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Yuletide Reveals!
Now that reveals are official, here is what I wrote for Yuletide. This year I managed to write a couple of treats (for the Yume Kira Dream Shoppe Manga), as well as my main assignment, which turned out to be for Pet Shop of Horrors:
The Fox Bride (16021 words) by geri_chan
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Pet Shop of Horrors
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Count D/Leon Orcot
Characters: Count D, Leon Orcot, Pon-chan, Ten-chan (Pet Shop of Horrors), Tetsu (Pet Shop of Horrors), Original Female Character(s)
Additional Tags: Yuletide
Summary: Count D has been running from Leon for months, but when Leon goes missing, the Count finds himself playing detective.
Notes: For ozsaur.
Prior to assignments going out, I had been browsing Yuletide letters and was intrigued by this prompt: I've read (and enjoyed!) many of the post-canon stories where Leon goes in search of D. What I'd really like is to turn this idea around and have D go in search of Leon for whatever reason. I bookmarked it for possible treating later, but to my surprise and delight I was assigned to that same recipient!
I've done the "Leon goes in search of D" thing before, but it had never occurred to me to reverse those roles, so I was really excited by the prompt and eager to start writing. I started thinking about what kind of trouble Leon could get into, and toyed with the idea of him going to Japan to look for D, and somehow running into trouble with the yakuza. I figured that maybe Taizu from the Tokyo: Pet Shop of Horrors/Shin Petshop of Horrors series could use his connections with the Chinese mob to help D find Leon. But after reading the recipient's letter more closely, I realized that they weren't familiar with the second series. I could still have gone ahead with the yakuza plot without Taizu, but on second thought, decided that maybe a supernatural antagonist would be more appropriate to the Petshop setting.
While trying to decide what kind of supernatural creature to use, I remembered a novel that I'd read years ago, The Fox Woman by Kij Johnson, in which a kitsune woman falls in love with and seduces a Japanese nobleman. She uses her powers of illusion to create a luxurious mansion, clothes, servants, etc. for her beloved, but since it is only an illusion, they are actually living in squalor in a fox-hole, and their feasts are actually mice and insects. So I figured that a kitsune woman would be the perfect antagonist to find Leon and hold him captive long enough for D to worry about him. And since Ten-chan is the only canon kitsune character in the manga, Yuki ended up being his fiancée--which worked out well, since Leon would be more inclined to be forgiving towards a child. He's a tough cop, but I also liked the compassionate side he showed in the manga towards the young girl who wanted revenge for the brother Leon had killed in the line of duty. I didn't want Yuki to be a real villain, just a misguided kid, and I'm happy that my recipient liked that aspect of her.
I usually romanize Tetsu's name as "Tet-chan" (the convention we kind of adopted on the Petshop Yahoo Group), but decided to go with "Tetsu" just in case my recipient had read my Petshop fics before, to make my writing less identifiable, though I was probably over-thinking things a bit.
Anyway, I had a blast writing this story, and I'm glad that my recipient enjoyed it! And to my surprise, it seems to be turning into one of my most popular Yuletide fics. I usually don't get more than a few comments and kudos, which I'm fine with, since I'm writing for rare fandoms. But along with my recipient's lovely comment, I've gotten 24 kudos so far! I guess Petshop is less rare than the other fandoms I've written, but I'm thrilled, and I find myself squeeing a bit every time I see a new notification in my inbox!
And my two treats:
Christmas Wishes (3578 words) by geri_chan
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: ゆめゆめ煌々堂 | Yume Kira Dream Shoppe (Manga)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Rin (Yume Kira Dream Shoppe), Alpha (Yume Kira Dream Shoppe)
Additional Tags: Yuletide Treat, Friendship
Summary: On Christmas Eve, Alpha receives a visit from the daughter of an old friend.
Notes: For TeaRoses.
Tennyo (9164 words) by geri_chan
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: ゆめゆめ煌々堂 | Yume Kira Dream Shoppe (Manga)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Rin/King
Characters: Alpha (Yume Kira Dream Shoppe), Jack (Yume Kira Dream Shoppe), King (Yume Kira Dream Shoppe), Rin (Yume Kira Dream Shoppe)
Additional Tags: Yuletide Treat
Summary: Ten years after his first marriage proposal was turned down, King is still determined to make Rin his. But will a discovery about Rin's true identity change his mind?
Notes: For TeaRoses.
I have to confess, I cheated slightly on these treats--I had noted the recipient's letter, and because I was thrilled to find someone who loves this obscure manga title as much as I do, I started writing the stories before assignments went out. In fact, they had requested Yume Kira Dream Shoppe last year as well, and I'd been mulling over plot bunnies since then. I had meant to write a Yume Kira treat or NYR fic for 2012 but never found the time, so I was determined to write a fic this year. I figured I'd go head and start writing, and if TeaRoses was assigned to me, I'd have gotten a head start. If not, I'd still have a head start on writing a couple of treats! And as it turns out, the Petshop fic went pretty smoothly and I finished well before the deadline, leaving me enough time to finish up the two treats.
My recipient ships Rin/King, so I wanted to write that pairing for them, but Alpha took over my brain and demanded that I tell his story first! ;-) I loved the manga story about how he came to live at the Dream Shoppe with Rin, but I was sad that his original owner Noa (apparently) never knew what happened to him, so I had just to write fix-it fic where Noa and Alpha are reassured that they both found happiness. I had a lot of fun revisiting with Noa and Yuki, and giving them a daughter (and a new bunny!), and even more fun showing what a softie Rin is! I also managed to drop some hints about Moon Maidens and Moon Rabbit Rice Cakes, which play a bigger role in the next story, "Tennyo," although I did write the stories so that they could stand alone.
So with Alpha's story done, I turned my attention towards Rin and King, and managed to combine that with some other prompts that also intrigued me: what are Rin's origins, and does Rin have any wishes of his/her own? Rin's gender is ambiguous in the manga, and TeaRoses asked for a female or genderqueer Rin, but was also okay with male!Rin. I think of Rin as male, but I thought I could manage to combine both our headcanons by making Rin a boy raised as a girl. As mentioned in the end notes, that subplot was partially inspired by the GetBackers character Kazuki, who was raised to behave in a feminine manner, though he wasn't actually pretending to be a woman. And the tennyo plot was inspired by the Ceres manga, at least the part about the tennyo reproducing by mating with human men.
I've always wondered who or what Rin is--his/her role is similar to that of Count D (selling dreams, or "love, hope, and dreams" in D's case), except that Rin actually wants to bring his customers happiness, while the Count's contracts seem to be set up to fail so that revenge can be exacted (although some of the stories do have happy endings). It occurred to me that Rin could be a much kinder and gentler member of the D family, but I didn't want to write an unasked-for crossover. (Although maybe someday I should write a fic with Rin as the softie black sheep of the D clan? ^_^)
Heh, it reminds me that someone on the Petshop Yahoo Group once joked that there should be a Weird Shop Owners Convention whose attendees would include D, Pamela of the Tarot Cafe, and the unnamed owner of the Plant Dolls shop (from the Dolls manga published by Viz). And perhaps Hiruko of Nightmare Inspector, although he doesn't actually own the tea house where he does business, and the girl who runs The Antique Gift Shop. We could probably add Rin to that list, too! (That would make a good cracky fic!)
Anyway, getting back to the story...I really wanted to write a story about Rin's origins. I figured that he had to be some sort of magical creature, but I wasn't sure what kind. Then I noticed a brief mention about Moon Maiden's Tears in the manga, which reminded me of the tennyo legends, and I decided that Rin would be the son of a tennyo, which would help explain his androgynous beauty.
I also wanted to play around with King's misconceptions about Rin's gender (assuming Rin is male). It's my headcanon that Jack believes Rin is male but doesn't say anything to King--perhaps because he isn't 100 percent sure, but mostly because he doesn't want to burst King's bubble, and King probably wouldn't believe him anyway. So I introduced cousin Ace to needle King a bit and challenge his assumptions.
The tennyo subplot also helped me bring King and Rin together, since I wasn't sure exactly how that was going to come about. Originally I was going to end the story with King discovering that Rin is half tennyo, but he didn't seem to be ready to be an equal partner to Rin yet, and I felt badly about keeping Rin and Tsukihime apart. So I continued the story further, with King finding a way to reunite mother and son, and by not taking advantage of Rin's gratitude, he finally proves himself mature and wins Rin's heart.
I actually ship Rin/Jack in my headcanon, but I like King, so I wasn't opposed to writing Rin/King, and as I was writing the story, I found myself growing fonder of King and his stumbling attempts at maturity, and darned if I didn't find myself rooting for him and Rin to get together! Another case of characters taking on a life of their own, I guess! It made the story a joy to write, and now I can happily ship Rin with either brother. ^_^
Although...maybe someday I'll get around to writing a Rin/Jack story, in which Jack is reluctant to confess his feelings because he doesn't want to hurt his brother. *Sigh*...another plot bunny to add to the ever-expanding list. OTOH, I'm pleased with my productivity this Yuletide, so I'm going to resolve to write more fic in the coming year, and hopefully will be able to manage it even without a deadline to motivate me!
Btw, Yume Kira Dream Shoppe is available in English from Viz, and since it's a single stand-alone volume, it's not a huge investment if you'd like to try it! I highly recommend it as a fantasy story with a sweet, fairy tale type feel.
The Fox Bride (16021 words) by geri_chan
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Pet Shop of Horrors
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Count D/Leon Orcot
Characters: Count D, Leon Orcot, Pon-chan, Ten-chan (Pet Shop of Horrors), Tetsu (Pet Shop of Horrors), Original Female Character(s)
Additional Tags: Yuletide
Summary: Count D has been running from Leon for months, but when Leon goes missing, the Count finds himself playing detective.
Notes: For ozsaur.
Prior to assignments going out, I had been browsing Yuletide letters and was intrigued by this prompt: I've read (and enjoyed!) many of the post-canon stories where Leon goes in search of D. What I'd really like is to turn this idea around and have D go in search of Leon for whatever reason. I bookmarked it for possible treating later, but to my surprise and delight I was assigned to that same recipient!
I've done the "Leon goes in search of D" thing before, but it had never occurred to me to reverse those roles, so I was really excited by the prompt and eager to start writing. I started thinking about what kind of trouble Leon could get into, and toyed with the idea of him going to Japan to look for D, and somehow running into trouble with the yakuza. I figured that maybe Taizu from the Tokyo: Pet Shop of Horrors/Shin Petshop of Horrors series could use his connections with the Chinese mob to help D find Leon. But after reading the recipient's letter more closely, I realized that they weren't familiar with the second series. I could still have gone ahead with the yakuza plot without Taizu, but on second thought, decided that maybe a supernatural antagonist would be more appropriate to the Petshop setting.
While trying to decide what kind of supernatural creature to use, I remembered a novel that I'd read years ago, The Fox Woman by Kij Johnson, in which a kitsune woman falls in love with and seduces a Japanese nobleman. She uses her powers of illusion to create a luxurious mansion, clothes, servants, etc. for her beloved, but since it is only an illusion, they are actually living in squalor in a fox-hole, and their feasts are actually mice and insects. So I figured that a kitsune woman would be the perfect antagonist to find Leon and hold him captive long enough for D to worry about him. And since Ten-chan is the only canon kitsune character in the manga, Yuki ended up being his fiancée--which worked out well, since Leon would be more inclined to be forgiving towards a child. He's a tough cop, but I also liked the compassionate side he showed in the manga towards the young girl who wanted revenge for the brother Leon had killed in the line of duty. I didn't want Yuki to be a real villain, just a misguided kid, and I'm happy that my recipient liked that aspect of her.
I usually romanize Tetsu's name as "Tet-chan" (the convention we kind of adopted on the Petshop Yahoo Group), but decided to go with "Tetsu" just in case my recipient had read my Petshop fics before, to make my writing less identifiable, though I was probably over-thinking things a bit.
Anyway, I had a blast writing this story, and I'm glad that my recipient enjoyed it! And to my surprise, it seems to be turning into one of my most popular Yuletide fics. I usually don't get more than a few comments and kudos, which I'm fine with, since I'm writing for rare fandoms. But along with my recipient's lovely comment, I've gotten 24 kudos so far! I guess Petshop is less rare than the other fandoms I've written, but I'm thrilled, and I find myself squeeing a bit every time I see a new notification in my inbox!
***
And my two treats:
Christmas Wishes (3578 words) by geri_chan
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: ゆめゆめ煌々堂 | Yume Kira Dream Shoppe (Manga)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Rin (Yume Kira Dream Shoppe), Alpha (Yume Kira Dream Shoppe)
Additional Tags: Yuletide Treat, Friendship
Summary: On Christmas Eve, Alpha receives a visit from the daughter of an old friend.
Notes: For TeaRoses.
Tennyo (9164 words) by geri_chan
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: ゆめゆめ煌々堂 | Yume Kira Dream Shoppe (Manga)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Rin/King
Characters: Alpha (Yume Kira Dream Shoppe), Jack (Yume Kira Dream Shoppe), King (Yume Kira Dream Shoppe), Rin (Yume Kira Dream Shoppe)
Additional Tags: Yuletide Treat
Summary: Ten years after his first marriage proposal was turned down, King is still determined to make Rin his. But will a discovery about Rin's true identity change his mind?
Notes: For TeaRoses.
I have to confess, I cheated slightly on these treats--I had noted the recipient's letter, and because I was thrilled to find someone who loves this obscure manga title as much as I do, I started writing the stories before assignments went out. In fact, they had requested Yume Kira Dream Shoppe last year as well, and I'd been mulling over plot bunnies since then. I had meant to write a Yume Kira treat or NYR fic for 2012 but never found the time, so I was determined to write a fic this year. I figured I'd go head and start writing, and if TeaRoses was assigned to me, I'd have gotten a head start. If not, I'd still have a head start on writing a couple of treats! And as it turns out, the Petshop fic went pretty smoothly and I finished well before the deadline, leaving me enough time to finish up the two treats.
My recipient ships Rin/King, so I wanted to write that pairing for them, but Alpha took over my brain and demanded that I tell his story first! ;-) I loved the manga story about how he came to live at the Dream Shoppe with Rin, but I was sad that his original owner Noa (apparently) never knew what happened to him, so I had just to write fix-it fic where Noa and Alpha are reassured that they both found happiness. I had a lot of fun revisiting with Noa and Yuki, and giving them a daughter (and a new bunny!), and even more fun showing what a softie Rin is! I also managed to drop some hints about Moon Maidens and Moon Rabbit Rice Cakes, which play a bigger role in the next story, "Tennyo," although I did write the stories so that they could stand alone.
So with Alpha's story done, I turned my attention towards Rin and King, and managed to combine that with some other prompts that also intrigued me: what are Rin's origins, and does Rin have any wishes of his/her own? Rin's gender is ambiguous in the manga, and TeaRoses asked for a female or genderqueer Rin, but was also okay with male!Rin. I think of Rin as male, but I thought I could manage to combine both our headcanons by making Rin a boy raised as a girl. As mentioned in the end notes, that subplot was partially inspired by the GetBackers character Kazuki, who was raised to behave in a feminine manner, though he wasn't actually pretending to be a woman. And the tennyo plot was inspired by the Ceres manga, at least the part about the tennyo reproducing by mating with human men.
I've always wondered who or what Rin is--his/her role is similar to that of Count D (selling dreams, or "love, hope, and dreams" in D's case), except that Rin actually wants to bring his customers happiness, while the Count's contracts seem to be set up to fail so that revenge can be exacted (although some of the stories do have happy endings). It occurred to me that Rin could be a much kinder and gentler member of the D family, but I didn't want to write an unasked-for crossover. (Although maybe someday I should write a fic with Rin as the softie black sheep of the D clan? ^_^)
Heh, it reminds me that someone on the Petshop Yahoo Group once joked that there should be a Weird Shop Owners Convention whose attendees would include D, Pamela of the Tarot Cafe, and the unnamed owner of the Plant Dolls shop (from the Dolls manga published by Viz). And perhaps Hiruko of Nightmare Inspector, although he doesn't actually own the tea house where he does business, and the girl who runs The Antique Gift Shop. We could probably add Rin to that list, too! (That would make a good cracky fic!)
Anyway, getting back to the story...I really wanted to write a story about Rin's origins. I figured that he had to be some sort of magical creature, but I wasn't sure what kind. Then I noticed a brief mention about Moon Maiden's Tears in the manga, which reminded me of the tennyo legends, and I decided that Rin would be the son of a tennyo, which would help explain his androgynous beauty.
I also wanted to play around with King's misconceptions about Rin's gender (assuming Rin is male). It's my headcanon that Jack believes Rin is male but doesn't say anything to King--perhaps because he isn't 100 percent sure, but mostly because he doesn't want to burst King's bubble, and King probably wouldn't believe him anyway. So I introduced cousin Ace to needle King a bit and challenge his assumptions.
The tennyo subplot also helped me bring King and Rin together, since I wasn't sure exactly how that was going to come about. Originally I was going to end the story with King discovering that Rin is half tennyo, but he didn't seem to be ready to be an equal partner to Rin yet, and I felt badly about keeping Rin and Tsukihime apart. So I continued the story further, with King finding a way to reunite mother and son, and by not taking advantage of Rin's gratitude, he finally proves himself mature and wins Rin's heart.
I actually ship Rin/Jack in my headcanon, but I like King, so I wasn't opposed to writing Rin/King, and as I was writing the story, I found myself growing fonder of King and his stumbling attempts at maturity, and darned if I didn't find myself rooting for him and Rin to get together! Another case of characters taking on a life of their own, I guess! It made the story a joy to write, and now I can happily ship Rin with either brother. ^_^
Although...maybe someday I'll get around to writing a Rin/Jack story, in which Jack is reluctant to confess his feelings because he doesn't want to hurt his brother. *Sigh*...another plot bunny to add to the ever-expanding list. OTOH, I'm pleased with my productivity this Yuletide, so I'm going to resolve to write more fic in the coming year, and hopefully will be able to manage it even without a deadline to motivate me!
Btw, Yume Kira Dream Shoppe is available in English from Viz, and since it's a single stand-alone volume, it's not a huge investment if you'd like to try it! I highly recommend it as a fantasy story with a sweet, fairy tale type feel.
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the Count's contracts seem to be set up to fail so that revenge can be exacted
That is why I never got beyond the first volume of the first Petshop series, although I skimmed the final volume of the series for the reveal about Count D's origins.
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It was nice to write in Petshop again, since that was pretty much my entry into fandom and fanfic.