Yuletide Letter
Oct. 27th, 2015 02:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
andrasteDear Yulegoat,
First of all, thank you for offering to write in one of my fandoms! I hope you have fun.
Second of all, this letter is really long. Feel free to ignore it. You don't even have to read it! I just wanted to give people lots of options in case they wanted them.
I'm pretty easy-going as far as content goes. I like gen, slash, femslash, het and whatever other genre or combination of genres you care to come up with. I love all of the fandoms and the characters I requested. The only thing I really don't want to see in your story is animal harm.
I am equally comfortable with any rating from G to NC-17. I don't mind angst and/or unhappy endings. Fluff is fine. Character death is fine. Violence is fine. Sex is fine. Christmas stories are fine.
You can ignore everything here and just write me anything you want with the characters I requested. Optional details are optional, but I know most people like to have prompts to bounce off. Feel free to combine prompts.
So, when I came to sort out my requests this year, I found that I wanted several video game fandoms. After some thought about balancing fandom types, I decided: why not just request all video game fandoms and make a party of it? It's not like I didn't have enough of them on my 'potential requests' list.
If you know one or more of the following fandoms, you can probably tell that I love games with strong stories and interesting characters. If you do as well, I'd certainly recommend any of the games here.
A note about player characters: in three of my requests, I specifically ask for a player-created character, and Pillars of Eternity also has a PC in the tag set who falls under 'any'. While I prefer female protagonists for Baldur's Gate and TOR (for reasons I'll explain under those fandoms) I otherwise have no preconceptions about them. I like stories about other people's PCs! So while my Watcher was a godlike druid, please feel free to tell me about your Watcher who was an dwarf chanter or an elf barbarian or whatever.
So, people like to make collection of prompts or tackle entirely optional side challenges alongside Yuletide. If that applies to you, here are some notes.
Crueltide
So, as I noted above, I have no problem receiving dark, angsty stories with unhappy endings and/or character death for Yuletide. I think a lot of the prompts below would lend themselves to darkfic, and some characters - like Gaichu and Khem Val - would be difficult to write about in any other way. (Although, if you want to write a funny, fluffy story about either of them shopping for curtains, I would certainly have no objection to that.)
I'm cool with any kind of angst or horror story you want to write, with the exception of animal harm.
IF Challenge
Interactive fiction is great! Making a game about a game sounds like a fun idea! So if anyone wants to make a text adventure or a choose-your-own-adventure type thing about any of these things for me, please feel free.
Yuleporn
Most of the prompts below probably sound like gen, but that's not because I don't like shipfic and pornography - I just want to give my assigned author lots of options and not pin them down to any particular pairing. Also because I'll be just as happy with gen. The only fandom where I emphatically do not want porn of my nominated characters is The Walking Dead. Anyway, pairings I like in the fandoms I requested:
Baldur's Gate: Charname/Anomen, Charname/Mazzy. Keldorn's romantic situation is complicated in game, but if you want to write a story where he resolves things with his wife and moves on, I would be open to pairing him with any of the other characters.
Grim Fandango: Manny/Meche is my OTP here, but I'm really more interested in the logistics than in any specific pairing. I have no idea how sex works in the Land of the Dead, but people have clearly found a way, and I'd love to hear about it ...
Pillars of Eternity: Since the game doesn't give us romances, I'm happy for fanfic to pick up the slack and give us Watcher/Eder, Watcher/Aloth, Watcher/Kana Rua or Watcher/Pallagina. Companions hooking up with each other also welcome, and if you can find a way to get the Devil of Carroc or Lady Eydis involved, more power to you. I'd rather Sagani didn't cheat on her husband, though.
Shadowrun: I'd love some Is0bel/Player Character, or some pseudo-incestuous-but-not-actually Duncan/Player Character. If you want to write freaky ghoul sex with anyone and Gaichu, I am totally up for that.
TOR: I'm sorry my Sith Inquisitor can't romance Ashara in game, so femslash with the two of them would be lovely. Inquisitor/Khem Val would also be awesome, especially if she's domming the hell out of him.
Vanilla porn between any genders is fine, but kinks I like include: BDSM in all its glorious permutations, pegging and sex pollen. If you're writing het, I prefer for the women to top if there is topping to be done. Oh, and I love threesomes/moresomes if you want to combine any of the characters I mentioned in some other way.
I'd prefer no bodily fluids other than the ones traditionally involved in sex, so no watersports, bloodplay, etc.
Crossovers
I love crossovers! I think it's more likely than usual that people might be familiar with more than one of these fandoms, so feel free to combine them in any way you like. I enjoy both traditional crossovers (a portal opens up between Faerûn and Eora?) and fusions (the TOR characters are Shadowrunners?)
You can use fandoms outside of my request list, too. My other favourite video games include The Secret World, the other LucasArts graphic adventures like Maniac Mansion and Monkey Island, Gabriel Knight, The World Ends With You and Mass Effect. I am COMPLETELY OBSESSED with Dragon Age.
Outside of video games - I am a fannish butterfly. My main fandoms include X-Men of all stripes, Babylon 5 and Doctor Who. If you're wondering if I'm familiar with something you'd like to write a crossover about, you could try checking my AO3 profile.
Yuletide Madness Drabble Initiative
I love drabbles! If you wanna write them for me as Treats, that would be neat.
(And if you're my assigned author and want to write a collection of ten drabbles for your assignment: go ahead!)
And now, at last, the actual prompts:
Baldur's Gate
Characters: Anomen Delryn, Keldorn Firecam, Mazzy Fentan, Female Charname
Firstly, you don't have to fit all of the above characters into one story. Pick one or more and do whatever you like with them! If you need some prompts:
1. Keldorn, Anomen and Mazzy all take different paths to knighthood, assuming Anomen ever gets there at all. That can be the cause of debate in the party, or even friction if Anomen is being his usual pre-Test self or failed altogether. More exploration of that would be interesting - I'd love to hear more about how each of them came to that calling.
2. If you did want to use all of the characters - that's a very paladin and would-be paladin heavy party! Is Charname another paladin, the head of a band of holy warriors? A druid that looks for the divine in nature instead? Or is she a snarky thief that rolls her eyes at them a lot? A bard that sings of their noble adventures? (You can use whatever class, race and personality you like for Charname, for this or any other prompt, but there are a few ideas.)
3. One or more of the above characters come across a problem that can't be solved by their usual skill set(s) when there's no obvious help around. How do Keldorn and/or Mazzy deal with a corridor full of traps? Can Anomen negotiate with the villains for the release of Charname, or is he just going to piss them off?
Baldur's Gate wasn't my first cRPG experience (that was Blade of Destiny way back in 1994) but it's certainly the one that I've replayed the most often. The first Charname I ever finished the whole saga with was a paladin who romanced Anomen, which may account for my interest in the holy warrior companions. I prefer a female protagonist for this prompt because I like the Anomen/Charname romance and because I think a female adventurer has a more interesting dynamic with Mazzy.
A special note about Anomen: I am one of the five people on the internet who loves Anomen. If you got this as your assignment, you may be one of the other four! Or maybe you selected 'any' and are now thinking 'ugh, why did I say I would write about Anomen?!' I understand why he gets a lot of bashing in the fandom - he's an arrogant, loudmouthed jerk who spends much of his banter insulting the rest of the party in one way or another. And while I like his romance with Charname, I can see that it's not to everyone's tastes, and it's irritating that he was the only option for female characters in the game's original release. However, he's my jerk, and I love watching his character development after he passes or fails his test. I think my favourite banter in the whole game is the one where he apologises to Keldorn for his previous behaviour. Anyway, if you don't like him, please feel free to just leave him out and write about one or more of the other characters. Also, I'm completely open to Anomen behaving like his usual obnoxious self in any fanfic you do write about him, especially if it's early in the game or he didn't manage to join the Order. (Yes, Anomen, tell us about the time you totally beat up twenty giants again ...)
Grim Fandango
Characters: Any
The worldbuilding in this game fascinates me. Anything you want to write about any of the characters or the setting itself would be great! If you need some prompts, feel free to use these:
1. What really happens when you die in the Land of the Dead? What happens when you reach the end of your journey and the Land of Eternal Rest? Are there other lands beyond the ones we see and hear about? Do the people with fake Number Nine tickets really go to Hell, and if so, what is it like?
2. Rubacava is my favourite section of the game. It's such a rich location, with so many interesting characters. I'd love to hear about other things that happened there, whether during the time Manny and Glottis were present or not. Bonus points for cat racing, Sea Bee strikes and/or poetry slams.
3. I'd love to know how any of the characters got to where they are when we meet them. We learn very little about what most of them were like in the Land of the Living, or why some of them have seemingly abandoned their journey in favor of making a life in the Land of the Dead.
Grim Fandango has always been the pinnacle of the LucasArts adventure games for me - I vividly remember the summer of '98 when I got it for Christmas and my brother and I spent days on end solving it. I replayed it when it was re-released earlier this year, and it's only improved with time. (No more compulsory awful control scheme!) I chose 'any' here because I love the worldbuilding and think all of the nominated characters are interesting. If you want to write a character piece about any of them, I'm sure I'll enjoy that just as much as a story about why cat racing is a thing or how the Sea Bee union is going.
Pillars of Eternity
Characters: Any
This is another fascinating game world that I'm itching to learn more about. Feel free to use any characters for the following prompts. (Or ignore the prompts altogether, if you have another idea you want to write about.)
1. I'm intrigued by all the many, many things that can go wrong with souls, from the Watcher's awakening, to Aloth's ... problem ... to the Hollowborn that don't have souls at all. Anything exploring that in some way would be neat.
2. On the other hand, the ability to see and manipulate souls clearly has many uses. We know that Dunryd Row use ciphers to solve crimes and spy on the city. I'd love to hear more about that, or about other individuals and organizations that use those skills for other purposes. Surely there must be ciphers that use their abilities to commit crimes, but there are a lot of other possibilities as well. (Cipher matchmakers, anyone?)
3. The companions who aren't in the party at any given moment have a lot of time when the Watcher is away questing. Do they get along with each other while hanging out at Caed Nua? How do they feel about all those escort missions they have to go on?
This decidedly Old Skool isometric cRPG is one of the best things to come out of Kickstarter, IMHO. I love all the characters, so feel free to use anyone whether they were in the tag set or not. (I mean, obviously 'any characters' means 'anyone in the tag set', but if you want to write about some other companion or NPC or about original characters in the game's setting, I'm not going to object.) Even the small part of the world that we've seen as a lot of interesting culture and history, so anything you want to do with it would be great.
Shadowrun: Hong Kong
Character: Duncan Wu, Is0bel, Gaichu, Player Character
You don't have to fit all of these characters into the story if that doesn't work for you. Pick one or more as you like. I'm also happy for other characters to show up if you want to include them. In regards to the Player Character - if you want to use them, go with whatever race, gender, archetype and personality you want. If you need prompts:
1. Backstory for any character is always good! What did Duncan and the PC get up to in their Barrens days, or when they were living with Raymond? What was the PC in jail for, really? Does Is0bel find anything good among her reacquired memories along with all the awful stuff? Does Gaichu see any parallels between his old unit and his new crew?
2. While the game takes place over a fairly compressed timeframe, there's still downtime in between missions, and everyone is living on a small boat together. Do they get along, or are there the usual conflicts you get in a share house of any kind?
3. What happens next? (OK, what happens next is a mini-campaign DLC of some kind, but that's not out yet.) However things shook out, events in Hong Kong are resolved for now, but the PC and Duncan have seen their lives change forever, Gaichu has somewhere to belong and Is0bel has a lot to think about.
Another great cRPG courtesy of Kickstarter! My first PC was an ork rigger - turns out that hiding behind crates and making everyone else do your bidding is a surprisingly fun way to play. I thought that this game did a much better job of making the magic feel like an organic part of the setting than the previous Harebrained Schemes campaigns, and it would be nice to see more of that. I also liked the mission variety - the part of the game where you have to guide Is0bel around and try to get her through each conversation without starting a firefight was probably my favourite mission, and I'd love to see more of that kind of thing.
Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Characters: Khem Val, Ashara Zavros, Female Sith Inquisitor]
You don't have to fit all three characters into your story, if you don't want to. In regards to the Inquisitor, I'm not attached to any particular alignment or personality.
1. The relationship between the Inquisitor and Khem Val fascinates me. I mean, a terrifying monster gets dragged out of suspension by some upstart apprentice, beaten up and forced to swear allegiance, and that's before all the possession shenanigans start. I'd love to see something about how Khem Val's opinion of his new master changes over time. (Or doesn't, if she doesn't make with the gifts. Does he end up devouring her after all, some day in the future when she least expects it?) Or from the other side, how does the Inquisitor feel about having a pet monster? Worried? Happy? Conflicted because of her own past as a slave?
2. Speaking of the Inquisitor's background: the thing that interests me most about her relationship with her first apprentice is that Ashara has actually been in training a lot longer than the Inquisitor has. She's been raised by other Force users, whereas the PC only discovered their abilities and rose to power in the relatively recent past. I'd love to see more exploration of how either of them feels about that. I'm also interested in how the relationship plays out in the future - does an evil Inquisitor persuade Ashara over to the true Dark Side eventually? Does an Inquisitor that follows the Light Side (or some balance of the two) really try to reform the Sith with her?
3. On the other hand, interaction between Khem Val and Ashara would just have to be interesting. Does one get jealous when the Inquisitor takes the other into the field? Are they stuck on the ship together because the Inquisitor is hanging with someone else instead? Does she disapprove of having a Deshade around? Is he plotting to devour her when their master isn't looking?
I prefer a female protagonist here because I haven't played a male Sith Inquisitor and I imagine that would change the dynamics between the characters somewhat (especially since male characters can actually romance Ashara.) Feel free to bring in other characters from the Sith Inquisitor's crew and storyline if you want to or you need them for the story. I'm more intrigued by the companions, and the Inquisitor going from slavery to service on the Dark Council, than I am by all the stuff about Force ghosts.
The Walking Dead (Video Games)
Characters: Clementine, Lee Everett
These two characters have one of my favourite relationships in video game history, full stop. The ending left me a sobbing mess. Anything you write about them would be great. If you need prompts:
1. I love all those little moments during the game when you can do nice things for Clementine. I'd love to hear about another one - or about a time when she tried to do something nice for him, whether successfully or not.
2. So ... what if Lee didn't get bitten? What if he didn't die of blood-loss-or-mabye-zombie-bite after removing his arm? While that wouldn't exactly be a happy ending (I mean, everything is still covered in zombies) I'd certainly love to see a not-as-sad alternate universe where Lee is alive and still protecting Clementine as she grows up.
3. In Season Two, we have that one heartbreaking scene where Clementine remembers speaking to Lee. Wherever she is after Season Two plays out, I'd love to see her reflecting on how her relationship with Lee has affected her life even now that he's gone.
The two seasons of the video game are my only exposure to the cultural phenomenon that is The Walking Dead - I haven't read the comics or watched either of the shows. (That doesn't mean you shouldn't make references to them, but any subtle allusions are probably going to go over my head.) Really, I just want more about the relationship between these two characters, even if you write something set after Lee is gone.
This is the only fandom where I really want gen. (Although if you go with some kind of AU futurefic, I'd be fine with either or both of them getting involved with other people. How would Lee react if a more grown up Clementine found a boyfriend/girlfriend in the middle of the zombie apocalypse? Would Clementine welcome an adoptive stepmother or resent her, or some of both?)
First of all, thank you for offering to write in one of my fandoms! I hope you have fun.
Second of all, this letter is really long. Feel free to ignore it. You don't even have to read it! I just wanted to give people lots of options in case they wanted them.
I'm pretty easy-going as far as content goes. I like gen, slash, femslash, het and whatever other genre or combination of genres you care to come up with. I love all of the fandoms and the characters I requested. The only thing I really don't want to see in your story is animal harm.
I am equally comfortable with any rating from G to NC-17. I don't mind angst and/or unhappy endings. Fluff is fine. Character death is fine. Violence is fine. Sex is fine. Christmas stories are fine.
You can ignore everything here and just write me anything you want with the characters I requested. Optional details are optional, but I know most people like to have prompts to bounce off. Feel free to combine prompts.
So, when I came to sort out my requests this year, I found that I wanted several video game fandoms. After some thought about balancing fandom types, I decided: why not just request all video game fandoms and make a party of it? It's not like I didn't have enough of them on my 'potential requests' list.
If you know one or more of the following fandoms, you can probably tell that I love games with strong stories and interesting characters. If you do as well, I'd certainly recommend any of the games here.
A note about player characters: in three of my requests, I specifically ask for a player-created character, and Pillars of Eternity also has a PC in the tag set who falls under 'any'. While I prefer female protagonists for Baldur's Gate and TOR (for reasons I'll explain under those fandoms) I otherwise have no preconceptions about them. I like stories about other people's PCs! So while my Watcher was a godlike druid, please feel free to tell me about your Watcher who was an dwarf chanter or an elf barbarian or whatever.
So, people like to make collection of prompts or tackle entirely optional side challenges alongside Yuletide. If that applies to you, here are some notes.
Crueltide
So, as I noted above, I have no problem receiving dark, angsty stories with unhappy endings and/or character death for Yuletide. I think a lot of the prompts below would lend themselves to darkfic, and some characters - like Gaichu and Khem Val - would be difficult to write about in any other way. (Although, if you want to write a funny, fluffy story about either of them shopping for curtains, I would certainly have no objection to that.)
I'm cool with any kind of angst or horror story you want to write, with the exception of animal harm.
IF Challenge
Interactive fiction is great! Making a game about a game sounds like a fun idea! So if anyone wants to make a text adventure or a choose-your-own-adventure type thing about any of these things for me, please feel free.
Yuleporn
Most of the prompts below probably sound like gen, but that's not because I don't like shipfic and pornography - I just want to give my assigned author lots of options and not pin them down to any particular pairing. Also because I'll be just as happy with gen. The only fandom where I emphatically do not want porn of my nominated characters is The Walking Dead. Anyway, pairings I like in the fandoms I requested:
Baldur's Gate: Charname/Anomen, Charname/Mazzy. Keldorn's romantic situation is complicated in game, but if you want to write a story where he resolves things with his wife and moves on, I would be open to pairing him with any of the other characters.
Grim Fandango: Manny/Meche is my OTP here, but I'm really more interested in the logistics than in any specific pairing. I have no idea how sex works in the Land of the Dead, but people have clearly found a way, and I'd love to hear about it ...
Pillars of Eternity: Since the game doesn't give us romances, I'm happy for fanfic to pick up the slack and give us Watcher/Eder, Watcher/Aloth, Watcher/Kana Rua or Watcher/Pallagina. Companions hooking up with each other also welcome, and if you can find a way to get the Devil of Carroc or Lady Eydis involved, more power to you. I'd rather Sagani didn't cheat on her husband, though.
Shadowrun: I'd love some Is0bel/Player Character, or some pseudo-incestuous-but-not-actually Duncan/Player Character. If you want to write freaky ghoul sex with anyone and Gaichu, I am totally up for that.
TOR: I'm sorry my Sith Inquisitor can't romance Ashara in game, so femslash with the two of them would be lovely. Inquisitor/Khem Val would also be awesome, especially if she's domming the hell out of him.
Vanilla porn between any genders is fine, but kinks I like include: BDSM in all its glorious permutations, pegging and sex pollen. If you're writing het, I prefer for the women to top if there is topping to be done. Oh, and I love threesomes/moresomes if you want to combine any of the characters I mentioned in some other way.
I'd prefer no bodily fluids other than the ones traditionally involved in sex, so no watersports, bloodplay, etc.
Crossovers
I love crossovers! I think it's more likely than usual that people might be familiar with more than one of these fandoms, so feel free to combine them in any way you like. I enjoy both traditional crossovers (a portal opens up between Faerûn and Eora?) and fusions (the TOR characters are Shadowrunners?)
You can use fandoms outside of my request list, too. My other favourite video games include The Secret World, the other LucasArts graphic adventures like Maniac Mansion and Monkey Island, Gabriel Knight, The World Ends With You and Mass Effect. I am COMPLETELY OBSESSED with Dragon Age.
Outside of video games - I am a fannish butterfly. My main fandoms include X-Men of all stripes, Babylon 5 and Doctor Who. If you're wondering if I'm familiar with something you'd like to write a crossover about, you could try checking my AO3 profile.
Yuletide Madness Drabble Initiative
I love drabbles! If you wanna write them for me as Treats, that would be neat.
(And if you're my assigned author and want to write a collection of ten drabbles for your assignment: go ahead!)
And now, at last, the actual prompts:
Baldur's Gate
Characters: Anomen Delryn, Keldorn Firecam, Mazzy Fentan, Female Charname
Firstly, you don't have to fit all of the above characters into one story. Pick one or more and do whatever you like with them! If you need some prompts:
1. Keldorn, Anomen and Mazzy all take different paths to knighthood, assuming Anomen ever gets there at all. That can be the cause of debate in the party, or even friction if Anomen is being his usual pre-Test self or failed altogether. More exploration of that would be interesting - I'd love to hear more about how each of them came to that calling.
2. If you did want to use all of the characters - that's a very paladin and would-be paladin heavy party! Is Charname another paladin, the head of a band of holy warriors? A druid that looks for the divine in nature instead? Or is she a snarky thief that rolls her eyes at them a lot? A bard that sings of their noble adventures? (You can use whatever class, race and personality you like for Charname, for this or any other prompt, but there are a few ideas.)
3. One or more of the above characters come across a problem that can't be solved by their usual skill set(s) when there's no obvious help around. How do Keldorn and/or Mazzy deal with a corridor full of traps? Can Anomen negotiate with the villains for the release of Charname, or is he just going to piss them off?
Baldur's Gate wasn't my first cRPG experience (that was Blade of Destiny way back in 1994) but it's certainly the one that I've replayed the most often. The first Charname I ever finished the whole saga with was a paladin who romanced Anomen, which may account for my interest in the holy warrior companions. I prefer a female protagonist for this prompt because I like the Anomen/Charname romance and because I think a female adventurer has a more interesting dynamic with Mazzy.
A special note about Anomen: I am one of the five people on the internet who loves Anomen. If you got this as your assignment, you may be one of the other four! Or maybe you selected 'any' and are now thinking 'ugh, why did I say I would write about Anomen?!' I understand why he gets a lot of bashing in the fandom - he's an arrogant, loudmouthed jerk who spends much of his banter insulting the rest of the party in one way or another. And while I like his romance with Charname, I can see that it's not to everyone's tastes, and it's irritating that he was the only option for female characters in the game's original release. However, he's my jerk, and I love watching his character development after he passes or fails his test. I think my favourite banter in the whole game is the one where he apologises to Keldorn for his previous behaviour. Anyway, if you don't like him, please feel free to just leave him out and write about one or more of the other characters. Also, I'm completely open to Anomen behaving like his usual obnoxious self in any fanfic you do write about him, especially if it's early in the game or he didn't manage to join the Order. (Yes, Anomen, tell us about the time you totally beat up twenty giants again ...)
Grim Fandango
Characters: Any
The worldbuilding in this game fascinates me. Anything you want to write about any of the characters or the setting itself would be great! If you need some prompts, feel free to use these:
1. What really happens when you die in the Land of the Dead? What happens when you reach the end of your journey and the Land of Eternal Rest? Are there other lands beyond the ones we see and hear about? Do the people with fake Number Nine tickets really go to Hell, and if so, what is it like?
2. Rubacava is my favourite section of the game. It's such a rich location, with so many interesting characters. I'd love to hear about other things that happened there, whether during the time Manny and Glottis were present or not. Bonus points for cat racing, Sea Bee strikes and/or poetry slams.
3. I'd love to know how any of the characters got to where they are when we meet them. We learn very little about what most of them were like in the Land of the Living, or why some of them have seemingly abandoned their journey in favor of making a life in the Land of the Dead.
Grim Fandango has always been the pinnacle of the LucasArts adventure games for me - I vividly remember the summer of '98 when I got it for Christmas and my brother and I spent days on end solving it. I replayed it when it was re-released earlier this year, and it's only improved with time. (No more compulsory awful control scheme!) I chose 'any' here because I love the worldbuilding and think all of the nominated characters are interesting. If you want to write a character piece about any of them, I'm sure I'll enjoy that just as much as a story about why cat racing is a thing or how the Sea Bee union is going.
Pillars of Eternity
Characters: Any
This is another fascinating game world that I'm itching to learn more about. Feel free to use any characters for the following prompts. (Or ignore the prompts altogether, if you have another idea you want to write about.)
1. I'm intrigued by all the many, many things that can go wrong with souls, from the Watcher's awakening, to Aloth's ... problem ... to the Hollowborn that don't have souls at all. Anything exploring that in some way would be neat.
2. On the other hand, the ability to see and manipulate souls clearly has many uses. We know that Dunryd Row use ciphers to solve crimes and spy on the city. I'd love to hear more about that, or about other individuals and organizations that use those skills for other purposes. Surely there must be ciphers that use their abilities to commit crimes, but there are a lot of other possibilities as well. (Cipher matchmakers, anyone?)
3. The companions who aren't in the party at any given moment have a lot of time when the Watcher is away questing. Do they get along with each other while hanging out at Caed Nua? How do they feel about all those escort missions they have to go on?
This decidedly Old Skool isometric cRPG is one of the best things to come out of Kickstarter, IMHO. I love all the characters, so feel free to use anyone whether they were in the tag set or not. (I mean, obviously 'any characters' means 'anyone in the tag set', but if you want to write about some other companion or NPC or about original characters in the game's setting, I'm not going to object.) Even the small part of the world that we've seen as a lot of interesting culture and history, so anything you want to do with it would be great.
Shadowrun: Hong Kong
Character: Duncan Wu, Is0bel, Gaichu, Player Character
You don't have to fit all of these characters into the story if that doesn't work for you. Pick one or more as you like. I'm also happy for other characters to show up if you want to include them. In regards to the Player Character - if you want to use them, go with whatever race, gender, archetype and personality you want. If you need prompts:
1. Backstory for any character is always good! What did Duncan and the PC get up to in their Barrens days, or when they were living with Raymond? What was the PC in jail for, really? Does Is0bel find anything good among her reacquired memories along with all the awful stuff? Does Gaichu see any parallels between his old unit and his new crew?
2. While the game takes place over a fairly compressed timeframe, there's still downtime in between missions, and everyone is living on a small boat together. Do they get along, or are there the usual conflicts you get in a share house of any kind?
3. What happens next? (OK, what happens next is a mini-campaign DLC of some kind, but that's not out yet.) However things shook out, events in Hong Kong are resolved for now, but the PC and Duncan have seen their lives change forever, Gaichu has somewhere to belong and Is0bel has a lot to think about.
Another great cRPG courtesy of Kickstarter! My first PC was an ork rigger - turns out that hiding behind crates and making everyone else do your bidding is a surprisingly fun way to play. I thought that this game did a much better job of making the magic feel like an organic part of the setting than the previous Harebrained Schemes campaigns, and it would be nice to see more of that. I also liked the mission variety - the part of the game where you have to guide Is0bel around and try to get her through each conversation without starting a firefight was probably my favourite mission, and I'd love to see more of that kind of thing.
Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Characters: Khem Val, Ashara Zavros, Female Sith Inquisitor]
You don't have to fit all three characters into your story, if you don't want to. In regards to the Inquisitor, I'm not attached to any particular alignment or personality.
1. The relationship between the Inquisitor and Khem Val fascinates me. I mean, a terrifying monster gets dragged out of suspension by some upstart apprentice, beaten up and forced to swear allegiance, and that's before all the possession shenanigans start. I'd love to see something about how Khem Val's opinion of his new master changes over time. (Or doesn't, if she doesn't make with the gifts. Does he end up devouring her after all, some day in the future when she least expects it?) Or from the other side, how does the Inquisitor feel about having a pet monster? Worried? Happy? Conflicted because of her own past as a slave?
2. Speaking of the Inquisitor's background: the thing that interests me most about her relationship with her first apprentice is that Ashara has actually been in training a lot longer than the Inquisitor has. She's been raised by other Force users, whereas the PC only discovered their abilities and rose to power in the relatively recent past. I'd love to see more exploration of how either of them feels about that. I'm also interested in how the relationship plays out in the future - does an evil Inquisitor persuade Ashara over to the true Dark Side eventually? Does an Inquisitor that follows the Light Side (or some balance of the two) really try to reform the Sith with her?
3. On the other hand, interaction between Khem Val and Ashara would just have to be interesting. Does one get jealous when the Inquisitor takes the other into the field? Are they stuck on the ship together because the Inquisitor is hanging with someone else instead? Does she disapprove of having a Deshade around? Is he plotting to devour her when their master isn't looking?
I prefer a female protagonist here because I haven't played a male Sith Inquisitor and I imagine that would change the dynamics between the characters somewhat (especially since male characters can actually romance Ashara.) Feel free to bring in other characters from the Sith Inquisitor's crew and storyline if you want to or you need them for the story. I'm more intrigued by the companions, and the Inquisitor going from slavery to service on the Dark Council, than I am by all the stuff about Force ghosts.
The Walking Dead (Video Games)
Characters: Clementine, Lee Everett
These two characters have one of my favourite relationships in video game history, full stop. The ending left me a sobbing mess. Anything you write about them would be great. If you need prompts:
1. I love all those little moments during the game when you can do nice things for Clementine. I'd love to hear about another one - or about a time when she tried to do something nice for him, whether successfully or not.
2. So ... what if Lee didn't get bitten? What if he didn't die of blood-loss-or-mabye-zombie-bite after removing his arm? While that wouldn't exactly be a happy ending (I mean, everything is still covered in zombies) I'd certainly love to see a not-as-sad alternate universe where Lee is alive and still protecting Clementine as she grows up.
3. In Season Two, we have that one heartbreaking scene where Clementine remembers speaking to Lee. Wherever she is after Season Two plays out, I'd love to see her reflecting on how her relationship with Lee has affected her life even now that he's gone.
The two seasons of the video game are my only exposure to the cultural phenomenon that is The Walking Dead - I haven't read the comics or watched either of the shows. (That doesn't mean you shouldn't make references to them, but any subtle allusions are probably going to go over my head.) Really, I just want more about the relationship between these two characters, even if you write something set after Lee is gone.
This is the only fandom where I really want gen. (Although if you go with some kind of AU futurefic, I'd be fine with either or both of them getting involved with other people. How would Lee react if a more grown up Clementine found a boyfriend/girlfriend in the middle of the zombie apocalypse? Would Clementine welcome an adoptive stepmother or resent her, or some of both?)
(no subject)
Date: 2015-10-27 04:01 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-10-27 10:54 am (UTC)(Watch, as my placeholder magically transformers into the longest Yuletide letter in the world!!!)
(no subject)
Date: 2015-10-27 11:01 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-10-27 12:12 pm (UTC)