#i like hedwyn the most here... and ae and sir gilman i think

[laughingpinecone]

Chocobox 2019 letter

I am laughingpineapple on AO3

This year’s theme is, apparently, out-of-left-field intra-party interactions (plus the occasional ship). For any of these, I’d be thrilled to get any small situation or event that highlights the dynamic you see between these characters - show me what ties them together, what could make them drop their barriers with the other person. Or a big situation! I like plotty fic too! But especially if we matched on some bizarre “&” combo that never even interacted in canon, I’d love to simply see what a scene between them could be like.

All requests are art or fic - for art, my fave kind of fanart is based on interaction. It can be super simple - one character makes a face and the other one emotes accordingly, or they’re having a cup of coffee together, walking together, chatting, that kind of stuff. Anything that shows that they enjoy each other’s company, or have each other’s back, or get on each other’s nerves but with gusto. Slice of life fanart, if you will.

Likes: worldbuilding, slice of life (doubly so if the event the fic focuses on is made up but canon-specific), missing moments, 5+1 and similar formats, bonding and emotional support/intimacy, physical intimacy, lingering touches, loyalty, casefic, surrealism, established relationships, future fic, hurt/comfort or just comfort from the ample canon hurt, throwing characters into non-canon environments, banter, functional relationships between dysfunctional individuals, unexplained mysteries, bittersweet moods, journal/epistolary fic, dreams and memories and identities, canon-adjacent tropey plots , outsider POV, UST, exploration of secondary bits of canon, leaning on the uniqueness of the canon setting/mood, found families, characters reuniting after a long and/or harrowing time, friends-to-lovers, road trips, cuddling, wintry moods, flannel, ridiculous concepts played straight,sensory details, sickfic

Cool with: any tense, any pov, any rating, plotty, not plotty, gen, shippy, IF, nerdy canon references, unrequested characters popping up

DNW: non-canonical rape, non-canonical children, unrequested ships, canon retellings, consent issues

Final Fantasy VI 

Gogo & Cyan Garamonde

Mog & Terra Branford

Sabin Rene Figaro & Celes Chere

Sabin Rene Figaro & Cyan Garamonde

Strago Magus & Celes Chere

I recently replayed FFVI and truly fell in love with it for the first time. The game does a wonderful job of juggling such a big party but I spent all the downtime daydreaming about all the intra-party dynamics I could think of - these characters are all so cool and should talk to each other more. Worldbuilding also very welcome if that’s your thing. I don’t have any strong shippy feelings here but if you want to background something, I do dig Celes/Terra.

Gogo & Cyan: ascetic Gogo leaves their cave to fight for a higher cause. What’s it like, being a hermit but having a skillset that is literally based on other people? Something something abnegation of the self? What’s it like, suddenly being among so many loud, unique people? Do they and Cyan meditate together and find a moment of respite from the crowded mess that is the Falcon, what does Cyan think about them, what does it feel like to see Doma’s otherwise lost sword techniques mimicked on the battlefield? (I default to they for Gogo but he or she work just as well. I’d just like them to be their own person, no identity reveals. And a pretty big person at that, going by Amano’s artwork, regardless of gender!)

Mog & Terra: fae folk bonding, basically? It’s such a central aspect of Terra’s character but I saw it in Mog too - the way moogles break the fourth wall, how they help her at the beginning like an aid from the earth itself, and Mog’s own Geomancer skillset, his dances that draw from the power of the earth... so maybe some cute friendship between these two otherworldly characters, each in their own way?

Sabin & Celes: Celes could use some friends she could rely on and Sabin always felt so... safe to me. Good bear. So when they got their moment to shine in the World of Ruin, I was overjoyed. Sabin’s comforting presence was just what she needed to find first! And that long chocobo ride along the serpent trench, chasing hope, seeing the cultists’ tower from afar...

Sabin & Cyan: Sabin’s leg of the journey is something else and I’d love to know more about his adventures with Cyan, or their feelings about their homes, one lost, one left behind. They’re both pretty emotionally charged at that point and I think it’d be interesting to explore. They also share some form of martial training, making imho for an interesting common ground.

Strago & Celes: descendant of the mage knights & artificially infused magitek knight, what does magic feel to them? Does Strago’s odd family have space for an added granddaughter (especially if Cid died on the island, but Strago was the Coolest Grandpa anyway, no offense to Dr Del Norte Marquez and his magnificent banana coat)?

Ghost Trick

Cabanela & Pigeon Man

Jowd & Lynne

Jowd & Pigeon Man

Jowd & Sissel

Alma/Cabanela/Jowd

Jowd/Alma & Cabanela

Alma & Cabanela

Cabanela/Jowd

Lynne & Memry

Lynne/Memry

Pigeon Man & Memry

Cabanela & Sissel

Jowd & Yomiel

Open to AUs here, especially for generic fantasy or sci-fi settings or the Final Fantasy ones I prompted for Yuletide. GT is one of my forever fandoms, I love all about it, especially how heartfelt and over the top it manages to be at the same time.

Cabs & PM: how do they meet in the new timeline, what makes their odd friendship stick this time? I love how they play off each other, with Pigeon Man’s snark bouncing off Cabs like water off a duck’s back...

Jowd & Lynne: please show me the Worst Mentor doing his Worst Mentoring? How is chicken involved? (this one would lend itself particularly well to a Jedi AU, I suspect) Or does Lynne’s optimism save the day on one occasion when Jowd is doing his cheerful nihilist thing?

Jowd & PM: anything about their friendships from back in the day when Pigeon Man was still Jowd’s coroner to a new timeline where PM is still fascinated by meteors/astronomy/alien conspiracies and Jowd humors him...

Jowd & Sissel: oh the shenanigans. Some clever communication between them, on a case or otherwise? Sissel doing cat things? Gossiping through the ghost world?

Alma/Cabanela/Jowd: what’s a hobby one of them has that the other two are dragged into? How about a day at the beach? Or in a cabin? I’ll take hot springs or basically any standard anime filler plot too. Unless you want to write about their get-together, which will never get old for me.

Jowd/Alma & Cabanela: see above but with INTENSE found family instead. Cabanela finding a place where he belongs, two people who feel like home. I can totally see it not being romantic at all and just as intense. When did it click for them?

Cabanela/Jowd: please no infidelity, I only like the ship without Alma during the canon times when Alma is dead or at most a what-if where she’s not around. Did Cabanela lower his mask for a hot minute during their walk to the minister’s office? What if he’d stayed dead and tagged along with Jowd and Lynne after 15? What if no-reset scenarios? Or office shenanigans where Alma is backgrounded by virtue of not working there but she’s okay with what’s going on.

Lynne & Memry: next generation detectives! Action! Ridiculous murders! Secret ghost cats! A little bit in the future maybe? Odd girl & odder girl teaming up and leaning into each other’s quirks... maybe undercover?

Lynne/Memry: same as above but they kiss - and Memry trying to get through Lynne’s obliviousness sounds like my kind of fun.

Pigeon Man & Memry: please evacuate everyone else from the expected blast radius when these two start talking. But she’s a detective - Special Investigation Unit, at that! - and he used to be a coroner and still has several aces up his sleeve, so who knows what could get them working together...

Cabanela & Sissel: let Sissel have his fun. He’s been eyeing Cabanela’s quirks since that fateful night, please let him tag along and enjoy the eccentricities. He can do the whole noir detective narration and Cabanela (who, lbr, would jump at the chance to be even more extra) can act accordingly...

Jowd & Yomiel: the PTSD team. Even beyond the experiences they have in common and the memories they can’t share with anyone else who’d truly understand them, there’s something about their approach to life that makes me think they’d bond quick and be able to get over the respective atrocities. They also share Sissel! What do they talk about in jail, or what do they do on a day off once Yomiel is out (cat dads’ cat date!!)?

Pyre

Big Bertrude & Volfred Sandalwood

Celeste | The Gate Guardian & Tariq | The Lone Minstrel

Sir Gilman & Jodariel

Vagabond Girl & Tariq | The Lone Minstrel

Volfred Sandalwood/Tariq | The Lone Minstrel

Hedwyn & Jodariel

Any cutesy activity lifted from the game would be great, like X doing laundry with Y. Any postcanon very welcome with any combination of endings as long as the revolution was peaceful. I love everyone so much. Good with background Volfred/Oralech, Bertrude/Pamitha if applicable.

Bertrude & Volfred: something nice Volfred does for Bertrude? Some mild adventure as he brought her to the Nightwings? A bizarre request for her shop? That dialogue about their relationship slew me dead - friendship through unrequited love is one of my rare tropes, so I’d like to see any aspect of their bond. Or epistolary with an ending that splits them, either way?

Celeste & Tariq: something completely alien set at any point before the ending, showing how inhuman they both are (but maybe Tariq picked up /something/ during his travels?) or, on the contrary, figuring out humanity as they travel together as a mysterious indie duo?

Sir Gilman & Jodariel: On war, honor, the Bloodborder... Sir Gilman is in awe of her, obviously, but is she in a state of mind where she can be boosted by his unrelenting energy?

ae & Tariq: Moon Moon! And Tariq looks like someone who knows a whole lot about the Scribes, so I think she might try to figure him out at some point, in her own way... but mostly, moon connection...

Volfred/Tariq: All I know is Tariq of all people fell and fell hard - he makes it sound like Volfred is the biggest deal ever and he's some servant... but he's the herald and Volfred is actually some dude who got kicked Downside (albeit a particularly charismatic and idealistic dude). And I like this dual imbalance very much. What happened in the woods during Volfred’s self-imposed exile? Or do they find each other again after the ending, in the Union? If you want to lean on how alien Tariq is and/or how tree Volfred is, please do!

Hedwyn & Jodariel: (I see them as brotherly more than mother-and-son, fwiw) what was their reunion like? How much did Hedwyn find Jodariel changed, horns and dramatic makeup aside? What about fic where her transformation recedes in the Union? Or their early days in the blackwagon - or their late days in the blackwagon when it’s not just them anymore? What can she absolutely count on him for?

The Last Guardian

The Boy & Trico

The boy & the very good boy... I’d like to read about a distant reunion. I was surprised by the boy being the combo breaker after the former Ueda protagonists cast their societies behind. He gets to live his life with his people, apparently, but what makes him leave and find Trico again? What’s their bond like, years later? Or is it Trico who comes back to search for him?

The Last Remnant

David Nassau & Allan

David Nassau & Duke of Ghor

David Nassau & Emmy Honeywell

David Nassau & Roberto

Emmy Honeywell/Glenys

Pagus/Maddox/Sibal

David/Rush is a welcome exception to my “no unrequested ships” DNW. I’m mostly interested in post-game exploration, which means either a David who has lost his bf or fic set further in the future where Rush has somehow come back.

David & Allan: Allan is tsundere enough about Torgal (not necessarily in a romantic sense!) and enough of a stuck-up cat in general that I think it’d be fun to throw a skilled diplomat at him, and one who knows Torgal very well at that.

David & Ghor: I like the Duke of Ghor a lot, and the more well-adjusted Yama characters in general. Politics talk? Or something more personal? What’s Ghor’s position in the new political landscape, what would David’s visit be like?

David & Emmy: if David was Emma’s filial figure and Emmy her actual daughter, did they perchance grow up together before Emmy left for her journey? How about some reminiscing? What did Emma teach them, how are they coping and moving forward?

David & Roberto: Can someone please adopt the good Marquis - celibate Roberto, for example? I imagine they could feel at ease with each other, got each other’s emotional back covered...

Emmy/Glenys: Sword lesbians? With very different hangups about proving themselves... if you want to go full weird with Glenys, especially wrt her mysterious connection to the homonymous kingdom, be my guest!

Pagus/Maddox/Sibal: old men being together like they couldn’t be in their youth when life got in the way, please? Get-together (who makes a move...? or established Qsiti triad would all be amazing...

Twin Peaks

Harry Truman & Garland Briggs

Albert Rosenfield/Harry Truman & Frank Truman/Doris Truman

Gordon Cole & Constance Talbot

Gordon Cole/Phillip Jeffries

Maddy Ferguson & Audrey Horne

Dale Cooper & Laura Palmer & Wally Brando

Dale Cooper/Albert Rosenfield

Albert Rosenfield/Harry Truman

Dale Cooper/Harry Truman

Dale Cooper/Albert Rosenfield/Harry Truman

Bobby Briggs & James Hurley

Chet Desmond/Sam Stanley

The mystery of the woods. How do they relate to the woods, what do they gain and what do they lose in the woods. Case fic but they don’t find out jack shit, someone disappears, David Bowie was there, it’s complicated. Fragmented, shifted, mirrored identities. New Lodge spaces. The risks of staring into the void for too long. Gentle illusions. The moon. Static buzzing. Any title from the s3 ethereal whooshing compilation used as a prompt, actually. AUs and fusion AUs are great for this fandom! I have Final Fantasy on my mind a lot recently so any FFVI, VII, T, IX, X, XII or XIII reimagining would be fantastic, but also regular fantasy, space opera, sci-fantasy… anything fancy!

Canon-specific dislikes: any singular Dreamer being the ‘source’ of canon, BOB (let alone Judy) being forever defeated in the finale, Judy being an active malevolent presence in the characters’ lives, ‘Odessaverse’ being the reality layer, the Fireman’s House by the Sea being the White Lodge, Gordon being a harmless, fun dad or conversely having the worst intentions. Clear explanations for canonical ambiguities.

Harry & Garland: Bookhouse Boys&Bue Rose-adjacent friendship, quietly aware of the mysteries that surround them? Or, as per Mark Frost’s AMA, Harry finding out important info throughout the 25 years and passing them to Garland - but Garland isn’t conventionally alive and physical throughout the 25 years, so did he travel through strange places to reach him?

Albert/Harry & Frank/Doris: Albert needs someone to shout AT, Doris needs some to shout BACK, I think. It could be therapeutic for both of them. Could they meet through the Trumans? Frank and Doris’ relationship can be as complicated and probably doomed as we saw it - I do feel that they care for each other and I’m really invested but it’s too strained, too sad.

Gordon & Constance:is she involved in some new strange case or is Gordon cleaning up the Briggs mess? What’s it like, sparring with someone who still has the fire of a young Albert? What does she suspect? (no Albert/Constance, please. Albert&Constance otoh I’m interested in)

Gordon Cole/Phillip Jeffries: does Gordon eventually manage to throw himself into the void (that’s one way of considering a retirement plan!) and reach Phillip? What’s left inside that teapot alembic, or is he the smoke? How did Gordon even get word from Phil - in his pt17 infodump, he seems perfectly aware of the other’s status - what kind of contact have they kept? I love all the fanon I’ve seen for them, if you want to lean into it.

Maddy Ferguson & Audrey Horne: looking for Laura in each other, finding out they’re not Laura through each other? It’s a shame that Maddy and Donna never really got to explore this angle in canon and it’s an even bigger shame that Maddy and Audrey, also on her path toward Laura-ification, didn’t even meet! Or, if you will, wild postcanon meeting. Mfrost said Maddy is alive now, so...!

Dale Cooper & Laura Palmer & Wally Brando: I have a soft spot for Dale and Laura traveling through strange spaces, lost, slowly healing. On this background, imagine, if you will: Wally speeding by on his bike. I need this meeting...

Dale Cooper/Albert Rosenfield: fiery early days? Dream meetings that Albert will inevitably write off as a product of his aching subconscious? Post-finale where Albert has made his peace with Coop not being part of this world and not even deigning to greet him, except one day Coop is back - with apologies? Post-post-finale where they’re peacefully living out their days as best as they can?

Albert Rosenfield/Harry Truman: did they tragically fall into each other’s arms in the wake of Coop’s disappearance? Did they realize they’re so good for each other, but neither of them was willing to give up their life? And/or was the wound of Coop’s disappearance too fresh for them to try to heal? Do they keep in touch throughout the years? Does Albert resign on the spot with a resounding fuck it after the s3 finale and rush to see Harry? Does he stay this time?

Dale Cooper/Harry Truman: Harry seeing his Coop again… somewhere, somehow. Maybe he perceives him in the woods, maybe Coop isn’t all human now. Monster cuddles very welcome. Could be canon divergence but could very well be post-s3. Harry getting closure for waiting all that time in front of Glastonbury and never giving up on Coop… they can live in the woods together…

Dale Cooper/Albert Rosenfield/Harry Truman: basically the sum of the three sides of this triad… give them peace, given them nice things, give them so much love… Coop finding his place in the world and making up for lost time… give time to these old wounds…

Bobby Briggs & James Hurley: once Laura stops being a burning wedge between them, could they maybe... begin to get along? There’s something to be said about their complementary approaches to the bad boy image - besides, Shelly thinks that James was always cool and Bobby does value her opinion! Could also be Bobby/Shelly & James, if the Briggs manage to reconcile... maybe through James somehow?

Chet Desmond/Sam Stanley: reunion fic! Chet’s been AWOL for years, Sam has fallen through the cracks, how do they find each other again and why do they choose to remain off the grid? I would also like to read about them in the present day-ish, handwaving the return and reunion. Maybe they made a new life for themselves. If Sutherland were to play Sam again, Sam would be… notably more buff. What caused that change, was it traveling with Chet, what kind of person is he now? Could they be in Buenos Aires, investigating on their own whatever that shrinking box was?