As the Cardinal Flies

Greetings, O YuleScrivener, and welcome!

First of all, thank you! As a longtime requester of Seriously Obscure Fandoms™, I'm constantly amazed when the matching process succeeds in finding authors who have actually heard of and fallen in love with the canons I so persistently request. I am also invariably delighted on Christmas morning when wonderful and wondrous stories land in my AO3 gift-folder. In particular, I've gotten some truly excellent treats in recent years, as well as a stream of gorgeous gifts - it boggles my mind that the Yuletide community is as consistently productive - and as consistently talented - as it is, and the fact that some of those stories are written just for me never ceases to amaze me.

With the evolution in Yuletide customs over the last few years, my detailed fandom requests, prompts and all, are mirrored straight from the signup itself. Anyone needing further details regarding a specific request should email the Yuletide mods. (As far as I'm concerned, this goes both for assigned writers and prospective creators of treats - to which I remain very much open - unless and until the mods tell us otherwise.),,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

My AO3 dashboard is linked to your left; feel free to cruise it looking for fandoms of mutual interest (or just to see what all I've written for). Here on DW, all my fic-exchange letters are tagged "dear santa" as well as to the relevant exchanges, Yuletide included. For those of you willing and able to feed my endless desire for crossovers and fusions, let those listings be your guide to prospective combinations.

Now, then: here's what you need to know about my reading tastes:

Things I like:
( Read more... )

DNWs:
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Diana Winthrop series - Kate Chambers (any)
( Read more... )

Elsbeth (2024) (Elsbeth)
( Read more... )

The Master (TV) (any)
( Read more... )

Mighty Ducks: TAS (any)
( Read more... )

Tomorrowland (2015) (any)
( Read more... )

Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego (1994) (Carmen Sandiego)
( Read more... )

Nine recs below, sorted alphabetically by fandom and including commentary. There's a considerable variety here, so I wish folks good hunting. (A quick shoutout to sanguinity, which I trust will be appreciated: there is marmalade in the last of these.)

Anastasia (1997)
you gave up all the golden factories
Rating: G
Category: M/F
Warnings: none
Words: ~3200
Relationship: Anya/Dmitri
Characters: Anya, Dmitri

Two Petersburg childhoods.

Notes: A brief piece that works for either the 1997 animated movie or the Broadway musical, blending pre-canonical memories and post-canon plans for both its leads. The tone is balanced nicely between the movie's lively banter and the stage version's slightly edgier quality, retaining the ultimately hopeful optimism that makes both iterations stand out.

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Batgirls (DC Comics 2021)
Deny thy father and refuse my name
Rating: G
Category: multi
Warnings: none
Words: ~2200
Relationships: Stephanie Brown/Cassandra Cain; Barbara Gordon/Dick Grayson
Additional Tags: fluff, AU

It's going to be a day that will change the history of the Hill forever - if they can solve the mystery.

(Don't worry, they got this.)

Notes: Even if you're only glancingly familiar with DC comics canon, this is a devilishly hilarious West Side Story riff that wholly avoids tragic endings in favor of cleverly sly humor. (It's undoubtedly even funnier if you do know deeper Bat-canon, but this is deeply chuckle-worthy all by itself. I promise.)

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Enchanted (Disney Movies)
Let There Be Music
Rating: G
Category: M/F
Warnings: none
Words: ~2100
Relationship: Giselle/Robert, Giselle/Edward, Nancy/Edward

The night of the ball brings new music to the forefront for Edward and we all know how important music is to him.

Notes: The movie shows us Giselle's night at the ball. This story gives us Edward's, in deeply perceptive and surprisingly intimate fashion, yet retains an unmistakably Disney tone through it all. Beautifully done.

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Japanese History RPF / Pseudo-Edo Sci-Fi Art (Yamaguchi Akira)
Prime Time
Rating: G
Category: gen
Warnings: none
Words: ~1600
Additional Tags: AU: Fusion, AU: Alternate History, Edo period, Edo punk, stealth Buddhism, time loop, time travel

Everyone, please gather around – this will be the final briefing for the staff of the Kyuushuu Futuro-Historical Train Station prior to its official re-commissioning. Thank you very much for your kind attention.

Notes: The subject matter here is completely outside my expertise...but the way it weaves itself through and around and back and forth in history, real and maybe-real, is exceptional. It's one of the strongest time-travel concepts I've seen in any venue, fannish or professional, executed with astonishing skill and a solid and thoughtful eye for its source material.

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The Parent Trap (1998)
more than just a game for two
Rating: teen
Category: gen
Warnings: none
Words: ~6600
Relationship: Annie James & Hallie Parker
Additional Tags: post-canon, Christmas, switching places, etc.

After their parents get back together, Annie and Hallie make a pact: no more switching places (except in total, real, actual emergencies).

A pact they keep...for twelve years.

And then, Parker Knoll ends up on the line.

Notes: I was prepared to be underwhelmed by this movie when it first appeared, but irrespective of anything she's done on- or off-screen since, Lindsay Lohan knocked her dual role here out of the park as far as I was concerned. This sequel does justice to its cinematic parent, allowing both twins to grow up, providing a perfect excuse to revisit the concept, and springing an ingeniously sneaky twist in the process.

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Remington Steele / Leverage
The Steele Dabbling Job
Rating: G
Category: gen
Warnings: none
Words: ~2200
Characters: Remington Steele, Laura Holt, Sophie Devereaux
Additional Tags: crossover, museums, old friends, pseudonyms

Mr. Steele leaned down to speak softly. "I don't mean to alarm you, Miss Holt, but if I'm not mistaken, I believe an old colleague of mine has just entered the gallery."

Ever proficient in discretion, Laura had no sooner processed these words than she made a point of fussing to retrieve something from her shoulder bag, sneaking a quick glance toward Charlotte in the midst of it.

"Not a blonde," she muttered, casting him a look. "Color me surprised."

Notes: This is exactly what happens when two old-school masters of the grift run into one another while out on theoretically innocent business. The character voices are dead accurate, and one can only hope there will be more shenanigans down the line.

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The Sherwood Ring
The Elusive Peaceable
Rating: G
Category: F/M
Warnings: none
Words: ~9600
Relationships: Barbara Grahame/Peaceable Drummond Sherwood, Percy Blakeney/Marguerite Blakeney
Additional Characters: Richard Grahame, Ludovic Lavenham, Mary Wollstonecraft, Gilbert Imlay
Additional Tags: adventure & romance, crossover, fandom fusions, French Revolution, etc.

Dick's face was white. “Good God – don't you know how the Revolutionary Government feels about Englishmen in disguise these days?”

I tried for a smile. “He speaks French very convincingly.”

Dick groaned and put his head in his hands.

Notes: Just as in the original novel, here we have women who outplan and out-intrigue their romantic partners on a regular basis - although the men are getting better at following their wives' leads. In this story, we've moved from the American Revolution to the French, so it's no surprise to find our colonial protagonists crossing paths with those of Orczy and Heyer, and the pace never lags on the way to a suitably successful climax.

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Star Trek: Lower Decks
The USS Cerritos, Sonnet 1
Rating: G
Category: F/F Warnings: none
Words: ~2100
Relationship: D'Vana Tendi/T'Lyn
Additional Characters: Brad Boimler, Beckett Mariner, Sam Rutherford
Additional Tags: crushes, poetry, puns & wordplay, easter eggs, etc.

T'Lyn is interested in poetry, and Tendi is desperate to impress her. Will this book of alien poems get T'Lyn's attention, or will it just turn life on the Cerritos upside-down?

Notes: The answer to the above is "Heck yes," since it involves the entire crew being unexpectedly afflicted with the inability to talk except in iambic pentameter - and mostly rhyming iambic pentameter at that. Fortunately, the author's ear for scansion is up to the challenge, so that the results are both highly amusing and technically sound. Moreover, the linguistic trickery that allows our heroes to resolve the problem is executed with proper poetic precision. (And the author demonstrates that one can, in fact, write funny sonnets, which is a rare treat for those of us who are poetically inclined.)

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Stealing the Elf-King's Roses (Diane Duane)
Marmalade, Xianese, and Fondue
Rating: G
Category: gen
Warnings: none
Words: ~3000
Characters: Lee Enfield, Gelert
Additional Tags: pre-canon

A glimpse at how Lee and Gelert might have become partners.

Notes: This was the story written for me this year, in the world of what I consider one of Duane's very best novels, where forensic sorcery is as scientifically rigorous as conventional CSI techniques are in our world. For myself, I'm delighted; the author's tone perfectly captures the nuanced, deeply philosophical quality of Duane's worldbuilding - both like and unlike her better-known "Young Wizards" books - and the pre-canon glimpse we're given of how the novel's protagonists might have met is thoughtfully developed. The story may be a little densely written to draw in newcomers, so it's as well that Duane's preferred edition is available from her online ebook storefront.

Herewith the highlights of a day wandering through Yuletide:

ETA: I've given up trying to figure out why everything goes bold beyond the Gargoyles cut tag in this entry (*except* when you view it on a page by itself, when everything looks normal). Whatever's going on there, it's not an HTML thing, I promise.

( Aladdin (1992) )

( The Cremation of Sam McGee - Robert Service )

( Enola Holmes - Nancy Springer )

• Diana Winthrop series – Kate Chambers
  
• Jacqueline Kirby – Elizabeth Peters
  
• The Night of the Solstice - L. J. Smith
  
• Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century
  
• Stargirl (2020)

genarti

scfrankles

What it says on the tin – a collection of notes and correspondence from a case for which no full manuscript has been found (almost certainly because Watson thought better of writing this one up for posterity).

scfrankles

lirin

Don’t get me wrong," said Moira MacTaggert, " but if your boss really wanted to make a deal with Shaw, he’d have brought a whole other sort of professional girl with him. "

"Yes, well," said Della Street, "we shared our report with the local Treasury authorities. And if Paul Drake had run into you anytime during that investigation, Mr. Mason and I would have heard about it in Technicolor detail.”

desertvixen

Note: 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.  

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.