Dear Saturdaymorningex Author (2024)

[brightknightie]

Dear saturdaymorningex Author:

Hi! Thank you for sharing these fandoms! I’m sure that whatever you most want to celebrate and explore in these characters and their worlds will make a lovely story. If you’d like more story thoughts from me, read on.

I've requested: Dungeons and Dragons (1983-1985), Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022), Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (2022-). I didn't initially request, but so that you can see where I'm coming from, I could easily add, if needed: Skeleton Warriors, Thundarr the Barbarian, Pinky and the Brain, Pokémon, Beauty and the Beast, and Avatar: The Last Airbender. (No one nominated Robotech, Rurouni Kenshin, Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors, My Adventures with Superman, or Rankin/Bass holiday specials.) (Sailor Moon did get nominated, but without gen options. Only Kanto/Johto Pokémon characters were nominated; I'm actually even more familiar with the Unova run of the cartoon.)

Across all fandoms:

• Want: I love good guys (gender-neutral "guys") being good (especially when it's hard), the power of friendship, self sacrifice, striving, plot-rich adventures, character-rich downtime interludes between adventures, tragedies, triumphs, religious faith appropriate to the character, awareness of canon (AUs are most lovely when they consciously ping canon), history, mystery, and story-size underlying metaphors for real life. I do usually prefer gen, but canon relationships are welcome, and thoughtfully developed non-canon relationships can be very nice, too.


• Do not want: I'd very much prefer not to receive a story that is pro-evil; explicitly brutal, gory, or sexual; uses concepts like mpreg, omegaverse, etc.; or has bigotry that goes unquestioned/unpunished, including anti-religion (my own religion or anyone else's, obviously).


• "Solo" character nominations: Where I've requested individual characters, rather than groups, this doesn't mean that I necessarily want you to write a literally solo story of "character against nature" or the like (though of course you may if you want to). Rather, I'd like that requested character to be the focus of the story, and for you to select or create other appropriate characters to accompany, support, or oppose the requested character in whatever way leads to the best story that you most want to tell.

Fandom by fandom:

D&DC: Dungeons & Dragons (the ‘80s cartoon)

I love all the usual adventures and would love to share more of them. I’m intrigued by the possibilities of stories of our gang grown up, whether in the Realm or back here, and also by stories that reveal more than the faint clues we have about their lives back home, before or after the Realm. I enjoy stories of them in the midst of growing up, and every kind of quest for or journey home from the Realm or back to the Realm. Any romances should please appropriately suit their ages and eras, whether 1980s teenagers or 2020s adults.

(I am reading the presently-ongoing Dungeons and Dragons: Saturday Morning Adventures comics. While I'm enjoying them, I feel that they've now strayed a little too far away from the show and into contemporary Forgotten Realms. Maybe that's the job the creators were given! It's not fanfic's job.)

All the nominated characters are intriguing, delightful, and welcome in their own ways! I could only select 10 in the sign-up form; I would have selected "All nominated," if available. Please pick whichever you want to explore or celebrate (truly!). Here are just a few possible scenarios for just a few of them:

• Diana: Perhaps a story where Diana is temporarily injured and she has to deal with her deep fears of her body betraying her while still winning through the adventure of the week? Or maybe Hank is unavailable in some way and Diana has to lead and has to exercise authority in unfamiliar ways for everyone's good? What about exploring how Diana feels about where her hard-earned acrobatic skills end and her javelin's magically-bestowed enhancements begin? Or how does Diana process being, weirdly, nearly the only Black person in the Realm in that era -- maybe the kids could finally get somewhere in the Realm that doesn't look like Old Europe and Diana's not the one who visually stands out?


• Sheila: Who is Sheila when she's not the big sister or the little mother -- does she really yet know herself? when and how will she grow into herself? Or perhaps a story tackling the relationship or tension between her thief/rogue invisibility and her fear of being alone? Maybe a between-the-adventures interlude with Sheila being very brave in her own way, and one of the others truly appreciating it? Or, my recently new pet theory (inspired by the comics' version of Sheila, actually), what if Sheila skipped a grade back at kindergarten, which is why she's younger than the others, and is actually The Smart One, and the others don't know, because she's always hidden it?


• Hank: Hank never really got an episode of his own, not the way the others all did. We learn even less about his background and motivations than any of the others. We're always outside Hank looking in as he bears the burden of leadership, and he slips only once -- that one little time, carelessly letting Bobby and Eric open that box -- and then: disaster! Dungeon Master asks so much from Hank. Fanon and canon-adjacent materials often depict Hank as an American football quarterback, but of course high-school quarterbacks are usually seniors, and Hank is not that old just yet. I'm sure Hank is a Boy Scout, and a very good one. We know that Hank and Sheila are "going together," as we said in those days; how does Hank feel about that and how did it come to be? They are so very young in canon, and of course they don't know it then like we do now.


• Martha: If Martha and/or her parents were once Dungeon Master's pupils, what was her, or were her parents', Weapons of Power from the Dragon's Graveyard, and what happened to those weapons? Perhaps a tale of Martha relating -- or refusing to relate -- her backstory to our gang, trying and perhaps failing to send them a message? Maybe an interlude in the future where we see she's moved on from her one canon appearance stronger and happier and more satisfied with her life than we found her?

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

This is one of the most tightly executed movies I've ever seen. It's marvelous! Chef's kiss! I had not seen the original Puss in Boots. I barely remembered the Shrek movies. But this! I heard the buzz, and it was so true. Show me more! A side adventure? An interlude between adventures? Perrito needing rescue, or rescuing others, or being the best therapy dog for someone in need? Baby Bear and Goldilocks being siblings? Puss and Kitty being testy but true?

My Kitty headcanon is that her declawing metaphorically represents a disability and/or inflicted trauma, and she takes it, uses it, and never lets anything hold her back an inch, while also never downplaying it for others. Puss and his anxiety have much to learn from her, if only by example. And I think this makes them better for each other, now that they are each a little more grown-up, not only Puss's manic ego, but Kitty's trust issues.

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur

This energetic, delightful, family cartoon has a fantastic sense of its storytelling borders, always returning to its primary focus on Lunella's neighborhood and home, even after a cosmic jaunt with the Beyonder or cross-country trip with Mimi. I appreciate the sitcom-caper format, in which [almost] everything gets resolved and a lesson learned within the episode, but also, with the modern permission for continuity, has characters, motivations, and pitfalls build up over time.

It might be fun to see some things in a story that haven't yet really caught Lunella's attention in the show, like her grandparents' relationship (brilliant scientist / skate king, unlikely pairing?), or life from Coach Hrbek's beleaguered perspective, or what Devil does when Lunella isn't around (besides visit museums!)? Or of course to spend more time on the relationships that matter most to Lunella at this time in her life, with Casey and Mimi! Downtime between adventures is as welcome as new adventures.


In the unlikely case that you'd like even more, I do have a standing fanfic likes & dislikes post. Check it out?


Thank you very much!