graycardinal | Yuletide (2012)

Midway through signups, and herewith the annual Dear Yulewriter letter.

As always, the first order of business is the heartfelt Thank You. I am definitely a picker of obscure fandoms (in some of these cases, really obscure), and anyone with the knowledge and/or enthusiasm who's willing and able to write in any of these canons deserves all the thanks and virtual cookies I can supply. (Real cookies may also be negotiable in certain circumstances....)

Now, then. You want to know what I like. So:

Pluses for me include strong characterization, well-written dialogue, wit/banter/snark, clever use of canon, well-developed AUs, UST (heavy on both the U and the T), and more. I'm neutral when it comes to matters of gen, slash, or femslash -- if the pairing is well-developed, I'll read with an open mind. I'm not into noncon, incest, or adult/child kinks, but have few other outright squicks as long as the relationship is age- and canon-appropriate; OTOH, I mostly don't read fanfic for sexual content.

I will note in particular this year that I am a sucker for the clever and well-executed crossover -- not because I expect one (Optional Details Being Optional, and such things being well beyond the call of either duty or necessity), but because in one or two of these cases, the potential amusement/entertainment value would be particularly high if your writerly imagination should happen to wander in that direction.

When it comes to Yuletide, I typically request single characters, but not because I'm uninterested in romantic pairings or the other characters in a given canon. Rather, my take is that single characters are easier for the mods to match (I may be ornery, but I'm not that diabolically evil), and that it gives you, the writer, greater flexibility as you look around for other characters in the fandom for my chosen character to hang out with.

Now, as to my specific requests:

Character: Marina Karitska

I am singularly fond of Mme. Karitska and her adventures, and very much wish we'd had more of them from the estimable Ms. Gilman. Even where the villains are as dark and dangerous as you'll find, there's a wisdom and gentleness in the telling of these stories that very much appeals to me. That tone, as much or more than any particular plot or character arc, is what I'd love to see evoked in a new story here. Beyond this I'm flexible -- give me casefic, give me prequel-fic, send Madame on vacation somewhere, with or without a companion from canon -- I will be very pleased indeed. (And feel free to draw on the sequel, Kaleidoscope, which I trust you've also seen and enjoyed as much as I did.)

Not a great deal more to be said here, I think, save that any and all additional canon characters are most emphatically welcome to appear. And if your thoughts run that way, there might indeed be crossover potential here, whether from NY/NJ mystery-genre characters or perhaps other Gilman canons. Again, though, that's Strictly Optional.

Character: Thomas Heaton

I've always assumed that the good Vicar must have a fascinating back story -- considering his interests, and his apparent history with Merlin. Anything along this line will be met with great joy and appreciation -- but Optional Details Being Optional, I'll be immensely happy with just about any story that shows as much love for this book as I've had over the years. Definitely feel free to use any other characters from the book that fit your inspiration (hmm; did he introduce Marian to the Fernlord's court, or did she recruit him?) – and/or, if the plot bunnies call for it, to spin wickedly appropriate crossover characters into the mix.

This is my permanent Yuletide Fandom-of-One™; I've been submitting versions of the above request for years and doing my best to pimp the fandom along the way (to see prior efforts, click my Yuletide journal tag and scroll down). I highly recommend the novel (and the author generally) even if you don't have any intention of writing in the fandom; it's a quick and delightful read, and one of these years someone will extend on the canon and then we'll both be joyful and grateful beyond measure.

Character: Simon Brimmer

I was utterly delighted when this series turned up on one of the new "retro" channels last year, and now need to chase down the DVDs. And much as I love Messrs. Hutton and Wayne, it's John Hillerman's Simon Brimmer that really made the series sparkle for me. Give me Brimmer the radio host, Brimmer the wit, Brimmer the raconteur...though don't hesitate to include Ellery and/or his father, as Simon's often at his best when he's playing off of one of his rivals. (Come to that, there might well be a really amusing story in setting Simon and Velie against one another without the Queens around to referee....)

The above may well be as much prompt as you need, though I'll add here that while I've encouraged you to bring in additional canon characters, I'll be equally pleased with a Simon Brimmer solo outing (indeed, as I reread that set of Optional Details, they may read as less Optional than I should have made them sound, and that wasn't my intent). If you're a fan of this series in the first place, you know what makes Simon tick as well as or better than I do, and I'll look forward to seeing what you do with him. [Why am I hearing diabolical laughter in the background as I type that? :-) ]

Character: Daphne de Vries

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.

This is another request I've made before, and what I've said in prior years still applies (see my "dear santa" tag for all the letters). If you know these books at all, you likely glommed onto them for the same reasons I did, and have a good idea of what will make me go SQUEE with the greatest and most squeeful volume. Lost cities, clever plans gone amusingly and comic-disastrously (but not too painfully) wrong, gentle romance, swashbuckling space opera -- it's all there, and this is really truly a case where I'm like Oliver Twist, and "please sir, may I have some more" will do very nicely indeed. Note that the other tagged characters in the fandom are also favorites of mine; while you are absolutely not obligated to work them in, you might look their way first as you cast about for plot.