I had a fabulous Chocolate Box! I received three gifts, all great:
I don’t seem to have written much about them on here, but Antonia Forest’s Marlows series (10 books about the same family, published over 34 years but covering a little over two years in book time, with each book roughly contemporary with its publication date) are hugely important to me as a reader and as a person; they are stunningly well-written, brilliant on character and, unfortunately, difficult and expensive to find. I re-read them frequently and always find something worthwhile (I’m reading Lucy Mangan’s memoir
Bookworm at the moment, and it’s great to see her similar enthusiasm).
The fic I got is totally in keeping with canon, a post-series talk between Nicola (mostly the series protagonist, although she’s largely absent in
The Thuggery Affair) and her adored older brother Giles, who is now fallen from grace. It’s great on character and on casting a new light back at events of the series, and at showing that Nicola is growing up, and the balance between her and Giles is starting to tip. Also, bonus naval details.
Suffer a Sea-Change (1910 words) by
AJHallChapters: 1/1
Fandom:
The Marlows - Antonia ForestRating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Nicola Marlow, Giles Marlow, Miranda West, Ginty Marlow
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, The Royal Navy
Summary:
"That long line of naval officers, all with their happy ships..."
The name "Marlow" has been a powerful talisman in the Royal Navy for generations. What would it take for that name to change from a blessing to a curse?
On the eve of Nicola Marlow's departure for Britannia Royal Naval College, she and her brother Giles talk.
I nominated a few original prompts and got two amazing stories:
the battle is coming, I’ve been waiting so long is a great piece of hidden identities and arranged marriages, with a fantastic title, and some lovely world-building details.
the battle is coming, i've been waiting so long (1110 words) by
sororiChapters: 1/1
Fandom:
Original WorkRating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Queen Who Fought in the War/Princess of Enemy Country She's Marrying to Seal the Peace Treaty
Additional Tags: Storyteller narrator, Final Battle, Fights, Weddings, War, Battle, Identity Reveal
Summary:
“Where is your general?” Shikang asked, panting. “He is a coward if he does not come out to fight me.”
“Here,” came the answering shout, and she was far from a coward.
and
Blades has a would-be fighter and an older world-weary mentor, both female and both tropes I am very fond of, as well as lots of extremely tasty-sounding baking, which, ditto. Very nice.
Blades (1215 words) by
kalirushChapters: 1/1
Fandom:
Original WorkRating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Older Woman from Proud Alien Warrior Culture & Half-Human Teenage Girl Who Wants To Learn To Fight
Additional Tags: Baking, a lot of butter
Summary:
Ulli goes looking for a mentor: the legendary Aellaria Sunkiller.
I’m still working through the archive, but there’s a lot of great fiction and art there, and I hope to come back with some more recs.
For my own assignment I matched with
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thisbluespirit on Sid Halley and his father-in-law Charles Roland from Dick Francis, which I’d seen in the tagset and been very much taken with. I re-read
Odds Against and
Whip Hand for inspiration (I have these in a double edition that inexplicably published them in the wrong order, so the first time I read them I was quite confused) and read
Come to Grief for the first time and thought it was fantastic. However, all the ideas I was getting were a) novel-length and b) required quite a bit of horse-research. So I went back to
thisbluespirit’s prompts, and saw that she’d also nominated
Sapphire and Steel, a canon I love dearly but have never written for, and found this important footnote - “I never not want random fantastical stuff in my mundane canons and having sensible people deal with the ridiculous in whatever way works for them.” So I had my concept. I rewatched some
Sapphire and Steel and thought about time, and places and objects, and ended up with ships and bells.
I had my usual problems getting the start right - I had quite a bit of Sid riding in (and losing) a race based on the
Carlisle Bell, the oldest British horse race (tweaked to make it jump rather than flat), and then a few chunks of Charles unconscious in hospital while Sid went back to Aynsford and encountered strange individuals, and then the deadline loomed over me like an iceberg and I finally found my way in. Many, many thanks to my betas, especially
sovay who had less than 24 hours to look at it.
Stalk On (6074 words) by
CyphomandraChapters: 1/1
Fandom:
Sid Halley - Dick Francis,
FRANCIS Dick - Works,
Sapphire and SteelRating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Sid Halley & Charles Roland | Charles Rowland, Sapphire/Silver/Steel (S&S), Sapphire & Silver & Steel (S&S)
Characters: Sid Halley, Charles Roland | Charles Rowland (Dick Francis), Sapphire (S&S), Silver (S&S), Steel (S&S)
Additional Tags: Crossover, Case Fic, Timeline Shenanigans, The Royal Navy
Summary:
Far up in the stretches of night; night splits and the dawn breaks loose;
I, through the terrible novelty of light, stalk on, stalk on;
Those great sea-horses bare their teeth and laugh at the dawn.
W.B. Yeats,
High TalkSid spends another pleasant evening at Aynsford.
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