Chocolate Box Letter 2020
Jan. 5th, 2020 17:37![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spring_gloomHi Chocolatier,
Thank you so much for perusing my letter! In most sections, I've rambled about the ship for a couple of sentences and then given some prompts. I'm not married to these ideas - they're just a way to hopefully get the creativity flowing! Please know in advance that I appreciate your efforts and your creations. 🙏
The NSFW likes and DNWs document is linked separately beneath this section so that it can be skipped if relevant. Please look if you plan to write smut!.
General art stuff: Obviously, a lot of these prompts are more suitable for fic, because I think that's just the way it goes when you're asking for both. Be assured that I do want fanart! I love all sorts of styles, so I'll leave you to do what you do best. In basically every ship, I'm down with embracing, kissing, and other classic shippy kind of poses. I guess just judge it by the mood of the pair! And don't feel the need to idealise the appearance of characters/erase 'flaws'. What this means will probably depend on your style.
General likes: adventure, angst (the kind that ends well and the kind that doesn't), casefic, character-driven plot, episode-related, first time/getting together, friends to lovers, goofy hijinks, hurt/comfort, missing scenes, pining, sexual tension, sharing a bed, trapped together, undercover as a couple, undercover as gay. I am a dork and I like sad tenderness. Any rating - I like smut and not-smut! When I read my own letter, I realise a lot of prompts sound like they could be vaguely platonic but I absolutely do want the Ship Experience.
General dislikes and DNWs: injection/needle details, omegaverse (A/B/O), graphic noncon (mentioning non-consensual things is fine if it's relevant, dubcon is fine, any exceptions are listed), details about pregnancy, mpreg, kidfic, whitewashing, making adult characters underage. I am not particularly keen on the 'only gay for you' trope (things that are 100% fine and that do not count as this trope include: character is bi/gay but has barely explored it, character is hardly ever attracted to anyone at all anyway, character struggles with internalised homophobia). No AUs that aren't canon divergence, please.
NSFW likes and dislikes can be found here! It's a txt file on Google Drive, so I can't see you looking when logged in.This is so many requests, so I've tried to keep each section pretty brief with a small explanation and some prompts! Phew.
Contents
Babylon 5
Anna Sheridan/Elizabeth Sheridan
I started reading The Shadow Within and there's only one scene with them both but it was very cute and reminded me that Liz is good. I like that Anna is close with her because they were originally university pals and she ended up meeting John through her. That's it - that's why I like it! Between that one ep and her book appearance, I have no idea if we even know Liz's canon job so you can probably take a lot of liberties!
- What if Anna fell for the first Sheridan she met instead? Honestly, that idea could just be a scene from their relationship (or the development of it), or it could lead to a ridiculous alternative history where shit went down a lot differently (which could be good or very very bad).
- What if the Shadows knew that Liz loved her brother's wife so they decided to use their Anna-who-is-no-longer-Anna to manipulate her instead as part of some grand scheme? Messed up!
- Dating or hooking up in university.
- Liz's complicated unrequited feels for her brother's wife.
Ari Ben Zayn/Alfred Bester
Uh what can I say about this except that I nominated it because Ben Zayn is so gloriously dramatic. The scar, the voice, the delivery, the absolute lack of subtlety in this entire character. We know he's buds with Bester but very little else about that relationship (or about Ben Zayn's background in general) so there is a lot of room for creativity.
- How did they even meet? What shady shit had to go down for both of them to be involved, and how did their relationship develop from there?
- Do they actually LIKE each other? I don't expect either of them to have romantic feelings, but is their relationship defined by actually being friendly, or just by using each other?
Elizabeth Lochley/Zoe
Right in the sads with this one. I love the insight into Lochley's past with Zoe that we get in Day of the Dead because it introduces her as a complex character with an interesting life trajectory. I also constantly forget that this ship isn't actually canon because they were definitely together.
- Two messed up girlfriends doing their best to survive. We know why Lochley ran away, but what's Zoe's story? What were the moments of affection and solace in between the bad stuff?
- Fix-it fic. What if something managed to shock BOTH of them into getting clean. The story of getting better, or a story about a future where it happened!
- Day of the Dead: missing scene, Lochley's thoughts on talking to her long-dead girlfriend.
P.S. Neil Gaiman was maybe going to make Lochley trans (and I always forget where this info comes from but it's a thing) and I'm very down with including that if you want. Lesbian Lochley too, if our headcanons match.
Lyta Alexander/Tessa Halloran
Mars exes, babeyyy. (They don't have to be exes.) We know Lyta worked with the Martian resistance a little while after The Gathering. Tessa wasn't leading it yet, but she was around and is at least familiar with Lyta. She didn't know Lyta was a telepath until they arrived on Mars in season 4... hm! Maybe she feels a little betrayed by that information.
- Together during the resitance days! Maybe it was serious, maybe not. A lot of interesting Lyta stuff would have been going on at this time because she had escaped from Psi Corp but not yet travelled to Vorlon space. Interesting Tessa stuff too, because she was either already well-regarded, or impressing people and rising swiftly through the ranks. Also resistances are cool.
- When Lyta arrives in S4, they reignite something old. OR something that never quite became something before now. Feel free to ignore the Stephen romance or not.
Susan Ivanova/Talia Winters
It's always hard to say something about the bigger ones (and the canon ones)! I like the dynamic of wary-of-each-other (mainly on Susan's end) to lovers, even though it was very strangely paced. They're both quite different people in the way they react to emotion and pain, but they both seem like people who need love. Also, because I am an intellectual I am like 'hhhhg pretty lady in suit with gloves and other pretty lady in uniform'.
- Scenes from before the Bad Thing happened. How they figured out their feelings as hostility grew into friendship and then romance, how they got together.
- Talia's true personality CAN be recovered and Susan does absolutely everything in her power to be reunited with the woman she loves. :') Maybe it involves having to rescue/kidnap her from wherever they've stashed her away, and also enlisting the help of a powerful telepath to break the block (like... Lyta?).
- Would they have helped each other cope with their respective powers? Talia helping Susan better use and hide her latent telepathy, Susan helping Talia come to terms with her emerging abilities. (And I hear telepathic sex is good... just sayin'.)
Crusade
Galen/Isabelle
Is this... the lone het request in a sea of slash and femslash? Yep. I really like Techno-mage Trilogy Isabelle (which is the only Isabelle we know much about). I am a hypocrite because I am critical of women dying to fuel manpain but in this case I am so very biased and I really like both of them. They are so soft. (I am also a hypocrite because I love a bunch of media that uses that trope but shhh.)
- Galen feeling sad about Isabelle is nothing new, but feel free to do it again and delve deeper/do an extra scene/explore how he felt after receiving the message from the universe in The Path of Sorrows.
- Isabelle didn't die and they eventually found the Well of Forever together. :')
- Quiet moments on Zafran VIII (Isabelle's mother's planet), hijinks on Zafran VIII, Isabelle's perspective on their time together there.
Galen/Matthew Gideon
This is the big one for me. Two guarded people manage to have a mutually trusting relationship (even though they both have reason not to!) and I am kill. I'm trying to keep these brief, but if you'd like to read a full-length ramble about (kinda) this ship, there's one in this letter.
- Angggst when Gideon is shot in the scripted but unaired season finale. Galen thinks he may have irrevocably lost Gideon's trust right before that, AND he can do very little to help because he is not a skilled healer (which is a specific point of pain for him). But maybe he can help in another way? And maybe they can make up. ;.;
- Gideon was ready to trust Galen again (mostly) pretty quickly after visiting The Well of Forever, which I think is pretty amazing given Galen didn't trust HIM enough to tell him why they were going. What's going on when he gives Galen this unusual treatment?
- Trapped together on a planet!
Sarah Chambers/Dureena Nafeel
This was just a 'pair two cool characters that didn't interact a lot' thing until I saw this:
"Have Dureena and Chambers go to the planet alone to search for a missing culture...two tough women from different sides of the track, one a thief, one a martial arts expert, must rely on each other to survive." - from TNT's notes (in Crusade Other Voices Vol 1)
I know we all hate TNT but this sounds amazing. I'm pretty sure Chambers is still canon into martial arts, but I have no idea where I got that from. Whatever, it needs to be a thing.
(I can't claim credit for all the ideas below but they are good and should be shared:)
- The quote above sounds like some ridiculous action buddy cops setup, and I always ship buddy cop types (see: much of this letter). Could the experience of having to work together to survive bring them closer?
- Sarah agrees to teach Dureena martial arts and, you know... [insert trope about how sparring leads to making out.] Maybe Dureena very pleasantly surprised by Sarah's strength. 🤔
- On the more serious and emotional side, Dureena is someone who has experienced unimaginable loss and Sarah is now having to deal with the idea that she might too (including her sister and niece). Maybe this grief is how they initially find a connection.
Disco Elysium
I guess this section could be subtitled 'Introduce Harry to the Homo-Sexual Underground'. FTR, I played my Harry with custom stats - PSY highest , FYS lowest (but still at 2, thank goodness), INT and MOT equal and middling, Inland Empire signature. An alcohol-free superstar communist art-cop with strong Volition (by the end) who's never afraid to ask anyone and everyone for money. 💪 That said, I have also restarted a game with a high FYS Harry and have also looked up a fair few options that I didn't take, so I'm pretty down with reading any type/outcomes (but I do not want 'traditionalist' please).
The Detective | Harrier Du Bois/Kim Kitsuragi
Kim has the patience of a saint and is too good for this world. Does he deserve better than to be paired with this absolute train-wreck of a human? Definitely. But I can't help myself because at the end of the day, I really like them both and I want them to have something approximating happiness. Failing that, I at least want them to keep each other company.
- It turns out Harry has done this before - recovered and then rebounded. Does having Kim in his life (and perhaps also working at Precinct 41) make a difference? He was unstable before 'Dolores Dei', but allowing his heart to mend may prevent the lowest of his lows.
- You failed THAT authority check and Kim got hurt. This didn't happen on the playthrough I've finished and I still haven't found a good description, so I'm not 100% sure what actually goes down. I'd still like to hear about Harry's feelings about failing to prevent it. Maybe it leads to a realization that Kim is even more important to him than he thought.
- Just more about Kim's thoughts and feelings. Besides the unhinged partner situation, between the fascists and fucked up kids yelling 'f****t' constantly he has a lot to deal with in this world. Can Harry help Kim feel like the world is a little less hostile?
The Detective | Harrier Du Bois/Jean Vicquemare
Honestly, why has Jean put up with Harry's shit for so long? Even though we exclusively meet him while he is pissed off in the game, he must be really devoted. These two are known as heterosexual life partners too, which I will always ship and no one can stop me.
- Is Jean maybe jealous when Harry gets a shiny new partner? They were together for so long, and now he's just running around with Kim and apparently doesn't give a shit about his squad. I took my playthrough slowly and did everything so he had to wait in that wig for so many days. Just seething.
- Are they just a couple of burnouts who have taken solace in friendship that sometimes turns into something physical? (Obviously Harry is still the KING of all burnouts, but Jean seems like a minor one at the very least.)
Hotel Dusk
I replayed Last Window about a year ago and then in between nominating Hotel Dusk ships and writing this letter, I replayed the first game! Almost no one writes for this fandom any more and only a few draw but I live in hope. I'll note that I headcanon Kyle Hyde as gay, though of course you don't have to. Even Mags thinks he's a Confirmed Bachelor though... I'm just saying. Don't feel the need to shy away from period-typical homophobia if you want to include it either.
Brian Bradley/Kyle Hyde
I barely need to explain this because Hotel Dusk is entirely driven by Kyle Hyde's obsession with finding Brian Bradley. We know he constantly thinks about Bradley, dreams about Bradley. While several of the other characters assume he wants revenge for being betrayed, it's never on his mind; he felt anger in the moment he pulled the trigger but hasn't felt it since. He just wants to know why the closest person to him in his life betrayed him.
- Bradley was undercover, so they may not have had a lot of opportunity to meet up towards the end. Did Kyle sense something was wrong and choose to ignore his instincts? Did he feel his partner slipping away from him?
- Just a couple of cool customers being cops in 70s Manhatten. Stakeouts, crime scenes, shooting pool, hitting bars... go nuts. How did they end up getting together during that time?
- Would Kyle really give up after receiving Bradley's letter? Clearly Bradley considers himself irredeemable after all he's done, but would Kyle respect that and leave him be? Getting an answer allowed him some emotional closure but now he knows for sure that Bradley is still out there.
Jack Green/Rex Foster
There are a lot of people in these games who have/had a loved one entangled with Nile. These two have major Kyle and Bradley parallels and it would be cool to explore it!
- The story of a couple of young Los Angeles Beat reporters who were lovers.
- What Rex went through when Jack uncovered something dangerous and paid the ultimate price.
- Reading up on Kyle Hyde's past felt a little too familiar for Rex and it may cause him to reflect on his own relationship.
Mila Evans/Rachel
Between Hotel Dusk and Last Window, we know these two have met and formed some kind of relationship! Mila's studying in Seattle by the end of 1980, but it's really sweet that she comes back to visit both Kyle and Rachel. I actually can't remember if this happened or if I made it up, but I think Mila was staying with Rachel before she enrolled in school (presumably after they'd finished the roadtrip). A lot of opportunity to get close.
- Mila stayed with and trusted Kyle because he helped uncover the painful truth. But when they got back to real life, who helped her get her life on track? Rachel! Feelings could slowly develop between them as they adjusted to living together.
- It's a few years down the line and Mila has finished her studies. She can choose to live anywhere but all she really wants is Rachel to let her stay for good (established relationship or this is how it starts!).
Rex Foster/Kyle Hyde
They're both sad men who lost their bff/bf to Nile and then changed jobs. Both dogged investigators. Both prickly on the outside but good at the core (though Rex's core is a lot harder to find).
- As I said in the other Rex ship, maybe he recognises a little too much of himself in Kyle. Maybe Kyle recognises himself right back. This brings them to some kind of understanding because they are both sad and lonely.
- ...honestly, I really like the idea of this ship but I don't have many ideas for it. I literally just enjoy it because they are both Like That and it would be interesting. And I think they can rarely meet someone who understands, especially due to the relative homophobia of the era.
Miami Vice
Gina Calabrese/Trudy Joplin
I love shipping cop partners, and it's pretty rare that I get an f/f pair that hits several of the tropes I love. Despite being supporting characters without a huge amount of development, I think these two end up with a few noir tropes usually reserved for men (being sad because of the bleakness of the job, doomed romance of the week, etc). I always loved Trudy and I think part of that she reads as mysterious, closed off, and sad when it comes to her private life. There's a few examples in the show where she just doesn't know how to stop feeling alone. Gina's a little more open about her pain, partly because of her personality and partly because she just has more character development and plot than Trudy. Anyway, sorry, that was sadder than I intended... but this is neo-noir!
- They don't get a whole lot of undercover work in the show that isn't just posing as sex workers but they should! They're undercover as a couple, undercover in a gay bar, they're forced to share a hotel bed. A case leads one of them to find out her partner used to have a girlfriend and it opens some possibilities she thought were closed. Throw all the cop partner fic tropes in a truck and back up that truck straight over me.
- Hurt/comfort to do with the job. They have to deal with plenty of emotional pain in canon (and occasionally physical). Maybe the only person who can really understand it is your partner?
Martin Castillo/Jack Gretsky
Bushido is about Castillo helping his long lost ex-bf's wife and son, right? (After shooting him.) It's not even the first or last time he's helped an ex and/or their family - this is just a thing he does. I love the drama of this relationship, because Castillo is (understandably) about as shaken as you ever see him when Gretsky shows up on video.
"What would he want in Miami?" "Me."
- The old Golden Triangle days! Organisations with their double-crossing and a couple of agents who care about each other caught in the middle. Working together on a mission. Castillo's feelings when he woke up after almost dying only to be told Gretsky was dead.
- Neither Castillo nor Gretsky 'existed' before Vietnam... and I don't think we ever find out why. Both of them are ridiculous superhumans so what were they doing together before?
- All the complex feelings it brings back for Castillo when Jack comes to Miami and is very much alive. (And then isn't.)
Sonny Crockett/Ricardo Tubbs
A classic, obviously. I fell in love with the ship because it's just one of those partner pairings with an easy closeness and caring that seems unconditional. And for that reason, it's weirdly hard to write prompts for! Especially cause I know many have been done before.
- As I said above in the Gina/Trudy section, just hit me with the tropes truck cause I can never get enough.
- The goddamn amnesia arc and the rebuilding of their broken trust.
- Post-Freefall: they're burnt out and cynical and done. What do they even do after that? How long til they miss each other a little too much and get back together (to establish a relationship or continue an old one)?
- Hurt/comfort is always a treat with plenty of basis because a lot of bad stuff happens to both of them.
Spooks | MI-5
Spooks is Spooks, so almost everyone in this list gets broken and/or dead. Obviously this fandom is deeply un-cheerful so my default expectation is to get my heart stomped on. But don't let that stop you from providing a peek into a sweet moment or deciding to fix it entirely.
Beth Bailey/Ruth Evershed
And they were roommates. I just... like Beth and I like Ruth. Sorry that this one is very short. I honestly just like the dynamic of the self-assured Beth and the reserved but formidable Ruth. We just straight-up didn't get enough Beth. Ignore Ruth's canon feelings for Harry or keep them because the thing with Beth isn't serious - you decide!
Nicholas Blake/Harry Pearce
I'm all about that Nightingale curveball because it was so ridiculous! Most of the reason I considered shipping this is because of that ending. The rest of the reason is because I like Robert Glenister.
- So that last scene they had together at Blake's house. What if that goodbye had been more sexy. One last go for old time's sake before poisoning the man's drink.
- If Blake and Harry had some kind of relationship (this doesn't have to be too serious - an understanding?), how did Blake feel as he was betraying everyone to a secret organisation? I know he thought he was doing the best thing for Britain, but how did he feel when he was actively keeping it from someone?
Oleg Darshavin/Lucas North
Obviously, DNWs to do with noncon and can be ignored for this one for obvious reasons! The Oleg Darshavin episode was so full of interesting stuff and I love the intensity of the whole thing. My only modes are noticing nothing and noticing everything, so you can bet I was like '👀 oh, he sent yellow tulips representing hopeless love - significant'. To be clear, I think this is some Stockholm/Lime Syndrome thing and I'm not looking to override canon and make it not fucked up. There's just so many details in the ep to sink your teeth into... the way Lucas gives a small smile when he talks about the walks with Oleg, the way he looks away and has trouble speaking when they first meet again but gradually becomes emboldened throughout the ep. In the end, Oleg gives him some good info even though he knows it's too late for Lucas to go back on giving him to the Russians. And there's more but no one needs or wants that essay.
- The moments between the interrogations. Whatever created and solidified that bond between them. Maybe it was always just mind games or maybe it only started out that way.
- Lucas coming to terms with what all this has dredged up for him and how it affects his relationship with Sarah Caulfield (before it goes to shit anyway).
Ros Myers/Jo Portman
Godd this ship is so angsty at its core. It makes Jo's death so much worse if they ever had something together. I live to suffer.
- Undercover missions together and hurt/comfort are perfect for these two! They sure do a lot of hurting.
- How did Jo feel about the disappearance and subsequent return of Ros? Were they closer before or after?
- I yelled about the Oleg Dasharvin ep further up, but that one also has some top quality Ros content. It's directly after Jo's final episode - she's sleepless and letting her grief seep out in a particularly Ros-like way. Jo and her had something together so show me those feelings. (No matter how serious.)
Ros Myers/Original Female Character
Ros is my absolute fave and there is basically no femslash for her. Ros deserves better - Ros deserves a woman!
- She is undercover and starts developing a mutual interest in a lady involved with the assignment. A variation is that she's on an assignment specifically to appeal to a particular target (the OFC). How good or bad is this woman? Up to you!
- A relationship during her time at MI-6.
Star Wars: The Old Republic
What if we kissed... in the spaceship?
For each of these, I'll provide details of my character which you're under no obligation to use! The character has to come from somewhere so I'm supplying the material cause I'm attached to them.
Female Imperial Agent | Cipher Nine/Kaliyo Djannis
Firstly: excuse me Bioware but there is no possible way that Kaliyo is straight and someone needs to fix this immediately. I played this story quite a while back, so I don't actually have screenshots of my Agent (might try to grab one before assignments go out though). She was a body type 2 Rattataki woman called Arisso who made mainly light side choices. Due to how long ago I played, I'm less attached to this character than my others. It was my first time playing and I didn't know I'd get Kaliyo so I kind of regretted picking the same race as her... now I don't know if that makes the ship more or less interesting. You can decide what's interesting!
- The dynamic I remember is my light side Agent being the straight (wo)man to Kaliyo's chaos. I pissed her off a lot but I also indulged her, which was why she still liked me. What kind of relationship does a pair like that end up with?
- They meet up again in KOTFE and Kaliyo is happier than she lets on. Especially cause she also gets to blow stuff up with the Agent, which is basically a date for her.
- A chaotic dark side Agent and Kaliyo being gay and doing crimes!
Male Bounty Hunter/Gault Rennow
My main is a male light side Cathar Bounty Hunter (powertech) called Khorthas. This is him:
As soon as I got Gault to join my crew, I spent the entire Bounty Hunter plotline wishing I could romance him. Why do I feel protective of this shifty conman? Why do I want to impress him? He didn't always agree with my light side decisions but he knew my Bounty Hunter was a man who appreciates a Credit and tends to make smart decisions so they got along quite well.
- Weave the romance into any part of the main plot! Or what they get up to in the downtime on the ship.
- Reuniting in KOTFE! I was so thrilled to have him back (sorry about that, actual canon romance Theron). He really really missed the Bounty Hunter... not that he'd say it like that. Perhaps he didn't know quite how much he was going to miss him.
Talos Drellik/Male Sith Inquisitor
Same old story - there's a character I like and I can't romance them! Anyway, here is Sev'ras - a Chiss with great hair. The dark side takes its toll.
I played my Chiss Sith Inquisitor dark side in what I felt was a kind of princely (and bratty) sort of way. Despite that, I find it impossible to be mean to my companions, especially ones I like, so I was always like 'oh, yes, knowledge and archaeology are great, totally' whenever I had a conversation with Talos. He's a strange guy and a dedicated imperial, but I really like him.
- He's genuinely respectful of rank, the Empire, the Sith, etc and then pledges himself as your vassal because he's a huge nerd. How would he deal with the interest of a Lord, even when it was mutual?
- All of these are like 'KOTFE reunion!' but... it's quite cute that he hoped to encounter your ghost and knew it'd be easy for you to manifest one. Anyway, maybe the reunion could be a little more touching than that?
