wafflelate | Gen Freeform Exchange (Reply)

Hello, thank you for reading my letter! A few notes:

I'm a slow commenter and modding makes me extra slow, so please don't panic if it takes awhile for me to comment.
Some things will have more prompts than others but that doesn't mean I want anything more or less than anything else.
Although I try to provide a lot of prompts please don't feel like you need to write one of them! I think prompts make it easier to see where I'm coming from/how I'm approaching the tag, but this letter is not a final summation of all the fic plots I could possibly enjoy. Whatever you come up with will be great!

DNWs

Suicide, suicidal ideation, mentions of suicide, implied suicide, the word suicide
- You may find yourself in a situation where you're writing, say, one character staying behind to fight so that their teammates can escape. Please focus on their determination to save their comrades, live as long as possible, and maybe just maybe succeed without dying no matter how slim the chances are.
- Or, since I've requested Hidan and probably mentioned Jashinists and time loops, you might find yourself writing a character who seeks/experiences temporary death to achieve some goal. Temporary character death is fine, but please have them killed by other people rather than killing themselves.
dissociation/depersonalization from the POV of the person experiencing it, including Nara being in the black
- examples include characters not feeling real, not feeling connected to their body, feeling like they're viewing a scene from the third person while someone else moves their body.
- Exceptions to the above:
  - obviously there are canon characters who can do that kind of thing to themselves/other people because of their cool powers.
  - characters having a literal out-of-body experience because of magic ninja bullshit is fine.
  - characters literally not being in control of their bodies because of magic ninja bullshit is fine.
- What I DNW is dissociation and the like as a reaction to stress/trauma. If it's enemy action to be resisted and fought against, go for it.
- I know being in the black is some magic ninja bullshit but I DNW it because it's still like, a character's internal stress response. Showing Nara in the black from an outside POV is fine.
first person POV except in Animorphs fics
characters meeting other versions of themselves on-screen
Nara Shikako having her reincarnation status revealed
Nara Shikako being pregnant, married, or having sex even off screen.
Unrequested AUs that change the setting, replace the magic system, or significantly change the society the characters live in.
- So, no to: mundane AUs, IN SPACE AUs, fantasy AUs, soulmate AUs, etc, unless directly requested.
- But yes to: canon divergence, alternate timelines, For Want Of A Nail
car crashes or people being hit by cars (a fender-bender or airplane crash would be fine though)
permanent death of requested characters
Incorporating significant chunks of Boruto stuff.

Likes

Casefic, mission fic, murder mysteries
minor characters
worldbuilding
in-universe documentation
like mission reports or textbooks (but not really works told via letters)
canon compliant fics (like episode tags, missing scenes, etc)
backstory exploration
unlikely friendships (friendship in general!)
enemies to friends, enemies to allies, enemies to since-you've-had-a-rough-day-already-I-won't-try-to-stab-you-this-times
angst
hurt/comfort
protectiveness
time travel
canon divergence
garbage-tier magical items
detailed setting description
Gentle spooks and horror — you can find more specifics in my Trick or Treat letter!

Dreaming of Sunshine - Silver Queen

Aburame Shino (DoS) & Nara Shikako (DoS)

Freeforms:

Loyalty - Everyday loyalty proves to be extraordinary under epic circumstances
Dimension travel to a significantly diverged timeline
DoS: The Many Gardens of Shikabane-hime AU

First of all, Shino is great. Second of all, he promised to protect Shikako from spiders and anything that brings that up will please me so greatly.

They could go on a mission together? They could train together? They could work on a project together?

An AU/canon divergence where Shino gets to save the day! Like maybe the Grass kidnapping is successful, but Shino had a kikaichu on Shikako so they're able to find her. Or go even more AU — an AU where Shikako was taken into ROOT when they were young and years later Shino is the only one who recognizes her because Bug Reasons, so he's able to help her? (I definitely don't want Shikako to be helpless, she never is, but! I want Shino to have a chance to shine ok...)

Also I feel like Shino is the #1 person who's ride or die for Shikako without Shikako having ANY clue and I love that. I'd love some kind of situation where she's like...committing treason or time/dimension traveling or something and she needs Shino's help or at least his silence and Shino is just 100% there for it above and beyond her expectations.

Or maybe the other way around! It would be very cool to see a dimension-traveling Shikako be an unlikely friend/ally for Shino.

As far as time loops go, I'm just really interested in the idea of Shino and Shikako having to team up and work through one together. Maybe a seal trap they set off while on a mission together? Or, Shino is the one actually looping and needs to get Shikako to help him across a bunch of different loops...basically I like timeloops where the characters have to work together to undo it!

Hatake Kakashi & Nara Shikako

Freeforms:

Loyalty - Everyday loyalty proves to be extraordinary under epic circumstances
Dimension travel to a significantly diverged timeline
DoS: The Many Gardens of Shikabane-hime AU
Time Loop

Kakashi and Shikako's relationship is one of my favorite parts of DoS! Watching Shikako slowly learn to decipher him has been wonderful and their conversations are some of my absolute favorites.

I know that we're all pretty aware that Kakashi's loyalty to his students is extraordinary but I would just LOVE anything where we get to see Kakashi taking it to extremes. Like, committing treason at the drop of a hat without question! Helping Shikako go missing nin! Searching for her long after she's been declared KIA! Meeting an alternate universe Shikako and being like "...yes you still count as my student, how can I help you." And I'd also love anything that explores how Shikako feels exactly the same way — would go to exactly the same extreme lengths for Kakashi — and I wonder if Kakashi really realizes that, you know?

In terms of dimension travel/Gardens, I would enjoy pretty much anything. In either case I would enjoy Shikako and Kakashi meeting AU versions of themselves or traveling together! I like dimension travel stories where the characters have to stay and where they get to go home pretty evenly. It'd be interesting to see something where Shikako and Kakashi are the same age!

Also, in terms if my "No AUs" DNW, I will opt-in to any societal change AU that can be easily extrapolated from the Warring Clans Era state of things where there are still ninja — a No Villages AU, say, would be fine!

For time loops, I like timeloops where the characters have to work together to undo it! Shikako or Kakashi or both in the time loop sounds great — I'd be particularly interested for Kakashi to be the one looping and to be surprised at Shikako taking the time loop think 100% in stride.

Anko Mitarashi & Nara Shikako
Nara Shikako & Yamashiro Aoba (DoS)

Freeforms:

DoS: Anko Goes On The Hot Springs Mission Instead of Aoba
DoS: Aoba Lives
Dimension travel to a significantly diverged timeline

Anko and Aoba used to go on Intel missions together, so she's definitely capable of taking the mission with Shikako instead, and I'd love to see how Shikako and Anko handle things compared to Shikako and Aoba. Would they stick together? Would Anko have a better time fighting off the Jashinists? Would having the Snake contract save Anko the way Shikako's summoning contract saved her? How would the events post-Hot Springs play out differently?

Aoba and Shikako or Anko and Shikako go on a mission and, whoops, uh, they end up in the past. Queue a debate about whether or not to come clean with Tsunade, or Hiruzen, or Minato? (Or maybe they go father back, and Shikako has to get them both into the Warring Clans Era pre-village Nara Clan?

I'd also love to see anything with Aoba being alive. Some ideas, but feel free to go wild:

Aoba's reaction to or involvement in events that happened after his death, like the hospital attack, the Mist exams, or the Police Arc.
Instead of Anko seeking out Shikako to talk to her in the graveyard about how Aoba would have been happy she got out, maybe Anko and Shikako talk about something else?
Aoba and Anko celebrating Anko's promotion to jōnin

Hoshigaki Kisame & Nara Shikako (DoS)

Freeforms:

Dimension travel to a significantly diverged timeline
Enemies Forced To Work Together
Exciting People You Meet In Prison
Former Enemies Stranded Far From Home Become Friends
Two Characters Who Don't Like Each Other Grudgingly Solve A Problem Together
Unexpected Mercy
Usually Powerful Character is Rendered Powerless
DoS: Further Reincarnation
DoS: The Many Gardens of Shikabane-hime AU

We've seen almost none of Kisame in DoS but I really really love him and I'd just love to get something where he and Shikako interact! I love enemies interacting and becoming friends or even just temporary allies, and I love enemies who learn to understand/respect/even like each other without ending up on the same side. Like — I would be into circumstances conspiring for them to be friends, obviously, but I am also down for them to still try to kill each other, if you want!

If they become good friends without significant canon divergence, I'd enjoy some focus on the tension and problems inherent in Shikako becoming friends with a missing nin who's been working with Itachi to take the Kyūbi from Naruto. Like at minimum that's extremely awkward, right? But I would also be interested in canon divergence! Maybe Kisame comes back to Mist for some reason (what reason?) or maybe Kisame and Zabuza roleswap and Team 7 runs into Kisame in Land of Wave.

In terms of dimension travel, I have no preference for Gardens fic or non-Gardens fic — whatever you want! What I like about dimension travel is A) canon divergence obviously and B) the way it makes it easier for characters to take more radical actions because they don't have to think about politics or the mission so much, just about what's right, what's safe, and what will help them get home.

For further reincarnation, maybe something where Shikako finds herself reborn in Mist after living as Nara Shikako and gets involved in the rebellion or something?

In terms of characters being powerless and unexpected mercy... Kisame is a very peculiar person with a very interesting set of morals and of course Shikako is very prone to mercy, so I think I could see those freeforms going either way. I'd be interested in one of them rendering the other helpless (eg, Shikako seals Kisame's chakra and then has to figure out what to do with him) or in the helplessness being imposed by some third party (eg, Kisame stumbles across a poisoned Shikako).

I think the other freeforms are pretty what-it-says-on-the-tin!

Crossover Fandom (Dreaming of Sunshine - Silver Queen/Naruto)

Mitarashi Anko (DoS) & Momochi Zabuza (Naruto)

Freeforms:

Character From Future Tries To Convince Current Enemy They Will Be Friends/Allies In Future
Time Travel - Mercy Killing Your Original Timeline & Creating A Better New One
Undercover - Character is undercover and their enemy unexpectedly plays along
Undercover - Enemies have to corroborate each other's cover
Dimension travel to a significantly diverged timeline
Enemies to Allies - Character From Future Tries To Convince Current Enemy To Work Together
Injured Character Can't Complete Rescue Mission Without Help From Unlikely Source
Team Up to Rescue Another Character
Unexpected Mercy
Usually Powerful Character is Rendered Powerless

Alright. Okay. Listen. Listen. We don't actually see Anko and Zabuza them interacting during the Mist arc, but they must have, right? Anko got to see Zabuza being a teacher and learn he's in charge of the Mist academy and probably shit talk him about her team being awesome. Maybe they're not friends but they're not not friends! Plus absolutely everyone probably knows all of the details about the Land of Wave mission because that was such a fuck up of mission intel.

...what I'm saying is, Anko is uniquely positioned to meet Naruto!Zabuza and be like, "Hey, it's that guy who's great with kids!", which is in my opinion a really really interesting set up for character interactions. \o/

So, okay:

No preference for who goes in which direction or in what manner.
Anko throws herself back in time but whoops lands in a universe without Shikako where everything is sucky — but at least she can bust Tazuna and get herself assigned to go to Wave where she can try to help their future alliance with Mist along?
Anko needs help rescuing one or more of her kids (or her kids need help rescuing her) and Zabuza gets roped into it, maybe while being mistaken for DoS!Zabuza.
Zabuza needs help rescuing Haku and Anko is happy to help.
Zabuza's been contracted to assassinate someone and is undercover trying to make that happen...and for some reason this Konoha ninja is helping him.
Zabuza's been contracted to assassinate someone and Anko's been assigned to a similar mission and insists they work together.
Anko is the one undercover and she's trying to kill Gatou; Zabuza helps.
Anko and Zabuza are sent back in time to try and avert a terrible future, but the time travel technique is misaimed so A) Anko ends up in a universe with no Shikako and B) when she goes to make contact with Zabuza he has no clue who she is or what she wants.
Zabuza is powerless or at Anko's mercy and she helps/spares him because she knows they could be friends and it'd be better for him to live and overhaul Mist's education system.

Person of Interest

Lionel Fusco & Creator's Choice of Canon Character(s) (POI)

Solo: Lionel Fusco (POI)

Freeforms:

Aftermath of a Case
Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting
Awkward Conversations with People You Tried to Kill
Awkward Conversations With Someone You Wronged In The Past
POI - Lionel Fusco Saves The Day
POV Outsider
Case Fic

Fusco is my favorite character on TV ever and I would just love anything about him! His redemption arc is so wonderful and his interactions with other characters are always fantastic.

Fusco is pretty sure he's 100% exactly perfectly the wrong member of the team to be stuck in this time loop trying to save [character of your choice], but he's not a quitter. He's going to get this right. (Or: Fusco peggy sue time travels back to an earlier point in his life. It's up to him to help change things! He has to save everyone! This is so much pressure!!!)

Instead of falling in with HR, Fusco meets Finch or Reese some other way. Or go even more AU! He could meet Shaw or ROOT at a different time! I love canon divergence AUs so go wild.

What's it like for Fusco to try and help numbers alone? Post-series welcome!

We see Fusco have plenty of awkward conversations with people he tried to kill or wronged and honestly I eat them up with a spoon you can't go wrong.

What do other people think about Fusco? What does Fusco think about other people?

Gravity Falls

Solo: Stan Pines

Dipper Pines & Ford Pines & Mabel Pines & Stan Pines

Dipper Pines & Stan Pines

Mabel Pines & Stan Pines

Freeforms:

Case Fic
Characters Teaching Each Other New Skills
Characters Team Up To Investigate Something Paranormal/Supernatural
Chased by Ghosts
Crimes & Criminals
Supernatural Elements
vanishing hitchhiker
Worldbuilding

This is one of my favorite shows ever! I would really love:

canon-typical adventures ranging anywhere from silly teenage hijinx to genuinely life-threatening danger
anything that explores the worldbuilding
works that show characters bonding through shared adventure/trauma

I've picked four of my favorite characters and I'd love to see them teamed up with each other or with other people!

In terms of things for the characters to actually get up to:

There's a ghost in the Mystery Shack and Stan has been passive aggressively ignoring its spooky bullshit for 30 years. Stop giving it attention, Dipper, that's exactly what it wants.
I love the weird laws and lawlessness of Gravity Falls. Sherif Blubs and Deputy Durland do an honestly terrible job, Stan teaches a bear to drive, dudes can marry woodpeckers, and "pug trafficking" is illegal! Also Stan teaches the kids how to make fake money??? INCREDIBLE. This is a worldbuilding topic you can't go wrong on.
I love seeing the kids solve problems that Ford struggled with 30 years ago, and also I wonder if Dipper and Mabel and Stan discover that Ford was bullied by any magical creatures besides the unicorns...?
Stan picks up a vanishing hitchhiker and is extremely offended that the hitchhiker ditched before chipping in for gas.
A magic spell goes wrong.
Vampires don't sparkle and other disappointing truths Mabel learns during her second summer in Gravity Falls.
One of them teaches Ford how to use Twitter.
...or Wikipedia.