Chocolate Box 2021 Letter

[vanishresponse]

Dear Chocolate Box Writer,

Thank you for writing for me! I'm very excited to see what you come up with.

I provide some prompts as starting points, but if you have something you're excited to write instead, I would love to receive it as long as it respects my DNWs!

Also, if there's something opt-in that you think will make your story stronger, consider me opted-in unless it contradicts a DNW.

My AO3 name is vanishresponse.


DNWs:

Pregnancy or references to wanting to become pregnant (except for characters that have canonically become pregnant), characters under 16 having sex (including fade-to-black), characters who are under 18 having sex on screen, setting AUs (unless requested), scat, bestiality

Immortal characters who look like teenagers having sex is fine, but I'd still prefer no descriptions of how adolescent their bodies look. For Noragami Izanami prompts, I'm also fine with bugs or phantoms being used as props during sex.

Likes:

Loyalty, conflicted loyalty, identity porn, pining, complicated relationships, politics, adventures, animal acquisition, competence, protectiveness, seasonal imagery, emotionally significant nature, trust kink, hand kink, hair kink, pining, redemption arc, angst, hurt/comfort, bossy women (in smut or in general), women getting what they want in the end; martial arts or fighting as foreplay, hopeful endings

For likes that are easier to explain on a separate line:

• Small details/actions that indicate understanding, feelings or intimacy
• Stories involving a strong sense of connectedness or appreciation of the world or to nature
• Characters choosing to become better people or finding hope as a result of love
• Characters wrestling with moral dilemmas
• Stoic characters who find a person they want to be emotionally vulnerable for
• Characters who don't get everything they want, but figure out how to be happy or at peace anyway

Smut likes:

First times, established couples who know each others' preferences very well, exploration of power dynamics, femdom, bittersweet/angsty/complicated sex, praise kink, 'we all need years of therapy but let's try sex instead', desperation for touch, hair-pulling, men being slammed against walls and really liking it, clothes kink and partially-clothed sex, emotionally overwhelmed men (especially in m/f), frottage, m/m anal, oral sex, vaginal sex

ノラガミ | Noragami (Anime & Manga)

I have watched the anime and read the manga, so references to either is fine.

Aiha/Bishamonten | Vaisravana

I loved Aiha's arc! Her jealousy, her desire to be needed by Bishamon, and her final redemption. Also, she spends a lot of time covering Bishamon's naked body, which feels very shippy. :P

• Something that explores their past together! How Bishamon finds her and the centuries they spend together, etc. For this prompt, I would also enjoy seeing how the ha clan develops and Aiha's thoughts on immortality and Bishamon.
• Figuring out a relationship, along with the shinki-god dynamics! Possibly with pining, in one or both directions. Secret relationship that they're hiding? Casual sex that turns out to be anything but? Bishamon or Aiha getting really horny about the whole "armor covering body" thing?
• Any kind of hurt/comfort for this ship would be nice, in any direction. Aiha, helping Bishamon relax, tending to her wounds, or showing that family doesn't need to be about giving one-sided protection. The Aiha/Bishamon reconciliation. Bishamon comforting Aiha after Aiha's ablution and reassuring her that she still has a place. Bishamon giving Aiha a place in the ha family and helping her cope with being a new shinki. Aiha showing Bishamon the human world, maybe by taking her out on a date.

Father/Izanami

Father and Izanami are my two favorite Noragami villains: both of them are old, angry, and powerful. They're also both right that the world is unfair; they just do horrible things with that realization.

I would also enjoy Creative Uses of Powers during sex, cannibalism, bugs, descriptions of decay, and body horror. Because, well, Izanami. I would really enjoy sex for them that leans into the inhumanity and the horror instead of hotness! Noncon and dubcon also very much appreciated, though I'd prefer it to be Izanami xconning Father.

• How did their first meeting go? Does Father seduce Izanami to take the brush from her? Do they bond over being betrayed by the gods and being something different from everyone else in the world? Is there something Father is hiding about how his trip to Yomi again.
• Post-canon fic in which Father somehow ends up in Yomi again. Does Izanami try to keep him as a friend? Does she want revenge?
• Canon divergence: even though Father manages to escape Yomi, he's still bound to Izanami (maybe as long as he has the brush?). He visits Yomi in his dreams every night.
• Father being smug and trying to outsmart Izanami, and her getting the better of him.
• Something that plays with those characters and gender! These characters both feel like very gendered villains to me: Father is, well, Father (and not above mansplaining to goddesses), and Izanami's illusions are all about making herself desirable to men (as a mother figure or a lover). Something that examines or deconstructs the way they play with gender roles without validating those roles would be interesting. Maybe something in which they're both playing out or referencing gender essentialist tropes with each other to get what they really want? For instance, Izanami pretending to submit to Father and treating him as the patriarch of the house, and Father goes along with it and tries to turn that into real power, when they both know that she really has the power in Yomi? I'm open to wherever you want to take this.

Father/Kugaha

We don't really see much interaction between the two of them in canon, and I would love to see the backstory.

They feel very similar in some ways: they both have a terrifying certainty that they're right, they have a mix of smirky smugness and ruthlessness, and they adopt roles that are benign/positive (monk, doctor)... and then go on to kill and manipulate a whole bunch of people. And they have weird hangups about the gods and family.

• Backstory! Does Father manipulate Kugaha over to his side, or has Kugaha always been waiting for someone like Father who thinks the way he does? How long have they been working together? I really enjoy Father's mind games and moral arguments in canon; I would be stoked to see more of that. As would be Father digging into all of Kugaha's weaknesses and angst…
• Father binding Kugaha to him as a shinki, either as an extended metaphor for sex or...the binding involves actual sex.
• Scenes set during the time when they're plotting Bishamon's downfall. Mind games, so many mind games! I love Father's smirky, casual smugness.
• Kugaha has a mommy kink for Bishamon. Father somehow takes advantage of this during sex, whether to torture him or for sexual pleasure.

Bishamonten | Vaisvravana/Ebisu


Bishamon and Ebisu both part of the Seven Gods of Fortune, and they both care deeply for people and are willing to sacrifice for them. And I thought the scene in canon where she goes to check on him is very sweet -- she clearly cares for Ebisu, and I'd be very fascinated by a romantic interpretation of their relationship, in which they're both important to each other, but not as important as the other things going on in their life.

I'm mostly interested in the Ebisu who goes to Yomi here, but feel free to write fic set in the future with an aged up current Ebisu!

• Bishamon and a romantic relationship with Ebisus throughout the ages! What would it be like having a lover who is constantly dying and being reborn? I would also be interested in digging into the way the Ebisus over time are different, from Bishamon's perspective.
• Hurt/comfort in any direction. Ebisu helping Bishamon get settled in the pantheon after she originally joins the gods of Heaven, Bishamon helping a blighted Ebisu, Ebisu tending to Bishamon's wounds or helping her with a political problem in Takamagahara, comfort sex so that they can step out of their roles for a moment. Or maybe something set after the destruction of the ma clan?
• Ebisu tries to help Bishamon with one of her missions.
• "Casual" flings that are full of mutual pining and femdom.

Ebisu/Yato

I shipped original!Ebisu and Yato so intensely in the anime. The way they inspire each other, their antagonism, the competence, the different ways they relate to life, and of course, the final tragedy!

Most of those prompts are for Ebisu before he reincarnates; I'm fine with the newer Ebisu, too, in post-canon fic in which he's aged up.

• Fuck-or-die in Yomi! Maybe Izanami traps them both down there and makes them do it, maybe there's a phantom in Yomi that works like sex pollen. Or maybe sex heals gods. Whatever you want. :D
• Hurt/comfort, "you matter to me" sex?
• Yato and Ebisu meeting in the past? Maybe Ebisu is fascinated by Yato's relationship with money, or a god who is as stubborn as he is? Or maybe he's fascinated by a god who is destined for death, but keeps not dying. Ebisu trying out sex with Yato, because he's curious (and Yato goes along with it because he's paid?).
• Canon-divergence in which the Ebisu who goes to Yomi survives! And then he has to figure out how to live by his new principles, and also figure out how to have a relationship with Yato (because fighting beside Yato is very different than living with Yato!).
• Yato pines for original Ebisu while watching newer Ebisu grow up. And maybe in the decades to come, a relationship forms between them?

The Folk of the Air - Holly Black

Jude Duarte & Taryn Duarte

I love them both! They're both survivors and ruthless, in very different ways, and there's a lot of history but also love between
them.

• What does their post canon relationship look like? How do they navigate their new positions? Are there still things that they need to talk out, post-canon, about what happened in the series? Politics and adventures would be lovely, as well as watching them solve problems in their respective styles! Also, something in which they find something new to have a conflict about (but also resolve it by the end of the fic!) would be lovely.
• Snapshots of their relationships over time!
• Outsider POV reflecting on the similarities and differences between the sisters? Especially if said outsider is terrified and awed by both of them. ;)

Eva Duarte/Madoc

This ship is so tragic, and they hurt each other so badly in canon, and I would love to see how it all falls apart.

Eva fascinates me. We get only hints of her character, but her decisions shape Madoc and her kids' lives. And what tidbits we get of her are fascinating! She's a human so exceptional that Madoc fell in love with her. She's clever enough that if it hadn't been for Justin, she would have gotten away from escaping from Fairy. And we know she was friends with Lady Asha (how deeply, though?) and that she fit among the faeries. She fascinates me and I would love to know more about her and her past relationships!

I really enjoy Madoc as well, though I have less to say about him: the violence, the moral greyness, and how deeply, truly he is in love with her and how long that lasts.

• Get-together fic? I'd love to see what about her made Madoc fall in love with her! Something that plays with a mix of fairy tale romance and the mundane (and the bloody reality of Madoc) would be very cool! Why does she decide to become his bride?
• First time having sex, or their wedding night? Maybe something that kinks on physical differences between redcaps and humans.
• Their relationship after they get married! I'd love to see how she reaches the decision to leave him and exactly what her life in Faerie — something that leans into tragedy and dysfunction and love not being enough would be lovely. Is there something that makes her snap and she can't take it any more? Does she regret leaving him?
• Canon divergence in which Madoc kills Justin, but not Eva, and takes her back with him. How would that go?

Eva Duarte/Justin Duarte

I talk a lot about Eva in the previous prompt, and I'm very curious about her relationship with Justin! I'd love to see how they get together and why they stay together.

• Bonding over being humans in Faerie together, and the ways they are similar and different! (He's pursuing his ambitions, she's feeling trapped).
• How do they get in a relationship? Does Eva actually love him, or does she just want a rebound from Eva (and to use him for her escape plan?) If she's just using him, does she eventually fall in love with him? And what is it about her that makes him give up his promising blacksmithing dreams and also risk his life?
• Post-escape. Is it hard for them suddenly living in the human world?
• I'm open to fic that digs into them as parents, as well.

Taryn Duarte/The Ghost

Okay, I admit that the entire reason I ship this is very simple: I want Taryn to be happy and to hold all the power in a relationship, especially after Locke. And The Ghost's pining and admiration of her is very good for me.

• Taryn is human but The Ghost isn't. Something that deals with her aging, but she's still the most beautiful thing he's ever seen.
• Maybe they have to investigate a threat to the throne, or he needs her help with spying, or he ends up guarding her because someone is threatening her for Reasons. Maybe there's even fake dating?
• Get-together fic! The Ghost seems content to pine, and would Taryn want a relationship after Locke?
• Interesting and significant uses of names for porn purposes, or for trust kink or femdom!
• Maybe a significant encounter from when Taryn is still married to Locke? Somehow they end up sleeping together (she cheats on Locke with him to take the edge off, or Locke makes them fuck for his own amusement?).

The Forgotten Beasts of Eld:

Norrel/Rianna & Coren of Sirle

We know so little about Norrel and Rianna, though their love story drives the plot! I'd appreciate any tidbits about them. Coren & Norrel also seems so sweet in the few bits in the book when Coren reminisces about Norrel and the bond between the brothers seems so strong; I would love to see more of that, and I'm curious what Coren actually thinks of Rianna.

• I'd love to see how Norrel/Rianna develops. And what does Coren think about this? Does he support his brother finding love and happiness? Does he object to the relationship, in case Drede finds out?
• Rianna adjusting to living in Sirle! How does her relationship with Norrel play out? What would she and Coren talk about?

Rianna & Sybel

I would love to see Rianna and Sybel interact somehow! Time travel? Handwave magic visions, during or post-canon? AU in which Rianna survives and brings Tamlorn to Sybel? Rianna becomes a ghost? Whatever works.

I think they would bounce off each other interestingly if they somehow met. They've led such different lives, but they might be more similar than they seem -- they're both people who fight to define what their life should be and who refuse to live in a cage.

• Maybe they could bond over Tamlen? Or (at a certain point in canon), hating on Drede? Or, are there things Rianna could tell Sybel about her mother?
• Would Rianna envy Sybel's freedom? And what would she make of the fact that Sybel was born of the rape of her sister? Would she be afraid of Sybel's magic because it's like Ogam's?
• ...also, if you want to let Rianna hang out with and befriend the animals and slowly build a relationship with her niece, I would not object. We mostly know her through her relationship with Norrel and I would love to see other sides of her.

The Queen's Thief - Megan Whalen Turner

Relius/Teleus

I would love anything more you give for their relationship — I love their loyalty to each other, the ways in which they're different and similar (one a twisty spymaster, the other a straightforward soldier!), their intimacy, and the poetry. I love how the glimpses of their relationship in the book show us different sides of the two of them, and I would love to see more of that.

• Hurt/comfort! One of them returns with troubles or injuries from their duties!
• Goodbye, full of sentiment or sex, when Relius is leaving on one of his missions?
• More outsider POV for the two of them!
• How do they get together? How does their relationship change through the years, as they get to know each other?
• More poetry! Teleus writes poetry for Relius, or vice versa? The two of them reading poetry together?
• Post-canon reunion! Or future fic in which the two of them retire and are absurdly happy and at peace.

Costis Ormentiedes/Kamet

I was so charmed by Costis and Kamet in Thick as Thieves, how they're so unlike each other, but they form such a strong bond that even the gods take notice! The loyalty, and the way they complement each other's strengths!

• Awkward first time sex? And maybe getting to see each other's scars, emotional and physical?
• More references to the Medes gods, whether in stories or manifestations? The Medes gods show up to give them a happy date together or to rescue them?
• Happy domestic stuff, post-canon! Maybe punctuated by intrigue. Maybe one of them takes the other to do something the other one has never done? Or Kamet starts teaching Costis languages?
• Outsider POV, again! I would be interested in Gen's POV, the gods' POV, or even Random Shopkeeper's POV.

陈情令 | The Untamed (TV):

So the common theme between all of those requests is Yu Ziyuan. ;) I love her persistence, her competence, her love and protectiveness over her children, and her ferocity; I think that she ended up in a family situation which was bad for her and brought out the worst in her, and I think she would have been kinder and happier in another circumstance. In general, I desperately want any fic that digs into her POV.

Anything that gives her moments of happiness or a happy fixit would be appreciated, but I would also deeply enjoy something that leans into the canon angst and tragedy for her.

Jiang Yanli & Yu Ziyuan

I would love to see your interpretation of the two of them, since we don't see them together much in canon!

• What does Yu Ziyuan think of her daughter? Is she disappointed in Jiang Yanli for not being a strong cultivator or for always siding with Wei Wuxian?
• How does the arranged marriage affect their relationship? Does Yu Ziyuan feel bad for how unhappy Jiang Yanli is with the arranged marriage, or does she think Jiang Yanli will get used to it or that it's for the best? How does Jiang Yanli deal with the topic of the arranged marriage around her mother?
• Something in which the two of them show how they care about each other or that they understand each other's perspectives, despite being so different— maybe a scene in which Jiang Yanli brings her mother soup, after Yu Ziyuan is injured on a night-hunt? Or Yu Ziyuan teaches her something or defends her in some way?

Wen Zhuliu/Yu Ziyuan

I've shipped this ever since seeing them meet at Lotus Pier as enemies. The mutual respect and the dedication to their respective duties were great. I also think they could have been good together; they would balance each other out. I think Wen Zhuliu could roll with her temper and fierceness, and she may be able to bring him out of his shell and challenge the way he seems to distance himself all the time.

I'm partial to the idea that they used to be lovers or friends before she married, but I'm happy to read any backstory you devise for them! 

• Canon divergence in the form of fixits or differently angsty stories, as you please!
• Canon-compliant past fic on meetings for the two of them when they're younger? Lots of foreshadowing and hints at their tragic downfalls appreciated. :)
• Wen Zhuliu/Yu Ziyuan fic in which he has to deal with her death? Maybe she's a ghost out for vengeance (I know cultivators aren't supposed to be able to create ghosts, but I believe in Yu Ziyuan :P), or something reminds him of her, or… he ends up time traveling somehow and meeting her younger self again?

I'm also happy to read infidelity, if you want to write something set while she's married to Jiang Fengmian.

 
Café Enchanté (Visual Novel)

Awaki Kotone/Miser Rex | Misyr Rex

I loved this ship and everything about this route, and I just absolutely want more of them.

Misyr won me over at first because I have a weakness for flirtatious liars in otome game, and then the music magic happened, and the book date! There's such a lovely intimacy between him and Kotone, and I really enjoy the way they appreciate each other and the way they share beautiful things with each other — whether it is a magic piano, their love of books, or a simple cup of coffee.

And then the rest of the route was so compelling — their past together, how he's lying to her, and finally, his kindness and how he becomes the human whose love anchors her to humanity. I love how important Enchante is to both of them, and I'm very interested in how life is afterwards for both of them: with him adjusting to life as a human and her adjusting to life as a world.

• Fluff/romance scenes mid-route. I loved all the ones we got, and the way they focused on the two of them sharing wonder and the beauty of the world with each other. For ideas: stargazing, more magic piano playing, Kotone teaching Misyr something new? Accidental animal acquisition? Lots and lots of UST (or even resolved sexual tension)! I'm also a big fan of Misyr's pining angst, wistfulness, and devotion to Misyr, so if you want to play with those, go ahead.

• Future fic in which they run Enchante together and continue being deeply sweet! Also, maybe fic about how their relationship changes over time as he ages and she settles into being a world — though I would prefer it not be exclusively unhappy angst (bittersweet reflections on transience and valuing the moment are fine though!).

• I would also love to see outsider POV for this, especially since there are so many interesting characters with strong voices around in the ensemble. I'd love to see the Enchante regulars getting a look at their relationship, during and post-canon

• Fic set long after he dies, in which he somehow manages to keep the promise and come back to her — ghosts, reincarnation-after-regaining-his-memories, whatever! I promise not to squint too hard at the exact mechanisms. How has she changed by then? What is their reunion like? And what coffee does she make him? ;)
• How does sex and relationships work with her new becoming-a-world thing? First time having sex -- maybe her body starts vanishing halfway through, or they have to adjust what they do so that she can feel it?

ピオフィオーレの晩鐘 | Piofiore no Banshou

Liliana Adornato/Orlok

They're so sweet to each other, and I love how her kindness and consideration draws him to her — and then eventually teaches him to care about himself. I love the way Orlok wrestles with morality and resolves to become a better person.

And I adore how at the end, both of them decide to follow their own path, and they're one of the only pairings in the game that rejects Mafia life and violence.

• Sweet slice-of-life from their life at the church in the Best End! Orlok getting to play with the kids, Liliana teaching Orlok to bake, Orlok accidentally finding a litter of puppies and the two of them having to raise them, and the two of them very obviously pining throughout. I will eat up any lovely moments between the two of them.
• As of the epilogue and the side story, I didn't get the feeling that they'd gone beyond chaste kissing. I would love to see them explore having sex with each other for the first time! I would also love it if Liliana turns out to be more confident about sex than he does — in the game, she's very embarrassed by public displays of affection, but maybe that's less of a problem when they're alone?
• Given that Orlok is so focused on protecting Liliana throughout the route, maybe something that flips those dynamics? Maybe there's something she can teach him or some way that she can protect him?
• More scenes set while they're hanging out in the hideaway or living among the Lao-Shu, in which they get to know each other better?