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izumisays · 7 months

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dear yuletide author,

Thank you so much for reading this and taking part in this wonderful annual conspiracy!

First of all, I hope you have a lovely time! If any of the fandoms below pique your interest, I’m delighted already, and ready to hear all the stories you want to tell.

Fandoms: Hikaru no Go, Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends, Link Click (时光代理人), 猎罪图鉴 | Under the Skin (TV 2022), Hunting (猎狐), Thunderbolt Fantasy (東離劍遊紀)

As for reading preferences, I’m happy with a wide variety of tones and genres, of any rating, ranging anywhere from lighthearted antics to dramatic casefics. But the core of all the stories I love has always been character interaction and interplay of their competences. How the characters play off each other and bring out their best/worst, how they’d react to a divergence of events, how true they’d stay to themselves in a different setting – I love fanfiction for allowing us to reconnect with our favourite stories time and again by asking these questions. And there are so many ways to do it! To name a few favourites, I’m always game for POV hijinks, a missing scene, a casefic, canon expansion, backstories and what-ifs.

You may notice that some of my requests lean towards shipfic – those, too, are welcome in a variety of tones – but I also tried to include openings for gen ideas if that’s your jam. Additionally, while it is not usually my top interest, I don’t have anything against AUs if there is something that you are itching to explore: I tend to enjoy them for a new aesthetic that fleshes out the favoured character dynamics in a new light, or a fusion that redefines the playing ground to allow the characters to exhibit their core competences in new and exciting ways.

I would be very grateful if you could avoid a/b/o and associated kinktropes, played-straight soulmate fic, and character interpretation that runs contrary to their core values. If in doubt, please reach out to me on anon - the askbox is open!

YULETIDE 2023 IS HERE AND IT SAYS 2000s ANIMANGA RENAISSANCE IS ON.

No, seriously. I’m totally going to lean into the fact that with ff.net no longer included for consideration, some of my most beloved canons are back in the game. Bring it on!

Hikaru no Go - Shindou Hikaru, Touya Akira

Oh boy. Oh boy. I cannot point out one single canon more significant to my fandom life than this. It completely possessed my brain after I first read and watched it, I simply couldn’t talk about anything else for days on end. It brought so many wonderful people into my life, and it started me writing fanfic: to say it was foundational seems like an understatement. I feel like I can go years without having a Hikago conversation, and then one day something trips me, and I want to climb into a soapbox and yell into a megaphone about it, or at least how my passion for something else actually has roots in this story.

Anyway, this story. It’s something that straddles two big themes for me, in a way that it’s never really one without the other. The first one, of course, is the eternal rivals (I can’t believe I’m typing this phrase in the year of our lord 2k23, omg I’m so excited) — the dynamic between Shindou and Touya is the core of the story and a big reason why I imprinted on Hikaru no Go. They are mutually obsessed, fierce, kinda ridiculous and ridiculously canon couple (in a way that means any hikago gen in my head comes with akihika implied). The other big theme, of course, is what unites all characters of this story into a vibrant tapestry: the striving for excellence, belonging & competition in a pursuit that’s bigger than one single man’s journey, the community and your place in it. There is not a single character in it whose story leaves me indifferent. Sai (Sai!), Nase, Isumi & Waya, Ochi, Ko, Yashiro, a wave of veteran players whose love for the game is a steady flame, the new wave burning with the desire to catch up, and coming to grips with their generation’s supernovas.

I would love a range of things for this fandom: anything post-canon and ship-centric, including getting together (or catching up with the fact that they were together) and addressing the mystery of Sai; anything with the ensemble cast and a good dose of fond humour; any AU which leans into supernatural forces you would want to tap into because the potential is right there; any AUs/crossovers that recreates the dynamic in a different setting is fine as well.

I’m choosing Shindou and Touya as nominated characters, but it could be centered on other characters if you really wish - as long as they are in the frame, so to say, and acknowledged for who they are.

Note you can take or leave, made in hopes to reduce stress rather than inject it: at the height of my obsession, I went to a Go club for a while and learnt a little of the game; it’s safe to say what survived through the years in my head is probably just familiarity with the Japanese terms for the game, its rules and main concepts. So it’s probably enough to understand a metaphor underpinned by what’s transpiring on the page, but definitely not enough to judge anyone for their Go strategy in fanfic. Be as specific or as metaphorically handwavy as you want to be.

My DNWs: I cannot handle other endgame ships for the characters if it means either Shindou or Touya is miserable, and I’m also incapable of stomaching any sort of romantic relationship between Sai and Shindou.

I'm up to date with both anime and manga, but I haven't seen the c-drama.

Natsume Yuujinchou (Natsume’s Book of Friends) - Matoba Seiji, Natori Shuuichi

I’m having the best time having a horrible exorcist relapse.

I don’t know what I was doing with my life, but I had the last several volumes of the manga on the shelf but unread for a couple of years, and only got around to them a little while ago. I am pleased to report Midorikawa-sensei still knows exactly how to get me ferally texting my friends within a few chapters, yelling about LOQUATS. Honestly I’m so pleased that what we’re getting on the page seems to be softer and more open to possibility than what we collectively imagined as a horrible exorcists fandom, yelling about bitter exes and divorces. I am so grateful that Midorikawa-sensei knows not only what we want, but what we need. There is surprisingly less knives and more communication, soft resignation and a working relationship as opposed to a bitter estrangement and mutual avoidance — not ignoring the feuds and bone-breakingly heavy legacies, but growing around them, somewhat? Miharu and Homura arcs were absolutely ruinous in the best way, and what we saw after adds more layer to understanding the history between the two houses but at the same time has enough soft bits around it that makes me hopeful? The mix is intoxicating, not going to lie. I’d love to be a fly on the wall and see the reaction of Matoba’s clansmen when Natori shows up in their boardroom to borrow their esteemed leader for a few days, on important business. HOW OFTEN DOES THAT HAPPEN, I need to know for science.

Also because I reread the manga from around Distorted World chapters until end of v.28, I have clocked it that the ongoing theme in author notes is gentle callout that Natori is doing a worse job of judging Matoba by what he does than what he says than even Natsume. He is so stubborn! And the invitation to stop listening to Seiji glibly run his mouth is right there! (I feel compelled to add here that Seiji running his mouth with the most clingy shit is my favourite thing. "Oh it would be nice to have Natori-san’s paper talisman." "Oh it would be nice to go on a wistful little loquat date again." URGHUGHG - me and Nastume both, probably).

Casefics, shipfics, boardroom comedy, AUs or futurefics — all good, as long as it digs into the dynamic between them. Messing with timelines, forced proximity, day jobs crossing with exorcist jobs, narratively convenient youkai curses forcing their hand, etc etc.

I'm up to date with English official translations of manga & anime.

Link Click (时光代理人) - Lu Guang, Cheng Xiaoshi

My request for them as I worded it last year seems woefully inadequate now that s2 has aired, so while in essence my wishes remain the same - all stories that aim to answer any questions posed by the show, fill in the worldbuilding gaps, offer casefics or day-in-the-life-of sketches, and above all, to lean into the fiercely protective dynamics between the main leads of the show are very welcome - I feel compelled to add a few comments to it.

The dynamic between Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang remains central to my interest. I ship them, but if you don’t want to explicitly include that, there is still all the rest of it that makes the two of them zing: cooperation, mutual protectiveness, the clear imbalance in knowledge, complementary powers and different styles, the blurry line between what’s actually a limitation in powers & bad practice, and what’s LG doing his damnedest to steer the events in a certain direction.

While I am right there in the first rows, gleefully screaming about Hypocritcal Homura Lu Guang erasing and rewinding timelines to protect Cheng Xiaoshi, I am also the first to admit that I don’t have a very good idea of how it works, and the implications of the time reset (resets?) initiated by LG. I’ve had a really good time reading other people’s theories and watching in fascination the corkboards with timestamps and visual cues offered by the production team, but the truth is, I do not have a firm understanding or a preferred explanation, so please feel free to take it as an invitation to play with it as fast and loose as you like. If you have an elaborate theory of your own — I’d be happy to see where it takes you, if you want to hand-wave the mechanics in favour of a general logic of a thing, or bypass it because it’s not the kind of story that you want to tell — don’t let that bother you. Timetravel is mindboggling.

Actual crossovers with Madoka, if you are inclined to go there, are totally welcome. I’ve refreshed my memory of it and have some thoughts on what sets the two shows apart, on the bone structure level, so if you want to play in that sandbox, please do. Just note that my interest in this crossover is not in packing any of the Link Click cast in frilly mahou shoujo dresses.

I am a big fan of Qiao Ling’s part in the story. She is such a grounding presence for CXS and through him, on LG. I am fiercely protective of the idea that her role in the story is not a romantic one, but it’s no less important for it. The way her level-headedness and empathy allowed for a break-through with Tianxi in s2, or the fact that she doesn’t shy from a fight but is not taking unnecessary risk — all of these things are an important part of the overall balance of power in the story.

On that note, what exactly happened at the end of s2 with Qiao Ling’s visions? Did she have her own powers awaken? What would be the impact?

The characters we got to know through s2 - they don’t capture my attention as much as the main trio. I found chosen themes resonant - e.g. the dismantling of the idea of a “respectable man” in the context of domestic violence, the imbalance of power and knowledge — but the characters via whom these themes were explored in s2 currently don’t occupy the top three slots for things I think about when I obsess about questions raised by the show. They are more of a vehicle to explore an idea, to me, that characters about whom I have intense emotions.

I'm up to date with two seasons as they aired on Crunchyroll, but I cannot claim to have absorbed all the lore shared via official twitter, on the account of my Chinese still being a learner level. I'm happy to read content based on that, though -- as long as you include an explanation and a link with commentary that will help me understand the context.

Under the Skin (猎罪图鉴 ) - Shen Yi, Du Cheng.

Always welcome the addition of Du Qing, Du Cheng’s fabulous sister, or the ensemble cast of the investigation unit.

For this show, I’m both charmed by the dynamics between the main leads, and the completely realistic (ha!) way they use art skills to solve crime. This is some anime level nonsense and I’m eating it up with a spoon.

Case fics case fics! Case fics that explore and develop the relationship between Shen Yi and Du Cheng. I ship them, and would welcome the acknowledge of the growing closeness and intimacy between them in the story, but you don’t have to push yourself if you are there for camaraderie alone. I think between their backstory and the events of s1, there is a lot that makes them tick as a duo. Things that particularly please me: the playfulness in dialogue and little things like picture notes, acknowledgement and reliance on each other’s competences, protectiveness and care that comes across both in the middle of real danger (how many hostage situations can Shen Yi get himself into? Asking for a friend) and in daily routine. (Food is love! Allowing people to have naps is love!)

The inherent domesticity of adopting one loner artist by a whole investigative unit. I really liked the evolution of how people warmed up to him, and different distance at which these relationships grow and show in their daily work.

On a similar note: how large will Shen Yi’s menagerie grow to be, if he keeps adopting all sorts of strays from his cases? *An amateur artist myself, I am very fond of the many ways art has been shown to interlace and influence things we perceive to be objective and tangible on the show. It’s not just about sketching a perpetrator’s portrait, and joke as I may about the realism of crime-solving with a sketchbook, I’m definitely fond of all kinds of aspects of art and its transformative power that were brought into the show.

Thematically, one thing that boggled my mind when watching the show is how it gravitated towards exploring violence and crimes perpetrated against women, and created a whole range of competent, sympathetic characters… and yet they all somehow were either in victims, perpetrators or both. It’s like the show writers are trying to engage in important issues, but stop before actually seeing it through to the logical end. Is it censorship? Individual creative decisions? I don’t know, but I would hope that in fic, we could be bolder about saying B after saying A.

The drama is available on viki.com, which is where I watched it.

猎狐 | Hunting - Xia Yuan, Wu Jiaqi

Don’t get me wrong, I love me a good white collar crime, especially one that busts a few capitalist myths. But let’s be real, the best parts of this TV show were Xia Yuan and Wu Jiaqi’s overseas 💕dates💕 I mean business trips, which mysteriously required they be outfitted like a well-matched pair of ridiculously long-legged models that strutted right out of the Vogue pages and into the metaphorical fire. The kind of fire that, in turn, required them to fake date, or dress up even more glamorously to impersonate filthy rich celebrities and their butlers, or deployed other similarly logical methods of tracking down runaway fraudsters.

I would eat up more of such adventures with a spoon, nay, a SHOVEL. Just like the epilogue showed, I’d like to imagine their adventures post-canon be a series of bright postcards (bang bang from Russia with love) capturing their antics in various capitals of the world.

Some ideas for inspiration could be: • Competitive not-dating. Xia Yuan and Wu Jiaqi just happen to contrive the circumstances in a way that makes the next operation seem conspicuously like a date, and the other one simply cannot let this slide and ups the ante. • I’m totally on board with some commentary or scheming from the peanut gallery of the Economics Crimes Division (I love you, Xiaolei!) to set them up faster. I don’t know if I love more the idea of the two of them giving in to the gang’s attempts to set them up, or the gang continuing to set them up completely unaware that the two of them are already dating, thus amplifying the comedy. • As mentioned above, every city needs a pair of scarily competent and scarily beautiful law enforcement agents (who are also derps) descend on it to charm the pants off the local police forces and then solve some crime while they are at it. It’s also incredibly cute that Wu Jiaqi is the worldlier (or nerdier?) of the two, and can dispense funfacts and trivia at Xia Yuan’s incredibly soft face. I’m a simple girl and I like simple things. • ALL THE TROPES ever, as essential and completely logical ways to solve economic crimes. All the dress-ups. All the role-playing on the job with bae.

The show is available on viki.com.

Thunderbolt Fantasy (東離劍遊紀): any characters

I LOVE THIS SELF INDULGENT WUXIA NONSENSE AND I CANNOT LIE!

Sanfan is a mixture UTTER GLEE and deep fondness for the genre staples, self-aware and masterful playthrough of all the wuxia tropes in the book, and one goddamn well-constructed story. It plays the tropes straight, calls them out with a knowing wink, walks the tightrope between the two with panache, and just as you are relaxed and enjoying this trapeze show, it grins cheekily at you, sets the hat on fire and pulls a bunny out of a discoball. It’s DELIGHTFUL and fun and lovingly crafted, just like a good passion project should be.

I want anything that capitalizes on the absolutely hilarious dynamics between Rin Setsua and Sho Fukan (and while personally I end up using the Japanese versions of their names more often, please feel free to go with the Chinese names if you prefer). Sho Fukan does not want any of those heroic quests, he’s the human equivalent of been there, done that mood, and he just wants to REST and hopefully dump a bunch of magical murderswords someplace safe. Rin Setsua is a Totally Respectable and Non-Villainous Member of Society, of which he will inform you firsthand in the most high spoken and verbose way possible, and maybe even produce paperwork that has definitely not been tampered with. He harbours no ulterior motives, ever, and does not trail behind Sho Fukan for any reason beyond the pleasure of his company, and his mission is to personally victimize and cockblock every morally derelict villain in two countries, by no-one’s request.

Whether you go shipfic (yiss!) or canon levels teamup circus (also yiss!), don’t hold back your horses. Everything about this is Extra, and should continue to be so <3

I am okay with both expanding the canon and playing with AUs/crossovers/fusions for this one, provided they retain the character dynamics. I love the extended cast as well: any characters including the Seiyou gang (and on that note, if you want to write the Seiyou backstory for Shou’s gang that has no Rin in it, you’re welcome as well), reappearance of the familiar faces from Touri (read: Rin’s victim list, past, future and present), original characters lined up and waiting to be screwed over (guaranteed) and rescued (the administration does not bear any responsibility etc etc).

Season three, god bless Urobutcher, just went and upped the ante by 9000 – time and space travel! Magical walkie-talkie pocket-sized boyfriend dolls! Dramatic daddies and villains literally yeeted into literal space, jjba-style! The sandbox has expanded exponentially, and if you think this is a good excuse to open the door wide for any perceivable AUs and still remain canon-compatible, well, then you have the right audience in me.

This year I’m not limiting my request to just the two main characters (though as you can see my fondness for them is great) because I think season three especially kicks the doors wide open for various kinds of hilarious team-ups, confrontations, family dramas and peanut gallery commentaries about one another’s delusions of grandeur. If you would rather write about characters in the demonic realm, or have been wanting a good match-up for characters that never met on screen, or bring back some dead faves — well, then s3 labyrinth invites you to play with it, and I’ll happily read it.

Thunderbolt Fantasy is available on Crunchyroll.

I’m also open for treats for any of the above -- to me, dropping stories into other’s stockings and finding some surprises in your own is definitely a highlight of the true Yule experience :)

Thank you for taking the time to read the letter, and I’m greatly looking forward to reading your story — and hopefully, getting to chat about these ridiculous and wonderful characters post-reveals :)

#yuletide 2023 #horrible exorcists #hikaru no go #link click #thunderbolt fantasy #under the skin #hunting #dear creator letter #yuletide

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