enchantedsleeper

Hello! Thank you very much for being my gifter, for considering making a treat for me (I have gifts enabled and treats are so welcome!), or for otherwise taking an interest in this letter ^^ This is my first year taking part in Festivids, so I’m still feeling out how it all works, but I’ll try to put down enough detail here to be helpful!

In general, though, I’m very open to anything in a vid/gift - while I’ll put a few preferences below, they’re not that strongly held, because I find a wide variety of things interesting and cool. So, feel free to be unorthodox; feel free to get creative; feel free to make whatever you’re inspired to by the fandom material 😄

General likes

Lyrics that match well with the visuals of a vid, especially those moments where it’s really bang on with what’s happening in the clip – love that
Pretty much any genre of music – though I admit that death metal would be an unusual choice for my requested fandoms (then again, maybe not for Nimona!), but otherwise, my preferences with genre are generally “yes”. Whatever you’d like to use for the material, I’m on board with. That includes instrumentals with no lyrics if you’re so minded (I’m a fan of classical music, and there are many epic orchestral pieces that I think can make great fanvids)
Upbeat or hopeful vids/visuals, although I’m on board with angst – I’d just prefer to stay on the “bittersweet” end of the spectrum rather than “tragic”
Shippy vids or vids that focus on any kind of relationship between characters (friendship, queerplatonic, mutually obsessed enemies)
Vids that tell a story
Very open to non-traditional vids with creative combinations of visuals/audio/sound (which for some, non-visual, fandoms is needed of course, but even if it’s not, go for it!)

General dislikes

I’m not the biggest fan of dialogue in vids because I prefer to listen to the lyrics, but some well-placed dialogue can be cool, so it’s not a hard ‘no’. I also love cleverly used sound effects!
Hopeless or bleak vids – as I mentioned, I’d prefer them to be hopeful in some way, and bittersweet if not outright upbeat (not every fandom is a ray of sunshine!)

Specific fandoms

Peter Pan (2003)

I love this film’s depictions of the characters and of Neverland, particularly Peter and Wendy, so I’d love a focus on their relationships and interactions – or something about Peter and the Lost Boys hijinks/found family (including Wendy, Michael and John ideally). I also enjoy the John/Tiger Lily ship and am very happy for that to be a feature (or focus if you think there’s enough material).

The pirates are fun villains and I’d also be up for something focusing on Peter and Hook’s rivalry – just not shippy please (see DNWs). Or something about the worldbuilding of Neverland, which I think is really great in this film, could be super fun!

Fandom-specific DNWs:

Peter/Hook – as mentioned, I’m up for a focus on their relationship, but I’d like it not to be with a shippy slant
Wendy/Hook – ditto
A focus on Wendy growing up – I don’t mind it being featured if you want to go in a bittersweet direction, but the main appeal of the canon to me is the childhood whimsy, so I’d like that not to be the main focus of a vid.

The Road to El Dorado (2000)

Hijinks and shenanigans! This is a very fun film and so I’d be happy with a vid that leaned into that, though there is also some great material to go the angsty route if you want to with Miguel and Tulio. I’m up for shippy Miguel/Tulio, Tulio/Chel or – if you’d like to make my day – Chel/Miguel/Tulio, which I think is a great OT3. I love the ways that Tulio and Miguel’s contrasting personalities play off against each other (as someone – I can’t remember who – said of the two, together they make “one entire halfwit”) as well as Chel’s pragmatism and conniving strategy and the way that she corrals them while also being endeared by both of them.

Other likes include pretty much everything – something focusing on the people of El Dorado would be great, and Tzekel-Kan is a fun villain who I’d be happy to watch a vid about. I love Al Tivo if you fancy making him the focus somehow (or perhaps a general focus on the adventure-having foursome of Chel, Miguel, Tulio and Al Tivo).

Fandom-specific DNWs:

I’d prefer not to focus on Cortés or the colonialism aspect of the canon, otherwise go nuts

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)

I fell so in love with this film when I saw it earlier this year, and then again like a week later because I Needed. I’m not much of a D&D player (I’ve played twice ever, and both times were 6-7 years ago) but I have some peripheral knowledge due to friends who are big fans and players, so although a lot of the Easter Eggs were lost on me, I love what I did pick up on/have learned since from the fandom. For that reason, if you wanted to lean into the roleplaying aspect in some way (for example with something showing action ‘behind the scenes’, or dice rolls?) I would be very on board.

Otherwise, just as a pure story, I love the sheer found family-ness of this canon: I adore the friendship between Edgin and Holga, I love the strength of their platonic bond, and I love that Holga is fully Kira’s second parent (I hesitate to say ‘mother’ because she doesn’t need to fulfil that role exactly, but parent yes). I love Doric and Simon, and I think their romance is cute, although if you want to characterise it as queerplatonic or focus more on their friendship, that’s A-OK by me. (Also, like many people I shipped Doric initially with the wood elf she saves in her first scene, so if you feel like including a threesome in that vein? *ok_hand*)

I also love Edgin and Zia’s beautiful and tragic love story and am up for something focusing on them, preferably ultimately hopeful/bittersweet as mentioned in the likes/dislikes. Other ships I am a big fan of include Edgin/Xenk – I think there is so much chemistry in their interactions and they contrast and complement each other in brilliant ways; truly a fantastic sort-of-enemies to lovers ship. Plus, the parallels to Edgin/Zia are real, and I’d be very up for a vid that highlights those.

Also, Marlamin and Holga have a lovely sweet past relationship, so if you want to go for something Holga-centric that also features Marlamin, I would love to see it. Another character I’d love to see centred (if a character-focused vid is your desire) is Simon, whose growth and arc during the film is really a thing of beauty. He is the Best Boy.

I’m less interested in Sofia as a character, but she can feature; Forge is super fun though and I’d also be on board with something around his relationship with the group, past and present, and his betrayal. (I buy that Edgin and Forge might have had something, whether it was a hook-up or a full relationship).

Fandom-specific DNWs:

Shippy Holga/Edgin (I love their relationship as purely platonic, and don’t think romance needs to come into it)
Edgin shipped with Simon or Doric (again, I see and prefer their relationships as close platonic/family relationships)
Kira shipped with anyone

The Strange Case of Starship Iris (Podcast)

Note: some spoilers for Starship Iris season 2 contained in the DNW section

This is one of my all-time favourite podcasts, and again, I love the found family-ness of it all. The Rumour crew are a fantastic, funny bunch of different characters and skillsets, and the way they work together and take care of each other is what really makes the show special to me. As a season, I generally prefer season 1 to season 2, which I think is overall better-executed as a story; the second half of season 2 also has some darker moments that I’m not as big a fan of.

I love all of the main cast of the show, but I particularly adore Sana as the captain who comes across as bubbly and idealistic but underlying it is a steely willingness to do literally anything to protect her crew. (Her speech in season 1, episode 7 to that effect is amazing, and that’s also why that episode is my favourite and most re-listened episode overall). I’m also a big fan of the Sana/Campbell ship, although most of the material is in season 2, which changes Campbell’s characterisation in a way that I’m pretty ehhhh about (I liked gruff inarticulate Campbell from season 1), but such is life.

Arkady/Violet is another ship I love, and the way their relationship builds from initial suspicion and enmity to affection and loyalty is brilliant. They have some killer lines to each other, such as Arkady’s speech about scientists in the very first episode, and Violet’s “you make plants grow in the middle of cold, empty space” from the season 1 finale.

Park and McCabe are another pair whose dynamic I love, and I mostly headcanon them as queerplatonic (or platonic), but I can vibe with a shippy direction for them. I also love the tragic trio of Thasia, Other Violet, and Emily Craddock if you were minded to take it in that direction (and also Alvy if you wanted to include him). Also, Piper Tanaka and Kestrel Colven from the first mini-episode and from season 2 are super fun characters!

Fandom-specific DNWs:

There are some darker, more distressing scenes in the second season that I’d prefer not to feature in a gift, namely a scene in season 2, episode 7 where Agent McCabe shoots their childhood friend, Nan Walker, and references in episode 8 to what happens to her body
Similarly, season 2, episode 9 contains a scene in which Arkady Patel experiences a PTSD episode and is confronted by McCabe holding a gun – I would also like it if this scene didn’t feature in a gift or treat.

Nimona (2023)

Nimona is a riot, and I love the animation, the Nimona-Ballister relationship, the Ballister/Ambrosius romance, and the way the film balances fun and shenanigans with feels and darker themes.

I really enjoy the film’s inclusion of Nimona’s friendship with Gloreth, and would love a vid that focuses on them. A focus on Nimona, on Ballister, or on Ambrosius (and his struggle between duty and his heart) would be excellent, as would a focus on the relationships between them – Nimona and Ballister as close friends and found family, and Ballister and Ambrosius as lovers on different sides of a conflict, both ultimately still loyal to each other while trying to do what they think is right.

I also think the worldbuilding of the Nimona film is super interesting and would be a fan of something that dives into that, looking at the system that was constructed with the knights to keep order and how dystopian it truly is, and the way that it eventually comes crashing down.

Fandom-specific DNWs: