Press Start Letter 2019

[silverwill]

Dear Press Start Creator!

Welcome to my letter! I am really excited for this exchange and thrilled to see what you come up with! I'm not very good at writing these letters (or coming up with prompts as you will notice, and I especially tend to ramble so please bear with me) but I'm super excited for anything and everything you come up with, because more fanworks are always awesome!

These details are just here to give you some ideas if you need them, so please feel free to use your own ideas if none of these rambles inspire anything! I just want to see more fanworks for my fave fandoms! ♥

My AO3 name is Fortune_Maiden

Some things I like in fics:

• Humor - I like witty dialogue and banter, particularly if the humor is in the spirit of canon
• On that note, the spirit of canon in general!
• Adventures! Characters getting into various shenanigans!
• Worldbuilding. Stories that explore any kind of aspects of the setting, or fill in holes that canon hinted at but left open to interpretation. Missing scene fics are great and minor characters getting some love (and acknowledgement!) are also great.
• Exploring character dynamics and relationships. Family fluff and Friendship (blood-related families or found families) Bonus points for characters with undying loyalties, parent/child, or sibling-like bonds. Extra bonus points for tales of brotherly love. Mega bonus points for stupid brothers that obviously care about each other but fail at life communication.
• For Video Game fandoms: Working game mechanics into the story. Characters being aware that they are in a video game type of meta fics. Parodies and Satire are also great! Demolishing the fourth wall is always fun.
• Time Travel. There's just a special place in my heart for time travel stories!

DNWs:
• NSFW of any kind.
• AUs – Alternate setting ones specifically. I don't mind canon divergence & what ifs but I prefer the setting to be the one I'm already familiar with.

Below are some more fandom specific prompts. Please note that I am going off the assumption that you are familiar with the series we matched on, and am pretty liberal about spoilers in these prompts

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Fandom 1: Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth

Requested Characters:
Aiba Ami (Cyber Sleuth)
Amazawa Keisuke (Cyber Sleuth)
Group: Kuremi Kyoko & Aiba Ami
Shiramine Nokia (Cyber Sleuth)

I love Cyber Sleuth! I love the setting, and I love the game tackles various aspects and implications (and abuses) of a virtual life in Eden in the form of cases you tackle. I love how some of the cases can be absolutely silly (like the Mr. Navit case) and some can actually be pretty creepy and terrifying (like the Mr. Navit case) Anyway, should we match on this, I would love to see more detective agency shenanigans. Aiba taking on some kind of case. Kyoko showing her detective prowess, Coffee abuse…

Or maybe something post game, in the new world. Aiba & the real Kyoko. How do they adjust? How similar is the real Kyoko to the one we spent the entire adventure with? What kind of cases does they tackle now? How is everyone doing in general? What is Aiba's reunion with everyone else like? Any and all characters are welcome to appear, including those from Hacker’s Memory.

Or if Detective Agency stuff isn’t your thing (and not what we matched on), then gimme all the Nokia love! Nokia is easily my favorite character across both games for her silly hamminess & also determination. This girl decides she is going to form a hacking team and that’s what she does! And somehow it all works out! Some prompts for this I guess, could be her spending time with Agumon & Gabumon (or Omnimon), or her recruiting members for her group (like Yasusu), or her group going around and helping Digimon. Or people getting dragged into whatever mess she’s about to create and running the show behind the scenes. If you’re familiar with Hacker’s Memory, maybe something with her and Chitose? A missing scene of them meeting and planning the kidnapping? Chitose mentoring her team? Meeting again post-game? Their interactions in the game were great and I love the friendship they ended up forming. Chitose is probably one of the few hackers who does take her seriously.

On the Hacker's Memory side, how about some post-game Keisuke? He remembers the original world, and unlike the core cast of the original, is the only one in his friend group that does. How does this affect his relationships with Yu and Hudie? Does he ever meet up with Nokia's group and learn what they did? Does he resent them for it or drift closer to them? Or in the in-series setting, maybe some moments between Keisuke and his Digimon partners?

Anything with Digimon partners is always great! <3

Fandom Specific DNW: Two Aibas. I’d rather there just be one Aiba (your choice which), so no twin sibling/cousin/doppelganger please.

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Fandom 2: Resonance of Fate

Requested Characters:
Group: Leanne & Vashyron & Zephyr (RoF)
Group: Vashyron & Leanne (RoF)
Group: Vashyron & Zephyr (RoF)
Reanbell | Leanne
Vashyron (Resonance of Fate)
Zephyr (Resonance of Fate)

I really love Resonance of Fate. I love the setting, the atmosphere, the worldbuilding, the NPCs with changing dialogue, the relationship between the three leads...the actual story is kind of a mess, yes, but the characterization, setting and gameplay more than make up for that in my opinion. The world is so rich and mysterious if you go talking to all of the NPCs and reading the descriptions of items/locations.

I want to read any kind of story about Trio, either focusing on the group as a whole or one or two members of the group. For some specific prompts, maybe something like filling in missing scenes? RoF rarely makes clear how much time has passed between major events, such as Vashyron taking in Zephyr, or Leanne joining the group (that 'a year and a few months later' in the intro has always felt really questionable imo).

Maybe a story of Vasyron and Zephyr learning to get along, or Leanne's transformation from a sheltered girl into a Hunter. Or the characters acknowledging and reacting to things that happen between chapters, like Pater’s death. Or just a general mission fic, either something original or expanding on one of the many sidequests in the game. I honestly just really love the bonds and banter between the Trio so any kind of slice-of-life, missions, adventure, whatever story would be wonderful.

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Fandom 3: Kingdom Hearts

Requested Characters:
Group: Ienzo & Even & Braig & Dilan & Aeleus
Group: Larxene & Marluxia
Group: Xigbar & Xehanort
Strelitzia (Kingdom Hearts)
Xigbar (Kingdom Hearts)

Kingdom Hearts... who even knows what's happening in this series anymore! Kingdom Hearts X brought back my love for this series (yes really) in time for KH3, and though KH3 was kind of a mess, my favorite characters still got to shine a bit! I'm a big fan of Organization XIII since the CoM days so I was delighted to see them still alive and kicking! And of course, I love the plot and world of X and the tragic heroine whose story-line and relation revelation made me go WHAT!? (I got into UX right when the first Elrena update hit. It was wild.)

So anyway prompts... (full series spoilers ahoy)

Apprentices: I love the apprentices and the sorta family they are especially for Ienzo. I also like how they're all former villains who went along with Xehanort's schemes and banished their mentor, conducted human experimentation, and destroyed their world (among others). I like how we still don't have a full insight to what was happening back then. How much did they do before they became Nobodies? Were there lines they wouldn't cross back then? What ultimately made them give up their hearts? I welcome all the Apprentices at their worst! But I also welcome all of them as guardians to Ienzo, or atoning ex-villains, or even just idiots getting caught up in something convoluted (if there's one thing Kingdom Hearts is good at, it's getting people caught up in something convoluted). I put down the Apprentices here, but I'm open to stories about their Nobody-selves as well. I'm also fine with the focus being on some of the apprentices instead of the whole group.

Larxene & Marluxia: No I am still not over the fact that they knew each other thousands of years ago. Chain of Memories was my very first KH game, and I've always loved these two, as partners, a couple, whatever. I like the way they play off each other and their dynamic of Marluxia being fairly calm and graceful, while Larxene is brash and violent. I'd like to see more of their partnership, either as Nobodies or Somebodies (in UX times or even Post KH3) What suspicions did they have towards the Organization? Did they feel any past connection to each other? Maybe something with them planning the Castle Oblivion coup. I'm happy to see anything with Larxene and Marluxia being scheming bastards we've known and loved since Chain of Memories.

Xigbar & Xehanort (or just Xigbar): Oh man, where do I even begin with these two? Xigbar has always been one of my favorite characters and the more we learn about him, the more fascinating his relationship with Xehanort becomes. This guy is just playing sidekick and watching over an increasingly convoluted plot that spans over a decade. And that's not even the only plot he's watching over! I would love to see something exploring the increasingly ??? relationship between these two masterminds. Or maybe something where Xehanort's plans threaten to go off the rails (more than usual) and Xigbar has to pull overtime to get things back on track. Feel free to use either Braig/Xibar or any incarnation of Xehanort for this. He's got like 13 of them. (Personally I've always been partial to the amnesiac Terranort haha)
For Xigbar without Xehanort, I'd love to his relations with Ansem or the other Org members (not necessarily the Apprentices). He's just a really cool characters and one of those rare characters that seems to work well with anyone. Helps that he's putting on whatever mask gets him closer to his goal.
Or alternatively, what ever did happen to Subject X...

Strelitzia: One day we'll know who killed you ;_; Strelitzia's role in the story is brief but impactful and I do think she has enough going for her to avoid just being a fridged female. She had a heart powerful enough to be chosen to lead the Dandelions. Yet she subverts the whole 'My friends are my power' that this series tends to run on in that she didn't have friends. At best she had her Chirithy and some sort of passing acquaintanceship with Elrena (that I fully expect to be retconned into them being besties eventually). We know nothing about what her relationship with her brother was like. All we know is that she wanted to be friends with the protagonist, and she was one of the few characters who openly questioned Master Ava's 'save the few' plan. She's an interesting character and I'd really love to know more about her. I'm not really sure what kind of prompt to put here, but maybe something about her and her brother? Her and Elrena? Chirithy? Maybe a story where she finally meets the player. Or maybe something with her and the other Union Leaders she should have been a part of... All Strelly content is very welcome!

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Fandom 4: Persona 2

Requested Characters:
Group: Suou Tatsuya & Lisa Silverman & Mishina Eikichi
Group: Suou Tatsuya & Suou Katsuya

I’m honestly not really a fan of the Persona series overall, but I love Persona 2 so much! The story, the setting, the premise, the characters...I feel like it has a very mature and subtle approach to its story in a way that's not really found in newer games...

Also I just really love the ‘Rumors turning into Reality’ premise because come on! That is awesome!

Tatsuya & Lisa & Eikichi: I love this trio. Lisa and Eikichi have a great bickering dynamic and I love how Tatsuya slides in as Lisa's self-proclaimed boyfriend and Eikichi's self-proclaimed rival. Poor Tatsuya just wants to be left alone. Persona 2 is a very dark game, but I feel like this trio can allow for something lighthearted. Some prompts for this would be just their general dynamic as they run around Sumaru city. For prompts, maybe a rumor comes true that causes trouble for the party and they have to deal with that. (maybe they accidentally caused it and now have to clean it up before Maya and Yuki/Jun find out. Or maybe something set during some general down time for the either party. It’s never clear how much time is passing between events in these two games so at times it feels like the party is dealing with everything at once with no sleep. So I guess just some kind of scenario between plot points where they have some time to unwind and process everything and get to know each other more. That one scene in Innocent Sin in the bomb shelter was really sweet and I wish we had more of them!

Tatsuya & Katsuya: I once read a fic that described these two as two hedgehogs trying to hug and I love that description so much. These two are stupid tragic brothers who clearly love each other but have do clue how to actually deal with each other. Katsuya's a straight laced police officer and Tatsuya's perspective paints him as an uncaring jerk. Meanwhile in EP, when we're freed from his bias, we se Katsuya as an uptight dork who really worries about his brother and does what he can to keep him in line because someone has to! Anyway, for this pair I just want to see either side’s Katsuya being a Good Brother to Tatsuya (or trying anyway but Tatsuya’s too much of an emo teen). Or Tatsuya trying to be a Good Brother (for once) and Katsuya misunderstanding his intentions. Maybe something with their relationship with Maya. Or just Rumor shenanigans because P2 needs all the Rumor shenanigans fic. Basically just gimme all the stories of them trying to get along and understand each other and failing epicly!

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Fandom 5: Tales of Eternia

Requested Characters:
Group: Reid & Farah & Keele & Meredy
Farah Oersted (Tales of Eternia)

Ah Tales of Eternia... One of my favorite Tales games that almost no one has played. One of the things I like about Eternia is how in many ways it feels like a proto-Tales of Symphonia, being the first Tales game with a plot about needing to save two worlds and beginning to deconstruct some of the classic hero tropes like what type of person would readily rush headfirst into a journey to help a total stranger, consequences be damned. One other interesting thing is how it followed Tales of Destiny, a game with one of the largest playable character rosters, with a core group of 4 party members (plus 2 optional charas). Eternia has one of my favorite casts because of how much it focuses on the core group of Reid, Farah, Keele, and Meredy - three childhood friends with a shared trauma + the strange girl who spurs them to adventure. (actually this kinda sounds like the Graces characters... Sophie even has purple hair like Meredy... actually this sounds a LOT like some stuff in Graces...)

Group: Reid & Farah & Keele & Meredy: I love this core cast. I want to read all about their adventures and them learning to get along with each other on their journey. Keele reconnecting with Farah and Reid after being sent to school (and becoming an insufferable prick). Meredy learning about Inferian culture & the trio learning about Celestia. Farah getting everyone into Situations. Reid being the babysitter for these clowns. General travel pains. Anything and everything with this group would be great!

Farah: Or if you're not feeling the group setting, than just Farah. Farah is a great heroine and for the first half of the game she's the leader of the party, dragging Reid along and being super determined to save the world, because that's what anyone would do! Except that's not a normal thing at all and her attitude gets painfully deconstructed later. I just want to see Farah being Farah. Getting Reid into trouble, helping people out despite not having a clue what she's doing, and generally tackling the world with a "No Problem!" attitude to hide her past trauma. Maybe some more tales of the Careless Girl?

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Fandom 6: Trails of Cold Steel

Requested Characters:
Group: Fie Clausell & Instructor Beatrix
Group: Instructor Makarov & Alisa Reinford
Group: Mary Artheim & Elliot Craig
Group: Oliver Lenheim | Olivert Reise Arnor & Alfin Reise Arnor & Mueller Vander
Group: Olivier Lenheim | Olivert Reise Arnor & Alfin Reise Arnor

I really love the Trails series, and I just can't not request something from one of my favorite franchises!

Fie Clausell & Instructor Beatrix,Instructor Makarov & Alisa Reinford, Mary Artheim & Elliot Craig: I was pretty surprised to see these requests, but I love this!!! A lot!!! The Thors teachers defintiely deserve some love and I like the pairings selected here. Honestly I'd love to see anything with the teachers interacting with the selected student. Beatrix having teatime with Fie who sometimes appears at the infirmary to nap. Makarov and Alisa bonding over them both being from Roer. Elliot, with his general awkwardness and foot-in-mouth moments around nobles early on, dealing with his club advisor being a Noble and Mary dealing with her own struggles as a new inexperienced teacher. Or maybe something with them after the civil war, the teachers giving guidance to the students who are graduating early to pursue various other goals. This is honestly an awesome prompt and I feel like there's a lot that can be done with any of these student-teacher combos!

Olivier & Alfin (+Optional Mueller): Imperial Siblings! Imperial Siblings + Beleaguered bodyguard! Olivier and Mueller have been my favorite characters since the Sky days, and Alfin (when she's not shipping Elise with her brother) is a delight! I like how she is very much a female Olivier in some ways with her being pretty level headed and composed but hiding it behind a silly trolling side. And hitting Olivier with a random paper fan in her first appearance. I'd love to see some sibling interactions between the two of them. Maybe both of them causing trouble for Mueller. Or just bonding and discussing Erebonian politics (I have a huge weakness for Alfin in political situations and wanting to see her taking charge a little as well). Or something based on that official artwork of the two of them at the piano while Mueller watches. Or Alfin having to reign in her brother's antics. Or Olivier having to reign in his sister's antics (or who are we kidding, he's actively encouraging them every step of the way). Meanwhile Mueller is forever suffering.

Fandom Specific DNW: No Sen 3/4 Spoilers please!