Yuletide Letter 2023
Oct. 15th, 2023 11:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shifty_gardener 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!
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.
*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
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.
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?
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!
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:
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!! :)
