Dear Boxing Champ (Fic in a Box 2022)
Aug. 25th, 2022 05:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
primeidealDear Creator,
Hello! Thank you very much for writing/mapping/documenting/plotting/whatever-ing for me! I'm also primeideal on Ao3.
I would be happy with either more typical fanworks or basically any kind of in-universe documentation for any of these fandoms and characters, so consider these prompts very much a starting point, and feel free to mix and match. If you have an idea that fits with my opt-ins, go wild!
My dear author tag has more examples of tropes and prompts that I'm into, although some of these are characters/ships that I'm prompting for the first time. (Much of this letter is a copy of 2021 and 2020, but I've changed up several fandoms since then! I've received some amazing fanworks for this exchange in the past but am always excited for more.)
Animorphs
I love the glimpses of all kinds of diverse alien species, crazy timeline shenanigans, and the themes of hope even in the midst of terrible struggle. For this fandom, I'm happy with fix-its as well as "rocks fall, everyone dies," but I'm not interested in cliffhangers or "both sides are equally terrible" posturing.
Worldbuilding
Ax & Elfangor
Aftran & Cassie
Ax & Tobias
Loren & Visser Three
Marco/Rachel
Rachel/Tobias
Opt-ins:
Aftran & Cassie: how would anything post-29 have been different if Aftran had stayed either in Cassie or elsewhere in the human world? How does Aftran decide who to trust in the Peace Movement with the Animorphs' secret? One of the "canon AUs" (the 41 dystopia, time travel stuff) if Aftran had been there?
Ax & Tobias: Ax's misunderstandings about human culture? Tobias visits the Andalite homeworld with Ax post-canon? Some human developments encroach on the scoop and they have to move?
Loren & Visser Three: what if Esplin had infested Loren instead of Chapman on the Taxxon homeworld? (Did she sell Earth out instead, or is he using her to get close to Elfangor and Alloran?) Maybe he follows up on her after the invasion begins, worried that she still remembers? They meet during the Visser's imprisonment?
Marco/Rachel: I'm intrigued by the idea that Marco's feelings for her are more serious than he lets on but he hides them because he's "the funny one" and because she and Tobias are good for each other. One-sided attraction? More from the Megamorphs 4 AU but without the weird timeline-breaking aspects? One day the banter just goes too far?
Rachel/Tobias: outsider POV on "who's that kid Rachel is dancing with, didn't he used to be in our class"? Tobias has to interact with Rachel's dad or sisters and is flustered? AU where Rachel survives but they're both struggling to pick up the pieces?
Worldbuilding: what changes (or doesn't) in the human world after the invasion is revealed? Anything expanding on alien culture and society, main characters or otherwise? More about the canon-AU worlds?
Alternate-medium ideas:
-declassified documents from the Yeerk or Andalite militaries
-language stuff! How does Galard work? What about the Hork-Bajir mishmashes?
-the terms of the Ellimist and Crayak's "games" as if they were a legal document or RPG rulebook
Arthurian Mythology
Dinadan
Galahad
Opt-Ins:
Blade Runner
Worldbuilding
Rick Deckard/Rachael
Roy, Leon, Pris, & Zhora
Freysa, Sapper, & Rachael
Joshi/Luv
K/Luv
K/Mariette
Opt-ins:
I love the worldbuilding of noir Los Angeles and all the hints of the larger universe these characters are in. I love replicants and the ways they struggle to assert their own personhood. I love the respect and admiration among all these weird characters, even (and especially) when they're trying to kill each other.
Rick/Rachael: How did they figure out she was different? What if she had lived--would she have tried to reunite with Rick, or go underground with Ana? Her perspective on the events of the original--why does she kill Leon? What makes her trust Rick?
Roy, Leon, Pris, & Zhora: deciding to rebel? What if some or any of them had lived and met the Nexus-8s? Do other replicants view them as heroes or idiots, or some of each?
Freysa, Sapper, & Rachael: their life in hiding? Were there philosophical disagreements, or were they all just as gung-ho about revolution as Freysa? Does not knowing she was a replicant for a while make Rachael approach things differently than the others?
Joshi/Luv: stoic fighting women gritting it out while trying to kill each other...look, I ship it. They clash on opposite sides of some other case? They cross paths and are attracted to each other before they realize each other's identities? They get turned on by violence in a slightly less deadly way? Or equally deadly whatever works.
K/Luv: comparisons and contrasts! K is the LAPD's reliable cop, Luv is Wallace's obedient sidekick, but neither of them are totally satisfied with it. Do they try to recruit each other for clandestine operations? Reluctantly save each other's life (like Luv with the drone attack)? Or find their own path away from the institutions? Like Joshi/Luv, I find the violence/conflict to be part of the allure, so feel free to go dark (but please no non-con).
K/Mariette: what motivates Mariette to join the rebellion--is she an idealist, looking for adventure, bored? Does she find any of that with K? Trying to convince K that she's more interesting than Joi? K isn't used to having someone who cares about him just for himself and is charmed?
Worldbuilding: how does the baseline test work for others, or the Voight-Kampff? What's going on in the colonies? We've seen what Los Angeles looks like both in 2019 and 2049, how are the other parts of the world faring? Tell me about Cityspeak, the creole!
Other medium ideas
-Police records of the wanted replicants. What the LAPD has concluded, what they don't know.
-Technical specs/outlines for how the Tyrell and/or Wallace Corporations create replicants. What parts of the process have changed, what is the same? How does Ana create memories?
-if you want to go meta, in-universe speculation about whether Deckard is a replicant, playing up the differences between the different cuts
Chess
Anatoly/Florence
Anatoly & Florence
Florence & Gregor
The Arbiter
Viigand
Opt-ins:
There are countless variations between productions and plotlines (life imitating art) but I see that as a feature, not a bug--feel free to borrow from any version, or smash them all together. I enjoy chess on its own without the musical context, so any allusions to the board game and/or its weird RL history would be welcomed but not required. Please no Freddie/Florence as a romantic partnership.
-Anatoly & or / Florence: their time together between acts (brief or not-so-brief, depending on the production). What if they hadn't been in love, but he still wanted to defect and she was mostly helping him for the political reasons? Do they reconnect after the fall of Communism?
-Florence & Gregor: reuniting after the Cold War (or maybe after the play, again depending on the production?)? Stuff he taught her about chess and/or life growing up? News of the outside world occasionally reaches him, he realizes (or not) Florence's connections and growing importance in the chess world?
-The Arbiter and/or Viigand: I feel like these guys are both like "I'm here for chess because chess is serious business, why is everything on fire." I'm intrigued by the Arbiter's "I don't like women, I don't take dope" line--did the KGB have a plan B or C or Z for bribing him? What does he think of Freddie's "One Night in Bangkok" opinions? How did Viigand and Anatoly meet, and how did Molokov prepare Viigand to face his former colleague/rival? Do they commiserate about "everyone else is crazy," or is the Arbiter too concerned about remaining impartial? Do they run across any of the other characters afterwards?
Alternate medium ideas:
-something making fun of all the different continuities? I feel like this could be a good basis for an interactive/choose your own adventure type of fanwork.
-frivolous or serious complaints that the Arbiter had to deal with, and his frivolous or serious responses
-paperwork related to passports, immigration, defection, etc. (Embassy Lament!)
Chip's Challenge
Chip
Chip & Melinda
Worldbuilding
Opt-Ins:
Dune (2021)
Liet Kynes
Opt-ins:
Imperial Planetologist and science nerd who's also fully embedded in Fremen life and religion, and takes agency in the plot=my fav! I have also read the original book and would be happy to see anything that works in some of that characterization/Liet's relationships with Pardot, Chani, etc, but obviously this is not expected!
What was her scientific career like when the Harkonnens were in charge? Did she meet Duncan Idaho when he came ahead to scout Arrakis, and if so, what did they make of each other? What if she'd survived--would she have continued to admire and respect Paul, or would their different goals eventually diverge?
Alternate medium ideas:
-notes on creatures she's studied on Arrakis. Shai-Hulud? Muad'Dib the mouse?
-correspondence to and from the Empire
-Fremen religious prophecies she's interpreted, looking for the Mahdi
The Prestige
I like the vibe of "friends to enemies to increasingly obsessed enemies" with Angier/Borden, and then on Tesla's end, the nonchalance of "I have no idea what's going on but sure, let's see if I can turn this to my advantage." For Angier/Borden, I'm fine with "dubious consent due to identity issues," but please no violent non-con nor incest.
Robert Angier/Alfred Borden
Robert Angier/Nikola Tesla
Opt-ins:
Art--Technical Drawing
Illustrated Text--Excerpts from a Journal/Notebook/Sketchbook
Illustrated Text--In-Universe Scientific Documents
Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - Web-based choice-based IF not hosted on AO3
Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - Twine
Writing - Any In-Universe Documents That Fit the Canon Setting
Writing - Interactive Fiction - AO3 style Choose Your Own Adventure
Writing - Non-Linear Narrative
Writing - Screenplay
Writing - Script
Angier/Borden: what if they'd gotten together earlier on and disaster was averted? Do the two Bordens take turns with Angier--who likes him more? Do they catch on? What do their assistants/the outside world think of their "rivalry?" Or maybe there's just one Borden but he's obsessed enough to plot his own death as long as it gets Angier killed too. Or there really is a "teleporter" coming to Borden's rescue.
Angier/Tesla: Tesla realizes there's more to Angier's story than he's letting on but is content to roll with it? Tesla follows Angier back to London after Edison's minions sabotage him? Angier is insistent on seeing how the experimentation goes and Tesla has to explain the engineering process? Borden's reaction once things calm down--is he surprised that they got together, or did he plan it all along?
Alternate medium ideas:
-more from Borden's journal? How does the cipher work? What if Angier had been stuck decoding it on his own?
-Tesla's schematics and machine diagrams
-legal documents from the murder trial
Project Hail Mary
Ryland Grace & Rocky
Worldbuilding
Opt-Ins:
Science nerds working together to save the worlds! I'm not super interested in the flashback Earth chapters, but anything about Grace and Rocky's time together in space or on Erid, or the worldbuilding in general, would be great. How did Rocky stay sane during the decades in isolation? What other bits of Earth science, or culture, come as surprises? Does Grace ever tell Rocky about the real reason he "volunteered" for the mission? Try to explain the significance of the ship's name? There's a good chance that Rocky will live long enough to get transmissions/visitors from Earth after the epilogue--what happens then?
Alternate-medium ideas:
-In-universe ship manifesto (the transit kind!) What do Eridians pack for the journey to Tau Ceti?
-Language nerdery! What sorts of nuances come up in a musical-chord language?
-Any of the Earth news articles/gossip/scientific research that result after the Beetles arrive.
Stranger Things
Eddie & Eleven
Erica & Lucas
The Party
Will & Eddie
Will & Eleven
Opt-Ins:
Crossovers:
Alia Atreides/Rey
Opt-Ins:
Okay, look. They're both from desert worlds. They both are precociously magically gifted. They both have evil grandfathers, who they murder with their powers. Alia is haunted by her ancestors, including the grandfather who she murdered. Rey is "all the Jedi" and seems to have survived the encounter with Palpatine, despite his ominous "strike me down..." villain monologuing. What I'm saying is, they should get together. No preferences for whether it's more in the Star Wars galaxy or the Dune galaxy or a mix of the two! Prefer if Alia is aged up/it's made clear that she's an adult.
What do their different schools of magic have to teach each other? Does Rey's influence help pull Alia out of the darkness? Or is Rey more haunted, post-Episode IX, than she lets on? What does Rey think of Fremen water discipline, or Alia think of Niima Outpost?
Alternate medium ideas:
-Something from Irulan's (or others') in-universe histories of Alia
-Epistolary fic, they're on separate planets during their adventures and keep in touch via letters
-Medical evaluation of Alia's memories. How would they be understood in the Star Wars context?
---
Again, there are so many great mediums and character dynamics that I could go on all day, so please don't feel limited by this. Thanks for creating for me!
Hello! Thank you very much for writing/mapping/documenting/plotting/whatever-ing for me! I'm also primeideal on Ao3.
I would be happy with either more typical fanworks or basically any kind of in-universe documentation for any of these fandoms and characters, so consider these prompts very much a starting point, and feel free to mix and match. If you have an idea that fits with my opt-ins, go wild!
My dear author tag has more examples of tropes and prompts that I'm into, although some of these are characters/ships that I'm prompting for the first time. (Much of this letter is a copy of 2021 and 2020, but I've changed up several fandoms since then! I've received some amazing fanworks for this exchange in the past but am always excited for more.)
General likes
-canon-divergence AUs
-five things
-worldbuilding
-dialogue
-wit and wordplay
-nonstandard formats (documentation, epistolary, etc.)
-time travel
-happy endings
-sad endings (when providing some measure of closure or melodrama; I'm fine with character death)
General dislikes
-explicit sex
-underage sex
-rape/noncon
-moralizing/didactic stories (characters Learning An Important Lesson about the value of tolerance, etc.)
-allegories of current events and/or contemporary politics
-second person POV (in "normal" fic, fine with it in IF or similar!)
-character bashing
-cliffhanger endings
-themes of cynicism or futility, or that the (canon's) main plotlines "are for nothing"
I love the glimpses of all kinds of diverse alien species, crazy timeline shenanigans, and the themes of hope even in the midst of terrible struggle. For this fandom, I'm happy with fix-its as well as "rocks fall, everyone dies," but I'm not interested in cliffhangers or "both sides are equally terrible" posturing.
Worldbuilding
Ax & Elfangor
Aftran & Cassie
Ax & Tobias
Loren & Visser Three
Marco/Rachel
Rachel/Tobias
Opt-ins:
Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - Web-based choice-based IF not hosted on AO3
Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - Twine
Writing - Any In-Universe Documents That Fit the Canon Setting
Writing - Grammar Sketch
Writing - Interactive Fiction - AO3 style Choose Your Own Adventure
Ax & Elfangor: growing up in Elfangor's shadow and resenting it? Coming to terms with Elfangor's legacy (and/or hirac delest?) post-canon? Not understanding weird human habits Elfangor picked up?Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - Twine
Writing - Any In-Universe Documents That Fit the Canon Setting
Writing - Grammar Sketch
Writing - Interactive Fiction - AO3 style Choose Your Own Adventure
Writing - Reddit: In-Universe Reddit Post On Any Subreddit (Post + Replies),
Writing - Worldbuilding Headcanon
Aftran & Cassie: how would anything post-29 have been different if Aftran had stayed either in Cassie or elsewhere in the human world? How does Aftran decide who to trust in the Peace Movement with the Animorphs' secret? One of the "canon AUs" (the 41 dystopia, time travel stuff) if Aftran had been there?
Ax & Tobias: Ax's misunderstandings about human culture? Tobias visits the Andalite homeworld with Ax post-canon? Some human developments encroach on the scoop and they have to move?
Loren & Visser Three: what if Esplin had infested Loren instead of Chapman on the Taxxon homeworld? (Did she sell Earth out instead, or is he using her to get close to Elfangor and Alloran?) Maybe he follows up on her after the invasion begins, worried that she still remembers? They meet during the Visser's imprisonment?
Marco/Rachel: I'm intrigued by the idea that Marco's feelings for her are more serious than he lets on but he hides them because he's "the funny one" and because she and Tobias are good for each other. One-sided attraction? More from the Megamorphs 4 AU but without the weird timeline-breaking aspects? One day the banter just goes too far?
Rachel/Tobias: outsider POV on "who's that kid Rachel is dancing with, didn't he used to be in our class"? Tobias has to interact with Rachel's dad or sisters and is flustered? AU where Rachel survives but they're both struggling to pick up the pieces?
Worldbuilding: what changes (or doesn't) in the human world after the invasion is revealed? Anything expanding on alien culture and society, main characters or otherwise? More about the canon-AU worlds?
Alternate-medium ideas:
-declassified documents from the Yeerk or Andalite militaries
-language stuff! How does Galard work? What about the Hork-Bajir mishmashes?
-the terms of the Ellimist and Crayak's "games" as if they were a legal document or RPG rulebook
Arthurian Mythology
Dinadan
Galahad
Opt-Ins:
Medium Opt In: Poetry - Any Poetry Style of In-Universe RPF
Medium Opt In: Poetry - Ballad
Medium Opt In: Poetry - Ghazal
Medium Opt In: Poetry - In-Universe Poetry
Medium Opt In: Poetry - In-Universe Prayer
Medium Opt In: Poetry - Narrative Poem
Medium Opt In: Poetry - Rondeau
Medium Opt In: Poetry - Sonnet
Medium Opt In: Poetry - Sestina
Medium Opt In: Poetry - Villanelle
Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - Twine
Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - Web-based choice-based IF not hosted on AO3
Writing - Any In-Universe Documents That Fit the Canon Setting
Writing - Interactive Fiction - AO3 style Choose Your Own Adventure
I love these two individually and juxtaposed with each other--what do their (a)sexualities say about the Arthurian setting? Dinadan writing snarky songs and being "one of the guys" contrasts with Galahad's slightly out-of-this-world purity. (I'm mostly familiar with Malory, but feel free to draw on any source you're interested in!)
Dinadan: according to Malory, basically everyone liked him except the bad guys. What was he like as a jouster? How did he die? Did he write any other goofy songs?
Galahad: growing up with his mother? His relationship with Lancelot? What do the other knights think of his obsession with the Grail, and what does he think of them joining on his quest? Does he feel like chastity is a struggle, or does he just not see what the fuss is about?
Alternate-medium ideas:
-let's see the ballad Dinadan made to make fun of King Mark!
-what are Galahad's prayers like, before or after he's seen the Grail?
-I think any kind of poetry contrasting either or both of these two with more traditional courtly love would be neat.
I love these two individually and juxtaposed with each other--what do their (a)sexualities say about the Arthurian setting? Dinadan writing snarky songs and being "one of the guys" contrasts with Galahad's slightly out-of-this-world purity. (I'm mostly familiar with Malory, but feel free to draw on any source you're interested in!)
Dinadan: according to Malory, basically everyone liked him except the bad guys. What was he like as a jouster? How did he die? Did he write any other goofy songs?
Galahad: growing up with his mother? His relationship with Lancelot? What do the other knights think of his obsession with the Grail, and what does he think of them joining on his quest? Does he feel like chastity is a struggle, or does he just not see what the fuss is about?
Alternate-medium ideas:
-let's see the ballad Dinadan made to make fun of King Mark!
-what are Galahad's prayers like, before or after he's seen the Grail?
-I think any kind of poetry contrasting either or both of these two with more traditional courtly love would be neat.
Blade Runner
Worldbuilding
Rick Deckard/Rachael
Roy, Leon, Pris, & Zhora
Freysa, Sapper, & Rachael
Joshi/Luv
K/Luv
K/Mariette
Opt-ins:
Unique Rules - Map: Any
Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - Web-based choice-based IF not hosted on AO3
Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - Twine
Writing - Any In-Universe Documents That Fit the Canon Setting
Writing - Grammar Sketch
Writing - Interactive Fiction - AO3 style Choose Your Own Adventure
Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - Web-based choice-based IF not hosted on AO3
Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - Twine
Writing - Any In-Universe Documents That Fit the Canon Setting
Writing - Grammar Sketch
Writing - Interactive Fiction - AO3 style Choose Your Own Adventure
Writing - Reddit: In-Universe Reddit Post On Any Subreddit (Post + Replies),
Writing - Worldbuilding Headcanon
I love the worldbuilding of noir Los Angeles and all the hints of the larger universe these characters are in. I love replicants and the ways they struggle to assert their own personhood. I love the respect and admiration among all these weird characters, even (and especially) when they're trying to kill each other.
Rick/Rachael: How did they figure out she was different? What if she had lived--would she have tried to reunite with Rick, or go underground with Ana? Her perspective on the events of the original--why does she kill Leon? What makes her trust Rick?
Roy, Leon, Pris, & Zhora: deciding to rebel? What if some or any of them had lived and met the Nexus-8s? Do other replicants view them as heroes or idiots, or some of each?
Freysa, Sapper, & Rachael: their life in hiding? Were there philosophical disagreements, or were they all just as gung-ho about revolution as Freysa? Does not knowing she was a replicant for a while make Rachael approach things differently than the others?
Joshi/Luv: stoic fighting women gritting it out while trying to kill each other...look, I ship it. They clash on opposite sides of some other case? They cross paths and are attracted to each other before they realize each other's identities? They get turned on by violence in a slightly less deadly way? Or equally deadly whatever works.
K/Luv: comparisons and contrasts! K is the LAPD's reliable cop, Luv is Wallace's obedient sidekick, but neither of them are totally satisfied with it. Do they try to recruit each other for clandestine operations? Reluctantly save each other's life (like Luv with the drone attack)? Or find their own path away from the institutions? Like Joshi/Luv, I find the violence/conflict to be part of the allure, so feel free to go dark (but please no non-con).
K/Mariette: what motivates Mariette to join the rebellion--is she an idealist, looking for adventure, bored? Does she find any of that with K? Trying to convince K that she's more interesting than Joi? K isn't used to having someone who cares about him just for himself and is charmed?
Worldbuilding: how does the baseline test work for others, or the Voight-Kampff? What's going on in the colonies? We've seen what Los Angeles looks like both in 2019 and 2049, how are the other parts of the world faring? Tell me about Cityspeak, the creole!
Other medium ideas
-Police records of the wanted replicants. What the LAPD has concluded, what they don't know.
-Technical specs/outlines for how the Tyrell and/or Wallace Corporations create replicants. What parts of the process have changed, what is the same? How does Ana create memories?
-if you want to go meta, in-universe speculation about whether Deckard is a replicant, playing up the differences between the different cuts
Chess
Anatoly/Florence
Anatoly & Florence
Florence & Gregor
The Arbiter
Viigand
Opt-ins:
Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - Web-based choice-based IF not hosted on AO3
Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - Twine
Writing - Any In-Universe Documents That Fit the Canon Setting
Writing - Interactive Fiction - AO3 style Choose Your Own Adventure
Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - Twine
Writing - Any In-Universe Documents That Fit the Canon Setting
Writing - Interactive Fiction - AO3 style Choose Your Own Adventure
Writing - Reddit: In-Universe Reddit Post On Any Subreddit (Post + Replies),
There are countless variations between productions and plotlines (life imitating art) but I see that as a feature, not a bug--feel free to borrow from any version, or smash them all together. I enjoy chess on its own without the musical context, so any allusions to the board game and/or its weird RL history would be welcomed but not required. Please no Freddie/Florence as a romantic partnership.
-Anatoly & or / Florence: their time together between acts (brief or not-so-brief, depending on the production). What if they hadn't been in love, but he still wanted to defect and she was mostly helping him for the political reasons? Do they reconnect after the fall of Communism?
-Florence & Gregor: reuniting after the Cold War (or maybe after the play, again depending on the production?)? Stuff he taught her about chess and/or life growing up? News of the outside world occasionally reaches him, he realizes (or not) Florence's connections and growing importance in the chess world?
-The Arbiter and/or Viigand: I feel like these guys are both like "I'm here for chess because chess is serious business, why is everything on fire." I'm intrigued by the Arbiter's "I don't like women, I don't take dope" line--did the KGB have a plan B or C or Z for bribing him? What does he think of Freddie's "One Night in Bangkok" opinions? How did Viigand and Anatoly meet, and how did Molokov prepare Viigand to face his former colleague/rival? Do they commiserate about "everyone else is crazy," or is the Arbiter too concerned about remaining impartial? Do they run across any of the other characters afterwards?
Alternate medium ideas:
-something making fun of all the different continuities? I feel like this could be a good basis for an interactive/choose your own adventure type of fanwork.
-frivolous or serious complaints that the Arbiter had to deal with, and his frivolous or serious responses
-paperwork related to passports, immigration, defection, etc. (Embassy Lament!)
Chip's Challenge
Chip
Chip & Melinda
Worldbuilding
Opt-Ins:
Illustrated Text: Excerpts from a Journal/Notebook/Sketchbook
Writing - Worldbuilding Headcanon
Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - Twine
Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - Web-based choice-based IF not hosted on AO3
Writing - Any In-Universe Documents That Fit the Canon Setting
Writing - Interactive Fiction - AO3 style Choose Your Own Adventure
So difficult and yet such a classic. "Bummer, dude." I'm also familiar with the second game, so if you happen to know it, feel free to incorporate the new puzzles (letting Melinda and Chip summon each other so they can get out of traps neither one could escape on their own, and so on); if not, absolutely not expected! Either allusions to specific levels from the original game or just generic "oh no, it's a monster" would be welcome. Maybe more peaceful postgame adventures once Chip is a Bit Buster in his own right?
Alternate-medium ideas:
-Melinda's sketchbook, how did she come up with/beta test/create all these things?
-Chip's increasingly frustrated diary as he beats his head against a wall/block of ice/force field?
-Any kind of bureaucratic "getting permission to use these creatures this way" documentation. Both Melinda's treatment of creatures and humans seems to stretch the bounds of science!
So difficult and yet such a classic. "Bummer, dude." I'm also familiar with the second game, so if you happen to know it, feel free to incorporate the new puzzles (letting Melinda and Chip summon each other so they can get out of traps neither one could escape on their own, and so on); if not, absolutely not expected! Either allusions to specific levels from the original game or just generic "oh no, it's a monster" would be welcome. Maybe more peaceful postgame adventures once Chip is a Bit Buster in his own right?
Alternate-medium ideas:
-Melinda's sketchbook, how did she come up with/beta test/create all these things?
-Chip's increasingly frustrated diary as he beats his head against a wall/block of ice/force field?
-Any kind of bureaucratic "getting permission to use these creatures this way" documentation. Both Melinda's treatment of creatures and humans seems to stretch the bounds of science!
Dune (2021)
Liet Kynes
Opt-ins:
Illustrated Text: Excerpts from a Journal/Notebook/Sketchbook
Illustrated Text: Field Report
Illustrated Text: In-Universe Scientific Documents
Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - Twine
Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - Web-based choice-based IF not hosted on AO3
Writing - Any In-Universe Documents That Fit the Canon Setting
Writing - Interactive Fiction - AO3 style Choose Your Own Adventure
Imperial Planetologist and science nerd who's also fully embedded in Fremen life and religion, and takes agency in the plot=my fav! I have also read the original book and would be happy to see anything that works in some of that characterization/Liet's relationships with Pardot, Chani, etc, but obviously this is not expected!
What was her scientific career like when the Harkonnens were in charge? Did she meet Duncan Idaho when he came ahead to scout Arrakis, and if so, what did they make of each other? What if she'd survived--would she have continued to admire and respect Paul, or would their different goals eventually diverge?
Alternate medium ideas:
-notes on creatures she's studied on Arrakis. Shai-Hulud? Muad'Dib the mouse?
-correspondence to and from the Empire
-Fremen religious prophecies she's interpreted, looking for the Mahdi
I like the vibe of "friends to enemies to increasingly obsessed enemies" with Angier/Borden, and then on Tesla's end, the nonchalance of "I have no idea what's going on but sure, let's see if I can turn this to my advantage." For Angier/Borden, I'm fine with "dubious consent due to identity issues," but please no violent non-con nor incest.
Robert Angier/Alfred Borden
Robert Angier/Nikola Tesla
Opt-ins:
Art--Technical Drawing
Illustrated Text--Excerpts from a Journal/Notebook/Sketchbook
Illustrated Text--In-Universe Scientific Documents
Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - Web-based choice-based IF not hosted on AO3
Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - Twine
Writing - Any In-Universe Documents That Fit the Canon Setting
Writing - Interactive Fiction - AO3 style Choose Your Own Adventure
Writing - Non-Linear Narrative
Writing - Screenplay
Writing - Script
Angier/Borden: what if they'd gotten together earlier on and disaster was averted? Do the two Bordens take turns with Angier--who likes him more? Do they catch on? What do their assistants/the outside world think of their "rivalry?" Or maybe there's just one Borden but he's obsessed enough to plot his own death as long as it gets Angier killed too. Or there really is a "teleporter" coming to Borden's rescue.
Angier/Tesla: Tesla realizes there's more to Angier's story than he's letting on but is content to roll with it? Tesla follows Angier back to London after Edison's minions sabotage him? Angier is insistent on seeing how the experimentation goes and Tesla has to explain the engineering process? Borden's reaction once things calm down--is he surprised that they got together, or did he plan it all along?
Alternate medium ideas:
-more from Borden's journal? How does the cipher work? What if Angier had been stuck decoding it on his own?
-Tesla's schematics and machine diagrams
-legal documents from the murder trial
Project Hail Mary
Ryland Grace & Rocky
Worldbuilding
Opt-Ins:
Writing - Worldbuilding Headcanon
Writing - Grammar Sketch
Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - Twine
Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - Web-based choice-based IF not hosted on AO3
Writing - Any In-Universe Documents That Fit the Canon Setting
Writing - Interactive Fiction - AO3 style Choose Your Own Adventure
Science nerds working together to save the worlds! I'm not super interested in the flashback Earth chapters, but anything about Grace and Rocky's time together in space or on Erid, or the worldbuilding in general, would be great. How did Rocky stay sane during the decades in isolation? What other bits of Earth science, or culture, come as surprises? Does Grace ever tell Rocky about the real reason he "volunteered" for the mission? Try to explain the significance of the ship's name? There's a good chance that Rocky will live long enough to get transmissions/visitors from Earth after the epilogue--what happens then?
Alternate-medium ideas:
-In-universe ship manifesto (the transit kind!) What do Eridians pack for the journey to Tau Ceti?
-Language nerdery! What sorts of nuances come up in a musical-chord language?
-Any of the Earth news articles/gossip/scientific research that result after the Beetles arrive.
Stranger Things
Eddie & Eleven
Erica & Lucas
The Party
Will & Eddie
Will & Eleven
Opt-Ins:
Writing - Epistolary
Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - Twine
Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - Web-based choice-based IF not hosted on AO3
Writing - Any In-Universe Documents That Fit the Canon Setting
Writing - Interactive Fiction - AO3 style Choose Your Own Adventure
I especially love the "kids' generation" plotline, and I like how Season 4 brought us Erica being part of the D&D world as well as Eddie showing them how even high schoolers aren't too cool for gaming. Also, between El's opening narration about "we're all time travelers" and the Eddie-Nancy-Steve-Robin group winding up in the past of the Upside Down in Nancy's house, I think time travel would be a great plot for any combination of these characters, just saying!
Eddie & Eleven and/or Will: so they never got to meet in canon :( but maybe a fix-it where they get to be unapologetic weirdos together. Eddie teaches El how to play guitar? She piggybacks into his mind and they have to collaborate? Eddie showing Will that you can be a (super-senior) high schooler and still not outgrow RPGs? The kids try to clear Eddie's name?
Erica & Lucas: more parallels of how they both succeed in different ways. Erica showing up for Lucas' games even though he's a benchwarmer is classic "you're my sibling so you exasperate me but I'm always here for you" vibes--more of this dynamic? Erica's POV on Lucas/Max? Lucas being overprotective and/or maybe "she's [almost?] as old as I was when we first fought the demogorgon..."?
The Party: picking up the pieces and taking the fight to Vecna after S4? Time travellers from different points in the series trying to coordinate a fix-it? Outsider POV on "what's the deal with all these kids?"
Will & El: missing scenes from their time in California? Bonding over their relationship to the Upside Down early in the series? Will introduces El to something "normal" she's never seen in the lab?
Alternate-medium ideas:
In-universe TTRPG campaign! Eddie's notes from the Hellfire saga? Or what sorts of character sheets would represent the characters themselves?
Epistolary fic from the other Party members to the California gang, between seasons 3 and 4?
The basketball team or Eddie's band get written up in the local newspaper.
I especially love the "kids' generation" plotline, and I like how Season 4 brought us Erica being part of the D&D world as well as Eddie showing them how even high schoolers aren't too cool for gaming. Also, between El's opening narration about "we're all time travelers" and the Eddie-Nancy-Steve-Robin group winding up in the past of the Upside Down in Nancy's house, I think time travel would be a great plot for any combination of these characters, just saying!
Eddie & Eleven and/or Will: so they never got to meet in canon :( but maybe a fix-it where they get to be unapologetic weirdos together. Eddie teaches El how to play guitar? She piggybacks into his mind and they have to collaborate? Eddie showing Will that you can be a (super-senior) high schooler and still not outgrow RPGs? The kids try to clear Eddie's name?
Erica & Lucas: more parallels of how they both succeed in different ways. Erica showing up for Lucas' games even though he's a benchwarmer is classic "you're my sibling so you exasperate me but I'm always here for you" vibes--more of this dynamic? Erica's POV on Lucas/Max? Lucas being overprotective and/or maybe "she's [almost?] as old as I was when we first fought the demogorgon..."?
The Party: picking up the pieces and taking the fight to Vecna after S4? Time travellers from different points in the series trying to coordinate a fix-it? Outsider POV on "what's the deal with all these kids?"
Will & El: missing scenes from their time in California? Bonding over their relationship to the Upside Down early in the series? Will introduces El to something "normal" she's never seen in the lab?
Alternate-medium ideas:
In-universe TTRPG campaign! Eddie's notes from the Hellfire saga? Or what sorts of character sheets would represent the characters themselves?
Epistolary fic from the other Party members to the California gang, between seasons 3 and 4?
The basketball team or Eddie's band get written up in the local newspaper.
Crossovers:
Alia Atreides/Rey
Opt-Ins:
Writing - Epistolary
Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - Twine
Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - Web-based choice-based IF not hosted on AO3
Writing - Any In-Universe Documents That Fit the Canon Setting
Writing - Interactive Fiction - AO3 style Choose Your Own Adventure
Okay, look. They're both from desert worlds. They both are precociously magically gifted. They both have evil grandfathers, who they murder with their powers. Alia is haunted by her ancestors, including the grandfather who she murdered. Rey is "all the Jedi" and seems to have survived the encounter with Palpatine, despite his ominous "strike me down..." villain monologuing. What I'm saying is, they should get together. No preferences for whether it's more in the Star Wars galaxy or the Dune galaxy or a mix of the two! Prefer if Alia is aged up/it's made clear that she's an adult.
What do their different schools of magic have to teach each other? Does Rey's influence help pull Alia out of the darkness? Or is Rey more haunted, post-Episode IX, than she lets on? What does Rey think of Fremen water discipline, or Alia think of Niima Outpost?
Alternate medium ideas:
-Something from Irulan's (or others') in-universe histories of Alia
-Epistolary fic, they're on separate planets during their adventures and keep in touch via letters
-Medical evaluation of Alia's memories. How would they be understood in the Star Wars context?
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Again, there are so many great mediums and character dynamics that I could go on all day, so please don't feel limited by this. Thanks for creating for me!
