desertvixen | Yuletide 2017 Letter (Reply)

Sorry this wasn't up earlier, but I'm preparing to move and having a bad reaction to dust and dead bugs in my garage.

This is Yuletide Number Nine! I'm really excited and I know we're both going to have fun with it.

General writing stuff can be found here.

I'll love whatever you write for me, so don't feel bad if we didn't match on one of my repeat requests. All of my requests excite me!

I'm totally down for crossovers between fandoms requested, or with Poirot, Marple, etc. On the Scoop one, I wouldn't be averse to working in the Queens of Crime deal.

Onto the specifics:

1. And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie (book)

William Blore, Vera Claythorne, Philip Lombard, Emily Brent

A few possible options here:

1. Miss Brent as Mrs. Owen - She's one of the characters everyone loves to hate, and I don't think it's too far a stretch to have her masterminding the thing. Especially since she so disapproves of everyone.

2. William Blore as Mr. Owen - Towards the end there is suspicion of Blore (especially concerning Armstrong's death) - and why couldn't he be Mr. Owen? If you would like to have Vera working with him, that would be aces.

I'm partial to Vera/Philip.

So I really love this book, the play, the 1945 movie, the recent TV adaptation (well except for the drug orgy scene), but my brain is always going off on “what-if” tangents.

While I’ve had the “Emily Brent as Miss Owen” idea for awhile, I was reading the book with my 11-year-old recently and realized how easily Blore could be Mr. Owen. I’m interested in an exploration of that. I prefer fics where Philip and Vera survive BUT am okay with you sticking more to the general tone of the novel. Also, whichever prompt you take, I’d pay good money to see Emily Brent vs. Vera Claythorne. I love in the play where Emily Brent tries to shame Vera about her outfit, and Vera claps back.

If you want to involve Poirot, I am also totally okay with that! Or the good Inspector Japp.

2. Chalion Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold

Oswyl, Thala, Lunet, Inglis kin Wolfcliff

I really enjoyed meeting some of these character in Penric's Fox. They do not necessarily all need to appear.

1. What is it like for Thala working for the Father's Order? Does she perhaps develop a relationship with Inglis?

2. Lunet. And foxes. I love foxes. If you wanted to work in something about the demon-ridden vixen and/or cubs, I could go for that. She draws off Oswyl, but is that just for politeness?

3. I find Oswyl really interesting. Perhaps he and Thala investigate some other crimes?

I enjoyed Curse of Chalion, but the Hallowed Hunt, with its stories about loyalty and Ingrey cleansing the forest so it can be fired, really did it for me. So I’ve been enjoying the Penric stories where he meets up with more Weald people.

I really enjoyed Thala and think the character is interesting – how did she get chosen to work with the Father’s people? I got the vibe that Inglis was personally interested in her, and that could be fun to read about too – what did they talk about when he was showing her the wolves?

Thala and Lunet interacting with each other, being women in what seems to be a very male dominated world, could be interesting as well. I’m totally down for a prompt in which they get to be girly.

Also, as you may have guessed fromy my user name, I’m a big fan of foxes. Lunet as a fox shaman is really interesting, and if you want to include the demon-ridden vixen and/or cubs, I’m down with that.

Oswyl is nicely done, with echoes of other Bujold characters I have known and loved. More about him and Thala doing their work could be good – does he take a fatherly interest in her or is he surprised to realize that she is actually a young lady? Not interested in a romance between them.

I’m not opposed to Penric and Des making an appearance, but don’t focus on them – something set post “Penric’s Fox” would be lovely.

3. Live Alone and Like It - Marjorie Hillis

Miss F (Case XVIII) - Live Alone and Like It

Miss F - I was really enchanted by Miss F and her little cottage (reminds me of Margaret Penhallow in A Tangled Web.) I'd love more of the story of finding it, or restoring it, or perhaps the first weekend she has friends to her place? I'd especially love garden descriptions and domesticity, especially for someone who has truly earned it and appreciates it! Or perhaps she doesn't remain Miss F...

Feel free to put a murder mystery in as well!

This book has such a snarky and yet helpful tone to it – it’s available on Kindle for pretty decent price and it’s WELL worth the read. I also really like the whole message that singlehood may be a destination, not just a stop. I’m cool with Miss F remaining Miss F, or perhaps becoming Mrs. G after she discovers a handsome neighbor with a green thumb… Feel free to make her a dressmaker.

“But one day, motoring with a friend, Miss F. came upon an unused carriage-house in the country, apparently unconnected with any estate. (She later discovered that the house had burned down.) There were rambler roses at one end and lilac bushes in front, and Miss F.’s professional enamel of efficiency melted away. She took most of her earnings to buy the place, and the rest of them to remodel it and insure it.”

4. The Scoop - London Detection Club

Geraldine Tracey, Mr. Hemingway, Beryl Blackwood

I really just want some fic about this, with a focus on Geraldine Tracey.

Turn the Lonely Bungalow case on its head, or give me a big showy trial (with requisite headlines).

I requested this one the last three years, with no luck. I just want fic in this fandom.

All right, so there is a computer game and the novel, but the two are very close. It's written by the London Detection Club, and is very focused on the newspaper business in 1930s-ish London. The game is available at Abandonia if you need something to goof off on. I had the computer game in 1990, and might have actually written my first (very bad) fanfic for it.

For "Mr. Tracey" (Hemingway), the book/game ends with him slipping and falling to his death. Give me another ending, preferably one with a big showy trial that the papers can cover! (Or even give me another killer who is framing him...)

Or maybe focus on Geraldine Tracey. Maybe he doesn’t successfully kill her, which makes the case quite different (see big showy trial). Maybe she is the killer instead, and leaves his dead body in her bungalow. (I like the Lonely Bungalow aspect.) I like to keep it in the 30s milieu. Maybe it’s not her real name and Beryl actually knows her.

Denis/Beryl is fun, but I’d like to see something more focused on the crime/trial aspect. Maybe Beryl does some more investigating on her own to help him out.

5. Nantucket Trilogy - S.M. Stirling

Doreen Arnstein, Odikweos (Nantucket Trilogy)

So, what I would really like here is an exploration of Odikweos against the familiar Odysseus. Much like Kashtiliash, he's an ally NOW because it suits him, but what if that changed? Perhaps Doreen has a plan to make that not happen...

I couldn't nominate her, but I would love love love his Penelope. (She doesn't appear in the book, sigh.) I think a meeting between her and Doreen would be epic.

One of the things I love about Odysseus is that he and Penelope have an excellent and equal relationship, where she is a match for him in her realm. I’d like that preserved and translated to Nantucket. Perhaps she and Doreen have a time where they work together to keep Ithaka in the alliance? Perhaps Penelope wants to ensure their son/daughter gets full access to Nantucket options?

If you want to involve Kathryn Hollard or Martha Cofflin, or Tudhaliya’s queen, go for it!

6. The Nonesuch - Georgette Heyer

Tiffany Wield, Patience Chartley, Mrs. Underhill (The Nonesuch), Sophia Lindeth

Patience gets to shine. Tiffany gets her comeuppance. London or Staples.

I'd particularly like to see how Sophia Lindeth (Julian's mama) takes to Patience. Ample room for scheming by Tiffany there...

This one is a repeat repeat repeat repeat request, but don't feel bad if this isn't what we matched on.

So, Tiffany Wield is one of the Heyer characters that many people (including me) love to hate. She’s strikingly beautiful, rich, self-centered, petted and spoiled beyond belief, but still young enough that she could change. She probably won’t though. When last seen at the end of the Nonesuch, she was off to London to wind a bachelor uncle or two around her thumb. I would be willing to bet, however, that she doesn’t stay there long… I envision her being sent back to Staples for either her own good or her guardian’s sanity.

Give me a Heyer-esque romp, possibly concerning Patience and Julian’s wedding (don’t let her ruin it, but comeuppance is always fun to watch) in the vicinity of Staples. I’m a big fan of Patience.

Maybe a story where Sophia, Lady Lindeth, realizes how awesome a choice Patience is instead of Tiffany (I know in the book Patience’s mother and Sophia were supposed to know each other).

Maybe a story where she *almost* creates havoc. Maybe Mrs. Underhill will finally get a little spine where little Miss Tiffany is concerned?

Basically, I want Patience to have a victory over Tiffany. Patience is a nice girl, but not so nice she wouldn't enjoy it a little. Especially if Tiffany makes a play for Julian.

This one is tied with Cotillion for my absolute favorite, and it's on my read when I'm depressed list. If I was going to step into a Heyer book, I'd pick this one. If only so I could strangle Tiffany.

If you feel like crossing over with other Heyers, that's cool too (I also enjoy A Civil Contract (Julia Oversley v. Tiffany Wield, I'd bet on Tiff), Cotillion, The Unknown Ajax, Venetia) but certainly not required.

I'd like to have all of them in the story, but if it works better for you to ditch Lady Lindeth, that is okay.