slumber

Thank you so much for signing up this year, and I’m so excited to have you assigned to me! I'm Slumber on AO3 as well, and it's my third time signing up for Yuletide, which has been nothing but a fantastic time for me, so I hope it is for you as well.

For what it’s worth I’m incredibly easy to please, so feel free to run away with whatever ideas you may already have! But if you wanted some prompts, I hope this letter helps inspire you.

Likes. It depends on the ship and the dynamics that attracted me to them in the first place, but I quite love canon-centric studies of relationships and dynamics and seeing the different nuances other people have on a character over AUs.

Tonally I gravitate to lighter fare, but I'm also very happy with pieces that go deep into character studies and introspection are more than welcome too!

If you would prefer to do something lighter and warm-hearted, I'm always up for those tried-and-true romcom tropes of idiots in love, mutual pining, friends to lovers, fake dating, didn't know they were dating, practically married, etc. 5+1 fics are great too! I love domesticity but not established relationship, so anything in that vein would be amazing too!

I'm a bit of a heavy shipper but in case you're not up for the ships I've listed, you're more than welcome to go the genfic route as well, no worries!

DNWs. There isn’t a lot that I don’t like — name a trope and I’d probably be able to come up with at least one work I’ve read in it that has stayed with me. That said, I don’t always seek out fic with first-person POV, BDSM elements, noncon elements, pregnancy, dark themes for darkness' sake, and kink-centered PWPs. I've got to be in a specific mood for Major Character Death, terminal illness, wedding fic and kidfic (I know, I know), so I'd rather not have any of them. I also would prefer it when people don't say "I love you" and instead have it shown/understood through their actions/obliquely. I'd really also not prefer unhappy endings — bittersweet & hopeful is fine! Light angst is okay, things don't always have to be easy, but I'm here for good vibes mostly.

The Prompts. Here’s a blanket disclaimer on the prompts here — feel free to absolutely ignore them and run away with your own ideas! If something I’ve said sparks an offshoot kind of idea, please pursue it! All I’d be truly happy for is another round at reliving these characters in their worlds, and I am SO looking forward to what you come up with whether it’s from one of these prompts or not! So please consider them starting points, if anything, or some way to get a sense of what drew me to these characters/fandoms to start. Thank you so much! <3

And with that, feel free to navigate to the fandom that makes sense to you!

Mashima Taichi

General: ODAO! I'm caught up in the manga so no worries on spoilers there, and Taichi after all this time is still my one true boy. I love the way karuta is a sport for everyone, and I LOVE the way their relationships and friendships have developed over the course of the series. I'm an OT3 shipper, but if push came to shove, I do prefer Chihaya with Taichi (I've always been a sucker for the second lead), ALTHOUGH I am also very much NOT opposed to Taichi/Hisashi, as I think there's some interesting dynamics there, nor Taichi/Arata. I love Taichi, and I'm not sorry for it ~~I mean someone's gotta ahahaha~~.

Would be VERY happy with genfic character study of Taichi through all of this — I'd love your take on him through the series so far, or even where you think he'll be in a future fic. Does he follow the path his mother set him out on, or does he learn to carve one out for himself, and if so, what does that look like? Who would still be there in the future, if that were the case?

Possible prompts:
+ OT3? Or gen! Taichi showing up for Chihaya and Arata, the three of them learning what they want/need from and can offer/give to each other. I want to know your take on that resolution, if you're so inclined?
+ Some years into the future, a retrospective of this time in all their lives. Where are they now? What did they learn from karuta? Friendships? Who they were?
+ Anything dealing with the developing of relationships between either Chihaya/Taichi/Arata, Chihaya/Taichi, Taichi/Hisashi, or Taichi/Arata.

Furuhashi Iharu, Ichikawa Leno

General: ODAO! Love this manga and I love these good boys! We haven't heard from them lately but I wanna know a little bit more about their uneasy partnership and how they get on with each other. Leno was such a loyal friend to Kafka and Iharu was such a hothead at first, but they came together eventually and started working together. Preference for shipfic on this one but also would be quite, quite happy with genfic!

Possible prompts:
+ And they were bunk mates?? Go with this where it takes you, whether it's the highs and lows of sharing such close personal space with a stranger/partner/rival or just things they find out about each other from doing so, or having one of them wake up from a nightmare, etc.
+ Iharu's reaction to finding out about Kafka's secret, and how he and Leno navigate that
+ That cake the whole team gave them after they got back from their mission looked like a wedding cake and it cracked me up, so maybe something playful around how they sorta act like a couple (but aren't) until maybe they finally are like, oh okay MAYBE we are???? What???

Tsubaki Aoi, Ginji

General: ODAO! Very likely a longshot but I saw the anime this year and really adored how sweet and lowkey it is, only I kinda felt there was a little bit more chemistry brewing between Aoi and Ginji??? X'D In any case I'd also be VERY happy with friendship fic between them, and how Ginji is always so helpful and supportive toward Aoi, but you know, also up for something where more blossoms between them, even if that may tug at Ginji's guilt since he's quite grateful toward Oodanna as well.

Possible prompts:
+ There's a new festival to prepare for and Ginji helps Aoi out~
+ Aoi misses the human realm a little bit, and Ginji helps bring some of it back to her
+ The two of them trying to develop a recipe for a VIP guest

Ichijou Yoshiki, Mitsui Kensuke

General: ODAO! But ever since volume 5 of the English manga came out, I've just had this very pressing need to read something about Nao's childhood friends ACTUALLY having this romantic friends-to-lovers development over the years, right under everyone else's noses! They have such great camaraderie with each other, and clearly care about Nao and Kou as they try to guide them both into wherever it is they're clearly heading toward, but I want to know what they are like when Kou and Nao aren't around, what their story is! If this is something you can contrast with Narumi & Hanako having BL goggles and them missing the YoKen ship entirely, even better!

On the genfic side of things, I'd totally also be happy with an odd-couple, co-parenting take for these two! How do they navigate the trials and tribulations of Kou and Nao knowing full well what they know (which, I mean, who doesn't!) while letting them both figure it out themselves?

Possible prompts:
+ Times they've tried to help Kou and/or Nao, and how they've worked/didn't work
+ Habits they've developed around each other that made people think they must have been real close!
+ Sharing a secret (other than what they know about Kou) that Naoya doesn't know
+ Navigating that awkward (IS it awkward??) time when they maybe want to spend time just the two of them! But how could they do that to sweet oblivious Nao?
+ Maybe Nao Already Knows :3