Fandom 5k 2019 Letter

[echoslam]

Dear 5k Writer,

Thank you very much for checking out my letter! I'm echoslam, and I'm so excited at the prospect of reading glorious longfic for one of my favorite canons.

General Information:

Please don't feel like you have to adhere to my prompts and genre tags. I'm really invested in everything I requested, and I'm definitely interested in reading whatever story you want to tell. If you've got your own ideas on what you want to write, please feel free to ignore this letter in its entirety.

Some things I always love to see in fic:

• Introspection and self-reflection, especially when it explores a character's feelings about others
  
  
• Minutiae about the characters' tastes and habits: What are they eating for lunch? How do they plan their day? What kind of events/objects catch their eye?
  
  
• Cultural references that expand on the location and time period of the setting
  
  
• Humor - I'm easily amused, and I love seeing some levity being brought into any story. Comedic situations, snarky dialogue, running gags, gallows humor, memes, etc. - it's all good!
  
  
• Smut XD I'm 100% down for reading 5k of my ships getting it on
  
  
• Unconventional formats are more than welcome - epistolary, IF, chat logs, fieldnotes, metafiction...please feel free to experiment!
  
  
• Gaming (this is mostly relevant to my King's Avatar, Overwatch, and Original Works requests): I've always been fascinated by competition and structured forms of play and would absolutely love to see those sort of themes appear in some way: gamesmanship, strategy, sportsmanship both good and bad, any references to real-life video games, card games, board games, or sports, trashtalk, trolling, the true meaning of "victory"...any kind of game-related concept will have me thrilled.

DNWs: Body waste kinks, bestiality, non-canon incest, and poly involving requested characters (exception is Mercer/Karliah/Gallus from Skyrim)

Links by Fandom:

Call the Midwife
Downton Abbey
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Harry Potter
全职高手 Quánzhí Gāoshǒu/The King's Avatar
Liar! Uncover the Truth
Original Works
Overwatch
Portal
Voltron: Lion Force

Call the Midwife

Genre Tags: Angst, AU - Canon Divergence, AU - Genre Shift, Character Development, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Interpersonal Drama, Slice of Life

Trixie Franklin

• What I love about Trixie is that while on the outside she seems to be all about fashion and Babycham, there's another side to her that is fiercely dedicated and loyal. I would love to see anything that focuses on Trixie and how she's been affected by what she's seen throughout the series. I'm very interested in seeing the contrast between the bold, plucky self-image she projects and her vulnerable inner self. To me, she is very much a people pleaser, and this trait has a huge influence on her professional and personal lives. I'd definitely like to see any instances of her helping others with their problems (whether health-related, personal, or romantic).


• Ship-wise, I'm fine with gen for this request, but I'm also happy to see her paired romantically with Christopher or Cynthia. I'm also okay with any background pairings and am particularly fond of Lucille/Valerie, Tom/Barbara, and Fred/Violet. A story exploring any of Trixie's platonic relationships with the rest of Nonnatus House would be great as well.


• If you'd like to do something more somber in tone, something dealing with Trixie's struggle with addiction would be welcome. I also have a particular soft spot for Cynthia and her storyline regarding depression, and it would be nice to see more of her friendship with Trixie, given how they've experienced so much together and are so different while still having a mutual understanding.

Downton Abbey

Genre Tags: AU - Canon Divergence, AU - Modern, Character Development, Established Relationship, Fluff, Getting Together, Interpersonal Drama, Smut

Tom Branson/Sybil Crawley
I would love a redo of their relationship from Series 2 onward, or maybe something angst-heavy where they were never able to get together but instead had an intense unspoken attraction or secret relationship while living out their lives at Downton. What else could Tom have done during the war years while still upholding his principles, and through what other ways could Sybil have found purpose?

Sybil Crawley/Gwen Dawson
Pre-ship bonding during Series 1, Gwen trying to explain the realities of downstairs life to Sybil while still trying to remain respectful of their difference in status...I just want more of how these two touched each other's lives. Would also love to know what ninja skills Gwen employed to keep her typing practice from being overheard by O'Brien. Or something about keeping in touch after Gwen left - letter exchanges would be wonderful.

John Bates/Anna Smith
Mutual pining throughout the course of the series or living out their lives together afterward. Letter exchanges would be great here as well. Really, I find this pairing incredibly soothing and would love anything that doesn't dwell on Bates' situation with Vera or Anna's assault.

Mary Crawley/Anna Smith
I always felt that these two had a really fascinating dynamic, and I had hoped to see it being explored more rather than focusing on the drama surrounding their love interests. (Alas...) They're both so focused and loyal to those they hold dear, and I'd love to see how that would play out in a relationship. A canon divergence or modern AU where Mary is the head of some powerful organization and Anna is her right hand woman would be great. Please don't feel like you have to tone down Mary's arrogant side! I admit I greatly enjoyed the many scenes of her harshing people, and I'd love to see how that contrasts with Anna's straightforward politeness.

Since I'm requesting two pairs of rival ships, I'd just like to put it out there that for this fandom I'd rather the unshipped character be a supportive friend or confidante rather than competing with the main ship in a love triangle situation. And don't feel like you have to include the rival if you don't want to.

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Genre Tags: Action/Adventure, Established Relationship, Fluff, Getting Together, Humor, Interpersonal Drama, Mystery/Procedural, Smut

I was very pleased by all the Thieves' Guild representation in the tagset! They're such an entertaining faction, and I'd love to see more of the Skyrim version's cynicism and mercenary attitude.

Tamriel is such an immersive setting, and I dearly love all the lore that gets referenced throughout the Elder Scrolls games, particularly the in-game tomes that you find (The Imperial Library is great!) Allusions to any of the storybooks would make me extremely happy.

Dragonborn/Brynjolf or Dragonborn/Sapphire
My Dragonborn request can be pretty much summed up as: Fun Adventure Time with Follower!Brynjolf or Sapphire. I'd love anything about them wandering together across the land as the DB makes a name for themselves and seeing their reactions to the various characters and factions. Are they impressed by the DB's shout powers or do they give them a ribbing about them? Are they unsettled by prolonged dealings with the Dark Brotherhood or is it, "Hail, Sithis!" all the way? Or maybe they pull off a big heist somewhere, perhaps in another part of Tamriel? I'm particularly fond of Morrowind, but any province would be cool. If you'd rather do something more shippy, I always love a friends to lovers story.

I'm happy with a Dragonborn of any race or gender. Feel free to give them a name or just refer to them using epithets. All I ask is that their personality is the sort that won't hesitate to trade barbs with their companions.

I also really enjoy references to game mechanics, so if you want to go into excruciating detail regarding the Dragonborn's abilities/perks and equipment, that would be great, especially if their build revolves around some kind of amusing gimmick: Specialization in a particular weapon type? Necromage vampire? Punchcat?? Also, if you're the kind of person who likes giving custom names to your gear when you enchant, I'd love to know what kind of spiffy descriptors the Dragonborn has on their crafted items.

Mercer Frey/Karliah/Gallus Desidenius
I saw this relationship in the tagset and was instantly intrigued. I started distrusting Mercer the second I heard Garrett's Belethor's voice issuing from his mouth, but surely he was a very different man twenty-five years ago? What could have changed him besides greed? Maybe he developed a distrust of Nocturnal? Did Karliah and Gallus sense anything was off? And what was the relationship like between the three of them? Was it a spontaneous thing or did it grow out of a long period of working together and saving each other's asses?

Harry Potter

Genre Tags: AU - Canon Divergence, AU - Genre Shift, Darkfic, Established Relationship, Fluff, Getting Together, Interpersonal Drama, Smut

Fandom-specific DNWs: Rita Skeeter, Viktor turning into a womanizer

Hermione Granger/Viktor Krum
Goblet of Fire is by far my favorite Harry Potter book, and I think it definitely set the mold for my thematic interests later in life: Competition! Tournaments! Rival institutions! While reading it, little me hardly wanted to eat or sleep out of desperation to find out what was going to happen to the Triwizard champions.

Hermione/Viktor is my ultimate OTP in this fandom, and I would so love to see them working together and coming to an understanding from which a real relationship could develop.

(I much prefer the book version of events to the movies, so please go with that if you can).

• Long distance relationship post-GoF, I will never get enough of them writing to each other and seeing a different take on their reunion.


• Any kind of Viktor POV would be great, an in-depth look at his life at Durmstrang, developing his passion for Quidditch, his impression of Hogwarts and being charmed by Hermione, or explaining to her what wizarding life is like in Bulgaria.


• Alternate canon with Aurors Hermione and Viktor tasked with going after some followers of Grindelwald, possibly with expansion on what happened to Viktor's grandfather (For this prompt, do feel free to reference the Fantastic Beasts movies).

全职高手 Quánzhí Gāoshǒu/The King's Avatar

Genre Tags: AU - Canon Divergence, AU - Genre Shift, Established Relationship, Fluff, Getting Together, Interpersonal Drama, Slice of Life, Smut

My favorite webnovel! This series had me hooked from the very beginning. It's basically everything I love all rolled into one canon: eSports, video game tactics, and epic fight scenes, not to mention a large cast of likable and extremely shippable characters. I really enjoy the near-future China setting and how playing the MMO Glory is treated as absolute serious business. Ye Xiu is a protagonist after my own heart, and it's been great cheering for him on his quest to reclaim his rightful place in the Pro League.

My OTP trifecta is Chen Guo/Su Mucheng, Huang Shaotian/Yu Wenzhou, and Qiao Yifan/Ye Xiu. I'd dearly love to see something romantic for any of these pairings, whether it's about how they get together or a compilation of shippy moments that take place after they're already in a relationship. I love fluff, and I definitely don't require a plot. Career swap AUs are also a favorite of mine - a few I've thought of that I'd be curious to see include: grad students, professional chefs, or webnovel authors. I'm really open to anything, though! Additionally, anything based in Glory that ships their characters would be very welcome. (I also have some NSFW Ye Xiu/Yifan and Shaotian/Wenzhou prompts in my Smut Swap Letter).

Fandom-specific DNWs: Chen Guo’s fangirling of Mucheng being portrayed in a negative or creepy way

(I'm fine with going by the novel canon or just working off of the animation + OVA).

Chen Guo/Su Mucheng
I just love how bold, outspoken Chen Guo turns into a starstruck fangirl at the mere mention of Mucheng, and I totally believe that they become BFFs by the end of the series. I would love anything that maintains the fan/idol dynamic, especially if it involves Ye Xiu going o.O in the background, much like in this scene:

Chen Guo thought for a moment. In the end, the match started and her thoughts immediately flew there. Another “OH OH OH, SU MUCHENG” was shouted, giving her idol a cheer as if she believed that Su Mucheng could hear her.

This is a fangirl!!!! Ye Xiu exclaimed in surprise. If he called Su Mucheng over to the Internet Cafe to play a round, would this boss be so excited that she’d burn down the Internet Cafe in order to celebrate? - Chapter 88

I'd also love it if Mucheng opened up to Chen Guo more about her situation and for there to be some nice emotional hurt/comfort.

Huang Shaotian/Yu Wenzhou
I love the contrast between these two personalities and how they play off of one another as captain and vice-captain. They clearly have a mutual understanding and respect by the time we meet them in the story, and I like what that says about what must have changed given what we know about their rookie days from the prequel novel. (Basically, there's evidence to suggest that HST was not the nicest person to Wenzhou, the low-APM guy that everyone called "Deadlast"). Forgiveness, developing trust, and loyalty are all themes I'd love to see with these two.

Qiao Yifan/Ye Xiu
Looking back, there was no way I could not have shipped these two. They have so much going for them that I absolutely love seeing in my OTPs. From the mentorship angle, to Ye Xiu's encouragement and borderline affectionate treatment of Yifan, to making him literally blush at their first face-to-face meeting, I'm shocked that it's not a more popular pairing. (Also, LOL forever at the Mirinda orange soda commercial they starred in together). I'd love anything that explores their potential as a couple, maybe about them maintaining a secret or not-so-secret relationship after Yifan joins Happy, something post-series after Yifan has come into his own as a professional player, or an AU where Ye Xiu rescues Yifan from a bad situation and they gradually fall in love with one another.

Chu Yunxiu
The Captain of Misty Rain is such an awesome but woefully underutilized character. I am in love with her sass and nonchalant attitude, and I really just want to know more about her. What's the story behind Yunxiu's rise to become the best female player in the League? What motivates her? A pre-canon story about her would be great, and I'd love to see friendly banter with Ye Xiu (I absolutely adored how the first thing she does after the first match against him following his comeback is get up and give him a hug). Or maybe something about her managing to overcome the terrible decision making by Misty's Rain's management as well as her own issues with performance anxiety (like we really need another ~strong female character~ whose one weakness is how she cracks under pressure...BB, why).

Some kind of shipfic would be fascinating as well. I'd be happy to see her with anyone not involved in one of the aforementioned pairings (though I could totally see her and Mucheng as amicable exes). Some potential candidates: Wang Jiexi (I'm a sucker for double mage pairings, and I think theirs could be an interesting dynamic given how they're both captains as well as their personality contrast), her vice-captain Li Hua (<3 friends/partners to lovers), or Dai Yanqi (in case it wasn't obvious, I love "notice me, senpai" pairings).

More General Prompts: (Feel free to use any members of the cast you want for these).

• I just want to know more about the history and development of Glory. I'm fascinated by the concept of this amazing worldwide phenomenon of an MMORPG that's like a combination of all the good points of many similar games: the widespread appeal of WoW and Lineage, the fast-paced action combat of DFO and Blade & Soul, and the complex customization options of Black Desert Online. How did people get into the game, and how does it maintain its lasting popularity?


• Another aspect of this series that I really love is how everyone's character has a very clever or apropos name, often based on classical Chinese poetry. (Unrivaled Super Hottie will always be #1, though). I'd love anything that plays on these names or something about how the players came up with them.

Liar! Uncover the Truth

Genre Tags: AU - Canon Divergence, Established Relationship, Fluff, Getting Together, Humor, Interpersonal Drama, Slice of Life, Smut

I love this game so much, and I can never resist requesting it no matter how much of a longshot it seems. If you're at all curious about it, I made a promo post in the Yuletide comm recently. I also have Tumblr sideblog dedicated to it as well as a Twitter account for archiving fanart. (Warning for potential spoilers however).

I'm sad to say that Liar!'s English version is more or less in maintenance mode at the moment, though a live-action movie has recently been announced for release in Japan this fall.

MC/Ayumi
I love how supportive Ayumi is of her senpai despite the cold treatment MC often throws her way. Something from her POV or interactions with MC's friends would be nice. Maybe one of the Liars/Mr. Right is the one who picks up on the fact that MC might be happier with her coworker and something happens from there?

MC/Haruichi
So much angst potential here. How do they navigate a relationship together post-game or how do they say goodbye if they decide to go their separate ways? (I'm okay with infidelity if it's a situation where MC ends up with one of the other guys). I also really like the office romance aspect, and something lighthearted about how Haruichi falling for MC while desperately trying to maintain his cover would be great. (Honestly, his True Ending is my very favorite, what with MC grilling him at their business meeting as the accusation music starts playing in the background, lol).

MC/Kazumi
Ngl, Kazumi is pretty much the person I want to be when I'm 40. I enjoy his attempts to brush anything approaching seriousness off with humor and how that parallels MC trying to hide her own insecurities. And his Lover's Route gets me Every. Time. I'd love to see these two letting go of their pretenses and taking a chance on love despite the risk.

MC/Itaru
I'm pretty sympathetic towards Itaru, but there's definitely an argument to be made that he took things too far. I'd love to see your own take on him, whether romantic and sentimental or super dark.

Additionally, my Yuletide letter contains more of my ramblings about all three of the games.

Original Works

Genre Tags: Action/Adventure, Character Development, Darkfic, Established Relationship, Getting Together, Humor, Interpersonal Drama, Worldbuilding

MMORPG Beta tester trapped in a VR/Game designer whose rival sabotaged the game (F/F)

So I've never requested Original Works before, but when I saw this tag, I absolutely freaked out. I don't think I can even imagine anything more relevant to my interests, and there was no way I couldn't ask for it!

Please feel free to take this request in any direction you'd like - the premise itself is so fascinating to me, and I'd love to see how you interpret it.

A few things that immediately came to mind regarding this relationship:

• The wording of the tag seems to pretty much scream for an adventure story with Game Designer guiding Beta Tester through the game world from the outside. Or maybe she does enter the VR herself, despite the danger?
  
  
• Beta Tester: is she a big MMORPG fan or is she not into games at all and just treats beta testing as a job? Does she do this full-time? If not, is she a student or does she have some other profession?
  
  
• I want to know all about Game Designer and her approach to making games. What industry drama does she have to deal with, and how did it get to the point where she had a rival who was willing to sabotage her? (I'm assuming she's the designer of the game Beta Tester is trapped in, but feel free to alter that detail). Was the rival motivated by purely professional jealousy or could it have been romantic re: Beta Tester?
  
  
• I'm very interested in the game world itself - is it classic fantasy like EverQuest/Ultima/WoW, sci-fi like Anarchy/SWTOR, or even horror like Hellgate/The Secret World? I just love reading about game environments and will eat up any worldbuilding you'd like to include.
  
  
• What's the combat like? Is it a traditional tank/healer/DPS setup or is it more iframe-based like newer, more action-oriented MMOs? Or is it something completely new and innovative? I'd love to see lots of Game Designer's insights on the mechanics of the game and how poor Beta Tester deals with them.
  
  
• Was there any hint of romance outside the game? Did the two of them know each other beforehand? Maybe they were attracted but reluctant to make a move, and the whole VR situation is what finally brings them together?
  
  
• If you're going for a real-world setting, I love pop culture references or allusions to existing games or other trapped-in-a-virtual-world stories - Ender's Game, Tron, Ready Player One, etc.
  
  
• Will there be a "Good Ending" where Beta Tester escapes and they fall in love and live happily ever after? Or will it be a "Bad Ending"? Multiple endings would definitely be welcome too, given the meta-ness of this whole request.

Overwatch

Genre Tags: Action/Adventure, Angst, AU - Genre Shift, Character Development, Darkfic, Fluff, Humor, Interpersonal Drama

Hana "D.Va" Song
I loved the Shooting Star short and what it showed us about D.Va putting on a brave face for the public. Anything contrasting her outward bubbly persona with her more serious side would be awesome.

• Anything following up on Shooting Star. More heroics with MEKA or expansion on Hana's relationship with the other pilots. The Korea we see in Overwatch is very concerned with spinning good optics vs the reality of the Omnic situation, so anything dealing with that drama would be nice.


• If you'd like to do shipfic, I'm partial to Hana/Brigitte and Hana/Yuna, but really I'd be fine seeing her with anyone that isn't Pharah or Mercy (I'm a die hard Pharmercy shipper). I love the Busan map, and something about going on dates there would be so cool. (BTW, if you do go with that idea, I would love to see a cameo of Reinhardt singing karaoke).


• Anything about D.Va's eSports career. I still like the idea of her playing StarCraft but feel free to go with what you think works best. What kind of strategies did she favor? How did she deal with haters? I personally don't think she would be much of a trashtalker, but trolling toxic people would definitely have been a possibility.

Portal

Genre Tags: AU - Canon Divergence, AU - Genre Shift, Darkfic, Fluff, Horror, Humor, Mystery/Procedural, Worldbuilding

Caroline and/or Chell
The Portal series pretty much exemplifies my favorite flavor of dark humor. I would adore anything that captures the tone of the game and references Aperture Science and their blithe disregard for safety protocol. Pure worldbuilding with no characters is also fine for this request.

• What would a full-length bad ending look like? Maybe Chell finds and reads through a postmortem on more of Aperture's failed experiments? I always wondered what they did with the bodies...


• If you're at all familiar with Half Life, I would absolutely love a story about the Aperture Science/Black Mesa corporate rivalry. Did Black Mesa really steal Aperture's ideas? What was the deal with the Borealis? A walk through their history starting from when the companies were founded up to the time of the Resonance Cascade would be amazing.


• I would also love something that focuses on Caroline during the Old Aperture days and how she approached her job. Please expand on that line where Cave Johnson says, "Sorry fellas, she's married...to SCIENCE!" If you could make it a period piece with a strong 50s/60s vibe, that would be fantastic. And it would also be nice to see more of Cave doing his shtick.

Voltron: Lion Force

Genre Tags: Angst, AU - Canon Divergence, AU - Genre Shift, Established Relationship, Fluff, Getting Together, Interpersonal Drama, Smut

Allura/Lance
Here's another relationship tag that was a wonderful surprise. This was the first pairing I ever shipped, back when I was a little kid watching Voltron on a borrowed VHS tape. I remember obsessing over their interactions and making up scenarios in my head where they would ~fall in love~. (I rewound that scene with the cheek kiss sooo many times). I'm so glad that the series has been made available on stream.

I love Lance's perpetual snarking and reliance on his own intuition. I've always felt that contrasted so well with Allura's naive but determined nature. Anything that explores the nuances of their relationship will make me so happy. Also, I'm open to any background relationships you want to include.

(Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to watch VLD or any of the other Voltron versions, so any references to them will go over my head).

• Developing feelings or getting together over the course of the series. Are they able to keep their feelings a secret from the other pilots and/or the public? How do they confess to one another?


• Queen/loyal adviser relationship post-series with Lance taking over for Coran after he retires. All the mutual pining please.


• I'd love to see their dynamic explored in any AU, maybe one where Allura came to Earth/Galaxy Garrison or a career swap involving the rest of Team Voltron.


• I'd also be interested in seeing something that follows and contrasts their lives from childhood up until the time they meet. Could the isolated girl growing up in the Castle of Lions have had a premonition about the boy who would one day become a space explorer, or vice versa?

Thank you so much for your time!