catchmeifyoucreon

Thank you so much for writing for me - I hope you have a great Yuletide!

Likes:

• Canon divergences; fix-it fic; make-it-worse fic.
• Destructive relationships; overwhelming emotional connections; characters becoming inseparable due to shared trauma.
• Traumatic events bringing two people closer.
• Tragic endings for characters caused by their own choices.
• Forced intimacy (including sex pollen, body swaps, Bad Guys Made Them Do It, locked in a confined space, etc.).
• Noncon & dubcon scenarios of all kinds (including drugged/drunk sex, gangbangs, marital abuse, un-negotiated kink, etc.).
•  Outsider POV on a taboo or forbidden relationship.
• Captive or hostage situations.
• Enemies/rivals forced to work together.
• Reunions.
• Explorations into different historical sexual mores/different understandings of sex across cultures/time periods.
• Found families and families of choice.
• Time loops, particularly where one character snaps, doing things they never usually would.
• Dreamscapes and imaginary worlds (particularly when characters are trapped in these, or it’s ambiguous as to how “real” what is happening to them within the dream world may be).
• Circular/recursive narratives; narratives that refer back to previous events after having revealed new context that allows the reader to see the first iteration in a different light.

Do Not Wants (DNWs):

• Scat, emetophilia, vore, disembowelment.
• Castration, cock & ball torture, penile chastity devices, sounding.
• Raceplay.
• Explicit depictions of sexual acts featuring characters under the age of 17 (references or implications are fine, as is kissing).
• Modern AU for historical or fantasy canons; mundane AU for canons with supernatural elements; mafia AU; sci-fi AU.

Fandom-specific DNW for 镇魂 | Guardian – priest:

• Any plot point or character that only appears in the TV show, e.g., Haixingren/Dixingren, Chu Nianzhi, etc.

Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë

Catherine Linton (Wuthering Heights - Brontë)
Heathcliff (Wuthering Heights - Brontë)

Context:

Wuthering Heights focuses on the devastating consequences of the tumultuous relationship between Catherine (Cathy) Earnshaw and Heathcliff, an outsider brought home by her father. Following a misunderstanding in their youth, Heathcliff abandons Cathy and she instead marries her neighbour, Edgar Linton.

Shortly after Heathcliff’s return triggers delirium for Cathy, she gives birth to a daughter, Catherine Linton. Cathy dies soon after, leaving Heathcliff distraught and haunted by her ghost. To get his revenge for her death, he plots to marry young Catherine to his own son, her cousin Linton Heathcliff, and keeps her trapped in Wuthering Heights until she agrees.

The novel can be read online at Project Gutenburg.

Prompts:

I’d be very interested to read a twisted, psychosexual dynamic between Heathcliff and Catherine – perhaps she reminds him of her mother with her “Earnshaw eyes”, or perhaps there’s even a lingering possibility that she could be his daughter. I also love the implication from Nelly the maid that Linton’s love letters to Catherine are written by a “more experienced source” (i.e., his father).

Perhaps Catherine realises (or suspects) a relationship between Heathcliff and her mother and confronts him about it. Perhaps she tries to get through to him after he locks himself in his room near the end of the book. Or perhaps Heathcliff plans to exact revenge on his rival Edgar Linton by marrying Catherine himself, rather than having Linton marry her.

For a gen perspective, I’d be interested to read something where Heathcliff grows fonder of Catherine, despite the blame he places on her for her mother’s death, and struggles to reconcile his feelings. Or else something where Catherine struggles with her own mixed feelings following Heathcliff’s death.

***

關於我和鬼變成家人的那件事 | Marry My Dead Body (2023)

Mao Pang-yu
Wu Ming-han

Context:

Marry My Dead Body is a Taiwanese comedy-drama film featuring the prejudiced policeman Wu Ming-han, who accidentally finds himself trapped in a ghost marriage with a gay man, Mao Pang-yu. Mao Pang-yu died in a hit and run, and his ghost appears to torment Wu Ming-han into helping him find his killer. As he gets to know Mao Pang-yu, Wu Ming-han’s prejudices are challenged and he begins to grow closer to his ghost husband.

The film is available to watch on Netflix. You can watch the trailer on YouTube.

Prompts:

I ship them, and I also love their canon dynamic of platonic/ambiguously romantic soulmates.

I’d love to read any kind of fix-it fic for this canon with Mao Pang-yu sticking around after the end of the movie (either as a ghost or restored to life). Something where they end up as private detectives after the events of the movie, working together to solve crimes, would be really fun!

I’d equally love anything set mid-canon – maybe they do kiss in that scene in the gay bar, and have to deal with the fall-out from that, whether that’s realising that they do have romantic feelings for each other, or Wu Ming-han coming to terms with his sexuality and/or feelings for Mao Pang-yu?

Or, for a darker prompt, maybe the crime boss responsible for Mao Pang-yu’s death forces Wu Ming-han into a sexual situation with a henchman, and Mao Pang-yu possesses the guy and takes over in an attempt (maybe unsuccessful) to make things easier and less horrific for Wu Ming-han?

***

镇魂 | Guardian - priest

Chu Shuzhi
Guo Changcheng

Context:

Guardian is a danmei novel featuring the various ghosts and monsters of the Special Investigation Department, an agency (headed by the sardonic and whip-sharp Zhao Yunlan) that deals with supernatural occurrences in Dragon City, working with the Soul-Executing Emissary who runs the Netherworld to deal with these cases.

In the course of the various cases the department is tasked to solve, Zhao Yunlan meets a mysterious university professor, Shen Wei, and the two strike up an intense relationship (much to the SID team’s varied amusement and dismay). But there’s more to Shen Wei than meets the eye – and he knows something about Zhao Yunlan’s past that could change everything.

It's into this eclectic group that Guo Changcheng sets foot one day, after his uncle secures him a government job and he’s assigned to this strange department. Guo Changcheng is a nervous young man who can barely string a sentence together. He’s terrified of everything, except – somehow – his co-worker Chu Shuzhi, a necromancer and zombie Corpse King who constantly dissuades him from acts of kindness. But Guo Changcheng refuses to give up on kindness despite being rebuffed at every turn.

The Seven Seas website has links to buy the three volumes of Guardian in English translation.

Prompts:

I love the contrast between Guo Changcheng’s kindness and the way he learns to use his fear as a weapon throughout the series, and Chu Shuzhi’s jaded viewpoint and his ruthlessness, his refusal to be afraid of anyone or anything (except perhaps the Soul-Executing Emissary). I like that, despite the fact that he would never admit it openly, Chu Shuzhi comes to care about Guo Changcheng, helping him and saving him multiple times (including from bad blind dates, in the bonus stories set post-canon).

I’d love to see a fic set post-canon: maybe a casefic where they have to work on something together and we get to see more of how their relationship develops? I love the moments in canon where they work together, so anything along those lines where Guo Changcheng gets to shine and Chu Shuzhi gets to pretend he doesn’t care about “Xiao-Guo” while caring very, very much, would be brilliant. I’m also very open to casefic involving some kind of forced proximity or intimacy – sex pollen, bodyswap, bodysharing, fake dating, being bound together, etc. would all be great.

Or else, perhaps something set mid-canon, when Guo Changcheng follows his “Chu-ge” home on Zhao Yunlan’s orders – what if Guo Changcheng didn’t go home after Chu Shuzhi confronted him? What would happen if Guo Changcheng ever set foot inside Chu Shuzhi’s house? What does Chu Shuzhi feel about Guo Changcheng seeing him in such a vulnerable moment (in his home, no less)? Does he lash out more, or do they come to an understanding of sorts? What does Chu Shuzhi’s home even look like?

Fandom-specific Do Not Wants:

·       Any plot point or character that only appears in the TV show, e.g., Haixingren/Dixingren, Chu Nianzhi, etc.

***

花开有时颓靡无声 | Meet You at the Blossom (TV)

Jin Xiaobao
Su Yin (Meet You at the Blossom)

Context:

Meet You at the Blossom is a Chinese BL drama produced by Thailand and filmed in Taiwan. It tells the story of Jin Xiaobao, a spoiled heir from a wealthy merchant family, who stumbles across what he believes to be a beautiful woman. The woman in questions turns out to be a man – the cold-blooded Zongzheng Huai’en, out on an assassination mission. Despite Huai’en’s initial coldness, Xiaobao’s persistence combined with various fun plot devices (including sex pollen) work to bring the two together.

But Huai’en is working for his father, an exiled prince with a grudge against the Emperor. When Huai’en exposes Xiaobao’s family for smuggling, leading to their imprisonment and Xiaobao’s torture, it is Xiaobao’s childhood friend Su Yin who comes to the rescue. Huai’en is forced to fight for Xiaobao’s heart – and he needs to get past Su Yin first.

All 12 episodes can be watched for free on YouTube with English, Chinese, or Thai subtitles.

Prompts:

The endgame ship is Huaibao, which I very much enjoy – but I also love the complex relationship between Xiaobao and Su Yin, which is years in the making and therefore familiar in the extreme, but also has so many layers of complexity due to Su Yin’s position in the imperial court and Xiaobao’s gratitude to Su Yin for all of the help he has given Xiaobao and his family. And of course, there’s Su Yin’s jealousy and possessiveness over Xiaobao, with the hint of underlying feelings on Su Yin’s part – which Xiaobao never fully acknowledges.

I’d love to read anything about the endless, unspoken complexities between them. Perhaps a bad decision hook-up while Xiaobao is with Su Yin in Annan? Or just something where Xiaobao realises how deep Su Yin’s feelings for him run, even if he’s not able to fully reciprocate?

Or maybe something post-canon, when Su Yin goes to visit Xiaobao and Huai’en, and they discuss the past? Could be bittersweet with any feelings remaining unrequited on Su Yin’s part, or maybe Xiaobao and Huai’en could find a way to make some space for Su Yin in their relationship… (or perhaps Huaibao’s relationship ends badly and Xiaobao returns to Su Yin)?

Or, for a darker prompt, I do love Su Yin in his short-lived villain era, so any dark take on Su Yin's character would be great! Perhaps he kills or otherwise permanently removes Huai’en from the equation, manipulating Xiaobao into staying under his protection forever/taking advantage of Xiaobao’s gratitude to manoeuvre him into a romantic/sexual relationship?

***

Regeneration – Pat Barker

W.H.R. Rivers
Billy Prior

Context:

The Regeneration trilogy is a historical fiction series focusing on the psychiatrist W.H.R. Rivers, and his attempts to treat shell-shocked soldiers during the Great War of 1914-18. The first book is set in the treatment facility Craiglockhart and heavily features the war poets Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen, both gay men who struck up a friendship during their stay. The other main character is the fiction Billy Prior, a sardonic asthmatic with selective mutism who is the only one who can give Rivers a run for his money.

In the second and third books, we delve deeper into Prior’s inner life, as the books shift to focus more on him and his patient-client relationship with Rivers – a relationship where Prior is constantly trying to push boundaries. Prior is a bisexual sadist with a deep, hidden self-loathing. His PTSD manifests in fugue states where he takes on a crueller version of his personality. After these episodes, he doesn’t remember what he did, which terrifies him and challenges Rivers.

But the war is still waiting, and Prior can’t leave it behind forever – no matter how much Rivers wishes he would.

The Regeneration trilogy can be bought from any good bookshop or borrowed from most local libraries.

Prompts:

I love the way their relationship constantly fluctuates between aggression, understanding, and a deep dependence on one another. The way Rivers tries and fails to keep himself at a professional distance from Prior, the way Prior needles and teases him but also desperately craves his approval and understanding… it’s all so good. I love the constant ambiguity between them, the way they never quite speak their desires for one another aloud (except, in Prior’s case, in jest).

I’d love literally anything featuring these two. Mid-canon missing scenes, post-canon with Rivers grieving over what could have been, or canon divergence where Prior survives and finds his way back to Rivers… it’s all good!

***

In Parenthesis – David Jones

Bates (In Parenthesis – David Jones)
Coldpepper (In Parenthesis – David Jones)

Context:

In Parenthesis is a modernist prose poem based on David Jones’ experiences as an infantryman during the Great War of 1914-18. It tells the story of a soldier called John Ball, an Englishman who joins a mixed regiment of Welsh and English soldiers. The poem follows the regiment as they journey over to France to fight in the trenches. One of the poem’s most famous passages is the boast of Dai Greatcoat, a deathless, mythical figure among the soldiers who tells of past battles from ancient times to the present.

The poem culminates at Mametz Wood during the Battle of the Somme, where many of the men die.

Bates and Coldpepper, the characters I’ve requested, are two soldiers who appear in Part 7 and are mentioned twice – once where they are introduced to as “two lovers from Ebury Bridge”, and again when Coldpepper dies, leaving Bates to bear his “weight of woe”.

In Parenthesis can be read for free on the Internet Archive.

Prompts:

I’d love to read something about how Bates and Coldpepper met, how they became lovers, and how they came to be in the military – was one conscripted and the other joined up to be with them, were they both conscripted, or did they both voluntarily join up?

Or I’d also be really interested to read something about their time in the military – the poem is plainly aware they’re lovers, so how many of the men around them know? How do the other men react? Do Bates and Coldpepper mind if people know about them? Do they ever manage to get some time alone? Do any of the other men help them out or pretend not to see? How do they manage the lack of privacy?

Alternatively, I’d love something post-canon where Bates has to learn to live without Coldpepper, and also grieve him without being able to fully express his sense of loss to the people around him, who might judge him or even hurt him for daring to speak about Coldpepper as his lover.

***

I'm open to treats!

I've received so many wonderful gifts this year, too, which I highly recommend if you like darker themes (grief, death, noncon, trauma, etc.) and C-drama. You can find and read all the gifts I've received this year here. Fandoms include The Untamed, Word of Honor, Scum Villain, 2ha, Sophocles' Oedipus Cycle, Beyond Evil, and Good Omens (TV).

I also wanted to make a rec list of some of my favourite works I've found in the wild this year. Not all of the works I'm going to recommend were written this year, but they were all read by me during 2023. I'm very much drawn to rare-pairs and side characters, to unusual and under-explored relationship dynamics, and often to dark themes and heavier topics (although I also read my fair share of lighter stuff, and some of those fics will also find their way in)! 

 

I recently watched BBC Ghosts, which is hilarious and heart-warming, and occasionally heart-breaking. I instantly started looking for fic after finishing all five series, and I've found so much brilliant stuff! Here are a few of my absolute favourites:


A Kiss, Then - SunriseBirds (The Captain/Thomas Thorne, Explicit, 19,793 words)

This is a beautifully written fic exploring the slow evolution of a relationship between Thomas and the Captain. It features a lot of really fierce  sexual tension, including a scorching scene where the Captain demonstrates to Thomas how he used to seduce men - carefully, with the constant, looming fear of being caught out, but also the thrill of that moment of connection and shared understanding. It also weaves in some fascinating and deeply convincing backstories for Thomas and the Captain, studying their respective histories with love and sex.

drug club - Aziz (The Captain/Thomas Thorne, Mature, 6,530 words)

I love the concept and execution of this fic - several of the ghosts, including the Captain and Thomas, die with various illicit substances on their person, and when the Captain and Thomas bump into one another on the roof of Button House, they end up sharing these and beginning what Pat, many years later, turns into Drug Club. Along the way, of course, feelings develop between the Captain and Thomas as they grow more intimate while sharing drugs and memories with one another. What's hard to do and say for them both in broad daylight becomes easier during the dark nights spent on the roof together.

two's company - masterofgallifrey (The Captain & Mike Cooper, General Audiences, 11,230 words)

This fic features the Captain accidentally possessing Mike, and the chaos that ensues. I loved the friendship that emerges between Mike and the Captain while they spend enforced time in Mike's head together. There's also comedy (and some more heart-wrenching moments) to be found in the misunderstandings between the two, due to their extremely different personalities and the Captain's need for control clashing with Mike's ownership of his own body.

Secret Club - TaraTheMeerkat (Humphrey Bone & Alison Cooper & Julian Fawcett, General Audiences, 2,166 words)

This is a really lovely story which features Alison coming up with a solution for Humphrey's head/body separation issue, and the inaugural meeting of a "secret club". As Julian puts it: "How you can have a so-called ‘secret club’ with two people, eh? That’s not a club. That’s a- a- ...A generic meeting of two friends. That’s all that is."

hidden treasures - natequarter (Humphrey Bone & Alison Cooper & Robin, Teen, 2,575 words)

In which Alison finds some nude portraits during a clear-out, and Humphrey reminisces. This fic is a lot of fun, with plenty of hilarious chaos from the ghosts as they all try to figure out who the mysterious naked portraits represent.

 

Now, onto my recs for The Untamed. I feel like my tastes have changed quite significantly over the two or three years I've spent in the fandom. I used to read a lot of Wangxian, then moved on to Songxue and Yi City fic, and now I'm mainly here for the Chengxian and anything that features Jiaojiao as a main character.

Some Nights I Drown In The Wade - geckoholic (Jiang Cheng/Wei Wuxian, Not Rated, 1,433 words)

I love the portrayal of grief in this fic, and the way Wei Wuxian refuses to leave Jiang Cheng alone in Lotus Pier, even as a ghost. The huge, overwhelming messiness of their feelings for one another are on full display here.

due time (the plausible deniability remix) - runespoor (Jiang Cheng/Wei Wuxian, Mature, 1,702 words)

This fic is absolutely fantastic; it's set during the Cloud Recesses lectures and full of the burgeoning desires and uncertainties of adolescence. Wei Wuxian's POV sparkles and shimmers, as do the visions of summer conjured up as he waits for Jiang Cheng to return to him.

The Beauty of the Moon - tuesnight (Wang Lingjiao/Wen Qing, Explicit, 5,140 words)

This was a gift to me (Femslash Kink Exchange), and absolutely wonderful. Jiaojiao, overhearing a rumour, decides to seduce Wen Qing, and gets more than she bargained for. Jiaojiao's perspective is sharp and naive all at once, and where she is jaded in some ways, she is startlingly untested in others. I love this portrayal of Wen Qing as well: unknowable, aloof, with a streak of cruelty running beneath her cool surface.

Savor the Combination - Zeebie (Wang Lingjiao/Wen Zhuliu, Explicit, 2,759 words)

Another gift to me (Nonconathon), which I am absolutely over the moon to have received - it features an AU in which the Jiangs beat the Wens at Lotus Pier, and Yu Ziyuan comes up with a public punishment to shame Jiaojiao and Wen Zhuliu. The grim satisfaction she takes in the cruelty of their punishment, and the camaraderie in sadism she finds with Wei Wuxian in particular, is absolutely fascinating to read. I also love the way Jiaojiao and Wen Zhuliu are written in defeat.

I couldn't have a rec list without Word of Honor - I recently watched this for the third time, introducing it to my best friend who had never seen it (or any other C-drama) before. It was really exciting to re-watch the show with someone experiencing it for the first time, and it rekindled all the love and joy I always feel when I watch this show. It's so beautifully made, with such love poured into it from the actors, the directors, the writers, and the whole crew. I'm so eternally grateful for the miracle that is this show and its fandom, which has persisted despite it all. The show stands as a testament to the labour of love and the risks that were taken to bring it to life, and it will always have the hugest space in my heart. Please let's never stop writing and drawing and making fan creations of all kinds for it!

red and white and black and gone - schnaf (Du Pusa/Liu Qianqiao, General Audiences, 1,295 words)

This is a compelling short piece focusing on Du Pusa's state of mind following Qianqiao's death. I love the way she tries and fails to cope with her loss, and Qianqiao's ambiguous cameo is really well done.

Bound to You - Afinasca (Du Pusa/Gao Xiaolian, Du Pusa/Gao Xiaolian/Qiao Luohan, Explicit, 2,835 words)

This was a gift to me (Smut4Smut), and it is just perfect. The pragmatism of Du Pusa's decision to keep Gao Xiaolian as a maid wars with her growing fondness for Xiaolian. The sharp tension and air of competition between Du Pusa and Qiao Luohan is perfectly written, as is Xiaolian's desperation to be loved and not left alone. And the threesome i incredibly hot, too!

beauty in the eyes - Katharija (Liu Qianqiao/Yu Qiufeng, Explicit, 1,979 words)

This is a really interesting character study featuring Qianqiao and focusing on her relationship to beauty, desire, and men. I love the way this fic delves into the societal and interpersonal forces that shape Qianqiao and lead to her role as Yan Gui in Ghost Valley.

An Act of Volatile Submission - shatteredcrystalwings (Wuchang Gui, Old Ghost Valley Master/Wen Kexing, Mature, 2,010 words)

A dark story from Wuchang Gui's perspective as he watches Wen Kexing's abuse at the hands of the Old Ghost Valley Master. His outsider POV on what Wen Kexing does to survive is so well-written and rings with jealousy, blame, misunderstanding, and fear.

 

Happy New Year!