phezzan and Odin) go right ahead by showing both sides of the greater conflict that is also fine with me. There are no characters you need to avoid.

I’d especially love Yang's friends, Julian and Frederica to be included in any plot where it makes sense. I love Frederica and her relationship with Yang too, so please be kind to her whatever main pairing you choose. Or if you want to explore Katerose and her dad getting to know each other more, that would also be amazing. (Background Julian/Karin also more than welcome. As would be past or unrequitted Dusty/Yang. Jealousy is fine!)

I have an abundance of love for this canon and all the political complications, even though I don’t always agree with Tanaka Yoshiki’s view of humanity or his conclusions. (Constitutional monarchy has not figured it all out better than democracy, sorry.)

I was always fascinated by how Yang was the brillant, kind person he is who always ended up having to follow paths that he wouldn’t have chosen otherwise. So much in his life was pushed on him by circumstances that were outside of his control or in areas where he wasn’t willing to play the ruthless power games even though he was quite aware of them. There are so many ways his life could have gone differently and even though the tragedy of his end appeals to me too, I’d love to see any way you can find to give him a happier ending. I wish poor Yang had had more luck outside of the job that he was so damn good at even if he never wanted to have it. Anything that at least gives him a chance to decide his own fate or to find a way to live away from it all (would he miss it, maybe?) would be amazing.

With Schönkopf I very much love the idea of his background: born in the Empire that he doesn’t have a love for, not trusted by the Free Planets because he was born to a aristocratic family in the Empire - and because traitors in the ranks of Rosenritter leaders aren’t uncommon. Neue These explored that a little more with the backstory of the flight, we only got remarks and glimpses of his thoughts in other versions - but it’s at his core that he doesn’t have much trust or even love for one side or the other, but is willing to instead trust in Yang who was willing to put his trust in him before they even really knew each other. There’s something they see in each other that from the start and they somehow click despite being very different and maybe not always able to understand each other. I think Yang’s unwillingness to use his brilliance to seize power both baffles and charms Schönkopf - and frustrates him when it means Yang would rather lose than do something against his convictions of what’s right.

Equally, I think Yang admires Schönkopf from the start and learns very quickly to trust him and when to rely on him - but he very clearly has his own opinions on things. He chooses Schönkopf as teacher for Julian and sends him and the Rosenritter into dangerous situations - but that kind of fighting is not his world. And yet they respect each other and seem to react to each other's cues.

I love their first meetings in both the old anime and the new if you want to go with either version and love how their rapport forms with Yang explaining his plan and his stance on why he’s doing what he’s doing and then through the seizing of Iserlohn. And later for both of them Iserlohn becomes such an important focal point as the fleet makes it a home. I love how they snark at each other.

I’m a sucker for scenes like Yang having to face the Patriotic Knights Corps, or being detained for the unlawful inquiry, smart tactics like seizing Iserlohn and getting it back later, and all his guerilla tactics. Anything that has them saving each other in some way, any missions where they end up on the run or having to outmaneuver their enemies to get away would be awesome! Hut/Comfort with someone being hurt badly would also fit well with this canon.

As I mention I love Frederica and her competence and the way she followed in Yang's footsteps because of the young kind smart officer she got to see at El-Facil an I generally love how she works around him to give him the room to rest to be “lazy” when he has the chance. I loved the small glimpses the old series gave at their married live – and I love the way she and Yang get to meet Schönkopf together right away and with a chance for her to demonstrate she's more than a pretty face and a thing to be flirted with from the get go. I'd love to see what a Frederica/Yang/Schönkopf relationship could look like – at Iserlohn or on Heinessen as they're maybe trying to keep it away from the press or people who want to use whatever they can get against Yang – or what it would like under the occupation under the prying eyes of their homeland and Empiral watch dogs – and what kind of cultural misunderstandings could it get them into if the Empire doesn't recognie poly relationships at all?? And also when they were getting Yang out of captivity it was really the Walter and Frederica who were he driving forces and I'd love to see more of that – the two of them as his pillars to lean on when he needs to and who make decisions to keep him safe even when he's being difficult about it. Give me a better ending for them – maybe something where she gets her politial career and the other two get to be survivors and supporting husbands instead?

Another relationship that always fascinated me was Yang's formative friendship with Jean-Robert and Jessica that very much influenced him and also helped Jessica onto the path she took after Jean-Robert died. I'd love to see more of their happier times and how instead of Yang slipping into the background to be he supporting friend it gets explored how both of these people see him and maybe also how in a modern society that doesn't follow the conservative society model of Tanaka's present days Japan – how could things easily slip into a positive poly relationship that might even have changed a lt for all of them. Is there a chance that Jean-Robert ends up on the same fleet as Yang because they have spousal rights? How does that influence Jessica? Where would she be after Yang takes Iserlohn etc.? Or a world where they help Yang to be the historian he always wanted to be!! What would hat be like?

As for Yang and Reinhard. I'm always fascinated by the way these two are the same level of strategic and tactical genius but on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to personal philosophy and morals. I think Yang understands that much better than Reinhard and usually the view people take of Yang is warped by a lot of propaganda and people interpreting his actions based on their own set of morals, their own view of what someone who rose in ranks like that must want from power. Their meeting and the bantery way Yang declines Reinhards offers to work for him always fascinated me. In a ways I feel Kricheis and Yang recognized equals in each other much more Reinhard was able when they met – both not sure if they won or lost that one battle that pitted them against each other finally. I'd be fascinating to have anything that gives them a shot at that second meeting that never happened. I can totally see Reinahrd pining for someone like Yang in his life – so if you want to go for one sided pining that would be A-Okay with me. Anything that orchestrates earlier meetings, long conversations via subspace messages or holo-letters during unexpected piece times, anything that gives Reinhard a glimpse into who Yang actually is and how he got to be where he is would be great. If they both get a few more years can they actually work out a peace that allows the Iserlohn republic to exist? What if Yang actually gets to win earlier battles because no political machinations get in the way? I could see Yang be drawn in by this lonely brilliant man who really needs someone to challenge him.

As for Kicheis and Yang... as I say above, I really loved that they got to meet and to convey so much more in the few words to each other than you'd think. I would have loved more of that and liked to see how they becoming friends would have impacted Reinhard, too. Any canon divergence here would be fun and interesting to see where it gets them.

I do have a thing for enemies working together – so maybe they all get caught up in a Phezzane/Earth cult plot and finally get to change that random randomness of a conspiracy thing...

Gintama

Hijikata Toshirou/Sakata Gintoki
Kagura & Sakata Gintoki & Shimura Shinpachi

This is definetly not a canon you'll be able to catch up with quickly... I'm caught up on 100% of the manga and anime though if you want to explore any angle there.

Plot ideas

– Someone puts a prize on either of their heads and this sets of a chain of events where the other has to get them out of town for a few days/hide them somewhere/take them on a trip – and it’s Gintama so something will go wrong or chaos will ensue
– interplanetary adventures get out of hand
– taking another job because poor, cute kids pay you with toys
– Experiencing the others' past first hand in some way
– Five jobs Gintoki had to take that ended with Hijikata in some way
– Hijikata needs a date for a night and the Shinsengumi hire Gin-san to be the date (as Gin or Paako?)
– Family outing to a remote part of Japan and doing typical torus it things but with a Gintama twist
– Another Gintama style ghost story
– Opening a restaurant – or even better a themed café

This is such a long time favorite for me. Gintama comes at you as this comedy thing with lots of references to Japanese culture, history, many other manga and anime properties and popular culture and even (at the time) current events - and reveals itself to be a super angsty story about a boy who became a samurai and lived as a Yorzuya, repressing his emotions A LOT. He behaves like an ass and yet it’s easy to see how much he cares, and how important it is for him to show others that they can live by their own rules. And it’s always so fun to watch Gin-chan collect all these friends - starting with his kids.

He’s maybe not the best organized and responsible single parent, but he takes on way more than the role of older brother with Shinpachi and Kagura - and there are all these other people he cares for and who care for him too. More than a few of the awesome female characters are interested in him - and yet he never goes for any sort of relationship.

No wonder when you learn about his past, what he went through as a child, then teen and how he fought with the Joi and how he ended up in Edo with Otose.

I do very much love tropes of found family and of mentoring - and it's especially fund and sad to watch with Gin-sa who has this past with his own mentor/teacher/father figure and we know the fast forwarding to their two endings. And then there are the two kids he adopts and who adopt him and it's so clear how much they care for each other even when they can be very harsh, hiding their feeling behind their big mouthed attitudes and what they are willing to do to let their little family thrive. From competing to being the best Santa Clause to just noticing when one of them isn't at their best and wanting to help, fighting together. And family outings hurt comfort, missions gone right or wrong... or just getting Shimpachi into a concert... it's all good with me! (Also Gin-san realizing he's totally the mum.)

And then there’s Hijikata who has an equally sad and complicated past and who has found this family and purpose in the Shinsengumi - and who can also be the scariest asshole and at the same time has all these soft spots. And he also has this tragic romance that he more or less denied himself to protect Mitsuba. And there are all the fun ways life puts mirrors in front of him - the cursed sword that makes him an otaku, the way Okita challenges him all the time, and, of course, Gintoki who he has more in common with than they would both ever admit.

So that’s what always fascinates me: the way they gravitate towards each other, how they end up in the same izakaya, in the same saune, how they can argue incessantly and beat bad guys up while being handcuffed together. If this is earlier in canon I’d love to be along for the right of Hijikata discovering more about Gintoki, I’d love anything that has canon events where one or the other weren’t along for the ride or not in the know play out with both of them around instead, or any mayhem they can face together like another ghost ryokan style adventure, anything that deals with revenge plots against them (for whatever reason) spiraling out of control Gintama style.Give me Edo-style idol concerts, bachelor TV shows - or just sword fights with samurai or aliens - I will LOVE IT.

I’d fine with A/B/O for this canon as there are so many weird Amanto induced tropes happening that this would just be another day in the park in this world.

Also Joi 4 making their appearances and meddling would be loved. (Past Tatsuma/Gin or Takasugi/Gin being mentioned would be fine with me.) I do love me all the female characters and love the Yoshiwara crew and their problems. I have a very soft spot for Tatsuma and his annoying laughter.

Crossover

Squall (FFVIII)/Cloud (FFVII)

The crossover of my dreams!

Plot ideas

– Ultimecia looks for a new night and finds another universe – and a soldier who needs a purpose and who turns out not to be as much of a puppet as she thought
– Cloud gets washed through the lifestream, loses his memory and gets found by Squall. Will they find out who he is?
– Washed up on the shores of dreams they have to fight their way out together through darkness and their worst nightmares – even if that means they can never see each other again???
– I love mutliverses and universe hopping (If you read through other fandoms, you might have guessed) and I’ve been in love with the idea of these two meeting since Kingdom Hearts and Dissidia - so something Dissidia style or KH inspired where they meet for a mission outside their world, or where their world where destroyed or stolen or whatever and they have to restore the universes would absolutely make sense to me. But also just something where one wanders into the world of the other for whatever reason. Lifestream? Mad scientists? You tell me!

I do love the tragedy around Cloud’s backstory, the being experimented on part, the unlikely hero story that’s folded into how he killed Sephiroth the first time - and how killing him again and again becomes part of his story across the FFVII compilation. I do love the way he has to figure himself out and grow, and how he comes so damn strong - but for so many reasons will never be a people person. I obviously do have a type, seeing as he becomes a Yorzuya and adopts kids who look up to him but tries to also distance himself not to hurt people… So, yeah, anything about how he thinks he’s the worst and a danger to others, how he copes with guilt over Zack and Aerith, Nibelheim or even Sephiroth is always welcome angst. If you want to include past or backround relationships, I love him in fucked up Cloud/Seph ships and Zack/Aerith/Cloud or in Vincent/Cloud and I also love Tifa as a character (ship her with Aerith and Barrett.)

Likewise I love Squall for his silence, aloofness and all the ways he has to grow and figure himself out before he becomes someone who saves the world with a group of people. There’s so much angst in the way he figures out the stuff about his mother, learns what Laguna is to him. Even the idea that Rinoa is ultimately also a sorceress has potential for tragedy. (Please no Rinoa bashing - I know that was a big thing, but I have a huge love for her and I think even if things with Squall would work out, they’d be friends at least after.) Anyone of the gang, including Seifer and his friends would be fine to include.

I think it would be cool to see them both after the events of their respective games when they have come into their own a bit more. What’s Squall’s life as a headmaster like? How would Cloud cope with someone like that or with ending up in a Garden? And what would Squall’s thoughts be about, I don’t know, Midgard or Cloud earning money with Chocobo racing?

Anything where staying together ultimately comes with hard decisions would be great!

Huge amounts of hurt/comfort (I’ fine with angst and hurt being a huge deal) for these two would be awesome.

Howl no Ugoku Shiro | Howl's Moving Castle [SAFETY]

Calcifer & Howl Pendragon
Sophie Hatter/Howl Pendragon

Definitely the easiest canon here to catch up with as it's a movie!

In case you know the novels this is loosely based on and want to take element to work into your story that'd be fine with me as I read all of them and like some of the weird backstories and underlying ideas or ideas for possible further adventures very much. (Like the idea of Howl's true origins as Howell Jenkins.)

Plot ideas

– The first years of Howl and Calcifer before the war
– Life in a flying castle is awesome and also sometimes a dangerous mess – where can they go now and what are they experiences on their travels.
– Howls side of the story surrounding the movie – why did he help Sophie? Was that coincidence? Did he remember her calling him and Calcifer in the past? What was fighting like and why did he get involved in the first place?
– A plot where Sophie gets to be the awesome with/sorceress and he's her sidekick
– Why does Calcifer stay and what does it mean for a demon to be unbound and free and yet throw your lot in with a family of choice like that?
– Calcifer saves them all
– the prince comes back for Sophie and he's prepared to win her with magic if he has to impress her and Howl wants her to be happy but doesn't know he's the right person for that – miscommunication and magical shenanigans ensue
– meeting Sophie's family and turning their lives upside down to Sophie's delight

I have an abundance of love for the visuals and aesthetics of this movie and I love how it eds up being a road to discovery – both for Sophie and Howl and maybe even people like Suliman. At the same time it does give glimpses into a big story of magic and magical history and politics but all of that is hinted at more than it's spelled – and that's not a complaint. That mysteriousness is a strength and the choice not to explain every little detail is setting it apart from many western productions that go into the “we have to answer all questions, even the ones nobody wants answered!!” direction that often annoys me.

That the magic here is very weird and different and something that not explained in spells and scrolls but more in imagery and emotions is very fascinating. In the novels it's also a bit like that too, where much comes down to acceptance of tropes making magic and prophecies and it's always been very appealing to me.

I'd love to see what that means for Sophie now that she has found her confidence and broken her curse and Howl's. What kind of life will she choose and what kind of witch will she be? What will her magic look like? Will she make her own and will it take her own shapes and colors? Will her compassion be a driving force and anker point and what would that look like? How will Howl teach her and how will he learn from her?

Their backstories and family histories are also present but only hinted at. There's a lot there to be explored. How have their backstories and families shaped them? What was Sophie's father like? Where is this Howl's family? What will Lettie think of Howl? Where does Sophie's talent for magic come from – is she just the first witch in the family or are there secrets to be uncovered?

So many questions!

I like the idea that this Howl is both very dark and at the same time still had the heart of a child and behaved like one sometimes because of it. How can he grow up now? What does that mean for his life with Calcifer and Sophie?

There's also the implication that Howl took Calcifer n so the little fire demon could survive – and I'd love to see more of their bond explained and explored and fleshed out.

Gundam Wing

Trowa Barton/Heero
Yuy Trowa Barton/Quatre Raberba
Winner/Heero Yuy
Zechs Merquise/Heero Yuy

Also not the easiest canon to catch up with if you need something to get into fast, sorry... ^^

But this is the canon that back in the day sealed my descent into all things Gundam and I've been recently reading the Endless Waltz Manga (a recap of the whole series working in the Endless Waltz stuff from the start and it reminded how much I loved this iteration of Gundam. Heero and Trowa are very much my sad boy faves. I do like Relena, so please be kind to her. (This feels like the fandom where this needs to be said even though I hope we're better about character bashing than we used to be...)

If you're aware of it, ignore the existence of Frozen Teardrops and that frozen and waking up in the future stuff, please.

Plot ideas

– Post-Endless Walts Heero tries to find a new life for himself and he imitates the people he knows to make it work – ending running into some of them in process and finally figuring out who he is himself and where he belong
– Trowa manages life in peace times better than Heero – or so it seems until they meet during Preventers missions
– I was always fascinated by the time that Trowa took care of a hurt Heero and then went along with his plot to give the girl he wronged closure – what went through his head there and how does that influence their future?
– More amnesia plots – but this time it's Heero who los his memory
– Rather than it being a triangle centered on Trowa I would love to see a story where Quattre and – – Trowa both want to take care and help Heero – mabe post Endless Waltz when Heero is trying to be distant from the rest of the pilots? - and they team up in the end for better results and it transitions (with or without angst and drama where the all want to make room for the others' blossoming relationships) into a happy-complicated threesome
– Zechs and Heero start a complicated enemy-lover thing during the war and conflict still ready to kill each other at any time and then they are not sure what to do about each other or with themselves when peace has come
– general, saving each other from certain death or imprisonment or experimentation adventure mission plots

Like I said, Heero is very much my fave and this is the team of Gundam pilots that drew me in to become a fan of giant robots. Just the idea of these child soldiers with their different sad backstories fighting a fight against both sides because they're following their on moral compasses and ideas of a better world was just always very appealing to me – just like the idea that they are teens and still mess up and learn along the line. Because despite all of their piloting skills they are still young.

Heero despite his enhanced body does some crazy stuff and risks his life in stunts that are just suicidal sometimes and he has this special connection to Wing-0 that is similar to Newtype/SEED abilities from other Gundam-verses but that doesn't get explored as deeply or as an evolutionary thing, but rather as part of him being the perfect soldier. If maybe you want to spin a take on him developing more Newtype-ike abilities and struggling with it in later life, I'd be there for it. I'd also love anything that deal with him maybe struggling or even having to find cures after all the things his body was put through and maybe that's why he tries to be distant, because he doesn't want anyone to know.

I do love Trowa and his circus life. He starts out like this really angsty boy without anything to life for and then he has Catherine in his life and a family and friends. He isn't one to speak much either but still shows a lot of empathy and compassion despite of it. Quattre pretty much is the opposite, he openly feels so much that it really bleeds out and he doesn't hide any of it even when maybe sometimes he should be more guarded. They do complement each other very well in that but also Heero.

Zech – the Char Aznable stand in of this Gundam verse, hehe – he's really as sad but maybe less manipulating than Char and also manages to keep an eye on his sister where Char just walked out and then only backhandeldy tried to push Sayla out of the conflict to keep her safe. And he steps aside for Relena instead of taking center stage – not sure Char would have that in him. His clashes with Heero, his drive for revenge for his family and also his passion getting the better of his reason sometimes make him fascination but also ultimately one of the sad boys squad. I love his friendship/relationship with Noin, too, but I'd really love the emotional tension between him and Heero to find better outlets than just smashing each other with giant robots.

Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

Franz d'Épinay/Eugénie Danglars/Albert de Morcerf
Franz d'Épinay/Albert de Morcerf
Edmond Dantès/Albert de Morcerf
Edmond Dantès/Albert de Morcerf/Franz d'Épinay
Haydée & Mercédès Mondego
Bertuccio & Albert de Morcerf

If you haven’t seen it but are looking into other things in my requests, this is a 26 episode anime series based on the Count of Monte Cristo novel by Dumas - but with a darker sci-fic twist based on the fact that the Japanese translation of the title is “Gakutsuou” (meaning “cave king”) and it has a very specific visual aesthetic that complements the story of revenge.

I’m extremely fascinated by the sci-fi elements and if you have ideas for world-buidling around these I would love to see it. There are so many elements from the way data is transmitted and how spaceships work. For example Haydée in this version is an alien princess and duels are fought with giant suits of armor that look a bit like lanky EVAs - and yet we see something like roaring 20’s Paris with aristocrats and steampunk elements where marriages are arranged and morals are very strict on the surface but lots of intrigues and affairs and wrong doings happen under the cover of this shiny surface. Anything you want to do to play with these elements or expand on them, or even ideas you have to play on the use of art, music and design in the series - I’d love it!

Plot ideas

Anything involving Albert finding a way to free Edmond of Gankutsuou without him dying Gankutsuou as a being that gets passed on to other people gets passed on to Albert - Edmond lives or not?
Post canon Albert travels space and later time
Albert figures out Franz has feelings for him before it's to late and it changes everything – maybe for the two of them, maybe for Franz, Eugenie and him
they get to make the better version of what Albert's parents and Edmond could have had and lost to jealousy
Franz (and Eugenie) kidnap Albert to get him out of the Counts cluches
Mercedes and Haydee meet – later they grief together for the man they both lost in different ways
exploration of this world's space travel and alien races and how it shaped or reflects on human society and on the events we and characters we know; anything where the revenge plot takes a dirty-bad-wrong shape and the Count tries to corrupt Albert with sex games and grooming
what if the Counts really is a vampire?
Haydée and Albert or Franz and Albert take Edmond away to a far away planet where they live together - revenge plot abandoned and without Albert even knowing about it - will ghosts come to haunt anyway? Will his friends think he needs rescuing?
If you were to go with a version of events where Albert feels guilt over Franz's death and that actually leads to a fucked up relationship with the Count who is more Gankutsuou than Edmond at that point I'd be fine with it too. (After all Franz told him not to hate anyone in his letter, right?)
Gankutusuou is dead and so is Edmond - but he has become an entity living among the stars and in their dreams
Edmong uses Albert to manipulate Franz into becoming part of his plots
Edmond figures out Franz's true feeling for Albert and suddenly sees his own complicated relationship with Mercedes and Fernand reflected at him with Albert being engaged to Eugenie – will he intervene in a different way because of it – when he realized Albert taking the role of Mercedes in this situation?
part of Edmond's revenge isn't just breaking up Albert's engagement but to force him into an arranged marriage or whatever Easter Space equivalents of it you can think of
Bertuccio really seemed to like Albert by the end – do their paths cross again while Albert becomes a diplomat and Bertuccio protects Haydée? What adventures would the get into?

For everything involving explicit sex I'd prefer it to be a bit after canon though where Albert is an adult rather than turning sixteen.

Albert and the way he’s the focus of this adaptation as the outsider who learns of Edmond’s and the roles the people in his life played in it is my favorite thing. I love how he starts out as a very naive if good hearted boy and ends up growing by learning about other people’s pain (like Valentine’s) and through all he loses. There’s something very fascinating in the way he meets Haydée for the first time and what he thinks of her role in the Count’s life, and in general how he has his big crush on the Count that blinds him to a lot of what's going on. (Poor Franz who has this crush on him in turn and can’t stop any of it…) It always strikes me as tragic how Edmond was brought down by Albert’s father and his friends, and Haydée’s family was destroyed by them - and then in turn they first meet Albert who crushes a bit on both of them, but especially the Count, and then the Count destroyed nearly everything in Albert’s life and Haydée is the catalyst to bring down his dad. (In all the versions it strikes me how poor Mercedes is dealt THE WORST HAND - none of this is her fault AT ALL and yet she loses nearly everything twice… If you want to reflect on that feel free because I really think it's unfair to her.)

I’d like to see all characters deal with their feelings of guilt and find ways to live with them and each other - this could be good and healthy or dark and complicated. I’m fine with either.

This adaption certainly didn’t shy away from going the darker routes of the revenge plot and human tragedy - from Gankutusou beng this vengeful cold being taking over Edmond and him not getting the happily ever after to Franz sacrificing himself to safe the one he loves without every spelling it out to him to Fernand Morcerf shooting both Mercedes and Albert because “he loves them” etc. One of my favorite scenes is Albert begging his father to spare Haydee and then Fernand begging for Albert’s life and everything going to hell to the point where Gakutsuou takes over and despite everything Albert tries to save Edmond till the very end! It's just catnip to me.

The turn to real romance between Eugenie and Albert is also something I adore – even though it's so sad how much tragedy they have to get through to get out of the shell of their aristocratic pre-ordained pattern. It seemed Eugenie who had seen through the fake lives their families were leading was there a long time before Albert realized it. I'm glad she got out of it and got to live her best musician life in New York – but if you can find a way to have them get there sooner and in a way that also saves Franz so the three of them can have more happy beach vacation memories that would be lovely.