Chocolate Box Letter
Jan. 5th, 2019 05:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
osprey_archerGreetings, Chocolate Box writer! Thank you so much for writing for me! It’s been a while since I’ve done an exchange, but this one is so fun and low pressure that it seemed like a good way to wade back in.
Things I like
Hurt/comfort
Fraught character dynamics
Characters with an unequal investment in their relationship - unrequited love, or love that is requited but one character feels it much more strongly than the other
Pining
Loyalty/fealty
Ride or die friendships
Food descriptions
Holidays
Things I don’t like
Character death (unless it’s canonical, in which case that’s fine)
Natsume Yuujincho
Natsume Takashi/Tanuma Kaname
Natsume Takashi & Taki Tooru & Tanuma Kaname
I’ve only just finished the fourth season of this show, so don’t spoil me for the later seasons, please. I love everything about this show, but probably my very favorite part is how Natsume is slowly acquiring friends who know about his powers and want to help him when dangerous yokai threaten - even though their efforts are handicapped by the fact that their own powers aren’t nearly as strong as Natsume’s.
The episode where Natsume gets stuck in a jar and Tanuma comes up with a scheme to get him out… only to land in trouble himself! And he’s so concerned he put Natsume in danger! BE STILL MY HEART. A scenario like this could lead to all sorts of angsty, hurt-comforty scenarios - either shipfic or friendship fic.
But if you want something more light-hearted, I’d also be happy with something lighthearted where Natsume hangs out with Tanuma or Tanuma and Taki, and for once no yokai interrupt and they all just have a good time.
I also love the bits in this show that reference Japanese festivals and folklore, so if you want to do something with that, go for it! I have a casual anime fan’s knowledge of these things, so don’t feel that you need to go wild with research.
The Haunting of Hill House
Theo & Eleanor
Theo/Eleanor
I read this book just this year and it blew my tiny mind. I love the subtle growing menace of the house and the thorny relationship between Theo and Eleanor. They’ve got this instant connection and Eleanor is so lonely and starved for companionship that she becomes almost instantly deeply invested in their friendship, far more so than Theo: they’ve known each other for one week and she’s telling Theo that she intends to follow Theo home at the end of the summer like a lost dog.
A few possible story ideas:
A Theo’s-eye-view of their friendship. What is she thinking when Eleanor tells her that she’s going to follow Theo home - or when Eleanor climbs the disintegrating spiral staircase in the library - or at the very end?
Alternatively: there’s a frisson of erotic attraction between them, at least on Eleanor’s end, and I’d love it if you played with that. Theo tries to teach Eleanor to dance, or kisses Eleanor’s cheek, or just grabs her by the hand and drags her off to explore. Maybe one night when they’re sharing a room, Theo can’t stand the tension anymore and comes into Eleanor’s bed - or Eleanor thinks about slipping into Theo’s?
I feel that Eleanor would never actually go ahead with it, but maybe. She might be driven to it in extremity.
The Spy Who Dumped Me
Morgan Freeman/Audrey Stockton
Morgan Freeman/Sebastian Henshaw/Audrey Stockton
Morgan Freeman/Wendy
This was one of my favorite movies in 2018. I love the ridiculous spy hijinks and Morgan and Audrey’s wisecracking rapport and Morgan’s ludicrous delightful OTT crush on Wendy.
For Morgan/Audrey, I’d be equally happy with pre-movie fun times (I feel that Morgan is the kind of friend who would have sudden Enthusiasms, like, “Have you ever tried BASE jumping, Audrey?”) or with post-movie spy shenanigans. (You know what would be hilarious? Morgan under the influence of truth serum. Audrey thinks that Morgan already has no filter, but LITTLE DOES SHE KNOW…)
And if you go the latter route, you can always add Sebastian to the mix if you so choose. Is he jealous of Morgan and Audrey’s closeness? Ever so slightly terrified of Morgan? Morgan strikes me as one of the least jealous people in existence so she’s probably not jealous exactly of Audrey & Sebastian, but if they’re together and she’s not part of that yet I could see her wanting to get in on the action. By means of a ridiculous Morgan plan, naturally.
Or possibly she’s too distracted by her crush on Wendy to worry about it! I kind of love exuberant unrequited enthusiasm for this one: Morgan knows her feelings are not returned and this bothers her not a jot as she attempts to win Wendy’s affection. And perhaps succeeds, at least slightly? Does Wendy becoming unwillingly fond of her most irritating recruit? Morgan brings her pieces of intelligence like a cat bringing its owner a dead mouse and Wendy acts long-suffering, but once Morgan is gone she gazes down at the flashdrive or encoded message or whatever and a small smile touches her lips.
Agent Carter
Peggy Carter/Dottie Underwood
More spies! I live for Dottie Underwood’s confused “Do I want to kill her or be her or be with her?” crush on Peggy Carter. I love any scenario where they are forced to work together or even just so share space with each other - all the forced proximity scenarios would be great for this one. They are snowed in - or handcuffed together - or handcuffed to a dungeon wall - or just plain old stuck in the car for a long ride. How do they cope? What do they talk about?
Maybe the two of them start bragging about their World War II experiences (“You got shot? That’s nothing! I got run over by a tank!”) but end up accidentally bonding.
I also love the historical possibilities with this one. We know that Peggy was involved in the espionage business a long time and of course it’s not like Dottie can quit the Red Room, so that’s decades of potential nemesis-hood to explore. Does Peggy ever learn more about Dottie? For instance, her real Russian name. Or details about life in the Red Room? Either through Dottie or through other channels, and it changes the way Peggy deals with Dottie.
Or something near the end of their careers, when they’re looking back on the fall of the Soviet Union, Hank Pym’s defection from SHIELD, Desert Storm, Howard Stark’s death (does Dottie know more than she’s telling about who did it?)... all the ways that the world has changed and all the ways that it hasn’t. (If you go this route, I’d prefer it to be set before Peggy starts losing her memory: it’s melancholy enough as it is.)
Things I like
Hurt/comfort
Fraught character dynamics
Characters with an unequal investment in their relationship - unrequited love, or love that is requited but one character feels it much more strongly than the other
Pining
Loyalty/fealty
Ride or die friendships
Food descriptions
Holidays
Things I don’t like
Character death (unless it’s canonical, in which case that’s fine)
Natsume Yuujincho
Natsume Takashi/Tanuma Kaname
Natsume Takashi & Taki Tooru & Tanuma Kaname
I’ve only just finished the fourth season of this show, so don’t spoil me for the later seasons, please. I love everything about this show, but probably my very favorite part is how Natsume is slowly acquiring friends who know about his powers and want to help him when dangerous yokai threaten - even though their efforts are handicapped by the fact that their own powers aren’t nearly as strong as Natsume’s.
The episode where Natsume gets stuck in a jar and Tanuma comes up with a scheme to get him out… only to land in trouble himself! And he’s so concerned he put Natsume in danger! BE STILL MY HEART. A scenario like this could lead to all sorts of angsty, hurt-comforty scenarios - either shipfic or friendship fic.
But if you want something more light-hearted, I’d also be happy with something lighthearted where Natsume hangs out with Tanuma or Tanuma and Taki, and for once no yokai interrupt and they all just have a good time.
I also love the bits in this show that reference Japanese festivals and folklore, so if you want to do something with that, go for it! I have a casual anime fan’s knowledge of these things, so don’t feel that you need to go wild with research.
The Haunting of Hill House
Theo & Eleanor
Theo/Eleanor
I read this book just this year and it blew my tiny mind. I love the subtle growing menace of the house and the thorny relationship between Theo and Eleanor. They’ve got this instant connection and Eleanor is so lonely and starved for companionship that she becomes almost instantly deeply invested in their friendship, far more so than Theo: they’ve known each other for one week and she’s telling Theo that she intends to follow Theo home at the end of the summer like a lost dog.
A few possible story ideas:
A Theo’s-eye-view of their friendship. What is she thinking when Eleanor tells her that she’s going to follow Theo home - or when Eleanor climbs the disintegrating spiral staircase in the library - or at the very end?
Alternatively: there’s a frisson of erotic attraction between them, at least on Eleanor’s end, and I’d love it if you played with that. Theo tries to teach Eleanor to dance, or kisses Eleanor’s cheek, or just grabs her by the hand and drags her off to explore. Maybe one night when they’re sharing a room, Theo can’t stand the tension anymore and comes into Eleanor’s bed - or Eleanor thinks about slipping into Theo’s?
I feel that Eleanor would never actually go ahead with it, but maybe. She might be driven to it in extremity.
The Spy Who Dumped Me
Morgan Freeman/Audrey Stockton
Morgan Freeman/Sebastian Henshaw/Audrey Stockton
Morgan Freeman/Wendy
This was one of my favorite movies in 2018. I love the ridiculous spy hijinks and Morgan and Audrey’s wisecracking rapport and Morgan’s ludicrous delightful OTT crush on Wendy.
For Morgan/Audrey, I’d be equally happy with pre-movie fun times (I feel that Morgan is the kind of friend who would have sudden Enthusiasms, like, “Have you ever tried BASE jumping, Audrey?”) or with post-movie spy shenanigans. (You know what would be hilarious? Morgan under the influence of truth serum. Audrey thinks that Morgan already has no filter, but LITTLE DOES SHE KNOW…)
And if you go the latter route, you can always add Sebastian to the mix if you so choose. Is he jealous of Morgan and Audrey’s closeness? Ever so slightly terrified of Morgan? Morgan strikes me as one of the least jealous people in existence so she’s probably not jealous exactly of Audrey & Sebastian, but if they’re together and she’s not part of that yet I could see her wanting to get in on the action. By means of a ridiculous Morgan plan, naturally.
Or possibly she’s too distracted by her crush on Wendy to worry about it! I kind of love exuberant unrequited enthusiasm for this one: Morgan knows her feelings are not returned and this bothers her not a jot as she attempts to win Wendy’s affection. And perhaps succeeds, at least slightly? Does Wendy becoming unwillingly fond of her most irritating recruit? Morgan brings her pieces of intelligence like a cat bringing its owner a dead mouse and Wendy acts long-suffering, but once Morgan is gone she gazes down at the flashdrive or encoded message or whatever and a small smile touches her lips.
Agent Carter
Peggy Carter/Dottie Underwood
More spies! I live for Dottie Underwood’s confused “Do I want to kill her or be her or be with her?” crush on Peggy Carter. I love any scenario where they are forced to work together or even just so share space with each other - all the forced proximity scenarios would be great for this one. They are snowed in - or handcuffed together - or handcuffed to a dungeon wall - or just plain old stuck in the car for a long ride. How do they cope? What do they talk about?
Maybe the two of them start bragging about their World War II experiences (“You got shot? That’s nothing! I got run over by a tank!”) but end up accidentally bonding.
I also love the historical possibilities with this one. We know that Peggy was involved in the espionage business a long time and of course it’s not like Dottie can quit the Red Room, so that’s decades of potential nemesis-hood to explore. Does Peggy ever learn more about Dottie? For instance, her real Russian name. Or details about life in the Red Room? Either through Dottie or through other channels, and it changes the way Peggy deals with Dottie.
Or something near the end of their careers, when they’re looking back on the fall of the Soviet Union, Hank Pym’s defection from SHIELD, Desert Storm, Howard Stark’s death (does Dottie know more than she’s telling about who did it?)... all the ways that the world has changed and all the ways that it hasn’t. (If you go this route, I’d prefer it to be set before Peggy starts losing her memory: it’s melancholy enough as it is.)
