Chocolate Box Exchange 2019!

[kiraly]

Hello there, chocolatier! I’m Kiraly, and I’m so thrilled to have you create something for me! I’m sure I’ll love whatever you come up with, so this letter is merely a list of suggestions to give you ideas. I hope you’ll find something to inspire you, but as long as you keep my DNWs in mind, feel free to do as you like! If you need more ideas, you can check out my previous letters. You can also find me on Tumblr: worldsentwined, or check out my AO3: Kiraly

General Likes:
Cute, fluffy stuff. It probably isn’t possible to write something too sweet, so feel free to pour the sugar on! I don’t mind a bit of angst, but it has to have a happy ending. For gen fics, I love to see characters building friendships, working together, going on adventures, getting into (and out of) trouble. Anything with characters out in nature is pretty great too. For shippy fics, I have a huge weakness for cuddling, (mild) hurt/comfort, and, uh...characters getting soaked and having to snuggle to warm up, haha. (Bonus points if there’s snow or ice involved, since it’s winter in my part of the world). Kisses are good (awkward or sweet or steamy). I’m also totally down for things like “characters have to share a bed for some reason” or other situations where the characters kind of get thrown together and then develop feelings for each other.

I’m not a big Valentine’s Day person, but I do enjoy the idea of over-the-top ridiculous punny cards, or one character going overboard with gifts to try to impress the other. So if you want to write or draw something related to that holiday, keep it silly and I’m sure I’ll enjoy it.

I’ve requested art or fic for every fandom, so do whichever you prefer! For art, I really enjoy a wide variety of styles, from sketches to watercolors to digital pieces. I love bright, saturated colors if you decide to work in color, but I also love greyscale and black and white. Since it’s winter here, I’d love to see characters bundled up in warm clothes, or cuddling by a fireplace with a hot beverage, or having fun in the snow together. I think most of my fic prompts will work for art too, but if you don’t see anything you like, feel free to do your own thing. :)

Dislikes (Do Not Want):
Character death or maiming*, including (for SSSS) characters getting infected who do not do so in canon. (More on that in the fandom-specific sections). Violence beyond what is canon-typical. Abusive relationships. Sexual violence of any kind. Explicit sex (allusions to sex or situations that get kind of steamy are okay, just...keep it teen rated or lower, please). It’s also probably best to avoid AUs (unless otherwise specified) or unrequested crossovers.

Please do not include romantic pairings other than the ones I’ve requested, with the exception of background canon relationships.
*Note: For the Queen’s Thief fandom, obviously mentions of a certain past maiming are acceptable, I just don’t want a story dwelling on it.

Now, on to the fandoms!

City of Hunger

Requested Pairings:Lalli Hotakainen/Emil Västerström, Reynir Árnason/Onni Hotakainen, Tuuri Hotakainen/Sigrun Eide

Okay, so we don’t know too much about this canon yet, but the worldbuilding details we’ve been getting are tantalizing. Onni and Lalli are cyborgs! Reynir is some kind of medic! Tuuri is Mysteriously Absent which means you have my permission to have her be all kinds of badass (cyborg, AI, ghost, queen of the ice spiders - go wild!)

Emil/Lalli: It’s not clear yet what Emil’s job is, but since we know Lalli is a cyborg I’d be pretty excited to see any story relating to that. Has Emil ever met a cyborg before? Is he surprised/impressed by whatever extra abilities it gives Lalli? Does he think the metal arms are super sexy? Really I’d be up for anything about how these two meet, or something based on the last panel of this post (“I fell into the sea, stupid!”) or something else if it occurs to you.

Reynir/Onni: On the subject of that post, it’d be neat to see a story where Reynir is the one who has to calm Onni down after his shouting match with the official-looking person we see there. Maybe this is how they meet, and it starts off badly but then they keep running into each other? Maybe Reynir really wants to help, but he hasn’t gotten much experience working on cyborgs yet, and hey, maybe they could talk sometime so Reynir could learn more about it? (Insert “studying biology” joke here). I’m also here for a story where Onni and Lalli are trying to find Tuuri, and Reynir gets caught up in their quest on accident but sticks around.

Sigrun/Tuuri: Since we have no actual canon info on Tuuri, feel free to do whatever you want with these two and how they meet. Maybe Sigrun is some kind of mercenary, or an explorer who’s looking for people to accompany her on a mission? Maybe Tuuri is missing, and Onni and Lalli are on the hunt for her, and a brave captain agrees to help them on their search...and ends up falling for the girl she sees in the “missing person” info. Maybe Tuuri is the artificial intelligence installed on Sigrun’s ship to keep her from doing reckless things, but a glitch in her programming makes her all-too-willing to go along with Sigrun’s schemes. I’m really excited by the idea of Tuuri as a cyborg, so I’d love to see that incorporated somehow.


In Other Lands

Requested Pairings: Elliot Schafer/Luke Sunborn, Golden-Hair-Scented-Like-Summer/Serene-Heart-In-The-Chaos-Of-Battle, Gregory Sunborn & Luke Sunborn, Elliot Schafer & Serene-Heart-in-the-Chaos-of-Battle & Luke Sunborn, Louise Sunborn & Luke Sunborn

In general, I’d love a story about either of the romantic pairs (or both of them!) after the events of the book. Where do they end up? What new challenges do they run into (and how do they make everything worse before it gets better?) Are there mermaids? And although I love the shippy stuff, if you want to focus more on the friendship between the group of them, that’s fine too. (Bless whoever added that tag to the collection).

Elliot/Luke: I love this pair so much! Elliot is a little sass-bucket and Luke is a ball of feelings wrapped in muscles and feathers. Their romance (or what counts as a romance, when one party is totally oblivious for most of it) is one of my favorite parts of the book. I think it’d be cool to see something from Luke’s perspective, especially during the events of the book. When did he first realize he loved Elliot? What was he thinking during Elliot’s various mad schemes (especially the whole thing with the school play)? On the other hand, it’d also be fun to see how the two of them grow into their relationship post-canon. I imagine there might be various bumps in the road as they figure out how to be boyfriends, so I’d love to see that explored. Alternatively, if you want to create something that’s entirely fluffy cuddling, I won’t say no to that either. ;)

Golden/Serene: So elven gender roles (and the hilarious contrast between them and human ones) are one of my favorite parts about this canon. Which makes me love Golden and Serene’s relationship even more, because we get to see Serene learn that maybe Golden isn’t such a delicate flower after all. So I’d love to see more interactions like that - Golden learning more about Serene’s life as a warrior, and constantly surprising her with the things he’s capable of (while still enjoying things like nice clothes and fancy hair).

Elliot & Serene & Luke: As I mentioned with the romantic prompts, I’d love to see these three making their way through life after the events of the book. But I’d also love to see something set during canon, maybe some of the misadventures Elliot refers to that we don’t actually see (the attempts at magic, the incident with the food processor, etc.) Honestly anything with these three interacting would be wonderful.

Gregory & Luke: Okay, so I saw this in the tagset and immediately realized how amazing a story about them would be. Like, they’re basically polar opposites on the Sunborn Sex Scale, which is to say that Gregory’s entire existence seems to make Luke uncomfortable and embarrassed. I would dearly love to see Gregory trying to give Luke advice (and Luke just noping out of it) or trying to find ways to relate to him and utterly failing. Or, to go in a different direction, maybe a time they found they had something in common after all? Also, I would be SUPER PLEASED with some epistolary fic, since we see in canon that they had some written correspondence. Maybe they keep it up after the events with the elves? Maybe Gregory keeps sending Luke unsolicited sex advice and Luke keeps having to hide his letters so Elliot can’t find them? The possibilities are endless.

Louise & Luke: I love me some Sunborns (yes, sorry Elliot, everyone loves them) and I love me some sibling stories, so a story about these two would be great! Maybe a quiet moment during the campaign when they’re stationed together in canon, or an earlier memory of the two of them waiting for their parent(s) to come home from a campaign. Or something from their early life (I know Louise is only 5 years older, but I can imagine her showing Tiny!Luke how to use a sword or something). Also, on the subject of embarrassing Luke I can totally see Louise being all “oh, we can talk about hot guys now, nice!” when Luke comes out, and the fallout from that.


The Queen’s Thief

Can you believe we only have a few months until Return of the Thief comes out??? I can’t! In the meantime, I would love to read a story or see some art about these amazing characters.

Requested Pairingss: Attolia | Irene/Eugenides, Costis Orimenides/Kamet

Attolia/Eugenides: I know this ship gets all the canon love, but one can never have too much of a favorite ship, right? Right. Anyway, I’d love to see deleted scenes from any of the books (especially post QoA) or little moments alone when they can just relax and unwind from the stress of court life. Bonus points for anything involving the secret passage between their bedrooms, or Irene’s private reactions to Eugenides’ stunts with the court.

Costis/Kamet: I love the slow build of their relationship in canon, all the ways they gradually learn to trust each other and every time Kamet thinks of running off and instead chooses to stay. I would actually love to see a story where Costis figures out he’s the new Thief of Eddis/Attolia (there are various theories about that floating around, and I think the events of TaT basically confirmed this - Costis stole Kamet). Anyway, it’d be cool to read a story where Costis figures this out...or where Kamet does, and the two of them have to figure out what that means. Anything post-canon would honestly be great, with the two of them going off together and starting their new lives as spies researchers. The line about Costis going out and “bringing home grubby specimens to fill the house” makes me smile - I love the thought of these two finding a rhythm together, and Kamet rolling his eyes about Costis bringing in yet another plant.


A Redtail’s Dream

Requested Pairings: Jonna Kuikka & Joona Kuikka & Hannu Viitanen, Jonna Kuikka & Joona Kuikka & Jouko Kuikka, Jonna Kuikka/Riikka Skärsholm, Hannu Viitanen & Ville, Joona Kuikka/Hannu Viitanen, Pikku Jänis | Little Hare & Tuomi Kinnunen

I love the possibilities with this canon - we get glimpses of what life is like in Hokanniemi, but so much is left up to the imagination. I think it’d be especially interesting to see how Hannu and Ville adjust to normal life after their adventure, or the possibility of an SSSS crossover, where the characters from this story are faced with the Rash Apocalypse.

Hannu & Ville: In general, I love the thought of the two of them going through various “human training” ordeals. How does Ville learn to read? To wash dishes? Does he ever get over his fear of the vacuum cleaner? And then there are all the social aspects of being human, like personal boundaries (I bet Ville doesn’t have them) or holidays, or dancing, or...you get the idea. I also imagine it would take some time to get used to having different senses as a human, so feel free to explore that as well.

For the more supernatural side of things, it’d be cool to read a story in which Hannu and Ville continue to get pulled into the animal spirits’ drama, or start to notice other spirit-related things. I like to think that after their experience with the dream quest, they might be more sensitive to such things in the future.

Jonna/Riikka: I’d love a story about these two being cute together, going on dates or just enjoying each other’s company. Maybe how their families react to the news that they’re dating (I like any range between shocked surprise and “lol of course we’ve known all along”). Maybe how they got together in the first place - who asked who out? Was there pining? How do they make their relationship work when they both have other life/family obligations that keep them busy? Because Jonna is a bit of a goofball and Riikka is more serious, I’d love to see them embracing each other’s character quirks.

Jonna & Joona & Juoko: (And feel free to include Oona, too!) The Kuikka family as a group just kind of fascinate me - I’m SO curious about how Jouko is a single dad raising his kids on his own but one of those kids is 18 years younger than the other two. I would love to see some exploration of that, whether you take the “Oona is a magical baby found in the woods” approach or the “Mama Kuikka left when Jonna and Joona were kids, came back when they were teens for a brief stint, had Oona and left again” theory or something else I haven’t thought of.

On the subject of Jouko, I feel like that man deserves a medal and also a vacation. So something where he gets a break (maybe the kids get off their lazy butts to do something nice for him?) would be excellent.

Jonna & Joona & Hannu: I am all about stories with these three (and any of their other friends) getting up to mischief as kids, or slightly different kinds of trouble as they get older. Bonus points if the joke is on Hannu, because I feel like the twins would be pretty merciless about teasing him.

Joona/Hannu: I like the idea of these two slowly moving from simple friendship to something more complicated, especially because Hannu is so bad at feelings. So a story about them getting together for the first time, or coming together in secret because Hannu doesn’t want to be public about their relationship, or even Hannu finally giving in and admitting that what’s going on between them is important to him - any or all of these would be lovely. (I feel like this ship works more easily pre-canon, when Hannu doesn’t have Ville as a human roommate, but if you want to have them sneaking around Ville and Hannu being angsty about Ville’s secret, I won’t stop you.)

Tuomi & Little Hare: There have been some pretty good fics about these two recently, and I love the idea of them meeting again post-canon. I subscribe to the headcanon that in an SSSS crossover the characters who had animal spirit companions in the dream world end up becoming mages, so a crossover story with Mage!Tuomi figuring out how to use his kantele for magic with Little Hare’s help would be neat. Or something where they meet over and over in dreams, or where Tuomi feels a connection to this hare he keeps meeting in the woods, or somehow Little Hare becomes human - there are lots of possibilities, so have fun!


Stand Still Stay Silent

Requested Pairings: Agneta/Sigrun Eide, Aksel Eide & Berit Eide, Aksel Eide/Sigrun Larsen, Ensi Hotakainen/Author of the Info Pages, Lalli Hotakainen/Emil Västerström, Onni Hotakainen/Bjarni Árnason, Reynir Árnason/Onni Hotakainen, Michael Madsen/Signe Sørensen, Reynir Árnason/Tuuri Hotakainen, Tuuri Hotakainen/Sigrun Eide

A note about my “do not want” for death/infection with the Rash: In general, I don’t want to read a story about any requested characters getting infected with the Rash, though Prologue characters worrying that they’ve been infected (when it turns out they haven’t been) is fine. And I just...don’t want to read fic about Tuuri’s death. If you’re writing Y90 characters, I’d prefer you take one of the following approaches regarding Tuuri:

*Canon-divergent AU where she doesn’t get infected and does not die, or
*Something in the canon setting, but taking place before she is infected, or
*Something in the canon setting where she is gone, but which is about other characters and doesn’t really focus on her death, or
*A fix-it fic that involves her coming back to life somehow.

Anyway, on to the pairings!

Agneta/Sigrun: Yeah, I’m officially on the Signeta train (pun absolutely intended). This is the best kind of rarepair - two ladies who have never met in canon, but whose hypothetical meeting would be totally awesome. I can see them meeting somehow in the course of their respective jobs (possibly Sigrun has to take the train somewhere) and hitting it off - or not hitting it off right away, but growing on each other. I also like the thought of the two of them going back to one of their homes and having to deal with cultural differences. Straight-laced, rule-following train lady being dropped in the midst of Norwegian Viking culture - it would be pretty great.

Aksel & Berit: I love how devoted Aksel is to his grandmother, and how determined he is to take care of her even though she’s perfectly capable of fending for herself. I get the impression she might be the only family he has, so I’d love a pre-canon story about Berit raising him. Or, after the Rash outbreak, seeing Berit teaching Aksel survival skills, and Aksel doing his best to protect her in this strange new dangerous world.

Aksel/Sigrun: I have a great weakness for these two, simply because Aksel is so earnest and Sigrun is, canonically, “kind of an ass”. I love stories where Aksel starts to toughen up, but never loses his compassion or kindness, and where Sigrun softens towards him while still being tough as nails when it comes to taking on the world. It’d be neat to see speculation about their relationship pre-canon, and also what happened post-canon to get them together.

Emil/Lalli: I love how Emil and Lalli have come together despite all the obstacles in their way - language barriers, different backgrounds, magic/no magic. Neither of them have had a lot of friends before, so finding friendship in each other - and then more than friendship - makes me happy. I absolutely lost my mind when Lalli chose to follow Emil on page 25 of the new adventure, and the little montage of their shopping trip is so great! Honestly, if you wrote me a shopping trip story or drew art of that, it would be everything I could hope for. Otherwise, some other general likes for these two: cuddles, cookies, annoying the rest of the crew with public displays of affection (or trying to hide their relationship and failing), successes and failures at learning languages, incidents in their shared dreams, or finding their way around Reynir’s family farm. Also, I’m kind of a sucker for post-canon established relationship fics with these two, so feel free to run with something like that too.

Ensi/Author of the Info Pages: If you’ve read any of my Dreamworld Ladies fics, you’ll probably remember that my take on the Author of the Info Pages is an Icelandic mage named Rúna Snorradóttir who basically shows up at various points in Ensi’s life and annoys/falls in love with her. Ensi is...not always pleased by her presence, but she usually lets her stick around for a while. (I kind of headcanon Ensi as aromantic, so the falling in love is not mutual). So some story about the two of them would be great - future meetings in the dream world, Rúna’s reaction to finding out about Ensi’s one-night-stand with Ukko-Pekka, or the two of them meeting much later in life - any or all of these would be great. (Obviously, if we’ve only matched on this one pair and you want to do your own thing with the Author, that’s fine too!)

Michael/Signe: Oh my gosh, I love the chemistry these two have in their portion of the prologue. Signe’s sarcasm, Michael’s bad attitude, and the way they soften towards each other when Michael gets fired and Signe tries to cheer him up. I love the thought of them ending up on Michael’s family farm, growing closer as the world falls apart around them, and having to deal with family issues at the same time. Bonus points for anything involving Signe wearing one of Michael’s giant sweaters, because I’m weak for that. Also, they named their kid after a cat and I can’t get over that, so a story about the naming of Magnus (the human) would be cool too.

Onni/Bjarni: Okay, so these two haven’t met in canon and are unlikely to HAVE MET IN CANON! Even if they didn’t really interact much, they are in the same place right now! Anyway, at some point my little shipper brain smashed them together and decided they’d be cute. I feel like they could bond over both having a non-immune sibling out in the dangerous Silent World (assuming an AU where Bjarni ends up in Mora, or where somehow they strike up a friendship over the radio?) I also feel like Bjarni’s “and that’s when I knew what death looks like” shows he’s had his share of dark times, so the two of them might comfort each other through nightmares or other issues caused by their past trauma. Also, since the whole crew is going to Reynir’s house as I type this, some fluffy thing with Bjarni showing Onni the ropes around the farm would be great too.

And if you’re taking the art route, I would be absolutely delighted by any art of these two (especially kissing! Ahhh!) Because there’s so little fanart of Bjarni out there.

Reynir/Onni: I really enjoy their various dreamworld encounters, and Onni’s constant grumpiness failing in the face of Reynir’s determined enthusiasm. It’d be fun to see more stories or art with them exploring the dreamworld, and also now that they’ve met in real life, how that changes their relationship. Since they’ve just arrived at Reynir’s family farm, it’d be great to see how Onni reacts to that - and if he sees Reynir in a different light when they’re in a context where Reynir is actually competent. Or, since Lalli left Onni to follow Emil on his shopping trip, I’d love to read a canon-divergent story where Onni decides to take Reynir up on his offer to go sightseeing after all. (Bonus points if Onni gets to weigh in on Reynir’s family’s discussion about his magic!)

Reynir/Tuuri: I love these two a lot, but I have a really hard time thinking of prompts for them with the way canon has shaken out. So if you can think of a way to write them that’s sweet and fluffy and unlikely to make me sad, go for it! Or maybe a story where Reynir goes into Tuonela to fetch Tuuri, a la Orpheus, and manages to bring her out (successfully) could be neat.

Sigrun/Tuuri: I love how these two have a shared enthusiasm for adventure despite having completely different backgrounds. And I can definitely see Tuuri having a crush on Sigrun during the mission (“You’re so tall!”) and Sigrun growing steadily more impressed with Tuuri’s competence as time goes on. Post-canon, if you choose to go with a version of events where things work out okay for Tuuri, I’d love to see the two of them figuring out how a relationship will work given their different backgrounds. Or a story where Sigrun goes charging into Tuonela to bring Tuuri back (somehow?) would also be cool!

And I think that’s it! Anonymous comments are enabled, and anon asks on my Tumblr, so if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Hey! As a head's up, the link in your prompts (or at least one of your prompts) is wrong :)

[(Anonymous)]

Sorry, to clarify, your sign up prompts (not this entry)

[kiraly]

Ah, thank you! I'll admit at first I was confused because all the links in this were working, but then I checked my signup and realized one of the prompts got some extra numbers thrown in at the end. Thanks for telling me!