yuletide!
Dear yuletide writer,
Thanks so much for offering any of these fandoms! (Or if you're arriving here from somewhere else: thanks for being interested in these fandoms! Treats are welcome but never expected.)
As always, optional details are optional, and this letter even more so.
But if you'd like more details, here goes.
General likes/dislikes:
I'd love fic of any (mix of) mood(s) and length. (My one exception is GeNazo; please see below.) Slice-of-life, casefic, character studies, vignettes, plotty fic -- it's all cool. I do enjoy short fic or fic in which nothing much actually happens, if that helps. I'm open to less common structures and styles, including second-person POV, but I'm not keen on first-person POV.
I'm a long-time fan of gen fic, so when I say that I'd be happy with fic anywhere from gen to shipfic, I mean it! (But I do seriously ship any mentioned pairings, too; I'm comfortable with fic of any rating, I don't have top/bottom prefs, and unrequited feelings are fine.)
Here are some themes that interest me, if it helps, but feel free to ignore this list entirely: detachment as a defence mechanism; obligations as both burden and anchor; how knowing something and being able to act on that knowledge are different things; the bargains that one makes for survival; the inherent unknowability of others.
---
Individual fandoms
鬼太郎誕生 ゲゲゲの謎 | Kitarou Tanjou: Gegege no Nazo
Character: Mizuki
Request: I'd love something about Mizuki learning to live in the aftermath -- of the war, of what happened in Nagura (whether or not he recalls anything), or both.
Mizuki sees himself as driven by the ruthless logic of survival -- yet beneath that is an instinctive, ultimately more powerful compassion. He speaks up for a stranger despite the risk; later, when they're no longer strangers, he goes back for him. How does his world change post-movie, now that he has to raise a child?
I requested only Mizuki and I'd love Mizuki-centric fic. But if you'd like to write about him and Gegerou, gen or otherwise, I'd love that too! More thoughts in my letter, if needed.
I haven't read/watched anything else from the Gegege universe, so I'd like fic that doesn't draw heavily from other canons.
Do-Not-Wants: PWP; feminisation; non-con between Gegerou and Mizuki; romantic or sexual content involving Mizuki and Sayo (Mizuki feeling guilt or compassion is fine; Sayo seeing Mizuki as someone to trust is fine) or Mizuki and Kitarou.
More thoughts: Timeline-wise, I'm open to fic set before the movie, with Mizuki learning to live in peacetime; missing/alternate scenes; post-movie scenarios; and any combination thereof. For mood, I'd prefer something quieter and/or melancholic, rather than fluffy-romantic or grimdark-angsty. I'm fond of the idea that Mizuki retains scraps of memories re: Nagura that he can't explain.
For Gegerou and Mizuki, I'm interested in anything from gen to UST to shipfic. I love their dynamic, with their growing camaraderie and trust and understanding, but also the distance inherent in their respective natures: how Mizuki is a frail, short-lived human; how Gegerou saved him out of pity, and Mizuki's instinctive anger upon hearing that.
For fic about Gegerou and Mizuki, I'd love missing/alternate scenes; post-movie Mizuki half-remembering (before Medama-Oyaji shows up); or fic set after Medama-Oyaji reveals himself (how much does he tell Mizuki?) in which they raise Kitarou.
Gegerou's love for Iwako is undeniable; if you'd like to address that in Gegerou/Mizuki fic (though you don't have to!), I'd prefer if Mizuki has qualms but Gegerou doesn't see any conflict between that and whatever he has with Mizuki.
If it matters: I understand Japanese (and the only English sub I've seen is the official one, so I might not catch references to fan translations). I don't have translation preferences for terms such as 妖怪 or 幽霊族.
---
Hell Dogs (2022)
Character: Any (nominated characters are Kanetaka Shogo, Murooka Hideki, Toki Tsutomu, Toake Yoshitaka)
Request: I chose 'Any' very deliberately: I'd love fic about any one or more of these guys, gen or otherwise, canon-compliant or canon-divergent. The movie has such fascinating dynamics of loyalty and trust, tests and betrayal; fic exploring any of that would be great.
Here are some ideas, but don't feel obliged to use any:
Tak: Something about identity and betrayal, police ideals versus Muro as a partner. How he wanted Muro to escape, yet still made that final choice. (But I'm open to canon divergence where he doesn't face that choice, or chooses differently!)
Muro: Anna and the support group versus yakuza life. Wanting to be a hero, but not to leave Toshokai. His reaction to discovering Tak's identity; if not for Emiri, would he still have confronted Tak?
Toki: His backstory with Muro, and what he makes of Muro and Tak's partnership. The fact that he ignored what Tak was doing for the sake of Toshokai. Why he didn't want to become Toake's secretary.
Toake: How he changed sides; was it a forced decision or had he already been wavering? His suspicions about Tak, and how they change over the course of the movie. (Bear isn't nominated, but if you'd like to write about him and Toake, I'd love to read that too.)
If you'd like to write pairingfic, please do!! The movie makes so many pairings (or complicated three-way relationships) plausible; more thoughts in my letter, if needed.
Do-Not-Wants: Violence to women (references to canon events are fine).
More thoughts: As promised, thoughts on pairings! I'm comfortable with fic of any rating, don't have top/bottom prefs, and am okay with plot-supported angry sex/dubcon/noncon.
Tak/Muro - Their combination of warmth (the training, the silly two-option questions) and tragedy ("You and I... it could have been good.") is everything to me. When Muro's fighting Mole, he uses the throwing move that Tak taught him; learnt in sunlit idleness, used in a life-and-death struggle in the rain. I still think about that.
Tak/Toki - I wonder if Toki felt wariness or jealousy (besides the obvious) about Tak -- or suspicion, given the test with the undercover narc. The Tak/Toki/Muro dynamic is fascinating, too. Toki knew Muro first; how did he feel when Tak entered the picture?
Tak/Toake - I'm always here for hidden identities and changing sympathies and trying to figure out how much the other person knows. How did Toake test his suspicions? What would have happened if Tak took the bait?
Muro/Toki - How did Toki raise Muro, seriously. Like... how does he know it's not fun to hit him? The depth of Muro's loyalty to Toki (he went to apologise!!) also gets me.
Muro/Toake - Their apparent shared sense of justice was interesting. Muro noticing how Toake looks at Tak is most obviously Tak/Muro, but also means Muro was watching Toake... I'd be open to Muro/Tak/Toake, is all I'm saying.
Toki/Toake - What did Toki make of Toake when he first joined, and how did that change? Did he ever suspect him? What about Toake's view of Toki?
Full disclosure: I've written fic for this fandom, but that doesn't need to be taken as indicative of my preferred characterisation.
If it matters: I'm fine with either the Netflix subtitled names or the actual spoken names (the biggest differences are probably Tak vs Kanetaka, and Slick vs Mikami).
---
ガリレオシリーズ - 東野圭吾 | Detective Galileo Series - Higashino Keigo
Characters: Yukawa Manabu, Kusanagi Shunpei
Request: I love every shade of the Yukawa and Kusanagi dynamic: from their easy banter and fondness for each other, to the tension and conflict when Yukawa insists on his own approach to cases (most devastatingly in Kindan no Majutsu, Silent Parade, and Toumei na Rasen).
I'd love fic from any point in canon (so it's fine if you've only read one of the novels or short story collections), anywhere from gen to UST to shipfic. A closer look at the conflict or aftermath of a specific case (or in their partnership in general); stories from their university days; slice-of-life scenes -- anything, as long as it's about the two of them. There are ideas in my letter for every book in the series, if that helps!
I would like both Yukawa and Kusanagi to appear -- unless you're writing fic based solely on A Midsummer's Equation, in which case it's fine to exclude Kusanagi.
Do-Not-Wants: Utsumi being paired with anyone.
More thoughts: I've read all the English-translated novels; all the short story collections and Kindan no Majutsu in Chinese translation; and Toumei na Rasen in Japanese.
As promised, some ideas for each book:
Novels (in English)
The Devotion of Suspect X - In the short stories before this, Yukawa may be coy about his theories, but he doesn't give Kusanagi reason for unease; this first novel is the major turning point, and something about that conflict would be great. I'd also love Kusanagi's view of Yukawa and Ishigami: two geniuses in a world he can't enter.
Salvation of a Saint - This is the most classic setup for shipfic: Yukawa seeing Kusanagi's feelings for Ayane and considering his own feelings for Kusanagi. The gen route is just as interesting: what Yukawa feels about his friend's weakness. That incredible university-era anecdote about Kusanagi and the kittens -- that haunts me forever.
A Midsummer's Equation - There's relatively little Kusanagi interaction here; for this, I'd love fic that focuses on Yukawa's interactions with Kyohei, and the idea of painful truths (a lesson which Yukawa himself has had to learn, over and over).
Silent Parade - I still can't believe how long the timeskip was after 禁断の魔術; I wish we'd had more about their reunion. For the case itself, I'll never get tired of stories where Yukawa does his own investigation and keeps things from Kusanagi + the resulting tensions.
Short story collections and untranslated-in-English novel(la)s
探偵ガリレオ - The beginning of their partnership! Maybe something about what it was like catching up, and how they've changed (or not) since uni.
予知夢 - Something about their different views on love (bravery vs statistics)?
ガリレオの苦悩 - My favourite recurring theme is when people whom Yukawa cares about become criminals, so I have a lot of feelings about the「操縦る」case.
虚像の道化師 - So many amazing Yukawa and Kusanagi moments in this! The hospital visit? The wedding case and sharing a room??
禁断の魔術 - Their case-related conflict reached a peak here and I have never recovered. Then the sakura-filled moment on which it ends, and the timeskip... anything about this case and its fallout would be incredible.
透明な螺旋 - This novel was... a lot. The final scene, with that mix of distance and trust between the both of them, felt strangely sad to me.
Please also appreciate this series of Yukawa/Kusanagi canon observations by a Chinese reader, with highlights from:
《侦探伽利略》
《预知梦》
《嫌疑人X的献身》
《伽利略的苦恼》
《圣女的救济》
Full disclosure: I've written fic about Yukawa and Kusanagi, but that doesn't need to be taken as indicative of my preferred characterisation.
If it matters: I understand Japanese and visit Tokyo often, so specific references would be cool -- but I'm no expert on life there, so no worries.
Thanks so much for offering any of these fandoms! (Or if you're arriving here from somewhere else: thanks for being interested in these fandoms! Treats are welcome but never expected.)
As always, optional details are optional, and this letter even more so.
But if you'd like more details, here goes.
General likes/dislikes:
I'd love fic of any (mix of) mood(s) and length. (My one exception is GeNazo; please see below.) Slice-of-life, casefic, character studies, vignettes, plotty fic -- it's all cool. I do enjoy short fic or fic in which nothing much actually happens, if that helps. I'm open to less common structures and styles, including second-person POV, but I'm not keen on first-person POV.
I'm a long-time fan of gen fic, so when I say that I'd be happy with fic anywhere from gen to shipfic, I mean it! (But I do seriously ship any mentioned pairings, too; I'm comfortable with fic of any rating, I don't have top/bottom prefs, and unrequited feelings are fine.)
Here are some themes that interest me, if it helps, but feel free to ignore this list entirely: detachment as a defence mechanism; obligations as both burden and anchor; how knowing something and being able to act on that knowledge are different things; the bargains that one makes for survival; the inherent unknowability of others.
---
Individual fandoms
鬼太郎誕生 ゲゲゲの謎 | Kitarou Tanjou: Gegege no Nazo
Character: Mizuki
Request: I'd love something about Mizuki learning to live in the aftermath -- of the war, of what happened in Nagura (whether or not he recalls anything), or both.
Mizuki sees himself as driven by the ruthless logic of survival -- yet beneath that is an instinctive, ultimately more powerful compassion. He speaks up for a stranger despite the risk; later, when they're no longer strangers, he goes back for him. How does his world change post-movie, now that he has to raise a child?
I requested only Mizuki and I'd love Mizuki-centric fic. But if you'd like to write about him and Gegerou, gen or otherwise, I'd love that too! More thoughts in my letter, if needed.
I haven't read/watched anything else from the Gegege universe, so I'd like fic that doesn't draw heavily from other canons.
Do-Not-Wants: PWP; feminisation; non-con between Gegerou and Mizuki; romantic or sexual content involving Mizuki and Sayo (Mizuki feeling guilt or compassion is fine; Sayo seeing Mizuki as someone to trust is fine) or Mizuki and Kitarou.
More thoughts: Timeline-wise, I'm open to fic set before the movie, with Mizuki learning to live in peacetime; missing/alternate scenes; post-movie scenarios; and any combination thereof. For mood, I'd prefer something quieter and/or melancholic, rather than fluffy-romantic or grimdark-angsty. I'm fond of the idea that Mizuki retains scraps of memories re: Nagura that he can't explain.
For Gegerou and Mizuki, I'm interested in anything from gen to UST to shipfic. I love their dynamic, with their growing camaraderie and trust and understanding, but also the distance inherent in their respective natures: how Mizuki is a frail, short-lived human; how Gegerou saved him out of pity, and Mizuki's instinctive anger upon hearing that.
For fic about Gegerou and Mizuki, I'd love missing/alternate scenes; post-movie Mizuki half-remembering (before Medama-Oyaji shows up); or fic set after Medama-Oyaji reveals himself (how much does he tell Mizuki?) in which they raise Kitarou.
Gegerou's love for Iwako is undeniable; if you'd like to address that in Gegerou/Mizuki fic (though you don't have to!), I'd prefer if Mizuki has qualms but Gegerou doesn't see any conflict between that and whatever he has with Mizuki.
If it matters: I understand Japanese (and the only English sub I've seen is the official one, so I might not catch references to fan translations). I don't have translation preferences for terms such as 妖怪 or 幽霊族.
---
Hell Dogs (2022)
Character: Any (nominated characters are Kanetaka Shogo, Murooka Hideki, Toki Tsutomu, Toake Yoshitaka)
Request: I chose 'Any' very deliberately: I'd love fic about any one or more of these guys, gen or otherwise, canon-compliant or canon-divergent. The movie has such fascinating dynamics of loyalty and trust, tests and betrayal; fic exploring any of that would be great.
Here are some ideas, but don't feel obliged to use any:
Tak: Something about identity and betrayal, police ideals versus Muro as a partner. How he wanted Muro to escape, yet still made that final choice. (But I'm open to canon divergence where he doesn't face that choice, or chooses differently!)
Muro: Anna and the support group versus yakuza life. Wanting to be a hero, but not to leave Toshokai. His reaction to discovering Tak's identity; if not for Emiri, would he still have confronted Tak?
Toki: His backstory with Muro, and what he makes of Muro and Tak's partnership. The fact that he ignored what Tak was doing for the sake of Toshokai. Why he didn't want to become Toake's secretary.
Toake: How he changed sides; was it a forced decision or had he already been wavering? His suspicions about Tak, and how they change over the course of the movie. (Bear isn't nominated, but if you'd like to write about him and Toake, I'd love to read that too.)
If you'd like to write pairingfic, please do!! The movie makes so many pairings (or complicated three-way relationships) plausible; more thoughts in my letter, if needed.
Do-Not-Wants: Violence to women (references to canon events are fine).
More thoughts: As promised, thoughts on pairings! I'm comfortable with fic of any rating, don't have top/bottom prefs, and am okay with plot-supported angry sex/dubcon/noncon.
Tak/Muro - Their combination of warmth (the training, the silly two-option questions) and tragedy ("You and I... it could have been good.") is everything to me. When Muro's fighting Mole, he uses the throwing move that Tak taught him; learnt in sunlit idleness, used in a life-and-death struggle in the rain. I still think about that.
Tak/Toki - I wonder if Toki felt wariness or jealousy (besides the obvious) about Tak -- or suspicion, given the test with the undercover narc. The Tak/Toki/Muro dynamic is fascinating, too. Toki knew Muro first; how did he feel when Tak entered the picture?
Tak/Toake - I'm always here for hidden identities and changing sympathies and trying to figure out how much the other person knows. How did Toake test his suspicions? What would have happened if Tak took the bait?
Muro/Toki - How did Toki raise Muro, seriously. Like... how does he know it's not fun to hit him? The depth of Muro's loyalty to Toki (he went to apologise!!) also gets me.
Muro/Toake - Their apparent shared sense of justice was interesting. Muro noticing how Toake looks at Tak is most obviously Tak/Muro, but also means Muro was watching Toake... I'd be open to Muro/Tak/Toake, is all I'm saying.
Toki/Toake - What did Toki make of Toake when he first joined, and how did that change? Did he ever suspect him? What about Toake's view of Toki?
Full disclosure: I've written fic for this fandom, but that doesn't need to be taken as indicative of my preferred characterisation.
If it matters: I'm fine with either the Netflix subtitled names or the actual spoken names (the biggest differences are probably Tak vs Kanetaka, and Slick vs Mikami).
---
ガリレオシリーズ - 東野圭吾 | Detective Galileo Series - Higashino Keigo
Characters: Yukawa Manabu, Kusanagi Shunpei
Request: I love every shade of the Yukawa and Kusanagi dynamic: from their easy banter and fondness for each other, to the tension and conflict when Yukawa insists on his own approach to cases (most devastatingly in Kindan no Majutsu, Silent Parade, and Toumei na Rasen).
I'd love fic from any point in canon (so it's fine if you've only read one of the novels or short story collections), anywhere from gen to UST to shipfic. A closer look at the conflict or aftermath of a specific case (or in their partnership in general); stories from their university days; slice-of-life scenes -- anything, as long as it's about the two of them. There are ideas in my letter for every book in the series, if that helps!
I would like both Yukawa and Kusanagi to appear -- unless you're writing fic based solely on A Midsummer's Equation, in which case it's fine to exclude Kusanagi.
Do-Not-Wants: Utsumi being paired with anyone.
More thoughts: I've read all the English-translated novels; all the short story collections and Kindan no Majutsu in Chinese translation; and Toumei na Rasen in Japanese.
As promised, some ideas for each book:
Novels (in English)
The Devotion of Suspect X - In the short stories before this, Yukawa may be coy about his theories, but he doesn't give Kusanagi reason for unease; this first novel is the major turning point, and something about that conflict would be great. I'd also love Kusanagi's view of Yukawa and Ishigami: two geniuses in a world he can't enter.
Salvation of a Saint - This is the most classic setup for shipfic: Yukawa seeing Kusanagi's feelings for Ayane and considering his own feelings for Kusanagi. The gen route is just as interesting: what Yukawa feels about his friend's weakness. That incredible university-era anecdote about Kusanagi and the kittens -- that haunts me forever.
A Midsummer's Equation - There's relatively little Kusanagi interaction here; for this, I'd love fic that focuses on Yukawa's interactions with Kyohei, and the idea of painful truths (a lesson which Yukawa himself has had to learn, over and over).
Silent Parade - I still can't believe how long the timeskip was after 禁断の魔術; I wish we'd had more about their reunion. For the case itself, I'll never get tired of stories where Yukawa does his own investigation and keeps things from Kusanagi + the resulting tensions.
Short story collections and untranslated-in-English novel(la)s
探偵ガリレオ - The beginning of their partnership! Maybe something about what it was like catching up, and how they've changed (or not) since uni.
予知夢 - Something about their different views on love (bravery vs statistics)?
ガリレオの苦悩 - My favourite recurring theme is when people whom Yukawa cares about become criminals, so I have a lot of feelings about the「操縦る」case.
虚像の道化師 - So many amazing Yukawa and Kusanagi moments in this! The hospital visit? The wedding case and sharing a room??
禁断の魔術 - Their case-related conflict reached a peak here and I have never recovered. Then the sakura-filled moment on which it ends, and the timeskip... anything about this case and its fallout would be incredible.
透明な螺旋 - This novel was... a lot. The final scene, with that mix of distance and trust between the both of them, felt strangely sad to me.
Please also appreciate this series of Yukawa/Kusanagi canon observations by a Chinese reader, with highlights from:
《侦探伽利略》
《预知梦》
《嫌疑人X的献身》
《伽利略的苦恼》
《圣女的救济》
Full disclosure: I've written fic about Yukawa and Kusanagi, but that doesn't need to be taken as indicative of my preferred characterisation.
If it matters: I understand Japanese and visit Tokyo often, so specific references would be cool -- but I'm no expert on life there, so no worries.