Hello, Monster Smash Exchange creator! Thank you for writing for me! I'm Mal or Mali (and malachiical as well); I'll try to keep each individual section of this letter brief, and you should be able to skip to wherever you like with anchor links and/or just expand the parts relevant to you via cut. I hope our monstery ids align and you have a blast writing, because I'm definitely looking forward to whatever you come up with!


General DNWs
General Likes
Porn Likes
Crossover Fandom - Dororo (Keroro Gunsou)/Prowl (Transformers Animated)
Crossover Fandom - Donatello (Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)/Saburo Mutsumi (Keroro Gunsou); Donatello (Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)/Kururu (Keroro Gunsou)/Saburo Mutsumi (Keroro Gunsou)
Keroro Gunsou | Sgt. Frog - Dororo/Kururu
Keroro Gunsou | Sgt. Frog - Hojo Mutsumi | Saburo/Kururu
Keroro Gunsou | Sgt. Frog - Tororo/Zoruru
The Last Halloween (Webcomic) - Eugene Otto/Robert
The Last Halloween (Webcomic) - Dr. Fugue/Robert


General DNWs

• noncon/dubcon (unless otherwise requested!)
• smut with characters under 16 (unless otherwise requested!)
• gore or permanent injury (unless otherwise stated)
• permanent character death (unless otherwise stated)
• infidelity
• halves of a ship feeling like they really just don't like or care about each other at all (even with more complicated stuff I am a BIG SOPPY ROMANTIC)
• a ship having sexualities that mean they aren't attracted to one another
• being ashamed of or hating one's body (even for trans stuff, if you write it; just no focus on dysphoria please) (Zoruru disliking his injuries and cyborg state is the exception if you wanted to go with that)
• requested characters being permanently separated in any way, or at risk of it, by the end of the story (unless otherwise stated)
• unhappy endings
• unrequested AUs (canon divergence is fine)
• unrequested identity headcanons (mentions for OCs are fine)
• unrequested noncanon ships (background canon ships that don't break up the requested pairing are fine; mentions of OCs being in relationships with one another is fine)
• unrequested poly (mentions of OCs being in poly relationships with one another is fine)
• unnecessary use of safewords or stoplight symbols (if the characters are kinking on it that's a fine reason)
• feederism, weight gain, inflation, pregnancy (mentions of OCs being pregnant are fine; breeding kink without any possibility of pregnancy is great!)
• scat, watersports, vomit kink (someone throwing up not in a kink context is fine)
• vore, bestiality, somnophilia, mommy- or daddykink, 24/7 D/S
• canon-specific DNWs and exceptions in the fandom sections!

General Likes

• hurt/comfort!
• fics with a balance or both or ones that lean towards more comfort than hurt; feel free to get deep in the hurt but I love a sizeable focus on the comfort!
• fic rated from G through E!
• pining and culmination of pining: getting together, kissing, romantic tension/UST being resolved, mutual pining or initially one-sided pining, pining that lasts for weeks or even years
• fluff, snapshot moments of what's going on in their lives
• romantic tension, UST that eventually becomes resolved
• flirting, confident or awkward or just fuckin disastrous
• extreme loyalty
• redemption arcs, gray morality, general complexity, lighter takes on villains & villain redemption both
• hurt/comfort
• happy or at least hopeful/somewhat upbeat endings
• first times and milestones (sexual or non, doesn’t even have to be overly romantic, stuff like taking a photo for the first time together or and the like is also good!)
• I really do love age gaps tbh; especially I find older characters hot & also love when the other characters do
• descriptions of making out tbh
• trans headcanons where it’s not A Thing in the fic, no coming out or explanations necessary, or it's just accepted and not super dwelled on unless the prompt is about self-exploration. no Having To Deal With Bigotry or issuefic or anything, just character(s) happen(s) to be trans (both same gender/pronouns as in canon and different gender/pronouns are fine)
• canon divergent AUs, change one thing about a canon and maybe other things happen differently
• I like longfic if you want to write it!
• more canon-specific likes in the fandom sections!
• fic and art treats are both more than welcome!

Porn Likes

• first times and milestones
• frot, scissoring, intercrural, grinding against ass, basically all that stuff
• handjobs, fingering, oral
• romantic smut, lots of touching, focus on touching/wanting to touch and sensations and body parts, loving descriptions of partner's body (description of both stereotypically attractive and not stereotypically attractive features welcome so long as they're INTO it!), kissing during sex, hand-holding during sex, eye contact during sex, all that stuff!
• clothed sex, partially clothed sex, and clothing kink!
• inexperience, awkward, clumsy but eager and enjoyable sex
• XENO. xeno xeno xeno I am so into xeno, play around with alien genitalia and I am here for it, tentacles, cloacas, characters having both sets of genitalia, ovipositors, genitals resembling flowers or wet pinecone dick, Mouths Down There, legit whatever you can think of just g o f o r i t
• BDSM tones, mild or more formal
• praise kink and instructions/requests/begging flavors of dirty talk
• breeding kink is welcome when pregnancy is outright impossible, even if it's handwaved impossible (PIV but they know it can't happen is fine; neither has a womb and obviously it can't happen is fine; this type of sex can't even result in pregnancy but we'll talk about it anyway is fine; species are incompatible is fine)
• even without breeding kink, kinking on coming inside is also hot, but so is kinking on come/cum-play and messier sex like that
• mutually enjoyed/kinked-on breeding kink dirty talk when actual pregnancy is outright impossible and does not happen
• manhandling, hair pulling, love bites and scratches, rough but not outright painful (or only pleasantly painful) sex
• orgasm delay (though not total denial), edging
• alternately, multiple orgasms, "forced" orgasms that are still enjoyable
• e n t h u s i a s m and detailed descriptions of sex, just go for it
• in general, prefer the terms: penis, cock, dick, length; nipples, ass, and testicles/balls can just be called those things; vagina, vulva, cunt, or pussy if that comes up; come or cum are both fine spellings
• piv in trans smut is fine; oral and pia sex super welcome; alternatives are also loved; prefer for vagina to be called vagina, cunt, or pussy, or to be referred to vaguely, not "hole"; prefer for ass NOT to be called a vagina/cunt/pussy, but referred to vaguely & implied to be one is fine, or just called ass; fine with clit being called clit or penis/cock/dick, fine with penis being called penis/cock/dick or hen or clit
• porn is always welcome!

Crossover Fandom
Dororo (Keroro Gunsou)/Prowl (Transformers Animated)

[Where you can find both series: Keroro Gunsou here or here; Transfomers Animated here or here!

Dororo's Most Pertinent Episodes:
S1 E13 - introducing Dororo; the Platoon rescuing him and all working together!
S1 E14 - the Platoon works on a plan for the first time with Dororo
S1 E51 - the Platoon "leaves forever" (only not)
S2 E64B - Keroro's been a dick to Dororo since childhood :|
S2 E68B - Dororo re-meets a dog!
S2 E98B - flashback to Dororo's past meeting and living with Koyuki in the ninja village
S2 E101 - the Garuru Platoon invades; this episode and the next two are a three-parter, plotty and actually kinda serious
S2 E102 - the Garuru Platoon invades; three-parter continued
S2 E103 - the Garuru Platoon invades; three-parter continued
S4 E189 - Dororo has to face his old assassin teacher in what seems to be a fight to the death!
MOVIE 3 - Keroro Gunso the Super Movie 3: Keroro vs. Keroro Great Sky Duel - again plotty and kinda serious
MOVIE 4 - Keroro Gunso the Super Movie 4: Gekishin Dragon Warriors - again, plotty and kinda serious, has some nice scenes, especially good if you want to see Dororo turn into a dragon for a bit
S6 E259 - Dororo and Koyuki (and some of the others) revisit their old ninja village
S6 E260 - flashback to the Platoon's first time meeting and working together!
S6 E284 - the Platoon gets taken over by an asshole, they turn on Dororo, Dororo ends up having to save all their asses
MOVIE 5 - Keroro Gunso the Super Movie 5: Creation! Ultimate Keroro, Wonder Space-Time Island - again, plotty and kinda serious; has a cool fight and some cute moments
S7 E312A - Dororo vs. Zeroro (his own past self!)
S7 E318A - no one's ever seen Dororo's mouth (he eats, drinks, sleeps, etc. with it on and always has) and it seems to be a bit embarrassing and very personal for him!
S7 E319A - there's a hacker in the base and it leads to some fun moments
S7 E320A - literally just the Platoon using bishounen robots to invade if you want to see them as those (Dororo looks like Trowa)
S7 E336A - Dororo vs. Zoruru rematch!
S7 E356A - the Platoon turns into dragons again to save Keron; has at least one or two neat moments
S7 E357 - fun situation where Keron decides to take over the invasion, and it shows how attached all the Platoon's gotten to Earth

Prowl's Most Pertinent Episodes:
S1 E01 - first of the three-parter showing how the crew got on Earth and the overall plot
S1 E02 - second of the three-parter...
S1 E03 - and finale of the three-parter!
S1 E04 - some good Prowl moments establishing his character further
S1 E06 - Dinobots episode; Prowl values life
S1 E12 - Prowl, Bulkhead, and Fanzone work together to save Sari; some good Prowl moments!
S1 E14 - Prowl, Bumblebee, and Sari go camping :D
S1 E15 - plotty and serious two-parter as Megatron revives
S1 E16 - end of the two-parter as Megatron revives
S2 E07 - Prowl vs. Lockdown vs. Starscream!
S3 E06 - Prowl vs. Lockdown again, this time with flashbacks to his ninja training!
S3 E08 - somewhat plotty two-parter where the Autobots are trapped in a simulation experiencing the world as humans
S3 E09 - second half of the two-parter!
S3 E12 - first of the very serious end-game two-parter
S3 E13 - second half of that; Prowl sacrifices himself

Watch just whichever ones you feel like, tbh!]

This ship really has my heart and has for like a decade. I'm not even kidding, either! If I had to explain the appeal of them, to me, it would be that... Okay, they're not even close to being the same person. But they have so much in common that I think it would actually surprise both of them when they start to really realize just how much.

Both of them come from heavily militarized planets. While Cybertron seems to have plenty of civilians, Ultra Magnus is the Magnus and Supreme Commander of the Autobots, leader of the Cybertron Elite Guard, and seemingly in charge on Cybertron as chairman of the Autobot High Council until grievously injured, and Sentinel Prime was upgraded to Sentinel Magnus to take over all of those roles; Keron on the other hand seems like it might be a fully militarized society with even elementary schoolers going to military-led academies and most if not all of the civilians we see being children or former soldiers. Cybertron had the draft and a military that has done some bad shit; Keron has obligatory enlistment and a military system that experiments on, clones, and mindwipes its own soldiers. Cybertronians are likely known as invaders and dangerous warmongers due at least to the Decepticons, while Keronians are actually invaders.

And it's not just their planets and militaries, but aspects of their personal characters as well. Both Prowl and Dororo are somewhat removed from their teams, preferring calmer things and their own ways, while still caring deeply for their friends. Both of them changed a lot after coming to Earth, quickly falling in love with the planet and its nature and striving to be more peaceable and centered and zen. Both seem to adore and deeply respect Earth's animals and have come to value and want to protect life in general. Neither are the most tech-inclined, with Prowl opposing Bumblebee's tech obsession outright and Dororo both disliking humans' dependence on cell phones (anime) and having a wooden computer somehow (manga). Both became close friends, practically family, with an Earth girl (though in Sari's case she wound up not being human). Both are incredibly impressive, well-trained ninja who have a deep respect for their ninja teachings!

Of course, they have some major differences as well that I find equally fascinating. Dororo can be easy to rope into the outright insanity of the Keroro Platoon's plans, while Prowl is often more aloof. Prowl only recently became friends with the others, while Dororo was childhood friends with Keroro and Giroro (and Pururu). Prowl can be more outright immature and irritable, and was a bit of a punk before; Dororo was sickly and was outright traumatized by his childhood friendship with Keroro specifically, and can be ridiculous and a bit cartoonishly violent (given that his series has elements of slapstick comedy). Prowl was a ninja back on Cybertron, while Dororo became a ninja after coming to Earth and used to be an assassin. And of course, Prowl came with Optimus and company to Earth by total accident and humanity knows they're there, while Dororo came with the Keroro Platoon to invade "Pekopon" and only select humans are allowed to know they exist.

Basically, they have some neat differences that could provide interesting elements to their interactions while also having so many unique things in common that I can easily seeing them click surprisingly well -- maybe even surprising to themselves. And I really love the idea of them warming to one another quickly and finding someone who's a lot like them. (And I also like the idea of Prowl getting to bond some with Koyuki if you'd like to include her, but obviously you don't need to!)

Requested Tags

• Both Parties Very Xeno For the Other
• Careful Sex Required as a Result of Size/Anatomy Difference
• How Do We Even Have Sex? We'll Figure It Out!

I really just love sex, or even just attraction, where the fact that the two characters are different species and very alien to one another is very much a positive for both parties! For these two, I'd love if you leaned into alien and/or frog-like anatomy for Dororo, and it could be fun if you went all-out on how non-human Cybertronians are with Prowl, too. Fascination with the technologic rather than organic anatomy and/or the transformation ability in a smut or non-smut context, but also if you do write any sex, how might Cybertronian sex be unusual for Keronians (or humans, at that)? How might anatomy specifically lead to them needing to be careful?

• Careful Sex Required as a Result of Size/Anatomy Difference
• Size Difference
• using combination of hands and mouth on monster cock too big to get fucked by

LOOK I am really into size kink okay. These all have slightly different ideas behind them! "Size Difference" is basic and straightforward and you could play around with that in a lot of ways, shippy and/or smutty; "Careful Sex Required as a Result of Size/Anatomy Difference" (yes, this one's listed both here and above) is more specific and I'd love to see how they have sex despite MAJOR size difference even if they both have more human-like genitalia. (Touching, oral? Would even Prowl's fingers be too big; would Dororo fisting him work? If Prowl has a clit, is that big enough to fuck Dororo with?) And "using combination of hands and mouth on monster cock too big to get fucked by" is most specific of all and doesn't really need explanation tbh, it's just super hot. Dororo is like 2 feet tall while Prowl's around like 15-17 feet (and big enough to easily be ridden on as a motorcycle too, of course), that's ludicrous and I'd love pretty much anything that leaned into it.

• Character A shares body heat with Character b to keep them alive and warm

Now we're getting into the more specific prompts! Dororo is really good with the cold, but what if the temperature was extreme enough that even he was having a problem? Or, if the cold was giving Prowl's technological/electronic anatomy issues, would Dororo be able to use ninja abilities to help share his body heat more easily even with someone so much bigger than him? Would they be able to help each other in that situation?

• Character believes monster is an enemy; monster rescues them

Obviously, in this case they're both monsters in the alien sense... But I just love this concept a whole lot. If Cybertronians and Keronians have maybe heard horror stories about each other, or even if one's gotten the impression somehow that the other is a dangerous (and/or rival) alien invader in a more general sense, having one come to the other's aid as a first or early meeting could be really iddy! Once the one is rescued, would they both be able to fight side-by-side? And/or would they quickly realize how much they actually have in common, after?

• Character needs a monster's help

This could also be a really fun tag for the early days of their relationship! Does one need the help of another alien in general outside of their own team/species for some reason? Or does Dororo need the help of a Cybertronian/Autobot specifically, or Prowl need the help of a Keronian specifically, for something? Do they go to each other because they've been starting to get to know each other and already starting to bond, or are they wary of the other group but have vaguely heard that the other loves nature and/or is a ninja and are willing to risk it, or something in between the two? What might they need help with? I'd love to see them bond further! You could also use this for something like one of them needing the help of the other's group to figure out how to do something kind for, get a gift for, or even woo the other!

• Examining Body Turns Intimate/Sexual

Look, this one I just love for when the two characters are already getting closer and at least one of them has become curious about the other's anatomy or skills in using it (like Prowl's transformation or Dororo's control over his temperature). Not-quite-just-friendly but initally attempting to be platonic examining turning into something that's very much past that is something I'm really into!

• Gentle Cuddling with a Nonhuman Partner

This one could practically be another size difference thing for me, tbh. Dororo's so small in comparion, he could so easily be picked up and/or held, fit in Prowl's lap or even his hands... 🥺 And I like that these two can just be so quiet and calm and gentle. This could be established relationship or could be friendship that's turning into something more...

• Monster Who Has Been Passing As Human Gets Found Out When Serious Injury Requires Medical Attention
• One Character Disguised As Human; Both Characters Into It

OKAY these are the ones where human disguises come into play! A lot of stuff could be done with these, tbh. Either of them could be disguised as a human/in human form. It could be an actual human transfomation (maybe due to an invention of Kururu's or Isaac Sumdac's?); if you're use the serious injury tag, maybe for some reason they absolutely need to transform back in order to receive proper medical attention. Or maybe instead of an actual human body, it's a robot body, one that Dororo is inside (kind of like Kururuko, something made by Kururu, that he gets injured inside if you use that tag) or that Prowl is sort of downloaded into (Sumdac technology again?), and if an injury happens it's obvious that it was a robot? (Honestly, you could even use those ridiculous "Pekoponian disguises" from Keroro Gunsou that look like this and just have every human and maybe even the Cybertronians somehow fall for it, I wouldn't be mad.) Or, alternately, Prowl could be using his holoform! Maybe it can touch/interact with things? And if he himself gets injured the holoform would be revealed to be fake... Any of those options could work for either tag, I would be totally down for it.

• Safe Sane and Consensual Sex with a Monster
• Tender and Loving Monster Sex

These two are just the smut tags that are sweet and tender and loving and I love them. I imagine them leaning a bit into the xeno thing or the size kink thing like up in those sections, but they don't even need to. I'd just love you to lean into the connection and romance these two could have during smut with either of these, and how into each other they could be. I'd also be totally happy if either of these tags were used in conjunction with any of the others!

• Soulmates

The one tag that necessitates an AU, and I love it! I'm honestly really fascinated by the idea of different species having different soulmate indicators, maybe ones that are really specific to how their people work (like if Cybertronians have something carved onto their spark casing that indicates who their soulmate is, or if Keronians can figure out who their soulmate is by resonating with them) or maybe just more general ones! And I love both the idea that they each have the normal soulmate indicator for their own species (if Keronians have their soulmate's name written on their body somewhere, Prowl would be such an unusual name to have, not fitting their naming scheme at all! if Cybertronians only see in color when they lay eyes on their soulmates, what would it be like to look at a totally alien being and suddenly see colors for the first time?) or the idea that they actually wind up having the soulmate indicator for the other's species (if Keronians are usually born with countdown timers to when they meet their soulmates, maybe Dororo thinks he doesn't have a soulmate, but that's only because for Cybertronians, when they touch their soulmate the glow of their spark will be visible through their chest armor, so when he first touches Prowl a light seems to glow from his heart instead, and Prowl has never had any idea wtf that timer he has is about?). There's a lot you could play with with this, and I'd love any of it! I wouldn't even mind if you took "soulmates" less literally/not as an AU but instead just leaned into these two having so much in common and feeling like soulmates!

Links to Previous Letters

If you want more ideas for prompts, I've asked for this ship once before!

• Hurt/Comfort Exchange 2023

Canon-Specific DNWs

• N/A, really!

Canon-Specific Likes

• the two canons just taking place in the same universe and playing around with what that might mean
• slight canon AUs to make crossovers work
• two universes colliding or one group ending up in the other group's universe (if they can visit each other after it's fixed; I just don't want them cut off from each other or everyone they know)
• the idea that if they're both canon in the same universe maybe Cybertronians and Keronians are uneasy about each other (or even outright enemies) because they've just heard the worst stories about each other...
• both teams mostly getting along after a false start or two anyway!
• meeting somewhere in the middle on canon-typical humor as well as more serious situations; either or both are good!
• how much these two specifically have in common! mostly peaceful, trying-to-zen, nature-loving ninjas that fell in love with Earth early on and all things considered would rather stay... they're also both a bit more distant from their teams but care about them, as well as caring about life in general. it's just neat to me and I really think they'd click.
• I really like the idea of remembering Dororo either coming easily to Prowl like it seems to for Koyuki, or for him making an active effort to remember him
• Koyuki being family to Dororo now, whether like a daughter to him, like a younger sister, or something neither of them could put a specific name on but that doesn't matter
• some bonding between Prowl and Koyuki too if you wanted to include that!
• non-canon background ships I'm good with are Kururu/Mutsumi, Koyuki/Natsumi, Fuyuki/Momoka, Alisa/Fuyuki, Chiruyo/Momoka, Asami/Mois, Garuru/Pururu, Tororo/Zoruru, Mekeke/Putata, Bulkhead/Bumblebee, Bumblebee/Sari, Lockdown/Swindle, Blitzwing/Lugnut, Jetfire/Jetstorm, and/or Sari/any of the non-adult girls from Keroro Gunsou, if any of them show up
• I'm fine with keeping both of them in their canon bodies, or having one or both of them humanized (specifically them winding up in human bodies somehow rather than always being human-like... maybe a Kururu and/or even Sumdac invention?), or even putting Dororo in a human-looking robot body to blend in! whichever you'd rather go with!
• NAMING CONVENTIONS! nicknames and endearments and honorifics! honestly, whether they're in Japan/speaking Japanese or not, I'm amused by the idea of the Keroro Platoon specifically still using honorifics and maybe even their usual sentence enders (like Dororo's "de gozaru"); Dororo seems to default to calling most people -dono, so him going from Prowl-dono to Prowl-kun or even simply Prowl could be meaningful! Prowl seems to simply call people by name, but if they are speaking Japanese, would he use any honorifics? which ones? would he call Dororo by his rank (Heichou or Lance Corporal) often, or at all?
• genderswaps and genderswap AUs! m/m, f/f, and m/f are all fine!
• if you're interested, I like trans headcanons for either/both of these characters! I like the idea of Dororo as a trans woman or nonbinary, but trans man is also good; I also have a soft spot for Prowl as nonbinary or a trans man, but trans woman is also good! trans headcanons for any other characters that show up are also 100% good (though I'd prefer you leave Pururu, Koyuki, and Natsumi as girls, whether cis or trans!). and of course trans headcanons aren't obligatory!

Crossover Fandom
Donatello (Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)/Saburo Mutsumi (Keroro Gunsou)
Donatello (Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)/Kururu (Keroro Gunsou)/Saburo Mutsumi (Keroro Gunsou)

[Where you can find both series: Keroro Gunsou here or here; Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles here or here! (Though for ROTTMNT, the first link has the episode pretty out of order.)

Donatello's Most Pertinent Episodes:
S1 E01 - Mystic Mayhem - The opening episode, introduces the plot, the turtles (and April, Splinter, and Baron Draxum), and the style of the show
S1 E02 - Origami Tsunami/Donnie's Gifts (first half of this link) - The first part is still setting up the opening plot stuff (introduces the Foot Clan) and has some great Donnie moments; the second is Donnie-centric!
S1 E03A - War and Pizza (second half of this link) - Donnie makes a mess at April's job
S1 E04A - Repo Mantis - A Donnie- and Mikey-centric episode!
S1 E05 - The Fast and the Furriest/Mascot Melee - Both episodes have a lot of good Donnie moments
S1 E07 - Bug Busters - Another more plotty episode; has some good Donnie moments
S1 E11A - The Purple Jacket - Donnie-centric episode!
S1 E12A - Smart Lair - Another Donnie-centic episode
S1 E13 - The Evil League of Mutants - Another plottier episode with some good Donnie moments, but this is here mostly for plot
S1 E14 - Late Fee/Bullhop - Some great Donnie moments in both of these
S1 E15A - Mind Meld - Donnie-centric episode
S1 E16 - Shadow of Evil - Another MUCH plot-heavier episode, has a few good Donnie moments but this is again mostly for plot
S1 E18A - Operation: Normal - An episode focusing on April, Leo, and Donnie!
S1 E20 - Mystic Library/The Purple Game - Both episodes have some great Donnie moments, and the later is Donnie-centric!
S1 E21 - Man vs. Sewer/The Mutant Menace - Both episodes have some amazing Donnie moments
S1 E22 - Turtle-dega Nights: The Ballad of Rat Man/The Ancient Art of Ninja Hide and Seek - Both Splinter-centric episodes, but the former is also Donnie-centric and both have some really good moments for him
S1 E23A - One Man's Junk (the first half of this link) - Some great Donnie moments
S1 E24B - Jupiter Jim Ahoy! (the second half of this link) - Some amazing Donnie moments!
S1 E25 - Insane in the Mama Train - Mostly a plot-focused episode and leads into the season finale/next season opener; also has great Donnie moments
S1 E26 - End Game - Same as above
S2 E01 - Many Unhappy Returns - Same as above!
SHORTS - All six of them have Donnie in them a little and they're all only a minute and a half long, but Sentient Bed, Cucumber-Mikey Vs. Manticat, and C.O.W.A.B.U.N.G.A. are all especially good for him!
S2 E02A - Todd Scouts (the first half of this link) - Some amazing Donnie moments in this one!
S2 E03B - Lair Games (the second half of this link) - A Donnie- and Leo-centric episode!
S2 E04A - Breaking Purple (the first half of this link) - Another Donnie-centric episode
S2 E08A - Donnie vs. Witch Town (the first half of this link) - A Donnie- and April-centric episode!
S2 E10B - The Clothes Don't Make the Turtle (the second half of this link) - Some amazing Donnie moments in this one!
S2 E11 - Battle Nexus: New York - Plot-centric and leads into the four-part finale; has some great Donnie moments
S2 E12 - Finale Part 1: E-Turtle Sunshine of the Spotless Mind/Finale Part 2: Shreddy or Not - Wrapping up the series with plot, and has some amazing Donnie moments
S2 E13 - Finale Part 3: Anatawa Hitorijanai/Finale Part 4: Rise - Same as the above!

Mutsumi's Most Pertinent Episodes:
S1 E9A - properly introducing both Mutsumi and Kururu
S1 E51 - the Platoon "leaves forever" (only not)
S2 E82A - 623 hosts a competition to let one fan meet him face-to-face; "Kururuko" enters
S2 E101 - the Garuru Platoon invades; this episode and the next two are a three-parter, plotty and actually kinda serious
S2 E102 - the Garuru Platoon invades; three-parter continued
S2 E103 - the Garuru Platoon invades; three-parter continued
S3 E112 - Kururu and Mutsumi first meet, and Mutsumi winds up with Kururu's reality pen
S4 E161 - the Platoon is attacked by an outside group; Mutsumi shows up to help
MOVIE 3 - Keroro Gunso the Super Movie 3: Keroro vs. Keroro Great Sky Duel - again plotty and kinda serious
S5 E229 - B story focuses on Mutsumi and Kururu but A story sets up context; plotty and kinda serious when it gets to that point and VERY SHIPPY including the credits
MOVIE 4 - Keroro Gunso the Super Movie 4: Gekishin Dragon Warriors - again, plotty and kinda serious
S5 E240A - this one's convoluted and dumb (complimentary) but there's a sauna sequence and Mutsumi and Kururu working together on something... interesting
S6 E298B - Mutsumi regularly uses the reality pen to check in on himself in alternate dimensions
MOVIE 5 - Keroro Gunso the Super Movie 5: Creation! Ultimate Keroro, Wonder Space-Time Island - plotty and kinda serious; has a cute scene near the beginning with Mutsumi though he's mostly not in this one
S7 E354B - Kururu helps Mutsumi fake being a Venusian and keep broadcasting as 623 without risking his identity
S7 E357 - fun situation where Kururu invites Mutsumi to visit Keron, things go bad, and it shows how attached all the Platoon's gotten to Earth; Mutsumi's got a good little scene in it but isn't in it much

...And if you want some Kururu-centric episodes without Mutsumi there are recommendations for those in the Dororo/Kururu and Mutsumi/Kururu sections below... But watch just whichever episodes you feel like, tbh!]

Okay, this ship is a really new one to me in either variant, but I really love the idea of them! For one thing, while the two series definitely have different tones and balances to them, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is maybe the only series I've gotten into since Keroro Gunsou to almost match its energy and (some of) its styles of humor. It feels like the ROTTMNT crew would be able to roll with most of the ridiculous shit that comes up in KG pretty easily, which is rare and I enjoy it! It wouldn't even be hard to get them all in the same place, in an AU where both canons took place in the same universe: The Hamato clan is originally from Japan, so Splinter might take his sons to Japan at some point, and since yokai have a place in NYC I could see the Platoon ending up there somehow as well. It could be fun to see the turtles initially thinking the Platoon are mutants or yokai, and the Platoon potentially thinking the ROTTMNT cast are also invading aliens (and maybe initially assuming they need to treat them as rivals or defend Pekopon from them!).

I also find it fun that in a way that Keroro Platoon sorta "matches up" with the turtles: Leo as the laid-back leader with a strong family focus with Keroro, Raph as the red fighting powerhouse who usually takes things the most seriously with Giroro, Mikey as the youngest who loves food and having fun and can have some amusing "dark" personality moments sometimes almost with Tamama (his rage at DIG, "Dr. Delicate Touch feels nothing"), and Donnie as the tech genius inventor who can sometimes be distant and is willing to experiment on and stealthily chip and record the others with Kururu. (Dororo is not included which is also kind of amusing to me, but he could be a general "ninja" who applies of all of them or be Splinter's counterpart?) But the thing is, most of the resemblances with the turtles and the Platoon are pretty superficial, with little details, but with Donatello and Kururu it's actually a bit stronger! Which makes me think Mutsumi, besides really liking the turtles in general in the same way he likes all chaotic alien stuff, would gravitate towards Donatello most.

And Mutsumi is fun, friendly, laid back, curious, mysterious, and surprisingly skilled at various things including some tech stuff himself -- and a fan of music, skateboarding, and motorcycles -- and might flat-out relate Donatello a bit to Kururu himself. I think it could be fun if a crossover with these two had Mutsumi flirting, or Donatello developing a bit of a crush, or both. Donnie discovering he's bi or already knowing it would totally work, but I could also see him figuring out he's gay: His type as he acknowledges it in-series is "cute but mean girls," but I feel like given the two examples in-series are Cheery Tomato and Atomic Lass, you could add "fictional and/or a robot" to that. So his first actual-person crush being on Mutsumi could be fun!

...That being said, you can see in one of the sections below that I ship Kururu/Mutsumi hugely, and yeah, Donatello/Kururu/Mutsumi could be a V-relationship with Mutsumi in the middle, buuuut I could also easily see Donatello and Kururu clicking after some initial... friction. Given that Mutsumi and Kururu are "radio wave buddies," which seems like it's even past being on the same wavelength, it could be fun if at some point Donnie went from not being sure what to think about their bond and about Kururu (and maybe even Mutsumi!) in general to at some point just clicking at least a little into the wavelength thing himself and going "oh, no, I get it now." Donatello and Kururu actually encouraging each other (their more ridiculous or bad-idea elements or not) and/or working together could legit be a blast! Plus, well... Kururuko. As I said above, Donatello's type when it comes to girls seems to be "cute but mean (and maybe fictional and/or a robot)" and Kururuko fits that way too well; it could be really fun if he had some "I am NOT sure how to feel about this" moments meeting her/finding out it's Kururu, lol.

But basically? Donatello seems like he could be Mutsumi's type, a least in some ways due to his close friendship with Kururu; it would be fun if Mutsumi was Donatello's type as well as it turns out; interactions with them could be really fun with or without Kururu; and adding Kururu himself into the mix could also be a blast in a lot of ways!

Requested Tags

("Both" can also be "all" for any of these tags if you're going with Donatello/Kururu/Mutsumi!)

• Both Parties Very Xeno For the Other
• Examining Body Turns Intimate/Sexual
• How Do We Even Have Sex? We'll Figure It Out!
• Monstrous differences inspire creative human partner with sexy ideas

Okay look, these are the tags that really lean into this situation being really enjoyably xeno for at least one person involved, and I'm here for all of them! For "Both Parties Very Xeno For the Other," I'm super into non-human characters also finding humans equally xeno, so anything that leans into that being a part of things would be loved! For "Examining Body"... look, we have at least two curious characters and at least one character who's a scientist, this could be totally innocent at the start and shift into something else... For "How Do We Even Have Sex? We'll Figure It Out!" I just love inventiveness and also characters being enthusiastic enough that running into confusion, uncertainty, or difficulty is more of a "challenge accepted :D" than an actual issue. And, look, Mutsumi is Mutsumi. "Monstrous differences inspire creative human partner with sexy ideas" really jumped out at me; I could see him getting super into things and creative with them. Go with whatever you like for any of these and I'll enjoy it!

• Character A shares body heat with Character b to keep them alive and warm
• Huddling For Warmth

Look, they're both/all varying degrees of vulnerable to cold. Turtles especially don't do well with it (there's a giant heat lamp in the Hamato sewer base!), and if Kururu's a part of things, Keronians seem more affected by it than humans as well, but obviously humans can also get debilitatingly or even dangerously cold! Donatello and Mutsumi huddling for warmth where either Donnie or both of them really needs it would be great; Donatello, Mutsumi, and Kururu all huddling for warmth where Donatello and Kururu both need it or all three of them do would as well! And sharing heat can also include sex, of course, or heavy petting... Though obviously it doesn't need to and can be sweet with just some kissing or just by itself!

• Character needs a monster's help
• Injured/Sick Monster Needs Human's Help

These are two tags I found as interesting counterpoints! The Donatello needing Mutsumi's help (or Mutsumi and Kururu's help) is more specifically about him being injured or sick; how would a human, or this human, or these two, specifically be able to help him? (I am actually good with hanahaki, by the way, either as an AU or a weird magic/yokai spell/curse! But any non-lasting illness or injury would be good!) As for needing a monster's help, it seems like that could be for anything, whether it's illness, injury, advice, invention, entering a specific place... It could actually be Mutsumi needing Donatello's help, Mutsumi and Kururu needing Donatello's help, Donatello needing Kururu and Mutsumi's help, Donatello and Mutsumi needing Kururu's help... Go nuts!

• Human And Monster Body Swap With Each Other

I LOVE BODY SWAPS ALWAYS, but especially in a shippy or smutty context! Is it a magic or mystic thing? A yokai curse? An invention of Donatello's going wrong, an invention of Kururu's going wrong, or something Kururu's just straight-up done on purpose? I'd be thrilled to have Donatello and Mutsumi change bodies, Mutsumi and Kururu change bodies, or even a weird mix-up for all three of them! Kissing or sex while they're body swapped is welcome so long as everyone involved is cool with it; that doesn't even mean outright permission would be necessary ("nah, Kururu would think it's funny" is just as legit). Or that could wait until after there are swaps back, but general shippiness while they're swapped would be a blast!

• Human Is Like Catnip To The Supernatural; Monster Has To Keep Saving Them From Other Monsters
• Monster uses powers or abilities to rescue a human

I loooove rescue stuff. Mutsumi can hold his own pretty well, but it's not like he hasn't been defeated before! (Momentarily by Kururu; pretty thoroughly by Zoruru; and he was hurt by the Quietian...) For "Monster uses powers or abilities to rescue a human," Donatello rescuing Mutsumi from something would be GREAT, whether or not Mutsumi helps him out in return; Donatello and Kururu working together (maybe properly for the first time?) to rescue Mutsumi would also be great if you're writing the OT3! And for "Human Is Like Catnip To The Supernatural; Monster Has To Keep Saving Them From Other Monsters"... Well, I kind of love the idea of yokai just being fuckin magnetized to Mutsumi for some reason, tbh, but it'd also make sense for hostile aliens to be weirdly drawn to going after him (again, see Zoruru and the Quietian and even Kururu at first). I'd love Donatello or Donatello and Kururu taking it upon himself/themselves to help him out with that!

• Human(s) And Monster(s) Fall In Love Through Improbable Comedy Of Errors

Look, I really don't have much to say about this one, unfortunately. I am myself bad with comedy of errors stuff. But given the tone of and the near-constant comedy in both canons this was way too much to resist! I would love this so much for either ship, especially if you leaned into canon-typical comedy for either series (or a mix of the two), but even just in general!

• Monster Discovers Human Partner is Also a Monster
• Monster Who Has Been Passing As Human Gets Found Out When Serious Injury Requires Medical Attention

Whooo boy there are two ways you could go with at least the "Monster Discovers Human Partner is Also a Monster" tag (or a mix of both tags) and they're both fun, but one only works for Donatello/Kururu/Mutsumi. First... Mutsumi, as it turns out at least in the manga, was adopted by an alien and raised by him on another planet for years. The alien was an N326an (and I headcanon that Mutsumi actually just took Saburo as a last name as a nod to that, and that it wasn't his birth surname, since 326 can be pronounced "Saburo" the same way that 623 can be pronounced "Mutsumi"), and Mutsumi actually seems to have developed N326an powers in the manga (can fly/float/hover, sprouting odd disconnected wings when he does so, like this) and even has slightly changed physiology in the anime (the way his eyes are colored is apparently a nod to his not being "fully" human). Donatello, or both Donatello and Kururu, finding out somehow that Mutsumi isn't 100% human at this point could be really fun! And the alternative is that early on, Donatello meets and bonds with Kururuko rather than Kururu, or Kururu in a human body (probably due to an invention of his) and actually does not realize at first that (s)he's not human... Or meets Kururuko, or Kururu in a human body, and somehow doesn't realize she/he's's the same person as the Keronian Kururu. You could run with either or even both of these ideas, with N326an Mutsumi or "human" Kururu(ko), and I'd be thrilled! And for "Monster Who Has Been Passing As Human Gets Found Out When Serious Injury Requires Medical Attention," you could go with Kururu disguised as a human (Kururuko or actually a human body, probably due to an invention of his), or even Donatello disguised as a human (maybe using a cloaking broach?), or Mutsumi being not fully human due to the N326an stuff; Donatello could discover Kururu(ko) isn't human, or Mutsumi (and Kururu?) could discover that Donatello isn't human, or Donatello (and Kururu?) could discover Mutsumi isn't human, due to said injury, or they could both/all know the other isn't human but it risks being made public at least to some not in-the-know people!

• Unwilling monster transformation - but hey check out this cool stuff I can do now!

Okay, there's two ways you could go with this, and both of them make me laugh. One is Mutsumi accidentally getting turned into a Keronian. Maybe one of Kururu's inventions explodes again! This option would probably be a temporary transformation, and I could easily see Mutsumi getting a kick out of it: playing around with the things Keronians can use resonance for (in the manga it's shown that, while the Keroro Platoon is somehow fuckin clueless, all other Keronians can practically use it for telekinesis), figuring out unique aspects of their physiology like how high they can jump despite their size, etc. The other one, though, is Mutsumi getting turned into a mutant, probably by an Oozesquito. That one might actually be a permant transformation, though it could be a temporary one if they can come up with a cure! Mutants get some fun powers sometimes, so I'd love anything you played around with with that, and it'd be fun to see what you come up with for what Mutsumi might get combined with! A butterfly or bird, an actual frog, even a plant of some kind? Or something else? (As long as it's not Giroro's cat, who's enough of a character of her own that it'd feel weird!)

Links to Previous Letters

Unfortunately, I have not requested this ship in exchanges before!

Canon-Specific DNWs

• N/A, really!

Canon-Specific Likes

• the two canons just taking place in the same universe and playing around with what that might mean
• slight canon AUs to make crossovers work
• two universes colliding or one group ending up in the other group's universe (if they can visit each other after it's fixed; I just don't want them cut off from each other or everyone they know)
• the idea of the ROTTMNT crew thinking the Keronians are mutants or yokai at first and the Keroro Gunsou cast thinking that the turtles (and Shredder, Draxum, etc. if they show up) are other invading aliens at first
• initial clashes when the groups first meet that turn into alliances and friendships
• meeting somewhere in the middle on canon-typical humor as well as more serious situations, and these two shows actually feeling a bit similar in some of those regards (though not all)
• the turtles kind of but not really having "counterparts" among the Platoon and maybe being trained/getting in a vague "mentors" situation
• Mutsumi's appreciation of Weird and Chaotic Shit
• Kururu being dubious about participating or bonding with Donnie at first if he's included
• Donnie's habit of getting crushes on "girls that are cute and mean" (and potentially also specifically fictional/robots) whether it's a "he's actually gay" thing and/or a "Kururuko is 100% his type and he does NOT know how to feel about that" thing
• as the above implies, exploration of sexuality stuff!
• Kururuko just in general
• "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" wrt the Reality Pen/Kururu's other inventions
• non-canon background ships I'm good with are Dororo/Kururu (if not OT3), Koyuki/Natsumi, Fuyuki/Momoka, Alisa/Fuyuki, Chiruyo/Momoka, Asami/Mois, Garuru/Pururu, Tororo/Zoruru, Mekeke/Putata, Hypno/Warren, April/Casey (Foot Recruit version), Splinter/Big Mama, and/or Splinter/Draxum, if any of them show up
• I'm fine with keeping both/all of them in their canon bodies, or having one or both of the non-humans humanized (specifically them winding up in human bodies somehow rather than always being human-like... maybe a Kururu invention or via magic?), whichever you'd rather go with!
• THAT MANGA REVEAL THAT MUTSUMI WAS RAISED BY ALIENS... could it possibly even mean he's not fully human anymore somehow, maybe due to being raised by aliens or growing up on another planet?
• NAMING CONVENTIONS! nicknames and endearments and honorifics! honestly, whether they're in Japan/speaking Japanese or not, I'm amused by the idea of the Keroro Platoon specifically still using honorifics and maybe even their usual sentence enders (like Kururu's occasional "da ze")! would Donatello call Mutsumi "Mutsumi" or "Saburo"? would he use any honorifics if they're in Japan speaking Japanese? given the way Mutsumi addresses most others, he might not use honorifics for the turtles even in Japanese, but if he did it'd probably just be -kun for all of them! or would he use their nicknames at any point? it seems like Kururu would probably just call Donatello "Donatello" or "Donatello Hamato," but I love that in the anime he calls Mutsumi "Saburo" and would also love to see what circumstances he might call him "Mutsumi," too... and he's called Tamama "Tama-chan" and Keroro "Kekero-kun" before, so would he ever bust out "Donnie-kun" as himself or Kururuko?
• if you're interested, I like trans headcanons for either/both of these characters! any gender for Donatello would work great imo, any kind of nonbinary or trans boy or trans girl; I like the idea of Mutsumi as a trans girl because of that alternate universe thing, or nonbinary/outside of human binary, but trans boy is also good; I could see Kururu as being outside of the human binary but I can also see him as a trans woman or as bigender (Kururuko). trans headcanons for any other characters that show up are also 100% good (though I'd prefer you leave Pururu, Koyuki, and Natsumi as girls, whether cis or trans!). and of course trans headcanons aren't obligatory!

Keroro Gunsou | Sgt. Frog
Dororo/Kururu

[Where you can find the series: Here or here!
Most Pertinent Episodes:
S1 E9A - introducing Kururu
S1 E13 - introducing Dororo, rescuing him, and working together!
S1 E14 - the Platoon works on a plan for the first time with Dororo... dammit Kururu
S1 E28B - shows Kururu's personality + how he's "allergic" to cute/sweet/pure things (and people); Dororo only has a smallish part
S1 E40 - this just shows how chaotic the Platoon as a whole can get, Dororo being forgotten, and Kururu actually not liking being unpopular
S1 E47A - "Kururuko" helps the rest of the Platoon (including Dororo, this time! bad idea) make Hinamatsuri "more interesting"
S1 E49A - Dororo's not in this one, but Kururu shocks everyone by not being a jerk... for a bit, maybe
S1 E51 - the Platoon "leaves forever" (only not)
S2 E64B - Keroro's been a dick to Dororo since childhood, also Kururu's a genius
S2 E68B - Kururu's not really in this one; Dororo re-meets a dog, though!
S2 E82A - Dororo's not in this one; "Kururuko" enters a competition to "meet 623"
S2 E83B - Kururu accidentally gets turned into a baby!
S2 E98B - Kururu's not in this one; Dororo first meeting Koyuki
S2 E101 - the Garuru Platoon invades; this episode and the next two are a three-parter, plotty and actually kinda serious
S2 E102 - the Garuru Platoon invades; three-parter continued
S2 E103 - the Garuru Platoon invades; three-parter continued
S3 E134B - Dororo's not in this one, but Kururu and Fuyuki go to Akihabara and it has some fun stuff in it
S3 E135B - Dororo and Kururu work together in this one to fuck with Keroro and it's great
S3 E153 - first of a more serious two-parter; the Platoon disappears
S3 E154 - second of the more serious two-parter; Dororo helps save the day
S4 E155 - this just shows the Platoon including both them being. ridiculous. songs and also resonance.
S4 E161 - the Platoon is attacked by an outside group; Kururu and Dororo (and Mutsumi) help stop them
S4 165A - Kururu's just great in this one; Dororo's minor but they interact?
S4 171B - Dororo's not in this one, but it shows a bit more of Kururu's personality and way of doing things!
S4 E189 - Kururu's not really in this one, but Dororo has to face his old assassin teacher in what seems to be a fight to the death!
S4 E199 - Dororo's minor in this one, but Kururuko becomes an idol!
MOVIE 3 - Keroro Gunso the Super Movie 3: Keroro vs. Keroro Great Sky Duel - again plotty and kinda serious
S5 E214 - Dororo's not in this one much, but Kururu quits temporarily for the dumbest reason and it's great
S5 E229 - B story focuses on Kururu (and Mutsumi) but A story sets up context; plotty and kinda serious when it gets to that point, has Dororo jump in to help Kururu a bit and more firmly establishes their friendship than most episodes
MOVIE 4 - Keroro Gunso the Super Movie 4: Gekishin Dragon Warriors - again, plotty and kinda serious, has some nice scenes with both and a cute moment at the end
S6 E259 - Kururu's not in this one, but we get to see Dororo and Koyuki revisit their old ninja village
S6 E260 - flashback to the Platoon's first time meeting and working together!
S6 E284 - the Platoon gets taken over by an asshole, they turn on Dororo, Dororo ends up having to save all their asses, also Kururu's a genius
S6 E307 - has some cute moments for the characters separately and shows that they'll all be together in the future
MOVIE 5 - Keroro Gunso the Super Movie 5: Creation! Ultimate Keroro, Wonder Space-Time Island - again, plotty and kinda serious; has some cute moments with both of them
S7 E312A - Dororo vs. Zeroro (his own past self!) with some good moments from Kururu
S7 E318A - no one's ever seen Dororo's mouth (he eats, drinks, sleeps, etc. with it on and always has) and it seems to be a bit embarrassing and very personal for him!
S7 E319 - there's a hacker in the base and this part has great moments with both of them; Dororo's not in the second half but Kururu is bright and also has a soft spot!
S7 E320A - literally just the Platoon using bishounen robots to invade if you want to see them as those (Dororo looks like Trowa and Kururu looks like Zechs)
S7 E336A - Kururu's barely in this one but it has Dororo vs. Zoruru again!
S7 E356A - the Platoon turns into dragons again to save Keron; has at least one or two neat moments for them both
S7 E357 - fun situation where Keron decides to take over the invasion, and it shows how attached all the Platoon's gotten to Earth
Watch just whichever ones you feel like, tbh!]

(I've watched most of Keroro Gunso, and I think I've seen every episode that has a focus on either of these two, or at least most of them; I don't mind spoilers at all for any episodes I haven't seen, so feel free to refer to anything. I've also seen all the movies. As for the manga, I've read up through Volume 19, and I'm spoiled for stuff from later volumes! I prefer the characterizations in the anime on the whole, but feel free to incorporate details from the manga to spice things up because I do love it too!)

My love for this ship isn't 100% about their canon interactions, honestly; those are fairly few, somewhat far between, and the two don't seem all that close necessarily. However, they do have some interactions and little details about them that make me feel like they have the potential to grow closer or could have done so in the background of the series! From the start, Dororo being in actual legit trouble did seem to worry the entire Keroro Platoon, including Kururu, and whenever any of the Platoon are in real trouble Dororo often abruptly swoops in to save the day. But more than that...

Even all the way back in Season 3, in the second half of Episode 135, Dororo and Kururu unexpectedly bond a bit over Keroro not valuing a single grain of rice (weirdos) and team up to fuck with him over it to teach him a lesson! Near the end of Season 5, Episode 229, Dororo realizes something's wrong and knocks Keroro and Giroro the fuck out so that Kururu can help/save Mutsumi, and his little speech about how sometimes someone gets caught up in something they can't explain but you try your best to do everything you can to help them as a friend applies to him and Kururu in that moment as much as Kururu and Mutsumi! (Who I also ship, so that got me.) At the end of the fourth movie, when Kururu gets knocked over it's Dororo who tries to help him up, and in the fifth movie it's shown that Kururu and Mutsumi are playing shogi on a rooftop when it's usually Dororo and Mutsumi doing that (so they apparently all three have that in common, or Kururu learned!). In the first part of Episode 312 in Season 7, Kururu seems to become concerned and realize something's wrong at the same moment as Giroro, who's known Dororo a lot longer, and twigs onto what's really happening at the same time as Koyuki, who's the closest person to him. And by the second-to-last episode (and what feels like more of a series finale than the actual finale, honestly), Episode 357 of Season 7, the entire Platoon devotes themselves to being the Earth Defense Force -- actually calling it "Earth" as well, rather than Pekopon, which only Dororo had ever done before -- all of them, including Kururu, catching up to Dororo's devotion in that regard. And honestly, just the little detail that Kururu is the only person in the entire series Dororo has ever said the name of without any honorific attached fascinates me a little by itself!

So there are some neat moments every so often, even if they're few and far between, and ones that can even be read as a progression of either regard or closeness or both if one wants to! But I also really like them in a more general sense for the possibilities on top of their actual interactions. They could have a very interesting dynamic if they did get closer! Kururu is "the biggest jerk in the universe" who cares about other people more than he seems to want to and definitely more than he likes to let on, while Dororo is a sweetheart dedicated to peace and protection, with a soft heart, who can be ruthless at times and used to be the Keron Army's top assassin. Kururu goes out of his way to be a jerk seemingly more for the sake of it than anything else, while Dororo is dedicated to being fair, honorable, and (usually) kind. Dororo is traumatized by being forgotten and mistreated, while in the early episodes the closest thing to a "trauma switch" Kururu seems to have (despite his purposeful jerkishness!) is being called out as unpopular and actually disliked. Kururu seems outright allergic to sweet and cute things and people, especially Mois, but seems unbothered by Dororo as well as Mutsumi. For their own very different reasons, they're the two Platoon members most likely to go "nah, not interested" and just peace out of participating in a mission, or to decide they want to do their own thing. And just for more minor things, Kururu's eyes are always covered up by his glasses and Dororo's never seen without his mask, and Dororo is the nature-oriented while Kururu is more tech-oriented (though Dororo seems to appreciate Kururu's skills despite that). Basically, I could actually see them coming to appreciate each other, especially if Dororo saw under Kururu's jerk exterior and decided he was worth being patient and trying for closeness.

Requested Tags

• Character A shares body heat with Character b to keep them alive and warm
• Huddling For Warmth

Canonically, it seems like Keronians are more vulnerable to cold than humans, which makes sense for a race that seems to have tightly controlled weather on their home planet, be amphibians, be benefitted by warm humidity, and pretty much always go around naked. So if it gets cold enough, both of them might need to huddle for warmth! But I'll admit, what drew me towards these tags most is the fact that in canon, due to his ninja training, Dororo actually isn't bothered by extreme temperatures at all! It might be that if it got super incredibly cold he might still be in danger, but I very much love the idea that there's a certain point at which Kururu would be in real danger from the cold but Dororo would not, and Dororo helping keep Kururu warm with his own body heat through that... I'm super into that. And obviously, when it comes to sharing body heat, smut is definitely an option, or heavy petting, but I'd also be equally into just some kissing or even just the huddling/cuddling itself! It's all great!

• Character has to fake being evil for reasons

Okay, I love this one, because you can take it in a LOT of different directions. Are these two going undercover for whatever reason? Does Kururu fake being evil and enjoy it, or is Dororo in that awkward position, or do both of them have to? Or is this a situation where Kururu is having to fake being evil somewhere and it's actually surprisingly kinda draining, so when he can interact with Dororo some (or after it's over) it's a bit of a relief? Or a situation where Dororo is going to have to fake being evil for a mission coming up and goes to Kururu for pointers, which amuses Kururu and he goes along with it? It could have a dangerous tense atmosphere and plot or it could be just something light and silly, either or both! I'd enjoy whatever you played around with for this one!

• Double Penetration - Vaginal and Anal
• Overly long tongue

Okay, these two I'm just grouping together because they were some xeno-feeling options that jumped out at me -- nothing that would be xeno or unusual for them but could imply something other than "standard" human anatomy! For "Double Penetration - Vaginal and Anal," I don't at all mind if it's because the one being penetrated is DFAB, either with a trans headcanon or cis in a genderswap AU, or if he gets actively genderswapped! But it could also be fun to play with something like all Keronians having vaginas, either solely or both vagina and penis (or tentacle or whatever!), like a single-sex but various genders situation or one where sex is determined by something other than genitalia. Whatever the case, DP could also be due to one of them having two penises, or a penis and a toy, or just using toys! I would also count fingers/hands or tongues as penetration... Which leads nicely into "Overly long tongue," which, well. They're frogs. I could not resist this tag. Overly long tongues are great for a lot of different types of oral, and I'd be into fellatio, cunnilingus, anilingus, playing with balls, clit stimulation, stimulation of other more alien biology, basically anything. Go nuts!

• first time with a member of the same species

FIRST TIME STUFF! Honestly, it could work with it being the first time for either of them, or even both: Dororo was mostly ignored and forgotten throughout his childhood, then went into X1 where the members might have been... too focused and even greatly competitive to get close like that; unless that's not true or he's had sex with a member of the platoon before, like messing around with Keroro or Giroro, he's pretty likely to be a virgin! And Kururu is "the most dislikable guy" and the least popular member of the platoon, as well as not seeming to really be close to or intimate with anyone, and was apparently the youngest Major in the history of the Keron Army before being demoted so if he was fast-tracked in while he was still a tadpole even... Well, he's also kind of a pervert, so it's not 100% that he's a virgin, but he could also be one! It'd work for either. That being said, you could also run with the tag being "first time with a member of the same species" and have one of them (most likely Kururu, let's be real, but it could be Dororo!) have experience with at least one non-Keronian! Maybe Dororo messed around with someone at the ninja village? (I'd just prefer NOT Koyuki!) Maybe Kururu's scored with the occasional non-Keronian, or Kururu/Mutsumi is also a thing as well as Kururu/Dororo? I'd be up for things like that!

• Misunderstood monster treated tenderly
• Monster Tries To Be Gentle But Isn't Very Good At It; Gets Better With Practice

Okay, these two are almost coming at things from opposite directions, but not necessarily! By which I mean... "Misunderstood monster treated tenderly" could so easily be Kururu, though Kururu is himself trying to get people to see him in a very specific way. Still, he does care, and he has his own soft points and insecurities, and he's fully capable of coming to enjoy someone's presence, so Dororo reaching out to him, being kind to him in general, or being tender to him when he's hurt (physically or otherwise) could be great! And on the other hand, "Monster Tries To Be Gentle But Isn't Very Good At It; Gets Better With Practice" could also easily be Kururu, being the gentle one in this case, or at least attempting to be. Maybe he actually starts trying to be kinda nice to Dororo, at least on occasion, and is really unpracticed at it? Or maybe he's trying to reach out and show interest, or just share gentle touch if they're already getting closer, and isn't good at it and maybe even kind of rattled by the attempts? That said, the latter tag could also potentially be interesting applied to Dororo -- Dororo has changed so much from being Zeroro, but it would be interesting if even now, maybe he's still not very good at gentle touches after his assassin training, and starts trying actively when he and Kururu start getting closer/getting intimate?

• Monster Girl--Emphasis on Girl
• Monster Girl--Emphasis on Monster

Okay, these could just so easily be straightforward and you're welcome to go with that. Trans headcanon(s) with either or both of them being girls? Great! Genderswap AU with either or both of them having been girls from the start? Great! In-universe genderswap where either or both of them wind up in girls' bodies, either Keronian or human? Also great! (Though in any of the above cases, "Monster Girl--Emphasis on Monster" feels like it's best focused on Kururu being a jerk or on both of them being very nonhuman, lol!) But I'll admit, the first thing that came to my mind was Kururuko. Kururuko, who is a fake exaggeration but also one Kururu seems to legitimately enjoy being sometimes. Kururuko, where it could be easy to lean into her being a "normal human girl" doing normal girl things! (And you could even play with a trans headcanon here, too, if you wanted to; is Kururu a trans woman or genderfluid or bigender?) Or where it could be easy to lean into how very not human she is, a robot who can't actually change her expression much or fully move her mouth and who has an alien frog riding around inside her. It could be so fun to see how she and Dororo interacted, with Dororo either as a Keronian or in one of the less convincing human disguise suits or maybe in an actual human form thanks to one of Kururu's inventions (Kururu's just being Kururuko for fun!). Or maybe they're both in legit human forms but Kururu's in drag as Kururuko this time. There's a lot you could play with for this!

• Monster off the Leash
• Monster-On-A-Leash drops everything to protect the one they're strangely loyal to

Whoo boy. Okay. There's, uh, two different ways you could do the basic idea behind these tags and I love both of them to bits. Obviously in both cases, these two are both monsters in the sense that they're aliens. However... You could also easily interpret "monster" in both of these prompts as Kururu being a huge jerk and honestly kind of a terror if he puts his mind to it. Or you could intepret "monster" as just how fuckin dangerous and honestly kinda terrifying Dororo can be thanks to his immense skill as not only a ninja but an assassin, and his past as Keron's #1 top assassin. For "Monster-On-A-Leash drops everything to protect the one they're strangely loyal to" you could have either of them go fully into terror mode, pull out their worst, for the other -- either knowing they're that attached or it potentially being a surprise to both of them. With "Monster off the Leash" you could go with something like that, but an alternative could be the other one talking down the person who's in that mode whether or not they're the reason they're in it -- or another possibility that might work specifically for Dororo could be Dororo actually going back to being Zeroro for some reason, deaging or mind control or the like, and Kururu either getting through to him or finding some way to fix it. I'd sincerely love anything you did with these tags as prompts, though!

• One Character Disguised As Human; Both Characters Into It

Okay, there's lots of ways Keronians can be disguised as humans tbh. They have their standard human disguise suits that are fully ridiculous, as well as better ones that the Platoon doesn't actually have official access to but Kururu could possibly invent. (In fact, much like the latter, Kururu has Kururuko, an android he actually pilots from the inside; he's definitely capable of making androids like that for the others.) They have had good-looking androids they can control remotely with seeming perfect control so maybe they can feel the things their androids can? They have had an admittedly non-canon scenario where Kururu invents a fucking cannon that can actually turn them into handsome humans (but he's canonically invented a cannon that could turn animals into humans, so there's that). They've had an entirely different non-canon scenario where the "Sandstar" from Kemono Friends turned them into human girls. Any of those or another option could be great, and I don't even mind which of them is in human guise or if it's both of them! I don't mind if the Keronian is twitterpated and the "human" is obviously enjoying it, if there's flirting, if there's kissing or sex or what, anything that plays around with at least one of them in disguise as human and both of them being not just attracted to each other but into the way the other looks (and maybe even acts!) disguised... It's a very fun and hot idea, imo.

• scar tracing

Honestly, they're both in the military, so there's a chance for either or both to have scars, but... I'll be real. Dororo is the frontline fighter who's trained with a bunch of ruthless assassins who fight with blades and wires and other sharp things... plus had a childhood friendship with Keroro, which was by itself grueling and physically dangerous. If either of them have scars, he's the likely bet... And honestly? Given that Dororo actually feels a bit embarrassed showing anyone his mouth, and while he didn't seem uncomfortable with it, only wanted to do it the once with people he liked and trusted, it wouldn't be a huge surprise if there was a scar at or near his mouth that's covered up by his mask. I doubt it's the reason he wears his mask, since he wore one constantly as a child as well, but still -- tracing a scar there could be very intimate and touching indeed. But any scar tracing, for either or both of them, would be loved!

• Soulmates

Honestly, I'm a huge sucker for soulmate stuff when it comes to Keronians. It's the resonating thing they do, that had my heart immediately back when I first watched the series. But really, any kind of soulmate AU would make me incredibly happy! If it's something like names written on the skin or the other Keronian's cutie mark symbol somewhere on the body, might there even be an official Keronian database for finding your soulmate for efficiency's sake? Or if it's the symbol thing or first words said to one another, at least one of them might have figured it out before they ever met in person, if they exchanged words over a more long-distance communication or happened to see a video or picture of the other. Alternately, there are so many soulmate indicators that would have let them know the moment they first met, and more that would have let them know the moment they touched (a handshake? or later in their meeting if one reached to steady the other or pull them out of harm's way or even just pat their shoulder?)... And then there are those, like significant words or even something like matching injuries, that might mean they only realize well into the events of the series, or even post-canon! I love names, symbols, first words, significant words, glowing heart, color vision, colors appearing where touched, matching injuries, shared pain and/or pleasure, countdown timers... Basically the only type of soulmark I'm not at all interested in is last words and similar "sad end" ones. But I'd like to add that I would also love if resonance was the way Keronians find their soulmates! Do platoon members sometimes, if rarely, find their soulmates the moment their platoon first resonates together? Or potentially, do two people have to be the only ones resonating together to feel that connection/realization/certainty? Did Dororo and Kururu realize in the early days of the platoon or might it take them until partway through or even after the series? I'd love anything you do with this!

Links to Previous Letters

If you want more ideas for prompts, I've asked for this ship once before!

• Hurt/Comfort Exchange 2023

Canon-Specific DNWs

• Kururu flipping Dororo's trauma switch on purpose

Canon-Specific Likes

• non-canon background pairings I'm good with are Koyuki/Natsumi, Fuyuki/Momoka, Alisa/Fuyuki, Fuyuki/Mutsumi, Chiruyo/Momoka, Asami/Mois, Garuru/Pururu, Tororo/Zoruru, and/or Mekeke/Putata, if any of them show up
• I'm also into Dororo/Kururu/Mutsumi, either as a full OT3 or poly with either Kururu in the center, but it's obviously not necessary!
• I'm also equally happy with the Platoon in their usual Keronian bodies, or in human bodies due to one of Kururu's inventions or something! or in human-looking robots! any would be good, so go with whatever you feel like...
• Kururu's dorky taste in music and his love of curry everything (and the fact that he's yellow because of bathing in curry...)
• how Kururu blatantly does care about his teammates and being liked more than he lets on
• how sometimes these two really do seem to get along better than expected
• the opposites-attract sorta feeling I get from them (nature and tech, huge jerk of a genius inventor and calm sweetheart of an ex-assassin ninja...)
• NAMING CONVENTIONS! honorifics and even nicknames! Kururu always calls Dororo either Dororo-senpai or Dororo Heichou (Lance Corporal Dororo), but Dororo seems to call Kururu either Kururu-dono (like he does for everybody) or just Kururu, which he doesn't for anyone else. why? Kururu sometimes (rarely) busts out a cute thing to call one of the other Platoon members for no obvious reason (like calling Keroro Kekero-kun once), and oddly they seem to do the same for him sometimes (Keroro calling him Ki-chan and Tamama calling him Kinkin once), so I don't even think it's out of the question for them to call each other -kun at some point (or even Doro-kun/Kuru-kun or something else similar!)... or just switch entirely to names without honorifics?
• genderswaps and genderswap AUs! m/m, f/f, and m/f are all fine!
• if you're interested, I like trans headcanons for either/both of these characters! I like the idea of Dororo as a trans woman or nonbinary, but trans man is also good; I could see Kururu as being outside of the human binary but I can also see him as a trans woman or as bigender (Kururuko). trans headcanons for any other characters that show up are also 100% good (though I'd prefer you leave Pururu, Koyuki, Natsumi as girls, whether cis or trans!). and of course trans headcanons aren't obligatory!

Keroro Gunsou | Sgt. Frog
Hojo Mutsumi | Saburo/Kururu

[Where you can find the series: Here or here!
Most Pertinent Episodes:
S1 E9A - introducing both characters
S1 E28B - Mutsumi's not in this one, but shows Kururu's personality + how he's "allergic" to cute/sweet/pure things (and people)
S1 E47A - Mutsumi's not in this one, but "Kururuko" helps the rest of the platoon make Hinamatsuri "more interesting"
S1 E49A - Mutsumi's not in this one, but Kururu shocks everyone by not being a jerk... for a bit, maybe
S1 E51 - the Platoon "leaves forever" (only not)
S2 E82A - 623 hosts a competition to let one fan meet him face-to-face; "Kururuko" enters
S2 E83B - Mutsumi's not in this one, but Kururu accidentally gets turned into a baby!
S2 E101 - the Garuru Platoon invades; this episode and the next two are a three-parter, plotty and actually kinda serious
S2 E102 - the Garuru Platoon invades; three-parter continued
S2 E103 - the Garuru Platoon invades; three-parter continued
S3 E112 - Kururu and Mutsumi first meet, and Mutsumi winds up with Kururu's reality pen
S3 E134B - Mutsumi's not really in this one, but Kururu and Fuyuki go to Akihabara and it has some fun stuff in it
S4 E161 - the Platoon is attacked by an outside group; Mutsumi shows up to help
S4 165A - Mutsumi's not in this one, but Kururu is just great in it
S4 171B - Mutsumi's not in this one, but it shows a bit more of Kururu's personality and way of doing things!
S4 E199 - Mutsumi's not in this one, but Kururuko becomes an idol!
MOVIE 3 - Keroro Gunso the Super Movie 3: Keroro vs. Keroro Great Sky Duel - again plotty and kinda serious, some fun shippy scenes
S5 E214 - Mutsumi's not in this one, but Kururu quits the Platoon temporarily for the dumbest reason and it's great
S5 E229 - B story focuses on them but A story sets up context; plotty and kinda serious when it gets to that point and VERY SHIPPY including the credits
MOVIE 4 - Keroro Gunso the Super Movie 4: Gekishin Dragon Warriors - again, plotty and kinda serious, has some nice scenes with both
S5 E237 - part of a story arc with the Platoon on another world; Kururu encourages the version of Mutsumi of that world
S5 E240A - this one's convoluted and dumb (complimentary) but there's a sauna sequence and the two of them working together on something... interesting
S6 E298B - Kururu's not in it; Mutsumi regularly uses the reality pen to check in on himself in alternate dimensions
S6 E307 - has some cute moments for the characters separately and shows that they'll all be together in the future
MOVIE 5 - Keroro Gunso the Super Movie 5: Creation! Ultimate Keroro, Wonder Space-Time Island - plotty and kinda serious; has a cute scene near the beginning with both of them
S7 E320A - Mutsumi's not in it; literally just the Platoon using bishounen robots to invade if you want to see Kururu as one of those (he looks like Zechs)
S7 E354B - Kururu helps Mutsumi fake being a Venusian and keep broadcasting as 623 without risking his identity
S7 E357 - fun situation where Kururu invites Mutsumi to visit Keron, things go bad, and it shows how attached all the Platoon's gotten to Earth
Watch just whichever ones you feel like, tbh!]

(I've watched most of Keroro Gunso, and I think I've seen every episode Mutsumi is in; I don't mind spoilers at all for any episodes I haven't seen, so feel free to refer to anything. I've also seen all the movies. As for the manga, I've read up through Volume 19, and I'm spoiled for stuff from later volumes! I prefer Kururu's personality in the anime and prefer anime Saburo Mutsumi to manga Hojo Mutsumi -- in personality and mostly in history as well as in name -- but feel free to incorporate details from the manga to spice things up because I do love it too! I especially love the spoilers about Mutsumi from later volumes...)

I fucking love these two assholes! I love how they don't seem like they'd click at all, except they're canonically on the same wavelength and are so obviously best friends, and care about each other in ways that are absolutely uncharacteristic for both of them. Mutsumi is friendly as hell but doesn't really get that close to anyone, keeping a mysterious distance most of the time and even not being that close to Fuyuki or Natsumi even when he gets closer to them as friends. He also seems to find a lot fairly boring, and is just so stoked by everything the aliens are doing, even (especially!) when that's invasion-of-Earth stuff; he always seems delighted to get involved in their antics! And Kururu is "the most unlikeable guy," likes to make it well known he doesn't give a shit about most things, wants to put people off, hates sweetness and light to the point that it physically injures him... and yet this upbeat, bright-eyed, adorable, kinda cool but kinda dorky teen is his BFF.

When they first meet, Mutsumi spends the whole time metaphorically pulling pigtails because he's decided he 100% wants this alien in his life; he blushes when Kururu gives him the Reality Pen! When the Keronians are all dimension hopping and they meet an alternate universe version of Mutsumi, Kururu pep talks him. Whenever Kururu's in trouble, he seems to know exactly how to get Mutsumi to come help. When Mutsumi's life is in danger in Episode 229, Kururu blows the entire budget on making him another reality pen, shows the clearest concern he's maybe shown in his entire life racing to the rescue, and puts himself right between a deadly blast and Mutsumi in order to toss him the pen. When given the opportunity to invite the humans they care about to visit Keron, Kururu immediately does, Keroro knows he has without being told, and Kururu's the one who investigates the whole invitation and sounds the alarms on it being a trap. At one point, Mutsumi and Kururu go to a sauna together and Mutsumi agrees to make a steamy video for him, because why not? Mutsumi asked Kururu to teach him how to resonate, which is something Platoons do together but can also canonically be romantic!

These two do not seem like they would work, and yet they absolutely do, know they do, and embrace it. It's wonderful. I don't even have more to say, I just love how all-in they are on each other... not even "despite themselves," per se, because they don't seem to resist it at all after Kururu's reluctance on that first day!

Requested Tags

• Both Parties Very Xeno For the Other
• Examining Body Turns Intimate/Sexual
• How Do We Even Have Sex? We'll Figure It Out!
• Monstrous differences inspire creative human partner with sexy ideas
• Size Difference

Okay, look, these are the enthusiastic xeno tags (and also size difference because for these two that's part of the xeno for me). For "Both Parties Very Xeno For the Other," I'm super into non-human characters also finding humans equally xeno, so anything that leans into that being a part of things would be loved! For "Examining Body Turns Intimate/Sexual," I don't mind if it starts out just because of general interest in/fascination with the other's body, tbh, but if you wanted to have Kururu examining Mutsumi after finding out he was raised by N326ans and checking to see how that's changed him physiologically, that could also be great! (Maybe he has those wings due to flying recently and actually can't get rid of 'em immediately, they go away on their own after a bit?) "How Do We Even Have Sex? We'll Figure It Out!" has a level of enthusiasm I just love; I can easily see them both being not just determined but cheerful about figuring out what to do even if Keronians and humans have very different genitalia setups... not to mention the size difference. And speaking of which, "Size Difference" is a great tag for xeno stuff with Keronians, they're only two feet tall! That could be very abusable in smut (if there's insertion, do they have to use toys, or Mutsumi use his fingers, or Kururu use his entire hand?), but also just in general I love Mutsumi casually and comfortably picking Kururu up, moving him around, holding him, having him in his lap, etc. Love that kind of easy intimacy. And finally, "Monstrous differences inspire creative human partner with sexy ideas" really jumped out at me: Look, Mutsumi is Mutsumi, and I could see him getting super into things and creative with it! Any of these things would be amazing!

• Huddling For Warmth

Canonically, it seems like Keronians are more vulnerable to cold than humans, which makes sense for a race that seems to have tightly controlled weather on their home planet, be amphibians, be benefitted by warm humidity, and pretty much always go around naked. So having Mutsumi give Kururu body heat would work really well! (I didn't select the "Character A shares body heat with Character b to keep them alive and warm" tag for these two, but it'd be just as welcome!) But obviously humans can get incredibly cold, too, so the two of them huddling for warmth and equally benefitting from it would also be really really good. And obviously, when it comes to sharing body heat, smut is definitely an option, or heavy petting, but I'd also be equally into just some kissing or even just the huddling/cuddling itself! And it could be cold enough to actually be dangerous, or just cold enough that it's unpleasant and they decide it's better to be warm together. It's all great!

• Human And Monster Body Swap With Each Other

I LOVE BODY SWAPS ALWAYS, but especially in a shippy or smutty context! Did an invention of Kururu's go wrong or explode again, or was this something Kururu's just straight-up done on purpose, either with Mutsumi's permission or not? Would everyone around them know they're swapped or would they be pretending to be each other for a bit? That could be fun. Would they be amused by that? Would they try to troll each other by leaning into the act or acting uncharacteristically? (I bet they would on both counts tbqh.) Might they have to do anything important while body swapped, or could they just enjoy themselves for a while? Shippiness while in each others' bodies would be great; kissing or smut could happen while they're still swapped or after they're swapped back! I just love pretty much everything to do with my ships body swapping with each other, though, so go nuts and have fun and I'll love it!

• Monster Discovers Human Partner is Also a Monster

This tag immediately jumped out at me for these two given Mutsumi's backstory in the manga! To sum up, when he was nine years old, he approached some aliens known as N326ans as an orphan and asked to be taken with them, as they were leaving Earth after a failed invasion. One of the aliens actually took him up on it and adopted him as his son. Eventually Mutsumi came back to Earth, curious after hearing about the Keronian interest in the planet, but his time being raised by N326ans had actually given him at least some powers like they had (he can fly/float/hover and it seems to form little wings when he does, see here) and also changed him a bit physiology in the anime (the way his eyes are colored is apparently a nod to his not being "fully" human). So Kururu discovering that Mutsumi isn't fully human anymore could be really fun! If you wanted, you could even have the anime version differ from the manga in minor or major ways, changing at what age Mutsumi was adopted, or even outright making him an N326an (or some other kind of alien!) from birth. And if you wanted, I also wouldn't say no to an AU where Mutsumi is some kind of Japanese yokai instead -- maybe a kitsune, tengu, nekomata, nukekubi, or something else! -- in disguise as a human...

• Monster is a pillow princess and human indulges them

Okay, look, I don't have much to say about this one, but I could easily see Kururu being a pillow princess (lazy and egotistical!) and Mutsumi not just allowing it but being outright pleased to indulge it. This is Kururu being Kururu, after all! That's always pretty great. Basically both the pillow princess thing feels IC and also I love scenarios where Mutsumi just happily rolls with How Kururu Is and is honestly really into it, and this works for both really well imo!

• Monster-On-A-Leash drops everything to protect the one they're strangely loyal to
• Monster Saves Human from Bigger Badder Monster

...Aaand for these tags, look, Episode 229 seared itself into my heart when I first watched it, okay? Both of these tags could actually describe that episode, really! But just in general I absolutely love the fact that Kururu cares enough that he WOULD protect Mutsumi -- drop everything for him, get in danger for him, stand up to real threats for him -- and even the "Monster-On-A-Leash" part, like, Kururu's not necessarily obviously leashed, but... He both is nicer to Mutsumi than anyone else in existence, it seems, but also looking back at Episode 112 when their first meeting was shown, Kururu was incredibly focused on the mission, competent, and willing to be ruthless until meeting Mutsumi and then he just started dicking around doing things for kicks and not taking the invasion seriously. He doesn't often tend to go all-out anymore! So basically everything about these two's relationship and history makes these tags incredibly appealing to me; anything you did with them would be amazing!

• Monster Transformation Was Supposed To Be Only Temporary; It's Permanent

Okay, there's two ways you could take this: The human being transformed into a monster, or the monster transforming! For the former, you could go with a lot of transformations for Mutsumi and tbh I'd be happy with any of them, but I won't lie, the thing that came super strongly to mind was him being turned into a Keronian for some reason! Was it an accident, for fun, because he needed to go undercover? How did it become permanent? It'd be fun to see him roll with that, tbh, and maybe with Kururu's help! For the latter, though, I can think of a couple options... Kururu permanently getting stuck in a human form would be good, but you could also do an AU of Movie 4 or Episode 356A and have Kururu get permanently stuck in dragon form! (That one would work as both versions of "Monster Transformation"!) Whoever transforms into what, them getting help adjusting and ending up happy with it, and happy together, would be great! The only thing I'd request is that if Mutsumi is transformed into a Keronian, I'd rather there not be an implication that they could never have been together if he'd stayed a human, so it's not like... a "solution" to anything, just something neither of them mind and that has its own upsides!

• One Character Disguised As Human; Both Characters Into It

Okay, there's lots of ways Keronians can be disguised as humans tbh and Kururu's both done a lot of them and is responsible for a lot of them. They have their standard human disguise suits that are fully ridiculous, as well as better ones that the Platoon doesn't actually have official access to but Kururu could probably just make himself. (In fact, much like the latter, Kururu already has Kururuko, an android he actually pilots from the inside, and which seems to be the human disguise he uses most often in canon!) They have had androids they can control remotely with seeming perfect control so maybe they can feel the things their androids can? They have had an admittedly non-canon scenario where Kururu invents a fucking cannon that can actually turn them into handsome humans (but he's canonically invented a cannon that could turn animals into humans, so there's that). They've had an entirely different non-canon scenario where the "Sandstar" from Kemono Friends turned them into human girls. Any of those or another option could be great! Mutsumi just being into it and both of them enjoying that, the two of them flirting, kissing or sex, it's all good; anything that plays around Kururu in disguise as human somehow and both of them being not just attracted to each other but also Mutsumi being into into the way Kururu looks (and maybe even acts!) disguised as well as his real body/real self... It's a very fun and hot idea, imo. (And if you do go with Kururuko, the tags "Monster Girl--Emphasis on Girl" and/or "Monster Girl--Emphasis on Monster" could also fit! To quote from a previous section of my letter: "Kururuko, who is a fake exaggeration but also one Kururu seems to legitimately enjoy being sometimes. Kururuko, where it could be easy to lean into her being a "normal human girl" doing normal girl things! [And you could even play with a trans headcanon here, too, if you wanted to; is Kururu a trans woman or genderfluid or bigender?] Or where it could be easy to lean into how very not human she is, a robot who can't actually change her expression much or fully move her mouth and who has an alien frog riding around inside her.")

• Soulmates

Honestly, I'm a huge sucker for soulmate stuff when Keronians are involved in any way. It's the resonating thing they do, that had my heart immediately back when I first watched the series. (Mutsumi even asks if Kururu will teach him how to do it! I loved that immediately.) I also really love and am honestly really fascinated by the idea of different species having different soulmate indicators, maybe ones that are really specific to how their people work -- like, in the case of Keronians, do they find their soulmates through resonating together? But really, any kind of soulmate AU would make me incredibly happy! I love names, symbols, first words, significant words, glowing heart, color vision, colors appearing where touched, matching injuries, shared pain and/or pleasure, countdown timers... Basically the only type of soulmark I'm not at all interested in is last words and similar "sad end" ones. And I'd be happy if everyone had the same soulmate indicators, but I also love equally both the idea that they each have the normal soulmate indicator for their own species (so Kururu's kinda :/ when he realizes his countdown timer's gonna hit zero after they've reached the planet they're gonna be invading, while Mutsumi's got a name on his arm that doesn't even seem to be a human name) or the idea that they actually wind up having the soulmate indicator for the other's species (maybe Keronians are usually colorblind until they first see their soulmate, but Kururu was born with color vision so he thinks he doesn't have one at all; Mutsumi on the other hand thought he was just colorblind, but when he first sees Kururu color floods into his world, and in the meantime humans usually become stained with color where their soulmate first touches them, but that happens to Kururu when Mutsumi swipes the pen or catches him after saving him from the plant...). There's a lot you could play with with this, and I'd really love any of it! I'd even love a fic that took "soulmates" less literally/not as an AU but instead just leaned into these two being "radio wave buddies" and that basically meaning they're soulmates WAY more than just being on the same wavelength!

• Touch-Starved - Monster will only accept touch from one trusted person

I love this final one because really, Kururu's not a touchy-feely kind of person, doesn't physically touch others much and definitely isn't casually affectionate or open to/used to that from anyone... Except Mutsumi, apparently, who can do things like pick him up just real casually and without him minding at all. Kururu actually genuinely seems to like it! And honestly, just given the discrepency between him wanting to cultivate the Biggest Jerk In The Universe persona vs. him not actually wanting to be insulted or unpopular makes me feel like that could carry over to Kururu wanting touch but solely from the one person/very few people he actually wants it from. He's a cat I guess is what I'm saying, and I love that for these two, that Mutsumi is not just the only one who can get away with that sort of thing but that Kururu outright really enjoys him doing it where he wouldn't anyone else? And this could be used for so much stuff: casual touch, affectionate touch, cuddling, hugging to reassure either or both of them, patching him up from injury, kissing, sex... Anything you did with it would be great!

Links to Previous Letters

If you want more ideas for prompts, I've asked for them in exchanges a few times before!

• Shipoween 2019
• Soul-2-Soul 2021
• Playlist Exchange 2022
• Hurt/Comfort Exchange 2023

Canon-Specific DNWs

• N/A, really!

Canon-Specific Likes

• non-canon background pairings I'm good with are Koyuki/Natsumi, Fuyuki/Momoka, Alisa/Fuyuki, Chiruyo/Momoka, Asami/Mois, Garuru/Pururu, Tororo/Zoruru, and/or Mekeke/Putata, if any of them show up
• I'm also into Dororo/Kururu/Mutsumi, either as a full OT3 or poly with either Kururu or Mutsumi in the center, but it's obviously not necessary!
• I'm also equally happy with the Platoon in their usual Keronian bodies, or in human bodies due to one of Kururu's inventions or something! or in human-looking robots, or even Mutsumi in a Keronian body! any would be good...
• the way these two seem so different but just Vibe, with that whole "on the same wavelength" thing
• how effortlessly Mutsumi seems to be able to make Kururu act uncharacteristically...
• including how easily Kururu just gave Mutsumi an uber-powerful, uber-rare reality pen, TWICE
• and tbh, also vice-versa? Mutsumi is distant and secretive and mysterious to literally everyone except, it seems, Kururu!
• how into the alien and alien-invasion (and maybe alien-experimentation?) stuff Mutsumi is; he wants excitement!!
• all those alternate universe versions of him!
• THAT MANGA REVEAL THAT HE WAS RAISED BY ALIENS... could it possibly even mean he's not fully human anymore somehow, maybe due to being raised by aliens or growing up on another planet?
• those stupid haikus and his dorky fashion sense
• Kururu's dorky taste in music and his love of curry everything (and the fact that he's yellow because of bathing in curry...)
• how Kururu blatantly does care about his teammates and being liked more than he lets on
• the idea of Mutsumi learning how to resonate with Kururu's help, just because (especially since it can be, like, a relationship thing as well as a team bonding/agreement thing)
• listen, I like that they just call each other by name (and that Mutsumi calls him by "Kururuko" while Kururu's in the robot), but I feel like either of them might potentially give sickeningly sweet pet names in public to troll the other if the chance came up but that they might like it despite it also being painfully ridiculous tbh
• genderswaps and genderswap AUs! m/m, f/f, and m/f are all fine!
• if you're interested, I like trans headcanons for either/both of these characters! I like the idea of Mutsumi as a trans girl because of that alternate universe thing, or nonbinary/outside of human binary, but trans boy is also good; I could see Kururu as being outside of the human binary but I can also see him as a trans woman or as bigender (Kururuko). trans headcanons for any other characters that show up are also 100% good (though I'd prefer you leave Pururu, Koyuki, and Natsumi as girls, whether cis or trans!). and of course trans headcanons aren't obligatory!

Keroro Gunsou | Sgt. Frog
Tororo/Zoruru

[Where you can find the series: Here or here!
Most Pertinent Episodes:
S2 E100 - this episode doesn't seem to have anything to do with anything, but then introduces Tororo at the end, who was revealed to be responsible for everything that happened in the episode; it leads right into the next three episodes' plot arc
S2 E101 - the Garuru Platoon invades, introducing Zoruru (and Tororo a bit more properly); this episode and the next two are a three-parter, plotty and actually kinda serious
S2 E102 - the Garuru Platoon invades; three-parter continued
S2 E103 - the Garuru Platoon invades; three-parter continued
S3 E130 - The first half of the episode is just setting up the second half and isn't totally necessary, but in the second, the entire Garuru Platoon faces down against fake robot copies of the Keroro Platoon... and don't realize they're fakes (at least at first)
S4 E189 - neither character is actually in this one, but in this ep, Dororo has to face his old assassin teacher in what seems to be a fight to the death, and it sheds a little more insight into the experience of being in the X1 top assassin team...
S7 E336A - Tororo's not in this one, but Zoruru shows back up to finally settle the score with Dororo...
S7 E356A - the Keroro Platoon turns into dragons (for the second time) to save Keron; Zoruru and Tororo aren't in it a lot, but the whole Garuru Platoon tries to stop the enemy and is hurt in the effort
Watch just whichever ones you feel like, tbh!]

These two admittedly aren't in the show often, and are rarely seen interacting with one another, but I have shipped them for ages for a lot of reasons.

The thing about the Garuru Platoon is, they were introduced 100 episodes into the series in an abrupt and alarming way, kick-starting the first actual plot arc in the show, suddenly introducing real stakes and danger. And then after those three episodes, it was really hard to take them seriously ever again! But as a more professional counterpoint to the Keroro Platoon, the entire group, their jobs, and their dynamics fascinate me. Garuru himself always remains an impressive leader, obviously caring for his team (he drags all of them to safety in the last episode they're seen in, despite his own condition); he also, as Giroro's older brother, seems to be going out of his way to protect the Keroro Platoon from their higher-ups, especially in the manga. He actually instructs the others (well, especially Tororo) to cover up for how badly the Keroro Platoon is doing with their invasion efforts!

And the Garuru Platoon in general is really... split in a way that fascinates me and is part of why I think Tororo and Zoruru might be drawn to each other. Garuru himself, as said, is Giroro's older brother and knew Keroro and Dororo when they were children as well; he wants them to do well. Pururu is outright Keroro, Giroro, and Dororo's childhood friend and is so attached to their Platoon that, despite being part of the Giroro Platoon, she just... decides to stay on Earth to hang out with and help out the Keroro Platoon, despite the fact that I don't think she ever got clearance for that bet Garuru's having that covered up too. And while Taruru's gotten really into his new rivalry with Tamama, he still seems to consider Tamama his old "master" and friend and doesn't come across like he outright hates him.

Tororo and Zoruru, though. They both hate someone on the Keroro Platoon. For Tororo, it's Kururu, someone he insists he's more of a genius than, someone he kept attacking even when they were both back on Keron, despite the fact that Tororo's also cribbing Kururu's own work. It takes a while for Kururu to even remember who he is, and when he does, he just tears him down, dismisses the idea that he actually has skill, and (admittedly deservedly) attacks him. For Zoruru, it's Dororo -- or, as he calls him, "Zeroro," who he was back in their X1 assassin days -- who Zoruru absolutely despises for not entirely explained reasons, but it seems to go all the way back to childhood; he seems to blame Dororo for the state of his body, how he's a cyborg, and possibly also blames him for Zoruru being so easily forgotten -- or at least for Dororo not being as easily forgotten as Zoruru is. And Dororo, in return... doesn't really remember who he is, which upsets Zoruru even further.

While they're both professional enough to, you know, actually do their jobs and not just focus on vengeance all the time, the two both do seem to have a revenge fixation they can't quite work past and aren't quite willing to, and in both cases the person they want revenge on seems to just forget, ignore, and discount them! Which makes them the two members of the Garuru Platoon most likely to understand each other, so that's something solid right there. But despite that, I also like the idea that, on the other hand, they might be able to give each other something that isn't just the darker revenge fixation or even just their work for the Keron Army. Getting acknowledgement, understanding, even sympathy, could be something the two crave and could make it, ironically, easier to let go and move on, even if they could also simultaneously encourage and enable one another's worse tendencies.

There's also a few other little things that make me like them even more! They both seem to be a bit more withdrawn, with Tororo seeming like the type to like to spend a lot of time holed up in his labs and both arrogant and given towards complaints, and with Zoruru a bit more... distant and hard to read and get close to. Tororo was actually recruited into the Keron Army seemingly very young -- despite them both being tadpoles, he feels significantly younger than Tamama somehow, possibly early teens or even pre-teens, and he seems to have been recruited unusually early given that his rank is just recruit (shinpei) -- and Zoruru's life seems to have been intensely negatively impacted by his own recruitment into X1, even if he doesn't think about it like that, so it's neat that they both got shuffled into the Keron Army in ways that... aren't exactly the best for them. I also like the idea that, given that Tororo is a tech genius (which might be why he got fast-tracked in to the army), he might be the one to do maintenance and repairs (and maybe even upgrades?) on Zoruru's cybernetic parts, which just gives them more opportunities to get closer!

Requested Tags

• Accidental arousal while cuddling for comfort
• Touch-Starved - Monster will only accept touch from one trusted person
• Touch-Starved Nonhuman

These two do not, I think, get gentle touch from basically anybody and probably haven't since their families when they were little. (Which makes it a lot longer ago for Zoruru than Tororo, probably.) Either or both of them could easily be touch-starved; they're both ripe for it! As for "Monster will only accept touch from one trusted person," well, maybe just in general they're not usually fond of touch but are more than fond of it coming from the other... Or maybe it's a bit more specific than that. Like maybe Tororo doesn't want that kind of touch from Garuru or Pururu or even Taruru because it feels patronizing to him or like they're teasing him or treating him like a little kid, but somehow it feels different with Zoruru? And/or maybe Zoruru wasn't used to gentle/affectionate touch even from before X1, and the assassin squad only made touch feel more like a threat or make him suspect pain would be incoming, so he's distant from the rest of the Garuru Platoon but Tororo is the one who helps with his cybernetic check-ups and repairs and all that so that allowed him to get used to touch from Tororo specifically, either in those contexts or maybe even also outside them? And as for "Accidental arousal while cuddling for comfort," well, this could happen to either of them if they're both touch-starved and unused to gentleness, tbh, but Tororo might be at an age where it's especially likely for him! What might have happened to either or both of them that they'd be cuddling, anyway? Are either or both of them already interested in the other or does this come as a surprise to both of them?

• Danger Kink - Fangs and/or Claws Against Vulnerable Skin
• Sex to help fight other violent urges

OKAY LOOK. Zoruru is a dangerous assassin, he was trained basically to solely be a weapon, he's got something of a revenge fixation on Dororo, and half his body is metal with not only claws but the ability to extend a blade from his wrist and also spiky arm and leg segments. Guy's inherently sharp and spiky and might not even be used to trying to make up for that by being careful and gentle. But honestly, while I'd be fine with fic that leans into Zoruru having urges to hurt his partner, I am so fascinated by an interpretation of these tags where Tororo has a strong danger kink and maybe even masochism. Like he finds Zoruru all kinds of attractive and part of it is actually is actually the dangerous parts of him. For "Danger Kink - Fangs and/or Claws Against Vulnerable Skin" it could just be Tororo and/or Zoruru very aware of Zoruru's claws (and other sharp parts? and ability to bring out an actual blade?) but them not actually being used to hurt, or it could involve real scratches or cuts (maybe even that Tororo begs for?)... For "Sex to help fight other violent urges," I'm imagining rough sex but it could get all the way into clawing there as well, sublimating violent urges into actually fairly violent sex, so long as Tororo openly wants it and is actually very into it! And for both tags, I'm fine with blood so long as it's not gory or severe enough to scar!

• Examining Body Turns Intimate/Sexual

For this one, specifically, I was immediately thinking of the idea that Tororo is the one who helps Zoruru out with his cybernetic parts: general check-ups, repairs, maybe even upgrades. Pururu sort of bounced from the Garuru Platoon to spend time on Earth, but even when she's around maybe Tororo tends to act as Zoruru's nurse/medic just as much or even more, given the added element of half his body being cybernetic and the other half needing to stay integrated with it. So I could easily see this tag applying to Tororo doing a check-up on Zoruru or doing repairs on him after some mission or fight! Is Tororo professional about it, casual, enthusiastic about what just happened, scoldy about Zoruru getting carried away or hurt? How does it shift to being more intimate or even sexual, and which one of them shifts it that way, or is it a more mutual thing? Has either of them thought about the other romantically or sexually before, has there been a one-sided or mutual attraction there, or is this new?

• first time with a member of the same species

FIRST TIME STUFF! Honestly, it could work with it being the first time for either of them and would absolutely be easy to write it as being the first time for both of them: Zoruru was mostly ignored and forgotten throughout his childhood, then went into X1 where the members might have been... too focused and even greatly competitive to get close like that; unless that's not true and some members of of X1 did mess around with each other like that, he's pretty likely to be a virgin! Tororo imo is even more so; he's a nerd who seems to hole himself up in his lab, is egotistical, likely wasn't popular enough in school to mess around with anyone and might not have been interested in that anyway, and he got fast-tracked into the military at an apparently-unusually-young age even for the Keron Army, so he might not have even been interested in sex at all at the point of his life when he joined the Garuru Platoon. Though I also wouldn't particularly mind if Tororo had messed around with Taruru. If only one of them is a virgin it's probably Tororo, but I wouldn't at all mind it being the other way around either, and both of them exploring things with it being both of their first times could be hot and sweet!

• Going Undercover As Monster-On-A-Leash/Leash Holder Makes Them Realize That Part Isn't A Lie

IIiii am a sucker for this tag! It works best with Tororo as the leash-holder, with Zoruru maybe acting as an incredibly dangerous, nearly-uncontrollable assassin... And when it comes to "realizing that part isn't a lie," I really like the idea of both of them realizing something like, Zoruru does go out of his way to be more reassuring/encouraging/comforting/gentle with Tororo than he does anyone else, and he's more likely to actually listen to Tororo's scolding about not getting carried away with risky stunts and getting his cybernetics fucked up, and care about Tororo's concern for him... Maybe he's more willing to listen to Tororo call him back from an action or decision even than Garuru? Maybe he feels so understood re: that furious-hurt drive for vengeance with Tororo that he's actually more willing to at least entertain the idea of letting go of it, paradoxically, if Tororo ever encouraged that? Basically I just love either or both of them realizing exactly how much they care about and are influenced by the other emotionally and this tag works great for that sort of thing! And of course, there's also the potential hotness inherent in going undercover in a situation where one person is giving the other orders/practically "owning" them...

• Huddling For Warmth

Canonically, it seems like Keronians are more vulnerable to cold than humans, which makes sense for a race that seems to have tightly controlled weather on their home planet, be amphibians, be benefitted by warm humidity, and pretty much always go around naked. So if it gets cold enough, both of them might really need to huddle for warmth! And obviously, when it comes to sharing body heat, smut is definitely an option, or heavy petting, but I'd also be equally into just some kissing or even just the huddling/cuddling itself! And it could be cold enough to actually be dangerous, or just cold enough that it's unpleasant and they decide it's better to be warm together. Is it a Pekopon thing, where they're stuck in a cold and/or snowy place? Are they on another alien planet or moon or the like and it's dangerously cold and they get separated from the others? Does something get messed up on their ship and it gets too cold? It's all great!

• Misunderstood monster treated tenderly
• Tender and Loving Monster Sex
• Monster Tries To Be Gentle But Isn't Very Good At It; Gets Better With Practice

These are the gentle and tender and sweet tags, kind of the opposite of the danger kink/violent tags that came up earlier, and imo they work just as well and are just as iddy for me! For "Misunderstood monster treated tenderly," honestly, either or both of them could be the misunderstood monster in different ways. Zoruru is more straightforward, a terrifying cyborg assassin whose training involved letting go of his heart; I can easily see him being scary to others, but from a young age it seems all he wanted was acknowledgement and closeness with people, and his drive for vengeance seems to come from feeling wounded and wanting to be seen/noticed and remembered. Tororo, though, might be misunderstood in that he might come across as very dislikable: an egotistical, arrogant, "I'm the smartest person" genius who holes himself away in his lab/on his computers and has a habit of both bragging and complaining/whining. But he's also a kid who seems to be trying to brag and even attack/get revenge on Kururu in an attempt to get attention, appreciation, and acknowledgement, and the army at his age probably is not helping him grow and mature in the ways he needs to. They're also probably not used to tenderness, either of them but maybe especially Zoruru, so them being tender to one another either physically or just acknowledging one another's pain and encouraging/reassuring one another, even just bonding over being similar in some regards, would probably be pretty new to both of them! For the "Tender and Loving Monster Sex" tag, that one's very straightforward, with tenderness implied both physical and emotional, and given all of the above and what I've said about their potential for understanding I love that for them. And finally, "Monster Tries To Be Gentle But Isn't Very Good At It; Gets Better With Practice" is the more direct counterpoint to what I said before about Zoruru being "inherently sharp and spiky and might not even be used to trying to make up for that by being careful and gentle"; in this case maybe he's trying and learning how to do that because he doesn't want to hurt Tororo, wants to be gentle and kind with him? And that could be both physically or verbally or both, tbh, could be smut or just shipping! Lean into any of these things and I'll adore it!

• Monster-On-A-Leash drops everything to protect the one they're strangely loyal to

We're back to monster-on-a-leash and I still adore it; I already talked about how I see that part for them specifically: "Zoruru does go out of his way to be more reassuring/encouraging/comforting/gentle with Tororo than he does anyone else, and he's more likely to actually listen to Tororo's scolding about not getting carried away with risky stunts and getting his cybernetics fucked up, and care about Tororo's concern for him... Maybe he's more willing to listen to Tororo call him back from an action or decision even than Garuru? Maybe he feels so understood re: that furious-hurt drive for vengeance with Tororo that he's actually more willing to at least entertain the idea of letting go of it, paradoxically, if Tororo ever encouraged that?" But also like, in general, Zoruru is arguably a dangerous, deadly, and angry assassin being kept on a leash by his being a part of the Keron Army and the Garuru Platoon in general! When he does go after Dororo again, Garuru scolds him and he gets in trouble because he absolutely did that without permission. So Zoruru is maybe always holding back his anger and his danger and maybe even some of his skill all the time -- if Tororo is in trouble, seeing him protect him with all of his assassin ability could be really awesome and even hot! Did they both know that Zoruru cares that much, or did Zoruru know but not Tororo, or does it come as a surprise that he'd react like that to both of them?

• scar tracing

I don't have as much to say about this one, but boy, I love scar tracing. And sure, Tororo might have some scars, military training and going on missions for a bit and all, but... half of Zoruru's body is metal. His hat and the cloth on it covers up much of the rest of his head, and he has bandages constantly wrapped around the non-metal lower half of his face. If he has scars even outside of where his skin connects to the metal I wouldn't be even a little surprised, but even if he doesn't, I'd 100% count the places where the two connect as being scars fo the purposes of this tag/prompt! Tororo not being bothered by or flinching away from them at all, touching them gently, even kissing them... I am a sucker for that sort of thing. And if Tororo does have scars, obviously Zoruru wouldn't be even a little bothered by them (though he might be sad that Tororo has already been hurt like that?). Just lean into this one or even incorporate it as a part of other prompts and I'll love it.

• Soulmates

Honestly, I'm a huge sucker for soulmate stuff when it comes to Keronians. It's the resonating thing they do, that had my heart immediately back when I first watched the series. But really, any kind of soulmate AU would make me incredibly happy! If it's something like names written on the skin or the other Keronian's cutie mark symbol somewhere on the body, might there even be an official Keronian database for finding your soulmate for efficiency's sake? Or if it's the symbol thing or first words said to one another, at least one of them might have figured it out before they ever met in person, if Tororo exchanged words with Garuru over a more long-distance communication or (one of) the two happened to see a video or picture of the other. Alternately, there are so many soulmate indicators that would have let them know the moment they first met, and more that would have let them know the moment they touched (a handshake? or later in their meeting if one reached to steady the other or pull them out of harm's way? or if Tororo does check-ups and maintenance for Zoruru's cybernetics?)... And then there are those, like significant words or even something like matching injuries, that might mean they only realize well after becoming a part of the same platoon, or even post-canon! I love names, symbols, first words, significant words, glowing heart, color vision, colors appearing where touched, matching injuries, shared pain and/or pleasure, countdown timers... Basically the only type of soulmark I'm not at all interested in is last words and similar "sad end" ones. But I'd like to add that I would also love if resonance was the way Keronians find their soulmates! Do platoon members sometimes, if rarely, find their soulmates the moment their platoon first resonates together? Or potentially, do two people have to be the only ones resonating together to feel that connection/realization/certainty? Did Tororo and Zoruru realize in the early days of the platoon or might it take them until partway through or even after the series? I'd love anything you do with this! I'd even love a fic that took "soulmates" less literally/not as an AU but instead just leaned into these two being similar to each other in enough unexpected ways that they understand each other in a way no one else does and click in a way they don't with anyone else!

Links to Previous Letters

Unfortunately, I have not requested this ship in exchanges before!

• Shipoween 2019
• Soul-2-Soul 2021
• Playlist Exchange 2022

Canon-Specific DNWs

• Zoruru physically harming Tororo outside of sex/in ways he doesn't like

Canon-Specific Likes

• non-canon background pairings I'm good with are Kururu/Mutsumi, Dororo/Kururu, Dororo/Kururu/Mutsumi, Koyuki/Natsumi, Fuyuki/Momoka, Alisa/Fuyuki, Chiruyo/Momoka, Asami/Mois, Garuru/Pururu, and/or Mekeke/Putata, if any of them show up
• I'm also equally happy with the characters in their usual Keronian bodies, or in human bodies due to an invention or something! or in human-looking robots, even; any would be good
• Resonation As Intimacy
• how these two both have a fruitless, furious fixation on vengeance towards one of the members of the Keroro Platoon and keep getting carried away, frustrated, and defeated
• the idea of them slowly letting go of vengeance to build something better together outside of that fixation
• the idea of these two being the ones who come to acknowledge and understand each other the most
• the idea of Tororo never forgetting Zoruru's existence (maybe unless he's currently forgetting everything outside of his grudge), whether it's because it comes naturally to him or because he makes an active effort because he knows how much being ignored and forgotten sucks
• the idea that Tororo maybe does upkeep on Zoruru's cybernetic parts, physical repairs, and even just outright doctor-y stuff for him
• a gentleness between the two of them that no one else really gets from them
• alternately or even at the same time, the two able to vent towards the other and be acknowledged, understood, and accepted for it
• Tororo actually being fast-tracked into the Keron Army unusually young for his intelligence and skill; maybe Recruit is a rank that someone gets when they get picked by someone for the army before even properly graduating?
• I actually like Tororo being anywhere from 11-15, so this is the one request where I'm happy to get smut with a character under 16, though I wouldn't be bothered if you interpreted him as a little older! I'd at least like him to be post-pubescent, though, and as into the sex as Zoruru
• IC acknowledgement that Tororo getting recruited so young is maybe not great for him
• examination of the whole assassin thing, what the training was like, etc.
• NAMING CONVENTIONS! nicknames, pet names, endearments! I'd love an exploration of what they might call each other in different contexts and at different points of their relationship, go nuts with it
• that said, I am used to subs and translations that keep in the Japanese honorifics, so feel free to use them or not; I like em but they're not obligatory and maybe these two don't use them anyway?
• genderswaps and genderswap AUs! m/m and f/f are equally great but m/f is good too!
• if you're interested, I like trans headcanons for either/both of these characters! I could see either character (or both) being outside the human binary, but trans boy/man or trans girl/woman for either also totally works well! trans headcanons for any other characters that show up are also 100% good (though I'd prefer you leave Pururu, Koyuki, Natsumi as girls, whether cis or trans!). and of course trans headcanons aren't obligatory!

The Last Halloween (Webcomic)
Eugene Otto/Robert

[Where you can find the comic: Here!
Book 1 is by far the most pertinent; that's 7 chapters/about 114 pages.
The exact pages with Robert talking about his backstory with Eugene Otto are here and here, but it's well worth reading the whole thing, for more context about Robert's character and also just in general!]

Quite frankly, I love this ship, there's just so much complexity here... Unhealthiness, but not for lack of trying.

I'm fascinated by how Robert talks about their relationship, how the way he tells Mona about it makes it sound like he really did legitimately want things to work between himself and Gene, likely did not realize where his immense jealousy was leading until it happened, but his mixed feelings now about not even knowing if he regrets it or not. I love that you can tell he loved Gene in his own way then and might even be capable of different, healthier kinds of love now -- might even have been more capable then than he'd believed -- but still wound up ruining Gene's life and killing him... and how Gene asked him to kill him. I love the whole monster aspect entirely, a creature who is born when you are and whose life is tied to yours in so many inextricable ways, how it leaves you both vulnerable, and all the monsters' thoughts on that. I love how their history had them so intertwined from when Gene was a young child to when he died an adult.

Also, I love how complicated and tragic they are in basically all ways, but I'd prefer a more... wistful feel than purely tragic, despite both their canon fates, if possible. And you can feel free to give them a happier ending, too!

Requested Tags

• Alternate Universe - Monsters Are Known

This tag fascinates me for this ship and canon. How would humans even act and react if the fact that every single human, upon birth, had their own monster who was likely to be seeking them out to watch them and even more likely to actively want them dead? If they'd known for a long time, how would they have even formed their societies to respond to this situation? As for monsters, how would they approach the situation? And how would the Phagocyte be acting; would he be even more emboldened against not only monsters but the undead? But beyond of all of this, how would it have possibly affected Gene and Robert's relationship? If Monsters Were Known before Robert met Gene, would he have had a harder time getting out of the Shadow Dimension, or approaching the Otto residence? Would Gene or Gene's parents have received him differently? Would he have approached the situation differently? Would he have still met Gene as young as he did, or would it have taken longer? Would Gene still have named him? Would they still have had that connection all of Gene's life, or would it have been weaker, or just different, or maybe even stronger? Or, alternately, if Monsters Became Known at some point during Gene's life, how would that have affected their relationship or the ways either of them acted, what either/both of them chose to do?

• Both Parties Very Xeno For the Other
• Human Character is Fascinated with Monster Character's Nonhuman Features

At this point it's probably obvious that Monster Smash Exchange is in part a huge excuse for xeno to me! For "Both Parties Very Xeno For the Other," I'm super into non-human characters also finding humans equally xeno, so anything that leans into that being a part of things would be loved! But even just going with "Human Character is Fascinated with Monster Character's Nonhuman Features"... Wow, you could lean so far into Robert being not even a little bit human and I'd adore it. This is not a monster that actually looks anything like a human kid: this is a monster that looks like a doll. Something that obviously has no human skin or hair or eyes, that has no bones but apparently does have blood if you can manage to make him bleed, that doesn't move his mouth to talk or ever change expression. How heavy is he, compared to his size (and how strong is he compared to it as well)? (I could have put "Size Difference" here as well, because I feel like it's actually intrinsically tied to how not human Robert is...) But he also has elements of himself that aren't doll, either, because he's not a living or cursed doll, he's a monster. As mentioned, he has blood. Is he warm? Is there any indication that he might not just be filled with fluff? And you could get very nonhuman and nondoll with him if you went in a sexual direction... Feel free to go nuts there!

• Creepy Fluff

Look, I just had to choose this one, because you could so easily make any fluff with these two creepy. If you don't change anything from canon, Robert probably initially sought Gene out to kill him. He did end up killing him, decades later, after becoming incredibly possessive of Gene and his time and ruining the man's entire life and any hope he had of happiness. And still both of them considered the other to be precious to them. They were incredibly close and cared incredibly much and it still unraveled super bad! Up until near the end of Book 1, Robert still seems to think there was no other way it could have gone! There's a lot of room in their many years knowing one another for fluff, and plenty of opportunity to have it not be just warm and fuzzy in tone, let's say.

• Figuring Out Ways To Get Partner Off Despite Undead Nature/Lack of Genitalia/Etc.
• How Do We Even Have Sex? We'll Figure It Out!

More xeno stuff! You know when I said above, "you could get very nonhuman and nondoll with [Robert] if you went in a sexual direction"? Wellllll this is another place you could really play with that if you wanted! How would Robert interact with Gene sexually? How would Gene interact with Robert sexually? For the "How Do We Even Have Sex? We'll Figure It Out!" tag, it could be as simple as Gene masturbating (and/or Robert touching) and Robert simply getting satisfaction out of that, I don't mind if Robert doesn't or can't "get off" so long as he's satisfied and enjoying himself in his own way. But for "Figuring Out Ways To Get Partner Off Despite Undead Nature/Lack of Genitalia/Etc."? Whoo boy, I'd love whatever you came up with for ways that Rober might actually be able to orgasm, whether it's an orgasm that even slightly resembles a human one or not. Even without genitalia, might he still have erogenous zones? If not, since he can pick up on other people's fear and despair, could he potentially get some sort of psychic/empathetic feedback pleasure from Gene's pleasure and orgasms if they tried? Feel free to come up with other ideas, too; I'd love it!

• Freed from human standards of beauty/sexual expectations by monster partner

I just wanted to talk about this for a moment by itself because I really love it. Gene finding some freedom and happiness from some of the more negative or stifling human things, rather than solely being prevented from having the good aspects, could be really nice to see explored! Gene was born in 1900; there were probably a lot of expectations placed on him, including ones regarding his sexuality. Having something with Robert could be freeing in several regards, whether Gene doesn't feel attractive to other human beings or doesn't feel like he's straight but Robert doesn't care even a little. Whether it's fully nice or bittersweet or otherwise complicated, that'd all be great!

• Gentle Cuddling with a Nonhuman Partner
• Size Difference

Look, these two needed to go together Because. I love the potential for these two to be sweet and/or casual with one another, despite everything! I had to put "Size Difference" here because it's really part of the appeal of "Gentle Cuddling with a Nonhuman Partner"; Robert's really the perfect size for cuddling (and is he soft, too?). As for "Size Difference" in general, Robert's height (and probably his weight) being suited to Gene picking him up and carrying him around or moving him just as a matter of course is really appealing to me! Is it something both of them are just super used to and comfortable with after a while? You could also lean into "Size Difference" as part of the xeno elements in any spicier scene or outright smut scene!

• Interspecies Symbiosis
• Soulmates

Okay, there is actually a LOT going on with these two tags! For Interspecies Symbiosis, well... That's actually basically the situation in canon. For every human born on Earth, a monster that's "their" monster also immediately comes into being in the Shadow Dimension, and the monster is fated to die the moment their human does... unless said monster is the one to kill their own human, at which point they become immortal (or, well, only killable by another immortal monster). So each human is linked with their own monster and vice-versa, and each monster depends on their human for life! I'd be totally down for an AU where the connection went both ways, where a monster dying would also cause their human's death and a human could either be freed from that or also become immortal if they killed their own monster... But you could just lean into how it is in canon for any story that used "Interspecies Symbiosis" as a tag! I'd love either! And as for "Soulmates"... Well, that's another case where it could be an AU but really wouldn't have to be. As it is in canon, wouldn't it be reasonable to say that a human and their monster are soulmates in a way, or at least that any human and their monster who managed to have a non-murderous relationship would count as such? But for an AU, there are basically three options: Humans and monsters are both fully aware of one another and are always considered soulmates (just, uh, not necessarily healthy/positive ones); humans and monsters are both fully aware of one another but while either or both species have soulmates it is taboo for a human and a monster to be soulmates; or humans aren't aware of monsters, as in canon, and either humans have soulmates or both humans and monsters do, and Gene can't find his soulmate among humans/thinks he doesn't have one (and maybe the same is true for Robert), but oops, they're each others' soulmates and this is unheard of (or almost unheard of)? Anything you did with this tag, AU-literal or figurative, would be fun!

• monster having a fixation on a certain human
• Monster-On-A-Leash drops everything to protect the one they're strangely loyal to
• Touch-Starved - Monster will only accept touch from one trusted person

These are the tags that really address how special Gene is to Robert, and I love them all so much. For "monster having a fixation on a certain human," well... that's just canon. I'd love anything that explores their relationship at any of the various points in their lives, and I'd love anything that leans into the line about a monster finding their human "appetizing... or perhaps appealing or attractive," with at least a few of those aspects maybe being jumbled up for Robert. But even anything exploring how Robert wanted to spend time alone with Gene but didn't want anyone else to, how Robert seemed to sublimate the monstrous desire to take his human's life (via actually killing him) into a desire to "take Gene's life" (via being Gene's sole or near-sole focus). And the other two are more specific and a bit more straightforward: "Monster-On-A-Leash drops everything to protect the one they're strangely loyal to" absolutely works for Robert's strange relationship with Gene, where he cares deeply about him even if he ends up killing him; I could easily see Robert protecting Gene from a different monster, from a human threat, or even from some accident or natural disaster! And for "Touch-Starved - Monster will only accept touch from one trusted person," well, we see in canon that Robert starts out incredibly touch-averse with anyone who actually tries to touch him (really just Ringley and Mona), before eventually warming up to Mona; I can easily imagine Robert, back then, only accepting Gene touching him but very much enjoying it when he does! (Could be combined with any cuddling or smut-related stuff...)

• Sex to help fight other violent urges

Whoo boy. This I just needed to put a bit separate from the ones above. You know how I said "I'd love anything that leans into the line about a monster finding their human 'appetizing... or perhaps appealing or attractive', with at least a few of those aspects maybe being jumbled up for Robert," and then talked about desires being sublimated into other things? Yeah, this is a tag leaning hard into that concept. Maybe Robert's desire to kill Gene is being sublimated into a sexual desire for him, and/or his desire to violently lash out at those who would try to spend time alone with Gene instead of him is being channeled into sex as he actually tries to put off totally exploding Gene's life? Is he forceful, or does he invite Gene to be forceful or even violent with him, or does the softness and lack of force help soothe his urges in their own way? This one could be so fascinating and hot; I'd love whatever you did with it.

Links to Previous Letters

If you want more ideas for prompts, I've asked for this ship several times now!

• Shipoween 2019 (Eugene Otto/Robert)
• Shipoween 2020
• Soul-2-Soul 2021
• My Automagic trickortreatex2022 signup!
• Playlist Exchange 2022

Canon-Specific DNWs

• implications that Robert and Gene never loved each other, especially that Robert never loved Gene
• shutting the door completely on the idea of a)Robert ever getting an afterlife b)these Robert and Gene ever making up (it not happening in the fic is fine, ofc, just no "this is impossible/will never happen/could never happen")
• trans headcanons of any kind for Gene specifically

Canon-Specific Likes

• Halloween, spooky, and outright horror stuff works especially well for this canon!
• Ringley's dad/Mona's parent as a background ship is super cool; feel free to give them names (and/or surnames) or not
• Robert and Gene meeting again in the afterlife
• resurrections and ghosts when it comes to either/both of those two
• AU where Robert never killed Gene
• AU where Gene shows up to haunt Robert as a ghost
• AU where Gene is a kid during the canon time period and he and Robert meet then (or where the monster apocalypse happened back when Gene was alive)
• really complicated relationship between those two
• forgiveness, second chances, trying again somehow
• anything set during Robert and Gene's long relationship
• possessiveness/protectiveness of either towards the other tbh
• monster desire to take their human's life sublimating into desire to have all of their human's attention and affection and maybe also sublimating into attraction/sexual desire
• "Certain humans look certain ways to us -- appetizing, you could say. Or perhaps appealing or attractive." UM YES PLEASE??
• nonhuman characters being ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ about gender! an interpretation of Robert not actually having anything like human gender would be cool; I can imagine him having absolutely no preferred pronouns and just going with whatever anybody calls him, but feel free to go with whatever! other characters being trans if they're included could also be fun and I encourage it. and of course trans headcanons aren't obligatory!
• nicknames! pet names! names in general! Robert seems to call Eugene Otto "Gene," and Gene not only calls him Robert but gave him his first name (his full name was Robert Eugene Otto but after Robert came into the picture he insisted the doll was Robert now and he would be Gene from then on)... what might make Robert call Gene "Eugene"? would he accept "Rob" or any other nickname from Gene, maybe, but from no one else? and if you could sell me on an endearment/pet name being used by either I would love it!
• for horror stuff specifically, if you go that route, feel free to kill off OCs but not any canon characters that didn't die in canon; psychological and cosmic horror, but body horror can be great, as can ghosts and other monsters, isolated horror, and characters just telling scary stories, and I'm fine for gore and injury for this particular canon, and even perma-death if it involves an afterlife situation for Robert and Gene or Gene haunting Robert as a ghost...
• ...I am also open to unusual takes on smut if you do include any, since Robert is a living doll that is also really a monster rather than an actual doll; how might he actually sexually interact with Gene, and especially vice-versa? does Robert not have genitalia but have some other erogenous places, and/or not get aroused or orgasm like humans but still have something sort of analagous, or does he pick up on others' feelings and emotions in a sort of psychic-ish stimulation? or feel free to go full unusual xeno; I do not mind and would be into it!

The Last Halloween (Webcomic)
Dr. Fugue/Robert

[Where you can find the comic: Here!
Book 1 is by far the most pertinent; that's 7 chapters/about 114 pages.]

For Dr. Fugue/Robert, this takes a little bit of explaining, since their interactions are minor and not particularly significant. But the more I thought about them individually, I liked what their slight interplay does say about them and how the shapes of their arcs kinda work together.

Doctor Fugue is undead, a doctor and supernatural (mad) scientist, a Victorian-ish ghost. One who haunts the church and can't leave. He employs what he thinks of as a little group of undead children to help him graverob bodies for his raising-the-dead experiments (as well as upgrading/replacing Jangles's various bits). He's a big faker; Robert flat-out says he's not a good doctor, which is proven very correct when Mona comes back. He not only hands a ten year old a magic weapon he knows nothing about and sends her and the other "kids" out with completely incorrect information, he's apparently sent multiple "group[s] of untrained misfits to their deaths without actually nowing what was going on," to the point that Charon's chewed him out about it at least once before. Fugue shoves a magic sickle into Mona's hands and pushes her out the door with a few undead "child" chaperones during the Apocalypse so that she can go take care of it; this is a whole bunch of terrible decisions all in a clump, made worse by him not understanding the situation and actually sending them on a wild goose chase in the end. Mona has to chop up and even kill multiple monsters, nearly dying more than once and actually losing an arm to the ordeal, something she makes clear to Fugue that she'll never forgive him for (which he finds fair). His whole arc seems to involve him getting a huge dose of guilt for once in his unlife, realizing just how badly he fucked this little group up, seeming to have a change of heart about the "playing Dr. Frankenstein" thing and trying in some small ways to start to make amends.

Robert, on the other hand, is posing as an undead, a doll cursed to life by voodoo. Until he tells Mona and Shirley, literally no one in the group including Fugue knows that he's a monster, not undead at all, and is also immortal (or what they call immortal) due to killing his human several decades prior; he claims to be an undead to avoid the attention of the Phagocyte. He's around 117 years old, if not a bit older, and he's often the closest thing the group has to a straight-man; he keeps his own secrets, even when it would be really helpful to share, because he rarely feels invested in others, and he doesn't tend to personally lend much of a hand, especially not to save people. He's calm and soft-spoken, good with normal human adults, and very calmly makes threats when called for as well (and sometimes even commits violence against his undead "friends," such as sewing Ringley's mouth shut, though they don't seem to mind). He, and let me state this again, killed his own human, Gene, decades before the canon starts, and tells the story at one point about how they had been one another's dearest friends and Robert had ruined Gene's entire life thoroughly until Gene had asked Robert to kill him. He says that it was and is his nature. He shows that this may not be as true as he thought.

Robert goes along on the save-the-world quest to keep everyone on track and give them even a tiny chance, but he saves Mona's life once and then tells her he'll never do it again so she'd better learn to save herself. Mona does learn, however, despite him keeping a lot of information back and outright lying at times, and he becomes more attached and invested in the outcome of their mission. It even gets to the point that he eventually fully opens up, becomes somewhat more reassuring (and even open to affectionate touch, which was Not a thing for him at first), sort of steps into a mentor role to Mona, and promptly sacrifices his own life to give her a fighting chance. His own arc involves him actually becoming attached to the situation and its people for once, to the point of purposefully sacrificing his life to give Mona a chance to survive and succeed (on what is, unbeknownst to them, a fool's errand), even admitting his own origins and past and coming face-to-face with the fact, for the first time, that maybe his nature as a monster is something he can choose to act counter to.

...So Fugue sends Mona, Robert, and the others off on a pointless quest that gets one of them killed and nearly kills two more of them, and is having to live with that fuck-up (figuratively speaking). He's obviously hit pretty hard by Robert's death and Mona's hatred of him, and comes to regret his choices and the results they had on the others, actually swearing off using corpses to make more undead for a while as he decides to use one of the fresh corpses to save Shirley's life instead. And by the end of Book One Fugue still hasn't even been made aware that Robert was a monster the whole time and has sort of... fused with the magic sickle that's supernaturally bonded to Mona. Overall, the canon, or at least Book 1, is a very interesting set of characters and relationships who are all affected and shaken badly by the general situation but also by the lies told and secrets kept, primarily by Fugue but also arguably by Robert, and the two of them together really intrigues me.

Requested Tags

(TBH, for most if not all of the upcoming tags you could and probably need to replace any mention of "human" with "ghost" -- Fugue at least used to be human, while monsters are their own specific thing separate from the undead in this canon! I am also happy for anything set in a vague AU where Robert didn't die to Ba'al, or set in a scenario where Fugue brings/brought Robert back to life, maybe with help from Robert's life force and part of his body now being in Mona's sickle; some of the prompts even lend themselves very well to the latter!)

• Both Parties Very Xeno For the Other
• Character Turned on by Monster Partner
• Character who thinks theyre broken for not finding humans attractive discovers theyre a teratophile
• Enthusiastic Monsterfucking
• Human Character is Fascinated with Monster Character's Nonhuman Features

These are the tags that are alllll about monsterfucking, though admittedly there are a couple more later one that I want to address separately! These ones, though, are very much straight-up oh! a monster! that's hot. For For "Both Parties Very Xeno For the Other," well, I'm super into non-human characters also finding humans equally xeno, so anything that also leans into that being a part of things would be loved! But for the others... Well. Fugue specifically being fascinated and intrigued by Robert being a monster once he finds that out (maybe after some surprise) is a really appealing thought! For "Human Character is Fascinated with Monster Character's Nonhuman Features," it could be fun for him to be looking at Robert differently now that he knows Robert is a monster rather than an actual living/cursed doll... For "Character Turned on by Monster Partner" and "Enthusiastic Monsterfucking," honestly I would just really love anything where Fugue finds that he's actually very into Robert being a monster specifically when it comes down to it. And for "Character who thinks theyre broken for not finding humans attractive discovers theyre a teratophile," well, that's kind of self-explanatory. Fugue probably hadn't had a chance to meet many (any?) monsters before the events of canon, not that he knew of, and he seems to have been alive during the Victorian era and have been a ghost for ages. Not being into any humans or even any other undead might have had him thinking he just wasn't into anyone, so it could be fun for him to realize that's not the case!

• Character needs a monster's help

While this could be Robert needing Fugue's help for something (hell, it could be Mona needing Fugue's help to bring Robert back to life/Robert needing that too!), I pretty much do look at every mention of "monster" in tags for this canon as actually being about monsters as defined by the canon. So Fugue needing Robert's help for something was the first thing that came to my mind! You could have a lot of fun playing around with what he might need... Figuring out what other monsters might be doing or where one might be? Figuring something out about the Phagocyte or his real heir? Just learning more about the situation? Something to do with a spell or experiment of some kind that needs a monster's help or contribution in some way? Or might he need a monster's help going to (or leading someone else to) the Shadow Dimension, or need Robert's help killing another immortal monster if Mona isn't around? There is a lot you could do with this! (I am also good, for the record, with either Fugue being stuck at the church or being freed from it in some way to go along with the group if they all go somewhere... Maybe that's something Robert could help with?)

• Dark Magic
• Magic spell accidentally creates a time loop

Okay, I'll admit, I chose the tag "Dark Magic" because it seemed SUPER fitting for this canon but I have no solid ideas for it. Maybe a scenario where Fugue brings Robert back "from the dead" after his sacrifice (on Mona's behalf or not)? But you could go in a lot of directions with that tag and I'd enjoy it! For "Magic spell accidentally creates a time loop" specifically, I'll admit, I did think of Fugue trying to turn back time to fix his fuck up, then ending up stuck in a loop until he gets it right (or maybe just lets it go...). Does Robert maybe realize time is looping at any point? Does Fugue actually manage to get it right? Or does Robert realize time is looping and advise Fugue to just let it happen how it happened, as well as tell him another way to bring Robert back instead? You could really play around with this; as long as Robert is alive again by the end and they're together, I'll be happy!

• Everyone's Mostly Chill About Learning B Is A Monster; B Keeps Waiting For Attack That Doesn't Come

This is a really different one from the other tags, and I like it a lot! Robert doesn't actually get to be unbalanced very often, despite his common role as "straight man" among the undead group. Obviously, Robert's main reason for pretending to be undead the whole time was to avoid the attention of the Phagocyte as much as possible, but since he didn't even tell any of the others he was a monster until VERY late in the game, he either didn't trust them to keep the secret (fair, with Ringley) or he might have thought they'd react badly. After all, Shirley at least was brought back to life unwillingly by the monster Ba'al in an attempt to wipe out humanity; it's never revealed how Fugue died, so what if he was killed by his monster? Many, maybe even most undead used to be human, so they might have reason to dislike and/or mistrust monsters themselves. If Robert survives the events of canon and/or is brought back, maybe he isn't certain how some of the others will react to that, or how any of them will treat him moving forward. Maybe Fugue even reassures him, or the two of them get a bit closer due to Fugue also feeling on the outside due to expecting to be disliked and mistrusted for how badly he messed up?

• Examining Body Turns Intimate/Sexual

Look, Fugue is a scientist. A mad scientist. A mad scientist who's sworn off creating more undead at least for a while, yes, but that just means maybe his focus needs somewhere else to go! Is he maybe just curious about monster physiology, or maybe he feels like he/they need to learn about it in order to have a fighting chance now that the monster apocalypse has happened? Either way, I can see him at least wanting to look over Robert; if Robert actually agrees, maybe that turns... interesting somehow.

• Figuring Out Ways To Get Partner Off Despite Undead Nature/Lack of Genitalia/Etc.
• How Do We Even Have Sex? We'll Figure It Out!

And we're back to the last two of the really xeno prompts! These are less oh! a monster! that's hot about it and more we're into each other enough to want to figure out how to make sex work... And in both cases it'll be pretty difficult! To just snag from my canon-specific likes list: "I am also open to unusual takes on smut if you do include any, since Robert is [basically] a living doll and Fugue is a ghost; how might either of them sexually interact... with each other? Can Fugue still get aroused and/or orgasm? How/why? Does Robert not have genitalia but have some other erogenous places, and/or not get aroused or orgasm like humans but still have something sort of analagous, or does he pick up on others' feelings and emotions in a sort of psychic-ish stimulation? Or feel free to go full unusual xeno; I do not mind and would be into it!" Also, you could outright use both Fugue being a ghost ("Undead Nature") and Robert having no genitalia, but if you did want to give Robert weird monster genitalia since he's definitely not just a doll, you're totally free to do that too! Anything you did leaning into the "this is unusual and might be nonstandard or even difficult but we'll figure it out!" would make me happy.

• Human And Monster Body Swap With Each Other

(Obviously, in this case "human" is "ghost" aka Fugue.) I don't even care how this happens. There are so many ways you could set it up. Cursed object? Curse in general? Spell gone wrong? Experiment gone wrong? If Fugue tries to bring Robert back does it happen then? As long as it's temporary, I'd love to see how they handle this! How unusual is the experience for both of them? Robert suddenly being at least somewhat human (I mean, a dead ghost one, but still), being confined to the church, being taller, being somewhat intangible but also able to interact with things... And Fugue being much smaller and in a body that's totally unfamiliar to him, not even approaching human actually now that he's in it; might he have difficulty even moving around at first? He'd also have new senses (ability to sense others' fear and despair) and the ability to actually leave the damn church! Might he need to in order to fix things? Body swap stuff is just so fun for me in general, and a blast for me when it comes to ships, and I love the idea of them working together to fix it while also learning a bit more about how the other's body and even species works from the inside.

• Size Difference

All right, I don't actually have much to say about this tag, I'll admit. I just really love size differences, and this is a big one. It would be super easy for Fugue to pick Robert up, move him around, hold him, have him in his lap, curl up around him, get between something and him, maybe hide him, fuckin... toss him. But on the other hand it could be fun to turn that around! Robert could literally climb Fugue like a tree, which amuses me but is also hot. He could also possibly manhandle Fugue around some himself, despite his size: pull him down or (if Robert's on top of something) forward/backward by his coat collar? Robert's definitely stronger than he looks, but might Fugue also let himself be pulled?

• Touch-Starved - Monster will only accept touch from one trusted person

Okay, admittedly, in this case it'd be slightly more than one person because Robert has already grown to accept touch from Mona. But I love the element of someone who is 99.9% touch-averse gradually allowing another person in, and it only being a VERY small number of people, whether or not that number is actually exactly one! Robert coming to not only accept touch but also really enjoy it for its novelty when it comes from Fugue as one of his only trusted people is really appealing to me. Alternately, this is a case when you could interpret the "monster" in this prompt as Fugue! Fugue seems open to touching (mostly picking up or moving around) other people of his own volition but no one's really reached out and touched him that we've seen; maybe he doesn't particularly like when other people choose to touch him rather than the other way around? But is still touch-starved, so it'd be neat if he comes to actually enjoy touch if it comes from Robert, who is not a touchy person so there's also that aspect of things! It starting out incredibly rare and even startling but getting a little more common...?

Links to Previous Letters

If you want more ideas for prompts, I've asked for this ship a few times now!

• My Automagic trickortreatex2022 signup! (some slight Fugue and Robert and Mona stuff)
• Playlist Exchange 2022 (Fugue/Robert as well as with Mona)
• Candy Heart Exchange 2023 (just Fugue/Robert)
• Hurt/Comfort Exchange 2023 (Fugue/Robert as well as with Mona or Shirley)

Canon-Specific DNWs

• a strong focus on Fugue's sexism (I'd prefer for him to be capable of at least a bit of growth there; bringing it up somewhat in the context of internalized homophobia is fine)
• Fugue being entirely unrepentant post Book 1, actually
• Mona easily and completely forgiving Fugue unless otherwise requested
• implications that Robert and Gene never loved each other, especially that Robert never loved Gene, if that character comes up

Canon-Specific Likes

• Halloween, spooky, and outright horror stuff works especially well for this canon!
• Ringley's dad/Mona's parent as a background ship is super cool; feel free to give them names (and/or surnames) or not
• Fugue helping Mona resurrect Robert (probably partly out of guilt)
• AU where Robert didn't die against Ba'al
• forgiveness, second chances, trying again somehow
• post-canon (or post-Book 1) fic in general
• Robert still being alive in Mona's sickle and being able to be brought back and/or show up as a ghost that way
• the sickle thing, if that idea is used, meaning that Mona is now immortal and also not aging (oops)
• Fugue finding out super belatedly that Robert is a monster, like possibly even 1-3 years after Book 1 (but less time than that is also good)
• protectiveness of any of the requested characters towards any of the others
• Fugue eventually being forgiven, at least mostly, at least by most of the characters
• Mona softening a bit on Fugue but still not forgiving him (like, noticing he's trying hard and maybe feeling sorry for him, maybe he makes her feel more tired than angry now)
• nonhuman characters, particularly monsters, being ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ about gender
• trans headcanons in general! like I said, I like to imagine especially monster (rather than undead) characters being ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ about gender, so an interpretation of Robert not actually having anything like human gender would be cool; I can imagine him having absolutely no preferred pronouns and just going with whatever anybody calls him, but feel free to go with whatever! Fugue figuring out some odd gender stuff himself could also be interesting (nonbinary?), but maybe he was also a trans man all the way back when he was alive and mad scienced himself a transition, or his ghost shows up as the way he sees himself? (just not a trans woman for him, please!) other characters being trans if they're included could also be fun and I encourage it. and of course trans headcanons aren't obligatory!
• nicknames! pet names! names in general! Fugue just calls Robert by name, and I don't think he would accept a nickname (from anyone but Gene) frankly, and he calls Fugue "Doctor Fugue" pretty constantly. what might make him shorten that to Fugue? or does Fugue have a first name (or can he not recall)? and of course Mona and Shirley are just called Mona and Shirley; under what circumstances might a nickname be used on them? (or come from them? would Robert be fine with Mona calling him a nickname?) and if you could sell me on an endearment being used by either Fugue or Robert I would LOVE it!
• for horror stuff specifically, if you go that route, feel free to kill off OCs but not any canon characters that didn't die in canon; psychological and cosmic horror, but body horror can be great, as can ghosts and other monsters, isolated horror, and characters just telling scary stories, and I'm fine for gore and injury for this particular canon, though not exactly perma-death (obviously Dr. Fugue is perma-dead, but like, also a ghost about it, and ghosts don't count for me)
• ...I am also open to unusual takes on smut if you do include any, since Robert is a living doll and Fugue is a ghost; how might either of them sexually interact with a human or with each other? can Fugue still get aroused and/or orgasm? how/why? does Robert not have genitalia but have some other erogenous places, and/or not get aroused or orgasm like humans but still have something sort of analagous, or does he pick up on others' feelings and emotions in a sort of psychic-ish stimulation? or feel free to go full unusual xeno; I do not mind and would be into it!
• ...finally I also just want to note that I love invisible people (or, well... ghosts, as Robert points out, but Fugue's still invisible besides his clothes and bandages!). and also Fugue's all leg. legs for days. I like these things.