Yuletide Reveal!
Jan. 1st, 2021 01:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dragonbat2006Dipped my toe into the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon fandom for the second time with "Kennig's Ransom"!
My recipient asked for Eric-centric fic, which was fine; IMO, Eric is one of the better-defined characters from the cartoon. But I knew I'd hit my groove when the character I felt least comfortable writing (Uni, the baby unicorn) started spouting lines in my head! I actually like Uni; as the D&DC's 'animal mascot/comedy relief' that cropped up in most 80s cartoons, I find her much more likeable than some of the other examples of the period. Notwithstanding that, however, she's not exactly a character I normally consider when planning a fic; she's just sort of... there. And suddenly, she was there with lines and something to do!
I'd say that two of the toughest challenges I had were,
The other misstep initially was in my working title. I was thinking to call out to another classic story about a kidnapping, O. Henry's "The Ransom of Red Chief". Initially, the lead OC was going to be called "Rechef". However, as hilarious as that story was when I studied it in lit class, it reinforces a number of stereotypes about Native Americans and significant elements of it have not aged well. So, I went with a play on "King's Ransom" instead.
As far as the rest of it, I found myself having a hard time coming up with lines for Presto. Eric, Hank, Bobby, Sheila, Diana, even Uni? No trouble at all. Presto sort of ended up with a few generic lines that could have been spouted by anyone, just to remind us all that he was there, but that was about it.
All in all, though, things went pretty well.
I usually hang out in bigger fandoms. (I'm currently writing two longfics in OUAT.) For me, Yuletide is when I take a chance, stick my hat in the ring, and try writing for a property I know well but one outside my usual wheelhouse. I had fun this outing. And who knows? I might try writing in this fandom again when it's not an exchange assignment!
My recipient asked for Eric-centric fic, which was fine; IMO, Eric is one of the better-defined characters from the cartoon. But I knew I'd hit my groove when the character I felt least comfortable writing (Uni, the baby unicorn) started spouting lines in my head! I actually like Uni; as the D&DC's 'animal mascot/comedy relief' that cropped up in most 80s cartoons, I find her much more likeable than some of the other examples of the period. Notwithstanding that, however, she's not exactly a character I normally consider when planning a fic; she's just sort of... there. And suddenly, she was there with lines and something to do!
I'd say that two of the toughest challenges I had were,
- Getting Eric to say what he needed to say but still sound like Eric. Without spoiling, I put him in a situation that brought him face to face with some of his inner demons.
- Finding a low-level monster that might be skulking around a grain warehouse. I needed the encounter to be more funny than scary; we're talking a monster that would startle Eric but one that Uni could handle. I scrolled through an online pdf of the D&D Monster Manual, as well as a CBR list of the "10 Weakest Monsters in Dungeons and Dragons"
The other misstep initially was in my working title. I was thinking to call out to another classic story about a kidnapping, O. Henry's "The Ransom of Red Chief". Initially, the lead OC was going to be called "Rechef". However, as hilarious as that story was when I studied it in lit class, it reinforces a number of stereotypes about Native Americans and significant elements of it have not aged well. So, I went with a play on "King's Ransom" instead.
As far as the rest of it, I found myself having a hard time coming up with lines for Presto. Eric, Hank, Bobby, Sheila, Diana, even Uni? No trouble at all. Presto sort of ended up with a few generic lines that could have been spouted by anyone, just to remind us all that he was there, but that was about it.
All in all, though, things went pretty well.
I usually hang out in bigger fandoms. (I'm currently writing two longfics in OUAT.) For me, Yuletide is when I take a chance, stick my hat in the ring, and try writing for a property I know well but one outside my usual wheelhouse. I had fun this outing. And who knows? I might try writing in this fandom again when it's not an exchange assignment!
