I wrote seven stories this Yuletide! (Two of them were short.)
Don't Need To Know Canon
Earthsea - Ursula K. Le Guin
What you need to know: Yarrow is a teenage girl who has a pet harrekki (a tiny dragon), Vetch is her older brother who's a wizard, and magic works by knowing a thing or person's true name.
Shelter From the Storm for![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
kisatsel.
Tags: Spells & Enchantments, Comfort Food, Wizards, Bats. 3981 words.
Yarrow finds a lost creature in a storm.
Yarrow is one of my favorite characters in Earthsea. Toward the end of A Wizard of Earthsea, she shows up, a 14 year old girl with a pet miniature dragon and no magical skills though she's very good in the kitchen, and absolutely steals the show. I always enjoy writing about her, but I think this was the first time I've ever written her as a main character or from her POV. This story was inspired byraspberryhunter's wonderful Yarrow and Vetch story, The Minnow and the Dragon.
I really like bats. The bit about Earthsea bats not transmitting diseases to humans was necessary or the whole story wouldn't happen, but it was also a bit of wish-fulfillment. I once very carefully rescued a baby bat (it survived) but I never touched it. I would love to pet a bat.
Worrals - W. E. Johns
What you need to know: Frecks and Worrals are young female pilots who transport airplanes during WWII - when they're not parachuting into occupied France, uncovering traitors, and punching Nazis, that is. The books are extremely out of print, but you can download them for free at The Faded Page
I intended to write a full-length treat for each Worrals requester and uhh that didn't happen. But I did manage to write them each a short treat!
The Old Kit Bag, forcyphomandra. 619 words.
Tags: Wartime Romance, Dessert & Sweets, Mild Hurt/Comfort.
It was, Frecks thought gloomily as she lay between white hospital sheets, a deeply embarrassing injury. Not that there was anything terribly wrong with a broken ankle. That could happen to anyone. It was the manner in which she’d broken it.
Never Fight Alone, forcephyr. 556 words.
Frecks and Worrals share a chocolate bar and an intimate moment in the air.
Tags: Airplanes, Flying, World War II, Chocolate, Kissing.
I did an absurd amount of research on WWII airplanes, the WAAF, the ATA, British sweets during WWII, and food rationing for these stories, and a fair amount actually appears in it.
The big surprise I got was that the WAAF did not let women transport airplanes! The organization that did was the ATA (Air Transport Auxiliary). Johns basically combined them for the Worrals series. Eventually, female ATA pilots were allowed to transport fighter planes. One thing that was really interesting but not relevant to the story were the WAAF plotters, who were mostly women and basically did wartime air traffic control. There's a vivid first-hand description of them here - page down to Fighter Command Filter Rooms.
Troach drops are real.
Need to Know Canon
Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey
An Unexpected Catch, forslashmarks. 3704 words.
Tags: Fishing, Cooking,Impression, Female Friendship, Traditions Fire Lizards, Beaches, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence.
Lessa and other Benden women visit Southern Weyr to help out with a fishing tradition; things don't go as planned.
This was a Pinch Hit of the Apocalypse that came up after the collection had closed. I missed the pinch hit, but asked the mods if under the circumstances, they would re-open the collection so I could post a late treat, and they kindly agreed. I spent the entire day writing it. If only I could write that many words in one day for my pro writing!
I think this was my first time writing Lessa as a main character or from her POV. It was a lot of fun, especially when I got to have her seethe over Kylara flirting (Lessa is very BEC about Kylara) while failing to notice exactly who Kylara is flirting with...
The Leftovers TV
IP, YEVRAG NIVEK, formyrtlebroadbelt. 2843 words.
Tags: Resurrection, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, Film Noir, Afterlife, Liminal Spaces.
Kevin Garvey makes another visit to the hotel.
This was my assignment. It will make NO sense if you're not familiar with canon. I rewatched a lot of the show, which was a great experience, and I packed it full of Easter eggs and references. My recipient had a fantastic request, which was that she wanted to see more of Kevin at the hotel which is a sort of bizarre afterlife/dream dimension. Those episodes of the show are fantastic, and I wanted to write a story where you could imagine the whole thing as one of those episodes, shot by shot and line by line, and so see it filmed in your head. I was very happy with how it came out.
The Long Walk - Stephen King
The Road, forscioscribe. 1180 words.
Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Hand Jobs.
scioscribe's prompts for this were so inspiring that I took two. One is "Garraty accepts the hand job that McVries canonically offers him, yes really." The other is more spoilery.
Smokescreen - Dick Francis
The Fabric Shears, the Plastic Chair, forsholio. 2237 words. Tags: Bathing/Washing, Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Post-Canon
Evan and Conrad take care of Link immediately after the events of Smokescreen.
The book is a mystery/thriller with a satisfying ending that leaves the protagonist in a good place overall, but... Let me put it this way, here's the prompt: "Really, any further aftermath in which Link finally TAKES A BATH and otherwise gets TLC would make me very happy!"
There were two Smokescreen stories this Yuletide. Both were tagged "Bathing/Washing." Great minds...
I did an absurd amount of research on luxury bungalows at Skukuza for this story. The only part that actually appears is the fact that they exist.
Don't Need To Know Canon
Earthsea - Ursula K. Le Guin
What you need to know: Yarrow is a teenage girl who has a pet harrekki (a tiny dragon), Vetch is her older brother who's a wizard, and magic works by knowing a thing or person's true name.
Shelter From the Storm for
kisatsel.Tags: Spells & Enchantments, Comfort Food, Wizards, Bats. 3981 words.
Yarrow finds a lost creature in a storm.
Yarrow is one of my favorite characters in Earthsea. Toward the end of A Wizard of Earthsea, she shows up, a 14 year old girl with a pet miniature dragon and no magical skills though she's very good in the kitchen, and absolutely steals the show. I always enjoy writing about her, but I think this was the first time I've ever written her as a main character or from her POV. This story was inspired by
raspberryhunter's wonderful Yarrow and Vetch story, The Minnow and the Dragon.I really like bats. The bit about Earthsea bats not transmitting diseases to humans was necessary or the whole story wouldn't happen, but it was also a bit of wish-fulfillment. I once very carefully rescued a baby bat (it survived) but I never touched it. I would love to pet a bat.
Worrals - W. E. Johns
What you need to know: Frecks and Worrals are young female pilots who transport airplanes during WWII - when they're not parachuting into occupied France, uncovering traitors, and punching Nazis, that is. The books are extremely out of print, but you can download them for free at The Faded Page
I intended to write a full-length treat for each Worrals requester and uhh that didn't happen. But I did manage to write them each a short treat!
The Old Kit Bag, for
cyphomandra. 619 words.Tags: Wartime Romance, Dessert & Sweets, Mild Hurt/Comfort.
It was, Frecks thought gloomily as she lay between white hospital sheets, a deeply embarrassing injury. Not that there was anything terribly wrong with a broken ankle. That could happen to anyone. It was the manner in which she’d broken it.
Never Fight Alone, for
cephyr. 556 words.Frecks and Worrals share a chocolate bar and an intimate moment in the air.
Tags: Airplanes, Flying, World War II, Chocolate, Kissing.
I did an absurd amount of research on WWII airplanes, the WAAF, the ATA, British sweets during WWII, and food rationing for these stories, and a fair amount actually appears in it.
The big surprise I got was that the WAAF did not let women transport airplanes! The organization that did was the ATA (Air Transport Auxiliary). Johns basically combined them for the Worrals series. Eventually, female ATA pilots were allowed to transport fighter planes. One thing that was really interesting but not relevant to the story were the WAAF plotters, who were mostly women and basically did wartime air traffic control. There's a vivid first-hand description of them here - page down to Fighter Command Filter Rooms.
Troach drops are real.
Need to Know Canon
Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey
An Unexpected Catch, for
slashmarks. 3704 words.Tags: Fishing, Cooking,Impression, Female Friendship, Traditions Fire Lizards, Beaches, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence.
Lessa and other Benden women visit Southern Weyr to help out with a fishing tradition; things don't go as planned.
This was a Pinch Hit of the Apocalypse that came up after the collection had closed. I missed the pinch hit, but asked the mods if under the circumstances, they would re-open the collection so I could post a late treat, and they kindly agreed. I spent the entire day writing it. If only I could write that many words in one day for my pro writing!
I think this was my first time writing Lessa as a main character or from her POV. It was a lot of fun, especially when I got to have her seethe over Kylara flirting (Lessa is very BEC about Kylara) while failing to notice exactly who Kylara is flirting with...
The Leftovers TV
IP, YEVRAG NIVEK, for
myrtlebroadbelt. 2843 words. Tags: Resurrection, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, Film Noir, Afterlife, Liminal Spaces.
Kevin Garvey makes another visit to the hotel.
This was my assignment. It will make NO sense if you're not familiar with canon. I rewatched a lot of the show, which was a great experience, and I packed it full of Easter eggs and references. My recipient had a fantastic request, which was that she wanted to see more of Kevin at the hotel which is a sort of bizarre afterlife/dream dimension. Those episodes of the show are fantastic, and I wanted to write a story where you could imagine the whole thing as one of those episodes, shot by shot and line by line, and so see it filmed in your head. I was very happy with how it came out.
The Long Walk - Stephen King
The Road, for
scioscribe. 1180 words.Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Hand Jobs.
scioscribe's prompts for this were so inspiring that I took two. One is "Garraty accepts the hand job that McVries canonically offers him, yes really." The other is more spoilery. Smokescreen - Dick Francis
The Fabric Shears, the Plastic Chair, for
sholio. 2237 words. Tags: Bathing/Washing, Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Post-CanonEvan and Conrad take care of Link immediately after the events of Smokescreen.
The book is a mystery/thriller with a satisfying ending that leaves the protagonist in a good place overall, but... Let me put it this way, here's the prompt: "Really, any further aftermath in which Link finally TAKES A BATH and otherwise gets TLC would make me very happy!"
There were two Smokescreen stories this Yuletide. Both were tagged "Bathing/Washing." Great minds...
I did an absurd amount of research on luxury bungalows at Skukuza for this story. The only part that actually appears is the fact that they exist.
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I loooooooved your Red Tree fic. Your travails were a surprise bonus for me.
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The Red Tree gift was incredible! I saw you commented too and was glad, it came so late I'm not sure how many people saw it in the collection. Totally worth the problems.
(Aside, I checked FFA and coaltide in dread to see what people were saying after the apoca-pinch hit went out, and cracked up at whoever it was who was like, "I have gone my entire writing career without mentioning hemorrhoids.")
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I have a similar DNW so I feel your pain
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LOL I feel so validated. I was extremely 👀👀👀.
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Lessa: They're both firelizards, you weirdo.
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I'm about to draw Yarrow for the
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I see her as small and slender. Definitely natural hair. I picture it in twists but I'm sure she has more than one style.
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https://drawesome.dreamwidth.org/215744.html
(I ended up doing long twists because the short ones I drew made her look like a hedgehog)
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I love her!
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I don't usually try to figure out authors before the reveal, but I did wonder about the Pern one -- correctly, as it turned out.
I'm only up to E in my reading through the archive, so the rest I can look forward to!