desertvixen | Yuletide 2024

Happy Sweet Sixteenth Yuletide to Me! I am as excited as the first one, and I hope you have a delightful time writing and reading!

My general preferences are here.

Treats are very welcome!

You can also use the "dear writer" tag but TBH I copy/paste letters a lot. The general preferences were updated and restyled this year, so if you've written for me before, definitely give it a look!

I AM OPEN TO TREATS, ALL THE TREATS YOU WANT TO WRITE.

Optional details are optional, but I love a good chatty letter. I want to give you something to latch on to but don't feel constrained. I have more to say about some but some of that is just more time requesting them.

Remember, whatever you write, I will love! I know ~~2020 2021 2022 2023~~ 2024 has been rough on a lot of people, so please don't stress out too much because Yuletide will be wonderful! It's definitely been full of challenges for me, so let's celebrate with awesome fic! These are a mix - 2 repeat requests and 1 new (for Yuletide) requests.

Crossovers are definitely welcome, as are AUs! If you cross it over with Clue or an Agatha Christie fandom/detective (Poirot, Marple, Ariadne Oliver, And Then There Were None) I'm good with anything - otherwise, see my preferences - cracky or serious crossovers welcome. I also welcome any and all crossovers involving Nancy Drew.

I do enjoy the trappings of the Christmas holiday (mistletoe, gifts, hot chocolate, oh no we're snowed in together and must stay warm somehow... or we're trapped with a killer, family togetherness, snowball fights, traveling over the river and through the terminal) but do not require them. If they work though, by all means, take advantage of it.

And again, have fun!

Midnights - Rainbow Rowell (Short Story)

Noel (Midnights)

Mags (Midnights)

My gift must feature all of my chosen character tags (if 0: any from tag set)

Noel & Mags are required, Alicia Porter's mom is optional.

What happens to Noel & Mags after this party? (Happy ending, please!)

How does Alicia Porter's mom feel about the parties and how they change?

This is a repeat request.

I went back and re-read this one (it is delightful and short) and decided to drop Alicia Porter’s Mom from the request, just in to improve odds of matching. I am still interested in her, but I would be more satisfied with a story that just focused on Mags and Noel, so changed my sign-up to reflect.

But what does Alicia’s mom think of how the crowd has grown up? Is she happy to provide a safe place for them to party?

What is next year’s party like – and how do Mags and Noel pass the time? Is there dancing? I love their voices and just want more.

I am familiar with Eleanor& Park (love it if you want to tie them in as someone’s parents) and Fangirl. I also very recently finally read Carry On, if you want one of them to be a Simon Snow fan (or Penelope!).

The Scoop - London Detection Club

Geraldine Tracey (The Scoop)

Mr. Tracey (The Scoop)

Amethyst Mainwaring (The Scoop)

My gift must feature all of my chosen character tags (if 0: any from tag set)

I've requested this for a few Yuletides now, decided to shake up the characters a little. Would love a mystery and some good old fashioned women's intuition.

Before I get into the back story on this request, let me talk about the change made in the request. I decided to drop Denis Oliver and Beryl Blackwood (although I would be okay if you included them) to focus more on what happens before the Lonely Bungalow murder and/or another way to solve it/save Geraldine. Amethyst is Geraldine’s bestie, and I’d be here for her solving the mystery and trapping Mr. Tracey herself! You can also bring in Henry Vaughan Fisher for fun.

This is a multiple repeat request (2014-2023) but if we did not match on it is okay! On the other hand, maybe the ninth time requesting it will be the charm! This is one I will keep requesting until someone writes it!

I did get a lovely story for the fandom for Juletide in 2021 that warmed my heart, but I am greedy and want more.

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 does not 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 is not her real name. The Juletide story I received played on this aspect and it was great. I just want more, maybe from Geraldine’s point of view. Thinking about it, I would really like one where she lives.

Or feel free to drag a Christie sleuth right in. I am down for Poirot or Marple. Or even bring in Inspector Hemingway from Heyer? Feel free to cross over with any of the Heyer mysteries (No Wind of Blame is in the tagset, but Envious Casca/Unfinished Clue are also excellent choices)

Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light

Galadria (Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light)

Cryotek (Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light)

My gift must feature all of my chosen character tags (if 0: any from tag set)

I love these two and have realized that Yuletide is perfect for the fandom. Would definitely love something shippy and maybe adventure?

I’ve been requesting this and thinking about them more, and realized that Visionaries is really well-suited to Yuletide. It’s small, it feels like about five people on AO3 have even heard of it (eps are available online) and there’s a lot of room to play, a lot of depth and room to explore.

I love how evenly matched Cryotek/Galadria are. The whole scene where we see her surprise him (and then they get interrupted by the baddies) is ripe for “like canon but make it sexier”. But in that scene I love how they immediately slide back to back, and she is an asset, not a liability. Please bring the shippiness.

For worldbuilding prompts: New trials at the Shrine? More knights? Are the current ones recruiting like a competition?

There’s a stupid running joke about botanical gardens that is clearly to entertain adults but tell me about it! Perhaps each region has an area, or it ends up being like the Hanging Gardens?

I think something where they are on a joint mission and have to cooperate with Cindarr (who is not really quite so bad as the rest of the crew) would be interesting. What do they think of him? What does he think of them? Channel the tag “Villain and hero both agree that hero’s loved one is delightful” and I am in. Teaming up with their counterparts for Reasons is always entertaining.

How does PTSD affect the characters? How did the collapse of their society impact them? Obviously our characters coped fairly well.

If you feel like going steamy, I have some thoughts as well.

Sparring as foreplay – they hint at it in the first episode, but I feel like it is definitely a thing for them. This is also a great place for “That one scene from canon, but make it sexier”.

Basically what it says. I love that the gruff, stern guy got the girl instead of the usual hero character. I’m totally here for the two of them kicking some ass, getting down, meeting alternate version of themselves, having romantic sexy times. I’m easy to please on this one. Feel free to use one of the cold related prompts, and feel free to turn up the steam

Villain and hero agree – For this, I think it would be interesting to see a scenario where the 2 of them have to work with Cindarr, and have a little bonding post mission.

If you want to crossover with another YT-eligible 1980s cartoon fandom (such as He-Man & MOTU or Voltron 1984 or DDC, go right ahead don't let me stop you!)