Press Start 2018 Letter
Jul. 5th, 2018 09:22 pmDear author,
Thank you for writing for me! This exchange was a blast for me last year, and I'm so glad to be doing it again. I hope you get the gift of your dreams in return!
As usual, all my prompts and rambling below are just suggestions. If you have an idea for any of these characters/ships, please do feel free to go for it. Outside of my DNWs, I'm open to anything from lighthearted fluff to plotty casefic and worldbuilding to hardcore darkfic and smut. You can also take any of my general likes as prompts in themselves.
My AO3 username is Piinutbutter.
- Likes -
- DNWs -
- Hylics -
- Subject 13 -
- Haze -
- Far Cry 4 -
Narrative likes:
* Adventure / casefic
* Canon divergence / "what if?" AUs
* Backstory
* Post-canon
* Outsider POV
* Slice of life
* Hurt and/or comfort
* Reluctant allies / enemies having to work together
* Characters with complicated relationships, platonic or otherwise
* Interactive fiction formats (IF, CYOA, games, visual novels, etc). If you feel your story would work better in an interactive format, go for it!
Fluffy likes:
* Hair touching/brushing
* Affectionate insults / play-fighting
* Pretending to be dating/married
* Friends-to-lovers, or enemies-to-friends-to-lovers
* Physical affection, platonic or otherwise
* Emotional intimacy, platonic or otherwise
* Unusual gestures of affection
* Working together on a task/mission
* Loyalty kink
Darkfic likes:
* Dysfunctional relationships
* Kidnapping / stockholm syndrome
* Mind control
* Blood / gore / violence
* Angst / guilt
* Manipulation / blackmail / gaslighting
* Eating disorders
* Body horror
* Psychological horror
* Loyalty kink (GONE WRONG)
Smutty likes:
* Dubcon, noncon, and enthusiastic consent are all welcome
* Xeno
* Bondage, D/s, S&M, etc.
* Impact play
* Praise kink
* Clothing kink
* Humiliation
* Weapon play (knife, sword, gun, whip, etc.)
* Blood play / blood drinking
* Rough sex
* Sex pollen
* Face-sitting
* Loyalty kink (GONE SEXUAL)
* Pregnancy
* Asexuality headcanons
* Unrequested crossovers
* References to real-world politics
* Genderswaps, including trans headcanons
* Hurtcomfortverse AUs (normal hurt/comfort is A-okay and welcomed!)
* Biphobia (particularly calling bisexual characters "het"/"straight," or bashing bi characters for being in mixed-gender relationships)
What is it?
Hylics is a delightful little indie RPG about four buddies who form a rock band and take a trip to the moon. Which sounds like the most mundane premise ever, but it's set in a surreal far-future Earth, everything is made out of wacky claymation, and parts of the dialogue are written on the spot using random text generation (the core plot remains the same through every playthrough, though). It's wonderful, and the main party is wonderfully shippable.
It takes about 2-3 hours to get through. It's available on Steam, or you can watch a movie version here.
Prompts
- Wayne/Somsnosa/Pongorma/Dedusmuln -
I absolutely adore this ragtag band and want all the fluff about them. I’m fond of the idea of Wayne and Somsnosa having an established relationship and bringing their two new friends into the fold during/after their adventure.
Do they take their new band on tour? Do they all help Dedusmuln with exciting new archaeological expeditions? Do they take a cruise on their ship and have a peaceful vacation because killing the king of the moon is hard work and they deserve it? There's only one bed and bathtub in the resting areas, so there’s gotta be awkward bed-sharing/group-bathing shenanigans. And hey, chilling out in the Cozy Death Realm building sandcastles is canon, so you have a built-in beach episode prompt!
Hurt/comfort is also a possibility. Even in a world where death is no big deal, emotional hurt is still a thing, and Gibby did feel the need to apologize to Wayne for "everything." So maybe Wayne has some complicated feelings about killing Gibby and whatever history they had there? And the rest of the party makes sure he knows they're there for him.
And, well, if you're inclined to write clay-people xeno foursomes I'm not inclined to stop you!
(Note 1: As far as I'm aware, unless I missed something, Dedusmuln's gender is never specified. If it isn't, I would be equally happy with them being a he, a she, or a they. If it is, ignore me and go with whatever's canon.)
(Note 2: You do not have to try and emulate the writing style of canon, holy shit. That would probably be impossible. Although shippy fanfic produced partially via random text generation would probably be entertaining in its own way…)
What is it?
Are you looking for a point and click game with fun puzzles, gorgeous melancholy music, and a plot that involves interdimensional groundhog day loops, sarcastic asshole demon gods, and slashy dubcon soulbonding between said asshole god and a human? I didn't think I was, but then Subject 13 came along and gave me what I didn't know I was missing in my life.
It's available on Steam, and takes 3-5 hours to get through, depending on how good you are at puzzles (I'm terrible). Or, a movie version can be watched here.
Prompts
- Franklin Fargo/Sophie -
- Ah Cizin/Franklin Fargo -
* For Franklin/Sophie, there's a lot of fun angst or hurt/comfort potential in the fact that the Franklin and Sophie who escape together at the end aren't the Franklin and Sophie that either of them have known for their lives. How do you deal with returning home with your fiancee from an alternate universe? There must be so many little details that are just off, and that's gotta cause some complicated feelings. Alternately, something sweet with the two of them bonding over their experiences on the island would be nice!
* For Ah Cizin/Franklin, oh man there is so much potential for weirdness with this ship. Something set during Ah Cizin's first meeting with and subsequent temptation of the first Franklin? An exploration of how his relationship with Franklin changed over his next 11 incarnations? A noodle incident explanation of what happened to Subject 09 on the island that was bad enough for Ah Cizin to intervene and save him? And of course, there's the soul-fusing shenanigans themselves and all the weirdness therein. If you'd like to go in a smutty route with these two, consider: Praise kink, literal mindfuckery brought on by their soul-fusing, or just straight-up phone sex. (Speaker sex?)
What is it?
Haze is an FPS that I would not actually recommend anyone play, because in terms of game design, it's just...not good. But. The plot, characters, and relationship dynamics have a ton of intrigue and potential, and I've fallen hopelessly in love.
The premise is that a powerful private military doses its soldiers with a performance-enhancing drug called Nectar, making them stronger, faster, and deliriously happy 24/7. Shane Carpenter, a college dropout who joined the army to find a sense of purpose, is doing well and ascending the ranks. But as soon as he takes on a mission for a sergeant named Morgan Duvall, the effectiveness of Shane's Nectar starts slipping, and he becomes horrified by Morgan's war crimes and the suffering he's helping cause. He decides to defect and help the group of rebels his army is attacking, which leads to Morgan becoming very pissed at him and coming for revenge.
If you do want to play it, it's available for PS3. Or you can watch a movie version right here.
Prompts
- Shane Carpenter/Gabriel Merino -
- Shane Carpenter/Morgan Duvall -
* For Shane/Gabriel, I'd love some messy post-canon feels and/or plotting about how Gabriel manipulates Shane into coming around to his vision for the future of Nectar, or at the very least not giving up on Gabriel's cause. Shane being torn between "well, he's nicer than Morgan" and "fuck, this is Mantel all over again" would be delightful.
* For Shane/Morgan, there is basically no way I can see this pairing that isn't violent and messed up. I just really want Morgan wrecking Shane in the worst ways. This could come in the form of Morgan taking out some plain old hate-fueled revenge for Shane's betrayal, or maybe Morgan decides to undo the "brainwashing" he thinks the rebels have used on Shane, because Shane could still be useful to him as a soldier. This re-conditioning involves a whole lot of nonconsensual Nectar usage.
What is it?
Compared to the other games I'm requesting, Far Cry 4 is practically a megafandom, so I feel weird trying to pitch it. TL;DR version: Run around the Himalayas getting your face eaten by eagles and getting hit on by an evil dictator! It's fun, I swear!
It's available on Steam, for PS3/4, for Xbox 360/One, or there's a ton of different movie versions on Youtube. Take your pick.
Prompts
- The Goat/Yalung -
...okay, listen. Hear me out here.
I did a completionist run recently and collected all the masks of Yalung, and I found The Goat's whole thing with him just...really interesting? The Goat's adoring worship of Yalung that frequently toes a weirdly sexual line, combined with all the bloodshed and religious fervor, makes for a fascinating mix.
I'd just love something exploring The Goat's intense, psychosexual obsession with this evil god. What drew him to Yalung in the first place? What fucked-up things does he do in what he sees as Yalung's service? (Feel free to rope Ajay into this if you need someone to suffer, or maybe the mysterious other guy that The Goat calls out for picking up his masks.) On the other end of the coin, if Yalung truly exists, what does he feel about his most devoted servant? Is he actually soliciting The Goat to do all this, or is he rolling his metaphorical eyes at the desperate human trying to earn his affection?
I'm not sure how randomly generated the relevant spawn is, but in my playthrough, the guy hanging out in The Goat's Lair was a knife-wielding Royal Army soldier. But I'm not attached to him as The Goat's true identity, so feel free to do something else with it if you want!
(Also, just saying, this may be the most fitting opportunity you ever get to name a fic "But You Fuck ONE Goat...")
Thank you for writing for me! This exchange was a blast for me last year, and I'm so glad to be doing it again. I hope you get the gift of your dreams in return!
As usual, all my prompts and rambling below are just suggestions. If you have an idea for any of these characters/ships, please do feel free to go for it. Outside of my DNWs, I'm open to anything from lighthearted fluff to plotty casefic and worldbuilding to hardcore darkfic and smut. You can also take any of my general likes as prompts in themselves.
My AO3 username is Piinutbutter.
Table of Contents
- Likes -
- DNWs -
- Hylics -
- Subject 13 -
- Haze -
- Far Cry 4 -
Likes
Narrative likes:
* Adventure / casefic
* Canon divergence / "what if?" AUs
* Backstory
* Post-canon
* Outsider POV
* Slice of life
* Hurt and/or comfort
* Reluctant allies / enemies having to work together
* Characters with complicated relationships, platonic or otherwise
* Interactive fiction formats (IF, CYOA, games, visual novels, etc). If you feel your story would work better in an interactive format, go for it!
Fluffy likes:
* Hair touching/brushing
* Affectionate insults / play-fighting
* Pretending to be dating/married
* Friends-to-lovers, or enemies-to-friends-to-lovers
* Physical affection, platonic or otherwise
* Emotional intimacy, platonic or otherwise
* Unusual gestures of affection
* Working together on a task/mission
* Loyalty kink
Darkfic likes:
* Dysfunctional relationships
* Kidnapping / stockholm syndrome
* Mind control
* Blood / gore / violence
* Angst / guilt
* Manipulation / blackmail / gaslighting
* Eating disorders
* Body horror
* Psychological horror
* Loyalty kink (GONE WRONG)
Smutty likes:
* Dubcon, noncon, and enthusiastic consent are all welcome
* Xeno
* Bondage, D/s, S&M, etc.
* Impact play
* Praise kink
* Clothing kink
* Humiliation
* Weapon play (knife, sword, gun, whip, etc.)
* Blood play / blood drinking
* Rough sex
* Sex pollen
* Face-sitting
* Loyalty kink (GONE SEXUAL)
Do Not Wants
* Pregnancy
* Asexuality headcanons
* Unrequested crossovers
* References to real-world politics
* Genderswaps, including trans headcanons
* Hurtcomfortverse AUs (normal hurt/comfort is A-okay and welcomed!)
* Biphobia (particularly calling bisexual characters "het"/"straight," or bashing bi characters for being in mixed-gender relationships)
* Prompts *
Hylics
What is it?
Hylics is a delightful little indie RPG about four buddies who form a rock band and take a trip to the moon. Which sounds like the most mundane premise ever, but it's set in a surreal far-future Earth, everything is made out of wacky claymation, and parts of the dialogue are written on the spot using random text generation (the core plot remains the same through every playthrough, though). It's wonderful, and the main party is wonderfully shippable.
It takes about 2-3 hours to get through. It's available on Steam, or you can watch a movie version here.
Prompts
- Wayne/Somsnosa/Pongorma/Dedusmuln -
I absolutely adore this ragtag band and want all the fluff about them. I’m fond of the idea of Wayne and Somsnosa having an established relationship and bringing their two new friends into the fold during/after their adventure.
Do they take their new band on tour? Do they all help Dedusmuln with exciting new archaeological expeditions? Do they take a cruise on their ship and have a peaceful vacation because killing the king of the moon is hard work and they deserve it? There's only one bed and bathtub in the resting areas, so there’s gotta be awkward bed-sharing/group-bathing shenanigans. And hey, chilling out in the Cozy Death Realm building sandcastles is canon, so you have a built-in beach episode prompt!
Hurt/comfort is also a possibility. Even in a world where death is no big deal, emotional hurt is still a thing, and Gibby did feel the need to apologize to Wayne for "everything." So maybe Wayne has some complicated feelings about killing Gibby and whatever history they had there? And the rest of the party makes sure he knows they're there for him.
And, well, if you're inclined to write clay-people xeno foursomes I'm not inclined to stop you!
(Note 1: As far as I'm aware, unless I missed something, Dedusmuln's gender is never specified. If it isn't, I would be equally happy with them being a he, a she, or a they. If it is, ignore me and go with whatever's canon.)
(Note 2: You do not have to try and emulate the writing style of canon, holy shit. That would probably be impossible. Although shippy fanfic produced partially via random text generation would probably be entertaining in its own way…)
Subject 13
What is it?
Are you looking for a point and click game with fun puzzles, gorgeous melancholy music, and a plot that involves interdimensional groundhog day loops, sarcastic asshole demon gods, and slashy dubcon soulbonding between said asshole god and a human? I didn't think I was, but then Subject 13 came along and gave me what I didn't know I was missing in my life.
It's available on Steam, and takes 3-5 hours to get through, depending on how good you are at puzzles (I'm terrible). Or, a movie version can be watched here.
Prompts
- Franklin Fargo/Sophie -
- Ah Cizin/Franklin Fargo -
* For Franklin/Sophie, there's a lot of fun angst or hurt/comfort potential in the fact that the Franklin and Sophie who escape together at the end aren't the Franklin and Sophie that either of them have known for their lives. How do you deal with returning home with your fiancee from an alternate universe? There must be so many little details that are just off, and that's gotta cause some complicated feelings. Alternately, something sweet with the two of them bonding over their experiences on the island would be nice!
* For Ah Cizin/Franklin, oh man there is so much potential for weirdness with this ship. Something set during Ah Cizin's first meeting with and subsequent temptation of the first Franklin? An exploration of how his relationship with Franklin changed over his next 11 incarnations? A noodle incident explanation of what happened to Subject 09 on the island that was bad enough for Ah Cizin to intervene and save him? And of course, there's the soul-fusing shenanigans themselves and all the weirdness therein. If you'd like to go in a smutty route with these two, consider: Praise kink, literal mindfuckery brought on by their soul-fusing, or just straight-up phone sex. (Speaker sex?)
Haze
What is it?
Haze is an FPS that I would not actually recommend anyone play, because in terms of game design, it's just...not good. But. The plot, characters, and relationship dynamics have a ton of intrigue and potential, and I've fallen hopelessly in love.
The premise is that a powerful private military doses its soldiers with a performance-enhancing drug called Nectar, making them stronger, faster, and deliriously happy 24/7. Shane Carpenter, a college dropout who joined the army to find a sense of purpose, is doing well and ascending the ranks. But as soon as he takes on a mission for a sergeant named Morgan Duvall, the effectiveness of Shane's Nectar starts slipping, and he becomes horrified by Morgan's war crimes and the suffering he's helping cause. He decides to defect and help the group of rebels his army is attacking, which leads to Morgan becoming very pissed at him and coming for revenge.
If you do want to play it, it's available for PS3. Or you can watch a movie version right here.
Prompts
- Shane Carpenter/Gabriel Merino -
- Shane Carpenter/Morgan Duvall -
* For Shane/Gabriel, I'd love some messy post-canon feels and/or plotting about how Gabriel manipulates Shane into coming around to his vision for the future of Nectar, or at the very least not giving up on Gabriel's cause. Shane being torn between "well, he's nicer than Morgan" and "fuck, this is Mantel all over again" would be delightful.
* For Shane/Morgan, there is basically no way I can see this pairing that isn't violent and messed up. I just really want Morgan wrecking Shane in the worst ways. This could come in the form of Morgan taking out some plain old hate-fueled revenge for Shane's betrayal, or maybe Morgan decides to undo the "brainwashing" he thinks the rebels have used on Shane, because Shane could still be useful to him as a soldier. This re-conditioning involves a whole lot of nonconsensual Nectar usage.
Far Cry 4
What is it?
Compared to the other games I'm requesting, Far Cry 4 is practically a megafandom, so I feel weird trying to pitch it. TL;DR version: Run around the Himalayas getting your face eaten by eagles and getting hit on by an evil dictator! It's fun, I swear!
It's available on Steam, for PS3/4, for Xbox 360/One, or there's a ton of different movie versions on Youtube. Take your pick.
Prompts
- The Goat/Yalung -
...okay, listen. Hear me out here.
I did a completionist run recently and collected all the masks of Yalung, and I found The Goat's whole thing with him just...really interesting? The Goat's adoring worship of Yalung that frequently toes a weirdly sexual line, combined with all the bloodshed and religious fervor, makes for a fascinating mix.
I'd just love something exploring The Goat's intense, psychosexual obsession with this evil god. What drew him to Yalung in the first place? What fucked-up things does he do in what he sees as Yalung's service? (Feel free to rope Ajay into this if you need someone to suffer, or maybe the mysterious other guy that The Goat calls out for picking up his masks.) On the other end of the coin, if Yalung truly exists, what does he feel about his most devoted servant? Is he actually soliciting The Goat to do all this, or is he rolling his metaphorical eyes at the desperate human trying to earn his affection?
I'm not sure how randomly generated the relevant spawn is, but in my playthrough, the guy hanging out in The Goat's Lair was a knife-wielding Royal Army soldier. But I'm not attached to him as The Goat's true identity, so feel free to do something else with it if you want!
(Also, just saying, this may be the most fitting opportunity you ever get to name a fic "But You Fuck ONE Goat...")