#257 My Friend Flicka - Mary O'Hara, Wayfarers - Becky Chambers, Sharing Knife - L McMaster Bujold
39 views
Skip to first unread message
Yuletide Admin
Dec 23, 2022, 6:05:29 PM12/23/22
to yt...@googlegroups.com
My Friend Flicka Series - Mary O'Hara, Wayfarers Series - Becky Chambers, Sharing Knife - Lois McMaster Bujold
Request 1 by nomeancity
My Friend Flicka Series - Mary O'Hara
Nell McLaughlin, Rob McLaughlin
Some stuff I like:
- happy endings (I am not keen on relentlessly grim or dark fic, though dark followed by resolution and hopeful/happy ending is fine!)
- unresolved sexual tension - and its resolution!
- hurt/comfort and people taking care of each other
- missing scenes
- some tropes (daemons, soul bonds and in vino veritas are all things I've read and enjoyed)
- and a bit of fluff never hurt anyone. :)
Please avoid:
- tone/narrative style at complete odds with canon
- relentlessly grim/dark fic where bad things happen to good people
- non-con or rape
- infidelity
- lots of detail about emotional abuse
- non-canonical character death (canonical character death is fine, but I'd rather you didn't write me death fic...).
This series is special for me, hence the, um, niche nomination - Some Day My Fic Will Come! Basically, I read a lot of children’s and YA books about animals when I was younger (still do, for that matter), but these were the first ones where the adult characters were actually characters, rather than ciphers or plot devices. I love the horses (who doesn’t?), and I still smile at Ken’s teenage travails, and Carrie’s plot arc gets more painfully on-the-nose every time I read it - but honestly, when I re-read these books now, it’s all about Nell and Rob. I remember being so startled, reading Thunderhead as a 10 year old and getting an insider look at their marriage. Some of it didn’t make a lot of sense to me then, but now I read it and am impressed at Mary O’Hara’s courage in writing something so imperfect and real - in a children’s book! They don’t always have a brilliant go of it (take home message - money worries are toxic to romance), but it’s pretty clear that Rob and Nell come from very different backgrounds and love each other anyway.
So, write me a prequel, dear author! How did they meet? Did they elope? (We see nothing of their parents!) What was it like on the Goosebar Ranch in the early days - when Nell worked “as hard as a man”? Did she ever wonder what she’d got herself into? How did Rob feel about bringing his new bride to the middle of nowhere, when she wasn’t used to such things? (He’s clearly got a crippling inferiority complex about it, even years later - which is why he reacts so badly to all the money stuff.) I’d love to see the story of how they become the couple we see in Thunderhead and Green Grass of Wyoming - there must be a pretty strong force keeping them together for their marriage to survive everything life throws at it.
Letter: http://nomeancity.dreamwidth.org/2879.html
Request 2 by nomeancity
Wayfarers Series - Becky Chambers
Gapei Tem Seri, Eyas Parata (Wayfarers Series), Tessa Santoso (Wayfarers Series)
Some stuff I like:
- happy endings (I am not keen on relentlessly grim or dark fic, though dark followed by resolution and hopeful/happy ending is fine!)
- unresolved sexual tension - and its resolution!
- hurt/comfort and people taking care of each other
- missing scenes
- some tropes (daemons, soul bonds and in vino veritas are all things I've read and enjoyed)
- and a bit of fluff never hurt anyone. :)
Please avoid:
- tone/narrative style at complete odds with canon
- relentlessly grim/dark fic where bad things happen to good people
- non-con or rape
- infidelity
- lots of detail about emotional abuse
- non-canonical character death (canonical character death is fine, but I'd rather you didn't write me death fic...).
I adore all the Wayfarers books, but The Galaxy and the Ground Within is a serious competitor for my favourite book in the series. Everything about Galaxy is awesome, but the part that speaks to me personally most is Pei suddenly realising that having a child might well be what her society expected of her, it might be something other people said was great, it might even not be that much trouble (oh, to be an Aeluon!) - but, if it wasn’t what she wanted, that was enough reason not to do it.
This resonated for me, at this particular stage and point of my life - what, you mean I can do what I want, not what people say I should? - and made me realise that “choosing to live your life differently” is a bit of a theme in all the Wayfarers books. In particular, I really want to hear about the women in these books who look at their lives and think “time to make a change”. I should clarify, you don’t have to shoehorn all my chosen characters into one story - I am perfectly happy with whichever one speaks to you most!
Obviously, I would love to hear more about Pei and the consequences of her decision not to have a child and commit to being with Ashby. How does the rest of her Aeluon crew react? How does Ashby react, for that matter? Knowing that your partner has just gone against her entire society for you is an...interesting place to be. How do they go on from here? Maybe Aeluon society isn’t as inflexible as Pei thinks it is… (Be nice to them, please! I would like a happy ending!)
Equally, I’d love to hear more about Eyas, who has her epiphany at the end of Record that they need to do more for the immigrants to the Fleet. How does that change her life? Does she still feel the same about her job, once she’s started seeing it with fresh eyes? What does the “immigrant education programme” look like, several years on? Are she and Sunny still a thing?
Tess from Record also changes the entire course of her life - ostensibly for her children’s sake, but it feels as though she’s also ready to try something new. How is living on a planet, several years down the line? Does she miss the Fleet? What do she and George end up doing, work-wise? Do they think they’ll ever go back to the Fleet?
Letter: http://nomeancity.dreamwidth.org/2879.html
Request 3 by nomeancity
Sharing Knife - Lois McMaster Bujold
Mari Redwing, Sumac Redwing, Kauneo Wolverine, Dag Redwing
Some stuff I like:
- happy endings (I am not keen on relentlessly grim or dark fic, though dark followed by resolution and hopeful/happy ending is fine!)
- unresolved sexual tension - and its resolution!
- hurt/comfort and people taking care of each other
- missing scenes
- some tropes (daemons, soul bonds and in vino veritas are all things I've read and enjoyed)
- and a bit of fluff never hurt anyone. :)
Please avoid:
- tone/narrative style at complete odds with canon
- relentlessly grim/dark fic where bad things happen to good people
- non-con or rape
- infidelity
- lots of detail about emotional abuse
- non-canonical character death (canonical character death is fine, but I'd rather you didn't write me death fic...).
I’ve loved these books for quite a while, and also nominated them a bunch of times before - including receiving *awesome* treat fic several years ago. I am still totally here for Dag and Fawn (possibly one of my favourite fictional couples), but something else prompted me to request Sharing Knife fic again this year… I noticed that a fellow Yuletider wanted Kauneo added to the tagset, and I suddenly found myself thinking about all the amazing women we hear about in these books…
Formidable Mari, who’s raised her children, has a sick husband at home, but still goes out on the patrol. Who worries about her nephew and tells him not to jump the cliff for Fawn - but backs him in the end and isn’t too old to learn new tricks. Speaking of strong (and awful) women, she’s Cumbia’s sister - what did she make of her sister’s marriage and child-rearing? How did Dag’s canonically terrible home-life (pre- and post-Wolf War) look from the other side of the family?
Sumac, the “tough girl”, as Dag puts it. I *adore* her and we get so little of her. She makes a throwaway remark to Dag that she’s frustrated that she won’t advance in the patrol until she’s had and reared her children, and we’re told repeatedly that having kids is a priority for Lakewalkers. Is this something Sumac doesn’t want, at least earlier in her life? She also kicks over all the traces, both of her own life plan and of her society in general, when she falls hard for Arkady and moves to Clearcreek with him. What changes her mind? Moreover, how did Dar and Omba (with Cumbia regularly interfering, as we are canonically told) raise a daughter who clearly doesn’t give two hoots for Lakewalker conventions?
Mysterious Kauneo… We’re told she was amazing, that she and Dag had something special (even for Lakewalkers) - but we hear frustratingly little about her (mostly because Dag really doesn’t want to talk about it). Dag seems to have a knack for surrounding himself with unconventional women - was Kauneo just as much so? What traces did she kick over, when she married someone from outside Luthlia?
Please tell me about these women and their choices, I really want to know! Any one will do - no need to work all three into the story. (Though Mari and Sumac interacting pre-canon sounds a lot of fun - maybe it wasn't just Dag who inspired Sumac to choose the patrol... And what did she choose the patrol over, anyway, that really annoyed her parents?) However, if that all sounds a bit much, I am also very happy to hear more about Dag, either before or after the events of the books.
Letter: http://nomeancity.dreamwidth.org/2879.html
Request 1 by nomeancity
My Friend Flicka Series - Mary O'Hara
Nell McLaughlin, Rob McLaughlin
Some stuff I like:
- happy endings (I am not keen on relentlessly grim or dark fic, though dark followed by resolution and hopeful/happy ending is fine!)
- unresolved sexual tension - and its resolution!
- hurt/comfort and people taking care of each other
- missing scenes
- some tropes (daemons, soul bonds and in vino veritas are all things I've read and enjoyed)
- and a bit of fluff never hurt anyone. :)
Please avoid:
- tone/narrative style at complete odds with canon
- relentlessly grim/dark fic where bad things happen to good people
- non-con or rape
- infidelity
- lots of detail about emotional abuse
- non-canonical character death (canonical character death is fine, but I'd rather you didn't write me death fic...).
This series is special for me, hence the, um, niche nomination - Some Day My Fic Will Come! Basically, I read a lot of children’s and YA books about animals when I was younger (still do, for that matter), but these were the first ones where the adult characters were actually characters, rather than ciphers or plot devices. I love the horses (who doesn’t?), and I still smile at Ken’s teenage travails, and Carrie’s plot arc gets more painfully on-the-nose every time I read it - but honestly, when I re-read these books now, it’s all about Nell and Rob. I remember being so startled, reading Thunderhead as a 10 year old and getting an insider look at their marriage. Some of it didn’t make a lot of sense to me then, but now I read it and am impressed at Mary O’Hara’s courage in writing something so imperfect and real - in a children’s book! They don’t always have a brilliant go of it (take home message - money worries are toxic to romance), but it’s pretty clear that Rob and Nell come from very different backgrounds and love each other anyway.
So, write me a prequel, dear author! How did they meet? Did they elope? (We see nothing of their parents!) What was it like on the Goosebar Ranch in the early days - when Nell worked “as hard as a man”? Did she ever wonder what she’d got herself into? How did Rob feel about bringing his new bride to the middle of nowhere, when she wasn’t used to such things? (He’s clearly got a crippling inferiority complex about it, even years later - which is why he reacts so badly to all the money stuff.) I’d love to see the story of how they become the couple we see in Thunderhead and Green Grass of Wyoming - there must be a pretty strong force keeping them together for their marriage to survive everything life throws at it.
Letter: http://nomeancity.dreamwidth.org/2879.html
Request 2 by nomeancity
Wayfarers Series - Becky Chambers
Gapei Tem Seri, Eyas Parata (Wayfarers Series), Tessa Santoso (Wayfarers Series)
Some stuff I like:
- happy endings (I am not keen on relentlessly grim or dark fic, though dark followed by resolution and hopeful/happy ending is fine!)
- unresolved sexual tension - and its resolution!
- hurt/comfort and people taking care of each other
- missing scenes
- some tropes (daemons, soul bonds and in vino veritas are all things I've read and enjoyed)
- and a bit of fluff never hurt anyone. :)
Please avoid:
- tone/narrative style at complete odds with canon
- relentlessly grim/dark fic where bad things happen to good people
- non-con or rape
- infidelity
- lots of detail about emotional abuse
- non-canonical character death (canonical character death is fine, but I'd rather you didn't write me death fic...).
I adore all the Wayfarers books, but The Galaxy and the Ground Within is a serious competitor for my favourite book in the series. Everything about Galaxy is awesome, but the part that speaks to me personally most is Pei suddenly realising that having a child might well be what her society expected of her, it might be something other people said was great, it might even not be that much trouble (oh, to be an Aeluon!) - but, if it wasn’t what she wanted, that was enough reason not to do it.
This resonated for me, at this particular stage and point of my life - what, you mean I can do what I want, not what people say I should? - and made me realise that “choosing to live your life differently” is a bit of a theme in all the Wayfarers books. In particular, I really want to hear about the women in these books who look at their lives and think “time to make a change”. I should clarify, you don’t have to shoehorn all my chosen characters into one story - I am perfectly happy with whichever one speaks to you most!
Obviously, I would love to hear more about Pei and the consequences of her decision not to have a child and commit to being with Ashby. How does the rest of her Aeluon crew react? How does Ashby react, for that matter? Knowing that your partner has just gone against her entire society for you is an...interesting place to be. How do they go on from here? Maybe Aeluon society isn’t as inflexible as Pei thinks it is… (Be nice to them, please! I would like a happy ending!)
Equally, I’d love to hear more about Eyas, who has her epiphany at the end of Record that they need to do more for the immigrants to the Fleet. How does that change her life? Does she still feel the same about her job, once she’s started seeing it with fresh eyes? What does the “immigrant education programme” look like, several years on? Are she and Sunny still a thing?
Tess from Record also changes the entire course of her life - ostensibly for her children’s sake, but it feels as though she’s also ready to try something new. How is living on a planet, several years down the line? Does she miss the Fleet? What do she and George end up doing, work-wise? Do they think they’ll ever go back to the Fleet?
Letter: http://nomeancity.dreamwidth.org/2879.html
Request 3 by nomeancity
Sharing Knife - Lois McMaster Bujold
Mari Redwing, Sumac Redwing, Kauneo Wolverine, Dag Redwing
Some stuff I like:
- happy endings (I am not keen on relentlessly grim or dark fic, though dark followed by resolution and hopeful/happy ending is fine!)
- unresolved sexual tension - and its resolution!
- hurt/comfort and people taking care of each other
- missing scenes
- some tropes (daemons, soul bonds and in vino veritas are all things I've read and enjoyed)
- and a bit of fluff never hurt anyone. :)
Please avoid:
- tone/narrative style at complete odds with canon
- relentlessly grim/dark fic where bad things happen to good people
- non-con or rape
- infidelity
- lots of detail about emotional abuse
- non-canonical character death (canonical character death is fine, but I'd rather you didn't write me death fic...).
I’ve loved these books for quite a while, and also nominated them a bunch of times before - including receiving *awesome* treat fic several years ago. I am still totally here for Dag and Fawn (possibly one of my favourite fictional couples), but something else prompted me to request Sharing Knife fic again this year… I noticed that a fellow Yuletider wanted Kauneo added to the tagset, and I suddenly found myself thinking about all the amazing women we hear about in these books…
Formidable Mari, who’s raised her children, has a sick husband at home, but still goes out on the patrol. Who worries about her nephew and tells him not to jump the cliff for Fawn - but backs him in the end and isn’t too old to learn new tricks. Speaking of strong (and awful) women, she’s Cumbia’s sister - what did she make of her sister’s marriage and child-rearing? How did Dag’s canonically terrible home-life (pre- and post-Wolf War) look from the other side of the family?
Sumac, the “tough girl”, as Dag puts it. I *adore* her and we get so little of her. She makes a throwaway remark to Dag that she’s frustrated that she won’t advance in the patrol until she’s had and reared her children, and we’re told repeatedly that having kids is a priority for Lakewalkers. Is this something Sumac doesn’t want, at least earlier in her life? She also kicks over all the traces, both of her own life plan and of her society in general, when she falls hard for Arkady and moves to Clearcreek with him. What changes her mind? Moreover, how did Dar and Omba (with Cumbia regularly interfering, as we are canonically told) raise a daughter who clearly doesn’t give two hoots for Lakewalker conventions?
Mysterious Kauneo… We’re told she was amazing, that she and Dag had something special (even for Lakewalkers) - but we hear frustratingly little about her (mostly because Dag really doesn’t want to talk about it). Dag seems to have a knack for surrounding himself with unconventional women - was Kauneo just as much so? What traces did she kick over, when she married someone from outside Luthlia?
Please tell me about these women and their choices, I really want to know! Any one will do - no need to work all three into the story. (Though Mari and Sumac interacting pre-canon sounds a lot of fun - maybe it wasn't just Dag who inspired Sumac to choose the patrol... And what did she choose the patrol over, anyway, that really annoyed her parents?) However, if that all sounds a bit much, I am also very happy to hear more about Dag, either before or after the events of the books.
Letter: http://nomeancity.dreamwidth.org/2879.html
Due date
This pinch hit is due at: 9pm UTC on 24 December 2022 (12 hours before the collection opens).
Check the links below to see when it is for you:
To claim this pinch hit
If you are getting pinch hits by email, reply to the email that has the pinch hit you want in it, and include your ao3 name.
If you're viewing the google group forum on a mobile device, you can claim a pinch hit by emailing yuleti...@gmail.com with your AO3 name and the number of the pinch hit you want to claim.
If you're viewing the google group forum through the desktop version, you can use the same method as mobile, or scroll the welcome post above the topics to see further options.
If you successfully claim the pinch hit, we will reply and confirm that it's yours, and assign the recipient to you on AO3. If you don't hear from us, it went to someone else.
What does it mean to pinch hit? Are there penalties? Are there perks?
For more info, please see the Yuletide FAQ, and specifically:
You can send other questions to yuleti...@gmail.com.
Thank you and good luck!
-Yuletide mods
Back to google group: https://groups.google.com/group/yt-ph
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages