#kandukondain kanduokondain

[avani008]

Dear Yuletide Writer 2023

Here are some things I think are rad: snark. friendships. sneaky twisty endings. stories with bite. characters with personalities. stories that make their writers happy. mythology. humor. stories that dig into and expand on the canon, whether that’s backstory or minor characters or worldbuilding. brown paper packages tied up with string.

Stuff I’m not so keen on: rape, incest, mentions of RL pandemics/quarantines or cancer? more into het and femslash than slash. no modern AUs for the fandoms I’ve selected this year, as I’m interested in the canon settings; AUs that preserve the canon setting (either canon divergence or trope-based [soulmate, daemons, fantasy elements in non-fantasy canons]) are not just fine but would be much adored!

Treat Policy: Yes, please!

Fandoms Requested: Kandukondain Kandukondain… (2000), New Life Begins (TV), Spymaster series- Joanna Bourne

Kandukondain Kandukondain…

Characters: Any

Where To Find Source: Available on Amazon/Youtube/video streaming source of your choice!

This movie is such comfort-film fuel, with characters who are genuinely kind, clever, and funny. I also love how the original JA characters and plot and transplanted so cleverly, with clear love for the original source, but more importantly, that captures Austen’s talent for satire. I laughed out loud at the film industry parody, and the other small town scenes (the cat wedding at the beginning! what a delightful detail)

*Soumya and Manohar, after. I love gentle, established relationships in fiction–and the contrast between Manohar’s flashy film background and Soumya’s snark and steady competence is great. Tell me about the years that came after, or different ways they might have met and fell in love!

* Kamala (who wants to grow up and marry C.V.Raman! My favorite version of Margaret Dashwood!) futurefic? What amazing future does she have? How are her relationships with her sisters/brothers-in-law?

* A crossover with any other Austen couple, similarly transported to this setting? Or, if you want to work this into Kamala and Nandini Varma-centric fic, that would be superb!

*Or, if you just want to celebrate and tell me the filmography/backstory/general awesomeness of Nandini Varma, LADY SUPERSTAR, ACTION HERO, be my guest!

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New Life Begins (TV)

Characters Requested: Any

Where To Find Source Material: Available with subs for free on Youtube, HERE! (40 episodes x ~40-45 min each)

This series is a fun, frothy delight built around a solid foundation of feminism, and I love the gentle humor that nevertheless never forgets the actual darkness of the world these characters live in. I love exploring all these characters and the worldbuilding (the different kingdoms! their cultural differences and values! What would the subtle differences be in a shared legend or myth found in this world depending on the biases of each state? I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW.) but honestly I would be delighted with anything that captures the tone of canon.

Ensemble fic with the characters solving a political problem, or mystery, or carrying off the zaniest of heists--essentially, anything that requires our leads to show off their individual strengths and talents would be amazing.

Or, if you are a fan of AUs, what havoc would a soulmate or daemon AU of any sort cause in this universe? Particularly with the different states' approaches to marriage and society, worldbuilding further would be extremely fun to read! How different is say, Xin State's explanation for a daemon as compared to Dan's? Does every state have a different soulmark/soulmate identification trope, and does this cause even more chaos to their respective relationships?

On which note: I am pretty open to most ships in this universe, actually! I find Yin Zheng/Li Wei too cute to break up entirely, and enjoy pretty much all the eventual canon couples, and would prefer no endgame ships with Crown Prince (though incorporating his canonical relationships with Hao Jia and Zhao Fangru is fine), but other than that, I don't have any hard preferences.

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Spymaster Series- Joanna Bourne

Characters Requested: Justine DeCabrillac, Adrian “Hawker” Hawkhurst

Where to Find Source Material: Your local library, bookstore, or ebook supplier!

The Spymaster series is all brilliant characterization and intrigue. The action plots are superbly paced, where the romance doesn’t take up too much from the main plot, and the limited perspective works so well–the Annique twist in the first book took me utterly by surprise, and then delighted me. 

So writer, if your long standing dream has been to write canon-typical plotfic, I would be so ecstatic! Couples working and bantering together is always one of my favorite things to read, and the espionage aspect of this series is a particular strength . While we see a lot of glimpses of the Adrian-Justine relationship, I think there’s always room for more, so whether you want to add a post-canon adventure, or invent one we didn’t see between flashbacks, it would be great!

I also love these characters, and their relationship–I love the pining in the face of duty, the very real tragedy* I love how it extends in bits and pieces of the years, I love how it’s frequently interpreted and misinterepreted through outsider POVs. Something that plays with outsider POVs would also be so fascinating, again, at any time during the series; or, what a happily ever after looks like for these two crazy kids.

*again, DNW caveat: it’s okay to acknowledge canon-accurate mentions of prior assault in this case, but I would really prefer that it be kept to a minimum, with no on-screen incidences.

I was lucky enough to get amazing Cami/Pax exchange fic for the prompt "5 ways they didn't meet and one way they did" and if you want to adapt that (or another 5+1 AU format) to Adrian and Justine's story, that would be great!

Finally, although I haven’t formally requested, Annique (and her irreverent narration) is always a delight. I love her instant platonic-soulmates friendship with Adrian, and I am intrigued by Joanna Bourne’s words on her blog on how Annique compares with Justine:

When I was writing Annique, I was making her the other side of the coin with Justine. They were both child spies, about the same age. Both raised by Lucille. One relatively protected, innocent, a child of the light, one who had not killed. The other abandoned and debauched, a child with little light inside her, a willing killer.

And they knew each other, of course, as they were growing up. They were more than a little jealous. When Annique makes the remark about the doppleganger, she’s thinking of Justine.

Adrian, in TSL, come fresh from one side of the coin to the other and neither Annique nor Adrian realize this.

This is such an amazing dynamic we never see on-screen, and I would love to dig into it further at both ends.

I hope at least some of these prompts help! Thank you in advance and have a wonderful Yuletide yourself:D