Yuletide 2024 Letter

Easy version: Keep their canon gender but make them trans that gender! Or declare them nonbinary, with their canon gender being their asab, and use they/them pronouns for them. Then change as much or as little of their presentation makes sense to you! (presentation =/= gender, after all...)

If you'd like to take a canonically male character and make them transfemme, or a canonically female character and make them transmasc, go for it! I'm excited to see how that changes things!

I like characters being casually trans without the story being About Their Transness. (Things like "we should talk about how to have enjoyable sex/kink and one relevant aspect is your transness" or the like are fine; the point is the sex/kink in that case.) I'm not particularly interested in dysphoria being central to a trans character's experience, but I'm fine with it existing so long as your work doesn't wallow in it.

On that note: Include as much/little physical transition as you're interested in! I am into both "I have had enough physical transition that I pass as cis" and "I see no reason to change my body; the social elements are all that matter to me", or anything in between. I also love "I have both a cock and a cunt" and other genderfuck options! Pick whatever makes sense to you for the character(s) and work you wish to create!

Similarly, please use the words for body features (inc. genitalia) that make sense to you for the character(s) you're writing. When in doubt, err on the side of the words being gender-affirming (transmasc characters having dicks/cocks/chests, transfemme characters having cunts/clits/breasts) or clinically descriptive (e.g., vagina, penis). DNW "boypussy"/"bussy" and "click".

When writing kink/sex, you're welcome to show trans characters having PiV sex (I particularly want to see it for trans characters who have had bottom surgery or a magical/sci-fi equivalent!), and also all my general kink/sex likes/dnws apply. I just really want trans characters to have enjoyable sex and kink lives!
Trans-specific kink/sex like: consensual feminization of transmasc characters/masculinization of transfemme characters. aka, gender as kink!

Pronoun-wise, I really love seeing characters use multiple names and pronoun sets, especially when they use different names/pronouns in different contexts/with different people! (I also do not require trans characters to have deadnames. tbh I like it when they don't?) I'm also fine with neopronouns in settings/contexts where they make sense (preferences: ey/em/eir, ve/ver, xie/xir and variations).

Nonbinary characters who use he/him and/or she/her pronouns are welcome, as are agender characters who use it/its. I also really like he/him lesbians! Which isn't precisely trans but is highly related.

ART NOTES: Yes all of the above still applies, yes I want to see surgical scars (especially keyhole/periareolar top surgery!), yes I am here for trans characters having sex, yes I like seeing any amount/stage of transition, yes I'm here for trans characters whose transness is only visible via an author's note saying "btw they're trans."

Dorado the Adamant
I love her compassion and how it's tempered with violent decisiveness when necessary. I love how she slowly moved from a midly antagonistic NPC to a central PC. I find her relationship with her Legion delightful and the way that she's forged new relationships with Azar's Legion fascinating. I would love to see works focused on how Dorado and Judet led their section of the legion before we met them in the show, works about how Dorado integrated her people with Azar's during the Novarra/Kingdom arc, and anything exploring what taking command of the Legion is like for her (especially in contrast to the more communal power struction of her prior section of the Legion).

Waloot
My favorite little star! I didn't want her to die. I was very afraid when she came back. I love that nobody knows what she is. I love that she's not in any prophecies. I'm still worried about what's going to happen to her as she uses her powers more. I want more about what it was like to be a rank-and-file rookie in the Legion, what it was like to die and return, how her relationships changed after that, and what it was like being brought into the upper echelons of the Legion's power. What are her thoughts about being a star? How is that related to being Chosen? (Especially since she's been called the chosen of the stars as a questionably-true bluff.) How does she feel about becoming an assassin herself? What's her growing corruption/blight/transformation like?

Lark & Waloot
I love mentorship, and this relationship is gestured at but never really fleshed out on screen. Please show me Lark teaching Waloot! Anything about them would be fantastic! Does Lark talk to Waloot aloud more often when in private? How much of Lark's sign language did Waloot know before this mentorship began, and how quickly did she pick up more? How much is it a relief to be learning skills that are useful to the Legion even without Waloot's whole Star-touched thing? What's it like stepping into Lark's role in the Legion now?

Azar born of Draknor
Massively ambitious, rather cruel, generally clever, and typically very good at what he does. He cares about his people, but not always in ways that his people like. He's been part of the Legion for ages. He's been part of politics at least as long. Something exploring his pre-canon life would be cool, as would something about his preparations for his coup. Or a what-if that changes the way the Novarra arc ends?

Azar & Samnael
They've been together for so long and obviously know each other very well. Samnael also interests me because we get so much of xem from intros and see them relatively little during play, but any scene xe's in is one that hits. I'd love exploration of their pasts together, little moments shared on the march, or anything else highlighting this relationship!

Azar & Serikali
They do not agree on many things beyond needing to get the legion to Novara and that's what's fascinating. Serikali is the Legion's Chosen, and Azar is the Legion's Commander, and they need to keep the peace for survival's sake but that doesn't mean they like each other! I love every time their desires clash. I love them forced into working together than they'd prefer when on the march. I love Azar needing to rely on Serikali's magic and Serikali needing to allow Azar to manage the Legion in his own way. I love, also, how they play politics when in Novara. More about where they do and don't agree would be cool!

Worldbuilding
And here's your "Do anything!" prompt! Tell me about the Eyes of Smoke, Novaran politics, Lady Jasiko and her people, little rituals that each squad of the Legion has, what life was like before the Never came, extrapolations about religion and culture in the world of Tzel Sh'el, or anything else you'd like! I merely want more (any) works in this fandom! Some slightly more specific prompts follow:

The Armies of the Never
How are they created? How are they kept together? What are their goals? How are they organized? How do the leaders of various regiments communiate? What's it like when various sections work together? Do you want to draw cool beasties? Because the armies of the Never have a lot of cool/worrying critters!

The History of the Consonant Legion
I love every time Kael tells a Lore story. I adore hearing Serikali talk about having been present throughout the entirety of the Legion's past. Tell me more stories! Make more lore! Turn the events of the show into historical documents, even! How are people remembered? What is considered important? How true is it? (Does that even matter?)

The Creation of a Chosen/Broken
I just want to know! How do gods choose people? What does it feel like? How do they break? What does that feel like?

I'd love to explore her early life. How did Ye Qingzhi end up being captured and enslaved? What was her relationship with Jiang Zhan like? Did she have any other friends? How did she become certain that she was indeed Ye Liuxi? How did she prove that to others?

Or tell me about what it was like for her to wake up after being hanged and have no idea where she was or what she was doing! How did she create her life anew? How did she track down Chang Dong? Is there anything about that life that she misses?

I am so very into the Ye Liuxi/Chang Dong relationship. It's so good, they've wonderful for each other, and I could watch them interact all day. More of their romance! Or their sex! Or anything canon-typical with the two of them, really; they're really cute! From Ye Liuxi's side, what drew her to Chang Dong? She didn't seem to have any interest in sex/romance before him, so why Chang Dong? What changed? Was it just the removal of memories leading to the removal of some trauma-based blocks surrounding relationships? Or is she just extremely demi and Chang Dong was the first person to get her to realise she could feel genuine attraction like that? How does that settle out as they continue being together across time?

That said, I'm also extremely here for some non-canon ships! Ye Liuxi's chemistry with Ding Liu was incredible; I'd adore something focused on their relationship, because Ding Liu absolutely had a crush on her (and Chang Dong; a threesome would also be good, and was absolutely teased). Ye Liuxi's relationship with A-He during the nine-month timeskip would also be fun to make shippy! And, of course, there's also good enemies-to-lovers potential with Long Zhi—Ye Liuxi left her alive, for some reason, and maybe that could go somewhere?

There's so much to explore about his pre-canon life! How did he become a desert guide? How did he become the leader of the Camellia Group? How did he meet Kong Yang, his girlfriend, if she wasn't into the desert the way he was? How did he learn how to make shadow puppets? I'd love something exploring that period of his life, whether by being set back then or by referencing it as context for something set during the period of the show.

I am so very into the Ye Liuxi/Chang Dong relationship. It's so good, they've wonderful for each other, and I could watch them interact all day. More of their romance! Or their sex! Or anything canon-typical with the two of them, really; they're really cute! From Chang Dong's side, what was it like committing to a new relationship after grieving Kong Yang for so long? He says he only does relationships for the long-haul; why did he choose Ye Liuxi after only knowing her for like a month max? What compelled him so fiercely about her? How does that change and grow as they stay together and learn more about each other?

I have less interest in non-canon romantic/sexual ships with Chang Dong. Threesomes/triads/poly arrangements that include Ye Liuxi are great, though, and Chang Dong/Ye Liuxi/Ding Liu would be a particular delight. Something that included both Kong Yang and Ye Liuxi being alive and interested in Chang Dong at the same time would also intrigue me greatly. I think that Chang Dong/Ye Liuxi/Jiang Zhan/Long Zhi would be a terrible poly thing (or sedoretu!) but also interesting because of how bad it could be. I'd be open to something about Chang Dong, Ding Liu, and Fei Tang getting together during the nine month timeskip as a coping mechanism to keep Yumen Pass feeling closer when it's shut for them. Feel free to play with any of those ideas! Or draw out any of his platonic relationships!

The Creation of Yumen Pass

We're told that it was created to seal away demons and sorcerors. It's also said that Yumen Pass has a spirit of its own. We're told legends about this period of time, and I'd love to see something that takes those legends and turns them into a full-fledged story!

Sorcery

What is sorcery, really? During the time of this show, it seems to have waned; most fantastical things are done with the help of exotic beasts! But Long Zhi does summon a dragon of fire, and it's implied that not just anyone can make dangerous exotic beasts listen to them, so perhaps there's some truth to sorcery. What are the differences between the Long family's sorcerors and the Li family's sorcerers? Obviously there are family secrets, and differences in focus. Were there other sorcerer families, once? How did they fall? What's the connection between sorcery and exotic beasts?

Exotic Beasts

aka, the monsters! Holy shit there are so many and they're all so interesting! They're foundational to a lot of Yumen Pass' society (the glowing snakes, the water eyes, the shadow puppet gnats, the substitute tongues, the dragon-like beasts guarding Black Stone City, Thiefless, etc) and yet they've managed to lock up most of the most dangerous ones in the Demon Museum. So basically, the exotic beasts are the wildlife of Yumen Pass, and humans have domesticated/tamed the ones useful to them? Some of the ones that are annoying but not inherently dangerous are just allowed to wander (geminus, for example)? It's interesting! I'd love to read anything that focuses on the exotic beasts and their relationships with humans! Or about how they managed to make the demon museum to begin with (was that related to the creation of Yumen Pass?).

Golden Animals

I love this trope. Golden Serpent and Golden Scorpion are just giant representatives of their kind, but they're absolutely very special and respected as a result! The idea that there's one of these for every "normal" animal species in Yumen Pass amuses me. Like, what if Valley Guardian and Ocean Guardian met Golden Chicken/Rooster? Or just dig into how Ye Liuxi befriended Golden Scorpion, why Golden Serpent puts up with slavers mining in its lair, and the ways in which the Golden Animals have special powers!

Snake People and Other Blended Human/Exotic Beast Shenanigans

(I know the show said that becoming a human snake means Gao Shen would lose his mind eventually but I choose to ignore that because it's way less interesting to me than him just having mutated into a hybrid with angst about being inhuman/monstrous and not being able to leave the pass.) Anyway, this is also about parasitism and symbiosis between humans and exotic beasts! Why are so many exotic beasts so specifically helpful to humans? The substitute tongue is particularly noteworthy, due to its plot relevance, but even the symbiotic replacement hand Ye Liuxi gets is in this realm. The geminus mimicks anything, but sure is human-related, and humans can become shadow puppets while retaining their consciousness. It's wild. Please, anything about the ways humans and exotic beasts can combine and hybridise and be symbotic with eacah other is fascinating! Please explore it!

Soul of Wangdong, Bone of Liuxi

I'm so curious about this Chosen One deal! Stories about the prophecy, the curse/blessing, how it relates to shadow puppets not working, and previous times the Chosen One has led a (failed?) uprising would be awesome!

The Creation of Scorpion Eye

Why did Ye Liuxi (Ye Qingzhi) and Jiang Zhan create this? How did they get followers? Why is it named Scorpion Eye? How inspired were they by the Beast Heads? Honestly, anything exploring that period of history is interesting to me!

Trade/Smuggling Between Yumen Pass and the Mundane World

What does Yumen Pass produce? Is it just gold? Is that why the slave mines are such a big deal? Or are there other products that the Shadow Puppets (or the Chosen One) trade with the mundane world? Also, how was this trade/smuggling line set up? Like, were the trade caravans led by shadow puppets who were once dying people (like Gao Shen) and thus had distinct personhood and agency of their own? But even with that, how did they find people to bargain with who wouldn't run screaming from a shadow puppet or otherwise deny their existence? How did those trade lines change when they were being run by Ye Liuxi on her own? What products are most desirable in Yumen Pass? How do they get fuel for all their cars? Honestly, anything about the economy of Yumen Pass (even the parts not related to the mundane world, though they seem super intertwined) would be interesting!

The Demon Museum

I spent the ENTIRE SHOW expecting that it would get opened. Like, come on, if you need two to open it and the first episode shows Ye Liuxi contemplating her Rams Horn vs the one in the musuem, you've gotta have a heist to steal that one and then open the Demon Museum, right?

More generally, I am fascinated by this place! How did everything get locked up in there? How do things escape? Do they ever escape into the mundane world? Why don't they attack the Chosen One? (Is the Chosen One actually a special kind of exotic beast?) How do all the creatures in there interact? How do people know what's in there, anyway, if they avoid it?

The Nine-Month Time Skip

What happened during that period of time? How did Scorpion Eye gain so much momentum? How did Ye Liuxi cope with cutting off her own hand and regaining her memories? What was it like for A-He and Li Jin'ao to become trusted advisors and rebellion leaders? How did Chang Dong, Ding Liu, and Fei Tang handle being stuck in the mundane world? What did they tell Ding Liu's dad about the whole adventure? What did they do for work? How did Jiang Zhan and Gao Shen deal with being imprisoned? What was Zhao Guanshou up to? What was Long Zhi thinking and doing? It's a fairly long period of time! Explore this lovely little narrative gap!

Their lives have been tangled together since their youth, but Wu Xie has no idea for the longest time that this is true. How many identities has Su Nan worn? Is Su Nan her original name? How does it feel to follow a person for so long and know they're trying to destroy the only family you know? How much does Su Nan care about Wu Xie? How much is he an anchor for her? How much does Wu Xie truly know about her at any given point in time?

In canon, we're shown how extremely competent both of them are. I'd love to read about them being competent together! Whether that's an expansion on any canon tomb delve, missing scenes from their time bonding together in the mountains, or a wholly new encounter you've come up with, I just like these two being badasses and working together (whether they like it or not).

They absolutely believe in each other's competence. They save each other, time and time again. They also don't necessarily like each other, but there's a kind of care and understanding between them regardless.

I'd love explorations of Su Nan living post-canon! What does it actually mean for her to leave her cult of a 'family'? How does she disentangle herself from that? How does Wu Xie support her while also refusing to let himself remain her primary anchor in the world?

Li Cu learns so much from Wu Xie. Not all of it is explicit, and not all of it is stuff Li Cu acknowledges learning from Wu Xie, but I adore the little moments where it shines through. Li Cu parrots Wu Xie's words about the desert to his friends as they begin their own expedition, for instance! And his outfit for that second round resembles Wu Xie's. The mentorship relationship between them might be fraught, but I love every moment of it. I'd love a story focused on mentorship scenes of any sort!

I'm so fascinated by snake venom and snake visions. We're shown several visions that Li Cu has about Wu Xie while Li Cu is in the Wang family complex. I'd be so interested in seeing more of those, or otherwise exploring what Wu Xie feels about recording those visions (trusting that one day someone will see them and his plan will be worth it) and what Li Cu feels about receiving them (trusting that they will guide him to safety, clinging to this anchor of the world he knows and came from, even though Wu Xie once represented the dangerous unknown). Snake venom visions are one of the cooler worldbuilding aspects of Sha Hai, so feel free to go wild with them!

Wu-nainai asks if Li Cu might be Wu Xie's son. I'm fascinated by the idea of an AU where that's true! We've never shown much of anything about Li Cu's mom, and tbh considering how much of an ass Li Cu's dad is I could believe a one-night stand having Consequences that even Wu Xie didn't realise until Li Cu gets accidentally involved in Tomb Stuff and the Wu blood begins to show. Exploration of Li Cu learning about the Jiumen, bonding with Xiaoman-ge and the other Wu dogs, and otherwise being accepted as Wu Xie's heir (whether either of them likes that or not) would be really neat.

1. The Future

What did Li Cu expect his life was going to be like before Wu Xie turned it upside down? Did he have any plans/goals, or was he already too fucked up by his bad home life to really be thinking of the future? There are ways in which Li Cu's life-changing desert road trip benefited him (he gained a lot of confidence in himself) despite the ways in which it also hurt him (the literal scars in his back, the near-death experiences, etc.). But at the same time, at the end of the day does Li Cu know what he's going to do now that this chapter of his life has closed? He doesn't need to be part of the Jiumen anymore. He can go to university and get a completely unrelated job after. Does he want that? Does he want to stay in touch with Wu Xie? What does the future look like for him?

Relatedly, how much therapy does he need? Does xiao-Hua or someone hook him up with a Jiumen therapist who has context for literally anything he experienced in Gutongjing and with the Wangs? How does he explain the scars on his back? Does he hide them? What about his fighting skills? Just, like, how hard is it for Li Cu to appear to be a normal boy after everything that's happened? How does he re-integrate into the everyday world once more?

I'd be especially excited to see fics talking about Li Cu, Su Wan, and Yang Hao all figuring out how to deal with the "normal world" again post-canon, because I bet they'd all be trying to support each other but also each of them would have a different approach and goal. And they all have various Jiumen mentors who might pop by to disrupt whatever normalcy they're fighting their way towards, which is always interesting for plot!

2. The Trauma

This starts from the point Li Cu is jumped and has scars etched into his back by that weird black substance (which, sidebar: wtf is up with that! would be fascinated by something akin to a Venom fusion, or anything else exploring the substance which made those scars; it seemed possibly alive?), continues through being kidnapped by Wu Xie and through Gutongjing snake hell (1: Wu Xie's 'zombification'), has a bit of a valley when Li Cu returns to the normal world for a bit, gets worse again at Gutongjing snake hell (2: snake venom), peaks at The Wang Facility (aka: kidnapping, round two), and then only maybe stops when the show ends. There's a lot going on!

The Good Times, Relatively Speaking
Li Cu with enigmatic kidnapper/mentor Wu Xie, who is probably doing his best to keep Li Cu from getting too traumatised and attempting to teach him the skills he'll need later. Li Cu suffers, but he's got friends around him. Still, it isn't necessarily a fun time! He manages to take all this knowledge and synthesize it enough to teach it back to his friends when they go out to find Gutongjing with him the second time, which just sets him up for more fucked-up-ness later.

The Wang Complex
When your only allies are the woman impersonating a girl you used to crush on (Shen Qiong) and your mentor teaching you via snorted venom that's slowly going to kill you (Wu Xie), you know your life is bad. Especially since you're in a dystopian fighting school alongside being a science experiment. Li Cu might not be physically alone but this is absolutely one of the roughest times in his life. What was that period of time like for him?