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Dearest Yuletide writer, hello! I'm so happy we've matched, and I hope you'll enjoy writing for me and find something here to your liking. These four picks are very tiny fandoms very dear to my heart, and so whatever you choose to write will absolutely delight me. Here are some preferences and likes and prompt ideas, but really, at the heart of - anything goes! Just enjoy yourself and write what works for you.
With that in mind, here we go for generalities! (some things are carried over from my previous letters, some are new).
I like:
- You literally can't go wrong with hurt/comfort. It's my oldest and dearest bulletproof narrative kink, and if you're into it, just be as indulgent as you like. I love physical hurt/comfort, I love emotional hurt/comfort, I love various (AU or canon-compliant) captivity scenarios, I adore nursing-from-wounds-or-sickness stuff, I'm hugely into any opportunity for the characters to showcase their care and love for each other. I love hurt/comfort mostly within the context of the relationship (not necessarily romantic - filial ties, friendship, brothers-in-arms comradeship, whichever fits), as an opening for one character to be hurt and for other to be outraged/terrified/comforting on their behalf.
- Found families, everlasting friendships, us-against-the-world - I love the stories where people keep and find warmth and meaning in each other within the larger universe even when said universe is not generally benevolent. I love people holding each other against the dark.
- Complicated and deep relationship between women - love, friendship, family ties, rivalries, loyalties.
- Hope and kindness - I love, in general, Clair universes, stories where there is, ultimately, meaning and hope instead of just entropy and neverending misery. Sometimes against all odds and sometimes at a great price, but getting there in the end.
- Loyalty - there's pretty much nothing I don't love about loyalty kink in all it forms! From its ritualized forms (royalty AUs, knights, oaths, kneeling, whatever you want) to more mundane of being unquestionably and in all events there for the other person.
- Self-sacrifice and martyrdom - give me people sacrificing themselves for others and suffering for the sake of something greater or somebody they love, and I'm a happy, happy reader.
I would prefer not to read about:
- Character death.
- Infidelity and partner betrayal of any kind.
- Hurt not followed by sufficient comfort; it's a very well-respected genre, but it's definitely not my thing (as for grievous hurt followed by comfort, then yes, see above and go ahead!).
- A/B/O universes and mpreg.
- Grimdark stories and unhappy endings.
I like gen and shipping fics alike, and porny shippy fics are fine as well, but I would prefer not to receive a PWP story, if possible.
If you want some other info on my preferences or are just curious in a great Yuletide-stalking tradition, my previous yuletide letters and gifts are unlocked, and also there are: my greatly disorganized tumblr, my fics and bookmarks and some of my book reviews.
Fire's Stone - Tanya Huff
Darvish, Chandra, Aaron
I adore the OT3 in this book, the way their strengths and weaknesses complement each other and the way they learned to work together and earned their happy ending. And for the book itself I love the way it flings itself off the trope tree and hits every branch on the way down with gleeful abandon. Soulbonding! Past traumas! Arranged marriage! Tender healing! Trust me, everything in this book is perfect and nothing hurts. For Darvish, Aaron and Chandra I'd like a slice-of-life - working through court intrigue - or just bantering and having lazy-sex. I would also appreciate a lothurt/comfort of any kind for this fandom - Aaron being hurt is particularly dear to my heart, especially post-finale Aaron, the one who knows he's loved but hasn't learned to trust it yet. Or, the AUs! The characters would work as well outside the setting as they are within it, I feel, as long as there's sufficient larger-than-life drama involved.
赤髪の白雪姫 | Akagami no Shirayukihime
Zen Wistalia, Shirayiki, Obi
This is one of my favorite anime series, and the best part is, of course, the characters. Obi the snarky service ninja sub who just really wants to be useful and prefers to be sneaky about it! Zen and Shirayuki and their adorably awkward courtship conducted via kneeling and holding hands and earnestly Talking About Their Feelings! Court intrigues! Herbalist endeavors! Politics and sieges!
I'm of two minds about this fandom - on one hand, it's deliciously serene and unhurried and peaceful, with problems getting solved by tea and mindful conversations, and people being respectful and gentle about each other, and I'm all for more of that. On other, I'm here for all the excitement and hurt/comfort and dungeons and daring rescues and dignified suffering and nursing people to health and, you know, adventures and everything. So basically - whatever you'd prefer, as long as these three are, in some combination, together and endlessly loyal to each other, as they are. And please feel free to include any other character! I'm especially fond of Kiki and Matsuhide.
Memory, Sorrow and Thorn - Tad Williams
Any
These books are one of my formative fantasy experiences, and given the sequel coming out soon (so excited!), I'm beyond ready to revisit this universe. I'm primarily interested in post-canon stories, especially in all the travails of Simon&Miriamele reign (and given the amount of trauma pretty much everybody in the book suffered, there could be so much hurt/comfort and nightmares and claustrophobia and PTSD and awkwardly comforting hugs, if that's your thing), or in Count Eoler's further fate (I loved him so much, and he was so sad), or in whatever is going on with Sithi (especially Aditu and her brother, the wonderfully weird couple), but I've checked "Any" especially because I would really read anything. I love the universe, I love all the weird worldbuilding, I would be fascinated by seeing the grand events of the trilogy unfold in the eyes of some minor character, I'm hugely invested in how everybody dealt with the final fallout, I'm hopeful for Josua to find some peace... So, once again, if you love these books as much as I do and want to give them a spin, you're going to absolutely make my Yule.
The Change series - Rachel Manija Brown & Sherwood Smith
Ross Juarez, Mia Lee, Jennie Riley
I wholeheartedly adore these books - the post-apocalyptic world that's not all about murder and mayhem and survival of the fittest. Change is all about communities and found families and courage and kindness; I love that it doesn't shy from the harder themes, or from portraying prejudice and tyranny, but in its heart of hearts still believes that people can and will do better.
The third book is not out yet, and I miss this universe greatly, so please, any story here that speaks to you! I adore Ross/Jenny/Mia's awkward and warm OT3 courtship and would read anything about it in any possible permutations.
I would be especially happy if you are inclined towards hurt/comfort for these series, because, let's be honest, I want ALL THE HURT/COMFORT EVER here (especially for Ross, who's my woobie of choice - I'm forever smitten by the dungeon sequence in the second book) - but I would also be hugely excited about purely shippy fic, or an action/adventure casefic, or some exploration of the characters' many and varied issues and PTSD, or a quieter story about recovering in the downtime, anything dealing with families by birth or adoption, or something about Las Anclas social life. Anything, everything, as long as it makes you happy to write about and brings me these characters again.
(Feel free to include any other character from the books that didn't make it into the nominations).
Baahubali: The Beginning
Sivagami
There's a lot of things to love about this magnificent movie, but my heart is forever given to Sivagami, a glorious regent queen who takes the throne with an infant in one hand and a bloody dagger in another (and who also delivers a most chillingly epic opening to a movie I have ever seen in my life). She's regal, unflinching, terrifying, wondrously competent, and she manages to combine it with fairness and decency and a certain sort of steely kindness and maternal love. She's, in short, the best ever.
Give me all the stories about her: a character study, or how her plans for the initial coup were made, or stories of her rule, or a canon divergence AU where she survives and helps to raise Baahubali, or some later historian's treatise on her reign, or a heroic song about her deeds, or a modern day AU that keeps her overwhelming badassery, or anything. Did she have friends? Did she have lovers? Did she have people she trusted implicitly? Did she foil any assassination attempts with the sheer force of her personality and a trusty dagger? Did she grind her enemies into the dust? Did she indeed love her children equally? Did she regret any of her choices?
I haven't nominated any other characters to give you the broadest possible choice of a timeline, but pretty much everybody in the movie was awesome, so feel free to use anybody else in the cast as you wish, as long as the story is Sivagami-centric (I must admit that I'm especially curious about Sivagami and Sanga interacting, if you're going the AU route).
琅琊榜 | Nirvana in Fire (TV)
Any
First of all, if you haven't seen Nirvana in Fire, it's a long but fantastic new chinese drama that's a must-see if you love loyalty kiink, identity porn, low fantasy, hurt/comfort and complicated political intrigue. Here's a non-spoilery post describing it in more detail, or this excellent overview; whether you end up writing it or not, it's absolutely a show worth checking out! (Also, it's so pretty. So pretty).
The rest of the request will contain spoilers.
So! I'm on my second rewatch, and I'm unbearably in love with this show and all of the gloriously complicated and lovely people populating it. I came for LS-MCS and his Eyebrows And Cheekbones Of Disdain and his polite bloody cough and his drama queen ways and his overwhelming competence, but I've stayed for pretty much everybody, and I would love to read about pretty much everybody, nominated or not. There are so many stories to tell within this universe, be it casefics or character exploration or whatnot, and I pretty much want them all. Consort Jing and what exactly is behind the "I don't like killing people" phrase (because there's a serious difference between i don't like and i don't, if you ask me)? YES. Yujin and Jingrui the, you know, particular friends who never quite leave each other until everybody is used to their particular friendship? Give me. Jingrui dealing with his two (three) families, or Jingrui growing into the martial arts world? Yes please. Nihuang and Xia Dong and however exactly they came to know each other in the army (and, honestly, Nihuang/Xia Dong because this just writes itself)? Perfect. MCS-LS's poor constantly worried household and their perspective on the events, or them worrying about their Chief, or them comforting each other, or just some day-to-day domesticity when your household is also a mastermind's lair? Best thing on Earth. Lin Chen visiting and bringing chaos and drama and awesomeness, and the way his pretty much the only person in the entire series Mei Changsu is completely himself with; Fei Liu and his cat ways; Jingyan and MCS-LS getting some semblance of happy ending; Consort Jing ruling the Inner Palace with a benevolent iron fist under the most velvet of gloves; anything and everything. Or, on a chance that it's a prompt that interests you: I love the idea that, with Su Residence gaining the notoriety it had, people of the Capital would kind of come to Mr. Su for help that unavailable anywhere else, Sherlock Holmes-style, and that he would solve them between all the more complicated plotting just to keep his hands busy. Or Jingyan and MCS-LS getting stranded together somewhere in the wilderness and Jingyan doing his best to keep MCS-LS alive; I'm endlessly fascinated with their relationship between the fall of the Bureau and the final reveal, the way he's won over and drawn in and becomes really protective almost despite himself.
I have some specific preferences for Nirvana in Fire: the setting and the setup are a huge part of the enjoyment for me, so this is the fandom where I'd prefer not to read AUs or canon divergence stories (until it's the finale or post-finale canon divergence; I'm fine with MCS-LS being tragically dead and the rest of the characters dealing with the fallout, but I would also eagerly welcome all possible fix-it options), or soulbonding AUs and such, and where I'm mostly interested in the present timeline. The same things that worked for me in the show would work for me in fics: hurt/comfort, sarcasm, dramatic irony, plot twists, complicated relationships, friendship and loyalty, people being really reverent with their mothers, determination and self-sacrifice. The way everybody fusses over MCS-LS, the warmth of the household interludes, the whiplash between epic and mundane. Within this framework, if you have story to tell I'm absolutely delighted to read it.
With that in mind, here we go for generalities! (some things are carried over from my previous letters, some are new).
I like:
- You literally can't go wrong with hurt/comfort. It's my oldest and dearest bulletproof narrative kink, and if you're into it, just be as indulgent as you like. I love physical hurt/comfort, I love emotional hurt/comfort, I love various (AU or canon-compliant) captivity scenarios, I adore nursing-from-wounds-or-sickness stuff, I'm hugely into any opportunity for the characters to showcase their care and love for each other. I love hurt/comfort mostly within the context of the relationship (not necessarily romantic - filial ties, friendship, brothers-in-arms comradeship, whichever fits), as an opening for one character to be hurt and for other to be outraged/terrified/comforting on their behalf.
- Found families, everlasting friendships, us-against-the-world - I love the stories where people keep and find warmth and meaning in each other within the larger universe even when said universe is not generally benevolent. I love people holding each other against the dark.
- Complicated and deep relationship between women - love, friendship, family ties, rivalries, loyalties.
- Hope and kindness - I love, in general, Clair universes, stories where there is, ultimately, meaning and hope instead of just entropy and neverending misery. Sometimes against all odds and sometimes at a great price, but getting there in the end.
- Loyalty - there's pretty much nothing I don't love about loyalty kink in all it forms! From its ritualized forms (royalty AUs, knights, oaths, kneeling, whatever you want) to more mundane of being unquestionably and in all events there for the other person.
- Self-sacrifice and martyrdom - give me people sacrificing themselves for others and suffering for the sake of something greater or somebody they love, and I'm a happy, happy reader.
I would prefer not to read about:
- Character death.
- Infidelity and partner betrayal of any kind.
- Hurt not followed by sufficient comfort; it's a very well-respected genre, but it's definitely not my thing (as for grievous hurt followed by comfort, then yes, see above and go ahead!).
- A/B/O universes and mpreg.
- Grimdark stories and unhappy endings.
I like gen and shipping fics alike, and porny shippy fics are fine as well, but I would prefer not to receive a PWP story, if possible.
If you want some other info on my preferences or are just curious in a great Yuletide-stalking tradition, my previous yuletide letters and gifts are unlocked, and also there are: my greatly disorganized tumblr, my fics and bookmarks and some of my book reviews.
Fire's Stone - Tanya Huff
Darvish, Chandra, Aaron
I adore the OT3 in this book, the way their strengths and weaknesses complement each other and the way they learned to work together and earned their happy ending. And for the book itself I love the way it flings itself off the trope tree and hits every branch on the way down with gleeful abandon. Soulbonding! Past traumas! Arranged marriage! Tender healing! Trust me, everything in this book is perfect and nothing hurts. For Darvish, Aaron and Chandra I'd like a slice-of-life - working through court intrigue - or just bantering and having lazy-sex. I would also appreciate a lothurt/comfort of any kind for this fandom - Aaron being hurt is particularly dear to my heart, especially post-finale Aaron, the one who knows he's loved but hasn't learned to trust it yet. Or, the AUs! The characters would work as well outside the setting as they are within it, I feel, as long as there's sufficient larger-than-life drama involved.
赤髪の白雪姫 | Akagami no Shirayukihime
Zen Wistalia, Shirayiki, Obi
This is one of my favorite anime series, and the best part is, of course, the characters. Obi the snarky service ninja sub who just really wants to be useful and prefers to be sneaky about it! Zen and Shirayuki and their adorably awkward courtship conducted via kneeling and holding hands and earnestly Talking About Their Feelings! Court intrigues! Herbalist endeavors! Politics and sieges!
I'm of two minds about this fandom - on one hand, it's deliciously serene and unhurried and peaceful, with problems getting solved by tea and mindful conversations, and people being respectful and gentle about each other, and I'm all for more of that. On other, I'm here for all the excitement and hurt/comfort and dungeons and daring rescues and dignified suffering and nursing people to health and, you know, adventures and everything. So basically - whatever you'd prefer, as long as these three are, in some combination, together and endlessly loyal to each other, as they are. And please feel free to include any other character! I'm especially fond of Kiki and Matsuhide.
Memory, Sorrow and Thorn - Tad Williams
Any
These books are one of my formative fantasy experiences, and given the sequel coming out soon (so excited!), I'm beyond ready to revisit this universe. I'm primarily interested in post-canon stories, especially in all the travails of Simon&Miriamele reign (and given the amount of trauma pretty much everybody in the book suffered, there could be so much hurt/comfort and nightmares and claustrophobia and PTSD and awkwardly comforting hugs, if that's your thing), or in Count Eoler's further fate (I loved him so much, and he was so sad), or in whatever is going on with Sithi (especially Aditu and her brother, the wonderfully weird couple), but I've checked "Any" especially because I would really read anything. I love the universe, I love all the weird worldbuilding, I would be fascinated by seeing the grand events of the trilogy unfold in the eyes of some minor character, I'm hugely invested in how everybody dealt with the final fallout, I'm hopeful for Josua to find some peace... So, once again, if you love these books as much as I do and want to give them a spin, you're going to absolutely make my Yule.
The Change series - Rachel Manija Brown & Sherwood Smith
Ross Juarez, Mia Lee, Jennie Riley
I wholeheartedly adore these books - the post-apocalyptic world that's not all about murder and mayhem and survival of the fittest. Change is all about communities and found families and courage and kindness; I love that it doesn't shy from the harder themes, or from portraying prejudice and tyranny, but in its heart of hearts still believes that people can and will do better.
The third book is not out yet, and I miss this universe greatly, so please, any story here that speaks to you! I adore Ross/Jenny/Mia's awkward and warm OT3 courtship and would read anything about it in any possible permutations.
I would be especially happy if you are inclined towards hurt/comfort for these series, because, let's be honest, I want ALL THE HURT/COMFORT EVER here (especially for Ross, who's my woobie of choice - I'm forever smitten by the dungeon sequence in the second book) - but I would also be hugely excited about purely shippy fic, or an action/adventure casefic, or some exploration of the characters' many and varied issues and PTSD, or a quieter story about recovering in the downtime, anything dealing with families by birth or adoption, or something about Las Anclas social life. Anything, everything, as long as it makes you happy to write about and brings me these characters again.
(Feel free to include any other character from the books that didn't make it into the nominations).
Baahubali: The Beginning
Sivagami
There's a lot of things to love about this magnificent movie, but my heart is forever given to Sivagami, a glorious regent queen who takes the throne with an infant in one hand and a bloody dagger in another (and who also delivers a most chillingly epic opening to a movie I have ever seen in my life). She's regal, unflinching, terrifying, wondrously competent, and she manages to combine it with fairness and decency and a certain sort of steely kindness and maternal love. She's, in short, the best ever.
Give me all the stories about her: a character study, or how her plans for the initial coup were made, or stories of her rule, or a canon divergence AU where she survives and helps to raise Baahubali, or some later historian's treatise on her reign, or a heroic song about her deeds, or a modern day AU that keeps her overwhelming badassery, or anything. Did she have friends? Did she have lovers? Did she have people she trusted implicitly? Did she foil any assassination attempts with the sheer force of her personality and a trusty dagger? Did she grind her enemies into the dust? Did she indeed love her children equally? Did she regret any of her choices?
I haven't nominated any other characters to give you the broadest possible choice of a timeline, but pretty much everybody in the movie was awesome, so feel free to use anybody else in the cast as you wish, as long as the story is Sivagami-centric (I must admit that I'm especially curious about Sivagami and Sanga interacting, if you're going the AU route).
琅琊榜 | Nirvana in Fire (TV)
Any
First of all, if you haven't seen Nirvana in Fire, it's a long but fantastic new chinese drama that's a must-see if you love loyalty kiink, identity porn, low fantasy, hurt/comfort and complicated political intrigue. Here's a non-spoilery post describing it in more detail, or this excellent overview; whether you end up writing it or not, it's absolutely a show worth checking out! (Also, it's so pretty. So pretty).
The rest of the request will contain spoilers.
So! I'm on my second rewatch, and I'm unbearably in love with this show and all of the gloriously complicated and lovely people populating it. I came for LS-MCS and his Eyebrows And Cheekbones Of Disdain and his polite bloody cough and his drama queen ways and his overwhelming competence, but I've stayed for pretty much everybody, and I would love to read about pretty much everybody, nominated or not. There are so many stories to tell within this universe, be it casefics or character exploration or whatnot, and I pretty much want them all. Consort Jing and what exactly is behind the "I don't like killing people" phrase (because there's a serious difference between i don't like and i don't, if you ask me)? YES. Yujin and Jingrui the, you know, particular friends who never quite leave each other until everybody is used to their particular friendship? Give me. Jingrui dealing with his two (three) families, or Jingrui growing into the martial arts world? Yes please. Nihuang and Xia Dong and however exactly they came to know each other in the army (and, honestly, Nihuang/Xia Dong because this just writes itself)? Perfect. MCS-LS's poor constantly worried household and their perspective on the events, or them worrying about their Chief, or them comforting each other, or just some day-to-day domesticity when your household is also a mastermind's lair? Best thing on Earth. Lin Chen visiting and bringing chaos and drama and awesomeness, and the way his pretty much the only person in the entire series Mei Changsu is completely himself with; Fei Liu and his cat ways; Jingyan and MCS-LS getting some semblance of happy ending; Consort Jing ruling the Inner Palace with a benevolent iron fist under the most velvet of gloves; anything and everything. Or, on a chance that it's a prompt that interests you: I love the idea that, with Su Residence gaining the notoriety it had, people of the Capital would kind of come to Mr. Su for help that unavailable anywhere else, Sherlock Holmes-style, and that he would solve them between all the more complicated plotting just to keep his hands busy. Or Jingyan and MCS-LS getting stranded together somewhere in the wilderness and Jingyan doing his best to keep MCS-LS alive; I'm endlessly fascinated with their relationship between the fall of the Bureau and the final reveal, the way he's won over and drawn in and becomes really protective almost despite himself.
I have some specific preferences for Nirvana in Fire: the setting and the setup are a huge part of the enjoyment for me, so this is the fandom where I'd prefer not to read AUs or canon divergence stories (until it's the finale or post-finale canon divergence; I'm fine with MCS-LS being tragically dead and the rest of the characters dealing with the fallout, but I would also eagerly welcome all possible fix-it options), or soulbonding AUs and such, and where I'm mostly interested in the present timeline. The same things that worked for me in the show would work for me in fics: hurt/comfort, sarcasm, dramatic irony, plot twists, complicated relationships, friendship and loyalty, people being really reverent with their mothers, determination and self-sacrifice. The way everybody fusses over MCS-LS, the warmth of the household interludes, the whiplash between epic and mundane. Within this framework, if you have story to tell I'm absolutely delighted to read it.
