Much of this is, I will admit, copied from last year’s letter. I really enjoyed the first exchange, and still have an interest in several of the things I asked for that round; hopefully the details I provide here will spark something useful for you!

General thoughts: I’m not actually involved much in fandom per se, so some of the things I see floating around, like PWP or cracky AU premises, aren’t as much my thing. (I do occasionally get wild ideas for crossovers, but none of my requests here are of that sort.) I’m not very shippy, either. If I’m interested in seeing fic for a source, it’s usually because I want to see more stuff in line with what the canon is like — so if you love the source enough to offer it, you probably love exactly the things I’m looking for!

I like “missing scene” fics, canon events shown from other characters’ points of view, and prequel or sequel stories with actual plots in them (if you have the time and will to write something long enough to have a plot). AU in the sense of “what if X moment had gone differently?” can also be great. Humour is good, and so is angst, depending on the source in question (Tokyo Babylon pretty much comes with angst installed; K-20 generally begs for humour). And, given that this exchange is for Asian fandoms, I’m deeply in favor of stories that get their setting details right, insofar as you’re able to manage that.

If you’d like to see what fanfic I’ve written and received in the past, I’m russian_blue on AO3.

On to the fandoms themselves:

Fandom: K-20: The Fiend with 20 Faces
Characters: Hashiba Yoko

I just watched this again recently, and adored it as much as ever. All of the characters are fabulous. Yoko is the only character in my request because one of the things I’d be interested in seeing could just be about her: anything prequel-ish about her and “the basics of being a lady” and where she learned to do all that stuff would be great. (Helicopters!) Feel free to shoehorn in any of the other characters, if you like — maybe wee!Yoko visited the circus once and met wee!Heikichi? Or, since I really do love them both, a sequel fic about Heikichi doing something cool as K-20, with Yoko continuing to be awesome. Heck, you can bring back Akechi if you like — whatever! There’s no character in that movie I don’t love (Genji, Kobayashi, Kikuko, etc), so as long as you have fun with them, I probably will, too.

Fandom: Rurouni Kenshin
Characters: Himura Kenshin

How much do I love this show? Not only is it my First Anime Love (i.e. the first series I really got into and watched all of), but I’m currently playing a character in an RPG that’s based on Kenshin. If you want to know more about my thoughts, you can read this post and the comments on this one, but the short form is: above all, I love the Kyoto arc and the Trust/Betrayal OVA. (Not as fond of post-Shishio episodes, and I regret to say I’ve never read the manga, so I’m not familiar with the plots and characters that don’t appear in the anime.)

If you like writing dark and psychological stuff, I would love a story exploring what happened after Kenshin left Hiko Seijuro and went to fight in the Bakumatsu. How did Seijuro’s hot-headed idiot apprentice end up the cold, unflinching Hitokiri Battousai? As part of that, or as a story in its own right, you could also write about a confrontation with Saito. If you’d prefer something happier, it would be neat to get Kenshin’s thoughts as he settles into life at the Kamiya dojo, with the other series characters around. Or, finally, does he ever pass on the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu teachings to anyone else? Yahiko wants to learn, but if you read that post I linked, you know I’m dubious as to whether anybody in the Meiji Era could (or should) reach Kenshin’s level of skill. There’s potentially an interesting story to be told in answer to that question.

Fandom: Onmyouji
Characters: Abe no Seimei, Minamoto no Hiromasa

Hee. So I got onto these movies because of Tokyo Babylon sparking my interest in onmyodo, and man, is Seimei smirky or what? He and Hiromasa are hilarious. I’m afraid I don’t have much in the way of specific suggestions here, except to say I’m not interested in seeing their friendship sexualized; I think they’re great just the way they are. Maybe Hiromasa falls for another lady and wacky mystical hijinks ensue. Maybe Seimei gets in trouble and Hiromasa has to save him. Anything, really; the world needs more Heian-era buddy-film fun.

Fandom: Tokyo Babylon
Characters: Sumeragi Subaru

Oh, man, where do I start? I could pretty much go for anything in this fandom, so long as it harmonizes with the canon. (In other words, if you want to write about Subaru and Seishiro, go for it — but what I dig about their relationship is its utterly fucked-up nature. I do not ship them in any healthy way, nor do I have the slightest belief that they could ever work it out.) As with my K-20 request, I only specified Subaru because he’s the common denominator for suggestions I have, but you’re more than welcome to bring in any other character. I’d love to see Subaru and Hokuto pre-canon, maybe during his training, or when they find out Hokuto doesn’t have any talent for onmyodo. Or give me Hokuto’s perspective on her twin and the stuff in the series. Or, if you’re familiar with X and want to do Seishiro-related aftermath, that could be cool, too.

Hopefully that’s of use to you. Happy writing!