Fic In A Box 2024 Letter

[seal_nonnie]

Hello Gift-In-A-Boxer!

I go by Brachylagus_fandom over on AO3, and I'm delighted to see what you have in store for me! I've listed some general likes for the medium opt-ins I've requested across fandoms as well as prompts for the fandoms I've requested, but if inspiration takes you in another direction, go for it; I love all of these canons, and I'm sure I'll love what you create for them.

DNWs

• smut
• gore (canon-typical violence is fine, but keep injury descriptions minimally graphic)
• change of setting AUs (e.g., coffee shop/pirate/high school AU - canon divergence AUs fine)

Likes

• Worldbuilding - how did canon get to be the way it is? how do the nitty gritty parts of it work?
• Crack, especially crack treated seriously
• Outsider POV, unreliable narrator, contradicting narrators
• Big stylistic choices - second-person or other non standard POVs, epistolary, nonlinear storytelling. Go wild with it, and I'm sure we'll both have fun
• Characters being competent in their area of expertise
• Mystery/intrigue
• Missing scenes, Little details of canon
• Hurt/comfort
• Fluff
• Hijinks
• Slice of life

Medium-Specific Likes

I've requested the same medium tags across fandoms this year, with the exception of those not applicable to a specific fandom (e.g., not requesting the recursive tags for fandoms I don't have works in, ASW panels for book-only fandoms, etc). 

• In-Universe Media - a great medium for worldbuilding-focused works! I love all forms of these, especially documents that peer into areas of canon that are more in the background, or that cast a different perspective on the events we see in canon (like a police report for the victims of a Leverage heist). For this (and Art and Poetry), Any truly does mean any; I love all varieties of this I run across, and so the easiest way to trim down the number of opt-ins I was requesting was just to request the top of the umbrella.
• Conspiracy Board - this can be a really fun twist on an outsider perspective for me, especially because so many events in these canons are wild enough that the truth truly is stranger than fiction. It can also be fun to see what conspiracies the characters themselves hold, and are willing to put on their tinfoil hats for.
• List of things (character) is not allowed to do - a perfect excuse for comedy! Many of these characters are terrible at decision-making, and I'd love to see their (canonical or not) poor choices dragged out in listicle format.
• Art in general - I love seeing different styles of art and how other people visualize things! In terms of specific likes, I tend to prefer stylized (e.g., art deco, medieval-style paintings) over realistic art styles and pieces with a clear sense of ~aesthetic, though I don't have strong preferences for what that aesthetic is; it's kind of like big stylistic choices in prose for me.
• A Softer World style art/panels - I think that the A Softer World format is great for a gut punch, and so many of these comics are so blorbo-coded it's not even funny. I'm totally down for something in the same three-panel style but with your own text as well, or text from one of the ASW spinoffs.
• Illustrated Text - I love art and I love stories! I think illustrated texts can convey more information/narrative than art alone can convey, but art conveys a lot of emotion and setting of that text, and it can also allow a lot of concision in conveying that information. And, for things potentially outside of the canonical universe, like action figure packaging, it can be interesting to see how something artificial can be marketed, and the resemblances it has to real out-of-universe examples.
• Recursive Fic/Remix/Fanart/Fancomic/Cover of My Fic - Honestly, I'm just curious to see how other people interact with/interpret things I've created. Any works under my name on AO3 are fair game; any art or fic opt ins that apply to your idea are fine. I'm also open to remixes/recursives/et cetera in fandoms I didn't request!
• Solo Journaling TTRPG rules, TTRPG rules, TTRPG Supplement - I'd love to see how any of these canons work as a TTRPG! I'm most familiar with PBtA systems, which I think do some really interesting things with having narrative elements being baked into classes, but I've also played DnD, and I'm more than willing to try a new system and see how it interacts with one of these canons. I really enjoy when narrative and mechanics interact in messy ways, as well as when things have unexpected-but-makes-sense-deep-down benefits/drawbacks.
• Poetry - I love poetry because it can establish very specific moods with very few words. No preference for metered vs free verse; I really like when very structured styles (e.g., villanelle) use that rigidity to full effect but also appreciate how less structured formats allow ideas and language to flow more freely. I tend to prefer people over nature in terms of subjects. I'm particularly interested in in-universe poems (e.g., something a character wrote or a song they grew up singing).
• Logic Puzzle, Murdle - The logic needed to solve them, the way you get little bits and pieces before everything becomes clear all at once. I think this can be a fun way to do slice of life; A does these things with these parameters, but must remember which is which. For murdle, I love the backstory behind it, and the reaction of the suspect at the end! (I also really love the snarky weapons/locations/suspects cards).
• Meta, Character Analysis, Worldbuilding Headcanon - I really enjoy seeing how these worlds work, and I feel like meta and worldbuilding headcanons dive deep into that in nifty ways (either by analyzing canon evidence or creating theories). It can also be really interesting to hear about a canon from a perspective other than my own, or through the lens of a subject I'm not all that familiar with, and how those can enrich my own understanding of a piece of media. The only thing I look for when reading meta and meta-adjacent works is earnestness; I am more than happy to hear about a pedantic nitpicking of legal defenses within Murdle, or the deep ecological meaning of One Piece's oceanography, or a reading that is definitely not intended by canon but produces a fascinating reframing a la Darth Jar Jar, so long as you're invested in it.

The 39 Clues - Various Authors

 

General Thoughts on In-Universe Social Media

I think this series is a great place for some outsider perspective, just because Cahill "normal" is so far removed from the rest of the world, and the In-Universe Social Media/Reddit tags would be a great way to do that. (It kinda reminds me of the now-defunct Cahill Web, which, in addition to a bunch of In-Universe documents and edit wars on not!Wikipedia, had fake social media pages for the characters. The pages had a lot of pretty normal stuff and comments from non-Cahill friends, but there was also a bunch of references to Cahill activity.)

I'd also love to see how the characters use social media in different ways that reflect their different personalities. I imagine Jonah's stuff would be very curated, since he's a public figure, but maybe he's got a side account or three that are much less so. (And there's always the potential for the "this reminds me of that time I threatened to kill you… looking great!" comments, with this group.)

In terms of Reddit stuff, these characters have enough interpersonal tirefires to burn r/relationships to the ground. I also think a deeply bizarre AITA post with names removed but not any of the weird shit (and/or literal crimes) the characters get up to would be top-notch. ("I spied on and tried to shoot my best friend. AITA?") And the number of weird things someone could describe themself in a r/IAmA thread would be hilarious.

It would also be great to see a seemingly unrelated thread, maybe on r/History, getting derailed via people trying to cover up and/or expose Cahill secrets.

Fiske Cahill & Grace Cahill

These two have such an interesting relationship, in part because we don't really get to see it (since the series started with Grace's death). I'd love to see them as children (or well, I guess child + late teenager/early adult who's probably closer to parent than sister). In Storm Warning, Fiske partially convinces Amy of his identity based on how similar his reaction to Beatrice is to Dan's; what was the relationship between Grace, Beatrice, and Fiske like when they were young? Fiske was an artist, and some of his angsty teen poetry or art would be great.

Fiske's decision to fake his death/become the Man in Black would also be a really interesting thing to explore. How involved was Fiske in Cahill business before he faked his death, and how much of the pressure on him was specifically a result of Grace's involvement? What was Fiske and Grace's relationship like immediately before that choice and afterwards? Did they keep in touch as family members or solely as Madrigals? I also think that Fiske's "death" would be a focal point for at least one conspiracy theory, between general true crime fervor (teenage white boy goes missing and has his death reported in one of the most sus ways possible) and Grace's prominence.

Related to the above, it could be great to see Fiske reckoning with Grace's reputation/prominence/legacy before he left, during his time as the Man in Black, or after Grace's death.

Hamilton Holt & Madison Holt & Reagan Holt 

Sports siblings! The Holt family dynamic manages to simultaneously be pretty supportive and deeply fucked up, and I'd love to see something exploring that. Some of their exploits pre-canon could be fun, as would their efforts to restructure the branch after Into the Gauntlet. How did the Clue Hunt (and subsequent misadventures) alter their relationship? 

I really like how Hamilton and Regan both buck family expectations at different points and different ways. I'd really enjoy fic of the Holts being supportive of Regan's dancing or Hamilton's process of coming out/getting a boyfriend. (The existence of his off-page boyfriend is literally the only part of Doublecross I have osmosed.) Does Madison also end up doing something not Holt-like?

Olivia Cahill & Madeleine Cahill 

Their relationship has always intrigued me. I'd love to see some of Madeleine's training or other things Olivia taught her, and both of them grappling with Gideon's legacy (and those of Katherine/Thomas/Luke/Jane). It would also be great to see Olivia's adventures in creating the serum antidote (with young Madeleine tagging on). How did she know what she needed to collect for it? How did she test it?

Amy Cahill 

I have an immense amount of affection for bookworms thrust into high-stakes situations, and Amy definitely qualifies. I'd love to see her pre-Clue Hunt, either on a trip to Grace's or just trying to muddle through. How did Grace prepare her for the Hunt (like how she trained Dan's memory)? What happened when Cahill stuff came up?

It would also be great to see Amy growing into her responsibilities post-Clue Hunt. What was the adjustment from "Cahill is my surname and has no other meaning" to leader of the Madrigals like?

What are some of her favorite books, either before or after the Hunt? What are some times things she read about came in handy?

Jonah Wizard 

I'd love to see more of Jonah's relationship to his celebrity status (which he seems to feel at least somewhat restrained by in Into the Gauntlet) - how has that changed over the years, as he's gotten older or more famous? How does it shift after what's got to be a pretty traumatic experience during the hunt? How does his role as the son of the Janus branch's head mesh with his career; beyond any networking opportunities the branch would provide, how does that benefit him? What is he expected to do in return?

I'd also love Jonah's relationship with music in general, either stuff he writes (and its development over the years) or music written by others. Are there any songs he's too embarrassed to sing? Particular favorites (or tracks he has surprising fondness for)? What instruments does he play?

I'd also be interested in Jonah's complicated relationship with various members of his family (both parents, Phoenix, etc.). How have those shifted over the years? Is there anything there that he's only coming to terms with as an adult?

Sinead Starling 

I think Sinead is a super interesting character; she's a very different person at the start of the hunt vs. in Into the Gauntlet vs. in CVV, but you can draw a decent through line between them. A look at her POV on those shifts would be excellent, particularly her decision to become a Vesper (and the resultant fallout).

Pre-canon, how did she and her brothers get involved in Cahill business? What was her relationship like with them and Alistair, who seems to be an uncle figure to many of the younger Cahills? (Somewhat relatedly, where are her parents? 39 Clues definitely follows the kids' series trope of adults being evil/unwilling to help, incompetent/unable to help, or dead, but I think hers are the only ones not mentioned at all.) What were their normal lives like?

The time between the explosion and the Starlings' re-entry into the Clue Hunt would be another excellent place to explore. It's a major shift in their lives however you look at it, and I'd love to see how it shook up the triplets' group dynamics and affected Sinead in particular. Did she have guilt over having fewer complications from the explosion? What kind of support did she get, from inside or outside the branch?

WB: Differences between Cahill and Mainstream History 

As a kid, some of my favorite parts of the series were attempts to incorporate historical figures into the Cahill mythos, and I'd love to see more of that with the historical figure/event of your choice. I'm equally fine with connections mostly used to segue into your fave historical topics (as many of the books did) and serious examinations of how the Cahills being real would have impacted this event.

I'd also really like to see how this would affect non-Cahill (or non-branch-affiliated) people! That could be a fun way to use some outsider POV (as the motivations of the hunt to people outside it are utterly obtuse) and feature historical figures who cannot be easily retconned as Cahills.

It might also be fun as a "truth is stranger than fiction" take on conspiracy theories. (Who shot JFK? Well, an Ekat was trying to kill him from the grassy knoll, but a Lucian gave the Ekat agent lunch poisoning only to have their papers switched to obvious forgeries by a Janus, who was beaten to the site by a Tomas… and then some rando shot him from the book depository.) I could see this being played as the accepted version of events being true and branch actions acting parallel to real-life conspiracy theories, the actions of branch agents inadvertently planting the evidence used by conspiracy theorists, or it really being a Cahill conspiracy (covered up with varying degrees of accuracy). (Also, as a random aside, would some anti-Stratfordianism in a Cahill universe be a result of Shakespeare not being Janus? Especially if Marlowe et. al. were, given Jonah's mention of attempts to marry Caravaggio in.)

For alternate media, art in a period-type style would be very cool. I also remember the "edit wars" on ILikeUselessFacts (CahillWeb's Wikipedia dupe), where members of various branches and people not in the know debated what should and shouldn't be in articles, and that could be nice to replicate.

WB: Branch Social Structure/Politics/Culture/Recruitment 

I was a huge fan of all the spy tropes as a kid, and the branches were a huge source of that. If you wanted to use a not-quite-OC, I'd love to see one of the card-only characters used to explore branch structures/culture/recruitment/politics; they have such interesting concepts I'd love to see explored.

Besides "cutthroat and sporadically deadly", what do branch politics look like? How do they differ between the different branches? How do they differ between different bases within a branch?

How do the politics/values of a branch affect its social structure; for example, would Ekats praise researchers unusually highly since they're "the smart branch", whereas social standing in the Tomas heavily hinges upon experience in the field (replete with "and the Madrigals were thiiiiiis close" aggrandizements)? How cohesive is branch culture, given that members are scattered across the world? (Again, is that something that's more on a major-base-by-major-base level?)

How do agents get recruited, in addition to "my parents are agents, so I'll be an agent"? Do branches have people with an eye on local news/police scanners who have a talk with anyone who comes up with something interesting? Do people discover whispers of this organization that can take you anywhere, get you anything, and seek it out? (How do the branches determine if the person is actually a Cahill of the appropriate branch? Cora mentions a test in Emperor's Code, though in context she's lying about the results; there's a test panel in Into the Gauntlet, but I could see that fabricating results. If there is a test, how has it evolved over time?)

I'd also love to see how the branches are run on a day-to-day basis, and how agents coordinate across bases. Obviously, the rise of the internet (and before that, telegraphs and other forms of quick communication) have allowed for a greater degree of contact and cohesion, but what gets left to an individual base to do and what gets kicked up the chain? (This would go back to politics as well - maybe you generally forward info on that weird guy dressed in black lurking around to your superior, but he's a dick and so you don't particularly care if the Madrigals get him.) Who pays for the electricity/food/water/supplies on a base? (Member dues, insider trading, the branch owns the local utilities? All sorts of possibilities.) Do agents stay on/near bases adjacent to their work, or seek jobs closer to major bases? (Do agents have outside jobs? Canon skirts this a bit because a lot of them are, like, twelve, but I'd be curious of the answer. Also, relatedly, do agents get paid, and if not, is that why a lot of them are rich and/or teenagers? Do you get college credit for being kidnapped and poisoned by your local Lucians?)

WB: Guardian Organization/Social Structure/Culture/Recruitment/History 

Honestly, I wish this had gotten explored more in CvV because the idea of a parallel (and predating!) organization dedicated to preserving the world is fascinating. How, when, and why were Guardians formed? How did they get tangled up in Cahill business? (If the Vespers originate from Damien Vesper, what were the Guardians initially formed to protect the world from?)

How was the organization structured? Was it similar to the branches, where there's one leader (or leading council) in charge, or does the title refer more to a loose group of people with similar interests who could rely on each other for help? How were Guardians recruited?

What skills did the Guardians value as a group? What methods did they use to preserve their knowledge/pass it on? How did they encode messages?

What happened to the Guardians, other than Atticus and his immediate ancestors? (Are the Guardians otherwise wiped out, or merely in hiding/disconnected from Atticus' lineage due to a schism or presumed death? If it's the latter, I could maybe see that connecting with the Gomez family stuff in Storm Warning, but I'd love to see Atticus learning about his heritage either way.)

WB: Vesper Organization/Social Structure/Culture/Recruitment/History 

Again, an organization I'd love to see some explanation for. We've got some hints at their organizational structure - it's ruled by a council of six (albeit one that has someone who's been a member for about 3 years tops) - but I'd love to see an org chart for this mess, or how the council enacts policy. What is the goal of the Vespers as a whole? What do their missions typically look like?

What is the social structure of the Vespers like? It's suggested (I think in one of the missions) that there are agents after the top six with V# titles, and that these carry some sort of prestige; are Vespers 7-39 (or 50, 100, 666, etc.) also in designated roles, or is it determined in some other way? What is the culture of the Vespers like? IIRC, Dave Speminer's burns were implied to be a deliberate coming of age ritual; is that just for descendants of the man himself or a more widespread thing?

How are Vespers recruited? Sinead's recruitment suggests some seeking out of Cahills at their lowest moment, but between V1 and Arthur Trent, there does seem to be some family recruitment. (What is up with the Trents specifically? Are they a branch of the Speminers, some other long-allied family, or two agents who decided to start a family and raise their kids in it? How involved is Shep?)

How did Damien form the Vespers? What were his inital goals? Is their enmeshment with Cahills a deliberate tactic, a means to get the serum, or largely a result of the scope of Cahill influence? (Did any Cahills know about them ahead of time or clock that there was a split between two groups of Madrigals/agents of enemy branches?)

WB: Any

I love the tech in this series, and would love to see more of it (or similar ideas of your own). How does it work (schematics/explanatory documents welcome)? How were they invented/developed? How have they trickled out into the normal world over time? How do you reserve rights/patent something to secret for anyone outside the branch to know about?

I'd also love to see more of the serum's development process (in particular sourcing the ingredients) or the antidote's development. It would also be great to see some of the previous attempts at recreation/uniting the family.

It would also be great to see some different takes on the Cahill origin story - mythologizing the fire/using it as a motif, alternate versions of how it (or other major events) went down as told by different branches or at different times

 

Honor Harrington Series - David Weber

 

Eloise Pritchart (Honor Harrington)

I like how Pritchart is fiercely principled and dedicated to her cause, even when she appears to have outlasted it. I'd love to see her life before the series/the Harris assassination (what did she do, to be so highly placed in the Aprillist movement as she was?), during the Committee years (working to proctect what little she has! she starts the Pierre regime out a cynic, which saves her life, but I wonder if she realized how bad things were to get), or after she gains the presidency and works to rebuild the country. 

I also really love her relationship with Giscard, their public masks vs private friendship, and I'd love to see them scheming together, or the way that parallels with other Havenite characters with notable public masks like Tourville.

Honor Harrington

Fittingly for the series named after her, Honor is one of my faves! I love her dedication to her duty, no matter the odds, and I'd love to see how that's developed (or stayed very consistent) over the years, from her childhood in Yawata Crossing (I imagine being a Harrington + treecat could give a sneek peek into the "has power and influence she uses for good" theme of the later books) to her time at the academy (misadventures with Mike Henke!) and various early postings, to her downtime in the books herself.

And, of course, it's remiss to mention Honor without mentioning Nimitz. I'd love to see how their relationship has shifted over the years, especially as Honor has learned more about treecats and their abilities.

Thomas Theisman

I enjoy the way he and Honor are foils to each other - both with strong moral compasses and senses of duty, but where Honor's typically align Theisman's often conflict. I'd love to see more of his perspective over the years, from pre-Honor of the Queen (his time at Haven's naval academy - there's got to be some conflict between the Legislaturists in charge of the Navy and presumingly filling up its officer class, and Theisman, who's extremely Not - or the worst drunken night he ever had, which somehow tops the one in In Enemy Hands) to post-coup.

Victor Cachat & Anton Zilwicki

Chaotic Good meets Chaotic Chaotic (seriously, I'd love to see a list of Cachat's "plans" versus increasingly all-caps "NO"s). Spies! Intrigue! Drama!

These two play off each other so well, and I'd love to see them do that, in high stakes situations like Mesa or just stonewalling colleagues trying to figure out what the hell happened in Chicago. It could also be really interesting, in the pre-alliance era, to see them square off against each other, with that same mutual trust but sevenely misaligned goals.

WB: Any

Havenite politics - how are the various opposition/rebellion groups pre-Pierre coup related, and what are the politics between them? How did various people get recruited? How did these relationships change after the Committee came to power?

Theisman coup and aftermath - What was the first day/week/month after Saint-Just's death like? How did various characters (Pritchart and Giscard, the Ushers and Victor) get back to Haven? What was the public's reaction (especially given the McQueen coup and Octagon bombing just before)?

Theisman's mother - a throwaway character mentioned in one (very intriguing) paragraph of In Enemy Hands. What happened to her after she gave Thomas up? (Did she become a revolutionary? Join the navy? Just live a normal life until one day her baby shot Saint-Just in the head?) How did it evolve from a relatively small-scale place to dump political prisoners to the massive operation we see in Echoes of Honor? What (if anything) changed when StateSec took over?

Hades - Who are some of the other people to end up there? How? (AUs where other characters end up there through a twist of fate also welcome.)  What was life like for the average inmate? How did it differ from life at Camp Charon?

Grayson - How is Grayson history (the founding, Grayson Civil War, etc.) remembered in popular culture? What are some other things that Graysons brought along with them when they left Earth? How did Grayson tech evolve over time?

Grayson's Art - What's Grayson's religious art like? Are there common/repeating motifs? How are people like Barbara Bancroft commemorated? Its popular music seems to be space themed parodies of country & western music (and if that idea sparks your fancy, by all means go for it) or (already existing) hymns - what other music is there? How has it been corrupted from the styles we know by time and distance?

Art in General - What are some notable pieces of future art/media? How do styles of creation (e.g., poetry, animation, even fashion) differ between different parts of the settled universe? What are some pieces of art of particular importance to various characters?

Founding a Colony - How are colonies initially established? What is on colony ships? (Very adaptable - and cryo-friendly - flora and fauna, prefab habitats, equipment to determine if the local flora and fauna is edible, etc.?) How does this process differ based on the target planet and when the ship left? Many of the planets we see in Honorverse are pretty hostile to human life. How did early colonists discover this? How did they deal with these perils? I'd love a look at Potsdam during the cellulose-eating-bacteria years or Manticore during the Great Plague or Calvin's Hope discovering their world is broken and having to course-correct or Grayson discovering the heavy metal problem right after scuttling their ships.

Leverage (US TV 2008)

I've watched both Leverage and Leverage: Redemption, and am fine with works drawing from either (or breaking continuity with Redemption for post-original show stuff, if that's more your speed)

 

General Thoughts on In-Universe Social Media

Along with 39 Clues, I believe this is the only canon requested here that has explicitly canonical in-universe social media, and there is so much to play with there, especially since Breanna explicitly checks it for leads on new cons! Every time the team finds something off reddit it's going to land a completely bonkers r/BestofRedditorsUpdates, whether the OG poster was the complainant and is now trying to give an anonymized explanation of what happened or a bystander who has truly no clue what just happened other than their dickish landlord got completely decimated.

I'd love to see how normal/not-con-related social media gets dragged into this as well. Your good coding pal AgeOfTheGeek who got you through C++ and knows a weirdly intense amount about firewalls, Parker getting into a feud with LockPickingLawyer, Eliot having some truly bonkers anecdote lead-ins to his recipes… you get the picture.

One thing about the show that bugs me when I think about it is how many different public places the crew has gotten their faces publicly posted, and across how many different identities. Like, Sophie got assassinated as the fiancee of San Lorenzo's current president, and is now on their money! I'd love to see some conspiracy webs building from that.

Alec Hardison/Parker/Eliot Spencer

This OT3 is so shippy, and I'd love to see more from them! I love how well they work as a team for the cons and how dedicated they are to each other. It could really be fun to see how that dynamic evolves off-screen and alongside their cons. How does their romantic relationship affect how they work as a team?

I'd also love to see them working together in the original show (dealing with the season 3 finale could be a fun source of angst), or acting outside of a con altogether. I really loved Hardison and Eliot's dynamic wrt the brewpup, and that could be fun to see more of.

Alec Hardison & Parker & Eliot Spencer

I also love these three as platonic! How does their relationship evolve over the course of the show, and how does they way they work as a team change in the interim between the original show and Leverage: Redemption, when Nate and Sophie are no longer around? Did they end up calling anyone else in, like in The Last Dam Job, or calling Tara for help, like when Sophie was on leave?

Breanna Casey & Alec Hardison

I love what we see of their relationship, and I would love to see more! When did Breanna first meet Hardison, and when did she find out about Leverage? How have they helped each other over the years, and when have they gotten in each other's way? How do their differing perspectives work when they're both on a job together?

Breanna Casey & Sophie Devereaux & Alec Hardison & Parker & Eliot Spencer & Harry WIlson

I really love the crew in Leverage: Redemption. Their dynamic is really fun, and I enjoy the way it diverges from the OG crew's. Their personality clashes are really interesting to watch, and I love the way Redemption explores different info levels between different members of the team, where not only the audience but half the crew is surprised with what someone's doing/done. I'd love to see them on a job, or a more in-depth POV on one of the jobs in the show. I'd also really love to see their relationship outside of jobs - dealing with the aftermath of a job or in the lull between them.

It could be really fun to see their dynamic before the team formed as well. Harry is definitely the kind of guy who would be working for a Leverage mark, and maybe this isn't the first time Breanna's tagged along with her Uncle Alec. (The idea of bb!Breanna interacting with the crew is just great in general. Parker taught her how to pick locks when she was ten!)

Alec Hardison

Age of the geek, baby! I love Hardison's various hacking stunts, both when they go right and when a spanner gets thrown into the works, and every time he takes on a persona is iconic. 

What's one invention he's particularly proud of, or one hack he very proudly takes credit for? Are they part of his Leverage work or something he did independently, either before (or after) the team or whilst they were on break?

What is his work for Leverage International like? What jobs does he help out with and how, and how has that changed as more teams have been created? How does he establish  the rep needed for "oh, he'll spend a month in space" to become a valid and reasonable option in Redemption? How does his work setting it up differ from his initial setup of Leverage Consulting?

Breanna Casey

Breanna's also a lot of fun! I find her outlook very relatable, and I really like the way she does social engineering as a big part of her hacking. What are some big hacks she pulled before/away from the team? How does her solo work differ than what she does as part of a team con? 

What parts of being a Leverage member does she find most challenging, and which bits are most rewarding? How do her answers to these change over the course of the show?

There's a joke about Aunt Parker teaching her to pick a lock; how much involvement did the various Leverage members have in her childhood, and how blatant were their various efforts to teach her criminal skills?

Jim Sterling

He's a magnificent magnificent bastard. Just… so much bastard in such a convenient package. I love all of his appearances on the original show, how he's always one step ahead of the team just as they're always one step ahead of the mark, and I'd love his perspective on any of those appearances (or any time they crossed swords off-screen). What is his day-to-day like at IYS or Interpol?

I'd love to learn more about Sterling's backstory. How did he get to his position at IYS? What drove him to be the person he is in the show? What's his relationship with his daughter like, and how has it changed over the years? Nate's described as always being supportive of IYS's office staff; what was Sterling's relationship with them like?

His appearance in the finale is just… chef's kiss. What was going through his head at that moment? Did he have similar subtle aid moments with Leverage International, or was it a one-and-done thing? I'd love to see Sterling interacting with the Redemption cast. Maybe he's Breanna's childhood boogieman, maybe Olivia is a client (or mark), or maybe one of their cases goes international and hey, guess who's still working at Interpol…

Maggie Collins

Maggie is such a fun character, on her own and in the ways she interacts with the crew, and I'd love to see more of her. What's her day-to-day life like, before, during, or after the show? (It'd be really interesting to see her perspective on the first season of Leverage and its immediate leadup, I feel. So many conflicting feelings, and so many heavy nonconflicting ones.) Does she ever have to deal with blowback/attention from Leverage's schemes, or is everyone convinced that she and Nate are totally estranged? 

How does she interact with either Nate & Sophie or Leverage International post-finale? What's that like? I'd also really love to see her and part or all of the Redemption crew interact, as a client, accomplice, or just friend. Is she someone Breanna knows, at least by reputation? (Or, given her career, is she someone Harry knows from a time she was doing art curation for a particularly terrible client?)

Parker

Parker is a super fun character! I love how her brain works ("you'll get paid, and also get revenge") and the way everyone just rolls with Parker being Parker. Also, for shippiness with Hardison, I love the "oh! Time for my quick change of the episode! I'd better start stripping down in front of you" thing she has with Hardison.) 

I love her tidbits of backstory, from the bunny hug & explosion to the implication her first solo job was Imelda Marcos. What's the most outlandish heist she's ever performed?

I also really liked Parker as Alice White, and how she's developing a social network outside the team. It would be fun to see her pretending to be normal.

WB: Any

I'd love to see how prospective clients get in contact/learn of Leverage, especially early on when they're not as established and social media isn't as big a thing. Does the crew just email people connected to shady corporations? Put out discreet ads? It would also be great to see those same clients down the line, maybe providing aid to the crew on an unrelated job as a way of paying them back.

I'd also love to see documentation of Leverage, Inc., actual, filed with the government, or speculated. How does the crew's finances work?

A detailed look at the tech employed on the show (or Hardison's exploits of it) would be great, either from the crew's perspective or people trying to track them.

 

Murdle (Video Game)

 

Deductive Logico/Inspector Irratino

These two are so great. Always firm in the belief that their method of crime-solving is superior (and smug to one-up the other) but also respecting the other as a rival, antagonist, and friend (with benefits). I'd love an exploration of how their relationship has evolved over the years and how they've influenced each other. (E.g., the marot cards - Irratino uses them to divine info, but they're also Logico's suspect/weapon/place cards, but they've got star sign info on them, which seems very much against Logico's nature and thus a result of Irratino's influence.)

And the dates! I love their various dates, and would love to see a new one (or one of those we already know). Do they ever talk about Irratino's tendency to play possum? Do they ever pull a cozy plot and have a body mysteriously appear on stage when they are at that experimental one act?

Deductive Logico

The bushy-eyebrowed catcher of murdlers! I love his dedication to the art of logic puzzles, and it could be fun to see how that's developed over the years. Is the technique a Logico family tradition or something he picked up elsewhere along the way? How has his system been refined over the years? How does he solve cases that don't easily reduce to a grid format?

Given the efficacy of Irratino's method, what drew Logico to rationality in a world where the occult is presumably real? Have there been any cases he solved that other means couldn't have?

Logico is in a secret society, which sporadically passes him messages. How did he join such an organization? Who else is a member?

Inspector Irratino

The man, the mystery, the dramatic himself! I love his sense of the occult, and I'd love to see how he came to it. Is it a genuine gift or merely a shortcut for intuition? Does the Marot work at a crime scene scene?

Of course, there is no way to discuss Irratino without his weekly tendency to drop dead. How did that start? What does he get out of it? How does he fake his death; does he connive with the M.E., is it a very convoluted coincidence, or does only Logico get the message that he's currently dead? Why is Irratino at the rich people's prison in the first place; is he interviewing a prisoner, does he have a deal with someone, or is it something else?

I would also be more than open to a take where Irratino's not faking his death but is getting magically resurrected or is in a time loop (possibly one that can only be broken by confessing to Logico). I think it could be fun to contrast his powerlessness over whatever's keeping him alive and his power over other aspects of the occult. (It could also be fun to see Logico in a loop, as he tries to rationalize this clearly irrational thing.) Was it something he invoked? Does he figure out how to break it, and if so, how does he do so? If he tells Logico, I'd love for Logico to just go "...right" - not necessarily believing him, but believing that it is something Irratino believes in as strongly as anything else, which is good enough for the moment.

Murdlers

I love the game's many merry murdlers (and am including the rest of the submissions for the create a character contest in that)! I'd love to see their backgrounds explored; how did they come into their life of crime? When did they first meet our detective duo?

I'd also really love to see some exploration of the love/hate/childhood friends icosahedron of the murdlers. They must have so much interpersonal drama going on at any one time, lol, and I'd love to see it.

WB: Forensics

"Treat the fun jokey murder game's mechanics very seriously", basically. Many of the clues in this game (even aside from the secret society hints) are difficult/implausible in the real world. How do you get a fingerprint off the waters of the Nile? What kind of forensics tech does this world have? I would love to see the investigatory portion of any given Murdle puzzle; how does Logico come up with the items on his list?

How do some of the weapons work? (For example, the lawyer would logically be a murdler, not the murdle weapon.) What happens when the weapon leaves nothing behind, or leaves behind something other than standard residue?

The usage of star signs particularly interests me. How can you tell the star sign of a suspect from a crime scene? Do moon/rising signs matter, or is this purely based on sun sign? How do non-Western astrologies factor into this? (I would love to see academic-discourse-barely-concealing-bloody-fights on this, ngl.)

WB: Any

Similar to the above tag, I would love to see the complicated boondoggle that arises when the assumptions of a Murdle grid (one weapon and motive per suspect, one suspect per location, and no weapons/motives/locations unoccupied) stop holding true. What happens when the guilty tell the truth and the innocent lie in a two-truths-and-a-lie game?

I'd also love a look at the prison for rich people. How was it established? How does its status as an eternal revolving door work? Why are they not concerned about weekly murders there? (How does Irratino's not-technically dead status affect the legalities of the Sunday arrests? How does the legal system in this world work anyways?)

Is the occult real/respected in this world, or is Irratino simply Logico's equal and opposite weirdo? What kinds of questions can ghosts answer? Is the spirit writing really from the other side, and if not, what is Irratino's alternate source?

One Piece (Live Action TV 2023)

 

Monkey D. Luffy & Nami & Roronoa Zoro & Sanji & Usopp 

I love them all so much, and I feel like all of their relationships to each other are distinct but cohere so well. They're also all so intense for each other, which I really love.

These characters are a group that'd come together regardless of circumstances, and I'd love to see how that works if circumstances were different. What if they were all Marines, as Garp so strongly expected Luffy to become? What if Usopp really was Captain Usopp, and the crew formed around him? What happens if their backstories are switched around?

I'd also love to see this group in downtime or in a new adventure. How do things work out when they aren't running towards a crisis? How does their ability to work together in a fight improve or change as they get more experience?

Nami

My blorbo! I love the way she's harsh to avoid vulnerability, so ruthlessly cunning until she starts to care.

The 100 million berries! How has Nami earned them? What schemes has she pulled off prior to meeting Luffy and Zorro? (And, had she been further from her goal at the time, how would she have dealt with that and them simultaneously?)

Her horror at Orange Town is so visceral, I have to imagine it comes from personal experience and/or nightmares, and I'd love an exploration of the way her time with Arlong informs her reaction here.

Her relationship with Cocoyashi! So extremely and perfectly isolating. I'd love to see how that relationship has changed and developed and devolved as Nami got older, the way that Nami going to Arlong herself affects their view of her, the facade she puts up for them (and Arlong) versus what she really feels.

And, relatedly, Nami's relationship with Bellemere. What would her life have been like, had Bellemere lived? Would she still have gone to Arlong, or would that plan have fallen through somehow? How did Nami's relationship with her mother change as she grew up, before and after Bellemere died, and how has the way Nami thinks about her (and thinks Bellemere would have considered her) changed post-Arlong. (Imagine Bellemere getting resurrected somehow, hearing her daughter has joined/been abducted by pirates, and having to deal with that. Especially if no one differentiates between the Strawhats and the Arlong Pirates.)

Nami & Any Arlong Pirate

This is such a twisty, messy relationship, especially with Nami willingly joining but kept there by force, a member in good standing by the time of the series but also an outsider. I'd love to see how Nami's relationship to the other Arlong pirates changes over the years, especially if there's some crew turnover in that time so some of the people she's fleecing at poker don't know about how she came to join the crew. 

And, obviously, bad times abound, but what about the good times? The times where this was the place Nami didn't quite belong, but felt most accepted?

Nami/Kaya

I found the connection these two had in the show to be really great, and I'd love to see more of it! Maybe Kaya decides to travel with the Strawhats to learn more about medicine across the seas, or maybe Nami's been to this island before and thought about stealing from Kaya's family then.

Roronoa Zoro/Kuro

A tiny exchange that launched a thousand shippers! What exactly did these two get up to on Mirror Ball Island, and what's their personal history like?

WB: Cultural Views Of Piracy Among Pirates, WB: Non-Pirates' Understanding/Opinion of Piracy, WB: Public Opinion of Pirates

Luffy's view of piracy differs pretty heavily from that of the rest of the we see (Zeff and Shanks excepted). How normal is his understanding of piracy in general (vs piracy as a crime, with additional crimes generally tacked on top)? Outside of places preyed upon by crews like Buggy's or Arlong's, what's the general view of piracy, and how does this differ by region?

How do pirates specifically understand and justify piracy, and does this vary by area? Are there common ethical codes, or is it very much an "every captain draws his own lines" thing? Do more laidback crews like Shanks' interface with the less savory pirates like Buggy's crew at all, or do they consider crews that use that type of sustained violence as outlaws amongst outlaws?

WB: Public Opinion/Rumors About The Straw Hat Pirates

Outsider POV time! The Strawhats are a very chaos-involved crew, and not one that pays much attention to the public record and setting it straight, and I'd love to see how that rubs off on coverage and perception of them. Does the World Government propaganda machine try to take a different tack with them than with other crews at all? How do what rumors stick and which get dismissed change depending on if it's a place the Strawhats have stayed before, and how do people who actually met Luffy & co start the strangest rumors of all?

WB: Any

There's so much compelling worldbuilding here, and I'd love to see some more of it.

The Warlords! Is Garp calling in Mihawk here something expected, with the Warlords being more mercenaries than privateers, or is this unusual? How did this system come about, and how does it function normally?

I'd also love a deeper look into the military here. How does its bureaucracy works? How much of Morgan's control over Shellstown normal versus an abuse of power? (As a tangent, how did Morgan lose his arm?) How much oversight by Vice Admirals like Garp is expected for an outlying base like this? How does the stringent information control we see with the map translate to other areas of operations?

The implications of fishmen treatment elsewhere! Especially in the context of Nami's complicated relationship with Arlong's crew.