chocobox 2020 letter

[theultimateburrito]

dear chocolatier,

welcome to the new year-- im excited to see you here! i'm theultimateburrito over on ao3! it's my first chocolate box and i'm eager to see what you write! i guarantee that i'll enjoy it, so please go hog wild. i encourage you to chase your bliss outside of the prompts i've outlined below, they're just to give you ideas if you're lost or showcase what i like about the ship!

here’s a sample platter of some things that spark joy in me as well as some prompts to get you goin’! but if you have an idea, by all means don’t let me stop you!

general likes:

• surrealism, dream/nightmare sequences, supernatural elements
• body horror, psych horror, literal and metaphorical hauntings
• unreliable narrator, nonlinear narrative, experimental styles
• non-traditional relationships/romantic expressions, "we know how we feel, so we don't have to say anything", complicated/ill-defined relationships, nuanced dynamics
• canon compliance, missing scenes, canon divergent aus, character studies
• "there was only one bed", being in close quarters Alone
• Banter

general do not wants: non-con (dubcon is fine), torture, guro, pregnancy/mpreg, character bashing, eating disorders, body dysphoria, suicide, crossovers, abo dynamics, unrequested AUs

lupin iii
lupin/goemon/jigen/fujiko

my ot4-- what a lovely mess they are. i really love their group dynamic and how much each one supports the other in this weird domino effect. fujiko chases riches, lupin chases fujiko, jigen goes where lupin goes, and goemon in spite of it all keeps coming back to them for more. each component to this dynamic is really interesting in itself but i think it really shines when you put them together as an ensemble. lupin is the chaotic bisexual glue that keeps them together, yes, but here's a little breakdown of what i like about about each aspect of their ot4 dynamic:

• i like jigen's complicated relationship with fujiko, this friction that comes from being unable to predict her in a way that he already knows so well with others like lupin or goemon. is it jealousy? misogyny? some cocktail of that with another third thing? no matter what it kind of colors their relationship and i think it's a really under-explored dynamic.
• goemon and fujiko is a real soft spot for me. i melt whenever i see someone so straight-laced contend with an out-there bombshell like fujiko, especially when he's got a clarity for her motives (tricking/distracting lupin from the REAL prize). it'd be fun to see her press his buttons but still have a great deal of respect for him as i'm sure he realizes how capable she really is.
• please consult this thread for what i like specifically about the lupin/jigen dynamic. i love that even after the job is done, they're always together. what goes on during that time? what feelings are at play? what goes unsaid when you're around someone for this long and can predict them to such a degree?
• jigen and goemon respect each other so much since they're constantly around each other in these high-stress jobs, both using their precise weapons knowledge to get each other out of a pinch. they bounce off of each other really well because of this (theres good humor when they gang up on lupin), even if some things are lost in translation. 
• lupin and goemon are great in a similar way to goemon's dynamic with fujiko. lupin is always trying to get goemon to lighten up but knows that at the end of the day, goemon is here for the job. there's a great deal of mutual respect here as well, and i think lupin is just constantly impressed with what goemon can do. even if goemon can get sick of it sometimes and try in vain to get him to focus (lupin knows what hes doing, really). 
• i love lupin so much in part because i get to see fujiko and lupin chase each other around over and over and never get tired of it. i love when one thinks they've got the upper hand and-- oops, no they don't! using each others tricks against each other and having this on-again-off-again fling that will always come back around. it's superb. i love them. 

summary: they're all fucking and have been for years and years and this is just the flow of their relationship. i will love anything that's a true blue ot4 dynamic in all its complexity.

ace attorney
edgeworth/gumshoe/wright , edgeworth/wright

i just played the first game for the first time and i'm already head-over-heels in love with these games (i won't be upset about spoilers for the rest of the trilogy, but know that i'll have no idea what you're talking about if you write about characters that haven't shown up yet and i want to fawn over your work!). i love edgeworth so much since i'm really naturally drawn to passionate characters with a laser-focus on the cause they've taken up, everything else getting sort of tossed to the wayside. i know this will be the thing i keep repeating throughout this whole letter, but edgeworth and wright respect each other so much and i love to see it. gumshoe is a great character too who has absolutely no doubt in edgeworth and it's really heartwarming to see how he goes to his defense and believes in him. 

• edgeworth/gumshoe/wright: i think a lot about gumshoe's dialogue in the first game where he says (re:edgeworth) "we trust each other, and that's how it works". i think that's really the basis for their dynamic and, really, the whole ot3-- respect and trust. 
  • ideas: casefic, getting together, post-canon celebration with drunken confessions, stolen kisses, miscommunication

• edgeworth/wright: SAY IT WITH ME, "MUTUAL RESPECT"! they believe in each other and rub up against each other and their history goes way back. wright pursuing an entire career that edgeworth inspired all so he could get to him? edgeworth not wanting to jeopardize that career because of his fatalistic view of the case with von karma? it's so so tasty. they love each other-- hot take!
  • ideas: casefic, "we have feelings but will never talk about them", complicated hookup, stolen kisses/keeping their relationship a secret, miscommunication

hades (supergiant 2018)
megaera/thanatos/zagreus , nyx/persephone , megaera/nyx

i've been obsessed with hades this year and its almost entirely due to how engrossing these characters are. each of them have such distinct voices and it makes me desperate to play more and more just so i can interact with everyone fresh.

• meg/than/zag: the sense of history between these three is off the fucking charts. it's so interesting the way meg and than play off of zag in these mildly antagonistic ways while zagreus is like "buddy im just here right now". what's their deal? bitter exes? pining from a distance with some resentment? how do meg and than collaborate-- how has their history with zagreus brought them together, what's their history like?
  • ideas: getting together, relationship study, than and meg having a conversation when he comes to pick zagreus up after a failed escape attempt,  stolen moments/missing scenes, threesomes

• nyx/persephone: they are in love. like they absolutely are pining heavily for each other and may or may not have gotten together when persephone was in the house of hades. the way they ask about each other so much....Moves Me. 
  • ideas: relationship study, mementos of each other, yearning from afar, first meetings

• megaera/nyx: not gonna lie, this one is my "i saw it on the tagset" and had a galaxy brain moment. i have not thought about them until now but now i'm like "oh?? DISH". my thoughts extend to "loyalty, devotion, and Hot Women". if you wanna write porn, this is your prompt lmao. 
  • ideas: literally tell me what to think and feel about this ship i'm here for it. idea tho is femdom, loyalty, praise kink.

megalo box 
joe/yuri

there's little that gets me going more than a relationship that's really based in mutual respect-- rising to meet the other and realizing just how high you have to go in order to do that. starting as rival-enemies and becoming more and more rivals that inspire each other to move forward is such a satisfying progression and the fact that (spoilers, but i assume you know) the series ends with mutual dog ownership and this warm sense of being so grateful for meeting each other... it's superb. here's some food for thought:

• character/relationship study that showcases how they were both able to meet each other at the top. experimental style would be very cool here!
• post-canon. maybe stolen moments at the party? what happens after, now that yuri won't be megaloboxing? 

little women (1994)
jo/laurie

i have loved these two since i was a kid and it hasn't changed even a little since then... "nothings going to change, jo". the way they kind of dance around each other and find this connection in a way that feels not-quite-friendship-not-quite-romantic and both having different understandings of where that settles. i love how their multitudes of similarities can make them both forget that they see the world in different ways, want different things out of life, worry in opposite directions. it's a really beautiful formative relationship and i think it's something they still find important no matter what. 

• canon compliant relationship study. miscommunications that they don't realize are miscommunications! how do the lines between friendship and romance blur? 
• missing scenes. parties, holidays, walks through the forest. what goes unsaid?
• au where they got together-- did they stay together? do they realize that it wont work, or do they cling to the thought that it might? what would need to change for them to be happy?
• if you can make jo/laurie an exploration of gender then i will owe you my fucking life.