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K ([personal profile] karanguni) wrote2022-09-02 02:39 pm
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Fic In A Box 2022

Dear Fic In A Box creator, thank you for creating for me! Everything in this letter is optional; just please have fun!

AO3: karanguni; full sign-up here
tl;dr: I am 100% here for whatever you want to create – my prompts are just jumping off points. If something pings you, my "any nominated length/medium" opt-ins are genuine: go for it!

General Likes

  • Old friendships and relationships: people who were close but who then drifted or were driven apart, and how they come together again. The internal struggle of renegotiating new/old territory; unrequited/unresolved tension. Pining is great.
  • People who know each other very well, and who translate that knowledge into a variety of things - whether that's intimacy, sex, codependency, codeswitching or otherwise - that aren't easily read or understood by third parties. Ingroup/outgroup dynamics!
  • Service/loyalty/contractual obligations.
  • High-pressure situations - whether immediate or over a long time span - and how people respond to them.
  • Competence porn: people who have worked very hard to become highly proficient in their skillsets, whether that's being an assassin or meticulous scholarship.
  • Private versus public conflicts, and how a character balances the two. Winning one only to lose the other; difficult compromises.
  • Cross-class interactions; the bigger the divide, the better. Double points if it's not just a case of "I've got X and you've not", but rather how two people challenge each other across said divides.
  • Worldbuilding, especially economic, in-group, and political worldbuilding.

If you're interested in writing totally-optional porn:

  • Powerplays and mindfucking, whether in bed or out of it. Cavalier but not careless use of power.
  • Dom/sub dynamics, but not as a lifestyle (To whit - a commander/subordinate relationship with lots of sir-ing? Delicious. Slave or alpha/beta/omega AU where the setting encourages the dynamic? Yes, please! Bringing a BDSM master/slave relationship in a vanilla society out of the bedroom without a supporting non-bedroom context? Nah. :))
  • Age gaps, and gaps in general - of experience, of personal wealth, of language, of social class.
  • Breathplay, dirty talk, spanking/impact play, voyeurism/exhibitionism, clothing or uniform porn or mostly-dressed sex, restraints.

Art Thoughts:

  • Ghost in the Shell pose
  • Pose: someone sitting with someone standing behind them draped over their chair
  • Illuminated texts
  • Isometric pixel art?
  • Chillhop loop art
  • I really like monochromatic colour palates, black/gold/silver/white, the moon as a symbol, art deco, typography, and am extremely sorry I'm not very good at giving examples...

In general, you can consider me opted-in to any AU you can come up with, crossovers with any fandom I have requested or written before, darkfic &c. as long as my fandom-specific DNWs are respected. Have fun!

DNWs

Again, I'm omnivorous! Hard DNWs are listed in my prompts per-fandom. I trust your best judgement!

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Prince of Tennis

Fuji Shuusuke/Tezuka Kunimitsu

DNWs: genderswap, Fujicest, Fuji being nothing but an unrepentant asshole

I could eat this pair for breakfast every day for the rest of my life and be happy. They smash all my buttons re: competence porn, complex friendships, silent-but-deadly, smouldering inner landscapes, still waters run deep, and do it all in a canon that has had them essentially actually be married looking after a group of feel-good lunatics.

I think Tezuka is hugely dimensional despite his I'm-40-call-me-buchou face: the New Prince of Tennis U-16s Yamato-kicks-his-head-in and German pro arc solidified that for me as Tezuka yeets himself out of Japan to go burn passionately for himself. That said, please don't feel like you need to go consume Konomi's never-ending canons; I'm just as happy if you draw from the OG anime.

FUJI, meanwhile, WHERE DO I BEGIN. I love his Juno-like personality: I believe there's genuine kindness/gentleness to him just as I believe that he'll grind your nose into a cement curb and break every bone in your body. I know my DNW of "please don't make Fuji too much of an asshole" seems a little washy, but all that means is that if Fuji is - say - destroying someone's entire universe, that he do it for a relatively good reason. I expect NO LIMITS to what this human being could do. Again, the later arcs hint at Fuji tipping slowly on the scales of his dedication to tennis beyond a fun thing to do in the afternoons, and offer us tantalising prospects of Fuji possibly being as good (or better) than Tezuka/Yukimura/Atobe/whoever he damned well puts his mind to being better at. The push/pull of Fuji being unable to fully commit to tennis while also being fully committed enough to, say, stalking Tezuka to the hospital, to the Nationals, and around the world is GREAT.

As a pair in canon, it's always been the little things. I love that almost every scene in which the two of them are present involves a shot of them quietly next to one another: evaluating games, or Tezuka waiting for Fuji to tie his shoelaces, or Fuji knowing when Tezuka is going to just randomly disappear again. It's not shouted from the hilltops, but that's what I love about it: how they fly it under the radar, how Fuji refuses to let himself be on the "executive committee" of team leadership but is there anyway, how Tezuka can actually sit next to him and maybe not be a captain or national figure.

So, in terms of actual prompts, ha! I'm not joking: give me anything. I love in-canon stuff, post-canon stuff, missing scenes, random crack, AUs, ARs, ANYTHING THAT IS MORE OF THEM. Some additional random thoughts:

  • Missing scene: Fuji plays Atobe, and Tezuka has way too many feelings about it
  • Midsummer Night's Dream AU: someone (maybe even Fuji) plays a trick on Tezuka and bewitches him to be UNWILLINGLY IN LOVE with Fuji - how aware Tezuka is of this compulsion and how much he fights it is up to you. Plot twist: by the end of the night's dream, Tezuka reveals that the compulsion'd worn off a long time ago, but was a good excuse to act like ____
  • Competence porn: a writeup about their playstyles? A look at their standings in high school/the pro circuit? Echizen getting smacked down by a leveled-up Fuji and outsider perspective-ing the two of them?
  • Injury/disability AU: some hurt/comfort or competence co-dependence in a situation where either of them has to not overcome but live with a long-term impairment = amazing. Whether this is in our normal universe or some AU (magic? they're both ninja in Naruto?) is up to you!
  • I have this vague memory of an AMAZING Fuji/Tezuka ship manifesto from the Times of LJ Yore, so I'd love one of those brought up to date 8D

Feel free to also reference my other letters (findable via this post's tags -> exchange letters) for this pairing.

Canon notes: Prince of Tennis has a ridiculous amount of material: please pick and choose to your liking. I've watched both the original run of PoT and read/watched all the New Prince of Tennis anime/manga. I honestly am not picky! I'm a character-focused reader, so don't feel the need to canon review to the last detail.

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Lilywhite Boys - K.J. Charles

Jerry/Alex

As mentioned in my signup, I've read most of the Society of Gentlemen series but nothing else beyond the Lilywhite Boys; that said I'm happy for you to conduct whatever K.J Charles Sorcery of universes/timelines you want. As long as Jerry and Alex show up, you can mash in characters from books I haven't even read yet if you'd like!

I do adore Jerry being In Charge while also being a romantic walkover wrapped up in a package of extreme pragmatism; I similarly love the contrast of Alex's personality as a pretty quiet artist who also happens to have a core of steel and ability to withstand pretty adverse circumstances. Though far from the only thing I'd enjoy, I'd really dig hurt/comfort or an elevation of the two of them past struggle-to-get-by circumstances at the moment, if that pings your fancy!

More random fic + opt-in medium ideas:

  • Maybe something set post-James-Vane-ification: do Jerry and Alex enjoy Jame and Susan's company in (a slightly) higher brand of society after that? Do the four of them set up some unique white collar enterprise?
  • AUs, I love me a good AU: in-(AU)-media-res Jerry in the modern world off on some job (maybe he's now in the art world as a Renowned Art Historian or Auctioneer – it's practically the same job as before, just that you have to pay taxes!) and he's sending Alex some [fun texts|inspirational pictures|reddit threads of people commenting on Alex's work|something out of r/Legaladvice]. Or maybe it's Alex on r/Legaladvice trying to figure out something for Jerry...

[Original signup:] GOODNESS GRACIOUS THE WORLD NEEDS MORE OF THESE TWO. I'm happy with anything set at any point in their timeline, but I'd love especially to see anything and everything of where they go after the end of their book. What is Jerry's long (not-quite) con? What changes when Alex's brother gets settled in? Do they go on some mad caper of a vacation? Boy oh boy would I love some hurt/comfort of Alex finally getting to stop worrying and take a load off of his shoulders. Meanwhile, I can't imagine that Jerry's going to stay in his position for the rest of time: surely this ambitious man has some bigger plans? Some ideas:

  • Jerry sets up a marvellous Society for... gentlemen*
  • Alex is a surprisingly competent beard for when Jerry needs to ______
  • At this point in 2022, I'd be down for some domestic slice of life fic of Jerry getting Alex set up with a gorgeous cottage out in the middle of nowhere with lots of fresh air and a beautiful garden, man. Give that man a break.
  • 5 + 1 of the terrible, amazing things Jerry plans for Alex
  • Alex flexing full aristocratic rage because _____
  • AU: whisk them off to an alternate universe – pirate Jerry/kidnapped Alex? White collar modern conman Jerry/starving art student Alex? Leader of the thieves' guild Jerry/painfully law abiding Alex?

Medium ideas:

  • Personal documents/excerpts from journals &c.: OH TO BE A FLY ON THE WALL looking at what Alex writes/sketches. Or maybe Jerry has Fancy Stationery for one of his aliases.
  • List of things X is not allowed to do: to Jerry, from Alex ("please don't rob my friends"). Or, tantalisingly, from Alex to Jerry..... ........... ..............
  • Coat of Arms: would it be very gauche for Jerry to get Alex to [invent/draw up and detail] him a whole coat of arms [in jest/in all seriousness]? Or maybe this is an AU where Alex/some entity/the worldbuild has the capability to ACTUALLY put Jerry in a position where he has a coat of arms: what does that look like? A coat of arms in that setting could be for something aristocratic, or maybe being a Thief is a more Accepted role in some AU, and Jerry has a thief's coat of arms? What could that look like?

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Original Work

Highly Competent Sub Who Doesn't Click With Doms IRL/Dom Who Can't Leave His House (M/M) (OW)

DNWs: I'm not particularly interested in very formalised lifestyle BDSM: I'd thoroughly enjoy reading someone being given orders to be followed throughout their day, but would prefer to steer away from, say, rigid forms of address (only ever thinking about a dom as Sir, for e.g.) in a 24/7 nonstop way. I'm fine if the characters are experimenting with it to find (rapidly) that it doesn't work for them! Also: daddy kink. If you want the dom to actually leave his house at the very end for Reasons, sure – but please engage the conceit for a majority of the fic! While I don't hard DNW stoplight systems, I'd prefer them not showing up as a major feature repeatedly if the pair do their thing often; please just default to a single safeword or straightforward scene break!

I'm happy for you to explore whatever about this pairing made you offer it, but some liner notes of things I'd like about dynamics: I'd prefer it if both characters feel on equal intellectual/emotional footing as partners when out of scene – they don't have to be equal in EVERYTHING, I'd just rather avoid the sub being totally passive :)

My looooong sign-up optional details are below, but here are some more things for you if you'd like!

  • Their relationship: what does this look like? I'd enjoy them exploring kinks that suit them, though I'd prefer if the mechanics of kink negotiation stay mostly off-screen – please just have the dom take good care, or the sub speak up, or just avoid badtouch drops altogether if you don't want to thread the needle! Maybe what gives them both joy are not standard kinks but just... competency porn! Things I'd love: the sub getting given a whole wardrobe and getting told what to wear, or just clothing porn in general; edging; phone sex; inappropriate texting; exhibitionism; impact play; boot licking...
  • Random caretaking! The sub comes home to an apartment filled with $2000 of exotic South African flowers that he likes so much! The dom gets care packages of the best coffee!
  • Pure PWP: feel free to airdrop me into the middle of their relationship and write whatever PWP you want!
  • Random Plots: the dom is under a curse, ergo being trapped in the house; the sub is under a curse, ergo never being able to find someone who gets his kicks; the dom ACCIDENTALLY ends up the key to unlocking a curse placed on the sub in which the sub can never reach orgasm until the curse is lifted...

[Original prompt:] Time to ride the id pony all around the park! I love me some competency porn, and I would love to see your take on this pairing.

Who is the sub, and what's his thing? Why's he looking for a dom? Where has he even tried, or does his personality/pride/(backstory item) forbid him from even trying to look, and the dom just drops serendipitously into his life? Some ideas for you to pick and choose from at your will:

  • The sub is a corporate CEO/mega famous star/imperial judge from a fantasy or scifi setting/(insert high performing position of choice here) who deals with just too much bullshit on a day to day basis
  • Flip the socioeconomic scale: he's a retail associate/flight attendant/house cleaner/teacher/(insert high performing position of choice here) who deals with just as much, if not more, bullshit as the list of people above
  • The sub has no history with kink, he just knows that he spends way too much time Executive Functioning and more or less everyone in a relationship with him ends up Disappointing Him Somehow
  • The sub has plenty of history with kink and is just Very Done with his local scene/formalities

And then the dom! What keeps him in his house? Is he able to go anywhere else? Some ideas:

  • It's a preference never to leave the house. This doesn't mean he's boring, though! Or maybe he CAN leave his house, he just doesn't want to meet anyone in the flesh because ____...
  • It's a [medical/worldbuild handwave mechanic/magical] necessity that he doesn't leave his [house/clean room/personal space bubble to touch anyone physically]
  • He lost someone [recently/a hell of a long time ago] and had grumpily/tragically decided NEVER AGAIN, except the sub falls into his path

Regardless of their potential individual backstories, go wild on how they meet and then go on with their association! Set this in the real world, or go back and forth in time, or go to space, or maybe they're vampires, or go for a (soulmate/alpha-beta-omega/???) AU: I'm down for anything! Some ideas I'd love to see in a fic or explored:

  • They never ever meet in the flesh, but BOY does the dom have a lot of fun dropping lists of things for the sub to do in his (inbox/text messages/official imperial mail). I'd especially love seeing the dom giving instructions that round back, at the end of the day, to actually being able self-care for the sub: GO EXERCISE might be a fierce dictum of a set of orders, but then the sub finds they actually really like running and that it's good for them. Or I AM ORDERING ALL YOUR FOOD THIS WEEK, and it's all excellent tasty things that the sub likes. Or STOP AND SIT IN SILENCE AND DON'T LET ANYONE INTERRUPT YOU FOR SIX HOURS. Ooh-ah!
  • Or maybe there's some excellent voyeur/exhibition stuff going on: the dom books a hotel across the road from a room he books for the sub in another hotel and then watches! Or maybe there's some fun video chat, or audio voice messages, or fun tasks like "go clubbing and pick someone up and then let me hear the results!"
  • I've got a bunch of opt-in medium tags selected: any one of these would be super fun to see! Lists of things that the sub does for denial? Or people who aren't allowed to give the sub shit anymore in their Real Life and what the sub can/should do if they even try? A "treasure hunt" map of places the dom wants the sub to visit for reasons (picking up sex toy purchases from across town? or a list of new-to-the-sub cafes/restaurants/shops that, when visited, have nice things arranged for him?)
  • Maybe one or the other of them suggest an Excellent Third Party to help facilitate: a hired escort? A best friend?

Wherever you go with this, no matter how (N)SFW, any character interaction over why these two particular people click would be the best. Is it something about the dom's [voice/occupation/aloof and cool but thoughtful personality]? Is it that they just have MAD CHEMISTRY? Is it because the sub is respectful of the dom's boundaries not just in scene but in life? Are they both [florists/lawyers/fanboys of Lord Byron/??] or complete opposites?

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Vampire Who Wants To Go Vegetarian/Scientist Helping Him Out (M/M) (OW)

DNWs: I'm fine with characters going through all sorts of suffering, but please don't have either one of them die horribly! (The scientist getting turned into a vampire does not count as dying horribly.)

Ah, what does helping him out or vegetarian mean indeed... If you've got an idea of fun dynamics you want to play with, go with it! Some random ones if you don't:

  • The vampire looks very young and this causes problems because ___
  • When the vampire is hungry, he gets: sad/starts to age/blood lust/just plain lust
  • The scientist is a... government agent/agent of a holy society/ex-vampire/vampire himself
  • The vampire is super rich and the scientist needs funding
  • The scientist is a super rich gentleman scientist and the vampire isn't well-off enough to afford standard vegetarian... treatments?
  • The vampire wants to go vegetarian because of: ethical reasons/a bet/a dare from the scientist

[Original prompt:] Vampire worldbuilding, what could be better! Maybe there's a quirky modern-day Impossible (Blood)burger story here, or maybe "scientist" is really "alchemist". Whatever you've got, I want to read it – especially if you've got a particular (period/setting/vibe) in mind! :D Some ideas:

  • Pick Your Source Canon Flavour Of Vampire: Anne Rice? World of Darkness? Discworld? What We Do In The Shadows? Something completely different?
  • Pick your flavour of scientist: evil scientist? Jesuit priest working for [some worldwide institution of vampire higher learning/the actual vampire on sweet, sweet retainer with a full lab]? Some guy who just posted some really long headcanon on Reddit for his own theoretical fanfiction vampires only to be contact by THIS ONE REAL VAMPIRE because, hey, those ideas seem cogent?
  • Maybe "vegetarian" means one of the following or none of the following: drinks but doesn't kill humans/only drinks non-human blood/is literally a vegetarian somehow!
  • So if the vampire's going to have to go hungry at various points in this experiment... 8D Snacking on the scientist? Or maybe a wholesome snack that's very unexpected?
  • Do they ever succeed?
  • Why does the vampire want to go vegetarian in the first place? Is it a common thing that he somehow struggles with because [he's too young/he's too old/he just really likes the taste of O- and has a problem]? Is there a [government/Vampire Tracking Secret Society/??] edict that all vampires have to go vegetarian OR ELSE?

I'm happy for you to spin this in whatever direction you want: tongue-in-cheek crackiness, taken-seriously psychological horror, or anything in between.

Medium opt-in ideas:

  • Spreadsheets: dietary plans? Calculating basic nutritional needs? COCKTAIL RECIPES?
  • Workplace documentation: Special Handling Of Vampires paperwork?
  • Spell/ritual instructions: maybe there've long been ways of turning a vampire vegetarian, but they're fragmentary...
  • Recipe book/cocktail recipes: either vegetarian or not! Maybe with tasting notes?

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Blood Like Lemonade (Morcheeba song)

Solo: Main Character (Blood Like Lemonade), WB: Any (Blood Like Lemonade)

Song on Youtube - hilariously, I hadn't watched the music video before typing this letter, so please don't feel obliged to use it as a canon reference.

Besides what I put down in my original prompt, here are some random other things that might be cool to play with:

  • Worldbuilding: mash up or invent some demon hunting lore/religious lore?
  • Backstory: what did happen during The Crime? What does it mean to Cross That Line?
  • Taking Lyrics Way Too Literally: "hunting high and low" – is there a high-up-in-heaven, a low-down-in-hell thing going on?

[Original prompt:] What a world there is to be built here! There are SO MANY THINGS I'D LIKE TO KNOW OR SEE about this healing holy man turned reluctant renegade who drinks blood like lemonade. If you'd like to gender-flip the Main Character's wife into a husband or anything else, feel free. If you want to magic away geography and pretend any lines about real countries doesn't exist, do that too!

Is the song literal? Is he literally seeking revenge, emptying souls and drinking blood like it's a spectacular cocktail? Are we talking about him becoming a vampire here, or is he some eldritch thing of your own invention, or is he still human? Or what about what the song says about him becoming sort of law and order unto himself a la Batman? TELL ME ANYTHING. If you've got some serious gothic vibes to drop, I'm here for that; or maybe there's a horror story here, that would be cool too!

From the worldbuilding side of things, I'd love anything you want to throw at me about the mechanics of how this happened. Are there others like him? What relationship do healing holy men have with the rest of the world? How lawless is the place the main character lives in?

Medium ideas:

  • Cocktail recipe: THIS PROMPT WRITES ITSELF.
  • Tarot: I would love to see the various incarnations of the main character as different tarot cards
  • Bestiary: maybe the Main Character has turned into a beast: maybe this sort of transition is known, and the [holy man's previous institution/church/institution of your invention] has records of it in their bestiary. Or maybe there's a bestiary the MC keeps of the evil soul types he's hunted down!
  • Religious text: what kind of holy man was he before? What kind of evil is there in the world?
  • Map: where has the MC been? Is there a spiritual map of the world, with some places darker than others? Or does he have a sort of bingo list that he keeps on a map?

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Beautiful Losers II (Vettriano painting)

Sitting Man/Standing Man/Woman (Beautiful Losers II)

Painting in question.

The mood of the painting is just gorgeous. Whether you want to write lush, decadent porn or lush, decadent Feelings, I'm here for it! I love the dressed up vibe, and obviously the undressing vibe that seems to be following right after. The mood lighting! The hands on the woman's back and stomach! It's all shudderingly good. I'd love to see wherever you decide to set them in: whether it's IRL in the 1920s/some other Decade Of Your Choice, in a magical AU, a stage set, an elaborately decorated room in a house of iniquity...

[Original prompt:] LOOK AT THEM. WHAT'S THEIR STORY? If you just want to write some steaming Sitting Man/Standing Man/Woman action, go right ahead :D Otherwise, I'd love to know more about how they ended up right here at this moment. Did they all just meet at a social club? Or are they a long-established triad that meets [all the time/only once a year at a ball/office party/induction of mages in some fantasy world]? Is this a D/S-y setup, with the sitting man being the dom and the other two subs, or something else altogether? I'd be up for lush worldbuilds or pure PWP: whatever inspires you!

Some worldbuild-y ideas:

  • Who are they: are they famous/rich? Or is only one/a subset of them? Is she maybe a hired woman? Is he?
  • Clothing porn: I love clothing porn. Maybe the dress is just one extremely fancy dress in a long line of fancy dresses that are designed for use on exactly this one night a year...
  • NSFW thoughts: There are candles on that mantel and the sitting man has a cigarette that's lit. I'm just going to leave those two things riiight there.

Medium ideas:

  • Playing or Tarot card(s): I'd love any one or all of them as cards! Maybe something in the same colour palate/setting? Or maybe transform them into your favourite style!
  • Fan Music/FST: what would I give to know what they've got playing in the background of this scene...
  • Accommodation Review: for some bizarre reason, the thought came to mind that they're in a very fancy hotel room – maybe their (disgruntled? turned on?) neighbour who overhears/sees their exploits (or maybe just their comings and goings) writes a [hilarious/morally outraged] review on [modern review websites/the evening paper]
  • Comics: what comes next? Or what came before? Were they dancing, or were they giving each other looks, or dressing each other up as a lead-up to them undressing each other now?

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