Fandom 5k Letter

[nemainofthewater]

Dearest Author, 

 

Thank you so much for my gift in advance! Please know that I will absolutely adore anything that you gift me and though I am going to provide more likes/dislikes and some general prompts further down, please feel free to combine prompts, or ignore them completely if you get inspired in a different direction! I’m Nemainofthewater on A03 and most other fandom spaces. 

 

 

I am open to treats 

Things I like: 

-Found family! I really love team-as-family, slice of life type stories where everything may be difficult (or not!) but at least they have each other

 

-angst: I reading angsty things, though I would like some glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel and for it not to be all doom and gloom. 

 

-Adventures: I love case fics or adventure things where the characters work together to solve something. It doesn’t have to be anything important! Problem solving is wonderful at all levels, whether it’s something large like overtaking an empire or small like hunting for the perfect cake. Bonus for characters displaying unexpected knowledge/skills, or just being good at their jobs and their team appreciating that

 

-some canon divergence AUs or role reversal (although on the whole I am not a fan of college/high school AUs). I really like time travel and time loops as well as ‘for want of a nail’ type stories. Modern day AUs are a little hit or miss for me; sometimes I love them and sometimes it really takes me out of the story? I am fond of the type of modern day AUs that preserve the fantastical elements (ie, cultivation in the modern world type thing!)

 

-characters who don’t take care of themselves being gently bullied into sleeping/eating/resting, or just generally just looking after themselves. I am a huge fan of the ‘perfect mask much work until I collapse’ type character, especially when there are others around to take care oof them before/when they eventually collapse. 

 

-food or creating things as a love language (platonic or romantic)

 

-OT3s to solve love triangles 

 

-people appreciating other people’s competencies! 

 

-multimedia! (meta, articles, etc). Outsider POV is also something that I love and if you feel intrigued by adding that and/or any multimedia bits please indulge yourself! 

 

-identity porn

 

-wingfic, especially wingfic that looks at the practical things associated with wings/the (pseudo)biology/the social implications… 

 

-survival stories? I don’t know how to characterise this. Kind of the ‘trapped on a desert island’ kind of thing where everyone has to work together and bring out their various specialities and intelligence to build a home. The kind of domestic slice of life type thing only with having to literally establish their own settlement type thing

 

DNWs: high school/college AUs, texting fics, characters watching the show/read the book they’re from, script format (for the entire story, in universe reasons such as they’re acting or a video is being transcribed is fine so long as it isn’t the entire story!), PWP, sibling (biological or otherwise) incest, underage, character bashing (out of universe: it doesn’t count if characters don’t like each other in canon, for example), racism, sexism, homophobia, aphobia, transphobia

 

I have written out the fandoms/characters that I have requested below, with a few prompts and information on why I like the fandom, but please feel free to mix, match, and ignore as you see fit! 

 

琅琊榜 | Nirvana in Fire

 

Group: Lin Chen & Fei Liu & Lin Shu | Mei Changsu | Su Zhe 

-for once, Mei Changsu isn’t the one that needs to be looked after, Lin Chen is. Mei Changsu gets to be on the other side of the ‘friend/patient is being awful and won’t just sit down and heal, but insists on actually straining himself for reasons I feel are Inadequate, but he won’t listen to me’. Mei Changsu hates it. Lin Chen, when he isn’t trying to hide how awful he feels, is smug. Fei Liu gets to be a good boy AND literally sit on Lin Chen at the same time. 

 

-A pre-canon jianghu adventure! Perhaps both of them need to go undercover but Lin Chen isn’t taking it seriously? Maybe they get kidnapped, forcing the poor kidnapper listen to them bickering instead of being adequately intimidated by said kidnapping? Maybe there is a friendly rivalry between members of the Jiangzuo Alliance and Langya Hall and Mei Changsu and Lin Chen are both vicariously competing (and actually competing) through their subordinates? And how does Fei Liu fit in? Obviously he’s on MCS’ side, but how does Lin Chen try to change that? 

 

Group: Lin Chen & Mu Nihuang 

Lin Chen and Mu Nihuang don’t interact a lot in canon, and I feel that is a pity! I also imagine that they would either get on like a house on fire, or they would cordially hate each other. No matter which, I do thing they would respect each other regardless. I love the idea of the two of them teaming up to (lovingly) bully Mei Changsu into better health. 

 

Please don’t feel obliged to add Mei Changsu into this story if you don’t want to: I waffled a lot about having him as one of my requested characters but ultimately decided that he looms so large over the story (and specifically why Lin Chen and Mu Nihuang would be interacting in the first place) that I felt like I should add him as a character. 

 

If you want to include any other characters such as Fei Liu, Xiao Jingyan, Meng Zhi…etc please feel free! I genuinely love all of the characters in Nirvana in Fire, and even the ones I Vehemently Dislike (the Emperor for example) I find fascinating as a character. 

 

I am happy with either gen or relationships, though I would prefer that romantic relationships aren’t centre stage. Having said that, if you feel a yearning to write Mu Nihuang/Mei Changsu/Lin Chen, I will love you forever. 

 

Some optional prompts:

-More interactions between Mu Nihuang and Lin Chen in the latter parts of canon, when they are at Su Manor at the same time. Perhaps Mu Nihuang wants to learn more about MCS’ time in the jianghu and seeks out the best source of information. Lin Chen, being a chaos gremlin (when his heart isn’t being rudely stabbed by MCS) is happy to oblige. It would be hilarious is Lin Chen and Mei Changsu both had very different memories of a jianghu shenanigan-filled adventure, and they told it to Mu Nihuang – with much editorialising! 

-Post-canon healing! Maybe Lin Chen (and Fei Liu) go and spend some time in Yunnan after the battle of Meiling? 

-Alternate ending to canon, there is no war! Lin Chen, Mei Changsu, and Fei Liu get to go on their road trip. Mu Nihuang decides to accompany them!

 

Lin Chen

- Maybe Lin Chen could be kidnapped as leverage against Mei Changsu, at which point Mei Changsu shrugs and waits fifteen minutes until the kidnappers are begging to give Lin Chen back? 

 

-It would be hilarious if Langya Hall, being the source of all knowledge etc, also moonlit as a relationship advice column. I can’t imagine the amount of chaos that this could cause, and I can’t decide whether Lin Chen would be an amazing relationship guru or a terrible one (purposefully or not!)

 

-Oops Lin Chen has accidentally Ascended to godhood through no fault of his own (he hadn’t realised that the MacGuffin he was looking for did that). Now he’s on a mission to gain more followers and game the system to stop Mei Changsu from dying

 

 

Xiāo Jǐnghuán (Nirvana in Fire)  

-I have many, many mixed feelings about Prince Yu and his inevitable fate in canon. I would love to see fic exploring how he could have taken a different path. What’s so bad about being an idle prince anyway? 

 

-Alternatively, I would love to see a fic where he has the opportunity to take a branching path but doesn’t (though I am aware that this  is very much  canon)

 

-Pre-reveal explorations of his relationship with MCS is my jam,  love it, he’s being manipulated but  he doesn’t know it. 

 

Twilight 

 

Fandom specific DNW: Volturi bashing 

 

Group: Carlisle Cullen/Aro , Group: Carlisle Cullen/Aro/Sulpicia , Group: Carlisle Cullen/Esme Cullen/Aro/Sulpicia  

I never thought that I would be asking for this but here we are! I got very into an exploration of these pairings through both Vinelle and TheCarnovorousMuffin’s fics on the subject. I would honestly love to see anything at all on them! Any combination of these pairings is wonderful. 

 

-How do they negotiate the relationship? How did they get together in the first place? 

 

-Outsider POV:  what do the guard think of this? What do Marcus and Caius? For that matter what does the rest of the world think? Do they advertise this relationship?  

 

Carlisle Cullen (Twilight)

-guilty pleasure, but I love seeing explorations of Carlisle being gifted (whether or not he knows it!) Is it his control? Compassion? Is he supernaturally charming? Or is it something wild? Can he actually fly? Emit nuclear radiation? Go wild! 

 

-Once again, outsider POV my beloved!  What do his colleagues think of Dr Cullen? Are there conspiracy theorists who have been tracking him throughout the ages? (Aro lets him get away with this because no one takes them seriously and he thinks that it’s hilarious). 

 

-What was his time in Volterra like, exactly? 

 

鬓边不是海棠红 | Winter Begonia 

CW: suicide 

 

Group: Chen Renxiang & Shang Xirui (Winter Begonia) 

I loved Chen Renxiang and thought that his character was very hard done by. He took shaving his head and ont being able to perform for a year with as much grace as possible in my opinion, especially since he didn’t particularly want to compete against Shang Xirui! I would love to see him return from Shanghai to Beiping (perhaps he was stopped from committing suicide on stage). Anything exploring his interactions of Shang Xirui, the opera troupe, and the Jiang family would be wonderful. 

 

Group: Gu Dali & Fan Xianger (Winter Begonia) 

I am a simple being and I just want to see bandit queen and second Madam Cheng please. I don’t think that they would approve of each other, but if they were forced to work together I believe that they could do wonderful things! 

 

Group: Ning Jiulang/Prince Qi (Winter Begonia)

-They are married and they have vegetable children. They were by far some of my favourite characters. How did they get to this point? What is it like, living together? And do they ever meet again after their separation? 

 

Ning Jiulang (Winter Begonia)

I feel like literally everyone of his generation loves and admires him and wants to have his attention. I would love something that explores that! Anything with Ning Jiulang in it would be eagerly appreciated. 

 

신입사관 구해령 | Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung

 

Group: Goo Hae-ryung & Office of Royal Decrees Historians 

Slice of life! More integrations! All of the officers having to work together on something. Everyone being appreciated for their skills! I just kind of want to revel in this universe because I love it so much. 

 

Group: Min U-won & Min U-hui 

These two sure went through a lot, huh. 

-post-canon. Actually learning to know each other again. I can’t imagine that they’ve really seen each other for decades. What’s it like? 

-pre or during canon: Min U-won is best friends with the crown prince who treats U-hui not that well. How does that make each of them feel? I guess it’s not something that you could exactly bring up… Would child Min U-won try and sneak into the inner palace to see his sister? Did people just kind of chuckle indulgently? 

-an AU where the Crown Prince didn’t believe that Min U-hui was a spy for her father, or if Min U-won was able to convince him of that. What could they have done if they were working together? 

 

Group: Min U-won & Yi Jin

I am a huge fan of loyal subject & their liege type dynamics, and honestly Yi Jin is the best Crown Prince (who isn’t discredited/killed etc by the end of the series) that I’ve seen. I would love to see anything exploring their relationship pre, during, or post canon. 

 

 

 镇魂 | Guardian 
Fandom DNW: Shen Wei/Ye Zun/Zhao Yunlan. I am so sorry. No judgement at all, I just feel a bit weird about this? By all means have them interact with each other, or be as tactile as they/you want, but please no explicit scenes with them all together. 

 

Group: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan & Dragon University Students (Guardian TV) 

-Anything to do with his life at the university! Shen Wei not realising that he’s 99% of the biology department’s recruiting strategy! Conspiracy boards about what Shen Wei actually does when he disappears (the top 2 contenders are that he’s got a secret modelling job or that his boyfriend is part of the mob)

 

Group: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan & SID Ensemble (Guardian TV)

-Shen Wei accidentally learns an annoying new power which means that the weather now reflects his emotions! Does he realise this? Maybe Zhao Yunlan is away (on a conference? A case? A holiday?) leading to literally days of rain in Dragon city before the SID decides that enough is enough and try to cheer him up

 

Yè Zūn (Guardian TV)

-Ye Zu vs the internet, who would win? (no one would win, this sounds like a terrible combination)

 

-you know what, I would love to see a story where Ye Zun manages to get friends (who possibly don’t know who he is and who aren’t his brother or connected to his brother in any way) because he has had trauma after trauma piled on and then he was stuck in solitary confinement for 10,000 years. Actually, any story where he manages to work through things in a healthy manner would be lovely. Maybe he writes a book? Becomes a film producer?

 

-Ye Zun publishes the next 50 shades of grey or outlander based on his brother’s romance and despite it becoming extremely popular Shen Wei has no idea. Of the SID, only Da Qing and Lin Jing know and they are being bribed to keep quiet 

 

-Ye Zun has integrated well into the modern world. Much better than his brother. I would love to see him do something like drag Shen Wei to a cosplay convention with him. 

 

-Shen Wei and Ye Zun getting mistaken for each other and just going with it would be amazing. Ye Zun has a lot of fun with it and Shen Wei just goes along with him because if his brother’s having fun far be it to be the one to rain on that parade. 

 

The Lord of the Rings 

 

Group: Aragorn & citizens of Gondor (Tolkien) 

I’m sure that Aragorn is a great king, but he’s also lived outside of Gondor for most of his life, and being chief of the Dunedain is a quite different to being one of the Great Kings of Man. How does he adapt? How do others adapt to him? Do the citizens love him? Are they puzzled by him? Do courtly fashions change to include ‘ranger chic’? And how does Aragorn feel about that? 

 

Group: Aragorn & Faramir (LotR - Tolkien)

-I just love the idea of exploring their relationship. They are two people who weren’t expecting to be king/steward. How does the weight of expectations lie of them? Are they able to  be friends, or is the gulf between Steward and King too far? 

-Some of the Gondorion nobles would like Faramir on the throne please (because they don’t like change? Because they don’t like Aragorn? Because they genuinely like Faramir? Because they  think he’ll  be easier to manipulate?). Faramir 100% does not want this. Aragorn would be convinced if it means that he has less paperwork…  (not really). 

 

Temeraire

 

Fandom Specific DNW: Temeraire/Laurence as a romantic ship

 

Group: William Laurence & Napoleon Bonaparte (Temeraire) and Group: William Laurence/Napoleon Bonaparte (Temeraire) 

I like the weird reverence that Napoleon has for Laurence? The way that he’s convinced that by gaining Laurence’s approval he can add legitimacy to his ideals. I would to see him attempt to woo him to his side: whether literally or not is up to you! Laurence having no idea that he’s being wooed would also be hilarious

 

William Laurence (Temeraire)

I do love the fact that the Temeraire series is very much from Laurence’s POV. I would love to see stories making use of the fact that he’s a very unreliable narrator in some respects! I would also adore outsider POV if the mood takes you! 

 

Some optional prompts: 

-Quiet moments between them Laurence and Temeraire. I love this relationship. 
-somehow, Laurence and Temeraire wake in a universe where Laurence is the dragon and Temeraire a human. Cue a lot of freaking out! Coaching each other into being able to even move. Even more freaking out! (in, of course, a very emotionally repressed way)
-for Political Reasons, instead of Australia, Laurence and Temeraire are shipped off to China in exile. Laurence hates being (technically) a prince (why does he merit bodyguards! Ites not like he’s a real prince!) while Temeraire is having an amazing time (at first at least).

 

七爷 | Qi Ye 

Fandom specific DNW: the story concentrating on Zhou Zishu/Wen Kexing, Helian Yi bashing

 

Group: Jing Beiyuan & Zhou Zishu (Qi Ye)

I am a huge fan of moral ambiguity, political dramas, and explorations of how far one can go for the greater good before the point of no return. I am also very intrigued by the way that the fates of these three men are intertwined. I don’t have any specific prompts for this fandom, but please know that I would love anything that you give me! 

 

 

Singin' in the Rain

Group: Don Lockwood/Kathy Selden/Cosmo Brown (Singin' in the Rain)

I love them all. How did they come together? How do they live? Did Kathy just assume that Cosmo and Don come as a package deal (Cosmo for one did Not assume that is is bemused to  find that he’s being folded into their household). 

 

Original Work 

I would be delighted to see anything that you produce based on these prompts! I would love to see a lush historical or fantastical setting. If you know a lot about a certain topic or time period and want to share, now is your time, I would be absolutely delighted to see it! 

 

For the superhero prompts, I have a huge soft spot for the sort of universes where ‘superhero’ or ‘supervillain’ is more like a job or a sports team than anything else, though of course if you’re inspired in any other directions please run with it! 

 

Basically, have fun! I will be delighted with anything you present me. 

Here is the list of relationships and characters that I have requested:

 

G: Superhero/Supervillain w/ Increasingly Weak Excuses for Teamups Against Hero's Foes (M/M) (OW) 

Girl Living in a Disquietingly Magical Small Town (OW) 

Group: Child Superhero & Their Concerned Supervillain Nemesis (OW) 

Group: Dashing lady adventurer/Sensible girl-next-door caught up in her exploits (F/F) 

Group: Isekai Protagonist/Male Love Interest (M/M OW) 

Group: Lonely Prince/Male Enemy Spy Who Needs to Befriend Him to Fulfil Mission 

Group: Paladin/That Damned Bard (OW) 

Group: Powerful Mage Forced into Teaching at Magical School/Long-time Rival Who Teaches There (M/M) 

Group: Ruthless Killer/Good Man Holding His Leash (OW)