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graycardinalNote: A good deal of this text has been largely ported from prior letters, including a couple of recurring requests – although I have done a bit of editing, polishing, and reorganizing in some places, and there are new and expanded prompts throughout.
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”
* Gargoyles (TV) (Demona, Elisa, Macbeth, Titania | Anastasia)
* The Ice Ghosts Mystery - Jane Louise Curry (any)
* 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 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.
I have typically requested single characters most often in past years; this year is an exception (two “any” requests, one list of four, one list of two). Where I've requested specific characters, I've given a note in each request indicating what I’m looking for in terms of meeting the prompt. Either way, you're absolutely encouraged to bring in any additional canon characters (or OCs) you feel should be involved given the demands of your plot.
A note first: as I did last year, I’ve included all of what’s below in the “Optional Details” field of the signup form – that way, it’s easiest to be sure that both my officially matched writer and anyone trolling for treat opportunities see all the notes. This year, I’ve subdivided that content a bit more specifically: “Background” on a couple of the most obscure canons, “Notes” on my perspectives on the canon or its ancillary material, “Prompts” (what it says on the tin), and “Extremely Optional Bonus Points” (ditto).
In past years, I've added a few additional notes to the text pasted from "Optional Details" in the signup form. This year, I've gone the other way: all of the Optional Detail notes are included in the signup form proper, and what's here exactly reprises that content. (It seems safer that way, and ensures that my officially matched writer sees all those notes.)
Diana Winthrop series – “Kate Chambers” • (any character)
BACKGROUND: The Winthrop books are a teen-sleuth series (six slim paperbacks from the mid-'80s) set mostly in New York and New England, with "Kate Chambers" being a pen name for versatile writer Norma Johnston -- a fact I didn't learn till much later. The individual mysteries are dedicated to (and often cleverly plotted in the style of) various classic and then-famous mystery authors, the characterizations are much more nuanced than is usual for this category, and there’s a strong ongoing ensemble cast (including a major and well-rendered secondary character who’s blind).
NOTES: If you are one of the other eleven people who read these books back in the day, you know their niftiness and recognize the characters. If you're not, I recommend the series highly even if it is incredibly obscure. As the prompts indicate, if – beyond all odds – you do know the fandom, I would not be opposed to romance either between Diana and Brad or her father and Lydian (there being definite canonical hints of the latter in later books). Alternately, a story expanding on the mentor/student relationship between Diana and Lydian would be welcome, too.
PROMPTS: This is one of my nano-fandoms and my Oliver Twist request -- which is to say, what I'm looking for is simply "more". Give me either casefic or a character moment for Diana and Brad, give me back story for Lydian (or build forward on what canon gives us of the relationship between Lydian, Diana's father, and Diana), give me a 20-years-later extrapolation...any of these will find me a very happy camper.
EXTREMELY OPTIONAL BONUS POINTS: Given that these were set largely in New York (especially since one of the characters is an actual TV news professional), I’d think there’d be a lot of crossover potential for this fandom. I myself Easter-Egged a much older Diana into one of my Castle stories some while back, but a Gargoyles, MCU, or Young Wizards cross (for instance) would also be entirely plausible. For this purpose, see (1) my works and gifts received on AO3, and (2) all entries tagged “Dear Santa” in my DW journal, and assume that any fandom represented therein is welcome.
Gargoyles (TV) • Demona, Elisa Maza, Macbeth, Titania | Anastasia Renard
NOTES: I own the first two seasons on disc, but (like most) ignore the “Goliath Chronicles” episodes. Sadly, I have read almost none of the published comics, but have consulted the major online wikis and timelines thoroughly enough in the course of writing my own fics that I’m broadly familiar with much of the post-canon-but-Weisman-canonical storyline.
I would strongly prefer a story featuring any two (or more) of the requested characters, but a story focused on any one character is sufficient to fill this request. Also, feel free to include characters not in the tag set as appropriate for plot and story purposes.
PROMPTS: I didn’t nominate Gargoyles this year, but I’m intrigued by the inclusion of Titania/Anastasia on the character list. In that light, I would be particularly fascinated by a story featuring Macbeth and Anastasia – presumably this would need to be either pre-series or offscreen-during-series, perhaps during the “World Tour” arc. (It seems likely that she’d either know of Macbeth or be able to ID his semi-magical nature, but he would not realize her faerie identity. And now that I think of it, was Macbeth actually around to see that revelation?) Alternately, we saw so little of Macbeth and Elisa together onscreen that I’d also be fascinated by a story in which they’re drawn together, perhaps because both have been strongly committed to law and justice (if at very different times in their respective lives). One presumes that any encounter between Demona and Anastasia would lead to fireworks, although canonically I don’t think Demona can find out about the dual identity earlier than everyone else does. And of course Demona and Elisa have their own ongoing rivalry, which would be highly amusing to look at sometime when Goliath is not actually in the middle of it. (Note that in these last two cases especially, Demona’s “Dominique Destine” identity may be useful.)
EXTREMELY OPTIONAL BONUS POINTS: Have I mentioned lately that I’m a sucker for the well-executed crossover? And that New York is just full of likely prospects (MCU, Young Wizards, Castle, etc.)? I am thinking particularly of the mischief Elisa and Kate Beckett might get into together, what might happen if Macbeth and any of the Avengers were to cross paths, Black Widow and Demona facing off for some reason, or how “Anastasia Renard” might be drawn into the orbits of either Carl & Tom or Nita & Kit. Or, now that I think of it, what Anastasia might make of the YW “Alien Study Group” team.
* The Ice Ghosts Mystery - Jane Louise Curry (any)
BACKGROUND: This was a one-off mystery thriller for young readers (this being before “middle grade” and “YA” were categories) published back in 1972, which might best be described as a sort of L’Engle/Trixie Belden fusion (L’Engle for the science-fictional elements, which are clearly in the same neighborhood as Arm of the Starfish and Young Unicorns; Belden for the cheerfully determined family-of-sleuths dynamic). Curry is better (but not nearly well enough) known for a wide range of children’s fantasy, and I kept hoping for a sequel to this that never arrived. Curry has been gradually bringing her backlist out in Kindle editions, and at one point this was available that way; I’m not clear on whether it still is. If not, it’s findable – and a quick read – via the usual used channels and possibly still in larger and/or kid-friendlier libraries.)
PROMPTS: This book is such an ensemble piece that I've not tried to pick among the available characters. Just give me a solid "further adventures" story -- whether of foiling another Evil Science Plot, coping with school/academic politics, or simply wreaking cheerful familial havoc on some unsuspecting foreign metropolis. Romance between Oriole and Gabriel is definitely on the table, too – or, perhaps, more ordinary correspondence in which Oriole snarks about the mischief her younger siblings are getting into.
EXTREMELY OPTIONAL BONUS POINTS: Yet again, my crossover bias rears its head. As I note above, I feel a resonance between Curry’s Bird family and L’Engle’s Austin and/or O’Keefe clans – and I have to wonder at what sort of scientific conference (or in the context of what mad-scientific scheme) the Birds and L’Engle’s characters might actually meet one another.
* Young Wizards - Diane Duane (Carmela, Dairine)
NOTES: I am fully conversant with both the “classic” and New Millennium timelines (and happy to receive fic set on either or both sides of that line), and have read all the canonical material *except* THE BIG MEOW and the second ON ORDEAL compilation (although I expect to have the latter finished by the time reveals roll around).
I would strongly prefer a story featuring both characters, but a story featuring either one will fill this request.
PROMPTS: 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.
With WIZARDS IN PLAY out, we have many of the answers we've wanted relative to Dairine and Roshaun, so I'm no longer deeply worried about excessive angst arising from that quarter. It does occur to me that Dairine might find it easier to talk to Carmela about Roshaun than to have the same conversations with Nita, perhaps especially now that his situation's been resolved. (Or you could set such a tete-a-tete earlier in canon, while things are still unsettled....)
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 would also be very much on board for quality father-daughter bonding -- no matter which father/mentor figure(s) is/are involved.
EXTREMELY OPTIONAL BONUS POINTS: If you’ve been reading all the requests in order, you know what’s coming here. (If not, feel free to skip upstream and come back....) Young Wizards is by nature a decidedly crossover-friendly fandom; I’ve done just a bit with that myself, and would totally be on board with a crossover here. To reprise one particular prompt from above: if you’re literate in Gargoyles, I’d be curious to see what might draw Anastasia Renard into the girls’ orbit here (or Macbeth, for that matter, which might lead to some amusing encounters). And there are any number of other New York-centric fandoms to draw on – if anyone in TV’s Castle is a wizard, it’s probably Alexis, and it abruptly occurs to me that it might explain a lot in the Spider-Man: Homecoming background if Aunt May were a wizard....
