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A good deal of this text has been largely ported from prior letters, including a couple of recurring requests. This is because I tend to write long letters and am often in a hurry when writing them.
Greetings, O YuleScrivener, and welcome! And also, thank you! Where Yuletide is concerned, I am nothing if not a Requester Of The Seriously Obscure. Thus I am always amazed when the technomancy of the matching process succeeds in finding a writer who shares my appreciation for said obscurity, and delighted on Christmas morning when a wonderful and wondrous story from that writer's (metaphorical) pen lands in my AO3 gift-folder. We may just be setting out on this year's journey, but I know there's a happy ending to come, and I am grateful for it already. Your work is (and will be) appreciated and valued, and I look forward to seeing its fruits.
These letters aren't getting any shorter, so while I've got detailed material farther down, I think it's only fair to give you the list of fandom requests up front. So, those would be:
* Diana Winthrop series – “Kate Chambers”
* Enola Holmes series -- Nancy Springer (Cecily Alistair)
* Star Trek: Uhura's Song -- Janet Kagan
* Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?
General likes and dislikes
Feel free to wander backward through this journal and my fic on AO3 (linked to your left) to get an idea of my interests; what I write is very much also what I like to read – and has, over time, added up to rather a variety of fandoms. My past Yuletide letters (and those for other exchanges) are tagged "dear santa" herein; see the "Yuletide" tag too, if you like.
To summarize, though: text-driven pluses for me include effective use of wit (aka banter aka snark, etc.), as well as strong characterization & dialogue. I value both respect for and clever use of canon (including well-developed AUs -- the plot-driven kind, not the baristas/highschoolers/alt-species kind). I thrive on UST (heavy on both U and T), and am neutral where gen/het/slash is concerned; if the pairing is well-developed, I'll read with an open mind.
I am also a sucker for the well-executed crossover, whether via oblique allusion or head-on fandom collision. Yuletide being Yuletide and Optional Details Being Optional, I have absolutely no expectations along this line...but I have included an EXTREMELY OPTIONAL BONUS POINTS section in each of my requests, because I live in hope, and because I can’t resist this sort of opportunity. Take these in the spirit in which they’re given, or set them aside as you prefer.
None of my requests call specifically for mature/explicit content. This doesn't mean I don't appreciate sizzling erotica/smut/porn; it's just that my fanfic-reading interests and my e/s/p-reading interests mostly don't tend to intersect. That said, if your muse happens to take you into explicit territory in the context of one of these requests, I'm generally willing to follow along for the ride. I have few outright personal squicks save for noncon, incest, or adult/child kinks so long as a given relationship is age- and canon-appropriate.
Character matching and prompts
Where I request single characters is not because I'm opposed to relationship-fic or multi-character stories – far from it. My goal is to give you greater flexibility in introducing additional characters, whether from those nominated or from wider canon. Even where I supply relatively specific prompts in a request, I want you to be able to shape the story; my suggestions are meant as springboards, not outlines.
This year, though, only one of my requests is for a single character; the others are all "any". In part, this is because I've managed to request several canons where the stories really rely on the ensemble as much as the nominal leads to drive the narrative. And in at least one case, it's because I honestly couldn't pick a favorite from the group of characters nominated.
Having said that, though, I'm not at all opposed to stories more tightly focused on one or two of the nominated players, and I've made that clear in the individual requests. Either way, you're also entirely welcome to bring in any additional canon characters (or OCs) you feel should be involved given the demands of your plot.
( The specific requests )
Greetings, O YuleScrivener, and welcome! And also, thank you! Where Yuletide is concerned, I am nothing if not a Requester Of The Seriously Obscure. Thus I am always amazed when the technomancy of the matching process succeeds in finding a writer who shares my appreciation for said obscurity, and delighted on Christmas morning when a wonderful and wondrous story from that writer's (metaphorical) pen lands in my AO3 gift-folder. We may just be setting out on this year's journey, but I know there's a happy ending to come, and I am grateful for it already. Your work is (and will be) appreciated and valued, and I look forward to seeing its fruits.
These letters aren't getting any shorter, so while I've got detailed material farther down, I think it's only fair to give you the list of fandom requests up front. So, those would be:
* Diana Winthrop series – “Kate Chambers”
* Enola Holmes series -- Nancy Springer (Cecily Alistair)
* Star Trek: Uhura's Song -- Janet Kagan
* Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?
General likes and dislikes
Feel free to wander backward through this journal and my fic on AO3 (linked to your left) to get an idea of my interests; what I write is very much also what I like to read – and has, over time, added up to rather a variety of fandoms. My past Yuletide letters (and those for other exchanges) are tagged "dear santa" herein; see the "Yuletide" tag too, if you like.
To summarize, though: text-driven pluses for me include effective use of wit (aka banter aka snark, etc.), as well as strong characterization & dialogue. I value both respect for and clever use of canon (including well-developed AUs -- the plot-driven kind, not the baristas/highschoolers/alt-species kind). I thrive on UST (heavy on both U and T), and am neutral where gen/het/slash is concerned; if the pairing is well-developed, I'll read with an open mind.
I am also a sucker for the well-executed crossover, whether via oblique allusion or head-on fandom collision. Yuletide being Yuletide and Optional Details Being Optional, I have absolutely no expectations along this line...but I have included an EXTREMELY OPTIONAL BONUS POINTS section in each of my requests, because I live in hope, and because I can’t resist this sort of opportunity. Take these in the spirit in which they’re given, or set them aside as you prefer.
None of my requests call specifically for mature/explicit content. This doesn't mean I don't appreciate sizzling erotica/smut/porn; it's just that my fanfic-reading interests and my e/s/p-reading interests mostly don't tend to intersect. That said, if your muse happens to take you into explicit territory in the context of one of these requests, I'm generally willing to follow along for the ride. I have few outright personal squicks save for noncon, incest, or adult/child kinks so long as a given relationship is age- and canon-appropriate.
Character matching and prompts
Where I request single characters is not because I'm opposed to relationship-fic or multi-character stories – far from it. My goal is to give you greater flexibility in introducing additional characters, whether from those nominated or from wider canon. Even where I supply relatively specific prompts in a request, I want you to be able to shape the story; my suggestions are meant as springboards, not outlines.
This year, though, only one of my requests is for a single character; the others are all "any". In part, this is because I've managed to request several canons where the stories really rely on the ensemble as much as the nominal leads to drive the narrative. And in at least one case, it's because I honestly couldn't pick a favorite from the group of characters nominated.
Having said that, though, I'm not at all opposed to stories more tightly focused on one or two of the nominated players, and I've made that clear in the individual requests. Either way, you're also entirely welcome to bring in any additional canon characters (or OCs) you feel should be involved given the demands of your plot.
( The specific requests )
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