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laughingpinecone · 6 years ago

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Yuletide letter 2018

AO3: laughingpineapple

Hello dear author, I’m glad we share one of these wonderful little fandoms and I hope you’ll have fun writing for it. The sections aren’t all of equal length for one reason or another but I love them all so much, from the classics I’ve been requesting since I started doing Yuletide (can’t have enough of those!) to this year’s shiny new findings. I tried to leave both specific and non-specific prompts for each canon and, again, I wanna see the farfetched postcanon scenario just as much as the vague one-word prompt and my general likes. Pick whatever works for you, or mix and match!

Likes: worldbuilding, slice of life (doubly so if the event the fic focuses on is made up but canon-specific), missing moments, 5+1 and similar formats, bonding and emotional support/intimacy, physical intimacy, lingering touches, loyalty, casefic, surrealism, established relationships, future fic, hurt/comfort or just comfort from the ample canon hurt, throwing characters into non-canon environments, banter, functional relationships between dysfunctional individuals, unexplained mysteries, bittersweet moods, journal/epistolary fic, dreams and memories and identities, canon-adjacent tropey plots , outsider POV, UST, exploration of secondary bits of canon, leaning on the uniqueness of the canon setting/mood, found families, characters reuniting after a long and/or harrowing time, friends-to-lovers, road trips, cuddling, wintry moods, flannel, ridiculous concepts played straight, creating a dynamic between characters who never spoke in canon, sensory details, sickfic

Cool with: what-ifs, AUs, any tense, any pov, any rating, plotty, not plotty, gen, shippy, IF, nerdy canon references, unrequested characters popping up

DNW: non-canonical rape, non-canonical children, unrequested ships, canon retellings, consent issues

Ghost Trick: Cabanela, Jowd

General: platonic or romantic, loyalty kink here we go, in any shape and form. Night time and secrets. Out of town. Knitwear. Twenty years from now. Size difference. UST. Cabanela’s scarf being in the way sometimes. Cabanela’s legs being in the way sometimes. I have Final Fantasy on my mind a lot recently so any FFIV, VI, VII, T, IX, X, XII or XIII reimagining would be fantastic (Monk Jowd, dancer/red mage Cabanela...?), or indeed The Last Remnant, but also regular fantasy, space opera, sci-fantasy… anything fancy!

Canon-specific dislikes: Sissel not being Jowd’s cat in the new timeline (which ofc doesn’t shut out Yomiel’s unbreakable bond with his cat – as the saying goes, Sissel has four paws...), infidelity

Cabanela&Jowd or Cabanela/Jowd: I love Cabanela being fierce and dazzling bright and determined and loyal to the very end, dancing to his own rhythm, so sure of himself and of his ideas that he doesn’t even need to prove to anyone that he’s right. Too sure of the wrong idea, once, and everything crashed and burned. And I love Jowd being the immovable object to Cabanela’s unstoppable force, a self-depreciating asshole with a penchant for gallows humor that grows more morbid by the hour, and also incredibly smart (both jerks figured out Sissel’s powers better than Sissel did) and athletic and with an unsuspected talent for stealth.

I ship them dearly, as part of a triad (or Jowd-centered V...? Has it been explored?) with Alma with all the fun possibilities of the third party sneaking into the marriage and negotiating that relationship. Or adjusting to a life together with Kamila in a no-reset scenario or a what-if in which Alma was never around (please no breakups or noncanon deaths if you don't want her around). But I also want to read all the best friends fic with the corniest, most intense found family dynamics you can muster!

Alternate scenario where it’s Cabanela who keeps his memories, not Jowd: how does that change their dynamic in the new timeline? Or what if Cabanela stays dead in ch15 like he wished he could, joins the rest of the gang as a ghost and goes back 10 years with the others and so both of them keep their memories? (with my apologies to Yomiel, whose ch16-17 redemption has just been made a lot harder by the added stowaway)

Jowd knowing how much Cabs did for him and remembering him broken and bloodied is A Lot. especially if he’s a lil into it (and mr spotless is. not really on the same page.)

Casefic! With ghosts! There could be a new ghost created by Temsik’s shards or even by some unfortunate soul dying on top of the buried meteorite. Or with their own ghost, teaming up with Sissel! There’s so much potential for tense, death-defying situations! (with make-outs afterwards, if that’s your thing)

Deathfic, until it’s reverted. Jowd dying in Cabanela’s arms or the other way round, but one of them knows about Sissel and the other does not…

Jowd’s loyalty to Cabanela being tested for once, as a change of pace.

More detailed prompts for a few FF fusion AUs: FFX, Summoner Jowd and reluctant Guardian Cabanela. Any moment of their pilgrimage could be fun (and/or tragic and/or intense), or if you like a more detailed prompt, would Yunalesca’s truths be the tipping point of Jowd’s conviction? Would Cabanela manage to drag himself and his Summoner to safety before she killed them? What would life look for them afterwards as survivors bearing forbidden truths, would they stay away from Yevon? FFTA or XII, viera Cabanela and nu mou or bangaa Jowd. I’m sure there’s a poignant plot about magic-endowing extraterrestrial rocks and political backstabbing somewhere at the intersection of Ivalice and GT. If you can see it, I’m here to read it. But I’ll be honest here, the real point here is bunny Cabs. Please consider bunny Cabs. (viera, nu mou, bangaa visual refs for non-FFTA players who might wanna do a regular fantasy AU instead?) FFVI, Cabanela faked defecting to the Empire and is a magitek-infused officer while Jowd has Blitz and... Sketch somehow? And they meet again in the World of Ruin and things are very emotional?

The Last Remnant: Any (Pagus, Maddox, Sibal, David)

General: characterization based on battle quotes, red bubble dialogues, and even their unique stat (‘authority’ is a natural fit for David but ‘romance’ tells me something new about Sibal!) Character interaction. Bit of worldbuilding. What’s another festival they celebrate? Do they erect something else instead of the Valeria Heart? Any fun discoveries down in Siebenbur? Where the hell IS Veyriel, anyway, do they go look for it and if so what do they find out? End of an age. Old bonds.

Canon-specific dislikes: strong narrative emphasis on game mechanics. Stuff like mentioning that a character leads a unit is fine, but for example listing the materials they need for their weapon upgrade would take me out of the story.

The Qsiti bunch: just give me the deets on Qsiti worlduilding and I’ll be a happy camper. I ship these three very much but I’m also invested in their friendship and in each of them as a singular character. The fact that Pagus is a goddamn catch is one of my favorite things, and he can be a smart cookie with any of the other smart cookies in the party, or be a history buff with Glenys, or tutor Yuniver. Proud, paranoid chatterbox Maddox entrenched in his cover-up stories, finding it hard to stop being a spy and relax, maybe spending time with someone very simple, like Sheryl, or a very different kind of fellow veteran like Roberto. Self-assured Sibal who probably knows a lot about the mysteries of the underground world and is also the most romantic soul out of the entire cast, talking volcanoes with Paris or discussing the Rainbow Bond with Haruko? If you also like all three of them, either as old friends or as a ship, who of them comes up with what excuse to reconnect again now that Remnants are no more, or do they drop all pretenses and admit they just want to make up for lost time? And what do Qsiti cuddles look like?

David: Post-canon, adjusting to a life without remnants - how did it feel to be bound to one or two of them anyway, and what’s it like without, and suddenly knowing you’ll be the first Nassau in who knows how long who’ll reach old age? - and without Rush. Finding support and friendship even outside his trusted Generals. I’d be interested in seeing him get closer to any unique leader you might like, I can easily see half the characters absolutely adoring him sooner or later. From the Duke of Ghor to Roberto, to sweet Zolean who knows what it’s like to lose someone dear and hope he comes back, or Rhagoh & Remnant Kate, or Paris or Jager or, eventually, even Allan… David/Rush prompts: focus on Rush’s supernatural nature, how he was a strange boy with a good heart (Things Unchangeable meant so much to me!) who ignored human social conventions because he was not in fact human. Reunion fic more than a decade into the future, showing how David has changed and with emphasis on Rush’s Remnant nature.

David & Qsiti: basically a mix of the other prompts. David is close to all his Generals but what’s his dynamic with Pagus specifically? Is he a mentor, a friend, did Pagus stop David once when he was about to do something very stupid? And what can David learn about his dear General from people who have known him since long before David was born?

Myst: Yeesha, Jeff Zandi

General: The oddest of friendships. Road trip. Desert sunrise. Desert bird shenanigans, be it with actual roadrunners speeding by or cartoon ones. Descent. An oddly shaped rock. Strangers. Shooting stars. Any line from Words.

Canon-specific dislikes: please no Yeesha bashing?

Yeesha & Jeff: He’s definitely Team Yeesha and she could definitely do with a friend, the year is 2018 and I still want fic about this unlikely duo.

How much can he really say he gets her? When did they meet? Was it when a younger Jeff was exploring D’ni with his father Elias, did that create a rift between the two?

What do they do when they hang out? Has he played the Myst games – heck, has she? Does he play Magic the Gathering like his RL counterpart?

Do they set out on a road trip because she needs to chill for a hot minute and experience for herself that whole ‘you shall seek the journey’ thing? Late night driving and liminal places could be cool. Or does she link him somewhere cool with no travel time needed?

Do they agree to meet by his camp fire once a month or something like that, and one time Yeesha doesn’t show up? What happened?

Does he get to hang out with bahro thanks to her, in the depths of the Cavern where the DRC will never be able to reach, and what’s that encounter like for him (and for her, and for the bahro)?

Maybe some relaxing time can take place after End of Ages. He’d notice that something has changed, she’s somewhat less of a depressed wreck that she used to be...

Speaking of End of Ages, was Jeff chosen by the Tablet? If so, how did he fail his quest? I appreciate Esher a lot so if you go for an EoA plot feel free to use him too.

Anything based on Uru history is great!

The Secret History of Twin Peaks: Tammy Preston

General: Character dossiers that involve Tammy more directly. TSHOTP themes being used front and center. Owls, figurative and otherwise. Tammy Fashion™. Tammy Freeform Infodump™. The risks of staring into the void for too long. Gentle illusions. The moon. Static buzzing. Any title from the s3 ethereal whooshing compilation used as a prompt, actually. AUs and fusion AUs are great for this fandom! I have Final Fantasy on my mind a lot recently so any FFVI, VII, T, IX, X, XII or XIII reimagining would be fantastic (what would Tammy even be... scholar, fencer, mystic knight...?), or indeed The Last Remnant, but also regular fantasy, space opera, sci-fantasy... anything fancy!

Canon-specific dislikes: Gordon being a harmless, fun dad or conversely having the worst intentions. Clear explanations for canonical ambiguities.

(my Twin Peaks canon-specific likes and dislikes in the next section may also apply)

Tammy: what I find fascinating about Tammy’s positioning in the narrative of the books (and of the show, but not as markedly) is that there is this whole narrative of trauma, and the circularity of trauma, even within Blue Rose and the organizations that came before it, and she stands at the end of it and learns about it all without being directly involved. She can learn from it in a sheltered position. Maybe when her turn will come, she’ll know a little better. Her name’s anagram is Praemonstrata, “Having been guided”. She’s the new Archivist, in a way. She’s the future of Blue Rose, last woman standing as soon as Albert and Gordon retire and/or vanish (and after the show’s finale, I can’t see either of them lasting long). What does it all mean, in the context of the book’s overarching theme of secrets VS mysteries and the cost of knowledge (and the show’s connections between trauma and the fragmentation of the self, and TFD’s doubling down on the general concept of shoveling oneself out of the shit, and her moving final considerations)?

What could be a test for her, something that would involve her personally and make her risk losing her way? What makes her tick - would she cross to other worlds, how, and why?

I don’t know much about aliens, but I really enjoyed how the book wove it all into Twin Peaks lore. If you want to do the same with some other bit of UFO trivia and have Tammy draw her connections, I’m interested!

The books show that she’s not only Albert’s spiritual successor as the only other rationally-inclined soul in there, she also knows Albert personally to some extent, for example that he’s a jazz lover. Have they ever gone drinking in cool (LGBT…?) clubs with fancy live music? Are they jazz buddies or what kind of music is she into (and what does he have to say about her tastes)?

What other characters or pieces of TP history would she look into? What about that Diane dossier, for example? What about Lucy? (If you have her look into Diane, please be empathetic toward her and her tulpa)

Twin Peaks: Harry Truman, Lucy Moran, Chet Desmond, Garland Briggs

This one is an OR request – feel free to only write about some of these people and completely ignore the others. There were just too many good characters in the tagset and I couldn’t choose so, you know, to hell with matchability. The prompts are for the characters on their own or with some nominated canon mates but if you have an idea for Ruby&Lucy, Garland&Albert, Harry&Naido or any other odd combo, go for it!

General: the mystery of the woods, obviously. How do they relate to the woods, what do they gain and what do they lose in the woods. Case fic but they don’t find out jack shit, someone disappears, David Bowie was there, it’s complicated. Fragmented, shifted, mirrored identities. New Lodge spaces. Still any title from the s3 ethereal whooshing compilation used as a prompt. When in doubt, add Margaret. AUs and fusion AUs are great for this fandom! I have Final Fantasy on my mind a lot recently so any FFVI, VII, T, IX, X, XII or XIII reimagining would be fantastic (paladin Harry, dancer Lucy, fighter Chet, sage Garland...?), or indeed The Last Remnant, but also regular fantasy, space opera, sci-fantasy... anything fancy!

Canon-specific Dislikes: any singular Dreamer being the ‘source’ of canon, BOB (let alone Judy) being forever defeated in the finale, Judy being an active malevolent presence in the characters’ lives, ‘Odessaverse’ being the reality layer, the Fireman's House by the Sea being the White Lodge, Naido being nothing more than Diane but since she was nominated as her own character I'm hopeful here

(my Secret History of Twin Peaks canon-specific likes and dislikes in the previous section may also apply)

Harry: Bookhouse Boy Harry both in the sense of avid reader Harry promoting literacy and vague bastion against the evil in the woods Harry. Harry getting a sword out of a pond in the woods like he was meant to but , like, in a way that’s less random kitsch and more meaningful magical realism. Harry and Frank as actual brothers but also Frank as a projection of Harry’s insecurities. Harry, Ed and Hawk as friends. Harry finding some sense of belonging somewhere, somehow.

Lucy: Kimmy Robertson said she would like to be the color blue in Lynch’s palette, if the prompt works for you. Lucy taking her time to understand and organize the world around her. Lucy with Andy (the one functional couple in all of canon, bless), with Wally, with Maggie Brown and the rest of the new sheriff’s station cast. Lucy with people who don’t usually appreciate her (both sheriffs and Albert come to mind) but have to come to terms with the fact that she’s amazing. I also like that Hawk is a first-class gossip, apparently, and so is Lucy, so if THAT prompts works for you… last but not least, she seems to have some sort of connection with the symbolic weave of reality (picking chairs when a very important chair is introduced, wondering about bunnies and Jack Rabbit palace will be relevant, Robertson said that Lynch said that Lucy perceives a lot and needs time to sort it all out) and I’d love to see it explored one way or another. If you wanna go wild with meta Invitation to Love shenanigans, Lucy could be a good POV character.

Chet: What’s his deal? Empirically, new canon draws a hell of a lot of connections between personal troubles and being jettisoned out of reality. So why did he? A friend recalls that he was named after Chet Baker and Norma Desmond, so that could be a starting point. I like to think that he manages to pull himself together at some point and make it back – how? Does he find any familiar faces beyond the curtains, like Phil? Finally, like all Blue Rose and Sheriff’s station characters, when all other prompts fail: office shenanigans. Please. Now that they’ve all been blatantly retconned as a merry gang who coexisted at some point, please give me Chet bouncing off literally any other named character in there.

Garland: He’s a good bean, almost naive compared to Doug Milford & co in TSHOTP, and I wish him the best wherever he is... the metaphysical adventures of Garland’s floating head could be a fic (maybe Bill Hastings and Ruth Davenport could tag along). Or back when he was alive, weird occurrences at Listening Post Alpha up on Blue Pine mountain. He wasn’t born in town, so what’s HIS relationship with the woods? Or an encounter with some of the federal cast, like Gordon and Phil or a very young Albert. I’m also intrigued by his s3 narrative but I have a very negative view of The Plan(tm) so I don’t really know what to make of it. If you also think that the Fireman’s hints only ended in tragedy and that Blue Rose’s search for Judy was a monumental act of hubris, and you have a good spin for Garland’s role in all of this, I’m listening! All I got is something like "he gave his last fuck... now he's free....." (not that Garland is legally allowed to say fuck, I mean)

Albert/Harry: my main headcanon is that they got together in the aftermath of Coop’s disappearance, holding onto each other in his absence not unlike James and Donna did with Laura. Then... did they last? Or was it a terrible moment to get together (...not unlike James and Donna) and they had to go their separate ways for a while before finding each other again? Does this sad time last up until the end of s3, when Albert can finally quit the castle of lies that was his job and stay with Harry? I am also, however, open to other timelines for these two. Emotional reunions are great and so is domestic fic with a dash of surrealism. What would Harry do for Albert? For example, when would he take his side in a heated dispute with someone else? What would Albert share about his past? What could they do in town? Or do they take a well-deserved vacation somewhere else? Do they team up for a small investigation? Old men taking care of each other is very much welcome, especially after Harry gets through the worst of his treatments.

Dale/Harry: Harry seeing his Coop again... somewhere, somehow. Maybe he perceives him in the woods, maybe Coop isn't all human now. Monster cuddles very welcome. Could be canon divergence but could very well be post-s3. Harry getting closure for waiting all that time in front of Glastonbury and never giving up on Coop... they can live in the woods together...

Harry&Lucy: what could make them spend some time together outside of work (is it donuts)? Does he ask for relationship advice since she and Andy are literally the only people in town who could make it work? Does she feel loyal to him and Frank or is it just a job to her? Does she go visit him after s3 and does he tell her that she was very brave? What about Wally - Harry is the boy’s godfather after all, I don’t usually read kidfic but I can make all sorts of exceptions for my beloved Wally (maybe when he’s more of a teen than a kid). Are they all fans of Marlon Brando?

Chet/Sam: reunion fic! Chet’s been AWOL for years, Sam has fallen through the cracks, how do they find each other again and why do they choose to remain off the grid? I would also like to read about them in the present day-ish, handwaving the return and reunion. Maybe they made a new life for themselves. If Sutherland were to play Sam again, Sam would be... notably more buff. What caused that change, was it traveling with Chet, what kind of person is he now? Could they be in Buenos Aires, investigating on their own whatever that shrinking box was?

Chet&Dale: In which ways are they both real boys and in which ways are they aspects of each other? How do they work together?

Chet/Albert: whatever passes for an uncomplicated office romance around those parts, where they both know very well that they’re not the other’s One True Love, but they have a good understanding - except when Albert’s pacifism clashes with Chet‘s readiness to throw down 24/7. But then again Albert is also ready to throw down 24/7, only with words instead of fists, so there’s fertile ground for conflict and unexpected agreements. Also they’re hot.

Garland&Harry: they’re both good dogs living in a cold and cruel world, with their own partial experiences of other worlds beyond this tangible reality, and I think they should be at least a little friends. Maybe Harry found himself at Garland’s observatory one day without even knowing how he’d gotten there, maybe they chatted at the RR. Then there’s Mfrost spitballing some connection which, given how Garland ‘died’ literally on the day after s2, can only be read as Harry passing his info to Garland when Garland was already beyond this world. I’d read that in a heartbeat.

#letter #yuletide

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