Chocolate Box 2022 Letter
Jan. 7th, 2022 07:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iserlohnaDear Chocolatier,
this is very exciting! Hi, I'miserlohna amd that's also my handle on Ao3 (![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
iserlohna )!
Thank you so much for creating something for me! These are all fandoms of my heart and I can assure you I'll be absolutely thrilled about anything you can create about the fandoms and relationships I requested. I like all of these equally and will be equally happy to get something for whatever you pick! I hope this letter helps you get started and find ideas!
- angst
- action/adventure
- political intrigue
- mirror verse/trapped in a VR-world/dream/alternate universe
- rivals/enemies to lovers
- friends to lovers
- strong trust/terrible betrayal
- 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
- self-reflection
- unrequited or unknowingly requited crushes/pining/mutual pining
- PWP
- mysteries
- ghost stories
- tragedy
- humor and fluff – 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 (can have traits of domination kink in the bedroom – but no formalized D/s please)
- neediness
- team or (found) family bonding
- fake dating & accidental/convenience/arranged/forced marriages
- amnesia
- sex pollen/aliens 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/forced proximity
- 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 more than fine with open endings, too! I’m also fine with canonical background relationships being used or characters being in other (canonical or implied) relationships before ending up in the requested relationship.
- 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 clothes 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
- invading the fuck out of somebody's personal space
- aliens/xeno/tentacles
- masturbation
I’m fine with dub con scenarios that involve drugs/aphrodisiacs and drunk sex.
- in universe art (like magazine covers, portraits etc.)
- black/white
- dramatic lighting
- kissing
- snuggling
- dancing
- nudes
- illustrations of my own works/other people's works
DNWs: unrequested AUs apart from canon divergence, cannibalism/vore, bodily fluids (apart from sexual fluids, sweat and light blood), explicit underage porn, ageplay, fomalized 24h-a-day D/s, sadism, A/B/O (where not specifically mentioned in the prompts/fandom details), breath play.
Walter von Schenkopp/Yang Wenli, Reinhard von Lohengramm/Yang Wenli, Frederica Greenhill/Yang Wenli, Frederica Greenhill/Walter von Schenkopp/Yang Wenli
and
Walter von Schenkopp/Yang Wenli, Siegfried Kircheis/Yang Wenli, Reinhard von Lohengramm/Yang Wenli, Jessica Edwards/Jean Robert Lappe/Yang Wenli
As these might overlap in places I'll give them one section in the letter so I don't have to type everything out twice. ♥
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, sorry.) It's also scarily relevant in a world that has seen the fragility of US democracy very recently and that is seeing conflicts worldwide that make the questions canon raises seem more important than ever.
I know pretty much all the versions of GinEiDen – old anime, Neue These, novels, and both manga adaptations, even some of the plays. If there are particular elements or scenes that only exists in one of these that you want to use or adapts from versions that you think would work well to be explored in the 1980s OVA or the Neue These setting go for it! In general NT is sticking closer to the novels, but still has some new views and new interpretations of scenes and the contrasts and insights of both anime versions is particularly interesting in light of the world we live in.
A note on spelling: I don't care which spelling you chose for the character names. The official spellings often don't match the Katakana pronunciation etc. Any established version if fine with me.
The character selection may already be giving it away but, 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 close friends, and Julian and Frederica to be included in any plot where it makes sense. 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 unrequited Dusty/Yang. Jealousy is fine!)
I was always fascinated by how Yang was the brilliant, kind person he is who always ended up having to follow paths that he wouldn’t have chosen if things hadn't gone really wrong for him at an early point in his life and how other people's machinations and historical circumstance kept holding him back or was propelling him forward at times. So much in his life was pushed on him by circumstances that were outside of his control or pushing him into spheres where he had to make choices and that until the very end he wasn’t willing to play the ruthless power games even though he was quite aware of what he could have achieved if he'd ever been willing to make a power grab or abandon his ideals. I especially love how he brought up Julian to have all the skills and none of the ties that held himself down and how he kept reminding him to think of the suffering on the enemy side any decision they took could lead to, too. (For all he has lost based in ruthless decisions (Kircheis!!) and all that his sister and others have suffered under the power of an unjust ruler, and for all his mostly off screen attempts and assertions to rule for the people, I don't think he has ever really come close to Yang's level of empathy. He always needs a conscious outside of himself, like Kircheis or Hilde.)
There are so many ways Yang's life could have gone differently and even though the tragedy of his end appeals to the angst monger in me, I’d love to see any way you can find to give him a happier ending or to allow him to take control of things that canon took out of his hands. 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 do 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 if he'd been able to retire early, maybe? Would people have still come to him for saving if he'd retired after Iserlohn?) would be amazing.
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 guerrilla tactics during the war against the Empire. Hut/Comfort with someone being hurt badly would also fit well with this canon, as would assassination plots, space battles and all sorts of Iserlohn day to day explorations or explorations of media coverage and “historical” texts.
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 and how much they understand each other even when they don't agree on things.
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!
Anything that deals with the way loyalty works for both of the, how their world views clash but bring them closer.
I love Frederica and her own eventful backstory. We know she was on El-Facil and got to see Yang at such a critical moment I his own life and history and being himself – right down to being a bit too honest about the offered drink. I'd love to see more about her life and see more about what made her follow her dad – and Yang – into the army and I'd love to see and hear more about the moments that make her fall for him – does she come into the position of aid with a crush or just admiration of his strategic skills? How was it growing up as army brat? Does her upbringing make it even more appealing that Yang is a genius but not really a good soldier?
Also we know she took only a few hours to recover when she heard of her dad's betrayal but I'd love to see a deep exploration of it. Did she know? Did her dad try to push her towards Yang before or had he tried to set her up with other positions in the army and she chose this one? Did her dad try to set her up with dates?
I love her competence, her skills with a gun, her willingness to go safe her husband when he's taken, also her quiet strength and her lack of housewife skills. In a way going into politics now is a mirror to the route Jessica took, but as times have changed with a new Kaiserin in charge I hope Frederica can have a long and successful life. A look back from an older Frederica at a life with with Yang would be great, as well as anything that gives them a much happier ending. What if they'd ended up with family life down the road – him retired, writing books and taking care of the kid(s), her in charge of state affairs? What would people think of their lives?
So, obviously any of the above explorations of the pairings above can also be used in the OT3.
I do love all the teasing that is going on surrounding Yang and Frederica – where it's obvious that Schönkopf is flirting with her or teasing because like Caserne and other's he thinks Yang needs to get his act together and get the girl. There's an underlying tension though because he also really likes Frederica and respects her – and because obviously, imo, he has the hots for Yang too.
So, honestly I'd love to see the dynamic of them working it out – maybe Frederica and Schönkopf work it out without Yang and just make it happen, or Yang who has the love triangle with Jean Robert and Jessica in his past is just the type who falls in love with more than one person at a time and then holds back not to hurt any feelings? Anything that explores why this time the triangle would work out and how that would work would be great. Would they keep it quiet? Would their friends know? Is that kind of poly relationship a thing on Heinessen? Is it something very traditional Rosenriter would have a problem with? And would people still disapprove because what they think of Schönkopf?
I've nominated them for the 80s version because we have the full canon there and know how things end, so again – what if Frederica looks back at her life with them? What if things had gone differently? What was going through their heads when Yang was taken into custody? How did they go about protecting him when he was trying to keep them out of things?
I've nominated them in Neue These – not because I don't like the other version of this threesome but because I really loved the slight updated that Neue These made to their backstory, first meeting, showed of their discussions and how it handled Jessica and the love triangle.
In the old series with the prequel movies it seemed a bit like she was hoping for Yang to say something and she agreed to marry Jean Robert because Yang wasn't going to reach out again because he didn't want to hurt his friend and in NT it seemed more like Yang was crushing on both of them quietly not wanting to get between to people who had a longer history. I loved how it was his words about history and future that seemed to inspire Jessica's way forward. I loved the dynamic with this Jean Robert and the story of how how he was talking about “empty handed Yang” and wanted to introduce him to Jessica immediately – like naturally you want your most important people to meet!
I'd love to see something – anything where they can work out there OT3 dynamic and get it right. Maybe something where Jean Robert survives – at a cost? How would that change their lives Getting together during the academy times would also be great! Anything that addressed the damn UST and resolves it!!
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 Reinhard's offers to work for him always fascinated me. In a way I feel Kricheis and Yang recognized equals in each other much more than Reinhard was able when he and Yang 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 was possible and how it formed a stronger opinion about each other. Both seem to genuinely hope to be able to talk or meet again and yet on the battle field they would have killed each other relentlessly. But in that moment they can both show their kindness, their calmness. They are really similar in so many ways that maybe they could even see in that moment.
And Kircheis left an impression – on Julian and others, too, taking even Yang by surprise.
And when Kircheis talks about Yang to Reinhard – that he's unexpected, that he's hard to read... I'd love to see all the thoughts that went through his head when he saw Yang for the first time. Even more I'd love them to have a chance to really know things about each other that are under the surface. What would Kircheis think about Yang being the historian, quiet type? What would Yang think about Kircheis having come so far just to support the siblings? Their opinions on things would line up pretty well, I'd imagine and yet they wouldn't be able to easily trust each other right away.
Maybe it would be cool to see something where Kircheis is forced to flee, or defect (which he likely would only do if Reinhard were dead) or where Yang is a temporary prisoner – or through some weird peace negotiation – siding together against Phezzan – they end up sharing Iserlohn as an Allinace – Empire station? 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.
Random additional Prompts:
General: Yang lives, being rescued from imprisonment, battlefield wounds, philosophical debates, New Year's 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
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.
I do have a thing for enemies working together – Alliance and Empire – 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...
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?
Anything where they’re stuck together
Flirting to rile Yang up turns very real, very fast instead
Reinhard proposes a way to settle things once and for all
Albert de Morcerf/Eugénie Danglars/Franz d'Épinay, Albert de Morcerf/Franz d'Épinay, Albert de Morcerf/Edmond Dantès
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 a very specific visual aesthetic.
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 and Haydée is an alien princess - and yet we see something like roaring 20’s Paris with aristocrats and steampunk elements where duels are fought with giant, knightly armors. 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 to see it!
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 his downfall and return as Count is my favorite thing. I love how he starts out as a very naive and a little selfish if goodhearted boy and ends up growing by learning about other people’s pain (like Valentine’s, like Eugénie's, like his mother's, Haydées and of course, the Count's and not least of all Franz') 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 on him immediately 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 and yet she loses twice… If you want to reflect on that feel free...) 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 Morcerf shooting both Mercedes and Albert “he loves them” etc. One of my favorite scenes is Albert begging his father to spare Haydee and then Fernand begging for Albert’s and everything going to hell to the point where Gakutsuou takes over and despite everything Albert tries to save him.
One of my favorite things is the parallel between the three friends Edmond, Mercedes and Fernand and the three kids who grew up together and were paired up by their parents, Franz, Albert and Eugenie – and how different but equally tragic things play out.
How long does it take for Edmond to see Mercedes in Albert and not just the son of Fernand? Are there things he does that remind him of the kind girl he fell in love with? Does he plan at some point to do to Albert what Fernand did to Haydée?
Franz' being in love with Albert is so obvious and yet he also cares for Eugenié an is even trying to push Albert to care more. And then he sees the net cast around all of them, sees the passion Albert expresses for the mysterious count – it mus have hurt so much. And yet he dies for Albert when all goes wrong and everything is revealed. Poor, poor Albert who only understands way too late.
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.
Prompts/ideas:
Franz figures out things much sooner and whisks Albert (and Eugenié?) away to live a very different life away from Paris
Franz sees the count trying to seduce Albert an it leads to a confession
Albert wakes in time to stop Franz from dying – and he understands the letter for the love confession it is
Eugenié figures out Franz is in love with Albert and it changes so many things for all three of them
first time sex for Franz/Albert or the OT3
Edmond tries to ruin Franz when he realized he's trying to stop his plans and it leads to a very different scandal in the end – but in New York or off planet anything is possible
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
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 Count really was a vampire?
Haydée 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
part of his 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
Sex tapes
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.
Amuro Ray/Char Aznable/Lalah Sune, Amuro Ray/Char Aznable, Amuro Ray/Kamille Bidan
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⁀▽⁀ )／
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.
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?
Amuro really is one of my all time faces and I would have loved his PTSD to be explored even more - and honestly I would have loved him to survive and mourn Char - 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 and Zeta he is turned protagonist and mentor and even sort of an uneasy ally to Amuro - at the same time he really is an ass and it's only really hinted at (at that point) how deeply he is involved in playing all sides. He manipulates people until everything falls into place for him and his own plans - and he has so many reasons to want revenge, to want to shape a new world, to be destructive and violent thinking he's building something - to even think he’s entitled to make decisions for everyone - but at the same time he had so many chances to stop fighting and hating or qalk away from making Amuro his forever rival. It’s funny that Newtypes could in theroy communicate so much better and yet he never understands Amuro fully even though the one canon where they get really, really close is Zeta. 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...
And, Kamille…. Talk about a troubled young man. He starts out so very much a brat and then sees so much suffering and is often treated shitily by adults (which very much is supposed to be a “grow up this is war thing” but comes across like violent and abusive :P) on his way to become an amazing Gundam pilot and strong Newtype. I always felt he got a really bad deal with all of this and the ending he gets is really bleak. I’d love to see more of Char and Amuro mentoring him and helping him to don’t repeat their mistakes. I’d love anything, really, - maybe Amuro’s involvement saving him for his fate in that fight that puts him down. A better ending with Four would also be very appreciated. Maybe that's how Amuro stays around in Kamille's life, mentoring Four – and then he's there to help Kamille and Fa when they get left behind at the beginning of ZZ? How does Kamille/Amuro change the rest of the UC events?
I love that scene where Amuro’s car gets stuck and Char and Lalah drive by and they have the awkward interaction where Amuro Newtype recognizes Char, but Char doesn’t know he’s the Gundam pilot and Lalah has only just met Amuro 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 Amuro 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? Would she have gone with Amuro and then Char went after them? I’d love to see a threesome story where things turn out very happy or extremely tragic - up to you. Honestly Lalah surviving would have changed everything for Char and Neo Zeon and thus for everyone else too!
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.
I’d ask that for all sexual descriptions Amuro and Lalah, Kamille are at the very least 18.
Time travel in this fandom for added angst and discovery about backstories would be loved too.
Prompts/ideas: anything that deals with Amuro going to space with char after all; interactions between Amuro and Kamille, bonding over the similarities of the fate of Four and Lalah, generally I'd love for Amuro to be there when they face their two big enemies in space, helping Kamille to get through that last fight unharmed, mentoring Kamille together, Char and Amuro having more interactions and dealing with their feelings, exploring the things that Amuro experienced wen trapped in his state of house arrest; learning more about each other;
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.); Lalah sees that her two boys could be good for each other and sets out to make it happen; Lalah uses her Newtype talents to get the life she wants; settling together somwhere away from it all
Hijikata/Gintoki, Katsura Kotarou/Sakamoto Tatsuma/Sakata Gintoki/Takasugi Shinsuke
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.
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.
There's so much love and drama and found family here. I love anything that's set during the war where they pick up Tatsuma and they become this thing. Maybe they never even speak about the way they are more than brothers in arms – and maybe it starts just with two of them and then becomes a mess. And then they part ways and it becomes even ore of a mess with where Katsura and Takasugi end up and with Gin-san being Gin-san and Tatsuma coming in with all the money and reputation whenever he pleases. I'd love to see the circles of love/protection/denial and how they always end up back together.
All the loyalty and betrayal!
Would Katsura and Tatsuma make it their business to get Takasugi and Gintoki sit down for a talk and it ends with more than they could handle.
They will also NEVER admit it, but they are all keeping an eye on Gintoki and his kids – what if someone threatens the peace and they all come waltzing in at the same time.
I’d be fine with A/B/O for this fandoms as there are so many weird Amanto induced tropes happening that this would just be another day in the park in this world.
Random Prompts:
Plot ideas:
Someone puts a prize on either of their heads and this sets of a chain of events where the other(s) has/have 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
Experiencing the others past or future 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?)
Tatsuma makes the Joi 4 have date nights.
Paako and Zurako accompany Tatsuma and Takasugi to an offical dinner where typical Gintama chaos ensues
Trowa Barton/Heero
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 – – generally Trowa and Heero over the years – as adults and then maybe growing old together – something they never expected was possible
– general, saving each other from certain death or imprisonment or experimentation adventure mission plots
– hiding injuries/that you're dying/deteriorating
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.
this is very exciting! Hi, I'm
iserlohna amd that's also my handle on Ao3 (Thank you so much for creating something for me! These are all fandoms of my heart and I can assure you I'll be absolutely thrilled about anything you can create about the fandoms and relationships I requested. I like all of these equally and will be equally happy to get something for whatever you pick! I hope this letter helps you get started and find ideas!
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/terrible betrayal
- 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
- self-reflection
- unrequited or unknowingly requited crushes/pining/mutual pining
- PWP
- mysteries
- ghost stories
- tragedy
- humor and fluff – 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 (can have traits of domination kink in the bedroom – but no formalized D/s please)
- neediness
- team or (found) family bonding
- fake dating & accidental/convenience/arranged/forced marriages
- amnesia
- sex pollen/aliens 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/forced proximity
- 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 more than fine with open endings, too! I’m also fine with canonical background relationships being used 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 clothes 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
- invading the fuck out of somebody's personal space
- aliens/xeno/tentacles
- masturbation
I’m fine with dub con scenarios that involve drugs/aphrodisiacs and drunk sex.
Art Likes
- in universe art (like magazine covers, portraits etc.)
- black/white
- dramatic lighting
- kissing
- snuggling
- dancing
- nudes
- illustrations of my own works/other people's works
DNWs: unrequested AUs apart from canon divergence, cannibalism/vore, bodily fluids (apart from sexual fluids, sweat and light blood), explicit underage porn, ageplay, fomalized 24h-a-day D/s, sadism, A/B/O (where not specifically mentioned in the prompts/fandom details), breath play.
Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu | Legend of the Galactic Heroes (1980s OVA)
Walter von Schenkopp/Yang Wenli, Reinhard von Lohengramm/Yang Wenli, Frederica Greenhill/Yang Wenli, Frederica Greenhill/Walter von Schenkopp/Yang Wenli
and
Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu | Legend of the Galactic Heroes (Neue These)
Walter von Schenkopp/Yang Wenli, Siegfried Kircheis/Yang Wenli, Reinhard von Lohengramm/Yang Wenli, Jessica Edwards/Jean Robert Lappe/Yang Wenli
As these might overlap in places I'll give them one section in the letter so I don't have to type everything out twice. ♥
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, sorry.) It's also scarily relevant in a world that has seen the fragility of US democracy very recently and that is seeing conflicts worldwide that make the questions canon raises seem more important than ever.
I know pretty much all the versions of GinEiDen – old anime, Neue These, novels, and both manga adaptations, even some of the plays. If there are particular elements or scenes that only exists in one of these that you want to use or adapts from versions that you think would work well to be explored in the 1980s OVA or the Neue These setting go for it! In general NT is sticking closer to the novels, but still has some new views and new interpretations of scenes and the contrasts and insights of both anime versions is particularly interesting in light of the world we live in.
A note on spelling: I don't care which spelling you chose for the character names. The official spellings often don't match the Katakana pronunciation etc. Any established version if fine with me.
The character selection may already be giving it away but, 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 close friends, and Julian and Frederica to be included in any plot where it makes sense. 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 unrequited Dusty/Yang. Jealousy is fine!)
I was always fascinated by how Yang was the brilliant, kind person he is who always ended up having to follow paths that he wouldn’t have chosen if things hadn't gone really wrong for him at an early point in his life and how other people's machinations and historical circumstance kept holding him back or was propelling him forward at times. So much in his life was pushed on him by circumstances that were outside of his control or pushing him into spheres where he had to make choices and that until the very end he wasn’t willing to play the ruthless power games even though he was quite aware of what he could have achieved if he'd ever been willing to make a power grab or abandon his ideals. I especially love how he brought up Julian to have all the skills and none of the ties that held himself down and how he kept reminding him to think of the suffering on the enemy side any decision they took could lead to, too. (For all he has lost based in ruthless decisions (Kircheis!!) and all that his sister and others have suffered under the power of an unjust ruler, and for all his mostly off screen attempts and assertions to rule for the people, I don't think he has ever really come close to Yang's level of empathy. He always needs a conscious outside of himself, like Kircheis or Hilde.)
There are so many ways Yang's life could have gone differently and even though the tragedy of his end appeals to the angst monger in me, I’d love to see any way you can find to give him a happier ending or to allow him to take control of things that canon took out of his hands. 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 do 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 if he'd been able to retire early, maybe? Would people have still come to him for saving if he'd retired after Iserlohn?) would be amazing.
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 guerrilla tactics during the war against the Empire. Hut/Comfort with someone being hurt badly would also fit well with this canon, as would assassination plots, space battles and all sorts of Iserlohn day to day explorations or explorations of media coverage and “historical” texts.
Schönkopf/Yang (80s LoHG and NT)
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 and how much they understand each other even when they don't agree on things.
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!
Anything that deals with the way loyalty works for both of the, how their world views clash but bring them closer.
Frederica Greenhill/Yang Wenli (80s LoHG)
I love Frederica and her own eventful backstory. We know she was on El-Facil and got to see Yang at such a critical moment I his own life and history and being himself – right down to being a bit too honest about the offered drink. I'd love to see more about her life and see more about what made her follow her dad – and Yang – into the army and I'd love to see and hear more about the moments that make her fall for him – does she come into the position of aid with a crush or just admiration of his strategic skills? How was it growing up as army brat? Does her upbringing make it even more appealing that Yang is a genius but not really a good soldier?
Also we know she took only a few hours to recover when she heard of her dad's betrayal but I'd love to see a deep exploration of it. Did she know? Did her dad try to push her towards Yang before or had he tried to set her up with other positions in the army and she chose this one? Did her dad try to set her up with dates?
I love her competence, her skills with a gun, her willingness to go safe her husband when he's taken, also her quiet strength and her lack of housewife skills. In a way going into politics now is a mirror to the route Jessica took, but as times have changed with a new Kaiserin in charge I hope Frederica can have a long and successful life. A look back from an older Frederica at a life with with Yang would be great, as well as anything that gives them a much happier ending. What if they'd ended up with family life down the road – him retired, writing books and taking care of the kid(s), her in charge of state affairs? What would people think of their lives?
Frederica Greenhill/Walter von Schenkopp/Yang Wenli (80s LoHG)
So, obviously any of the above explorations of the pairings above can also be used in the OT3.
I do love all the teasing that is going on surrounding Yang and Frederica – where it's obvious that Schönkopf is flirting with her or teasing because like Caserne and other's he thinks Yang needs to get his act together and get the girl. There's an underlying tension though because he also really likes Frederica and respects her – and because obviously, imo, he has the hots for Yang too.
So, honestly I'd love to see the dynamic of them working it out – maybe Frederica and Schönkopf work it out without Yang and just make it happen, or Yang who has the love triangle with Jean Robert and Jessica in his past is just the type who falls in love with more than one person at a time and then holds back not to hurt any feelings? Anything that explores why this time the triangle would work out and how that would work would be great. Would they keep it quiet? Would their friends know? Is that kind of poly relationship a thing on Heinessen? Is it something very traditional Rosenriter would have a problem with? And would people still disapprove because what they think of Schönkopf?
I've nominated them for the 80s version because we have the full canon there and know how things end, so again – what if Frederica looks back at her life with them? What if things had gone differently? What was going through their heads when Yang was taken into custody? How did they go about protecting him when he was trying to keep them out of things?
Jessica Edwards/Jean Robert Lappe/Yang Wenli (NT)
I've nominated them in Neue These – not because I don't like the other version of this threesome but because I really loved the slight updated that Neue These made to their backstory, first meeting, showed of their discussions and how it handled Jessica and the love triangle.
In the old series with the prequel movies it seemed a bit like she was hoping for Yang to say something and she agreed to marry Jean Robert because Yang wasn't going to reach out again because he didn't want to hurt his friend and in NT it seemed more like Yang was crushing on both of them quietly not wanting to get between to people who had a longer history. I loved how it was his words about history and future that seemed to inspire Jessica's way forward. I loved the dynamic with this Jean Robert and the story of how how he was talking about “empty handed Yang” and wanted to introduce him to Jessica immediately – like naturally you want your most important people to meet!
I'd love to see something – anything where they can work out there OT3 dynamic and get it right. Maybe something where Jean Robert survives – at a cost? How would that change their lives Getting together during the academy times would also be great! Anything that addressed the damn UST and resolves it!!
Reinhard von Lohengramm/Yang Wenli (80s LoHG and NT)
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 Reinhard's offers to work for him always fascinated me. In a way I feel Kricheis and Yang recognized equals in each other much more than Reinhard was able when he and Yang 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.
Siegfried Kircheis/Yang Wenli (NT)
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 was possible and how it formed a stronger opinion about each other. Both seem to genuinely hope to be able to talk or meet again and yet on the battle field they would have killed each other relentlessly. But in that moment they can both show their kindness, their calmness. They are really similar in so many ways that maybe they could even see in that moment.
And Kircheis left an impression – on Julian and others, too, taking even Yang by surprise.
And when Kircheis talks about Yang to Reinhard – that he's unexpected, that he's hard to read... I'd love to see all the thoughts that went through his head when he saw Yang for the first time. Even more I'd love them to have a chance to really know things about each other that are under the surface. What would Kircheis think about Yang being the historian, quiet type? What would Yang think about Kircheis having come so far just to support the siblings? Their opinions on things would line up pretty well, I'd imagine and yet they wouldn't be able to easily trust each other right away.
Maybe it would be cool to see something where Kircheis is forced to flee, or defect (which he likely would only do if Reinhard were dead) or where Yang is a temporary prisoner – or through some weird peace negotiation – siding together against Phezzan – they end up sharing Iserlohn as an Allinace – Empire station? 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.
Random additional Prompts:
General: Yang lives, being rescued from imprisonment, battlefield wounds, philosophical debates, New Year's 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
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.
I do have a thing for enemies working together – Alliance and Empire – 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...
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?
Anything where they’re stuck together
Flirting to rile Yang up turns very real, very fast instead
Reinhard proposes a way to settle things once and for all
Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo
Albert de Morcerf/Eugénie Danglars/Franz d'Épinay, Albert de Morcerf/Franz d'Épinay, Albert de Morcerf/Edmond Dantès
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 a very specific visual aesthetic.
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 and Haydée is an alien princess - and yet we see something like roaring 20’s Paris with aristocrats and steampunk elements where duels are fought with giant, knightly armors. 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 to see it!
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 his downfall and return as Count is my favorite thing. I love how he starts out as a very naive and a little selfish if goodhearted boy and ends up growing by learning about other people’s pain (like Valentine’s, like Eugénie's, like his mother's, Haydées and of course, the Count's and not least of all Franz') 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 on him immediately 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 and yet she loses twice… If you want to reflect on that feel free...) 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 Morcerf shooting both Mercedes and Albert “he loves them” etc. One of my favorite scenes is Albert begging his father to spare Haydee and then Fernand begging for Albert’s and everything going to hell to the point where Gakutsuou takes over and despite everything Albert tries to save him.
One of my favorite things is the parallel between the three friends Edmond, Mercedes and Fernand and the three kids who grew up together and were paired up by their parents, Franz, Albert and Eugenie – and how different but equally tragic things play out.
How long does it take for Edmond to see Mercedes in Albert and not just the son of Fernand? Are there things he does that remind him of the kind girl he fell in love with? Does he plan at some point to do to Albert what Fernand did to Haydée?
Franz' being in love with Albert is so obvious and yet he also cares for Eugenié an is even trying to push Albert to care more. And then he sees the net cast around all of them, sees the passion Albert expresses for the mysterious count – it mus have hurt so much. And yet he dies for Albert when all goes wrong and everything is revealed. Poor, poor Albert who only understands way too late.
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.
Prompts/ideas:
Franz figures out things much sooner and whisks Albert (and Eugenié?) away to live a very different life away from Paris
Franz sees the count trying to seduce Albert an it leads to a confession
Albert wakes in time to stop Franz from dying – and he understands the letter for the love confession it is
Eugenié figures out Franz is in love with Albert and it changes so many things for all three of them
first time sex for Franz/Albert or the OT3
Edmond tries to ruin Franz when he realized he's trying to stop his plans and it leads to a very different scandal in the end – but in New York or off planet anything is possible
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
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 Count really was a vampire?
Haydée 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
part of his 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
Sex tapes
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.
Mobile Suit Gundam/Universal Century Gundam
Amuro Ray/Char Aznable/Lalah Sune, Amuro Ray/Char Aznable, Amuro Ray/Kamille Bidan
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⁀▽⁀ )／
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.
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?
Amuro really is one of my all time faces and I would have loved his PTSD to be explored even more - and honestly I would have loved him to survive and mourn Char - 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 and Zeta he is turned protagonist and mentor and even sort of an uneasy ally to Amuro - at the same time he really is an ass and it's only really hinted at (at that point) how deeply he is involved in playing all sides. He manipulates people until everything falls into place for him and his own plans - and he has so many reasons to want revenge, to want to shape a new world, to be destructive and violent thinking he's building something - to even think he’s entitled to make decisions for everyone - but at the same time he had so many chances to stop fighting and hating or qalk away from making Amuro his forever rival. It’s funny that Newtypes could in theroy communicate so much better and yet he never understands Amuro fully even though the one canon where they get really, really close is Zeta. 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...
And, Kamille…. Talk about a troubled young man. He starts out so very much a brat and then sees so much suffering and is often treated shitily by adults (which very much is supposed to be a “grow up this is war thing” but comes across like violent and abusive :P) on his way to become an amazing Gundam pilot and strong Newtype. I always felt he got a really bad deal with all of this and the ending he gets is really bleak. I’d love to see more of Char and Amuro mentoring him and helping him to don’t repeat their mistakes. I’d love anything, really, - maybe Amuro’s involvement saving him for his fate in that fight that puts him down. A better ending with Four would also be very appreciated. Maybe that's how Amuro stays around in Kamille's life, mentoring Four – and then he's there to help Kamille and Fa when they get left behind at the beginning of ZZ? How does Kamille/Amuro change the rest of the UC events?
I love that scene where Amuro’s car gets stuck and Char and Lalah drive by and they have the awkward interaction where Amuro Newtype recognizes Char, but Char doesn’t know he’s the Gundam pilot and Lalah has only just met Amuro 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 Amuro 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? Would she have gone with Amuro and then Char went after them? I’d love to see a threesome story where things turn out very happy or extremely tragic - up to you. Honestly Lalah surviving would have changed everything for Char and Neo Zeon and thus for everyone else too!
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.
I’d ask that for all sexual descriptions Amuro and Lalah, Kamille are at the very least 18.
Time travel in this fandom for added angst and discovery about backstories would be loved too.
Prompts/ideas: anything that deals with Amuro going to space with char after all; interactions between Amuro and Kamille, bonding over the similarities of the fate of Four and Lalah, generally I'd love for Amuro to be there when they face their two big enemies in space, helping Kamille to get through that last fight unharmed, mentoring Kamille together, Char and Amuro having more interactions and dealing with their feelings, exploring the things that Amuro experienced wen trapped in his state of house arrest; learning more about each other;
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.); Lalah sees that her two boys could be good for each other and sets out to make it happen; Lalah uses her Newtype talents to get the life she wants; settling together somwhere away from it all
Gintama
Hijikata/Gintoki, Katsura Kotarou/Sakamoto Tatsuma/Sakata Gintoki/Takasugi Shinsuke
Hijikata/Gintoki
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.
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.
Katsura Kotarou/Sakamoto Tatsuma/Sakata Gintoki/Takasugi Shinsuke
There's so much love and drama and found family here. I love anything that's set during the war where they pick up Tatsuma and they become this thing. Maybe they never even speak about the way they are more than brothers in arms – and maybe it starts just with two of them and then becomes a mess. And then they part ways and it becomes even ore of a mess with where Katsura and Takasugi end up and with Gin-san being Gin-san and Tatsuma coming in with all the money and reputation whenever he pleases. I'd love to see the circles of love/protection/denial and how they always end up back together.
All the loyalty and betrayal!
Would Katsura and Tatsuma make it their business to get Takasugi and Gintoki sit down for a talk and it ends with more than they could handle.
They will also NEVER admit it, but they are all keeping an eye on Gintoki and his kids – what if someone threatens the peace and they all come waltzing in at the same time.
I’d be fine with A/B/O for this fandoms as there are so many weird Amanto induced tropes happening that this would just be another day in the park in this world.
Random Prompts:
Plot ideas:
Someone puts a prize on either of their heads and this sets of a chain of events where the other(s) has/have 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
Experiencing the others past or future 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?)
Tatsuma makes the Joi 4 have date nights.
Paako and Zurako accompany Tatsuma and Takasugi to an offical dinner where typical Gintama chaos ensues
Gundam Wing
Trowa Barton/Heero
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 – – generally Trowa and Heero over the years – as adults and then maybe growing old together – something they never expected was possible
– general, saving each other from certain death or imprisonment or experimentation adventure mission plots
– hiding injuries/that you're dying/deteriorating
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.
