Oct. 11th, 2018 04:39 pm
dear yuletide writer (2018)
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chicafrom3Dear Yuletide Writer:
Hello, welcome, and thank you for writing for me. ♥ All details in this letter are completely optional; just the fact that you're writing something for one of these fandoms makes you awesome. Write the story that's in your heart!
That said, if you want more from me, keep reading! And this probably doesn't need saying, but this is not a spoiler-free zone...
General stuff:
AO3: chicafrom3
Likes: Gen/het/femslash/slash, in no particular order. Character studies. Plot. AUs, both of the canon divergence and alternate setting kinds. Crossovers. Slice-of-life. Fluff. Angst. Darkfic. Crack. Futurefic. Backstory. Missing scenes. Outsider POV. Unusual or experimental style choices and formats.... Probably more that I'm forgetting.
Dislikes: Graphic sex. Graphic violence. References to or allegories of current US politics.
The Requests
Class (TV 2016) - Tanya Adeola, Ram Singh, Matteusz Andrzejewski
I've been a kid sister my whole life. When do I get to stop and just be a person?
What is it: Class is a YA spinoff of Doctor Who which ran for one season (8 episodes) in 2016 before being cancelled. A young alien prince, the last survivor of his people, is relocated to Earth for his own protection, along with his bodyguard, an enslaved assassin. Disguised as a human teenager (Charlie Smith) and his guardian/teacher (Miss Andrea Quill), they begin classes as Coal Hill Academy. After the Shadow Kin attack a school dance in an attempt to complete their extermination of the Rhodian people, Charlie and Miss Quill team up with some of the other students -- April MacLean, Ram Singh, Tanya Adeola, and Matteusz Andrzejewski -- to fight against the alien monsters that regularly invade Coal Hill. It's available on DVD or BluRay, or streaming on Amazon prime video.
Why this fandom: I started watching Class because I'm the kind of Doctor Who nerd who will watch/read/listen to anything connected to Doctor Who. I kept watching Class because I fell in love with the characters and their awful experiences -- Charlie the orphaned alien prince tempted to commit genocide, Quill the badass bodyguard/assassin forced to protect the last survivor of the species that enslaved and oppressed her people, April the nice one who is always fighting her anger and who ends up King of the Shadowkin, Ram the popular jock who has to constantly reinvent himself after losing everything that he thinks makes him who he is, Tanya the young prodigy who is always struggling to fit in and be liked while also struggling with the fact that she doesn't necessarily like the people around her, Matteusz the Polish giraffe who doesn't like guns but who will kick ass to defend the ones he loves.
The request: One aspect of the main characters' dynamic that I felt was really underexplored was Tanya's relationships with Ram and Matteusz. The former gets a little more focus (and Ram's defensive "she's more my friend than yours" is one of my favorite moments), but the latter is mostly background moments (not to keep revisting Nightvisting, but the way Matteusz just casually kicks Tanya to get her attention is adorable). Ram and Matteusz, on the other hand, mostly get to interact with each other to be hostile. I'd love to see the three of them in a less charged situation -- Tanya recruiting the boys to help her get out of trouble with her mom? The boys accidentally getting her into trouble with her mom? Ram asking Tanya for help with April or school or something, and Tanya getting Matteusz to help her out as well, or vice versa, Matteusz asking Tanya for help and her coaxing Ram to join in? The three of them have to deal with an alien threat while Charlie, April, and Quill are otherwise occupied? I really just want the three of them bonding (or bickering!) in some fashion!
Fandom-specific stuff: I haven't read the books or listened to the audios yet -- they're on my to-do list but I can't guarantee I'll get to them before Christmas. You can still reference them if you'd like, but if your story relies heavily on references to one or the other I can't promise I'll get the full impact.
Ships: I love Charlie/Matteusz and Ram/April, but you are absolutely not required to include either one!
Derry Girls (TV) - Clare Devlin
She's also opened my eyes about how we need to break down barriers here. To no longer define ourselves as Irish or British, or Catholic or Protestant, but simply as human. With human hearts, and human heads and human hands...and other human qualities. Because at the end of the day we're all humans!
What is it: Derry Girls is a coming-of-age sitcom focusing on teenager Erin Quinn and her friends Clare Devlin, Orla McCool, Michelle Mallon, and James Maguire, growing up in Northern Ireland in the 90s. The kids deal with things like exams, money worries, exploring individuality, and sexuality, all while the Troubles are going on around them. It has so far had one season (6 episodes) and is expected to have a second season air in 2019. It can be watched on Channel 4's official site if you're not region-locked and on Daily Motion if you are.
Why this fandom: I honestly don't even remember how I stumbled upon Derry Girls; all I know is that as soon as I started watching it I was hooked. I love my four girls and their love for each other, I love That Dick James and his desperate need to find a way to fit in, I love all the adults' complicated relationships with each other and with the kids. And Sister Michael. Never leave out Sister Michael. And within a couple of episodes I was thinking "I definitely have to request this for Yuletide but how am I going to narrow down my request options?" And then, you know, the season finale happened and OH HEY CLARE'S THE WEE LESBIAN.
The request: Clare needs a girlfriend. Hopefully season two will get her a girlfriend, but that's not until next year. I'd love to see any angle on that -- Clare working up the nerve to ask someone on a first date? Clare getting flustered when someone else asks her on a first date? The reactions of the rest of the group when she starts dating? Especially if it's one of the other girls in the group -- Orla is finally convinced that lesbians are real when she realizes how she feels about Clare; Michelle sets out to get Clare a girlfriend to prove a point and in the process realizes that she actually is a big fan of the fandago and doesn't want to see Clare with someone else; Erin finally she realizes why she had such trouble accepting her best friend coming out and sets out to get her girl back. Just. Clare and girls, whatever angle you want to take on that.
Ships: I'm already sold on Clare/any of the other girls, although "Look at the state of ye" was such a great line that it bumps Clare/Erin to the bottom of my list. I'd also be up for Clare with a minor character (her crush on Katya is adorable, for starters) or with an OC.
DuckTales (Cartoon 2017) - Lena (DuckTales 2017)
Sure, blame the mysterious rebel, going by her own rules.
What is it: DuckTales is a Disney Channel reboot of the 1987 cartoon, itself based upon the Uncle Scrooge comics created by Carl Banks. It follows adventure-capitalist Scrooge McDuck, his great-nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and their friend Webby Vanderquack as they go on adventures seeking money, fame, and answers. It has so far had one season (season two is exepcted to premiere October 20) and is available for purchase or rent on Amazon Video, iTunes, Google Play, and YouTube, or for free at Disney Now.
Why this fandom: The original 1987 cartoon left an indelible imprint on me in childhood and I was super-excited when Disney announced they were rebooting it. Sure, it could've gone superwrong, but it also could've gone superright -- and the latter turned out to be the case. It's fun and charming and unexpectedly heartbreaking, particularly with regards to the Della storyline and to the whole Lena arc. Everything about Lena.
The request: Honestly, that's the basis of my request. I want Lena to be happy and safe. I just want Lena to get a true happy ending, away from Magica. And ideally not living under a bridge. Whether that takes the form of a moment of family feelings with the McDuck clan, returning to the physical world expecting to go back to essentially to the same life she had before only to find an adult making an effort to take care of her for once, dragging herself through adolescence and making her own happy ending, the Power Of Friendship having an unexpected impact on her situation... I just want her to be happy, even if it's only a brief moment of joy.
Fandom-specific stuff: I fully expect season two to address the cliffhanger about Lena, but given that season two is going to overlap massively with Yuletide season, I'm giving you carte blanche to a) take what they give you and run with it; b) ignore it entirely and just go off from where The Shadow War left us; c) go AU even earlier than that. However you want! I'll be keeping up with it so don't worry about spoilers but also don't worry about getting Jossed.
Ships: Lena/Webby is my DuckTales OTP (they're so in love); I don't require them to be so in love but I do ask that they love each other. (THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP is pretty damn great, okay.) This does not mean that you have to include Webby (after all, I'm not requesting her!), just that if you do I'd like her to be important to Lena and vice versa.
Everworld - K.A. Applegate: Jalil Sherman, Christopher Hitchcock
"He's coming around," I said in Christopher's defense. "He's joining the human race. Little by little."
What is it: Everworld is a twelve-book YA fantasy series by K.A. Applegate, better known as the author of Animorphs. It's about four kids from Chicago who, due to their connections to a girl named Senna Wales, end up drawn into Everworld, an all-myths-are-true alternate universe created by the gods of the Old World when humanity became increasingly rational and science-driven. It's currently out of print, but you can check out the fan-compiled ebooks here.
Why this fandom: I've requested Everworld for Yuletide multiple times before, so if you are curious to read my rambling about the series feel free to check out my past Yuletide letters. This year I am asking specifically for Jalil and Christopher, and therefore will try to restrain myself to talking about the two of them. I love their screwed-up, dysfunctional dynamic with each other; they are two people who certainly would never have chosen to become friends, much less the ride-or-die comradeship Everworld eventually forces them into. That's true to varying degrees of all of the main four, of course, but I think it's particularly noticeable with the two of them, given Jalil's defensiveness and very strong self-protection streak and Christopher's kneejerk racism and automatic mockery of everyone else; just looking at the evolution of the way they are with each other is a great way of seeing just how much Everworld forces the kids to dismantle their own self-images and rebuild them. Character development!
The request: I would love to see fic exploring how that dynamic continues to evolve, post-canon. How do they cope with the knowledge that their comradeship is now almost certainly permanent? There's no escaping to the "real" world anymore, but there's also no more pressure from the "real" world to try to hang onto who they used to be. That's got to change things for them somehow. Alternately, I'd love to see "missing scene" type fics set during the canon era, looking at how their relationship is evolving from outright antagonism to a very intense kind of friendship. We get a little of that in canon with both of them musing on how they can't quite understand how things are changing, and certainly as Christopher gets more self-aware he starts looking at his interactions with Jalil with a more critical eye towards himself, but I'd love to see more, particularly any conversations between the two of them or crises where they need to rely on each other.
Fandom-specific stuff: For this fandom, I would prefer not to receive any AUs that don't involve Everworld itself, though canon-divergent AUs are totally cool.
Ships: I'm completely happy with either a platonic or slashy dynamic between the boys. I'm also fond of Jalil/April, Christopher/Etain, and Jalil/Miyuki, if you'd prefer to go in a het direction.
Song Of The Sea (2014): Saoirse
Saoirse the selkie will sing and save the day! The Daoine Sídhe who rescued her will cheer and celebrate!
What is it: Song Of The Sea is an animated film by the Cartoon Saloon studio, about a young boy, Ben, struggling to cope after his mother vanished several years earlier following the birth of his little sister Saoirse. And then he finds out that both Saoirse and his mother are selkies, and all of his mother's bedtime fairy stories are true... Song Of The Sea is available on Blu Ray, DVD, and Amazon streaming.
Why this fandom: I adore everything about this gorgeous movie but especially Saoirse. She's so expressive and determined! Plus she gives her brother the best "you dumbass" looks I have ever seen from an animated six-year-old. I have a weakness for selkies and selkie stories anyway, and Song Of The Sea puts an interesting new spin on the "all selkie stories end sadly" thing with Saoirse having to make a choice between the two halves of her heritage.
The request: I'd love to see the ramifications of that choice explored in fic. I mean, Saoirse obviously adores both her father and her brother (especially once Ben wises up and stops torturing her), but growing up knowing that you're part faerie and that you gave that part up can't be completely easy. Does she ever regret the choice? Chase fairy tales? Have an inexplicable affinity for seals? Maybe she (and Ben?) have regular (or irregular for that matter) accidental encounters with the mythological afterwards, or maybe they go seeking out the same now that they know the truth about their heritage. Or anything about how her relationship with her family evolves -- we see in the epilogue glimpses of Saoirse and Ben bonding, Conor coming out of his grief-stricken shell, and Granny becoming a more comfortable member of the family, but there's only so much that can be shown in a short epilogue sans dialogue, and I'd love to see more!
Ships: If you're writing futurefic, any non-incest shipping is fine with me, but I would prefer canon-era or immediately post-canon fic not involve any romantic feelings.
To conclude: Optional details are optional, write what you want to write, I desperately crave more/any fic in all of these fandoms so just writing in a fandom off the list is enough to endear you to me forever.
Thank you, and have a wonderful Yuletide!
-Chica
Hello, welcome, and thank you for writing for me. ♥ All details in this letter are completely optional; just the fact that you're writing something for one of these fandoms makes you awesome. Write the story that's in your heart!
That said, if you want more from me, keep reading! And this probably doesn't need saying, but this is not a spoiler-free zone...
General stuff:
AO3: chicafrom3
Likes: Gen/het/femslash/slash, in no particular order. Character studies. Plot. AUs, both of the canon divergence and alternate setting kinds. Crossovers. Slice-of-life. Fluff. Angst. Darkfic. Crack. Futurefic. Backstory. Missing scenes. Outsider POV. Unusual or experimental style choices and formats.... Probably more that I'm forgetting.
Dislikes: Graphic sex. Graphic violence. References to or allegories of current US politics.
The Requests
Class (TV 2016) - Tanya Adeola, Ram Singh, Matteusz Andrzejewski
I've been a kid sister my whole life. When do I get to stop and just be a person?
What is it: Class is a YA spinoff of Doctor Who which ran for one season (8 episodes) in 2016 before being cancelled. A young alien prince, the last survivor of his people, is relocated to Earth for his own protection, along with his bodyguard, an enslaved assassin. Disguised as a human teenager (Charlie Smith) and his guardian/teacher (Miss Andrea Quill), they begin classes as Coal Hill Academy. After the Shadow Kin attack a school dance in an attempt to complete their extermination of the Rhodian people, Charlie and Miss Quill team up with some of the other students -- April MacLean, Ram Singh, Tanya Adeola, and Matteusz Andrzejewski -- to fight against the alien monsters that regularly invade Coal Hill. It's available on DVD or BluRay, or streaming on Amazon prime video.
Why this fandom: I started watching Class because I'm the kind of Doctor Who nerd who will watch/read/listen to anything connected to Doctor Who. I kept watching Class because I fell in love with the characters and their awful experiences -- Charlie the orphaned alien prince tempted to commit genocide, Quill the badass bodyguard/assassin forced to protect the last survivor of the species that enslaved and oppressed her people, April the nice one who is always fighting her anger and who ends up King of the Shadowkin, Ram the popular jock who has to constantly reinvent himself after losing everything that he thinks makes him who he is, Tanya the young prodigy who is always struggling to fit in and be liked while also struggling with the fact that she doesn't necessarily like the people around her, Matteusz the Polish giraffe who doesn't like guns but who will kick ass to defend the ones he loves.
The request: One aspect of the main characters' dynamic that I felt was really underexplored was Tanya's relationships with Ram and Matteusz. The former gets a little more focus (and Ram's defensive "she's more my friend than yours" is one of my favorite moments), but the latter is mostly background moments (not to keep revisting Nightvisting, but the way Matteusz just casually kicks Tanya to get her attention is adorable). Ram and Matteusz, on the other hand, mostly get to interact with each other to be hostile. I'd love to see the three of them in a less charged situation -- Tanya recruiting the boys to help her get out of trouble with her mom? The boys accidentally getting her into trouble with her mom? Ram asking Tanya for help with April or school or something, and Tanya getting Matteusz to help her out as well, or vice versa, Matteusz asking Tanya for help and her coaxing Ram to join in? The three of them have to deal with an alien threat while Charlie, April, and Quill are otherwise occupied? I really just want the three of them bonding (or bickering!) in some fashion!
Fandom-specific stuff: I haven't read the books or listened to the audios yet -- they're on my to-do list but I can't guarantee I'll get to them before Christmas. You can still reference them if you'd like, but if your story relies heavily on references to one or the other I can't promise I'll get the full impact.
Ships: I love Charlie/Matteusz and Ram/April, but you are absolutely not required to include either one!
Derry Girls (TV) - Clare Devlin
She's also opened my eyes about how we need to break down barriers here. To no longer define ourselves as Irish or British, or Catholic or Protestant, but simply as human. With human hearts, and human heads and human hands...and other human qualities. Because at the end of the day we're all humans!
What is it: Derry Girls is a coming-of-age sitcom focusing on teenager Erin Quinn and her friends Clare Devlin, Orla McCool, Michelle Mallon, and James Maguire, growing up in Northern Ireland in the 90s. The kids deal with things like exams, money worries, exploring individuality, and sexuality, all while the Troubles are going on around them. It has so far had one season (6 episodes) and is expected to have a second season air in 2019. It can be watched on Channel 4's official site if you're not region-locked and on Daily Motion if you are.
Why this fandom: I honestly don't even remember how I stumbled upon Derry Girls; all I know is that as soon as I started watching it I was hooked. I love my four girls and their love for each other, I love That Dick James and his desperate need to find a way to fit in, I love all the adults' complicated relationships with each other and with the kids. And Sister Michael. Never leave out Sister Michael. And within a couple of episodes I was thinking "I definitely have to request this for Yuletide but how am I going to narrow down my request options?" And then, you know, the season finale happened and OH HEY CLARE'S THE WEE LESBIAN.
The request: Clare needs a girlfriend. Hopefully season two will get her a girlfriend, but that's not until next year. I'd love to see any angle on that -- Clare working up the nerve to ask someone on a first date? Clare getting flustered when someone else asks her on a first date? The reactions of the rest of the group when she starts dating? Especially if it's one of the other girls in the group -- Orla is finally convinced that lesbians are real when she realizes how she feels about Clare; Michelle sets out to get Clare a girlfriend to prove a point and in the process realizes that she actually is a big fan of the fandago and doesn't want to see Clare with someone else; Erin finally she realizes why she had such trouble accepting her best friend coming out and sets out to get her girl back. Just. Clare and girls, whatever angle you want to take on that.
Ships: I'm already sold on Clare/any of the other girls, although "Look at the state of ye" was such a great line that it bumps Clare/Erin to the bottom of my list. I'd also be up for Clare with a minor character (her crush on Katya is adorable, for starters) or with an OC.
DuckTales (Cartoon 2017) - Lena (DuckTales 2017)
Sure, blame the mysterious rebel, going by her own rules.
What is it: DuckTales is a Disney Channel reboot of the 1987 cartoon, itself based upon the Uncle Scrooge comics created by Carl Banks. It follows adventure-capitalist Scrooge McDuck, his great-nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and their friend Webby Vanderquack as they go on adventures seeking money, fame, and answers. It has so far had one season (season two is exepcted to premiere October 20) and is available for purchase or rent on Amazon Video, iTunes, Google Play, and YouTube, or for free at Disney Now.
Why this fandom: The original 1987 cartoon left an indelible imprint on me in childhood and I was super-excited when Disney announced they were rebooting it. Sure, it could've gone superwrong, but it also could've gone superright -- and the latter turned out to be the case. It's fun and charming and unexpectedly heartbreaking, particularly with regards to the Della storyline and to the whole Lena arc. Everything about Lena.
The request: Honestly, that's the basis of my request. I want Lena to be happy and safe. I just want Lena to get a true happy ending, away from Magica. And ideally not living under a bridge. Whether that takes the form of a moment of family feelings with the McDuck clan, returning to the physical world expecting to go back to essentially to the same life she had before only to find an adult making an effort to take care of her for once, dragging herself through adolescence and making her own happy ending, the Power Of Friendship having an unexpected impact on her situation... I just want her to be happy, even if it's only a brief moment of joy.
Fandom-specific stuff: I fully expect season two to address the cliffhanger about Lena, but given that season two is going to overlap massively with Yuletide season, I'm giving you carte blanche to a) take what they give you and run with it; b) ignore it entirely and just go off from where The Shadow War left us; c) go AU even earlier than that. However you want! I'll be keeping up with it so don't worry about spoilers but also don't worry about getting Jossed.
Ships: Lena/Webby is my DuckTales OTP (they're so in love); I don't require them to be so in love but I do ask that they love each other. (THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP is pretty damn great, okay.) This does not mean that you have to include Webby (after all, I'm not requesting her!), just that if you do I'd like her to be important to Lena and vice versa.
Everworld - K.A. Applegate: Jalil Sherman, Christopher Hitchcock
"He's coming around," I said in Christopher's defense. "He's joining the human race. Little by little."
What is it: Everworld is a twelve-book YA fantasy series by K.A. Applegate, better known as the author of Animorphs. It's about four kids from Chicago who, due to their connections to a girl named Senna Wales, end up drawn into Everworld, an all-myths-are-true alternate universe created by the gods of the Old World when humanity became increasingly rational and science-driven. It's currently out of print, but you can check out the fan-compiled ebooks here.
Why this fandom: I've requested Everworld for Yuletide multiple times before, so if you are curious to read my rambling about the series feel free to check out my past Yuletide letters. This year I am asking specifically for Jalil and Christopher, and therefore will try to restrain myself to talking about the two of them. I love their screwed-up, dysfunctional dynamic with each other; they are two people who certainly would never have chosen to become friends, much less the ride-or-die comradeship Everworld eventually forces them into. That's true to varying degrees of all of the main four, of course, but I think it's particularly noticeable with the two of them, given Jalil's defensiveness and very strong self-protection streak and Christopher's kneejerk racism and automatic mockery of everyone else; just looking at the evolution of the way they are with each other is a great way of seeing just how much Everworld forces the kids to dismantle their own self-images and rebuild them. Character development!
The request: I would love to see fic exploring how that dynamic continues to evolve, post-canon. How do they cope with the knowledge that their comradeship is now almost certainly permanent? There's no escaping to the "real" world anymore, but there's also no more pressure from the "real" world to try to hang onto who they used to be. That's got to change things for them somehow. Alternately, I'd love to see "missing scene" type fics set during the canon era, looking at how their relationship is evolving from outright antagonism to a very intense kind of friendship. We get a little of that in canon with both of them musing on how they can't quite understand how things are changing, and certainly as Christopher gets more self-aware he starts looking at his interactions with Jalil with a more critical eye towards himself, but I'd love to see more, particularly any conversations between the two of them or crises where they need to rely on each other.
Fandom-specific stuff: For this fandom, I would prefer not to receive any AUs that don't involve Everworld itself, though canon-divergent AUs are totally cool.
Ships: I'm completely happy with either a platonic or slashy dynamic between the boys. I'm also fond of Jalil/April, Christopher/Etain, and Jalil/Miyuki, if you'd prefer to go in a het direction.
Song Of The Sea (2014): Saoirse
Saoirse the selkie will sing and save the day! The Daoine Sídhe who rescued her will cheer and celebrate!
What is it: Song Of The Sea is an animated film by the Cartoon Saloon studio, about a young boy, Ben, struggling to cope after his mother vanished several years earlier following the birth of his little sister Saoirse. And then he finds out that both Saoirse and his mother are selkies, and all of his mother's bedtime fairy stories are true... Song Of The Sea is available on Blu Ray, DVD, and Amazon streaming.
Why this fandom: I adore everything about this gorgeous movie but especially Saoirse. She's so expressive and determined! Plus she gives her brother the best "you dumbass" looks I have ever seen from an animated six-year-old. I have a weakness for selkies and selkie stories anyway, and Song Of The Sea puts an interesting new spin on the "all selkie stories end sadly" thing with Saoirse having to make a choice between the two halves of her heritage.
The request: I'd love to see the ramifications of that choice explored in fic. I mean, Saoirse obviously adores both her father and her brother (especially once Ben wises up and stops torturing her), but growing up knowing that you're part faerie and that you gave that part up can't be completely easy. Does she ever regret the choice? Chase fairy tales? Have an inexplicable affinity for seals? Maybe she (and Ben?) have regular (or irregular for that matter) accidental encounters with the mythological afterwards, or maybe they go seeking out the same now that they know the truth about their heritage. Or anything about how her relationship with her family evolves -- we see in the epilogue glimpses of Saoirse and Ben bonding, Conor coming out of his grief-stricken shell, and Granny becoming a more comfortable member of the family, but there's only so much that can be shown in a short epilogue sans dialogue, and I'd love to see more!
Ships: If you're writing futurefic, any non-incest shipping is fine with me, but I would prefer canon-era or immediately post-canon fic not involve any romantic feelings.
To conclude: Optional details are optional, write what you want to write, I desperately crave more/any fic in all of these fandoms so just writing in a fandom off the list is enough to endear you to me forever.
Thank you, and have a wonderful Yuletide!
-Chica
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