First off, thank you for writing me a story about one of these women. While not all are equally "rare" in their respective fandoms, that's only because a couple of the fandoms are rare in their own right.

So...what do I like? Well, this is what I said for Yuletide last year, at least as far as general guidelines are concerned—and I don't think my tastes have changed all that much in the last couple of months.

What I Like:
* Plot and/or character (both being the ideal, of course!)
* A sense of humour and being able to recognize the ridiculous when it pops up; also wit and wordplay, if the story calls for them. (Having said that, I totally leave it up to you whether you write a serious or comic story—or a serious story with comic interludes.)
* Stories that are true to canon (though I've certainly enjoyed some flat-out AUs)

What I Dislike:
* Poor spelling, bad grammar and punctuation, and blatant Americanisms uttered by British characters (unless they're aware of what they're doing, which is another matter entirely)
* Explicit sex, especially if long and detailed. (No objection to hints, but I'm not into plumbing.)

My Requests

The West Wing

I've asked specifically for something about Margaret and/or Mrs. Landingham because I think it would be interesting to see their take on life and work in the West Wing. What do they think of the people they work for—in their jobs, and as private individuals? What do they think about the other senior staff, whom they meet so often? What do they think of the rest of the support staff (and, for that matter, of each other)?

I'm not really interested so much in their personal lives, which would need a lot of expansion outside canon. I do like the idea of revealing their reactions within a plot-driven story, as the senior staff have to deal with some emergency, whether (inter)national or political.

Given the dual nature of the series, as comedy and drama, humour would be welcome—though not necessary, of course. (Optional being optional.)


Forever Knight

The characters I listed are pretty varied (apart from sex): Amanda Cohen, Myra Schanke, Tracy Vetter, Dr. Natalie Lambert, and Urs. If you feel more drawn to write one of the characters I didn't list...well, an insistent bunny tends to make for a good story. I'm pretty open to whatever you decide to write!

Natalie and Tracy both appear in a fair percentage of FK fanfic. However, for both characters there are areas of their lives that people don't usually examine. For Natalie, I'd particularly like a story set in the lab: this could be in relation to her job as a pathologist (whether working on one of Nick's cases or not), or she could be using the lab to research Nick as she looks for a way to return him to the mortal state. For Tracy, I'd either like casefic where she solves the crime, or something involving her family. This could mean her father and/or mother; but we do have hints that she comes from a fairly large family, others of whom are also police officers.

It's the other three characters who are truly "rare women" in FK fanfic.

Capt. Cohen is definitely the least popular of the three captains. I don't think it's because she's a woman: it's because the actress played her as an chilly, uptight workaholic. However, that, in itself, demands examination. What do we know about Cohen's background? What can we deduce about her relationship with her family? Why does she have this particular management style?

Myra is mostly seen as an adjunct to her husband—understandably, given that we basically never see her (barring a distant backview when Nick breaks the news of Don's death). What is their marriage like? What is her take on her husband's job and his partner? Has she ever even met Nick—or does she learn of him only through Don, just as he talks of her at work?

Urs appeared in only a handful of episodes; but she did star in one significant flashback that told us how she came to be brought across. What happened after that? I'd really like more of her backstory, especially through the twentieth century, when she had adjusted to her new role as vampire. This could involve Vachon and/or others in his crew...or not.

As you gather, there are lots of things that intrigue me. These are just thrown out as suggestions, in case you don't have an idea in mind already and are looking for something to inspire you. I wouldn't even call them "optional details"—though you may have gathered that they're all more or less gen.


The Charioteer

If you've matched with me on The Charioteer, then you pretty well have to know the book and its characters already—and you're probably familiar with the fan fiction.

Lucy and Olive have both been quite popular in fanfic. But there's always room for more, especially as seen from their perspective. We don't have a lot of backstory on their young days. Nor do we know all that much about their lives after the book ends (and there's quite a bit of the war still to go). Anything that explores their characters is always welcome.

Mrs Timmings also belongs to Laurie's life before the war. She barely appears in passing but she has to have had her own perspective on the family. What did she think of Lucy's remarriage? How did she react to Laurie being injured? What happened to her later on? (Lots of scope for speculation, little canon to base it on, but...!)

Nurse Adrian is hardly ever mentioned in fanfic, for all that Laurie clearly considered her a friend, at least to a degree. Perhaps that's because her crush on him clearly had no future. However, what was her perspective on the situation (whether while he was still at the hospital or after he left for Bridstow)? Alternatively, what was it like for her as a nurse at the E.M.S. hospital? Do feel free to use other characters from that setting if you want.

Like Nurse Adrian, Miss Haliburton doesn't get much fanfic, except as the person from whom Laurie got Patch (and Patch is only fanon). She clearly took some pains with his case—was this just professionalism? So little is known of her that you pretty well have a clean slate here, barring the little mentioned in the book.

Suggestions, speculations.... I know you'll write something I love!