Dear Candy Hearts 2025 Creator

[yrindor]

Hello fellow Candy Hearts Exchange creator,

I hope you're as excited for this exchange as I am! Most of my requests come from anime-adjacent series, but I also love original works. I have receiving gifts enabled on AO3 and love receiving treats in any medium.

General Likes

• hurt/comfort (physical and/or emotional)
• domesticity, caretaking, and non-traditional expressions of love
• established relationships
• healing and medicine
• fantasy AUs, mundane AUs
• language, books/libraries, magic, and the power of words
• contrasts, light and shadow, the quiet space between moments

General DNW

• explicit sex
• jealousy/unhealthy possessiveness
• alcohol/drug use, drunk/high characters
• post-apocalyptic/dystopia, zombie AUs
• unhappy endings (bittersweet is fine), character death

Hypnosis Mic

• Arisugawa Dice & Busujima Mason Rio
• Busujima Mason Rio &/ Jinguji Jakurai
• Jinguji Jakurai &/ Kannabi Yotsutsuji

If it wasn't obvious from the ships, Rio and Jakurai are my two favorite Hypnosis Mic characters. I'm especially interested in their experiences in the war and how that's shaped who they are now. I'm equally happy with works set in the past while they were in the military and works set in the present. For Rio and Dice, I love Dice's love of Rio's cooking and how Rio is willing to let his guard down around Dice in a way he doesn't around most others.

Arisugawa Dice & Busujima Mason Rio

I love that Dice seems to be just about the only person who isn't bothered by the look of Rio's cooking. I also love how Rio seems to have accepted this stray who keeps showing up at his camp and is able to let his guard down around Dice in ways he doesn't usually. I'd love to see something more slice-of-life with these two involving Rio's cooking or just them hanging around Rio's camp. If you want something with more action, I'd love one of them rescuing the other from a sticky situation.

Busujima Mason Rio &/ Jinguji Jakurai

Jinguji Jakurai &/Kannabi Yotsutsuji

I've combined these ships into one section since my interests for them overlap. For all of them, I'm most interested in their experiences with the military/war and how its shaped their lives going forward. I'm equally happy with pieces set in the past while the war was happening and pieces set in the current canon present. If you want to write canon divergence where Yotsutsuji doesn't end up in a coma, that's fine by me. Same for if you want to write Rio crossing paths with Jakurai and/or Yotsutsuji during the war.

Naruto

• Haruno Sakura &/ Yamanaka Ino
• Haruno Sakura &/ Temari
• Temari &/ Tenten
• Morino Ibiki &/ Uchiha Itachi
• Sai & Uchiha Itachi

In general in Naruto, I love mission fic, fic exploring the downtime/worldbuilding between missions, and fic that addresses some of the darker parts of the world that canon seems to gloss over (like the repercussions of a world where warfare in various forms is constant and child warfare is the norm). Feel free to take as much or as little plot from canon as you want; I've followed canon up through end of the original Naruto series, but I'm more interested in the characters and the world than in the specific plot.

For the femslash ships, I'd love to see the characters finding time to relax, pushing each other to train harder, and generally supporting each other rather than rivalries/jealousy. For the ANBU and ANBU-adjacent characters (Sai, Itachi, and Ibiki), I'm interested in how spending so much time in a group with very different norms/culture shaped them, especially for Sai and Itachi who were brought into it as fairly young children.

Haruno Sakura &/ Yamanaka Ino

I love the friendship/friendly rivalry that these two develop later in canon, and how they push each other to become stronger. I'd love something that explores Sakura training Ino as a medic, or how they work together as medic and intelligence officer. I also like thinking about what they do during their downtime between missions (or in quiet moments they steal for themselves during long missions).

Haruno Sakura &/ Temari

Sakura is known for her healing skills/knowledge of poisons in Suna as well as in Konoha. What's it like when she goes to visit and Temari takes her for a stroll around the village? What about when Temari comes to Konoha for various diplomatic reasons? How do they both manage the somewhat hotheaded/challenging kage in their lives (and how do they blow off steam after particularly frustrating days)?

Temari/Tenten

Again something of a crack ship, but another one I've come to love. Two kunoichi who specialize in weapons, but in very different ways. Do they ever train together, and what's that like? What about comparing notes about caring for weapons? Off of the training field, how do they relax?

Morino Ibiki &/ Uchiha Itachi

This is something of a crack ship, but it's also turned into one of my Naruto OTPs. Sticking entirely to canon events, I wonder how much Ibiki knew about the Uchiha Massacre. Also, was he ever involved in training new ANBU recruits? If you want to go a canon divergence route, then I like premises where Itachi either never left Konoha, or didn't die and returned after the war. Given how much Ibiki has seen, and how much he deals in secrets, I also like the idea of him as someone Itachi seeks out when he's struggling with the aftermath of an ANBU assignment.

Sai & Uchiha Itachi

Like Ibiki and Itachi, this ship probably requires a bit of canon divergence, or at least creative thinking. Given how early Sai was recruited into ROOT, I wonder if he ever crossed path with Itachi during Itachi's time in ANBU. If you want to go with canon divergence, then what if Itachi never left, or if he survived and returned after the war and he and Sai both need to figure out how to adapt to life outside of ANBU/ROOT.

Twisted Wonderland

• Divus Crewel/Riddle Rosehearts
• Rook Hunt/Vil Schoenheit
• Rook Hunt/Floyd Leech
• Divus Crewel &/ Mozus Trein

Pomefiore has been one of my favorite dorms since early on, and the teachers have grown on me over time! One of my favorite aspects of Crewel and Rook are how dramatic/over-the-top they are, which is impressive given how dramatic everyone else can be. I've been playing both the Japanese and English versions of the game since launch and am caught up on all of the events, but not on the Ignihyde/Diasomonia chapters of the main story.

Divus Crewel/Riddle Rosehearts

Crewel is all about discipline, or at least the threat of it. Riddle is one of the more by-the-book and rules-abiding students at NRC. How does he respond to Crewel's particular brand of structure/discipline? Did Riddle already know how to strut commandingly in heeled boots when he arrived at NRC, or did he need special tutoring in that? I'd be fine with this prompt going in a slightly darker or NSFW direction.

Rook Hunt/Vil Schoenheit

Rook wants to make sure that Vil's every need is met. Does Vil appreciate that, or does he find it annoying/overbearing? Rook is used to being the hunter/observer, so what's it like for him knowing that Vil is taking notes on everything he does? What does a workout/sparring session between them look like?

Rook Hunt/Floyd Leech

Two characters who are incredibly protective of their respective dorm heads. What happens if they feel someone from the other's dorm is threatening their own dorm head? What if they team up against an outside threat? Since Rook loves hunting, what if he decided he wants to have some fun hunting a mer-eel (or needs to refill Vil's special mer-eel slime face serum)?

Divus Crewel &/ Mozus Trein

Trein has grown on me a lot recently, especially after the Glorious Masquerade event. I'd love to see what happens when Crewel is tasked with catsitting for Trein. Alternatively, how does Trein handle one of his old students coming back as a faculty member? How does Trein's more traditional/conservative personality mesh with *waves hands at everything that Crewel is*?

Harvestella

• Istina &/ Shrika
• Istina &/ Cress
• Istina & Brakka
• Brakka & Cress

Istina is my favorite character in Harvestella. I love characters who are trying to create new lives for themselves while also being haunted by ghosts/guilt from their past. For all of these ships, I'd be especially interested in seeing moments in their lives outside of the main game timeline/events.

Istina &/ Shrika

Both Istina and Shrika have had the experience of being viewed as a legend/figure instead of a person. How does that shared experience shape each of them and their relationship? Does Istina ever find comfort in religion/faith, or does she find it offputting? How do Istina and Shrika work together when something threatens Argene?

Istina &/ Cress

Both of their stories have elements of guilt and worrying that they'll never be good enough. Do they find the other's perspective helpful? Are there ever moral/philosophical conflicts between them given that one is a doctor and one is a (former) assassin? Maybe Istina was injured on a mission or defending the orphanage, and Cress has to patch her back up?

Istina & Brakka

I like the idea of Istina and Brakka finding some sort of common ground in being fighters/killers for hire, and also in being two people who would prefer to do things alone. What does a mission look like when they're forced to work together? Maybe Brakka is hired to help protect the orphanage from a new threat? How does Brakka get along with the children at the orphanage? Istina is knowledgeable about poisons; what if Brakka get poisoned on a contract and comes to her for help?

Brakka & Cress

My thoughts for this are a pretty straightforward Brakka is injured and Cress is a doctor. Did Brakka seek out Cress, or did she encounter him by accident? Does this happen regularly, or is it unexpected?

陈情令 | The Untamed

• Lan Xichen/Song Lan
• Lan Xichen/Wen Ning
• Jin Guangyao & Nie Huisang

My favorite part of The Untamed is the characters and the ways they play off of one another. This is a fandom where I love modern AUs/other different settings if you want to go that route. I'm not attached to any one version of canon over the others, so feel free to mix-and-match from any/all of them.

Lan Xichen/Song Lan

I'm particularly interested in this ship post-canon (or in an AU that keeps the relevant pieces of their backstories). They both had the experience of trusting too much, and their trust costing the life of one of the closest people to them. How do they at least begin healing and moving on from that? How (or do) they learn to trust again, both other people and their own judgment? How do they handle grief and mourning when it's also all tied up with guilt?

Lan Xichen/Wen Ning

This is another ship where I'm particularly interested in them post-canon. They both had the experience of being used as a weapon against people they cared about. How do they deal with that? What questions of agency and guilt/responsibility come up? How is Wen Ning able to use his experience to connect with Lan Xichen in way that others can't?

Jin Guangyao & Nie Huisang

I love two masterminds playing 4-dimensional chess with each other! This is a ship where the setting doesn't matter to me as long as they keep their cat-and-mouse/puppet-master dynamics (spy/secret agent AU anyone?). They end up opposing each other in canon, but I can also imagine situations where they team up instead to terrifying effect.

Original Work

• Mundane Veterinarian/Employee of Magical Wildlife Rescue (F/F)
• Brave but Unlucky Female Adventurer/Female Healer Who Patches Her Up
• Female Doctor/Female Vampire
• Overworked Doctor/Eccentric Occultist (F/F)
• Immortal Librarian/Overworked Corporate Admin (F/F)
• Reference Librarian/Her Badass Adventurer Girlfriend

For the library ships, I love libraries in all forms! These pairings could range anywhere from the mundane moments between two people who see each other regularly to complex adventures and mind games. The sky's the limit when books are involved. My background is in academia/academic libraries, so feel free to go as far into the weeds as you want with specialized knowledge if you have it.

For all of the prompts involving medical professionals/healers, I'm interested in the trust that exists between healer and patient, even if they've only just met, or the initial wariness that needs to be overcome. For the veterinarian and vampire ships, I'm also interested in weird/unexpected biology (from the perspective of the vet) and the challenges/differences/interests that presents.

Mundane Veterinarian/Employee of Magical Wildlife Rescue (F/F)

Did these two meet through work, or do they both buy their coffee from the same coffee shop every morning (or did one find the other when she was looking for a roommate)? Why is someone from the magical wildlife rescue bringing magical animals to a mundane veterinarian? Does the vet know the animals are magical? Does the vet believe in magic?

Female Doctor/Female Vampire

Did the vampire encounter the doctor randomly in mundane, everyday life where it wasn't obvious she was a doctor? Did the doctor immediately rush to the aid of an injured woman and only later realize something wasn't quite right? Have they been dating for A Very Long Time and the doctor's career is only a sidenote in their relationship? Is the doctor also a vampire, or maybe just a doctor who specializes in caring for supernatural creatures?

Overworked Doctor/Eccentric Occultist (F/F)

I'm fascinated with the backstory for how these two met. Is the occultist accident-prone and frequently shows up as a patient, or does the doctor sometimes need the occultist's skills/knowledge to treat patients? Is the doctor fully on board with the supernatural, or is she constantly trying to disprove it with science? This also seems like a fun prompt to play around with settings.

Brave but Unlucky Female Adventurer/Female Healer Who Patches Her Up

I love how many different possibilities there are for this prompt. Maybe our intrepid adventurer always makes it back home from her adventures victorious but injured, and after enough visits to the healer at her home base, they realize there's something more to their relationship. Or maybe the healer was her girlfriend first, and she learned to be a healer out of necessity due to her dear adventurer's terrible luck. Alternately, the adventurer is injured out in the middle of nowhere, and the healer is a random stranger who happens across her. Is the adventurer's bad luck the standard "but it turns out I'd miscounted, and a third evil knight snuck up behind me," or is it "and then I was concussed by a falling rabbit?" types of absurdity? Is her bad luck just coincidence, or is there an actual curse at play?

Immortal Librarian/Overworked Corporate Admin (F/F)

I love the idea of a frazzled admin who keeps being sent out to find answers to absurdly arcane/specific questions/technical documentation/legalese and a librarian who's had hundreds or thousands of years to learn all sorts of obscure trivia. Has the librarian been working at the library the whole time, or is she a new face filling in for the admin's usual favorite librarian who's away?

Reference Librarian/Her Badass Adventurer Girlfriend (F/F)

This just sounded like a fun prompt. Does the librarian ever get to join in on the adventures, or does she always stay safely behind the desk? What sorts of information do adventurers need from the library? Unusual settings are very welcome for this prompt. Library in space? Cool. World with magical books? Also cool. The librarian happens to be a dragon? Awesome.