Prisoner's Exchange 2021
Apr. 9th, 2021 09:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
convenientalias Hi, writer/artist! I'm very excited about this exchange :D. Captivity tropes in general are some of my favorite things; it's very hard to go wrong with them for me.
Don't feel the need to be too particular about the freeforms I'm requesting--you can focus on them, or make them incidental if you have other captivity-related ideas for the characters in question. As for the relationships, feel free to mix and match dynamics, to make them central or less central... as long as there's captivity and the characters are there, I'll probably be happy.
All the canons I'm requesting this time around are a bit obscure, so I'll include some details on what they are/where to find them in case you're interested in picking them up.
Note: my art-related thoughts are much less coherent/complicated than my fic-related thoughts. Please bear with me.
General Likes
-Secrets, especially secret identities/identity porn
-Dysfunctional relationships and angst
-Hurt/comfort
-Crack written seriously
-Couples getting together, established couples, pre-slash and UST...
-Fix-it fic
-Alternate first meetings or relationship dynamics
-Canon divergence
-Fighting--swords, fists, guns, etc.
Captivity-Fic-Specific Likes
-Details on the "how"s of the captivity--how was the person captured, how are they being held prisoner (it's not easy to hold someone prisoner, after all), how would the prisoner attempt escape, etc.
-On that note, restraints are fun.
-The fic can end with the prisoner escaping or being rescued, or end with them still being held prisoner. However, I would prefer there to be at least some hope that they will get out of their current situation.
-I've requested philosophical/moral debate for some of these fandoms; I love prisoners and captors arguing with each other in general. Also, villainous monologuing is good, either of the "this is why I'm doing what I'm doing and why I'm Right" variety or of the "haha you sure did lose to me" variety, or any other variety of captor monologuing you can think of.
-Sometimes it's nice when a captor is cruel, but it's also very fun when a captor is actually trying their best to be nice to their prisoner and thinks they've been very reasonable and kind, actually (and the prisoner of course strongly disagrees).
-If my tag you're writing for doesn't specify a captor, feel free to pick any canonical character or create an OC (even if I also requested other relationships for the fandom with specific captors). Same goes for rescuers/fellow prisoners--feel free to throw them in if you wish.
-In regards to shippy stuff: I'm fond of Stockholm and Lima syndrome. I also like when the captor and prisoner are already into each other before capture occurs and now both are feeling ~conflicted about everything. For the prisoner/prisoner ships, I like the combination of forced proximity and high stakes leading to self sacrifice etc. For prisoner/rescuer ships, eh, I'm pretty basic, gratitude and sympathy are kind of what I'm going for here. (...except with Park Mooyul rescuing Kang Mireu, but more on that below.)
-If you're writing smut, any level of consent is fine, especially for prisoner/captor ships.
Art Likes:
-Vivid colors, especially jewel tones.
-Use of limited pallette.
-Black and white (especially with pen and ink).
-Elaborate historical outfits.
-Ominous backgrounds.
-Prisoners in restraints (rope, chains, collars, especially), especially if they're straining to free themselves.
-Prisoners held with at knifepoint/swordpoint/gunpoint
-Rescuers staring desperately into prisoners' eyes.
-Rescuers helping to remove prisoners' restraints.
-Rescuers threatening or fighting with captors.
DNW
Main character death as the focus of the fic.
Downer ending where it's clear the prisoner has no chance of escape/rescue, ever. (If it's left unclear, that's fine.)
Pregnancy or kid fic.
Watersports or scat.
Modern/mundane AU.
Eye, finger, or toe injury.
Explicit sex involving characters under the age of 16. (I'm assuming the White Christmas characters are at least 16, though I don't think it's specified in the show.)
Art showing genitals.
Incest.
A focus on suicide or suicidal ideation. (Mentioning suicide is fine, just don't make it central to the fic.)
Circle: Two Worlds Connected
Relationships: Prisoner!Kim Woo-jin & Rescuer!Kim Joon-hyuk, Prisoner!Kim Woo-jin & Captor!Park Dong-geon
Medium: Fic
Tags: Attitude--Dehumanization, Attitude--Prisoner trying to manipulate their captor by playing along, Attitude--self-righteous captor, Coercion--trading loved one's life for one's own freedom, Prison--altered memories so prisoner doesn't leave, Prison--high tech laboratory, Rescue--trouble adjusting to normal life after long-term captivity, Scenario--canon captivity scenario, Scenario--captivity unexpectedly better than prisoner's previous circumstances, Scenario--Captor experiments on prisoner, Scenario--Captor taunts prisoner's loved one's about prisoner's captivity/torture, Scenario--forced to act as if everything is normal while held prisoner in public, Scenario--prisoner accepts offer to join captor, Torture--inducing nightmares or false memories
Circle is a sci-fi kdrama that has two plotlines running at once, one in 2017 and one in 2037. Both are about a brother trying to find his missing twin, though in very different situations. It's got some good angst and whump. You can watch it with English subtitles here.
General fthoughts:
Up until the last couple episodes of Circle, I had assumed that 2037 Woo-jin was being held captive by Human B and had been for twenty years. In fact, I was only half right about this. I liked how canon turned out but by the time we reached the truth I had come up with a ton of different theories for what MIGHT be going on with Woo-jin, most involving captivity. A couple would be: Woo-jin getting kidnapped back in 2017 (a la episode 11) and, you know, not dying. Woo-jin going on the run and getting captured sometime in the twenty-year gap. Woo-jin being kidnapped at first but being gradually convinced (or perhaps coerced) into actually joining Human B. Woo-jin having joined Human B bc after being kidnapped he'd had his memories blocked and couldn't remember that they were the enemy. So if you want to play with any of those scenarios, or the canon scenario of clone captivity, or with some other idea of your own, that would all be good. Fic could be about Woo-jin getting captured in the first place, about him during the captivity period, about him being rescued, or even about him adjusting post-rescue back to normal life. It could also center around Park Dong-geon's POV as captor or around Joon-hyuk's efforts to rescue him.
Kado: The Right Answer
Relationships: Prisoner!Koujirou Shindou/Captor!Yaha-kui zaShunina
Tags: Alternate universe--Time loops/travel as a form of imprisonment, Attitude--Captor treats prisoner as a lover, Attitude--self righteous captor, Scenario--captivity to force latent abilities to manifest, Scenario--captor experiments on prisoner, Scenario--captor mindwipes prisoner to make them believe they're in a relationship, Scenario--forced to act as if everything is normal when held prisoner in public, Scenario--imprisoned "for prisoner's own good", Torture--body modification
Medium: Fic or Art
Kado: the Right Answer is a sci-fi anime about an extra-dimensional creature who has come to bring amazing technology and "advancement" to Earth, and about the human negotiator who ends up working as a diplomatic go-between for him and humanity. A great show in general but I especially loved the insane ending, which admittedly goes off the rails. You can watch it with English subtitles here.
General ficcish thoughts:
Oh man, I just love the insanity of this ship. Ideally I like Yaha-kui zaShunina being very fond of Shindou--even obsessively so--but also just callous and uncaring of his ideas of morality etc. Like, I like a zaShunina who respects Shindou's talents and sees him as unique and very interesting and a good friend and maybe even lover, but when it comes to respecting his opinions on whether humanity should be forced into ascending to a higher level of being despite high casualties, or respecting Shindou's free will/bodily autonomy? Ahahahahahahaha.
Anyways, in terms of captivity plotlines, some ideas: zaShunina showing Shindou more than Shindou's ready for in regards to his plans or his inhumanity, and then either setting back time to fix things or erasing Shindou's memories. Brainwashing in general. Non-consensual body modification and generally making Shindou inhuman against his will (I mean, he's already taken away Shindou's ability to sleep without warning him, why stop there?). zaShunina making Shindou continue to act as his representative while forcing him to keep quiet about his nefarious plans, or him quietly stowing the real Shindou in a back corner of the Kado and making a duplicate go out in his place (Shindou can just sit back and watch the advancement of humanity for the time being--zaShunina's sure he'll come around eventually). zaShunina being more captor-like to Shindou from the beginning, starting with the plane incident. It's all good as long as there's captivity and a large power imbalance. In general I'd also like for zaShunina to Mean Well and not see why Shindou is so upset over everything, while Shindou is anywhere from disturbed and annoyed to horrified and on the verge of mindbreak (but please don't go all the way to mindbreak).
General arty thoughts:
If Shindou's being held captive in the Kado, that could make for a spooky, weird, surreal background. No need to copy the kaleidoscope aesthetic of the anime too exactly if you don't want to. As long as it's got the general surreal alien vibe it's good with me.
zaShunina has floaty hands which would be good for seizing and holding a misbehaving prisoner. He and the Kado can also kind of shift shape as required... could make for interesting restraints...
Would love to see an angry or terrified prisoner Shindou and a zaShunina who is trying to cheer him up and really not managing it.
My Country: The New Age
Relationships: Captor!Yi Bang-won/Prisoner!Nam Seon-ho, Captor!Yi Bang-won & Prisoner!Nam Seon-ho, Captor!Yi Bang-won/Prisoner!Seo Hwi, Captor!Yi Bang-won & Prisoner!Seo Hwi, Captor!Yi Bang-won/Prisoner!Seo Hwi/Prisoner!Nam Seon-ho, Prisoner!Nam Seon-ho/Rescuer!Seo Hwi, Prisoner!Seo Hwi/Rescuer!Nam Seon-ho, Prisoner!Nam Seon-ho/Rescuer!Hwang Sung-rok
Medium: Fic or Art
Tags: Attitude--Captor falls in love with Prisoner who does not return the feelings, Attitude--Defiant prisoner, Attitude--Self righteous prisoner, Attitude--Prisoner seduces captor, Capture--Violent, Coercion--Captor promises help in exchange for prisoner surrendering themselves, Coercion--Prisoner A surrenders as only way to stay with Prisoner B, Noncon--Prisoner forced to confess fantasies about love interest and perform them with captor, Prison--Chained to foot of throne, Prison--kept in luxurious surroundings, Prison--kept in captor's home, Rescue--"thank god you're safe" sex between prisoner and rescuer, Rescue--by unexpected person when prisoner thought no one would come, Rescue--Fails and rescuer gets captured, Rescue--system which gives captor power is overthrown, Scenario--Captor forces prisoner to confess personal secrets/guilt/past crimes, Scenario--Forced to swear fealty, Scenario--Unexpected kindness/mercy from captor, Scenario--prisoner used as bait by captor targeting rescuer, Scenario--Prisoner A won't let Prisoner B harm captor.
My Country: the New Age is a historical kdrama about a pair of friends who end up working at political and personal cross-purposes. It's full of betrayals and intrigues, and also features a murderous actual historical prince (the Yi Bang-won mentioned above). You can watch it with English subtitles on Netflix or here.
General ficcish thoughts:
This is just a great canon for whump and angst overall. With the Bang-won ships (or platonic relationships, I'm not particular either way), I think Bang-won holding Seon-ho captive is a somewhat different vibe from Bang-won holding Hwi captive. I picture Bang-won holding Hwi captive either right after Hwi gets his attention during the hunt-ambush (as seen in canon) or in a post-canon AU where he doesn't trust Hwi enough to let him go but also can't bring himself to kill him. Either way I'm sure he'd be having a lot of feelings about whether or not he can trust Hwi or enjoy his friendship, and a lot of guilt over Seo Geom (probably more guilt overall in the second scenario). On the other hand, if Bang-won were to hold Seon-ho captive, he would have captured an enemy no matter when in canon you set it--they might just be at political rivals stage and this is a kidnapping, or maybe Seon-ho's just broken into his house (he does that two or three times, so it's not unlikely) and been captured, or maybe he's been captured with Hwi in that same post-canon AU. Bang-won isn't overtly friendly with Seon-ho, and you can picture him being meaner to him if Seon-ho provoked him, but he relates to Seon-ho more than he perhaps likes, and I imagine there's some attraction there too. Who knows where things might go~? For either ship (or for the OT3 option), I'm fine with Seon-ho and/or Hwi reciprocating Bang-won's feelings or Bang-won simply pining forever lols, both possibilities seem plausible enough.
Alternatively, the rescue ships! Seon-ho, Hwi, and Sung-rok are all people who would claim not to be attached to anyone and then go totally wild on hearing that their love interest has been captured and set out on a reckless rescue attempt, risking life and limb and absolutely obliterating all obstacles. So I'm definitely up for that! And perhaps some tender hurt/comfort as follow-up! Or the rescue miserably failing, as the case may be! (By the way, the captor in these rescue scenarios doesn't have to be Bang-won. It can be, but there are other antagonists you could use too. Nam Jeon. Yi Seung-gye. Yi Bang-gan. ...random bandits? Whatever you want, really.)
General arty thoughts:
Oooooh pretty Joseon clothing, please? Seon-ho and Hwi have really nice long hair also and I imagine Seon-ho at least would get really annoyed if a captor Bang-won were touching it; he'd probably be annoyed at having it down in front of Bang-won in the first place.
Restraints are great. Rope's probably the most canon-typical. If you were to just draw that scene where Seon-ho is facing Bang-won's judgment after Nam Jeon's death, and he's all tied up and bloody, frankly, that would be enough. Or maybe Bang-won tilting Hwi's face up with that fan during their first meeting. These were good scenes.
On the other hand, if you wanna go a little wilder, yes, I did request the "Chained to the foot of the throne" tag for this fandom and I DID MEAN IT. YES PLEASE.
For the rescue ships, I'd love to see these dudes facing down their captor(s) with swords and bows drawn. Maybe the rescuer standing protectively in front of the prisoner. Idk, just your typical rescue scenario illustrated would be good.
Nirvana in Fire
Relationships: Prisoner!Mei Changsu/Captor!Xiao Jinghuan, Prisoner!Xiao Jinghuan/Captor!Mei Changsu, Prisoner!Xiao Jinghuan/Rescuer!Mei Changsu, Prisoner!Mei Changsu/Rescuer!Mu Nihuang.
Medium: Fic or Art.
Tags: Alternate Universe--Bad guys win, Attitude--Captor treats prisoner as lover, Capture--framed/wrongfully accused and sent to prison, Capture--Legal imprisonment, Prison--Chained to captor's bed, Prison--Harem, Prison--Kept in luxurious surroundings, Rescue--"Thank god you're safe" sex between prisoner and rescuer, Rescue--by unexpected person when prisoner thought no one would come, Rescue--Prisoner's injuries tended by rescuer after unexpected rescue, Rescue--Rescuer tends to prisoner's wounds from torture, Rescue--System which gives captor power is overthrown, Rescue--Trading one prison for another, Scenario--Bathe them and bring them to me, Scenario--Captor forces prisoner to confess personal secrets/guilt/past crimes, Scenario--Captor shielding prisoner from higher authorities, Scenario--Forced to swear fealty, Scenario--Prisoner has wronged captor and is now at their mercy.
Nirvana in Fire is a historical (kind of fantasy? kind of wuxia?) cdrama about a man who has returned, after twelve years of preparation, to the capital of his country, in order to enact a complicated scheme to get vengeance on the people who betrayed and framed his family and friends, and restore the name of said family and friends. You can watch it with English subtitles here.
General ficcish thoughts:
There are some good jumping-off points in canon for these dynamics, I think. I'd count Yu in prison and MCS visiting him as a captor!MCS scenario, given how much his scheming led to this moment, even though he's technically a visitor. It would also be a good opportunity for him to rescue Yu just as he rescued Yu's wife (and then maybe smuggle Yu away to be his own prisoner in a secret Jiangzuo stronghold.... perhaps?). Yu winning the battle at the Spring Hunt seems like the most intuitive way for him to capture MCS, probably (and if he became Emperor, incorporate him into the Inner Palace? or force him to work for him again?), or if you want, he could visit MCS at the Xuanjing Bureau--again, I'd sort of count him as a captor there since he's in cahoots with Xia Jiang and helped arrange the whole thing. Nihuang as MCS's rescuer actually is the trickiest to maneuver--but maybe Lin Shu got captured at Meiling and Nihuang is rescuing him from Xie Yu or the Emperor, or maybe the Emperor takes MCS captive due to Xia Jiang's accusations and Nihuang starts a coup with Jingyan and Meng, or maybe Chief Mei happens to be visiting Yunnan and gets kidnapped and that's how he and Nihuang meet for the first time with him in this identity. The possibilities are limitless ;).
General arty thoughts:
I think Mei Changsu, as captor or rescuer or whatever, being comforting to a broken-down Prince Yu (maybe with messy hair) would be very sweet. Prince Yu could probably use that kind of thing.
On a kinkier note, MCS or Prince Yu in fancy clothes and restraints while the other just sort of stands and gloats over him would also be fun. I think they could both be kind of nasty about it lols. They have a spiteful streak (well, more than a streak frankly).
Nihuang the rescuer, I feel, would be very cinematic. She could be holding a sword! She could be holding MCS in her arms! She has those muscles, and she is protective and knightly and great. MCS should look infatuated with her at the moment. He's in love with her generally speaking but when she swoops in and rescues him, it really makes his heart flutter. (...unless he's actually annoyed about her doing politically precarious things on his behalf lols.)
Save Me
Relationships: Prisoner!Im Sang-mi/Prisoner!Seok Dong-chul, Prisoner!Im Sang-mi/Rescuer!Seok Dong-chul, Prisoner!Seok Dong-chul/Captor!Jo Wan-tae.
Medium: Fic
Tags: Attitude--Rescuer faces trauma from their own captivity, Attitude--self righteous captor, Noncon--captor forces prisoners to have sex, Noncon--Prisoner A forced to rape Prisoner B or else Prisoner B will be raped by captor, Noncon--raped by captor, Rescue--fails and rescuer gets captured, Rescue--Love interest comforts prisoner through aftermath, Rescue--trouble adjusting to normal life after long-term captivity, Scenario--captor forces prisoner to confess to personal secrets/guilt/past crimes, Scenario--forced to act as if everything is normal when held prisoner in public, Scenario--Imprisoned "for prisoner's own good", Scenario--multiple prisoners used as hostages against each others' escape, Scenario--Prisoner A and Prisoner B constantly offering selves in place of the other, Scenario--prisoners have sex in captivity for mutual comfort, Torture--food deprivation.
Save Me is a thriller kdrama about a girl who is trapped in a cult and a group of boys who try to help her get out of said cult, and bring the cult down. The cult is very claustrophobic and creepy. There's also a dude who spends a three year timeskip in prison and infiltrates the cult like a couple weeks later. Basically a lot of captivity related stuff. You can watch it with English subtitles on Netflix or here.
General thoughts:
So I'm basically all about Dong-chul infiltrating Gooseonwon and his undercover camaraderie with Sang-mi. He gets discovered eventually, which is a good opportunity for some of these two-prisoner-related tags; if you want, you can have him get discovered earlier on or in a different way, or you can have him and Sang-mi not be rescued as quickly. I'd be interested in a scenario where the Spiritual Father decides Dong-chul should be incorporated into the cult, whether he likes it or not--to save Dong-chul, as he would say, but perhaps really to help control Sang-mi. Hostage and/or fuck or die situations could ensue. These two work well together and also care a lot about each other's wellbeing considering how little they know each other, bc of the ways their lives have intersected, and that dynamic could really just be a lot of fun.
Or Jo Wan-tae, angry at Dong-chul deceiving him with his rich boy persona, might lash out at him, and there could be some noncon or general whump there.
On the softer side of things, Dong-chul and Sang-mi have both spent three years in different types of captivity, and by the end of the show they're still traumatized and probably have a ways to go before they can fully adjust to normal life. It would be interesting to see how the two of them could get there together.
White Christmas
Relationships: Prisoner!Park Moo-yul/Prisoner!Choi Chi-hoon, Prisoner!Park Moo-yul/Prisoner!Choi Chi-hoon/Rescuer!Kang Mi-reu, Prisoner!Kang Mi-reu/Rescuer!Park Moo-yul, Prisoner!Choi Chi-hoon & Captor!Kim Yo-han.
Medium: Fic
Tags: Noncon--captor forces prisoners to have sex, Noncon--Prisoner A is forced to rape Prisoner B or else Prisoner B will be raped by captor, Rescue--Ex-prisoner meets ex-captor, Rescue--"Thank god you're safe" sex between prisoner and rescuer, Scenario--captor experiments on prisoner, Scenario--captor forces prisoner to confess personal secrets/guilt/past crimes, Scenario--captor taunts prisoner's loved ones about prisoner's captivity/torture, Scenario--imprisoned/lock up with someone who needs medical care, Scenario--multiple prisoners held as hostages against each others' escape, Scenario--philosophical/moral debate between prisoner and captor, Scenario--prisoner punished for other prisoner's mistake, Scenario--Prisoners have sex in captivity for mutual comfort.
White Christmas is a thriller kdrama miniseries about eight kids trapped in a school by a snowstorm over winter break. There is a ~killer among them~ and eventually a hostage scenario ensues. It's very suspenseful and fast-paced at once. You can watch it with English subtitles here.
General thoughts:
A number of these tags are just canon, and I love that. Feel free to give me more villainous taunting and psychological experimentation and philosophical debating and improvised medical care of all kinds. Alternatively, I like the idea of Kim Yo-han using Park Moo-yul and Choi Chi-hoon to hurt each other, whether that be through one of these noncon scenarios or just through manipulating them to lash out at each other or punishing them for each others' mistakes. It makes sense to use them specifically against each other bc 1) Moo-yul hates (and maybe is attracted to) Chi-hoon, so there's some buttons to push, and 2) when they work together they can cause all kinds of chaos which is inconvenient to Kim Yo-han, so it's better to try to turn them against each other.
In regards to Kang Mi-reu the rescuer, obviously everyone gets excited about his return and rescue in episode 6, but I think him and Moo-yul and Chi-hoon in particular should celebrate by making out. After all, Chi-hoon was supposedly dead! Things were very dire! (Btw, I'd love to see a scene or two of what happened while Kim Yo-han was faking Chi-hoon's death, which is why I'm requesting those two as well.) Now they're all alive and should celebrate that. In regards to Moo-yul rescuing Mi-reu, I was thinking of episode 3 and Mi-reu being locked up in the detention room.... okay, this is not a very serious rescue scenario, and I couldn't even come up with an appropriate freeform tag for it, but Moo-yul really was so reluctant to actually let Mi-reu out lols. I'd enjoy a fic about Mi-reu wheedling and/or threatening Moo-yul into letting him out. Maybe he makes all kinds of obscene promises, which don't impress Moo-yul at all, and which he doesn't follow through on.... until he rescues Moo-yul later, and in the release of tension, he and Moo-yul and possibly Chi-hoon just go a little wild.
Finally, I'd be interested in a scenario where Kim Yo-han survives the ending and runs into Chi-hoon or Moo-yul or Mi-reu years later. Would he kidnap them again, or would there just be a very awkward conversation bringing back all their past trauma? Or possibly both?
There, now I've talked about these fandoms and all these captivity scenarios for long enough, I think. I'll be interested to see what you make <3
Don't feel the need to be too particular about the freeforms I'm requesting--you can focus on them, or make them incidental if you have other captivity-related ideas for the characters in question. As for the relationships, feel free to mix and match dynamics, to make them central or less central... as long as there's captivity and the characters are there, I'll probably be happy.
All the canons I'm requesting this time around are a bit obscure, so I'll include some details on what they are/where to find them in case you're interested in picking them up.
Note: my art-related thoughts are much less coherent/complicated than my fic-related thoughts. Please bear with me.
General Likes
-Secrets, especially secret identities/identity porn
-Dysfunctional relationships and angst
-Hurt/comfort
-Crack written seriously
-Couples getting together, established couples, pre-slash and UST...
-Fix-it fic
-Alternate first meetings or relationship dynamics
-Canon divergence
-Fighting--swords, fists, guns, etc.
Captivity-Fic-Specific Likes
-Details on the "how"s of the captivity--how was the person captured, how are they being held prisoner (it's not easy to hold someone prisoner, after all), how would the prisoner attempt escape, etc.
-On that note, restraints are fun.
-The fic can end with the prisoner escaping or being rescued, or end with them still being held prisoner. However, I would prefer there to be at least some hope that they will get out of their current situation.
-I've requested philosophical/moral debate for some of these fandoms; I love prisoners and captors arguing with each other in general. Also, villainous monologuing is good, either of the "this is why I'm doing what I'm doing and why I'm Right" variety or of the "haha you sure did lose to me" variety, or any other variety of captor monologuing you can think of.
-Sometimes it's nice when a captor is cruel, but it's also very fun when a captor is actually trying their best to be nice to their prisoner and thinks they've been very reasonable and kind, actually (and the prisoner of course strongly disagrees).
-If my tag you're writing for doesn't specify a captor, feel free to pick any canonical character or create an OC (even if I also requested other relationships for the fandom with specific captors). Same goes for rescuers/fellow prisoners--feel free to throw them in if you wish.
-In regards to shippy stuff: I'm fond of Stockholm and Lima syndrome. I also like when the captor and prisoner are already into each other before capture occurs and now both are feeling ~conflicted about everything. For the prisoner/prisoner ships, I like the combination of forced proximity and high stakes leading to self sacrifice etc. For prisoner/rescuer ships, eh, I'm pretty basic, gratitude and sympathy are kind of what I'm going for here. (...except with Park Mooyul rescuing Kang Mireu, but more on that below.)
-If you're writing smut, any level of consent is fine, especially for prisoner/captor ships.
Art Likes:
-Vivid colors, especially jewel tones.
-Use of limited pallette.
-Black and white (especially with pen and ink).
-Elaborate historical outfits.
-Ominous backgrounds.
-Prisoners in restraints (rope, chains, collars, especially), especially if they're straining to free themselves.
-Prisoners held with at knifepoint/swordpoint/gunpoint
-Rescuers staring desperately into prisoners' eyes.
-Rescuers helping to remove prisoners' restraints.
-Rescuers threatening or fighting with captors.
DNW
Main character death as the focus of the fic.
Downer ending where it's clear the prisoner has no chance of escape/rescue, ever. (If it's left unclear, that's fine.)
Pregnancy or kid fic.
Watersports or scat.
Modern/mundane AU.
Eye, finger, or toe injury.
Explicit sex involving characters under the age of 16. (I'm assuming the White Christmas characters are at least 16, though I don't think it's specified in the show.)
Art showing genitals.
Incest.
A focus on suicide or suicidal ideation. (Mentioning suicide is fine, just don't make it central to the fic.)
Circle: Two Worlds Connected
Relationships: Prisoner!Kim Woo-jin & Rescuer!Kim Joon-hyuk, Prisoner!Kim Woo-jin & Captor!Park Dong-geon
Medium: Fic
Tags: Attitude--Dehumanization, Attitude--Prisoner trying to manipulate their captor by playing along, Attitude--self-righteous captor, Coercion--trading loved one's life for one's own freedom, Prison--altered memories so prisoner doesn't leave, Prison--high tech laboratory, Rescue--trouble adjusting to normal life after long-term captivity, Scenario--canon captivity scenario, Scenario--captivity unexpectedly better than prisoner's previous circumstances, Scenario--Captor experiments on prisoner, Scenario--Captor taunts prisoner's loved one's about prisoner's captivity/torture, Scenario--forced to act as if everything is normal while held prisoner in public, Scenario--prisoner accepts offer to join captor, Torture--inducing nightmares or false memories
Circle is a sci-fi kdrama that has two plotlines running at once, one in 2017 and one in 2037. Both are about a brother trying to find his missing twin, though in very different situations. It's got some good angst and whump. You can watch it with English subtitles here.
General fthoughts:
Up until the last couple episodes of Circle, I had assumed that 2037 Woo-jin was being held captive by Human B and had been for twenty years. In fact, I was only half right about this. I liked how canon turned out but by the time we reached the truth I had come up with a ton of different theories for what MIGHT be going on with Woo-jin, most involving captivity. A couple would be: Woo-jin getting kidnapped back in 2017 (a la episode 11) and, you know, not dying. Woo-jin going on the run and getting captured sometime in the twenty-year gap. Woo-jin being kidnapped at first but being gradually convinced (or perhaps coerced) into actually joining Human B. Woo-jin having joined Human B bc after being kidnapped he'd had his memories blocked and couldn't remember that they were the enemy. So if you want to play with any of those scenarios, or the canon scenario of clone captivity, or with some other idea of your own, that would all be good. Fic could be about Woo-jin getting captured in the first place, about him during the captivity period, about him being rescued, or even about him adjusting post-rescue back to normal life. It could also center around Park Dong-geon's POV as captor or around Joon-hyuk's efforts to rescue him.
Kado: The Right Answer
Relationships: Prisoner!Koujirou Shindou/Captor!Yaha-kui zaShunina
Tags: Alternate universe--Time loops/travel as a form of imprisonment, Attitude--Captor treats prisoner as a lover, Attitude--self righteous captor, Scenario--captivity to force latent abilities to manifest, Scenario--captor experiments on prisoner, Scenario--captor mindwipes prisoner to make them believe they're in a relationship, Scenario--forced to act as if everything is normal when held prisoner in public, Scenario--imprisoned "for prisoner's own good", Torture--body modification
Medium: Fic or Art
Kado: the Right Answer is a sci-fi anime about an extra-dimensional creature who has come to bring amazing technology and "advancement" to Earth, and about the human negotiator who ends up working as a diplomatic go-between for him and humanity. A great show in general but I especially loved the insane ending, which admittedly goes off the rails. You can watch it with English subtitles here.
General ficcish thoughts:
Oh man, I just love the insanity of this ship. Ideally I like Yaha-kui zaShunina being very fond of Shindou--even obsessively so--but also just callous and uncaring of his ideas of morality etc. Like, I like a zaShunina who respects Shindou's talents and sees him as unique and very interesting and a good friend and maybe even lover, but when it comes to respecting his opinions on whether humanity should be forced into ascending to a higher level of being despite high casualties, or respecting Shindou's free will/bodily autonomy? Ahahahahahahaha.
Anyways, in terms of captivity plotlines, some ideas: zaShunina showing Shindou more than Shindou's ready for in regards to his plans or his inhumanity, and then either setting back time to fix things or erasing Shindou's memories. Brainwashing in general. Non-consensual body modification and generally making Shindou inhuman against his will (I mean, he's already taken away Shindou's ability to sleep without warning him, why stop there?). zaShunina making Shindou continue to act as his representative while forcing him to keep quiet about his nefarious plans, or him quietly stowing the real Shindou in a back corner of the Kado and making a duplicate go out in his place (Shindou can just sit back and watch the advancement of humanity for the time being--zaShunina's sure he'll come around eventually). zaShunina being more captor-like to Shindou from the beginning, starting with the plane incident. It's all good as long as there's captivity and a large power imbalance. In general I'd also like for zaShunina to Mean Well and not see why Shindou is so upset over everything, while Shindou is anywhere from disturbed and annoyed to horrified and on the verge of mindbreak (but please don't go all the way to mindbreak).
General arty thoughts:
If Shindou's being held captive in the Kado, that could make for a spooky, weird, surreal background. No need to copy the kaleidoscope aesthetic of the anime too exactly if you don't want to. As long as it's got the general surreal alien vibe it's good with me.
zaShunina has floaty hands which would be good for seizing and holding a misbehaving prisoner. He and the Kado can also kind of shift shape as required... could make for interesting restraints...
Would love to see an angry or terrified prisoner Shindou and a zaShunina who is trying to cheer him up and really not managing it.
My Country: The New Age
Relationships: Captor!Yi Bang-won/Prisoner!Nam Seon-ho, Captor!Yi Bang-won & Prisoner!Nam Seon-ho, Captor!Yi Bang-won/Prisoner!Seo Hwi, Captor!Yi Bang-won & Prisoner!Seo Hwi, Captor!Yi Bang-won/Prisoner!Seo Hwi/Prisoner!Nam Seon-ho, Prisoner!Nam Seon-ho/Rescuer!Seo Hwi, Prisoner!Seo Hwi/Rescuer!Nam Seon-ho, Prisoner!Nam Seon-ho/Rescuer!Hwang Sung-rok
Medium: Fic or Art
Tags: Attitude--Captor falls in love with Prisoner who does not return the feelings, Attitude--Defiant prisoner, Attitude--Self righteous prisoner, Attitude--Prisoner seduces captor, Capture--Violent, Coercion--Captor promises help in exchange for prisoner surrendering themselves, Coercion--Prisoner A surrenders as only way to stay with Prisoner B, Noncon--Prisoner forced to confess fantasies about love interest and perform them with captor, Prison--Chained to foot of throne, Prison--kept in luxurious surroundings, Prison--kept in captor's home, Rescue--"thank god you're safe" sex between prisoner and rescuer, Rescue--by unexpected person when prisoner thought no one would come, Rescue--Fails and rescuer gets captured, Rescue--system which gives captor power is overthrown, Scenario--Captor forces prisoner to confess personal secrets/guilt/past crimes, Scenario--Forced to swear fealty, Scenario--Unexpected kindness/mercy from captor, Scenario--prisoner used as bait by captor targeting rescuer, Scenario--Prisoner A won't let Prisoner B harm captor.
My Country: the New Age is a historical kdrama about a pair of friends who end up working at political and personal cross-purposes. It's full of betrayals and intrigues, and also features a murderous actual historical prince (the Yi Bang-won mentioned above). You can watch it with English subtitles on Netflix or here.
General ficcish thoughts:
This is just a great canon for whump and angst overall. With the Bang-won ships (or platonic relationships, I'm not particular either way), I think Bang-won holding Seon-ho captive is a somewhat different vibe from Bang-won holding Hwi captive. I picture Bang-won holding Hwi captive either right after Hwi gets his attention during the hunt-ambush (as seen in canon) or in a post-canon AU where he doesn't trust Hwi enough to let him go but also can't bring himself to kill him. Either way I'm sure he'd be having a lot of feelings about whether or not he can trust Hwi or enjoy his friendship, and a lot of guilt over Seo Geom (probably more guilt overall in the second scenario). On the other hand, if Bang-won were to hold Seon-ho captive, he would have captured an enemy no matter when in canon you set it--they might just be at political rivals stage and this is a kidnapping, or maybe Seon-ho's just broken into his house (he does that two or three times, so it's not unlikely) and been captured, or maybe he's been captured with Hwi in that same post-canon AU. Bang-won isn't overtly friendly with Seon-ho, and you can picture him being meaner to him if Seon-ho provoked him, but he relates to Seon-ho more than he perhaps likes, and I imagine there's some attraction there too. Who knows where things might go~? For either ship (or for the OT3 option), I'm fine with Seon-ho and/or Hwi reciprocating Bang-won's feelings or Bang-won simply pining forever lols, both possibilities seem plausible enough.
Alternatively, the rescue ships! Seon-ho, Hwi, and Sung-rok are all people who would claim not to be attached to anyone and then go totally wild on hearing that their love interest has been captured and set out on a reckless rescue attempt, risking life and limb and absolutely obliterating all obstacles. So I'm definitely up for that! And perhaps some tender hurt/comfort as follow-up! Or the rescue miserably failing, as the case may be! (By the way, the captor in these rescue scenarios doesn't have to be Bang-won. It can be, but there are other antagonists you could use too. Nam Jeon. Yi Seung-gye. Yi Bang-gan. ...random bandits? Whatever you want, really.)
General arty thoughts:
Oooooh pretty Joseon clothing, please? Seon-ho and Hwi have really nice long hair also and I imagine Seon-ho at least would get really annoyed if a captor Bang-won were touching it; he'd probably be annoyed at having it down in front of Bang-won in the first place.
Restraints are great. Rope's probably the most canon-typical. If you were to just draw that scene where Seon-ho is facing Bang-won's judgment after Nam Jeon's death, and he's all tied up and bloody, frankly, that would be enough. Or maybe Bang-won tilting Hwi's face up with that fan during their first meeting. These were good scenes.
On the other hand, if you wanna go a little wilder, yes, I did request the "Chained to the foot of the throne" tag for this fandom and I DID MEAN IT. YES PLEASE.
For the rescue ships, I'd love to see these dudes facing down their captor(s) with swords and bows drawn. Maybe the rescuer standing protectively in front of the prisoner. Idk, just your typical rescue scenario illustrated would be good.
Nirvana in Fire
Relationships: Prisoner!Mei Changsu/Captor!Xiao Jinghuan, Prisoner!Xiao Jinghuan/Captor!Mei Changsu, Prisoner!Xiao Jinghuan/Rescuer!Mei Changsu, Prisoner!Mei Changsu/Rescuer!Mu Nihuang.
Medium: Fic or Art.
Tags: Alternate Universe--Bad guys win, Attitude--Captor treats prisoner as lover, Capture--framed/wrongfully accused and sent to prison, Capture--Legal imprisonment, Prison--Chained to captor's bed, Prison--Harem, Prison--Kept in luxurious surroundings, Rescue--"Thank god you're safe" sex between prisoner and rescuer, Rescue--by unexpected person when prisoner thought no one would come, Rescue--Prisoner's injuries tended by rescuer after unexpected rescue, Rescue--Rescuer tends to prisoner's wounds from torture, Rescue--System which gives captor power is overthrown, Rescue--Trading one prison for another, Scenario--Bathe them and bring them to me, Scenario--Captor forces prisoner to confess personal secrets/guilt/past crimes, Scenario--Captor shielding prisoner from higher authorities, Scenario--Forced to swear fealty, Scenario--Prisoner has wronged captor and is now at their mercy.
Nirvana in Fire is a historical (kind of fantasy? kind of wuxia?) cdrama about a man who has returned, after twelve years of preparation, to the capital of his country, in order to enact a complicated scheme to get vengeance on the people who betrayed and framed his family and friends, and restore the name of said family and friends. You can watch it with English subtitles here.
General ficcish thoughts:
There are some good jumping-off points in canon for these dynamics, I think. I'd count Yu in prison and MCS visiting him as a captor!MCS scenario, given how much his scheming led to this moment, even though he's technically a visitor. It would also be a good opportunity for him to rescue Yu just as he rescued Yu's wife (and then maybe smuggle Yu away to be his own prisoner in a secret Jiangzuo stronghold.... perhaps?). Yu winning the battle at the Spring Hunt seems like the most intuitive way for him to capture MCS, probably (and if he became Emperor, incorporate him into the Inner Palace? or force him to work for him again?), or if you want, he could visit MCS at the Xuanjing Bureau--again, I'd sort of count him as a captor there since he's in cahoots with Xia Jiang and helped arrange the whole thing. Nihuang as MCS's rescuer actually is the trickiest to maneuver--but maybe Lin Shu got captured at Meiling and Nihuang is rescuing him from Xie Yu or the Emperor, or maybe the Emperor takes MCS captive due to Xia Jiang's accusations and Nihuang starts a coup with Jingyan and Meng, or maybe Chief Mei happens to be visiting Yunnan and gets kidnapped and that's how he and Nihuang meet for the first time with him in this identity. The possibilities are limitless ;).
General arty thoughts:
I think Mei Changsu, as captor or rescuer or whatever, being comforting to a broken-down Prince Yu (maybe with messy hair) would be very sweet. Prince Yu could probably use that kind of thing.
On a kinkier note, MCS or Prince Yu in fancy clothes and restraints while the other just sort of stands and gloats over him would also be fun. I think they could both be kind of nasty about it lols. They have a spiteful streak (well, more than a streak frankly).
Nihuang the rescuer, I feel, would be very cinematic. She could be holding a sword! She could be holding MCS in her arms! She has those muscles, and she is protective and knightly and great. MCS should look infatuated with her at the moment. He's in love with her generally speaking but when she swoops in and rescues him, it really makes his heart flutter. (...unless he's actually annoyed about her doing politically precarious things on his behalf lols.)
Save Me
Relationships: Prisoner!Im Sang-mi/Prisoner!Seok Dong-chul, Prisoner!Im Sang-mi/Rescuer!Seok Dong-chul, Prisoner!Seok Dong-chul/Captor!Jo Wan-tae.
Medium: Fic
Tags: Attitude--Rescuer faces trauma from their own captivity, Attitude--self righteous captor, Noncon--captor forces prisoners to have sex, Noncon--Prisoner A forced to rape Prisoner B or else Prisoner B will be raped by captor, Noncon--raped by captor, Rescue--fails and rescuer gets captured, Rescue--Love interest comforts prisoner through aftermath, Rescue--trouble adjusting to normal life after long-term captivity, Scenario--captor forces prisoner to confess to personal secrets/guilt/past crimes, Scenario--forced to act as if everything is normal when held prisoner in public, Scenario--Imprisoned "for prisoner's own good", Scenario--multiple prisoners used as hostages against each others' escape, Scenario--Prisoner A and Prisoner B constantly offering selves in place of the other, Scenario--prisoners have sex in captivity for mutual comfort, Torture--food deprivation.
Save Me is a thriller kdrama about a girl who is trapped in a cult and a group of boys who try to help her get out of said cult, and bring the cult down. The cult is very claustrophobic and creepy. There's also a dude who spends a three year timeskip in prison and infiltrates the cult like a couple weeks later. Basically a lot of captivity related stuff. You can watch it with English subtitles on Netflix or here.
General thoughts:
So I'm basically all about Dong-chul infiltrating Gooseonwon and his undercover camaraderie with Sang-mi. He gets discovered eventually, which is a good opportunity for some of these two-prisoner-related tags; if you want, you can have him get discovered earlier on or in a different way, or you can have him and Sang-mi not be rescued as quickly. I'd be interested in a scenario where the Spiritual Father decides Dong-chul should be incorporated into the cult, whether he likes it or not--to save Dong-chul, as he would say, but perhaps really to help control Sang-mi. Hostage and/or fuck or die situations could ensue. These two work well together and also care a lot about each other's wellbeing considering how little they know each other, bc of the ways their lives have intersected, and that dynamic could really just be a lot of fun.
Or Jo Wan-tae, angry at Dong-chul deceiving him with his rich boy persona, might lash out at him, and there could be some noncon or general whump there.
On the softer side of things, Dong-chul and Sang-mi have both spent three years in different types of captivity, and by the end of the show they're still traumatized and probably have a ways to go before they can fully adjust to normal life. It would be interesting to see how the two of them could get there together.
White Christmas
Relationships: Prisoner!Park Moo-yul/Prisoner!Choi Chi-hoon, Prisoner!Park Moo-yul/Prisoner!Choi Chi-hoon/Rescuer!Kang Mi-reu, Prisoner!Kang Mi-reu/Rescuer!Park Moo-yul, Prisoner!Choi Chi-hoon & Captor!Kim Yo-han.
Medium: Fic
Tags: Noncon--captor forces prisoners to have sex, Noncon--Prisoner A is forced to rape Prisoner B or else Prisoner B will be raped by captor, Rescue--Ex-prisoner meets ex-captor, Rescue--"Thank god you're safe" sex between prisoner and rescuer, Scenario--captor experiments on prisoner, Scenario--captor forces prisoner to confess personal secrets/guilt/past crimes, Scenario--captor taunts prisoner's loved ones about prisoner's captivity/torture, Scenario--imprisoned/lock up with someone who needs medical care, Scenario--multiple prisoners held as hostages against each others' escape, Scenario--philosophical/moral debate between prisoner and captor, Scenario--prisoner punished for other prisoner's mistake, Scenario--Prisoners have sex in captivity for mutual comfort.
White Christmas is a thriller kdrama miniseries about eight kids trapped in a school by a snowstorm over winter break. There is a ~killer among them~ and eventually a hostage scenario ensues. It's very suspenseful and fast-paced at once. You can watch it with English subtitles here.
General thoughts:
A number of these tags are just canon, and I love that. Feel free to give me more villainous taunting and psychological experimentation and philosophical debating and improvised medical care of all kinds. Alternatively, I like the idea of Kim Yo-han using Park Moo-yul and Choi Chi-hoon to hurt each other, whether that be through one of these noncon scenarios or just through manipulating them to lash out at each other or punishing them for each others' mistakes. It makes sense to use them specifically against each other bc 1) Moo-yul hates (and maybe is attracted to) Chi-hoon, so there's some buttons to push, and 2) when they work together they can cause all kinds of chaos which is inconvenient to Kim Yo-han, so it's better to try to turn them against each other.
In regards to Kang Mi-reu the rescuer, obviously everyone gets excited about his return and rescue in episode 6, but I think him and Moo-yul and Chi-hoon in particular should celebrate by making out. After all, Chi-hoon was supposedly dead! Things were very dire! (Btw, I'd love to see a scene or two of what happened while Kim Yo-han was faking Chi-hoon's death, which is why I'm requesting those two as well.) Now they're all alive and should celebrate that. In regards to Moo-yul rescuing Mi-reu, I was thinking of episode 3 and Mi-reu being locked up in the detention room.... okay, this is not a very serious rescue scenario, and I couldn't even come up with an appropriate freeform tag for it, but Moo-yul really was so reluctant to actually let Mi-reu out lols. I'd enjoy a fic about Mi-reu wheedling and/or threatening Moo-yul into letting him out. Maybe he makes all kinds of obscene promises, which don't impress Moo-yul at all, and which he doesn't follow through on.... until he rescues Moo-yul later, and in the release of tension, he and Moo-yul and possibly Chi-hoon just go a little wild.
Finally, I'd be interested in a scenario where Kim Yo-han survives the ending and runs into Chi-hoon or Moo-yul or Mi-reu years later. Would he kidnap them again, or would there just be a very awkward conversation bringing back all their past trauma? Or possibly both?
There, now I've talked about these fandoms and all these captivity scenarios for long enough, I think. I'll be interested to see what you make <3
