Yuletide 2009: Dear Santa...YuleGoat...Solstice Llama?

[graycardinal]

Or possibly Solstice Lama, since only a truly enlightened soul would have matched with me on a Yuletide fandom.  Salaam, salaam, salami -- [pause, deep breath]. 

Okay, I'd better stop now, before someone reaches through the Internet and thwaps me upside the head for excessive punmanship.  Suffice to say "Welcome" to my Yuletide writer (and anyone else who may end up tossing something in via pinch-hit or Yuletide Madness), and a sincere and heartfelt thanks-in-advance for the effort and attention you'll be giving to one of these requests.

General notes first:  As I've noted in prior Dear Whoever letters, I am mellow and flexible in my reading preferences -- I read widely and in a number of different categories as well as fandoms.  I most appreciate strong character and/or story development, whether in something as compact as a drabble or as expansive as an epic.  If you poke around in this journal and my FFN material, you'll observe that I have a fondness for fandoms and fanfic featuring high levels of wit and snark; I'm not opposed to angst, but I don't tend to wallow in it.  I am definitely a crossover junkie, with the caveat that the crossover needs to do full justice to everyone involved.  Which can be done in more than one way, and I worship at the altar of those who cam pull off really insane crackfic with a straight face. 

I am in no way opposed to hot(!) sex(!) in my fanfic as a general principle, but I generally don't read fanfic for the sex, and most of my present Yuletide requests are not strongly pairing-oriented.  I've read and liked gen, het, slash, and a surprising amount of kink, but I just don't get either mpreg or most genderswap, have yet to meet a fandom-of-interest where incest made sense to me, and consider adult/child a definite squick.  Also, in my book, well-rendered UST is a thing of beauty, and resolving it often has a tendency to severely dim the sparkle in a lively pairing. 


Castle • Alexis Castle
I’ve listed Alexis by herself here, and (recognizing that optional details are optional) I will be deeply pleased with virtually any Alexis-centric story you choose to write.  Having said that, I’d be particularly intrigued by a story that shows her interacting with one of the other women (as in “other than Beckett”) in Castle’s life – especially Lanie Parish, Martha, or even Gina-the-publisher.  One other request: in deference to canon to date, I’d strongly prefer not to delve into Alexis’s sex life, with the possible exception of futurefic in which she appears as an adult.

Not a lot to add to the request proper, save that having suggested a crossover elsewhere in my requests, I'd be remiss not to note that I'd be inordinately amused by a plausibly designed crossover in this fandom -- although, as noted, that would be Way Above The Call Of Duty.  Three thoughts: (1) While it's awfully tempting to peg Alexis as a possible Potential in the post-series Buffyverse, I wonder if she might not actually make a better Watcher-in-training.  (2)  See the Gargoyles prompt below.  There are a lot of ways a crossover there might go -- Alexis crossing paths with Angela, with Demona (and/or "Dominique Destine"), with Elisa, perhaps even with Titania or the Weird Sisters.  Bonus points for a meeting between Beckett and Elisa Maza, although that's probably a different story entirely.  (3) Two words: Jessica Fletcher.

Also, while I've specifically requested Alexis, and made mostly female-centric plot suggestions, this emphatically does NOT mean that the various male characters are barred from appearing

Gargoyles
First: while I am not mortally opposed to Xanatos/Owen slash, neither is it remotely what I had in mind for this request, and I would be just as happy if you didn’t go anywhere near there.  Optional details being optional, almost anything else goes, but I give you three plot bunnies for your consideration: (1) something mildly adversarial featuring Owen and Xanatos operating at cross purposes (this would most likely put Puck, at the least, into strong background), (2) something that explains or otherwise addresses Owen’s periodic turns as Xanatos’ personal chef (given everything else Owen does, that seems like a very odd aspect of his duties), or (3) it would be deeply, deeply amusing – though way above and beyond the call of duty – to see how these two might interact with a certain Richard Castle and his entourage.

I'll observe here that I'm only marginally aware of developments in the Gargoyles comics, so I won't be at all troubled if you concentrate on something taking place in the TV series timeframe.  OTOH, I've read enough online and in fanfic so that a story taking place in later continuity should still be readable (worst case, I'll have to go hunt down some comics, O woe is me [yeah, riiiight]).  Do absolutely feel free to bring in additional characters as you see fit, not excluding appropriate crossover characters if you're so inclined.

Linda Haldeman - The Lastborn of Elvinwood • Thomas Heaton
This has been my fandom-of-one request for some while now.  I’ve always been curious about Tom-the-vicar’s history; there’s got to be a story about how he fell into company with the likes of Merlin and the Fernlord (presumably not at precisely the same time, but who knows?).  Definitely feel free to use any other characters from the book that fit your inspiration – and/or, if the plot bunnies call for it, to spin wickedly appropriate crossover characters into the mix.

Odds are that this is not a fandom on which the YuleCode has matched us; as noted above, this book has been my Yuletide fandom-of-one for several years, and I've been pimping it fairly aggressively of late.  (See various other of my posts under the Yuletide tag herein for more detailed pimpage.)  I definitely recommend the book (which is obscure but not, so far as I can tell, especially difficult to track down), whether or not you have any intention of writing fic to go with it.  OTOH, if by some incalculable good fortune you've read the book before now, and are at all motivated to write said fic, you will have my undying gratitude.  And very possibly cookies.

Robyn Tallis - Planet Builders series • Daphne DeVries
With as large a cast as there was in Planet Builders, not everyone got as much stage-time as they should have – and of all the underused characters, I’m particularly fond of Daphne, both because of her lively personality and because I’m also a big theater fan.  Almost any Daphne story you can imagine would be greeted with delight, whether during canon (or even pre-canon) or long afterward; also, feel entirely welcome to make use of other canon characters and to partner or pair her up as you think appropriate.  Working in her theatrical interests counts as a definite bonus but is not required.

Barring a very late surge in popularity, it looks as if there's exactly one Yuletide player with whom the codemonkeys can match me on this fandom.  If you are that Yuletider, I likely don't have to explain how amazingly cool this series was, and how amazingly cool it would be to see new Yulefic set in this milieu.  The above prompt is very, very general -- but not only am I reluctant to tie down a potential writer for this too closely, this is one case where I really will be happy with virtually anything that shows up, serious or comic, epic or intimate.  A romance, a career, an unknown Lost City, a 20-years-later reunion piece -- any of these will make me go all misty-eyed for at least a week.

If you are not the one Yuletider who knows what I'm talking about -- and you can find this series, which has been OP for a long time and is likely to stay that way (the packager that put it together vanished without leaving so much as a trail of breadcrumbs, and the rights issues are murkier than a Magic 8-Ball at the bottom of the Sargasso Sea) -- you've got a treat in store.  Imagine Andre Norton (or maybe Charles Stross) writing Tom Swift, only with more pirates and a fair amount of Buffy-esque snark, and you have the beginnings of an idea of the tone.  This was classic planetary adventure with a modern spin, the likes of which has been rarely seen, and it's a darn shame the series disappeared as thoroughly as it did.

# # #

And there you have it.  Go go Gadget-Llama Word Proc- . . . no, wait, I'm getting excessively silly again.  I think my typing fingers have gone off their meds or something.

Comments

[twilight2000.livejournal.com]

hmm - I'll bite - don't know what "UST" is...

so - interesting possibilities - is this the beginning of what you expect to be an exchange of Yuletide FanFic?

[graycardinal]

Whoops, posted the actual reply as a comment to the parent post; see below for the full skinny.

[graycardinal]

What, not an initiate? Herewith the ten cent tour:

Yuletide is indeed an annual fanfic exchange/challenge, focused specifically on small/obscure fandoms -- thus, Star Trek, Twilight, and so forth are not eligible. There is a humongous list of fandoms that are eligible, which becomes a running tally of sorts during the signup period.

Participants make three to four requests for stories from a long list of nominated fandoms, and supply a list of all those nominated fandoms in which they're willing to write a story of at least 1000 words.

Stories must then be uploaded to the Yuletide archive no later than December 21; fail to make the deadline and you're in default, and may be excluded from future Yuletides. The archive is thrown open on December 25th (Christmas morning), but the identities of Yuletide authors are withheld till January 1 (the reveal).

From New Year's Day till the next Yuletide cycle begins, the archive is open for public perusal, and anyone may submit stories for all the leftover unfulfilled requests (there are always lots of those, since you make 3-4 requests but are only committed to write/receive one story). This is called NYR, the New Year's Resolution challenge.

The challenge is open to anyone who chooses to sign up. As noted, there are provisions for excluding those who've defaulted, but there's a general amnesty this year -- the challenge has grown so large that it's migrating to a new code base. Signups have been going on for about a week, and will close Thursday evening (tonight!) at 9pm Eastern time (thus 6 pm Pacific).

There are two LiveJournals associated with Yuletide: yuletide_admin for official announcements from the moderators, and yuletide for general correspondence among the participants.

Not all participants are on LiveJournal, but a great many are, and many if not most of those write "Dear Santa" letters to the unknown writers with whom they're matched, giving additional backgrounds on what they like, dislike, and are hoping for in their cyberspatial holiday stocking.

There are some additional wrinkles and bonus features, but those are the basics. The exchange has been going on for a number of years now, and growing dramatically especially in the last year or two. This will be my fourth time around. While the "front door" of the archive is officially closed during the challenge proper, one can still access individual stories; this was the first Yuletide story I wrote, for the 2006 round.

Oh, and UST=Unresolved Sexual Tension, the chemistry between non-consummated romantic leads (Remington Steele & Laura Holt, Kate Beckett & Richard Castle, etc.). Resolving UST has been known to implode the associated series (cf. Moonlighting).

[twilight2000.livejournal.com]

cool - sounds like fun! No idea how I never heard of it before!

Oh - and UST makes a lot of sense - I knew it, just didn't know the acronym ;>

So - the real question - I've already started on one of the stories on your list - can I keep going?

:>

[graycardinal]

I've already started on one of the stories on your list - can I keep going?

[sticks fingers in ears]

Umm -- you're not supposed to TELL me that!

In terms of Yuletide proper, there's a mostly-automated matching process that occurs after signups close. Each participant's requests are assigned to one other participant, and that other participant becomes the "secret Santa" (emphasis secret) responsible for writing a Yuletide story based on one of the requester's prompts. Note that this is not a two-way match -- it's rare-to-impossible for two participants to actually end up as each other's secret Santas. And by tradition and etiquette, the secret Santa never ever ever so much as hints to his assigned recipient that he or she (the preponderance of Yuletide writers are female) is writing their story.

Note that in general, the assignment process will latch onto one fandom where your recipient's requests intersect with your offers. Thus I may get a list of requests that includes (for example) Remington Steele, RPF-Pirates*, and two Japanese anime series that I've never so much as heard of. Very, very occasionally the match will throw up a two-fandom match, but that's rare. OTOH, sometimes there will be a match on a fandom you didn't offer but are sufficiently interested in/familiar with to write anyway.

[*RPF="Real Person Fiction". There are a lot of RPF fandoms that pop up in Yuletide, divided roughly between large swaths of historical figures and large swaths of present-day entertainers & celebrities. Some categories of RPF are very, very weird....]

Thus, if you were to sign up for Yuletide today (which you could certainly do), the odds that you'd actually get assigned to me are relatively slender. Note that many participants offer to write in dozens of different fandoms; indeed, you're encouraged to do this in order to facilitate the matching process. With upwards of 3500 fandoms available and -- last I looked -- over 1900 people playing the game this year, it's next to impossible to predict in advance who you'll be matched with, or even on what fandom you're most likely to intersect with your recipient.

That said, if one does sign up for Yuletide, nothing in the rules prevents you from trolling the hundreds of "dear Santa" letters scattered across LiveJournal, writing stories based on such of the requests that strike your fancy, and uploading those stories in addition to the one you've been assigned to write. Indeed, there are writers who make a point of doing just this, and there are resources that help to enable those writers, notably this post in yuletide_admin, gathering up links to the "dear Santa" letters.

Now of course, nothing prevents random bystanders from coming across Dear Santa letters and writing stories based on the prompts therein -- and as the point of Yuletide is to encourage the production of fanfic in obscure/small fandoms, this is certainly within the spirit of the exchange. However, unless one is a registered Yuletide participant, one can't upload stories into the Yuletide archive during the challenge period proper, which can make it difficult for said random bystanders to find a place to put their presents -- at least till the NYR gates open on January 1.

[twilight2000.livejournal.com]

Ah - ok - so when you're done going "LA LA LA" You'll have to look around and see if there's a (hopefully) interesting story in your inbox - quite independent of any official Yuletide Exchange ;>.

And yes - I managed to sign up this morning - just (as I was out till after 9 tonight...) :>

[graycardinal]

[chorus of La la la-ing]

I had in fact noted the signup, as the "Fandom Requests" page helpfully lists the noms de Yuletide of all the participants down the right hand side (all 2143 of us, if I recall the latest figure correctly).

As for hopefully interesting stories -- as noted above, now that you are on board, nothing prevents you (once the upload window opens) from actually uploading any such hopefully interesting story as a "bonus" Yuletide present, just as nothing would prevent me from trolling your (hypothetical forthcoming) "Dear Solstice Llama" letter, seizing on a fandom of mutual interest, crafting a story, and uploading that story to the archive without ever having mentioned the possibility of doing so. [And that way, thousands of other ravening Yuletiders would also get to appreciate our mutual delight in -- for example -- horrifically perverted Care Bears. Although I note for the record that I had nothing whatsoever to do with that story....)

[twilight2000.livejournal.com]

*snerk* You keep saying that...

and the rest, now that I've actually had time to complete my reading of the guidelines/faq/etc, makes perfect sense.

Of course, now I'm terrified that I overcommitted and will be asked to write for some fandom I don't know nearly as well as I thought I did... The "any" button may prove to be my undoing ;>.

Just out of curiosity (and because I can't find a reference to it anywhere in the FAQ), is my "request" visible at this point or do i need to write the mods to find out what fandoms I asked for? (yes, I managed to forget which ones I chose... I did it in about 15 minutes this morning while trying to get out the door for an ALL DAY archivist's class (which was a BLAST!!!) - so I don't remember what I actually chose... *sigh*

[graycardinal]

Just out of curiosity (and because I can't find a reference to it anywhere in the FAQ), is my "request" visible at this point or do i need to write the mods to find out what fandoms I asked for?

The nom de Yuletide confirms that the signup went through; you should therefore have gotten an automated email response that confirms both your requests and your offers. [The confirmation email comes from "yuletideATyuletidetreasureDOTorg".] Check and adjust your spam filters if need be, then, per yesterday's post in yuletide_admin:

At this point, if you have not received your confirmation email within an hour or so after signing up or redoing your signup, write to us to make sure you haven't typoed your address. If you put the wrong email on your signup or email from our address isn't making it through, you won't get your assignment.

The requests themselves are NOT visible anywhere online, until and unless (1) the mods need to assign a "pinch hit" writer to cover you, in which case a copy of the requests and any associated details goes out to the pinch hit list, or (2) Yuletide Madness begins and all the unfilled requests go up for grabs, in the last frantic day or so before the archive goes live.

[graycardinal]

Of course, now I'm terrified that I overcommitted and will be asked to write for some fandom I don't know nearly as well as I thought I did... The "any" button may prove to be my undoing ;>.

Heh; you and about a third of the assembled horde, I think, to judge by the flailing and squeeing that goes on in yuletide late in the signup window.

OTOH, I think this is one reason that the minimum word count is set at 1,000 words, which really isn't that long. Plus it gives one an excuse to dig up and review things we haven't read/watched in years -- somewhat easier now than it once was, what with Netflix, Hulu, and the like. Remember also the mantra that Optional Details Are Optional....and welcome to the madhouse. :-)

[twilight2000.livejournal.com]

I can't wait to see me doing real flash (assuming the worst ;>) - i've only done one piece, so it should prove interesting ;>

Pinch hitting - does that allow the hitter to pick the fandom? If so, after I get my actual "assignment" (assuming it's not too bad ;>), I'll offer to pinch for one of my fandoms (tho I'm REALLY regretting The Equalizer "any" offer I made - really, outside of Edward, I hardly remember the players at all... - there will be some serious watching to be done if I get that one ;>)

[graycardinal]

Pinch hitting is a little different; if you've signed up for the pinch hit email/Yahoo-group list, you'll see all of a recipient's requests at once when the pinch-hit request goes out, along with whatever characters/details they've specified. Then it's simply a race to be first to volunteer when you see a fandom/prompt that rings your bell.

Pinch hits tend to be snapped up pretty quickly; I've been in the pool for a couple of years now, but never picked up an assignment, though I have written a couple of short Yuletide Madness pieces at the last moment. The main thing with pinch hitting is that you need to be very, very sure of making the deadline (sometimes extended past the 21st when the pinch hit is assigned very late).

[graycardinal]

Second-guessing the matching process is popular but difficult; one never knows what the script will do. I was very surprised last year when I matched on "L. Frank Baum -- Oz series" for a second year straight. I liked writing both pieces, but decided not to offer for Oz this year just to make absolutely sure of getting something different this time around.

Equalizer? Let's see, the other two major characters were Control (played by Robert "Gary Seven" Lansing*) and the young agent, Kostmayer (played by Keith Sjarabajka, I think, and I hope I'm spelling that name somewhere close to right). There might be one or two other characters available for selection; I seem to remember that McCall's son showed up late in the series' run, and there might have been either an old flame or a daughter somewhere in the mix.

*I have seen at least one fannish theory equating Lansing's Equalizer character with the character played by Lansing in the later series Kung Fu: The Legend Continues. But that's way, way apocryphal at best....

[twilight2000.livejournal.com]

hmm - maybe it won't be so bad - Lansing I certainly remember and vaguely "The Kid" too - and yea, some female (daughter, flame - maybe one of each?) - it should be interesting...

[twilight2000.livejournal.com]

While I'm not saying anything specific - ACK!!! I'll be WAY more careful next year - Equalizer would be a WALK in the PARK compared to what I got...

*sigh*

research commencing...

[graycardinal]

Welcome to the madhouse. :-)

Haven't seen a Dear Yuletide Santa Goat Llama Whatever go by yet....

[twilight2000.livejournal.com]

yea - I was in such a rush that morning that I didn't copy what I signed up for - and have NO FRACKING CLUE what I signed up for as a result... (ok, not entirely true, I remember two of them "Forever Knight" and "Moonlight" - but I honestly don't remember the other 2 and I'm loathe to put up a letter for only 1/2 of them...

Still trying to figure out how to get my hands on my own list...

[graycardinal]

Hmm. Since you got the actual assignment, presumably the emails are getting through and/or you'd emailed the mods about addressing lost-email issues. Unless you've had specific correspondence to the contrary, you might try emailing the mods one more time to see if -- now that the wackiness of assignments going out is mostly dealt with -- they can at least track down your requests so that you can get a Dear Santa letter up.

[twilight2000.livejournal.com]

And as I didn't, I went ahead and asked - waiting on an answer now :>