augusta_brie

Thank you so much Yuletide author for nominating to write for my little fandoms! I adore all three of them, and it’s really exciting to get fic for these characters in particular. I do apologise for the length of my letter, I found it really difficult to stop rambling on once I started talking about my favourites. Please don’t feel that this means that I am overly committed to any of the prompt suggestions, because I’m really just enthusiastic about fic that features these characters predominantly. If you like, go with something completely out of left field/that you may have picked up from my previous letters or ramblings/that fic you’ve always wanted to write. As you can probably tell from my … uh … extensive list of likes and prompts, you really can’t put a step wrong!

• Break the cutie. *laughs* I always feel so self-conscious about admitting this, but it’s a trope I adore! I am a terrible fan, but I love all the elements that go with exploring what would it take to break down a character, and what it would take then to build them back up. It draws on some really interesting character interpretation, delves into different relationships, and helps move characters towards something new and hopeful.  Hurt/comfort (physical/mental/spiritual/psychological) really is my favourite genre.
• Character exploration and development in general is always really fun and interesting, especially in regards to how the characters relate to others. I really love the idea of a character’s past coming back to wreak havoc on their present (be it past relationships, family issues, old battles or games, skeletons in the closet). Or, perhaps characters getting to know each other on a deeper level where their weaknesses and strengths are laid bare. What lengths are friends willing to go for each other?
• I adore psychological elements, including PTSD, depression, anxiety, panic attacks (etc).
• Consequences and fallout are another one of my big loves. I like the thought of characters making mistakes/pushing themselves to exhaustion/failing or succeeding/fighting battles and there being consequences and repercussions for that.
• Plotty case/adventure/political fic.  I enjoy the intrigue that comes from those kind of fics, how it tends to highlight different elements of the characters: strengths, weaknesses, intellect and cunning, difficulty and hurts.
• I also like darker ideas like blackmail and cohesion, characters being trapped somewhere (be it inside their own heads, in a cell, in the middle of a forest with a storm coming), AU’s that seem like they might be quite fluffy on the surface but are actually quite dark.  AUs in general (my Trick or Treat letter probably captures my AU likes the best).  Unwanted contact. Exposing my characters greatest fears, putting them in their worst case scenario and then having them deal with the fallout? Fantastic! You can go as dark as you like with any of the prompts, I’m a big angst and dark!fic fan. The only thing I would request is at least a hopeful ending.
• If you do choose to go with pairing fic, absolutely everything mentioned above! I love plot and character development and ridiculous situations in my pairing fic! Plus: flirting, teasing, uncertainty. Old boyfriends, negative past experiences, coercion and blackmail from an un-nominated character/OC and the consequences.  Dub-con. Friends-with-benefits who are absolutely, positively convinced that they are nothing more than friends-with-benefits, but something happens to prove them wrong. Sexual tension in difficult/dangerous situations. Relationships being complicated. Messing up and making up. Firsts.

1.  Arashiyama is very much the public face of Border. It means that he is on the receiving end of a lot of positive attention, but it could make him a target as well. Maybe he has a stalker, or there is a kidnapping plot. Or, perhaps he has been stalked/kidnapped in the past, and something in the present brings back some of those old memories. Maybe there are anti-Border groups involved, or perhaps it’s actually the result of some internal issues. Maybe he is held and tortured by a group of Neighbours and used against Border? I love the political intrigue of Border, and the role Arashiyama plays in that.  I could see Border keeping anything negative that happens to Arashiyama secret, because it could be bad publicity if it came out, but what impact would that have on Arashiyama?  What WOULD happen if the press got a hold of a skeleton from his closet?

2. How/why did Arashiyama join Border in the first place, and how did his relationship with Shinoda develop?  Why did Shinoda pick Arashiyama over Jin and Tachikawa, or did Shinoda get left with the young recruit who probably didn’t shine quite as brightly back then as the other two did? Maybe Arashiyama and Shinoda didn’t develop a relationship until later on; did that mean that Arashiyama worked under one of the less honest, more corrupt leaders? What impact would that have had?

3. Arashiyama would have been on a different team before leading his own unit, what were those experiences like?  People either like Arashiyama (his team, Jin) or have some significant issues with him. Were his experiences good or bad, and is there anything from that time that still haunts for him?  Where are those old teammates now?  Were some of them current canon members?  At what point did people realise how much of an asset Arashiyama could be to Border?

4. Arashiyama (19), Jin (19), and Tachikawa (20) are all similar ages, and I’d love to see how they interacted back when they first started out with Border. How did Arashiyama fit into the competitive Jin vs Tachikawa dynamic?  Arashiyama is currently friends with Jin, and there is at the very least that connection to Tachikawa through Shinoda (as well as the fact that Tachikawa seems to have more respect for Arashiyama than some of the other captains), but what was the dynamic like when they were 14, 15? Arashiyama comes across as more laid back, he’s the friendly one, the one people probably underestimated.  I’d love to see younger versions of the three of them in conflict, fighting together and against each other. Maybe when something goes wrong at Border headquarters the three of them have to band together to save the day after months of not really connecting. Arashiyama’s leadership comes out for the first time and he gets some of the recognition he deserves, Jin and Tachikawa show the strengths they have as individuals as well as team members. Guns! Swords! Backs against the wall! Politics! Private angst! Miscommunication! Friendships! Explosions! Caring for each other’s wounds! Saving the day! I … I could go on forever. All of that with some good old fashioned Arashiyama angst or hurt/comfort would be just lovely.

5. Romantically (as well as platonically) I ship Tachikawa/Arashiyama and Jin/Arashiyama. Any of the prompts above could involve potential romantic leanings (or pre-slash, which I also love). Perhaps Jin supports Arashiyama through any of the events mentioned in prompt 1, or 14 year old Arashiyama has a bit of a crush of Tachikawa.  One specific pairing prompt that I also love is that Tachikawa and Arashiyama are (very rarely) friends-with-benefits.  Whenever they’re at an emotional, physical, psychological breaking point/when a mission has gone terribly wrong/when they’ve given too much of themselves away and they find if difficult to face themselves in the mirror (etc) they seek each out and have a one-night-stand.  Sort of that desperate need to connect with someone and breathe again.  At some point, something happens and they realise that they mean more to each other than they had realised.

How willing and able is Arashiyama to be in a relationship with anyone, given his public role with Border? Is it something he is weary of, or is it that private, personal relationship that is about him and nothing else something he quietly craves? I really love the idea of any relationship working around the plot, politics, difficulties, and nature of their jobs. 

Additionally, one of my general likes revolves around past relationships, and the impact they can have. Has Arashiyama ever gotten into a relationship he’s ever regretted? Because he’s viewed almost like public property at times, do people sometimes get too touchy feeling, expect too much? Has Border ever tried to use him as political pawn? 

Nominated character/s: Miyuki Kazuya.
Characters I wouldn’t mind showing up: Kuramochi, Tetsuya, Chris. 
Summary: Miyuki is one of those characters who I think is endlessly complex, and he has this cluster of inter-relational and personal issues that stretch back to his childhood. When things become difficult (especially off the pitch), Miyuki struggles, and there are times when his problem solving leaves something to be desired. He can be quietly disconnected from others, even as he smiles and jokes with them. As a result, I think most of the characters over-estimate how strong Miyuki is, how difficult things can actually get. I read a letter for another exchange that said they felt that Miyuki needed to be broken down first before he could be built back up, and I really do love this idea (and it feeds very nicely into my h/c tendencies!). That exploration of what it is for Miyuki to break, the realisation from others of who Miyuki is beneath the smirks and cutting remarks, and then that care to help Miyuki move forward into something new but healthy. 

Prompt ideas:
1. What impact has Miyuki’s relationship with his father had? I adore Chibi!Miyuki, because it’s easy to see how the bullying, his relationship with his father, and the unexplained absence of his mother may have shaped him into the person we know now. This part of his life is still very much open to interpretation, and I’m really happy with anything that runs the gauntlet between darkest dark to bittersweet but hopeful. 

2. How far is Miyuki willing to go, how much is he prepared to sacrifice? Who drags him back if he ever steps into that abyss? What would it take for Miyuki to break down, and who would be there to build him back up again? What happens if he has to play against one of his old bullies? I can see Miyuki being completely and utterly fine on the surface in that situation, but what is going on for him beneath all of that, and who figures it out? 

3. I would love to see more of Tetsuya and Miyuki’s relationship, especially if you explore how it grows to involve more than baseball. I really like the mentoring element, but I think there is potentially something more there – the beginnings of an actual friendship. Maybe Tetsuya keeps in contact after he graduates, much to Miyuki’s surprise. Maybe they txt, catch up occasionally – often over baseball but not always. It could be a 5-times like fic, such as: 5 txts Miyuki has sent Tetsuya. Or: 5 times Miyuki and Tetsuya talked about something other than baseball.

4. Chris! Aw, Miyuki. What does Chris see when he looks at Miyuki? Does he know how quietly important he is? Chris was a major reason why Miyuki chose Seidou, but the Chris he got was probably not the Chris he was expecting. Post-injury/pre-Sawamura Chris can actually be quite cold and cutting, to the point where pitchers actually quit because of him. And then there is Miyuki, who manages to be everything that Chris has just lost. What impact did meeting and interacting with THIS Chris have on someone who is already closed off? I can see how this may have driven Miyuki more inwards, even though he would understand why Chris was acting that way. How did that slowly change when Chris worked through his own issues?  Or, happy get-together fic! 

4. Anything based around Kuramochi and Miyuki, including their first year. Kuramochi’s side-story (Kuramochi Outrun) is really the only, tiny glimpse we get of their time as first year students, but it suggests that Miyuki wasn’t the only who bought some issues with him to Seidou. How does their not-friendship develop, what does it look like at its absolute best? At its absolute worst? Do they ever discuss their different family situations, and how would that conversation even start in the first place? Have either of them been pushed to the point where they almost decide to just give up on each other as friends? I love how the guidebook says that neither Kuramochi nor Miyuki have any friends, because it makes what does exist between them that much more important.

5. I’m putting this behind a white bar, because it involves thoughts on the current manga arc. (Please highlight to read ^_^) I love everything about the current manga arc (volumes 38 upwards). It would be nice to get inside Miyuki’s head a little more, because we have been deliberately shut out of most of his internal monologue throughout this arc. Why does he make the decisions he does? What are some of the physical, psychological, relational consequences for Miyuki and those around him? I’d love to see Chris and Tetsuya’s reaction and how they then choose to deal with Miyuki in the aftermath. Miyuki has clearly taken inspiration from both of them, but he’s twisted that inspiration into something that has ultimately hurt him pretty badly. What does he learn, and what does he still need to figure out?  What impact does it have on Miyuki’s friendship with Kuramochi?  If the arc isn’t completed by the time you receive this letter, please don’t worry about diverging from canon – that’s half the fun!  I might update this a little as the arc unfurls.

6. Romantically: Again, I love the relationships as friends/mentors just as much as I love them romantically ^_^. All three of the pairings mentioned above I also like romantically: Chris/Miyuki, Tetsuya/Miyuki, Kuramochi/Miyuki. I actually adore all three equally, I’ve never been able to pick one over the other. Infusing any of the above prompts/likes list with a romantic twist would be interesting.

Donten ni Warau.

Nominated character/s: Kumou Tenka, Takeda Rakuchou.
Characters I wouldn’t mind showing up: Any.
Summary: I was a little worried about nominating both of these characters, as I didn’t want to scare off people who might have mistakenly thought I was after pairing fic for the two of them! This is definitely a case of either/or (although if this letter interested you because the pairing seemed odd, go for it!  While that wasn’t my intention, it’s certainly not something I would be directly opposed to, either). I love Tenka’s hidden angst and insecurities, and how that impacts on his relationships and his decisions – there are always consequences for Tenka, no matter what he chooses to do. With Takeda, I just adore him in all his entirety. His desire to prove himself as worthy, his relationships with both Sousei and Takamine. How far does Takeda go to prove himself, to feel accepted? 

Prompt ideas:
1. I’d love to see some of the cases/adventures the Yamainu Squad had together before Tenka left. Anything that draws on Tenka and Sousei’s friendship is lovely, especially if captures how complex that relationship is. Case!fic would be fantastic. Alternatively/additionally, pre-series Yamainu Squad adventures could focus on Takeda’s meeting them all for the first time. How does chibi!Takeda come into contact with the Yamainu Squad, and what sort of relationships does he have with them? Does he start to tag along, or get in trouble when he tries to go off to solve cases on his own?  *laughs* I could so see chibi!Takeda getting himself into as much trouble as adult!Takeda. 

2. Tenka and Sousei’s friendship is one of my favourite things in the series. Having seen through Tenka and gotten a better understanding of his motivations as well as his weaknesses, how do they continue to rebuild post-series? What threatens to pull them apart? What is the glue that holds them together? How does Sousei help Tenka through the consequences of the series conclusion? Do they have any adventures that helps them grow as friends?  Tenka is just this beautiful character, but the end of the series is hard for him.  I’d love to see Sousei helping him through that in a manner that is really particular to them both.  I do adore Tenka in his suit/with his hair up, so if you can bring either of those in at any point that would be delightful!

3. I do really love Takeda ^_^. Anything that explores his relationship with Takamine would be fantastic. What does it mean to Takeda? What does it mean to Takamine? What is the hardest case they’ve worked together? From a hurt/comfort perspective, how does not only Takamine but the rest of the team react if Takeda ends up seriously injured (especially if it’s because Takeda has stupidly gone off on his own again in an attempt to prove himself). Maybe they don’t know where Takeda actually is, and it’s a race against time to find him. I love the thought of everyone reflecting on how awesome Takeda actually is while Takeda is in peril. 

4. Relationship wise, I enjoy the characters as friends/mentors just as much as I enjoy them in a relationship. Gen is just as lovely, as it explores the relationships in a different way. Please feel free to go either way depending on what fits best!