Dear Yulegoat (or other ruminant),

 I don't use my LJ any more, but feel free to look at 
senji.livejournal.com if you want :-).  I now have a new blog at 
circle.thy.me.uk , but as yet there are only a few posts there and none 
of them are fandom related...

 In general I'm big on interesting genfic.  Plot preferred over 'ship,
but I'm not averse to shipfic, or even a good PWP.  Het, Slash,
Femslash, Groupsex, BDSM, sex-with-aliens, sex-with-chthonic-entities,
and horrible Polytangles all fine, but not required. 

 Likewise I'm not adverse to something that's not a traditional story
-- if your fannish inclinations lead you to Interactive Fiction or a
CYOA story, or whatever, then feel free!

OK, requests:

Alliance-Union - C. J. Cherryh
Characters: Allison Reilly, Bet Yeager, Capella, Meg Kady

  Firstly I should note that I'm quite happy not to have all four of
 these redoubtable women in the same fic; it's probably not
 canonically consistent to get them all in the same place.  Any pair
 would be great, and besides which just any story about any of them
 would be good; so don't stress too much!

  All four of them are strong and interesting characters who I
 probably can't do justice to in a short letter like this but:

 Allison: a leader; she's dealt rather an odd hand by Sandor but
     cajoles and bullies him into doing the right thing, in the
     process building herself a place.
 Bet: It's hard to say what I like about Bet, but despite frequently
     dire circumstances she manages to be always moving onwards;
     overcoming the problem of the moment without worrying about the
     next one.
 Capella: Capella is a bit of a snake, but despite the fact that she
     seems to be almost entirely self-centred and a bit of a weasel
     somehow she ends up being the most sympathetic character in the
     book.  For me at least.
 Meg: Meg is somehow always in the background; but she's also a
     library of life-experiences, and cynicism, and generally being
     pretty good at whatever she sets her hand to.


Craft Sequence - Max Gladstone
Characters: Any/Worldbuilding

  "Whenever I create a new character I ask myself 'Does this character
 have to be white?  Do they have to be male?  Do they have to be
 straight?'" -- Max Gladstone

  Max's "Path least assumed" approach has, so far, produced four; 
 very different; books in a world both surprisingly similar and
 surprisingly different to ours.

  I don't really have any suggestions here; one of the things I like
 about Max's work is that there's always a surprise around the corner,
 and they don't go where you expect.

  Another thing I like about them is that they have some of the feel
 of a John Grisham novel or a Police Procedural; both of which are
 quite odd things in the fantasy genre.

  Finally, he actually manages to pull off making his very odd and
 unusual characters actually seem sympathetic and human; even when
 they're wanting to sacrifice one of the protagonists...

  I've read all four of the books, but haven't played the game.
 Actually I see I missed Four Roads Cross coming out over the summer;
 and I firmly predict I will have read that by Christmas.


Requite Universe - Ankaret Wells
Characters: Tzenni, Ligeia

  Requite is very much a book (well two) about a geek, Tzenni Boccamera; 
 albeit a geek who isn't a stranger to direct action and weapon-play.  In
 some ways it's a coming-of-age story, although a very different one to
 the traditional farmboy-makes-good style of fantasy.  On the flip side
 of the request we have her sister, Ligeia, whom we might describe as the
 martial one (or whom Tzenni would probably call the _responsible_ one).
 They are sisters, they've grown up together, and the text actually does
 a good job of demonstrating how this has influenced the way they view
 each other (often with blinkers).  

  I think there are broadly two ways to go with this request -- before 
 and after.  After is fairly simple, the text leaves it in no uncertain
 terms that Ligeia is unhappy with Tzenni's choices, and that she's 
 unlikely to let things lie.  Before is slightly more subtle; The Maker's 
 Mask starts in-media-res and only quite oblique references are made
 to the sisters' relationships growing up.

  Oh, and don't be worried that I've left Catha out because I hate her, 
 I'm just more interested in the Tzenni/Ligeia dynamic at the moment.


Chronicles of the Kencyrath - P. C. Hodgell
Characters: Jame, Timmon, Brier

  I've only come to the Chronicles of th Kencyrath this year and,
 having devoured the whole lot in the course of about two weeks, I
 obviously wish for more... :-D

  Jame, central character as she is, is partly an interesting
 character because while she does have a conscience and ethics they
 don't align with either those of the world around her or of the
 reader.  Timmon and Brier both stretch and test those ethics; in
 different ways.  I would be happy with a story involving Jame and
 Timmon or Jame and Brier; but I think the most interesting would be a
 story in which Jame is caught in the tension betwen Timmon and
 Brier's worldviews.


Right, so you've read all that and you don't like what I've written
for the fandom we've been matched for?

 Option 1)  Optional Details are OPTIONAL.  I'm not going to cry,
           stress, drama, or flounce if you complete ignore what I've
           written above.
 Option 2)  Pick another fandom!  Requite is two books/ The Craft
           Sequence is four books so far but they're only loosely
           linked and any one would be sufficient.  The others might 
           be a bit big to dip into new for Yuletide.

Finally, if you come to #yuletide IRC for a beta I'm usually online
there and I may be hippoing.  My nick will generally be some variant
on 'Senji'.

Senji.