Dear Boxing Champ (Fic in a Box 2024)

Dear 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 2023, 2022, 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"

Blade Runner

Worldbuilding

 

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

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.

 

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

 

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

Ender series

 

Worldbuilding

 

Writing - Any In-Universe Documents That Fit the Canon Setting

Writing - Official Workplace Documentation

Writing - Reddit: In-Universe Reddit Post On Any Subreddit (Post + Replies)

Writing - Worldbuilding Headcanon

 

I have read all the sequels (but not the co-written prequels); I would be interested both in works based on "Ender's Game" alone, as well as those that incorporate later canon.

 

-What does a "normal" experience in Battle School look like in the years before canon? The fights, the RPGs, other games?

-What did first contact look like from the perspective of the Formics, or the pequeninos?

-Between the leguminids, Wang-Mu, and the tree-swingers, there seem to be a lot of different versions of humans by the end of the later-canon era. What are the implications of that for the galaxy, or looking backwards, for the stakes of the war?

-How have different generations viewed Ender, as a hero or villain? Do these interpretations ever come together?

-What are the impacts of relativistic travel on people like Mazer?

 

Alternate-medium ideas:

Peter or Valentine's Reddit history

Excerpts from Valentine's history of the Formic Wars, and/or the Speaker's writings on the Hive Queen and the Hegemon.

Psychological evaluations of the Battle School applicants. The ones we see, people like Peter or Valentine who didn't make the cut, OCs, Pinual who died at the Giants' Drink?

Emails/chat transcripts like the beginning-of-the-chapter excerpts

Farscape

 

Aeryn Sun & Talyn (Farscape)

Bialar Crais & Talyn (Farscape)

D'Argo Sun-Crichton & Princess Katrana (Farscape TV)

John Crichton & Aeryn Sun & Zotoh Zhaan (Farscape)

John Crichton & John Crichton (Farscape)
John Crichton/Aeryn Sun (Farscape)

John Crichton/Aeryn Sun & D'Argo Sun-Crichton (Farscape TV)

John Crichton/John Crichton (Farscape)

John Crichton/John Crichton/Aeryn Sun (Farscape)

Moya (Farscape) & Pilot (Farscape)

Pilot & Aeryn Sun (Farscape)

Rygel XVI & Utu Noranti Pralatong (Farscape)

Solo: Aeryn Sun (Farscape)
Solo: Pilot (Farscape)

Solo: Zotoh Zhaan (Farscape)

WB: Bond between pilot and leviathan (Farscape)

 

Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - A Page From An Herbal

Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - Twine

Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - Web-based choice-based IF not hosted on AO3

Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - Web-based choice-based IF not hosted on AO3

Writing - Any In-Universe Documents That Fit the Canon Setting

 

D'Argo Sun-Crichton & Princess Katrana

 

"Katrana"'s name is not in primary canon; this is a secondary-canon name for Princess Katralla's daughter (using John's DNA). Feel free to call her whatever you like.

 

So in the distant future, an elderly D'Argo gets to meet his long-lost sister. How much has John told him about the circumstances of her conception, and how much does he tell her? Do they get along or bicker like siblings? Are there any weird Sebacean-human hybrid quirks where they can be like "finally, someone else who understands"?

 

Rygel & Noranti

 

These two have the potential to be very annoying individually, but as a team, they're a lot of fun--it helps that one loves to cook and one loves to eat, and Noranti saves Rygel's life with the cure in 4x19. More of their adventures on Earth? Their first meeting, after Noranti joins Moya in the chaos from the Command Carrier's destruction? Maybe Rygel finally reclaims his throne and appoints her royal chef? Or other post-canon adventures?

 

John & John

John/John

John/John/Aeryn

 

This is presumably about the two Johns that resulted from the cloning in 3.6 and persist for most of Season 3, but for what it's worth, if you want to make this about the Neanderthal Crichton and/or jerk future Crichton from 2.10 instead, I'm here for that too!

 

What if they had been stuck together and had to get used to each other? Do they exaggerate small differences to develop their identities as different people? Continue taking a competitive "there can only be one" approach? If you're interested in the / version--maybe it starts as a joke and then gets more serious, neither one wants to back down and look like a wimp if his clone is into it, after all! How does Aeryn react when she finds out? Is she grossed out, voyeueristic, or does she want to join in? (I'm not interested in explicit porn, but banter/innuendo/fade to black/awkward morning afters are all great!)

 

Moya & Pilot

Pilot & Aeryn
Solo: Pilot

Worldbuilding: Bond between Pilot and Leviathan

 

There's no way that "our" Pilot can just be named "Pilot"--what was his identity before he bonded with Moya? What are their sensory experiences like, communicating with each other and with the crew? What's his POV on donating his DNA to save Aeryn; how does that change her? Did he vote for her to be captain in 4.6? We hear very little from Moya directly--I'd love to see something from her POV about the weird tiny aliens living inside her and the trouble they cause.

 

Did Leviathans and Pilots evolve together? If not, how are they so compatible; if so, what's the deal with Pilots' truncated lifespans? How do DRDs fit into the Leviathan+Pilot system? Feel free to bring in the other examples we've seen (Moya's flashback pilot from 2.5, and 1812's original Leviathan from the beginning of Season 4).

 

John/Aeryn

John/Aeryn and D'Argo Sun-Crichton

 

Post-canon adventures! Does D'Argo have the wormhole-making power? What does a "normal" day look like for John and Aeryn when they're not running for their lives? Do they ever return to some of the planet-of-the-week locations from canon? Contrasting POVs on canon events in the early days of their relationship?

 

John & Aeryn & Zhaan

 

I love the contrasts between their backgrounds and the ways they approach problems: John, the peaceful scientist; Aeryn, the hardened warrior; and Zhaan, the sensual priest. Anything contrasting these approaches would be great. What was the aftermath of John and Zhaan sharing unity? To what extent does Aeryn's relationships with John and/or Pilot factor into Zhaan's decision to sacrifice herself for Aeryn?

 

Aeryn

 

What was she doing between seasons 3 and 4, and how did she become so loyal to those comrades? What was her life in the PKs like after selling out Velorek to become a Prowler pilot again? "N things" exploring her relationship with different members of the crew? Learning human games/phrases/mannerisms from John? AU Aeryn in an unrealized reality? Tragedy where the heat delirium is uncontrollable?

 

Zhaan

 

More of her experiences in prison (besides hoping that the crazy Luxan monster would kill her)? Wrestling with her faith over the course of the series? How did she get all that cool jewelry? Other weird biomes/stars where being a photosynthesizer is a problem or a benefit? How would the later seasons have been different if she'd survived?

 

Aeryn & Talyn

Crais & Talyn

 

Talyn, my glorious spaceship problem child! I love his and Crais' arc--anything that leans into the tragic melodrama of canon would be great, but also, fix-it is good too. I'd especially like something that depicts Talyn as a character in his own right rather than just anxious beeping noises mediated through Crais--it doesn't necessarily have to be from his POV, but something that shows he has a POV, if that makes sense.

 

Aeryn and Talyn: talking about his name, either in the aftermath of the Xhalax stuff from S3 or just whenever? Bonding over being part-Peacekeeper, part-something new? The negotiations between S1 and S2 when she gets Crais' help, in exchange for letting him stay with Talyn? Trying to explain her relationship with John (or lack thereof) after 3.8?

 

Crais and Talyn: how does Stark's temporary link with Talyn contrast with Crais' long-term bond? Does Crais explain his role in creating the hybrid program, and how does Talyn react? What does a relatively peaceful, happy day look like for them? Talyn's POV on their last couple episodes?

 

Alternate-medium ideas:

-a herbal depicting medicinal plants that Zhaan uses in her healing, or Noranti uses in her cooking?

-Aeryn's military records, before or after she's declared "irreversibly contaminated"

-letters that D'Argo Sun-Crichton has written over the years, to send to his sister in the future

-in-universe literal ship manifestos for Moya or Talyn

The Prestige

Robert Angier/Alfred Borden

 

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 - Screenplay

Writing - Script

I like the vibe of "friends to enemies to increasingly obsessed enemies" with Angier/Borden. I'm fine with "dubious consent due to identity issues," but please no violent non-con nor incest.

  

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.

 

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

 

Original Blip-A Crew Member

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

 

Grace and Rocky: 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?

 

Original Blip-A Crew member: What was life like on the first Eridian spaceship in the early days? What were some of the other specialties the crew was chosen for? How did they react when the mysterious illness set in? A fix-it where more than one of them are alive when the Hail Mary gets there--do they disagree over how to interact with the squishy aliens?

 

Worldbuilding: more technologies that are commonplace on Erid but unknown on Earth, or vice versa? What kind of other creatures might have evolved on Planet Adrian? How does Earth adapt and develop new technologies during the interim? (Of the Earth characters, my favorite is Steve Hatch, the "Beetles" engineer who's so over-the-top optimistic and enthusiastic about technology even by the standards of an Andy Weir book...but feel free to bring in anyone.)

 

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.

Remembrance of Earth's Past Trilogy

Cheng Xin/Yun Tianming (Remembrance of Earth's Past Trilogy)

Solo: Original Galactic Human(s) (Remembrance of Earth's Past Trilogy)

Solo: Yang Dong (Remembrance of Earth's Past Trilogy)

Solo: Ye Wenjie (Remembrance of Earth's Past Trilogy)

WB: Fairy Tales from Earth (In-Universe Book) (Remembrance of Earth's Past Trilogy)

WB: Higher- Or Lower-Dimensional Regions of the Universe (Remembrance of Earth's Past Trilogy)

WB: Three-Body (In-Universe Video Game) (Remembrance of Earth's Past Trilogy)

Medium Opt-In: Art - Any Technical Drawing
Medium Opt-In: Unique Rules - Map - Any

Medium Opt-In: Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - Twine

Medium Opt-In: Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - Web-based choice-based IF not hosted on AO3

Medium Opt-In: Writing - Interactive Fiction - AO3 style Choose Your Own Adventure

Medium Opt-In: Writing - Any In-Universe Documents That Fit the Canon Setting

Cheng Xin/Yun Tianming:

Fix-it where they don't miss each other?! Exploring the worlds around "their star" together, maybe with Ai AA and Guan Yifan? Or having adventures in the pocket universe or elsewhere in our universe? What did Cheng Xin see in Yun Tianming when they were students together?

Original Galactic Human(s):
Are humans fundamentally different for having left their homeworld under these circumstances? Do the crew of Gravity and Blue Space make a difference between their origins once they've merged? Do they have alien encounters that go better than the Trisolarans'? If "A Past Outside of Time" is Cheng Xin's legacy and testament to the new universe, do the galactic humans leave behind records of their own? What are the important parts of their history that they choose to highlight?

Yang Dong:
For someone who has very little time "on screen," she casts a long shadow over all of the books. More about her friendship with the programmer from "Death's End," and/or with Luo Ji? What if she'd survived--what would she have made of her mother's betrayal? How would things have gone with Ding Yi?

Ye Wenjie:

Secrets at Red Coast Base? Some more of the "declassified" documents? The early days of the ETO? What did she work out about Dark Forest theory before meeting Luo Ji? What if Yang Dong had talked to her about the documents she'd sneaked a look at? Or if Ye had lived long enough to discover more of Deterrence theory herself?

Fairy Tales from Earth:
There were dozens or hundreds of other stories that Yun Tianming wrote to disguise his insights. Tell me some of those! Do any of them contain other hints about physics, or are they just red herrings? Do the Galactic humans ever read them, and what do they make of them? 

Higher- or lower-dimensional regions of the universe:
What's going on in the "bubbles"? There's mention of aliens who modify themselves to survive dimension-reduction strikes; what is that process like? Maybe the solar system survived after all and they're doing fine but just can't communicate with three-dimensional space? Other than immense-scale warfare, what technologies have aliens adopted for making use of extra dimensions?

Three Body (in universe video game):
Who are some of the other Earth scientists/theories that show up? Do any players try strategies that the Trisolarans or ETO hadn't prepared for, and if so, what happens to them? What about people who still aren't sympathetic to the Trisolarans' cause even after they progress through several levels?

 

Alternate medium ideas:
-the first few players of "Three Body" reaching out on internet forums to discuss strategy
-maps of a two-dimensional region
-Trisolarans' analysis of what insights about humanity "Fairy Tales from Earth" might reveal
-"multiple dimensions of time allows us to make multiple sets of decisions" seems like a great premise for interactive fic!

Stranger Things

Eddie & Eleven

Erica & Lucas

The Party

Will & Eddie

Will & Eleven

 

Opt-Ins:

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.

Wheel of Time (books)

 

Asmodean

Egwene al'Vere

Egwene al'Vere/Aviendha

 

Opt-ins:

Audio - Original Fan Music

Poetry - Song Lyrics - Filk/Parody

Poetry - Song Lyrics - Original

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

 

Egwene: I love Egwene's journey as someone who chooses to join the adventure, rather than being dragged along by destiny, and learns from every opportunity she faces. Tell me more about her time among the Aiel? Dealing with headaches, literal and figurative? Her private war against Elaida, combining the different Ajahs' strengths and inspiring the novices around her? What if she'd survived--would she really have led the Tower for centuries, or move on to new horizons?

 

Egwene/Aviendha: They're cute and they learn from each other! And I like the idea of people's romantic relationships not being as predetermined by prophecies as canon has it. Secret meetings in Tel'aran'rhiod? How do the rebel Aes Sedai view Aviendha? Post-canon fix-it where Egwene helps co-parent Aviendha's kids?

 

Asmodean: The motivation of "former child prodigy wants to live forever to fulfill his potential" is such a fascinating origin story, and I felt like we could have gotten an amusing/unwitting redemption arc with him. Was there ever a moment during the Age of Legends when he was like "yes, this is going to be my magnum opus, joining the Forsaken was totally the right call"? What sorts of skills does he teach Rand? How does he view the others on the Rhuidean journey, or how do they view him? What's it like to get balefired and return to the timestream? What if he'd lived longer--would he have grudgingly returned to the light, or continue to try to advance the Dark One's cause despite the difficulties?

 

Alternate-medium ideas:

-Asmodean's compositions, from the Age of Legends or the age of Jasin Natael

-How is Egwene remembered in the Tower archives? In the secret Thirteenth Depository records versus the official ones? Are they ever declassified?

-the different futures Aviendha saw for herself in the three rings could be a neat IF setting

---

 

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!