shifty_gardener | Recent Entries

Happy Yuletide!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope you enjoy writing for me :)

My AO3 name is specialrhino.

Likes: competence, surprising competence, failing upwards, people finding other people's actions hot, unreliable narrators, hijinks, quests/adventures, banter

DNW: italics or other emphasis*, unhappy endings

*once or twice is fine, but having repeated italics messes up my breathing when I'm reading. Yes, this is unhinged. I'm just really bad at breathing, okay?

I won't mind too much if you get canon details wrong, so long as the fic has internal consistency! In general canon-divergent AUs are fine, as is any rating of fic.

Dandadan (anime)

Jiji/grandma

What can I say, I ship it. Seiko thinks he's a genius and Jiji thinks she's hot. She's historically hated any of the guys her granddaughter has brought home, but is actually very chill about him. He calls her, not the granddaughter who he theoretically knows way better, when he's in trouble.

If you would rather write gen instead, I would love something about Granny Seiko's past or Jiji failing upward at something/ending up in weird situations and besting them because of his mad confidence/obliviousness, Or something on how Seiko got into her historical drama fandom. Or maybe her convincing everyone to cosplay? Probably as payment for her helping them, lol. Something from Jiji's POV where you find out that he has a completely different view of reality than everyone else.

The Invisible Library

I would love this OT3 from Kai or Vale's POV! I feel like Irene is so professional and the books are more focused on the plot and intrigue that we don't really get much of the romance.

What caused Kai to so suddenly change his mind about Vale in book 1? What do they get up to when Irene isn't around? How does Singh feel about Vale suddenly having two...er... very close friends? What are some moments when Irene's actions belied her apparently age of being in her late 20s? Tbqh I'd be totally down for something really indulgent, like Kai and/or Vale waxing about what a badass Irene is or times when they're all quite emotionally/physically attracted to one another.

If you don't want to write romance, I'd also be down for some case they all have to solve together in an alternate world!

I haven't read the last two books yet, but I don't mind spoilers! Or for any canon divergent AUs.

The Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix

I would love more of Lirael in the library of the Clayr reading things, exploring strange places and binding monsters. I love how strange and creepy and wonderful the library is! This can be slice of life or an adventure, whichever tone fits your fancy.

If you don't want to write about the library, I'd also be interested in the events between Sabriel and Lirael - how did Sabriel and Touchstone go about rebuilding the kingdom?

I'm also down for Lirael/Nick or Lirael/Sam/Nick, although I'm only partway through reading Clariel at the moment so I can't give you any specific prompts atm (I read Sabriel thru Goldenhand when they came out, but am only now reading Clariel!).

Thanks! May you have a lovely season!

Hello Yuletide writer!!

Please read all of the prompts/fandom descriptions AT YOUR OWN RISK because there are SPOILERS within.

Ao3 name: specialrhino

Likes: Failing upwards/tripping into good fortune, harming other people for your bae, protagonist-centered morality, characters giving different personas to different people in their lives, comedy, creepiness, mild sociopathy, the cuddling of cute animals, acts of service, side character cameos, power couples/throuples

I am not too fussy about getting details or timelines perfect - so long as a fic is internally consistent, I'm okay with a lot of reality bending!

DNW: repeated use of italics/emphasis*

*if there is too much emphasis on occasional words in writing, it messes my breathing up?? Yes I am weird and bad at breathing.

The Deepwater Bride - Tamsyn Muir

What is this: An 8k short story! So easy to pick up! Please do yourself a favor and read it whether or not you write for it

The flail:

This short story is so sweet and lovely T_T Upon reread, it seems like Rainbow had no clue about Blakes and that she just saw Hester at (or from inside???) the pond and decided to go a-courting on land (which is totally what the cut off letter was trying to say). It's very sweet to imagine that Rainbow saw Hester like some god in Greek myth and fell in love with her. The passage in the Blake journals about how the brides are always weirdly ecstatic about the whole thing suggests that they were chosen specifically because they were compatible with that kind of horror. Like the way that Hester was scared of that crowd of people but was fine with seeing the dead shark again :((( Everything about this world is the perfect mix of creepy and romantic and belonging for me jfkdla;jfklds;. I also really love how Hester was super oblivious and Rainbow was patient and said stuff that was (deliberately?) ambiguous but was actually straightforward on reread. Ahhh this short story is so good.

The request:

Post-canon life please!! Rainbow in her deathly glory! Hester is really into it but pretends not to be! Hester enjoying herself in a kingdom full of the eldritch stuff she pretends not to love! Romance!! Domesticity with the god of the deep! Court etiquitte??!?!? The "not even the light would dare to touch you" line realllllllllly got to me. I would love to see what Rainbow would do (or kill) to make Hester comfortable +___+ with the whole "tell me what I can do to help you" part, I would say that Rainbow is the kind of person wants to do acts of service.

Rings of Power

What is this: An eight episode show that seems meh at first, but is actually biding its time for some seriously amazing payoff! Watch it on Amazon Prime!

The flail:

I am so into how creepy this show is! And the Galadriel/Sauron!!! So creepy and toxic and thrilling and so gooood!! I love when villains respect protagonists and want them to be on their side, I love the way that for them, fighting together felt so RIGHT even though obviously (for galadriel) it was so wrong.

The request:

I would love to read something about Galadriel saying yes, or about Sauron not giving up on recruiting her, or on one of them having the opportunity to harm the other and not taking it. Or on them protecting the other from harm. Frenemies (fromance???) 4evaa. Also...I can only assume that Sauron being 1000% the wrong choice probably makes him more appealing in some way, and that Galadriel would have some very tortured guilty turned on ness about it all.

other things you could address/bring up: I headcanon that Galadriel's hair stays so perfect because of her elf powers. Literally she gets out of the ocean and it dries perfectly. I feel like there was a preview where Galadriel's brother is still alive? or maybe it just got in my head somehow??? Bronwyn is dressed like a yoga instructor fr. Does she ever find likeminded moms?? Are there people that the Queen of Numenor likes better or worse now that she's blind? How does this change her hobbies? Are there any dragons hanging around anywhere?

Love Like the Galaxy

What is it: A 56 episode show that you can find on viki or where ever else you find your dramas. Somehow despite being so long, it stays interesting??? How is it paced so well??? Anyways, I highly recommend this but if it seems intimidatingly long, just wait until you have covid and need to isolate to watch it lol.

The flail:

This show! This showwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!! I could flail forever about what I love about this show, but it wouldn't actually be what I want in a holiday fic (ex. the melancholy, the slow coming of age, everyone's very fraught relationships with their relatives). What IS relevant to what I'd like to request, however, is the way that the characters and their support systems are so well fleshed out. So many shows just have a main character, a love interest, and their one friend. But Shaoshang, for example, has Meng Qiqi, and her two brothers, and Yuan Shen, and her father, etc and she leans on all of them in different ways and in different situations. Ahhh it's so well thought out and executed. And when Shaoshang gets involved with Zisheng, all of these characters have a different reaction to/tension with him. Which leads to my prompts ho ho ho

The request:

I would love an ot3 with Yuan Shen/Shaoshang/Zisheng or the Third Prince/Shaoshang/Zisheng! Each of these characters is such a good and loyal supporter to one of the main characters (YS to Shaoshang and the Third Prince to Zisheng) and also has delightful tension with the other main character! If that makes sense lol.

I am also down for Zisheng telling Shaoshang it's fine if she dates Meng Qiqi on the side, and any cameos from the emperor are of course always amazing.

OR I would also love to see an AU where less bad shit has happened to Zisheng. One where his twin is still alive, perhaps? Because his uncle died of cholera or something in his youth and shit never went down and somehow! Wow! He had a meetcute with Shaoshang! Idk basically any canon divergent AU about the main couple would really work for me.

Thank you and happy Yuletide!! :)

ao3 name: specialrhino

Yay we matched on a fandom! Thanks for writing for me! Know that I value internal consistency in fic over anything else, so you can introduce any ridiculous concept or fudge timelines or get one or two details incorrect and I won’t be too fussed about it. No pressure!

Likes: silly characters being competent in their area of interest, failing upwards, people being serious about something ridiculous, people being really comfortable with one another (emotionally or physically), character A being the only person to see a particular side of character B, catharsis (like, if there is angst, hopefully the resulting comfort/vindication/other emotion is of equal or stronger force), precanon meeting and then later identity porn or simmering tension, one person being morally dubious and their other half shrugging and accepting it because nepotism, loyalty, possessive jealousy, shallow pettiness

Dislikes: when there is a cute bunny/kitten/whatever and its cuteness is not intermittently described/it is not cuddled, italics

Fandom: Dodosolsollatido
Characters: Gu Rara Sun Woojun

This drama was so cute and funny and lovely! The protag BREAKS THROUGH A WALL for the sake of a kimchi pancake! A hotshot doctor ends up being in an ajumma divorce club and also friends with teens! Rara’s relationship with Hayeong gives me all kinds of warm feelings jfkdls. I was also very into how into Jun found an older woman he was really into and then basically decided to prove his worth to her by providing for her in any way he could while being tsundere about it. So cute! So endearing! What great boyfriend material!

Unlike everything I loved about the show, the cough STUDYING ABROAD cough at the end really did not work for me and I would love an AU where that doesn’t happen, whether that is something a bit plottier that deals with how Jun navigates his mother finding him, or something that completely glosses over that and is set in the future.

If you want to include something crazy side plot where the VP that who stole Rara’s fortune gets his comeuppance via something Jun does or Rara cluelessly does or just by some freak coincidence I would be into it. Rara could even get some of her money back lolol although she doesn’t seem to need it.

Rara failing upward by being a nice person is much appreciated.

Fandom: Shopping king louis
Characters: Nam Joonhyuck, Hong Jaesook

This drama was so cute but also it gave us that amazing buildup of relationship between Louis’ aunt figure (Hong Jaesook) and the hot young cop (Nam Joonhyuck) and then let it go nowhere! What a crime!!! I don’t really want anything super angsty about divorce or anything like that – if anything, it can be framed as like, her daughter being like, “mom, you’re the lonely type, you should have a boyfriend while dad is in prison” or her husband giving her an IOU for xmas of like “you may have one (1) extramarital relationship,” or even just an odd AU where polyamory is normal.

I love how Jaesook is kind of silly but genuinely means well, even to the point of foiling the evil plots of people she's close to. It would be great if you could include her as an oblivious narrator, not understanding people thanks to being left out of the loop. I love her club of mom friends she acquires thanks to a shared sense of fashion in spite of class differences. I love how it's made really clear that Joonhyuck is aware that he's a young, strapping man who sometimes people want around to feel less lonely. He is so clearly compassionate, if in a fairly passive way.

Some prompts off the top of my head:

Something causes Joonhyuck to see Jaesook in another light!

Jaesook accidentally saves Joonhyuck in some way

Joonhyuck sees Jaesook being helped by cop and is jealous

One of Joonhyuck’s coworkers makes a joke about Jaesook being a MILF and Joonhyuck gets defensive

Joonhyuck is hired to be Jaesook’s security detail for some reason??

Joonhyuck and Jaesook accidentally find out that they have a hobby in common, like they run into one another at the opera/sports game/fancy cheese shop or have the same guilty pleasure favourite tv show

Joonhyuck is getting uncomfortable with how much he's being pursued by a woman and lets that woman assume that he and Jaesook are an item

Bonus: anything with Jaesook failing upward or accidentally solving crime would be great.

Fandom: Nirvana in Fire
Characters: Mei Changsu, Meng Zhi, Lin Chen

I ship Mei Changsu/Prince Jing, ofc, but the show also really, really gave me many feelings about Mei Changsu/General Meng and Mei Changsu/Lin Chen T_T General Meng would do anything for Mei Changsu!!!!! Lin Chen is basicially Mei Changsu's husband!!!! Loyalty and familiarity and intimacy for any combination of General Meng/Mei Changsu/Lin Chen, plsss (I can imagine Lin Chen squinting at General Meng and thinking: "you're really dumb. ...but I can see why MCS likes you"). Or, just Mei Changsu having a lot of husbands. With Fei Liu there as his child, ofc.

I love the duality all of these characters have: Meng is often awkward and dumb and earnest (like his childish excitement and then poutiness re: the secret passage he's not allowed to use) but then turns around and is terrifyingly competent. I love how bad he is at lying, haha. Lin Chen has off the charts levels of sass that will suddenly give way to grave empathy. Mei Changsu has the patient, noble face he shows to his noble friends and then the stubborn, petty one he shows to people he's closer with/who work for him. His resistance to doctors is A+. jfdkl;as the characterization in this show is just so delicious and the different reactions each character has to different people in their lives just crank up the loyalty porn I love ittttt.

Mei Changsu is drugged or drunk :D he is a bit too honest with people/initiates cuddles/has to be taken care of!

Lin Chen (or MCS' in-home physician) is annoyed that Mei Changsu won't stay still, so he turns him into a bunny! And then entrusts him to General Meng's care.

The random magic in this series was great, so feel free to incorporate whatever weird shit you want :D

General Meng being d o m i n a t e d and being surprised but super into it.

in the background, Yujin marries Jingrui to strengthen relations with Southern Chu :D?

Lin Chen/General Meng post-canon T_T Please don't make this too sad.

General Meng has an intermittent case of the hiccups that is interfering with his work. Lin Chen keeps trying things, but they don't work very well!

Mei Changsu, Lin Chen and/or General Meng being conspicuously not into women.

Bonus: Prince Jing awkwardly trying to befriend General Meng post-Mei Changsu

Hello! Happy Yuletide! Welcome to my letter!

ao3 name: specialrhino

likes: competence, cultural worldbuilding, a character's actions revealing how into someone else they are, cuddles, loyalty, when there is a bunny and someone pets it

yuletide dnws: road trips, zombies, character death, italics, AUs that are non-canon setting (i.e. canon divergence is great, but for these fandoms no other AUs pls), lapslock, melodrama

Sex is fine, but I would rather it not be the main thrust (lol) of the fic. Or, if it is, for there to be a clear idea of where the characters are going to go from that point.

Feel free to handwave or dramatically alter canon timelines! All I require from a fic is internal consistency.

Love O2O

ko/hao mei - my favourite thing about this pairing is how Hao Mei is unabashedly appreciative of KO and how KO looks at Hao Mei and the first thing that comes to mind is, "I will take care of this man"

an account of their original game romance!! and maybe an au where it leads to them dating irl?? :) and maybe some sort of ko asking for hao mei's hand in marriage from nai lol

regency au???????? with no mentions of homophobia or gayness not being a thing, pls

a/b/o .... >.> I would be down for this. there is so much potential, esp with K.O. taking hao mei's blanket for his bed....<.< >.>

or, the ko/hao mei romance from ko's perspective! there's just so much we didn't get to seeeeeee /o\

also ko visiting hao mei's parents and solemnly being like, "I would like you to give me your son"

clothessharing, since now they share a place??

all of the times their neighbors mistook them for marrieds

hao mei dresses like a girl for halloween (because he lost a bet? because couples outfit??) and K.O. is into. it.

KO defending hao mei from other men's advances!!!

Nirvana in Fire

Mei Changsu is drugged or drunk :D he is a bit too honest with people/initiates cuddles/has to be taken care of!

Lin Chen (or MCS' in-home physician) is annoyed that Mei Changsu won't stay still, so he turns him into a bunny! And then entrusts him to General Meng's care.

The random magic in this series was great, so feel free to incorporate whatever weird shit you want :D

General Meng being d o m i n a t e d and being surprised but super into it.

in the background, Yujin marries Jingrui to strengthen relations with Southern Chu :D?

The Circle of Magic

Tris/Niko

I was rereading the circle of magic, and what with the George/Alanna and the Daine/Numair in Pierce’s other books, I found myself trying to spot hints of Tris/Niko. I'm sorry if my request is ruining your childhood, but I really ship it now /o\ That said! You could also just write something that involves or has a background of how close they are and that would be great, too! I feel like Niko is like the only (non-Briar) man who isn’t afraid of Tris and also Tris and Niko understand and rely on and trust one another so much and it makes me uwu.

Niko discovers he might be into power :D? :D?? and is maybe really shifty about it until tris figures it out and confronts him about it

Tris somehow gets turned into a dude accidentally, but this at least makes it easier for her to be powerful without other people being butthurt about it :D maybe it becomes something she can turn on or off? or maybe it gets solved? or not?? I'd rather this not involve body horror or angst.

Sandry suggests a solution to Tris’ errant magic/anger is regular spa days. Or, uh, something else. Also, what would using magic to have a spa day be like?

Tris finally figures out a magic solution to make her hair less frizzy!! Or some other sort of adulthood life hack that brings her much satisfaction. Can you tell that I ship Tris/peace of mind?

Marriage of convenience!

Due to a magical mishap, Tris essentially gets stoned/catnipped/turned into a bunny, which helps her work through some things. Niko is very worried and/or murderous on her behalf, or maybe drops something really important to go take care of her

Sandry leaves a shitty romance novel at Tris’ house and Tris. Is. Hooked. (and denies all accusations).

no need to include everything I like in your fic! If you have even one (or none) of these, I will still be happy.

likes: romcom schenanigans, accidental relationship, I find it super romantic when one character does things for the other one, whether it's get them their favourite coffee or kill their enemy for them :))), humor, schmoop, extreme body positivity/ one character finding another character suuuper hot, when one character feels v safe and loved, competence, loyalty, characters being overwhelmed and crying, whump that leads to h/c

things I admittedly like, but almost didn't add: mpreg >.> when people of the same gender are into people who are crossdressing >.>

dislikes: italics, homophobia, zombie/apocalypse/dystopia aus

Love O2O

ko/hao mei - an au where their relationship went well the first time????????

an account of their original game romance!! and maybe an au where it leads to them dating irl?? :) and maybe some sort of ko asking for hao mei's hand in marriage from nai lol

regency au???????? with no mentions of homophobia or gayness not being a thing, pls

a/b/o .... >.> I would be down for this. there is so much potential, esp with K.O. taking hao mei's blanket for his bed....<.< >.>

or, the ko/hao mei romance from ko's perspective! there's just so much we didn't get to seeeeeee /o\

also ko visiting hao mei's parents and solemnly being like, "I would liike you to give me your son" and them being like, "....are you sure? o_O"

clothessharing, since now they share a place??

all of the times their neighbors mistook them for marrieds

hao mei dresses like a girl for halloween (because he lost a bet? because couples outfit??) and K.O. is into. it.

KO defending hao mei from other men's advances!!!

sungkyunkwan scandal

Gu Yong Ha/Moon Jae Shin please give me the epic, sweeping romance this pairing deserves!!!

but for real, I just want one character being swept off their feet or maybe suddenly realizing the other one is super hot and being all blushy, perhaps when one has to dress up as a girl/pretend to date/witnesses the other defending them ~romantically/thinks the other one has a boyfriend (gasp!)

I feel in the show, gu yong ha pined after and did things for geol oh a lot more than vice versa, so it would be a bonus if geol oh is the one that pursues gu yong ha, who has given up hope <3<3 but if writing it another way works better for you, than no worries.

it would be great if you could somehow write this so there is no homophobia that exists in the joseon era and men can somehow get married, kthx. or maybe the emperor out of the blue decides to pass a non-homophobia law? because gayness has become fashionable in china and so it's politically sound to adopt the same customs???? and then this is what prompts gu yong ha and geol oh to be able to get together??? idk lol I will believe any yarn you spin about this.

also, uh, background cho sun/main girl and/or cho sun/main girl/wang seoban would also be appreciated

Oresama Teacher
I will ask this for every year forever, I am so sorry. I just love everything I get for this ;_____;

I ship takaomi/mafuyu like woah!! Make it happen! pls. if not, I also love crossdressing!Mafuyu/girls <3<3 my kingdom for that fic, omg. or crossdressing!mafuyu/crossdressing!other guy

I just find it really interesting how mafuyu has two facets to her life: her princely, chivalrous persona, and her girly one. the girly one only seems to naturally/successfully come out around takaomi, which is why I ship it, but I totally ship Mafuyu with people who are bowled over by her princely charisma.

Happy Yuletide! I'm specialrhino on Ao3.

I've requested shippy things for all categories, but if you can't bring yourself to write shipfic, a strong focus on the pairing's relationship would suffice. No pwp, please.

To me, gestures of trust and/or affection are THE MOST romantic, whether it's making someone a cup of tea or murdering someone for them <3 so if there's any h/c, focus on the caretaking aspect of it or how out-of-the-way the caring character goes to help the hurt character would be the cutest.

Loves: bedsharing, accidental relationships, intimacy, drunken/drugged cuddling, bickering, protagonist-centric morality, friend side characters

Things I don't want this Yuletide: embarrassing scenes (making a big scene in public, being really awkward around semi-strangers), dark fic, character bashing, italics, roadtrips, drug addiction

I'm totally fine with handwaving of canon timelines! So long as your fic is internally consistent, I will be happy.

Squirrel Girl

Doreen Green, Kraven the Hunter - I ship them!

Both Doreen and Kraven are pretty ridiculous people, but they take one another very seriously. It's great! It's adorbs how they have a solid foundation of trust and mutual respect. And he has a nickname for her!! I <3 them.

I would love anything for this pairing, but if you need prompts, here are some off the top of my head:

1. fake dating -> them realizing they're actually really good at it???? Kraven needing squirrel girl to help rehabilitate his image?

2. doreen learning some russian to go visit him in the Motherland (and talk to russian squirrels)

3. tony gets doreen baseball tickets, she takes Kraven, and then <3kiss cam<3 is tony setting them up??? or Tony finds out and razzes her on twitter for having such odd taste in men

4. alternate meeting???

5. kraven invites doreen to russia for some russian holiday and she discovers that he is an actualfax crazy rich count

6. Nancy POV, realizing Kraven has a thing for her roommate and her general wtf response or trying to coach him on how to be a good date

Side things I love from the canon:

Loki!cat!Thor!

Twitter banter!

Brian Drayne and his super unhelpful existential commentary!

Logan Lucky

Dayton White, Clyde Logan

I'd like something with them interacting past the canon (or an alt meetcute? or pre-canon?), pls! Both of these characters are very weird in their own ways, and it'd be interesting to see how they'd bounce off one another / I think it would work.

The relationship between these two characters can be platonic or shippy, but what I would really love is one or both of these things:

1. For Dayton and Clyde to have bonded over their hatred of Max Chilblaine and become friends - we don't actually see how that punching him in the face scene ends, so who knows? that could have happened! the start of a beautiful friendship!

2. For the ending where the FBI agent is suspicious of the Logan brothers at the end to be fixed, possibly with the help of Dayton

Side things I love from the canon:
Mellie! She is so great and matter-of-fact. So. great. how did she even get all of those cockroaches??
The prison guys and their silly demands and tragic lack of knowledge re: Game of Thrones publishing schedule! The way they all agreed to work together to help Joe escape was weirdly touching, too :3

Oresama Teacher

Takaomi, Mafuyu

I ship Takaomi/Mafuyu with the power of a billion burning suns and also just generally love Oresama Teacher fic because the tone of the manga and its mix of irreverence, meta and deep sincerity is a beautiful thing to behold. So, uh, I'm sorry if you've been assigned to me before, but I love your thing! Pls write for me again! Lol.

Why do I ship them? Everyone sees different parts of Mafuyu - the featherbrained girl, the terrifyingly strong fighter, the natural leader, the dashing prince, the girl who wants to live a shoujo manga life - but Takaomi is the only person who sees all of those parts. Mafuyu doesn't totally understand Takaomi, but she sees more of him than anyone else does and is the person he lets his guard around. I find it incredibly sweet. Also Mafuyu is pretty much everyone's prince, but is occasionally girly around Takaomi, and I want her to get her shoujo manga dream, gdi.

in manga land age difference doesn't really mean much to me, but if it bothers you, feel free to age the characters however to make yourself most comfortable when writing this! I don't mind world-tampering so long as it's explained in-fic.

Random prompts, if you need any:

1. Takaomi gets aged down! Mafuyu gets aged up! Or both! Not an AU, like, a mysterious magical occurrence.

2. Takaomi needs a thing done, and only trusts Mafuyu to do it! Mafuyu goes a bit overboard. Or Takaomi really just wanted to distract her from something.

3. Future get-together fic?

4. Huddling for warmth! Fake dating! Insert other trope here!

5. Everything pre-canon is the same, except it comes out that Mafuyu has been promised to marry the prince, a guy named Takaomi, who seems oddly familiar.... (so basically, a Goong AU)

6. Outside of school, people mistake them for a couple all of the time! Cough, I wonder why that is?!

7. They have to get engaged/married! because of, er, reasons.

8. One of them gets hurt and the other one exacts terrifying vengeance!!

9. A general "omg I actually have feelings for them!!! o______O?!!?!?!!?? WHAT DO?!" moment

10. TRUTH SERUM. Idk I'm sure Yui has some, for some reason, from some ninja poison skills book he thought was bullshit. or that hayazaka bought him on a lark.

11. Mafuyu finds a magic item that gives her wishes! Chaos ensues!! (or not...?)

Side things I love from canon:

people being ~overwhelmed with emotion over something mundane

weird things like messenger pigeons and Ninja's ninja hiding techniques

outsiders misunderstanding a situation

crossdressing

I have achieved many things lately! I have been super tired and sleeping aaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllll of the time, but the things at work that kept not working suddenly work, and I watched two movies I thought might be amazing and indeed were AMAZING, which were Bad Moms Christmas (seriously though, amazing) and Guy Richie's recent King Arthur, which no one would see with me when it was in theaters. To be fair, it probably benefited quite a lot from having a subtitles option.

Seriously though, Rachel and I have a new Christmas movie, and it is Bad Moms Christmas. /impeccable taste

I feel so bleh (possibly because dog allergies?) and relatives are here so I can't work on Yuletide, which I think I've overplotted in my head to the point where I won't be able to write it. ;__________; why do I do these things. If I were hanging with you, Unagi, I would have started already. Sigh.

If you're ever considering spray painting clothes for a costume and then wearing it...just don't. I had a v poor reaction to that today, haha. Although I am much more of a delicate flower than most. /has gotten burned through a glove by a non-corrosive material

The lack of genderswap girl!Q James Bond fic is a crime. Where are my really indulgent romance novels???? I sort of feel like I have to be the change I want to see in the world, but it won't be half as romance novel-y as it should be because I suck at writing romance, alas.

I somehow feel like the unprecedented delay of the Yuletide Swaps signups is karmic comeuppance for not having started writing my assignment, esp when I told myself I'd have it done by the end of October. /o\ I mean, I have ideas, but ughhhhhh I might call you to talk about it, Unags (I'm SUPER EXCITED about yours btw because I love the meetcute scenario you're putting in :D:D:D like, that is actually one of my favourite kinds of fic).

My dad seems very excited about the trick or treaters coming to the door, which is reminding me how much he looooooves little kids. It sort of makes me wish I had any sort of romantic inclinations so I could provide him with a grandchild, whoops. Ah well, as my (not-so?-) wise cousin once said, "we're a product of our generation. It's not our fault." that sounds like bullshit, but makes me feel better regardless haha. at least none of the 12 other people on our side of the family have kids, either...?

Current Mood: death by spraypaint x___x

Surreal things of the day: Everything. But also:

I'm drinking tea with vanilla ice cream in it rn because I ran out of milk. Why, self, why. It isn't as bad as it's been in the past, though?? maybe it's the kind of tea.

I decided to make a fanmix for myself (bc my car can always use more CDs) and I keep adding sad songs. ;___________; THiS IS NOT WHAT I INTENDED. I should just say no to the compulsion to add things just because the lyrics fit perfectly. SADNESS IS NOT WHAT I WANT.

I started watching London Spy, the one ben whishaw thing (Q from James Bond, yes I'm still somehow embroiled in that fandom rn) on Netflix, wherein he meets and dates this guy (Charlie from Kingsman) who then is killed and Q finds out he was a spy when he finds the body. It is filmed in such a quiet, from inside someone's head way, it's inteeense. Why are gay things so weird and/or tragic. I spent a while looking up lesbian films on imdb (following a list on the side of a miniseries where Sally Hawkins is a victorian age lesbian) and they all also look like weird thrillers. But one of them is a weird thriller with Eva Green in it, at least??? idk man, the world.

I have the vague impression that everything would get better/I'd stop feeling so cray if I went to the gym but it's Too Late for that. The time has passed.

so I have never met a headband that fit without making my brain cry out in anguish BUT according to some wise sage on the internet, what you can do is get those hard, plastic-y headbands and then MICROWAVE THEM and MOLD THEM to your HEAD

sorry I'm feeling a tad manic this morning.

On a different note, I convinced the family to watch Casino Royale last night and was shocked, as I was in the theater, to find that it's actually legitimately a great movie! Daniel Craig is actually kind of a babe when he isn't duckfacing (which is almost always) and, most importantly, he is quietly very put upon by stuff that happens in a very relatable way. Like, as an adult kind of close to his age, it is very satisfying to watch him be like
step 1: do thing;
step 2: thing goes terribly wrong;
step 3: sigh/ have ben wyatt moment of why me;
step 4: improvise wildly;
step 5: ???? success maybe????;
step 6: ok everyone thinks this could have gone better but THIS LOOKS GOOD FROM WHERE I'M STANDING

I know this is because he's a nooB and he perhaps won't have these moments in later movies (which my dad, at least, is on board to watch), but this makes me happy.

Vesper is also really great. He brings her a dress to wear that night, only to find that she's brought him a tuxedo to wear ahahaha. And there is so much dress envy, omg. Cars for the dudes to watch, dresses for the ladies to watch, watches for the all to watch.

Hello! Thanks for writing for me this year! If you already have an idea of what you want to write, feel free to ignore my prompts.

Likes/dislikes:

I like it when characters who supposedly don't have feelings or have less of them go out of their way for another character/show their feelings through action. I just find it super romantic and adorable. One character making someone else's life easier by like, killing other people or picking up the dry cleaning or arranging their moving to another apartment because they're so busy at work is just wonderful imo. Also taking care of things when one person is sick or injured! Basically partnership is super great and I love it.

I also love body positivity (like, ordinary people being hot), cuddling, drunken/drugged cuddling, bedsharing, verklempt narrators, repressed narrators, outsider narrators, hurt/comfort, possessiveness/territorial jealousy, competence (or other characters being into the other one's competence), bickering, domesticity, accidental dating, protagonist-centric morality, and friend side characters.

I'd rather not read about death, drug addiction, time travel or embarassing situations.

I am totally fine with handwaving of canon timelines! So long as your fic is internally consistent, I will be happy.

Canons!

Alien: Covenant
Daniels/Walter

I'd like fixit fic for the ending. ;_____; I shipped Daniels/Walter really hard while watching this because I loved the slow build of loyalty and attention each paid the other, and I would basically love to see how they could have a happily ever after or gotten together in a different scenario. I would love domesticity and Walter doing things for Daniels to show his love~ including, like, killing people on her behalf or making her her favourite food on her birthday. I really have a thing for competence, which I think would work really well with this. Any kind of AU you could think of would probably be great, too, so long as you kept the general relationship dynamics the same.

I would find either POV equally indulgent, but if you didn't want to write too far into the future, something on from Walters' POV on falling in love with Davis would be super romantic. ;____; I was so happy when I realized partway through the movie that Walter's subtle thing for her wasn't just me reading subtext in nothing. THEY WERE SO CUTE. Ahem.

If you're not into complete canon divergent AUs, I don't need everything to be super perfectly happy, but I'd like it if Walter managed to survive, get on the ship and live out a life with Daniels untouched by the general ravaging the aliens are going to do on the new world. Like, them building a wood cabin in a remote, unaccessible place and not seeing other people? Great.

Sprig Muslin

Gareth Ludlow

I loved the way Amanda and Hildebrand sort of accidentally became Gareth's niece and nephew and quickly came to impose on him and one another. Their bantering and seeking approval from Gareth was great.

How does their pseudo-family relationship come up in the future? Does Gareth have to (fondly) endure random callings on from them in London? Do they send letters asking for life advice or complaining about one another? Do they meet his actual blood relatives? How do other people react to seeing them be so familiar with Gareth/one another?

Feel free to include side characters! I really enjoyed Amanda's fiancee, Hester and Amanda's grandfather.

Sungkyunkwan Scandal
Moon Jae Shin/Gu Yong Ha

Here's a ridiculous picspam of them I made at one point, for your viewing pleasure.

I love how these two are super loyal friends despite the socioeconomic + political divide <333 they believe in one another no matter what and it's adooorbs.

I feel like throughout the show there were a bunch of points where Gu Yong Ha was worried sick about Moon Jae Shin and Moon Jae Shin was all, "nbd," leaving Gu Yong Ha in distress. With that in mind, I'd love a story where Gu Yong Ha gets into some kind of danger or situation where Moon Jae Shin has to worry about him and ~realizes ~his feelings. Or maybe something where Gu Yong Ha is (pretending to?) date someone else and Jae Shin is jealous or Moon Jae Shin realizes he's been taking Gu Yong Ha for granted or something that incorporates Gu Yong Ha having a bad day and then feeling better when he's around Moon Jae Shin. <3 Hurt/comfort would be very appreciated, as would be Gu Yong Ha whump, provided there's ample comfort afterwards.

I'm fine with canon-divergent AUs (or any sort of AU that takes place in the same time period, like one of them being a different class or being a male gisaeng or smth) or the OT4 friendship :3

So, remember when I bought two past Kal-Elle boxes because someone nearly STOLE THE CAR?? Well, they came today! And with super cute boxes with the moria door + elvish writing on the bottom! I took a picture of it, but photobucket and I hate one another rn (and my senile computer is not helping things) so that shall remain unrevealed. You can kind of see it in the first pic.

Speaking of pics, I took these in crazy lighting so there is glare on some stuff like woah. Bear with me, if you would.

( I'll start with Sherlock, which I anticipated the most... )

( It's a-me, a-Mario! )

( Plus, Earfleek! )My general goal is to get more cute jewelry and accessories, so I am all in all satisfied. I think I'll keep the Kal Elle subscription, mostly bc it's for more casual fans of a thing so I'll still like the random months I'm not super into. Well, hopefully.

Current Music: HAIM

a few ridiculous things have happened to me today ._____________________. I've been doing a cookingstravaganza, i.e. making a few things but doing so many substitutions that it feels like making 5-6 things instead. The two most ridiculous things, by far, happened in succession: first, I discovered that while the whole chickpea aquafaba thing might work, if you add it to whipping cream if you, say, ran out of whipping cream for the recipe or something, THE WHIPPING CREAM WILL CURDLE. And everything will be super. Gross.

I was willing to wait it out and see if it could actually be blent into (gross) whipped...material, but I was urged to just pop over to Vons and buy actual whipping cream. I acquiesced, gaining momentum via a particularly satisfying pull-through parking spot. It was super hot, I was wearing definitely indoor clothing outdoors (here, a lacy croptop and lacy skirt from 2001, greasy hair in braid), but things would be great! Until I completed my purchases and walked outside, arms full of groceries I decided against purchasing a bag for, to find the car gone.

I called home to tell the fam that I'd gotten the car stolen in the middle of suburbia, right across the street from an elementary school ffs, and happily discovered my mum had also been shopping and took the car on her way home. BUT STILL. RIDICULOUS. WTF.

Things Learned Today:
* be aware of your surroundings, just in case your mom is nearby and about to take your car
* DO NOT mix dairy with anything it has, to your knowledge, never been mixed with before
* lentil noodles will make anything you make with them taste like pea soup, yes even if they're red lentils
* don't make vegan gravy with whole wheat flour

That said, today has still been fun. Except for the part where I actually signed up to Kal-Elle a day late for getting sherlock jewelry ;______________________________________________; WHY AM I SO DUMB. luckily you can buy past crates from there...but for about $10 more, sigh. Do I do it???

Fic I've read of late:

This super amazing Ino-centric Naruto fic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It starts out a bit slow but it's been making me so happy, you guys. It starts right after the chuunin exams where she realizes she wasn't chosen by Shikamaru to help retrieve Sasuke because she was weak, so she decides to make herself stronger and as a side thing, Sakura has to deal with her civilian parents not really accepting her shinobi lifestyle. jfkld;ajfkld;sa there's also cute, slow burn Shikamaru having a crush on Ino in this way that also goes into his family's jutsu and also his mild misogyny (not in a negative way, just in a, the two of them need to work on that in their friendship way) and potential for Sakura/Kiba that I WANT TO HAPPEN and the first Naruto/Hinata I've ever seen anywhere that I am convinced by.

I love how Naruto is similar to HP in that it has a huge multi-generational cast of characters that are only kind of fleshed out and a world that's only partly (and superficially) explored. It gives sooooooooooo much opportunity for random, amazing fic focused on side characters or random relationships that will make you love them forever. If either of you, Unags and Yvonne, have random naruto fic you've loved, please feel free to share.

I've also started reading James Bond fic again because I ran across a James-has-to-take-care-of-his-suddenly-extant-niece fic that was actually fairly quality for the first half (but then devolved, alas), which segued into a fic that was promising despite rampant use of epithets, the most favoured being Q referred to as "the boffin" (which also devolved), but then it lead to this fic, which was actually great. Such a good author! Read it, you guys, it is indulgent but with a light touch. I was shocked I hadn't run across it in all of my other Skyfall binges, but I sorted by bookmarks rather than kudos this time, so diamonds in the rough (and many terrible but indulgent fic) surfaced. I regret nothing. Heh.

I'm a little put out to see that all of the gen Q-centric fic I liked back when Skyfall came out is kind of unbearably pretentious. Or at least, the characterization of Q is. Siiiiiiiiiiiiigh.

Lauren and I went through and sampled all of the black tea I got on Saturday. We were still hungover-feeling late Sunday. Never again.

( Loot crate )

( My Guilty Pleasures Book Crate )

I've been reading an AMAZING Pride and Prejudice fic, omg. It's an AU where Kitty gets sent to an aunt's house (mr bennet's sister, owns netherfield but doesn't visit bc she and mrs bennet hate one another) and then comes into her own when out of the shadow/expectations of her family. It is basically another book in the style of Jane Austen and I'm sooooooooooooo happpyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy I definitely had at least one sleepless night reading it (it's 140k+ >.>). I AM SO HAPPY. The author clearly has Thoughts on how some of the characters more central to P&P do behave or ought to behave (see: Darcy) but those characters aren't focussed on for like the first 100k so by that point it feels like its own thing rather than fanfiction. This is helped by how it at moments feels a bit like a Georgette Heyer novel (everyone is ultimately pretty nice, Kitty accumulates a bro friend group in London and some of Heyer's terminology shows up).

Yvonne you will be glad to know I just watched the first three Riverdale eps and I love it. You have a good eye. I ship Veronica and Betty like woah and also love Jughead. I am neutral to mildly distateful re: Archie. I made the mistake of looking up the actor of his dad, who it turns out is a character who did a stupid and bad thing in the Fifth Element, so I just can't see him the same, sigh.

I.........bought three months of the Harry Potter crate. At this rate, I will need a raise at work >.> stop spending money Nicole, stoppppp.

This weekend I was SUPER TIRED because I saw a personal trainer Saturday morning and then a few hours later went to dance routine practice, which thanks to my partner, ended up being like an hour and 20 minutes rather than 45 minutes. Now at least I am v thoroughly caught up on the two weeks I missed? But it was still ridiculous.

I've realized lately that my main hobby seems to be cooking, because this was the second or third weekend in a row I spent poring over cookbooks and researching weird recipes. Lately I've been using the Asian pickling book Lauren got me, which has been fun, but maybe I should start trying the things I'm trying to make beforehand so I know whether I'll actually want to eat the product, lol.

Have you guys had any fun cooking adventures lately?

1. Resident Evil has multiple female characters, and also a femmeslash ship???!?? I was watching a Wynonna Earp vid (which was p great) and it autoplayed to an f/f Resident Evil vid and I basically just can't believe no one told me this, especially Lauren, who loves that kind of genre.

2. There are extra episodes of the Great British Bake-Off called the Comedy Relief Bake Off, wherein 4 celebrities/comedians show up each episode and hilariously fail (or surprisingly don't fail) at making things. Tahani was in the episode I just watched!!! She is just as perfect irl as in The Good Place. ._________.

3. It is possible to pull the outside of your leg. Idek man.

4. It is really dangerous to google things like "tahani" because then I end up dress shopping online for hours. Apparently she wears lots of chi chi london. My resolve to stop spending money has been really inconveniently timed .________________________________.

After several attempts, I finally managed to sneakily use the deodorant someone keeps in the bathroom.

...I really need to get my shit together

things came in the mail yesterday! "Things" being 1. the crazy large tea order I made the other day, heh. tasting (and review? since this will sort of be a review journal) pending until Lauren appears from the Northern realm in two weeks. and

2. books written by rageprufrock! well, books being comic books. I discovered her rl name through non-sketchy, not-very-try-hard means, so I don't feel weird about it. but also I won't type it out because what if someone googles it ._____.

it had lots of robots, which idk why I was surprised given a slashreport episode of late that involved her waxing eloquent about robot rumbles, which are robot cage matches, apparently.
The book was less gay than I hoped (i.e. not gay) but multiple people had character arcs and I felt strong emotions on behalf of some of the characters while reading, so it was a well-constructed story! It's about a teen who happens to be captain of the basketball team just trying to live his life drama-free and then getting dragged into a feud between his neighbor/bff by default/the leader of the hs robotics team and the cheerleaders over who gets funding from the school for their club. He also has absentee, divorced parents. Idk I just thought it was great.

I haven't read the other book yet, which I guess is an anthology. I'm probably going to read it and then give it away because superheroes aren't really my thing.

I also read something by the other slashreport host, mklutz, and it was great! She posted an original fiction story about a witch who lives in Toronto and is called upon to help solve a mystery/crime. It starts out feeling like a girl!Stiles AU insomuch as that girl!Stiles AUs always feel like original fiction where the girl happens to have a single cop dad. Also because it is mklutz, there are many scenes where people play with a kitten. <3 It's right here!

Fanfiction-wise, I recently read Morning Shows the Day (or, Kakashi and Iruka's Excellent adventure), which was interesting because it was deaging, but from the person's perspective, i.e. Iruka is going about his 10 year old life and then is suddenly in a battlefield in the middle of the wilderness with another 10 year old and is like wtf. I ALSO started this WIP that's where Iruka goes and teaches at Hogwarts during Harry's 5th year because Dumbledore can't find anyone else to take the job. It's mostly interesting because it really brings up the issue of how each magical culture treats the non-magical ones (isolation/antagonism vs protection).

The latter is probably extra interesting to me because I"m listening to the podcast Witch Please rn (thank you, Unagi), which is a great, scholarly dissection of Harry Potter media. I like it loads! Except for a like two minute thing where they talk about how great it would be if everyone donated to the podcast so they could go to Harry Potter Universal whatever in FL and do an episode on it. This part was very brief, but it made me feel weird because if this were a fandom thing (as opposed to a non-fandom fan thing), the idea of donations would never be brought up, because fandom is a gift economy. It was a weird cultural clash moment for me.

Because I've waited so long to post this, a #3 thing has arrived in the mail, which is Simplicity 1551:

aka the Galadriel costume pattern of choice, aka my new lounge dress, hopefully. Whenever I get around to making it haha.

I got my trope bingo scorecard! Some of these might end up being like the shortest thing ever, but successfully forcing myself to get words out is the important thing! I'm probably going to end up doing it for super random fandoms, i.e. things that don't actually HAVE fandoms, whoops.

META FICTION	FOOD AND COOKING	AU: FANTASY	ACCIDENTAL HERO	HUDDLE FOR WARMTH
HURT COMFORT	CROSS DRESSING/ COSTUMES	TELEPATHY/ MIND MELD	WING FIC	MARRIAGE
HAUNTED HOUSE	UNEXPECTED FRIENDSHIP	FREE SPACE	IN VINO VERITAS/ DRUNK FIC	AU: APOCALYPSE
REUNION	BETS/WAGERS	AU: SUPERNATURAL	POWER DYNAMICS	IN ANOTHER MANS SHOES
CURTAIN FIC	FIRST TIME/ LAST TIME	SHARING A BED	SECRET TWIN/ DOPPELGANGER	UNREQUITED LOVE/PINING

Yvonne and Unagi, if you want to sign up for a card yourself, you can comment here with which lists you'd like to pick from (main, au and kink) and also with whatever ones you want to opt out of and they'll give you a card!

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shifty_gardener

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Oh, bother the flowers of spring

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