2015: Dear Yulewriter - Once More With Fanfic

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Note: A good deal of this text has been ported straight from last year’s letter, including two out of the current six requests.  Things have been kind of hectic around here in recent weeks – and also, I find I actually rather like last year’s introductory paragraph.

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:

Birds of Prey (TV) (Alfred, Barbara, Helena)
Forgotten Realms: Songs & Swords – Elaine Cunningham (Arilyn, Danilo, Khelben)
Gargoyles (Macbeth)
Jacqueline Kirby - Elizabeth Peters (Jacqueline Kirby)
Tomorrowland (Athena)
Young Wizards - Diane Duane (Carmela, Dairine)

 

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 if your muse's musings should happen to run in such a direction on their own initiative, feel free to encourage them. Again: the key word here is Optional.

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 totally 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.  [See the requests for canon-specific notes.]

Character matching and prompts

In most cases here, I’ve requested single characters.  This 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.

Where I've requested multiple characters, I've given a specific note in each request as to whether it's an "either/or" request or not (different fandoms, different answers to that question).  As above, you're absolutely encouraged to bring in any additional canon characters (or OCs) you feel should be involved given the demands of your plot.

#### SPECIFIC REQUESTS ####

Birds of Prey (TV) (Alfred)

Alfred’s is the first voice we hear in this series, but we don’t get nearly enough of him onscreen.  Let’s see a fuller look at Alfred’s life in this Batverse.  How much contact does he have with Bruce in this setting, how much time does he still spend at stately (but abandoned) Wayne Manor, and what are his individual relationships like with Barbara or Helena or Dinah? 

This one’s fairly straightforward; I’ll simply re-emphasize here that whereas the request names Alfred alone, I hope you’ll feel free to bring in other characters to amplify and inform the story – perhaps including characters we didn’t see onscreen in this particular continuity (say, perhaps, in a flashback piece of some kind). 

Gargoyles (Macbeth)

There is not nearly enough Gargoyles fic featuring Macbeth.  What there is tends to be really good, but we need more.  Especially we need more of between-eras and offstage Macbeth – what he was doing in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries, a look at his academic life as “Lennox Macduff”, when and how and why he relocated to America...there’s a *lot* of room for speculation and filling-in of gaps.

On one hand, there are probably enough prompts in the request proper to get you started, and I’ve focused pretty narrowly on Macbeth by himself.  That said, there’s arguably room in a number of these prompts for cameos (or more) from Demona and/or the Weird Sisters, and I would absolutely not be opposed to such an occurrence.  Or, for that matter, for an Extremely Optional Crossover with some appropriate fandom should your muse run that way.  (For some reason, my mind instantly leapt to the idea of Macbeth showing up in the Brisco County universe.  This just goes to show that I have a very weird mind.)

Jacqueline Kirby - Elizabeth Peters (Jacqueline)

I so wish we'd gotten more of Jacqueline from her creator; that no longer being possible, there are questions that require answers.  What happened to the father of Jacqueline's children?  (And have any of her kids inherited her sleuthing gifts?)  What are the legendary origins of The Purse?  What has she written beyond what we've seen (is there perhaps a series character)?

This one's pretty straightforward.  I will add here, with the standard proviso of Optional Details Being Optional, that I have for years held the private theory that Jacqueline could very well be the unnamed editor of the Emerson papers.  In that light, (a) a story riffing on that theory would be totally welcome, and/or (b) it would be exceedingly amusing if, in the context of that project, Jacqueline happened to encounter Vicky Bliss and John whatever-his-real-name-may-be.

The other observation I'd make runs all the way back to The Seventh Sinner, in which Jacqueline is more or less the guest sleuth in someone else's story – it would be entertaining and satisfying to see a further adventure of that kind, in which we get a look at Jacqueline through someone else's eyes.

Forgotten Realms: Songs & Swords – Elaine Cunningham (Arilyn, Danilo, Khelben)

Along with the wonderfully drawn characters, one of the things I like about this series is the magic: Arilyn’s moonblade, Dan’s eccentric uses for illusion, Khelben’s ongoing research and development of spells and artifacts.  I’d love to see a tale in which untangling a magical problem or puzzle is the focus.

*A story focusing on any one of the requested characters is sufficient to fill this request.*

It’s been some time since I’ve reread these, but I was drawn to this fandom as I went trolling through the tag set looking for things to request.  Two observations here in addition to the prompts from the request proper.  First, while I have not named Elaith among my requested characters, I like him a great deal and would absolutely not be opposed to seeing him in whatever story you come up with.  Second: whereas I will be happy with a story featuring any one of Arilyn, Dan, and Khelben, I will *also* be happy with a story featuring more than one of them – with one minor qualifier.  We see quite a bit of Arilyn and Danilo together onscreen, and a fair amount of Danilo and Khelben as student and master.  That being the case, I’d be particularly intrigued by a story throwing Khelben and Arilyn together in a magical context.

Tomorrowland (2015) (Athena)

I really, really like Athena in this movie; she’s such a delightful combination of practical, innocent, wise, and deeply mischievous.  I’m torn between wanting more stories about her quest for dreamers out here in this world vs. more about how she evolved, in the Tomorrowland world, to the point where she bonded with Frank and broke away from Nix.  I also admit to being curious about her origins, considering that whereas Tomorrowland has a lot of robots/androids, Athena’s independence is rare to unique among them.

Here as always, feel free to introduce any other canon characters you feel inclined to bring in (any of the Plus Ultra founders, for instance).  And here, as in the Gargoyles request, I see a lot of room for an Extremely Optional Crossover setup should your muse have an idea in that direction.

One other note: I stumbled quite by accident on Before Tomorrowland a good month or so after seeing the movie proper.  If you haven't run across this book, I highly recommend it and encourage you to check it out; if you have, inclusion of any elements from that storyline or its consequences would be a lovely but Extremely Optional bonus.
 

Young Wizards - Diane Duane (Carmela, Dairine)

I chose Carmela and Dairine both because I like them individually and because canon gives us so very little that puts them together with one another -- which I find surprising, even granting the age difference.  I would very much like to see how they interact given an excuse and/or opportunity.  Additional characters welcome; suitably brain-bending crossovers totally welcome but emphatically not required.

*I would strongly prefer a story featuring both characters, but a story featuring either one is sufficient to satisfy the request.*

The one thing I really don’t want to see is Dairine wallowing in angst over whatever’s happened to Roshaun.  Dealing with the situation, absolutely -- and feel very free to include either or both fathers if you go in this direction -- but not dissolving in gloom.  (A thought: might Dairine find it easier to talk to Carmela about her Roshaun issues than to Nita?)  Other possible tacks: Dairine getting one up on Nita with Carmela’s help, or the girls and the Alien Study Group having an adventure (I’ve seen a fair bit of fic in this line set in the Crossings, not so much here on Earth).

I have said before, and will again, that this is yet another fandom in which Extremely Optional Crossovers are especially welcome.  That said, the key words here are Extremely Optional – and there’ve been enough seriously nifty crossovers in this fandom in recent years that I’m reluctant to agitate too much for yet another.  (OTOH, if by a Crazy Random Happenstance™* you are the author of the “Bats and Wizards” stories from prior Yuletides, I would totally not turn down the prequel about Carl and Tom and the X-Men notwithstanding my actual character choices.  But the odds of that actually being the case are probably just this side of my hitting a triple-digit MegaMillions jackpot, so we won’t worry about that....)

*Phrase borrowed from Tom Smith’s “Redneck Ninjas”