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Candy Hearts 2025 letter
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laurus_nobilis
FIC LIKES
Casefic and missionfic; backstory and missing scenes; hurt/comfort; slice of life; adventure; humor; dramatic irony; silly/humorous premises; competence and teamwork; friendship; sibling and sibling-like relationships; characters finding common ground.
ART LIKES
Characters with contrasting looks/outfits; silly or funny situations; shippy art where the characters look very happy; abstract backgrounds; overt symbolism; fancy clothing; dramatic windswept hair and clothes; flowers/leaves/other botanical elements.
GENERAL DNWs
Detailed descriptions or images of graphic violence; non-con/dub-con; non canonical character death; non canonical incest; unrequested non-canon ships; AUs that change the setting (unless requested); D/s dynamics; spanking.
I'm open to receiving treats!
七爷 | Qi Ye - priest
This is the darkest canon I'm requesting, so just to avoid worries about my DNWs, I'm fine with doing what the book does and having all kinds of horrible things acknowledged as long the work itself doesn't go into detail about them.
Jing Beiyuan/Wu Xi
I love how ridiculously intense these two are about each other, to the point that they pretty much break fate, and yet each of them has his own "I'm not worthy" moments. Somehow they get to have both intense drama full of epic grand gestures, and a quiet slow burn where they show how much they care in small, every-day ways. They love each other so much but they're very messed up people in different ways, and that makes their eventual happy ending hit even harder.
Jing Beiyuan & Lu Ta & Wu Xi
Their weird little family fills me with joy. I love the way Jing Beiyuan and Lu Ta's personalities play off each other; that line about how it was hard to tell who was the dad and who was the child lives in my mind rent free. We don't see much of how Wu Xi fits into that dynamic in canon aside from Lu Ta's confusion about him and his dad, but that's what makes it interesting!
天官赐福 - 墨香铜臭 | Tiān Guān Cì Fú - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù
Feng Xin/Mu Qing (Tian Guan Ci Fu)
These two hit me right in the "constant bickering turned into UST" trope, but there is also a serious undercurrent behind the humor that helps make them rounded characters. They've spent centuries stuck in the same dynamic, without either becoming friends again or avoiding each other. Their original falling out (with each other and with Xie Lian) was complex and very human: they both had good points, they both screwed up, and given their circumstances it makes sense why they couldn't see eye-to-eye. They're very funny, but they also have emotional depth.
魔尊也想知道 - 青色羽翼 | Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know - Cyan Wings
Baili Qingmiao & Zhongli Qian
Their friendship made me so happy! I love how different they are and how good they are for each other. They bring out the best in each other and both of them learn a lot. Also, the parasite connecing their emotions is an excellent plot device.
Qiu Congxue/Shu Yanyan
Shu Yanyan is one of, if not the, smartest characters in the book and yet when she’s in proximity to Qiu Congxue she becomes just as dumb as everyone else. Love that for her. I love how ambitious they both are and how different from each other and how their reaction to this situation is to basically punch each other forever.
Shu Yanyan/Zhongli Qian
I love how smitten Shu Yanyan is with him, and how Zhongli Qian genuinely appreciates her and considers her someone worth learning from. And I really, really love how Shu Yanyan basically tells him to go and be free but to come back and visit, so... do they eventually hook up during one of said visits?
Wenren E/Yin Hanjiang
This ship has it all: loyalty kink, pining, incredible mutual trust, competence kink, misunderstandigs due to hallucinations, “I’ll destroy the world for you”, a ton of comedy…! But what I love the most is how they both learn to see each other (and themselves) as fully realized people. They have such an earned happy ending and I love them.
魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù
Lan Huan | Lan Xichen/Meng Yao | Jin Guangyao
Lan Huan | Lan Xichen/Nie Mingjue
Meng Yao | Jin Guangyao/Nie Mingjue
Lan Huan | Lan Xichen/Meng Yao | Jin Guangyao/Nie Mingjue
I love the tragedy of 3zun (and of each of the pairings involved) because they had so much potential. These are people who could've brought out the best in each other, but their circumstances and their own flaws doomed them to be a disaster. Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue are both good people trying to do the right thing, and yet Nie Mingjue is all action while Lan Xichen is all thought. Nie Mingjue and Jin Guangyao respect each other at first but become incapable of seeing things from the other's perspective, even before Jin Guangyao goes full villain. Jin Guangyao and Lan Xichen care deeply for each other and see the best in each other, but their relationship also hinges on Jin Guangyao hiding terrible secrets for years. And when you put all three of them together, of course it all goes up in flames.
琅琊榜 | Nirvana in Fire
Lin Chen & Mei Changsu
I love everything about Mei Changsu: his cleverness and his layers of secret identities, of course, but also his righteous anger, and his sense of humor, and his stubborness, and his lying, and honestly I could be here all day. I love how Lin Chen is pretty much the only person who tells him when he's being an idiot, and that one line about how doesn't care about Lin Shu because his friend is Mei Changsu broke my heart. Everything about them is great.
莲花楼 | Mysterious Lotus Casebook (TV)
Di Feisheng & Fang Duobing & Li Lianhua | Li Xiangyi
Such a fun team! My favorite thing about them is how most of the show doesn’t have all three of them on the same page - whether because Fang Duobing is being kept in dark or because Di Feisheng is on another round of amnesia or whatever else - but they still work great together and complement each other. They’re hilarious, they’re competent, and they’re very tragic all at the same time. I love them.
Li Lianhua | Li Xiangyi & Yun Biqiu
Yun Biqiu took me by surprise in the very last episode. I love characters who do terrible things knowing full well they’re terrible, but they still believe they’re for the greater good - and Yun Biqiu is also the kind of character who’s more than willing to deal with the consequences of that. His dynamic with Li Lianhua is absolutely fascinating to me, all that guilt and then the unexpected forgiveness.
陈情令 | The Untamed (TV)
Nie Huaisang & Nie Mingjue
I love Nie Huaisang's secrets, his ruthlessness, and his contrasts. The drama shows us a lot of his friendly, carefree side in his youth, and it's really interesting (and heartbreaking) to see him end up as a lonely manipulator, and how he really was a rage-filled, stubborn Nie after all. The contrasts are a big part of what I like about his relationship with Nie Mingjue, too: they're very different, at least superficially, but they love each other deeply in spite of their arguments and would do anything for each other.
(I've watched and liked Fatal Journey; I don't *expect* fic that uses it as a canon source, since it's just a tie-in, but feel free to use it if you want!)
FIC LIKES
Casefic and missionfic; backstory and missing scenes; hurt/comfort; slice of life; adventure; humor; dramatic irony; silly/humorous premises; competence and teamwork; friendship; sibling and sibling-like relationships; characters finding common ground.
ART LIKES
Characters with contrasting looks/outfits; silly or funny situations; shippy art where the characters look very happy; abstract backgrounds; overt symbolism; fancy clothing; dramatic windswept hair and clothes; flowers/leaves/other botanical elements.
GENERAL DNWs
Detailed descriptions or images of graphic violence; non-con/dub-con; non canonical character death; non canonical incest; unrequested non-canon ships; AUs that change the setting (unless requested); D/s dynamics; spanking.
I'm open to receiving treats!
七爷 | Qi Ye - priest
This is the darkest canon I'm requesting, so just to avoid worries about my DNWs, I'm fine with doing what the book does and having all kinds of horrible things acknowledged as long the work itself doesn't go into detail about them.
Jing Beiyuan/Wu Xi
I love how ridiculously intense these two are about each other, to the point that they pretty much break fate, and yet each of them has his own "I'm not worthy" moments. Somehow they get to have both intense drama full of epic grand gestures, and a quiet slow burn where they show how much they care in small, every-day ways. They love each other so much but they're very messed up people in different ways, and that makes their eventual happy ending hit even harder.
Jing Beiyuan & Lu Ta & Wu Xi
Their weird little family fills me with joy. I love the way Jing Beiyuan and Lu Ta's personalities play off each other; that line about how it was hard to tell who was the dad and who was the child lives in my mind rent free. We don't see much of how Wu Xi fits into that dynamic in canon aside from Lu Ta's confusion about him and his dad, but that's what makes it interesting!
天官赐福 - 墨香铜臭 | Tiān Guān Cì Fú - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù
Feng Xin/Mu Qing (Tian Guan Ci Fu)
These two hit me right in the "constant bickering turned into UST" trope, but there is also a serious undercurrent behind the humor that helps make them rounded characters. They've spent centuries stuck in the same dynamic, without either becoming friends again or avoiding each other. Their original falling out (with each other and with Xie Lian) was complex and very human: they both had good points, they both screwed up, and given their circumstances it makes sense why they couldn't see eye-to-eye. They're very funny, but they also have emotional depth.
魔尊也想知道 - 青色羽翼 | Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know - Cyan Wings
Baili Qingmiao & Zhongli Qian
Their friendship made me so happy! I love how different they are and how good they are for each other. They bring out the best in each other and both of them learn a lot. Also, the parasite connecing their emotions is an excellent plot device.
Qiu Congxue/Shu Yanyan
Shu Yanyan is one of, if not the, smartest characters in the book and yet when she’s in proximity to Qiu Congxue she becomes just as dumb as everyone else. Love that for her. I love how ambitious they both are and how different from each other and how their reaction to this situation is to basically punch each other forever.
Shu Yanyan/Zhongli Qian
I love how smitten Shu Yanyan is with him, and how Zhongli Qian genuinely appreciates her and considers her someone worth learning from. And I really, really love how Shu Yanyan basically tells him to go and be free but to come back and visit, so... do they eventually hook up during one of said visits?
Wenren E/Yin Hanjiang
This ship has it all: loyalty kink, pining, incredible mutual trust, competence kink, misunderstandigs due to hallucinations, “I’ll destroy the world for you”, a ton of comedy…! But what I love the most is how they both learn to see each other (and themselves) as fully realized people. They have such an earned happy ending and I love them.
魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù
Lan Huan | Lan Xichen/Meng Yao | Jin Guangyao
Lan Huan | Lan Xichen/Nie Mingjue
Meng Yao | Jin Guangyao/Nie Mingjue
Lan Huan | Lan Xichen/Meng Yao | Jin Guangyao/Nie Mingjue
I love the tragedy of 3zun (and of each of the pairings involved) because they had so much potential. These are people who could've brought out the best in each other, but their circumstances and their own flaws doomed them to be a disaster. Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue are both good people trying to do the right thing, and yet Nie Mingjue is all action while Lan Xichen is all thought. Nie Mingjue and Jin Guangyao respect each other at first but become incapable of seeing things from the other's perspective, even before Jin Guangyao goes full villain. Jin Guangyao and Lan Xichen care deeply for each other and see the best in each other, but their relationship also hinges on Jin Guangyao hiding terrible secrets for years. And when you put all three of them together, of course it all goes up in flames.
琅琊榜 | Nirvana in Fire
Lin Chen & Mei Changsu
I love everything about Mei Changsu: his cleverness and his layers of secret identities, of course, but also his righteous anger, and his sense of humor, and his stubborness, and his lying, and honestly I could be here all day. I love how Lin Chen is pretty much the only person who tells him when he's being an idiot, and that one line about how doesn't care about Lin Shu because his friend is Mei Changsu broke my heart. Everything about them is great.
莲花楼 | Mysterious Lotus Casebook (TV)
Di Feisheng & Fang Duobing & Li Lianhua | Li Xiangyi
Such a fun team! My favorite thing about them is how most of the show doesn’t have all three of them on the same page - whether because Fang Duobing is being kept in dark or because Di Feisheng is on another round of amnesia or whatever else - but they still work great together and complement each other. They’re hilarious, they’re competent, and they’re very tragic all at the same time. I love them.
Li Lianhua | Li Xiangyi & Yun Biqiu
Yun Biqiu took me by surprise in the very last episode. I love characters who do terrible things knowing full well they’re terrible, but they still believe they’re for the greater good - and Yun Biqiu is also the kind of character who’s more than willing to deal with the consequences of that. His dynamic with Li Lianhua is absolutely fascinating to me, all that guilt and then the unexpected forgiveness.
陈情令 | The Untamed (TV)
Nie Huaisang & Nie Mingjue
I love Nie Huaisang's secrets, his ruthlessness, and his contrasts. The drama shows us a lot of his friendly, carefree side in his youth, and it's really interesting (and heartbreaking) to see him end up as a lonely manipulator, and how he really was a rage-filled, stubborn Nie after all. The contrasts are a big part of what I like about his relationship with Nie Mingjue, too: they're very different, at least superficially, but they love each other deeply in spite of their arguments and would do anything for each other.
(I've watched and liked Fatal Journey; I don't *expect* fic that uses it as a canon source, since it's just a tie-in, but feel free to use it if you want!)