Dear Yuletide Writer for 2023
Oct. 11th, 2023 08:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
estiroseDear Yuletide Writer (and other interested folks),
Hi! I'm![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
estirose! After doing this for 15 Yuletides I've run out of new ways to say hello, but I'm glad you're here. This year I have all video game fandoms.
I've written reviews/promos for all four of my fandoms this year because I wanted to. So, if you're curious about any of them, you can find them here: My Time at Sandrock, Final Fantasy II, Fatal Frame III: The Tormented, and Boyfriend Dungeon.
General Likes/DNWs/Other general stuff:
Likes: Team as family, found families, worldbuilding, hurt/comfort (with an emphasis on the comfort), fluff, cats.
DNWs: Brother/sister or parent/child incest. Non-canon-typical gore/violence. Animal abuse or death. Deliberate humiliation of a character. Noncon and dubcon.
Other general stuff:
While I am doing pretty much gen prompts, I have no issues with ships (in fact, there are some ships I'm totally for). I'm not really into explicit sex but I'm fine with fade to black if your plot goes that way.
I adore Interactive Fiction (having written it twice before for Yuletide). I've stuck a few extra prompts that may be more suitable for this fic format in a corner.
Crossovers: I love them, but I'd really prefer them to be in fandoms I'm familiar with, which also tend to be fandoms I write. (There are some exceptions - for example, I've never written fic for Boyfriend Dungeon but I've posted about it on DW.) I've made one or two specific suggestions in my prompts.
Treats: If something here inspires you to write, go for it!
Fandoms
My Time at Sandrock (Builder, Matilda)
My "My Time at Sandrock" fics
I love this game! It's totally addictive. I've owned it since it went to early access and haven't regretted that a single moment. (It's due for full release on November 2nd of this year, but the main plot is complete and playable.) The cycle of building things, gaining more resources, then building new and more complex things out of those resources is totally my jam. I'd rather be building year-round rather than planting. I also love the eco message, I loved the mentions and cameos from the previous game (My Time at Portia) and it's altogether fun.
While I've chosen these two characters, they don't have to appear in the same fic. I chose the Builder because they are the Player Character of the game and so there's such a variety of fics that can be written for them. On the other hand, Matilda is much more than meets the eye and because of her... well, storyline... in the game there is so much we don't know about her!
I'd love very much a story featuring either Matilda, the Builder or both.
Romance-wise, I'd prefer no Builder/Miguel or Builder/Pen ship (two of my least favorite characters in the game) but otherwise you're welcome to ship the Builder with whoever you want; two of my female Builders married Heidi and Nia if you want to aim for one of those pairings. (I am okay with a Builder mentioning that they dated Pen before the start of the story... and dumped his egotistical ass.) For Matilda, I don't really see any viable romantic interests for her given her story in the game and what we know of her background (she may have a spouse that is not in Sandrock for Reasons, after all).
Try not to feature Pen or Miguel heavily in a Builder-focused fic; I'm fine with them being heavily involved in any Matilda-focused fic because of her storyline. I'm also not the biggest fan of Arvio. (Also not a fan of Yan, but who is?)
Prompts:
* I'd like to see more about Matilda and Miguel's time in Meidi. We know a little bit about it due to Miguel's dialogue, and it leaves me wanting more.
* Some of the plot from Matilda's POV - I want to know her motivations and why she handles some of the storyline as she does.
* What happened to Matilda after the end of her storyline? There's very little mention of what happens to her.
* Pre-game fic! We know a little about why our Builder chooses to go to Sandrock, but I'd like to see what made them choose this dying little town.
* I'd really like to see a Builder's Day Off - what do they do? Do they play games? Hang around with their friends? Have tea with Mort? Enjoy themselves otherwise (especially in a certain late-game place)? Learn knitting from Vivi? Or do they smash monsters for fun?
* It would be nice, if you're familiar with Portia, to have the Builder visit there in kind of a crossover. Maybe they can meet their Portia counterpart (who is also a hotshot young builder - my current Builder in the game is Sal if you need a default name), or maybe strike up a romance with one of the eligibles there.
How to get/how long to beat: Currently available in Early Access on Windows via Steam. Plays pretty well on Steam Deck barring some issues with the default controls and the workshop editor. Full release is November 2nd for Windows/XBox/Playstation(?)/Switch (please keep in mind that My Time at Portia for consoles had... issues). That being said, while I love this beautiful, addictive game and want more people to play it, it's easily 100-200 hours long. (Howlongtobeat says 78, but I suspect that was before the act III release that happened 2-3 weeks ago.) There are plenty of playthroughs on streaming sites.
Final Fantasy II (Minwu)
My "Final Fantasy II" fics
I saw this on the tagset and the fact that Minwu was nominated, and I may have jumped for joy. I adore Final Fantasy II. I'm so glad for the Pixel Remaster and its removal of the encounter rate in all those empty dungeon rooms. (I'm also glad that Firion's sprite no longer looks like he has had his throat cut.) I adore the flexibility that allows you to take your party members in any direction you choose instead of making them White Mages or Warriors or what-have you. (My second favorite so far is Final Fantasy III, just because of the job change system. I have yet to get through V, though I understand it has something similar?)
Minwu ties with his teammate Maria for my favorite Final Fantasy character. He's warm, he's wise, he's... probably a bit too nonchalant at sacrificing himself. He's the crutch character for the rest of the party until they can get their healing spells up to par. I adore his interactions with Hilda and the party.
Romance-wise, I don't really ship Minwu hugely with anybody, though I did write a fic once where he was honestly ready to marry Firion, Maria, and Guy and I really enjoyed that.
Prompts:
* I'd love to see him guiding and counseling the party. Maybe helping them make plans or arguing against them. (For example, someone has the wild idea to try to use teleport to get the guards out of Fynn, for some reason - this is a real strategy that can be used to get high-level gear early and I'd love to see it reasoned out in the story.)
* I'd really love to see him pre-game. He comes from Mysidia, which is not an easy trip. What caused him to end up with the Rebels and Hilda/her father? I don't think he ever mentions his reasoning. For that matter, I'd love to see more of Mysidia if you want to do a bit of much-needed worldbuilding.
* I would like to know how he got to the Mysidian Tower without getting swallowed by Leviathan. After all, there's no indication that he was trapped in Leviathan like the people who were.
How to get/how long to beat: The Pixel Remaster, which is the version available today, is available on (checks) Windows, iOS, Android, Switch, and Playstation. Howlongtobeat says a playthrough takes about 23 hours. Playthroughs very available for a variety of versions - from the original to the Pixel Remaster.
Fatal Frame III: The Tormented (Ruri, Miku)
My "Fatal Frame III: The Tormented" fics
Fatal Frame III is spooky, and I love that about it. No matter how often I've played it I always get caught by the jumpscares, and I love that too. I love the theme of overcoming (or not overcoming) Survivor's Guilt. I love the references to the two earlier games, bringing back Miku, dealing with some of the fallout of the endings of those games.
I love how the game blurs reality and dreams, how Rei's house becomes progressively more haunted, how you have to go through the game twice in order to truly understand how to save everybody. It's a beautiful game, and it pains me that it was only released for one console (with limited digital releases for 1-2 successors). Hopefully someday it will join Fatal Frames IV and V in the more modern realm, though I know that Fatal Frame II is more likely.
I love to be spooked (so very much YES to a horror story). But I also love kitty cuddles, which is why Ruri is here along with her person Miku. Most of my prompts are going to be for Miku, but I would love Ruri to be a presence if at all possible in a Miku-heavy story.
Romance-wise... well, obviously nobody with the cat! Miku I'm happy to pair with Rei or Kei (or both) but please not with Mafuyu. It's a canon pairing and the reason I have the DNW I have on incest. (In regards to that storyline, I'd prefer you pretend the thing that happened offscreen that leads into the Fatal Frame V plotline for Miu be ignored if at all possible.)
Prompts:
* I would love to have Miku trying to cope in the days following Fatal Frame I, how she ends up with Yuu and Rei. A fic about Yuu helping Miku try to cope would be great.
* Miku coming to terms with her Survivor's Guilt with the help of Rei, Mio (assume good ending) and Kei (and maybe Yuu has a journal somewhere that may help her understand her brother better?).
* Miku tells Rei and Kei about how she acquired Ruri.
* A series of ficlets about Ruri and the members of her household, past and present.
* Ruri goes on an adventure! (If you're familiar with the visual novel Hustle Cat, I'd love her running into people who are in a situation like the characters in that game.)
How to get/How long to beat: As kind of mentioned above, this was a Playstation 2 game. It had a digital rerelease for the Playstation 3 (and possibly the Playstation 4) but that's not available now. You'd have to find a physical copy and a Playstation 2, unless you can somehow emulate it. That being said, Howlongtobeat puts this at 15-16 hours - though I've often taken much longer on this game. There are quite a few playthroughs for this game if you can't find a copy.
Boyfriend Dungeon (Worldbuilding)
This game had me at "Totally Platonic Friend Hangouts". I realize that most people play this hybrid roguelike and dating sim to Date Hot Swords, and I play it to Make Friends With A Bunch Of Cool People. (I'm the person who always gets the "you're proudly asexual" line at the end of the 2nd dungeon.)
While I think all the characters are interesting, what really interests me is the world they're in. People who can turn into weapons? Platonic and romantic relationships with wielders? The ability to turn into a weapons might be genetic? Popular media about people who can turn into weapons? Actual dungeons where you have to face your fears? Sign me up!
(If you want some worldbuilding notes to refer to, I've stuck some here.)
Character and romance-wise, while I'm looking for worldbuilding, I'm happy to have a fic that features pretty much anyone in the cast as long as the main emphasis is on building the world around them (if you're looking for specific characters to kick your muse into action, I think Sunder, Isaac, Seven, and Jonah have really good worldbuilding potential - Sunder himself doesn't do much for me as a character but it would be really cool to receive a worldbuilding story focused on him and Mandy, for example). I ask that you don't pair the Player Character with Cousin Jesse (for one, he's taken, two, he's related) and friendship only with Pocket, otherwise I'm cool with any other pairing.
Prompts:
* How long have people been able to turn into (melee) weapons? In historical times, did they tend to turn into the popular weapon of the day? (We know it's at least a couple of centuries.)
* How common is it to change weapon-forms? How conscious is the choice to become a particular weapon? After all, we have one character who apologizes for being "long and awkward" while another wishes that they were a different weapon form.
* How common are blacksmiths, given the fact that people can turn into weapons that no doubt need a good trained blacksmith occasionally?
* Pop culture! Tell me about the pop culture of this world and how it's different from our own.
How to get/how long to complete: Boyfriend Dungeon is available on Switch, Xbox, Playstation, and Steam. You can get most of the worldbuilding stuff in about 5-6 hours max, though there is a bit you'll miss if you don't at least get down to the bottom level of the bonus dungeon. There are also playthroughs if you are not inclined to buy or can't otherwise play.
Hi! I'm
I've written reviews/promos for all four of my fandoms this year because I wanted to. So, if you're curious about any of them, you can find them here: My Time at Sandrock, Final Fantasy II, Fatal Frame III: The Tormented, and Boyfriend Dungeon.
General Likes/DNWs/Other general stuff:
Likes: Team as family, found families, worldbuilding, hurt/comfort (with an emphasis on the comfort), fluff, cats.
DNWs: Brother/sister or parent/child incest. Non-canon-typical gore/violence. Animal abuse or death. Deliberate humiliation of a character. Noncon and dubcon.
Other general stuff:
While I am doing pretty much gen prompts, I have no issues with ships (in fact, there are some ships I'm totally for). I'm not really into explicit sex but I'm fine with fade to black if your plot goes that way.
I adore Interactive Fiction (having written it twice before for Yuletide). I've stuck a few extra prompts that may be more suitable for this fic format in a corner.
Crossovers: I love them, but I'd really prefer them to be in fandoms I'm familiar with, which also tend to be fandoms I write. (There are some exceptions - for example, I've never written fic for Boyfriend Dungeon but I've posted about it on DW.) I've made one or two specific suggestions in my prompts.
Treats: If something here inspires you to write, go for it!
Fandoms
My Time at Sandrock (Builder, Matilda)
My "My Time at Sandrock" fics
I love this game! It's totally addictive. I've owned it since it went to early access and haven't regretted that a single moment. (It's due for full release on November 2nd of this year, but the main plot is complete and playable.) The cycle of building things, gaining more resources, then building new and more complex things out of those resources is totally my jam. I'd rather be building year-round rather than planting. I also love the eco message, I loved the mentions and cameos from the previous game (My Time at Portia) and it's altogether fun.
While I've chosen these two characters, they don't have to appear in the same fic. I chose the Builder because they are the Player Character of the game and so there's such a variety of fics that can be written for them. On the other hand, Matilda is much more than meets the eye and because of her... well, storyline... in the game there is so much we don't know about her!
I'd love very much a story featuring either Matilda, the Builder or both.
Romance-wise, I'd prefer no Builder/Miguel or Builder/Pen ship (two of my least favorite characters in the game) but otherwise you're welcome to ship the Builder with whoever you want; two of my female Builders married Heidi and Nia if you want to aim for one of those pairings. (I am okay with a Builder mentioning that they dated Pen before the start of the story... and dumped his egotistical ass.) For Matilda, I don't really see any viable romantic interests for her given her story in the game and what we know of her background (she may have a spouse that is not in Sandrock for Reasons, after all).
Try not to feature Pen or Miguel heavily in a Builder-focused fic; I'm fine with them being heavily involved in any Matilda-focused fic because of her storyline. I'm also not the biggest fan of Arvio. (Also not a fan of Yan, but who is?)
Prompts:
* I'd like to see more about Matilda and Miguel's time in Meidi. We know a little bit about it due to Miguel's dialogue, and it leaves me wanting more.
* Some of the plot from Matilda's POV - I want to know her motivations and why she handles some of the storyline as she does.
* What happened to Matilda after the end of her storyline? There's very little mention of what happens to her.
* Pre-game fic! We know a little about why our Builder chooses to go to Sandrock, but I'd like to see what made them choose this dying little town.
* I'd really like to see a Builder's Day Off - what do they do? Do they play games? Hang around with their friends? Have tea with Mort? Enjoy themselves otherwise (especially in a certain late-game place)? Learn knitting from Vivi? Or do they smash monsters for fun?
* It would be nice, if you're familiar with Portia, to have the Builder visit there in kind of a crossover. Maybe they can meet their Portia counterpart (who is also a hotshot young builder - my current Builder in the game is Sal if you need a default name), or maybe strike up a romance with one of the eligibles there.
How to get/how long to beat: Currently available in Early Access on Windows via Steam. Plays pretty well on Steam Deck barring some issues with the default controls and the workshop editor. Full release is November 2nd for Windows/XBox/Playstation(?)/Switch (please keep in mind that My Time at Portia for consoles had... issues). That being said, while I love this beautiful, addictive game and want more people to play it, it's easily 100-200 hours long. (Howlongtobeat says 78, but I suspect that was before the act III release that happened 2-3 weeks ago.) There are plenty of playthroughs on streaming sites.
Final Fantasy II (Minwu)
My "Final Fantasy II" fics
I saw this on the tagset and the fact that Minwu was nominated, and I may have jumped for joy. I adore Final Fantasy II. I'm so glad for the Pixel Remaster and its removal of the encounter rate in all those empty dungeon rooms. (I'm also glad that Firion's sprite no longer looks like he has had his throat cut.) I adore the flexibility that allows you to take your party members in any direction you choose instead of making them White Mages or Warriors or what-have you. (My second favorite so far is Final Fantasy III, just because of the job change system. I have yet to get through V, though I understand it has something similar?)
Minwu ties with his teammate Maria for my favorite Final Fantasy character. He's warm, he's wise, he's... probably a bit too nonchalant at sacrificing himself. He's the crutch character for the rest of the party until they can get their healing spells up to par. I adore his interactions with Hilda and the party.
Romance-wise, I don't really ship Minwu hugely with anybody, though I did write a fic once where he was honestly ready to marry Firion, Maria, and Guy and I really enjoyed that.
Prompts:
* I'd love to see him guiding and counseling the party. Maybe helping them make plans or arguing against them. (For example, someone has the wild idea to try to use teleport to get the guards out of Fynn, for some reason - this is a real strategy that can be used to get high-level gear early and I'd love to see it reasoned out in the story.)
* I'd really love to see him pre-game. He comes from Mysidia, which is not an easy trip. What caused him to end up with the Rebels and Hilda/her father? I don't think he ever mentions his reasoning. For that matter, I'd love to see more of Mysidia if you want to do a bit of much-needed worldbuilding.
* I would like to know how he got to the Mysidian Tower without getting swallowed by Leviathan. After all, there's no indication that he was trapped in Leviathan like the people who were.
How to get/how long to beat: The Pixel Remaster, which is the version available today, is available on (checks) Windows, iOS, Android, Switch, and Playstation. Howlongtobeat says a playthrough takes about 23 hours. Playthroughs very available for a variety of versions - from the original to the Pixel Remaster.
Fatal Frame III: The Tormented (Ruri, Miku)
My "Fatal Frame III: The Tormented" fics
Fatal Frame III is spooky, and I love that about it. No matter how often I've played it I always get caught by the jumpscares, and I love that too. I love the theme of overcoming (or not overcoming) Survivor's Guilt. I love the references to the two earlier games, bringing back Miku, dealing with some of the fallout of the endings of those games.
I love how the game blurs reality and dreams, how Rei's house becomes progressively more haunted, how you have to go through the game twice in order to truly understand how to save everybody. It's a beautiful game, and it pains me that it was only released for one console (with limited digital releases for 1-2 successors). Hopefully someday it will join Fatal Frames IV and V in the more modern realm, though I know that Fatal Frame II is more likely.
I love to be spooked (so very much YES to a horror story). But I also love kitty cuddles, which is why Ruri is here along with her person Miku. Most of my prompts are going to be for Miku, but I would love Ruri to be a presence if at all possible in a Miku-heavy story.
Romance-wise... well, obviously nobody with the cat! Miku I'm happy to pair with Rei or Kei (or both) but please not with Mafuyu. It's a canon pairing and the reason I have the DNW I have on incest. (In regards to that storyline, I'd prefer you pretend the thing that happened offscreen that leads into the Fatal Frame V plotline for Miu be ignored if at all possible.)
Prompts:
* I would love to have Miku trying to cope in the days following Fatal Frame I, how she ends up with Yuu and Rei. A fic about Yuu helping Miku try to cope would be great.
* Miku coming to terms with her Survivor's Guilt with the help of Rei, Mio (assume good ending) and Kei (and maybe Yuu has a journal somewhere that may help her understand her brother better?).
* Miku tells Rei and Kei about how she acquired Ruri.
* A series of ficlets about Ruri and the members of her household, past and present.
* Ruri goes on an adventure! (If you're familiar with the visual novel Hustle Cat, I'd love her running into people who are in a situation like the characters in that game.)
How to get/How long to beat: As kind of mentioned above, this was a Playstation 2 game. It had a digital rerelease for the Playstation 3 (and possibly the Playstation 4) but that's not available now. You'd have to find a physical copy and a Playstation 2, unless you can somehow emulate it. That being said, Howlongtobeat puts this at 15-16 hours - though I've often taken much longer on this game. There are quite a few playthroughs for this game if you can't find a copy.
Boyfriend Dungeon (Worldbuilding)
This game had me at "Totally Platonic Friend Hangouts". I realize that most people play this hybrid roguelike and dating sim to Date Hot Swords, and I play it to Make Friends With A Bunch Of Cool People. (I'm the person who always gets the "you're proudly asexual" line at the end of the 2nd dungeon.)
While I think all the characters are interesting, what really interests me is the world they're in. People who can turn into weapons? Platonic and romantic relationships with wielders? The ability to turn into a weapons might be genetic? Popular media about people who can turn into weapons? Actual dungeons where you have to face your fears? Sign me up!
(If you want some worldbuilding notes to refer to, I've stuck some here.)
Character and romance-wise, while I'm looking for worldbuilding, I'm happy to have a fic that features pretty much anyone in the cast as long as the main emphasis is on building the world around them (if you're looking for specific characters to kick your muse into action, I think Sunder, Isaac, Seven, and Jonah have really good worldbuilding potential - Sunder himself doesn't do much for me as a character but it would be really cool to receive a worldbuilding story focused on him and Mandy, for example). I ask that you don't pair the Player Character with Cousin Jesse (for one, he's taken, two, he's related) and friendship only with Pocket, otherwise I'm cool with any other pairing.
Prompts:
* How long have people been able to turn into (melee) weapons? In historical times, did they tend to turn into the popular weapon of the day? (We know it's at least a couple of centuries.)
* How common is it to change weapon-forms? How conscious is the choice to become a particular weapon? After all, we have one character who apologizes for being "long and awkward" while another wishes that they were a different weapon form.
* How common are blacksmiths, given the fact that people can turn into weapons that no doubt need a good trained blacksmith occasionally?
* Pop culture! Tell me about the pop culture of this world and how it's different from our own.
How to get/how long to complete: Boyfriend Dungeon is available on Switch, Xbox, Playstation, and Steam. You can get most of the worldbuilding stuff in about 5-6 hours max, though there is a bit you'll miss if you don't at least get down to the bottom level of the bonus dungeon. There are also playthroughs if you are not inclined to buy or can't otherwise play.
