On Friday the AO3 Chocolate Box authors were revealed, which meant I could publish them on Fanfiction.net and can finally describe them here. I've been so impatient! Last year I posted about our attempts at having a more diverse cast in our stories, so I'll also apply that lens for each story.
Here we go, eight new stories!
Fandom: White Collar
Title: New and Improved Van
Characters: Jones, Mozzie, Peter, Diana. POV: Jones
The prompt: Jones & Mozzie in the van
Premise: The fake utility van the FBI uses gets an upgrade, turning it into a food truck. Mozzie runs the food part of the business by selling burgers while Jones stakes out a business that's suspected of cheating writers.
Thoughts: Have I ever written a White Collar story without Neal in it? This might be a first. He's mentioned, but doesn't have any lines. This is definitely a fluff & humor story.
Diversity: 2 of 4 the characters with speaking parts are Black. 1 of 4 characters is female and LGBTQ. Does not pass the Bechdel test.
Fandom: N/A - Original Work
Title: Herding Cats
Characters: Non-comformist witch, shelter volunteer, dog
The prompt: Non-comformist witch and shelter dog
Premise: Marjorie the witch selects a pet to annoy her coven, and finds a kindred spirit in a Hungarian sheep dog named Lobero.
Thoughts: The dog is inspired by the stories Silbrith has been writing in the All Souls Trilogy fandom. Another fluff & humor story, with a strong-willed woman who's going to shake up her new coven.
Diversity: Color of the characters is not mentioned. All human characters are female. Orientation of the characters is not mentioned. Passes the Bechdel test.
Fandom: Frozen
Title: Sandcastle
Characters: Anna, Elsa
The prompt: Anna & Elsa having a fluffy moment as children
Premise: It's Anna's birthday, which means summer, surf, and sand. But she's too young to remember any birthday parties other than Elsa's, and thus expected winter and snow.
Thoughts: More fluff. I sense a theme here. Strong friendship between the sisters, and a fun party with ice cream that magically stays frozen on a hot summer day.
Diversity: Both characters are white. Both characters are female. Anna is straight, and the orientation of Elsa is not mentioned in canon but I've read a lot of speculation... Passes the Bechdel test.
Fandom: The Good Place
Title: Hay Fever
Characters: Jason, Michael, Janet
The prompt: Michael being protective of Jason
Premise: Jason has hay fever, which could be magically cured in the Good Place. When he's back on Earth, Michael and Janet try to develop a cure so he'll stop sneezing.
Thoughts: More humor and fluff. I have a fondness for Shakespeare and was inspired in the final episodes when Jason mentioned reading Romeo & Juliet. So I made a side effect of one the cures being that he starts quoting Shakespeare -- I used Macbeth.
Diversity: Jason is a Filipino male, Michael is a demon in a white, male human "suit" and Janet is repository of knowledge who uses she/her pronouns and is white. Orientation of the characters... Jason is straight. Michael and Janet aren't human, and I'm not sure what to say about their orientation. Does not pass the Bechdel test.
Fandom: Crossover of The Good Place and Good Omens
Title: The Book Place
Characters: Aziraphale, Chidi, Eleanor, Michael
The prompt: Aziraphale has books Chidi is looking for, and hilarity ensues
Premise: When Chidi asks to meet and angel, he's sent to Aziraphale's bookstore, where they geek out over philosophers and a rare edition of a book by Kant.
Thoughts: Humor and fluff again.
Diversity: 1 of 4 characters is Black, and 1 of 4 is female. Orientation is tricky again. I think it's generally agreed that Aziraphale can be either gender and is in love with Crowley who can also be either gender, and some argue that these angels are asexual. Michael is a demon who didn't have a romantic storyline so your guess is as good as mine. Eleanor talked about being attracted to both her male and female counterparts and thought Janet was hot, so I'd say she's pansexual. I'd guess Chidi is straight... Does not pass the Bechdel test.
Fandom: Crossover of Castle and Stargate Atlantis
Title: Close Encounters of the Ancient Kind
Characters: Richard Castle, Javier Esposito, Samantha Carter, John Sheppard, Rodney McKay
The prompt: Richard has the Ancient Gene
Premise: There's an actual episode of Castle where the cause of death was originally thought to be exposure to an environment like deep space. In this version, that's the result of an Ancient artifact, and Sam sends John and Rodney to NYC to find it. John's a fan of Rick's mystery novels.
Thoughts: Surprise! Humor and fluff.
Diversity: 1 of 5 characters is Hispanic. 1 of 5 characters is female. All characters are canonically straight, as far as I recall. Does not pass the Bechdel test, but at least as a writer Rick ponders the need to pass that test in his next project.
Fandom: Northanger Abbey
Title: Hedgehog Day
Characters: Catherine Morland, Henry Tilney, Eleanor Tilney, General Tilney
The prompt: Groundhog Day AU
Premise: After encountering a hedgehog, Catherine keeps reliving the same day
Thoughts: Mostly fluff and humor, although it would be angsty from Catherine's point of view. At least the process leads to General Tilney being kinder to her.
Diversity: All of the characters are white and straight. Half of the characters are female, and I think it barely passes the Bechdel test.
Fandom: Pride and Prejudice
Title: A Problem Like Mary
Characters: Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty, Lydia, and their mother
The prompt: A story about the Bennet sisters
Premise: Mary is asexual and comes out to her sisters
Thoughts: My first asexual character! Based on the comments and number of hits for this story, it seemed to be a popular concept.
Diversity: All of the characters are white and female. One character is asexual. This is another one that squeaks by on the Bechdel test. Mary's coming out does entail talking about how and why she discouraged suitors, so it's iffy.
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