2022 Yuletide Promo Post

[crantz]

Welcome to the Fandom Promo post, everyone!

Here's where you get those eyes on your fandoms for sign-ups!

Share what makes your Yuletide fandoms the shiniest and why you love them. A big part of Yuletide is how small our fandoms can be, and this is a good way to make sure other people know what gems there are out there!

NEW: We've made a register! There is now a searchable Google spreadsheet index of the canons promoted on this post. Go ahead and add yours or any you see that are missing! We hope this helps connect people up with canons of interest to them.

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Here are some areas you can cover:

<b>Title:</b>
Please put your fandom's title in the subject of your comment, too. This helps people find your promo again.

<b>Media:</b>

<b>Approx length:</b>

<b>Where to find it:</b>
(If giving links, please only link to legal sources. You may want to encourage people to contact you directly if they are having trouble finding a canon and you can give them tips)

<b>What is it, in summary?:</b>

<b>What do you love about it?:</b>

<b>What sort of things are you likely to request for it?:</b>

<b>Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?:</b>

<b>Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence):</b>
This is at your discretion and is not expected to be comprehensive

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(Bonus options: What are you thinking of requesting for this? If you're thinking of nominating worldbuilding, what sort of worldbuilding topics might people explore?)


Useful tip (Not required, but helps people if they want to engage with your fandom!):


- It's best to make each fandom its own entry with its own title in the subject line! That makes it easier for people to find/see what you're promoting! Don't worry about 'spam', that is the entire point of this entry and you're using it exactly as intended.


Previous fandom promo posts can be found at this tag!

Comments

Neverwinter Nights 2

[greenwoodside]

(This is elwisty from AO3, btw)


Title:
Neverwinter Nights 2 (2006)

Media: Video Game (single-player CRPG based on D&D rules)

Approx length: Around sixty hours for one playthrough of the original campaign.

Where to find it:
Great Old Games

What is it, in summary?: It's a sprawling high fantasy roleplaying game. On one level, it conforms perfectly to a stereotypical fantasy campaign, working its way through TV Tropes as if it might get a prize for ticking off as many clichés as possible.

What do you love about it?: It's funny - often very funny - and sometimes sad and a little subversive. It takes a band of fantasy archetype characters but writes them so entertainingly that they can seem more real than a 21st century office worker or project manager. It's a heroic campaign that questions the value of heroism and the role and nature of heroes.

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: I'd be happy with anything. A character development piece. A missing moment. An AU where all the characters are woolly mammoths. You do you.

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: Yep. One of the reasons I like Neverwinter Nights 2 is that it's a huge, convoluted campaign with a complicated development history. Lots of things that were meant to be developed weren't when crunch-time started, the money fairy got out her club with a nail in it, and the developers became hyper-deadline-aware.

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence):
It's a CRPG so contains violence. However, the violence is unrealistic, and communicated through 2006-level graphics and character animations. (In other words, it's deeply unreal).

星汉灿烂 | Love Like the Galaxy

[minnarr]

Title: 星汉灿烂 | Love Like the Galaxy

Media: TV show

Approx length: 56 episodes, 40-50 minutes each

Where to find it: Available to stream on Viki

What is it, in summary?: A lot of people are returning from war: Ling Buyi, a young but accomplished general, the parents of Cheng Shaoshang, who has spent her life so far neglected and in conflict with the grandmother and aunt tasked with taking care of her while her parents and siblings were at war. They intersect briefly at the start, and Ling Buyi falls instantly in love. What follows are difficult domestic conflicts at the Cheng house, so many pranks and schemes and shenanigans, a series of mysteries including and often revolving around an ever-deepening intrigue involving Ling Buyi's past and desire for revenge, and through it all a sweeping romance (with some hiccups, including a frankly devastating breakup).

What do you love about it?: There's just so much here? Gremlin protagonist with her interest in engineering and architecture, always curious and observant; revenge boy love interest who feels so deeply but is comically unable to behave like a normal human being. The two non-endgame suitors, a good good boy who finds purpose while falling for Cheng Shaoshang and a not-so-good boy who has lots of fun sharp mirrors to Cheng Shaoshang in his determined loneliness, even if I do not always like what he is doing.

The romance is just. Two lonely people with very different experiences and often wants, but there's something in them that matches all the same, and they find a way to be the people they need to be for each other. Also they both have soooo many feelings. Much angst. 10/10. And I really like the physicality of it, too; often very tender, but with moments of playfulness and playfulness that goes smoldering fast (see image above) and actually a comical amount of Cheng Shaoshang getting literally swept off her feet.

Also: so so many different kinds of relationships between the women in the show. Catty! Supportive when you'd think they would be catty! Hate their guts, but stand up for them when they've been wronged! Two very different mother figures for the protagonist: things with her actual mother will always be spiky and they will both always be getting things wrong with each other, no matter the love/longing; and a warm and supportive relationship with the empress that helps Cheng Shaoshang reach for some of the potential out of her grasp. And they take so many routes to navigating the roles laid out for them.

I'm also really into the many small mysteries that play out over a few episodes each. Just, so much neat setup and payoff and liberal use of the web of social connections and agendas around whatever the mystery is.

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Cheng Shaoshang/Ling Buyi, sure, but also I'm extremely intrigued by Cheng Shaoshang/Ling Buyi/Yuan Shen (the "not-so-good boy" mentioned above). Casefic. Ling Buyi character study/backstory moments. Cheng Shaoshang making good on one of the jokey references she makes to marrying a female friend. Something warm and friendship-y. New heights of gremlinry.

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: Ha. Probably not? There's a lot of it and it all kind of builds.

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): Fair amount of violence including some goopy wounds and strong implications of worse gore, corporal punishment and neglect from caretakers, some extremely weird power dynamics when a guy who's in love with the protagonist gets himself hired as her teacher while she's getting engaged to another dude and he's vocally sour about it, suicide (side characters, but onscreen). Probably other things I'm missing but that gives you the tone at least.

Hank Winton Smokechaser series - Montgomery M. Atwater

[rabidsamfan]

Title: Hank Winton Smokechaser series - Montgomery M. Atwater.

Media: children's books

Approx length: three books, about 220-250 pages long but with a generous font so they each take about two hours to read.

Where to find it:
There are three books that are the core of the series.
Flaming Forest: https://www.amazon.com/Flaming-Forest-Montgomery-M-Atwater/dp/B08LNC274L/
Hank Winton Smokechaser: https://www.amazon.com/Hank-Winton-Smokechaser-Montgomery-Atwater/dp/B0857CFM16/
Smoke Patrol: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B086Y4T79V/

What is it, in summary?: Originally written in the 1940s, and rereleased with some editing by the author's son, these are the stories of a Senator's son who decides to join the Forest Service and fight forest fires. In the first book he and his father are caught up at the edges of a fire, and he gets a taste of the life. In the second he applies to be a smokechaser and spend the summer in a watchtower and going out fighting fires, and in the third he becomes a smokejumper. Adventures guaranteed.

What do you love about it?: I first encountered the second and third book when I was twelve, and they made me want to be a forest ranger when I grew up. There were references to the first book, so finding it last month led me on a merry chase of reading every MM Atwater book I could lay hands on (There are some parallel series where characters also appear.) The stories were straightforward coming of age for boys type stories, but because MM Atwater really knew the Forest Service from his own experience, there was an air of authenticity to the stories in both vocabulary and detail that made me happy. His son says he cleaned up the language, but I think it was mostly that he rewrote any dialog that was written in dialect, because a lot of the jargon that pleased twelve year old me is still there. I loved the rivalry turned friendship of Hank and Jim Dade, and the feeling that the senior rangers were doing their best to either break the men (who are actually teens) who want to be firefighters or make them.

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: gapfillers! MMA sometimes jumped over entire months. Also things like the story told from another point of view. One of the things about the books is how little they touch on World War II, as the timing is never quite pinned down.

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: Well, Smoke Patrol, really, although it is only available as a paperback. But if you are short, then Hank Winton, Smokechaser is nearly as good, and it sets up a lot of the elements of the later book.

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence):
Forest fires. Seriously, if fires give you nightmares give this a dodge. If your library happens to have the original editions you might run into some racist tropes, but it has been decades since I read them, and they weren't a focus. the edited versions didn't ring any of that note for me.

A Lady for a Duke - Alexis Hall

[amphipodgirl]

Title: A Lady for a Duke - Alexis Hall

Media: Book

Approx length: The print book is about 450 pages; the audiobook is about 15 1/2 hours.

Where to find it: All the usual book-getting places.

What is it, in summary?: This is a sweeping Regency romance featuring a transgender heroine. When Viola Carroll was reported killed in the Battle of Waterloo, she took it as an opportunity to publicly live her gender. In doing so, she left behind not only a title and a fortune but also her closest friend. Now fate (and a meddling sister-in-law) have brought them back together again. Will Gracewood recognize his old friend? What will happen if he does? And what about all these feelings they're starting to have for each other?

What do you love about it?: I love Viola and Gracewood's passion. I love the feminist sensibility. I love that Viola's being trans is not a problem for their romance and that the book is not transphobia trauma porn. I love the delightful side characters -- dashing lesbian Lady Lillimere, busybody Louise, hopeless duffer Badger, quirky, headstrong Miranda, and precocious and charming Little Bartholomew. I'm also glad that they got a trans voice actress for the audiobook and a trans model for the cover shoot.

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: There are some things I'd love to see from Viola's backstory, like when she met the trans man in France and realized what the possibilities were for her or when she came out to her family. There are also some very sweet life events from between the main story and the epilogue that I'd love to read about. And, y'know, smut.

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: You really have to read the whole thing.

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence):
Consult the author's content guidance here.

Re: A Lady for a Duke - Alexis Hall

[bronze_ribbons]

I'm so glad you're promoting this -- the cast really is stellar. :heartseyes:

Charles Henry Higgensworth III (Amazon.com Reviews)

[firebatvillain]

Title: Charles Henry Higgensworth III (Amazon.com Reviews)

Media: Text, in the form of a series of reviews on Amazon.com

Approx length: 5k words

Where to find it: https://www.amazon.com/gp/profile/amzn1.account.AHNQ2VDUI4RVUIV4M7QOUC3BNCLA/ has a list of all of the reviews in reverse chronological order

What is it, in summary?: This is a series of reviews written on amazon.com within the span of a year, about 20 years ago. They are not serious reviews of the products, but instead act as a sort of framing device to tell the story of the fictional narrator, Charles Henry Higgensworth III. Charles is the last scion of a declining old-money family, clinging to lost glories and bitter about their diminishing wealth. He's married to a younger woman, Carlotta, who spends her days trolling him, and has two young children whom he seems to parent in an extremely ineffective and funny fashion. He's generally a terrible person and it's hilarious.

What do you love about it?: I think the framing of the story is very interesting, and I think the character - Charles - is the kind of over the top parody of a trust fund kid (though he's like 60) that is always funny. The little snippets of his life and the lives of those around him is great.

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: I think a series of fake amazon reviews, or something funny happening between Charles and one of his relatives (his wife or his brother in law) would be great. Basically, comedic genfic.

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: A lot of the reviews can be skimmed, since each one stands alone, but reading at least 10 of them is probably a good idea to get an idea for the character.

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): Charles, the narrator, is depicted as a slightly racist, slightly sexist, very classist old man, and although it's intended that we mock him, it could be unfun reading for some. There's also one review that's fatphobic.

Re: Charles Henry Higgensworth III (Amazon.com Reviews)

[firebatvillain]

Here's a good example of a review, nominally about a book about investing in Haiti, but in fact is a story of the decline of the Higgensworth fortune: https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R2JUD4PNSTQV1

Monarch - Candice Wuehle

[ionthesparrow]

Title: Monarch - Candice Wuehle

Media: a novel

Approx length: 256 pages

Where to find it:
Available in hardback and ebook anywhere books are sold, and likely, your local library

What is it, in summary?:
Monarch is a novel about teen pageant queen Jessica Clink, whose body has been, unbeknownst to her co-opted by her Mad Scientist father, Mysterious Ageless Mother, and a shadowy pseudo-governmental agency to be a sleeper agent super spy. It’s a spy thriller with a sci-fi twist. It’s a novel about uncovering and piecing together your own identity in a world that doesn’t make that easy for young women. It’s about reclaiming your body. It’s also really funny.

What do you love about it?:
Jessica as a narrator is, by turns, wry, hilarious, exhausted, vulnerable, indestructible. It’s a book packed with references to what it was like to grow up in the 90s - from Lorena Bobbitt to Fight Club, it’s all in there. Jessica is queer and has a canonical female love interest - and a lot of the novel is about how love and human connection forms the core of a person, the “real” center that survives all the identities girls have to put on and take off. The world building is fully of creepy science, mysterious universities, powerful strange adults who wander in and out of Jessica’s life, and half-remembered secret missions that leave bruises and more invisible scars.

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?:
Jessica/her canonical female love interest OR Jessica/her super-smart but slightly bumbling female antagonist

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?:
Listen, I think you gotta read the whole book, but I found it a really quick read.

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence):
I would not describe any of the violence as graphic, but it does grapple with themes of bodily autonomy in ways that might be tough if you’re particularly sensitive to that issue.

The Planet Crafter (Video Game)

[lielac]

Title: The Planet Crafter

Media: Video game

Approx length: 10? 20? hours to discover the story content. Probably. I have 40 hours played and I've gotten to all the currently available content.

Where to find it:
On Steam! There's a demo, or it's about CA$22.

What is it, in summary?:
The Planet Crafter is a first-person sandbox base-building game where you wake up in a tiny little landing capsule on a barren planet, with a message panel on the wall telling you you have been assigned to terraform the planet. You're given an absolute minimum of resources in your landing pod, and must scavenge for raw materials, as well as hunt through the many, many, many crashed spaceships, to survive.

Now, I really recommend playing this game without spoilers! ... highlight the next paragraph if you want to know them anyway, because the spoilery parts are what makes this worth writing fic about.

It turns out you're a convict who chose (or possibly "chose") to become a Planet Crafter to try to be released of whatever charges are against you. Maybe you did something bad. Maybe you're innocent! Maybe you stole a loaf of bread! Who knows! You've got a friend on the outside trying to feed you information, but how much can they even help? A lot of Planet Crafters have come before you, and most of them died, and a lot of them died on this planet. This planet in particular might have been cursed, given how many goddamn spaceships crashed on it.

What do you love about it?:
I love the base-building. I love making the numbers go up. I love the creeping sense of horror as I discover more crashed spaceships with message panels explaining how they came to be wreckage on a barren planet. I love how that's the only horror, because there's no combat or even jumpscares. I love how I went around blithely for like 15 hours just building my base and not bothering to build the comms antenna because it felt like a waste of resources, and then the first message that came in upended my understanding of why I was even on this planet. I love trying to figure out what the hell is going on and not being given conclusive answers. Environmental storytelling: yes.

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?:
Worldbuilding! Lore! Who were the poor sods who were on this planet before you? What the hell is up with this planet? Sentinel Corp: what the fuck? And who exactly is Riley?

... all of which questions are likely to be partially answered by the next big update, which the devs say is slated for mid-October, but. Y'know. So are Yuletide signups.

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?:
Man, I dunno, I don't think so?

Content warnings:

A justice system that has no business being called just; non-graphic character death (mostly implied or written about); so far one non-gruesome corpse.

Re: The Planet Crafter (Video Game)

[yhlee]

Oh gosh, I am so intrigued by this, thank you for writing it up!

Foxes in Love!

[emperor]

Title: Foxes in Love
Media: Webcomic (also available in 2 books)
Length: has been going since April 2019, but there's not a plot or anything, so you don't have to read them all, but it's quite addictive!
Where to find it: tumblr or twitter or Instagram green_fox_blue_fox
What is it?: a webcomic series about two simple foxes who are in love.
What do you love about it?: it's a delightful, sweet, funny series about love (and foxes), and how universal (and funny) love is.

Rubyquest

[shamanicshaymin]

And what became of cat and hare?
Did they break free to purer air?
To guess their fate we shouldn't dare
Perhaps their tale closed well.
But for all the beasts trapped in the Nether
All life from out the loch and heather
The flock that could not work together
Are sure still trapped in Hell.

Title: Rubyquest

Media: Webcomic/Quest

Approx length: 9 parts at the Ruby Quest Collection, culminating in 856 panels including animations (Not counting reader suggestions/commentary)

Where to find it: Ruby Quest Collection
RubyQuest (by clicking menu, you can choose to read it as a slideshow-like sequence, a scene selection screen, or a long single page)
Let's Read RubyQuest by Co Lab HQ (teaser) (A video version of the story, complete with music and voice-acting where applicable)
Archive of the original threads as well as fanart, supplementary material, and minor spinoffs. (WARNING: Can be NSFW)

There's also a fangame adaptation called "Rubyquest: Undertow," but unfortunately it was never completed.

What is it, in summary?: "Ruby Quest was a collective role-playing game that took place on the popular 4chan image-posting forums. The creator, TGWeaver, proposed a game in the style of choose-your-own-adventure stories, presented as pictures drawn like an old-school text adventure game. The community would suggest actions, then the author would pick the best choices, pretend the input was accepted and draw the next resulting outcome. It started looking like innocent puzzle-solving with animal characters, but soon enough his real intentions took over and for the two following months everyone got hooked up by the most frightening survival horror tale ever." --Evilcorporation

To say Rubyquest changed online quests and created a whole new genre of interactive storytelling is putting it lightly. :)

Rubyquest is a cosmic horror story about various Animal Crossing characters, though familiarity with AC is not required, as all the cast has in common with their original selves are their names and species. A hare named Ruby wakes up in a lab with no memory of her past, and shortly meets up with a cat named Tom who is being held prisoner. After she rescues him from his cell, the two of them work together to solve the lab's mysteries and escape.

What do you love about it?: I'm a sucker for horror stories with anthropomorphic animal characters. Since I was neck-deep in playing Animal Crossing at the time, to learn that there was a famous online story about two villagers named Ruby and Tom intrigued me. Needless to say, I came for the Animal Crossing horror... then got so much more beyond my wildest dreams. The engaging storytelling! The simple yet visceral art! The awesome characters! Even the strange off-kilter jokes readers provided added flavor and much-needed comic relief to the horrors at hand. It felt like I was right there with Ruby and Tom and I was rooting for them all the way and invested in the lore of this fucked up lab.

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Delicious worldbuilding, nomnomnom. I'd also be interested in post-ending fic, anything that explores character backstories, and even shippy fic be it cute or dysfunctional.

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfill your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: Reader commentary/supplementary materials/spinoffs/etc. are completely optional and not necessary for understanding Rubyquest canon. Just stick with the main story (the Let's Read, Collection, and Evil Corporation versions include the necessary commands and funniest lines anyway) and you'll be fine. It's actually a quick read and easy to review!

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): BODY HORROR UP THE WAZOO. It gets extremely gory and delves deep into eldritch horror and mutations. We also got psychological horror, medical horror (corrupt doctors are villains in this), eye scream, arsenic poisoning, characters requesting mercy kills (and one is carried out), Came Back Wrong is definitely a thing, and overall is NOT for children or those who are easily squeamish. There's also jokes with sexual innuendo involving Ruby (her "girlish figure" is a running gag along with Tom's "manly physique") but nothing serious or degrading. Only the fanart in the TG archives has sexually explicit material.

Nanquest

[shamanicshaymin]

"Ain't you a little old to be afraid of shadows?
You ought to know by now.
There's nothing there in the dark that wasn't there in the light."

Title: Nanquest

Media: Webcomic/Quest

Approx length: 9 parts at the NanQuest Collection, culminating in 958 panels including animations (Not counting reader suggestions/commentary)

Where to find it: Nan Quest Collection
Archive of the original threads as well as fanart (Warning: Fanart can be NSFW)
NanQuest Q&A (Best read after finishing Nanquest, as it contains spoilers for the whole thing)

What is it, in summary?: Nanquest is an interactive adventure/horror RPG where readers suggested what actions to take next while the author drew the results. It was written by TGWeaver as a spiritual successor to his highly acclaimed and groundbreaking Rubyquest (which I rec'd over here, though Nanquest is its own story and can absolutely be enjoyed solo) The only Animal Crossing-based character this time around is Nan, a goat electrician sent to fix an outlet at a gigantic fancy hotel. But uh oh! Once she fixes it, she's trapped inside. She eventually meets others stuck inside the hotel with her, and it turns out there's some Timey Wimey shenanigans going on... oh yeah, and three different antagonists are out to kill them. Hurray!

What do you love about it?: Do you like psychological horror? What about a dysfunctional cast of characters struggling with trauma and having it used against them by eldritch forces? Are you into religious horror and Catholic guilt? Do you like historical fantasy and are fascinated by people from multiple time periods meeting each other? Are you wondering if there was ever a horror story about the disappearance of the Anasazi? Enjoy father/son drama? And as a cherry on top, it all involves anthropomorphic animal characters? Boy oh boy oh boy, have I got the story for you!

If you read and enjoyed Rubyquest (eldritch horrors, cool cast, excellent plot, fantastic lore), you're going to fucking love Nanquest. It expands on all of Rubyquest's strengths and just adds so much more. It turns a lot of common tropes (including horror and religious ones) on their heads, and the plot twists bowl me over to this day! I'm starved for people to talk about this canon with and hope to see it grow. ;;

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: I love the entire cast of Nanquest and I'm absolutely starved for introspective fanfiction about them, especially for the characters I've nominated. And the canon is rich with world-building to explore! Also shipping, because I'm predictable.

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfill your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: The NanQuest Collection cuts the fluff and displays suggestions and reader commentary only if the reader wants to. Said suggestions/commentary is not needed for understanding Nanquest, and the entire story by itself can be read in about 1-2 days and is easily reviewed. The Nanquest Q&A contains some answers for some common story questions and provides a lot of insight and backstory on characters who didn't have time to have their stories told.

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): While not as gruesome as Rubyquest, it still contains some gory scenes including decapitation, mutilation, burning alive, shootings, and stabbing galore (and one mention of offscreen cannibalism) so it's not a story for kids or the squeamish. There's historical racism along with period-typical language regarding Indigenous peoples, so head's up for that. There's an attempted rape scene (we learn the assaulter is unwilling) that while brief and not graphic is still intentionally disturbing. One scene involves an abusive father threatening his wife and children. There's child abuse and implied castration in a character's past, and another where a character's loved one dies of epilepsy and strangulation. We got suicidal ideation, depression, suicide-by-proxy, a rat that's accidentally killed under a bell... Finally, there's more sexual content and nudity than there was in Rubyquest, though there's no sex scenes and the nekkidness is Barbie-doll anatomy at most (there's one panel where we see a guy's flaccid penis and that's it)

Broken Sky Series - Chris Wooding

[shadaras]

Title: Broken Sky Series (by Chris Wooding)

Media: Novels (written for children, probably middle-grade level if you were to categorise them now)

Approx length: 3 volumes, each about 400 pages long.

Where to find it:
Ebooks should be available on Amazon and other retailers. I'm not sure if the print books are easily available anymore.

What is it, in summary?:
In the author's words:
Broken Sky is the story of two mirrored worlds, the Dominions and Kirin Taq. It’s about a pair of twins who find themselves torn from the safety of their home and thrown into the conflict, and how they become key players in the battle for both dimensions against the despotic King Macaan and his daughter.

What do you love about it?:
well you see I first read this when I was nine, apparently, and I know this because I have an old archived document where child!me copied down some lines from the third volume for unknowable reasons. I perhaps imprinted on the thematic content of this series really hard as a result. xD

The author wrote this story because he wanted to write an anime (see above link for full explanation) and absolutely succeeded. The vibes are very strongly late 90s anime, and I adore this.

The main protags start out almost 16, and there's about a year of timejump between each volume of this series, and I think it's cool that they get to grow up and change.

Other things I love:
- Twins! :D And people who aren't twins by blood but are cosmologically twins anyway.
- This story is about revolution, and it doesn't shy away from how that means war.
- It also doesn't shy away from moral ambiguity and how people can change sides, betray each other, and unexpectedly turn out to be decent people once they've had a chance to learn that they're being awful to other people.
- The magic system is super neat: Magic stones implanted in infants' backs allow them to access a specific sort of magic power, and there's a lot of fun variance in what those powers look like. Some people can't have the stones implanted, though, and those people are instead able to flip between dimensions!
- The theme of the story is very blatantly "Everyone is a person and should be treated as such. Yes, even the people who don't look like you. Yes, even the ones that look like aliens. Yes, even the inhuman hive-minds." and I appreciate that.
- Lots of cool women! I'm pretty sure the author tried his best to ensure there were as many major women as men, and succeeded pretty well.
- Animal bonding! Another kind of magic stone allows people to soulbond to wyverns, and that's rad. Live your dragon-flying dreams! :D
- The setting is very fantastical but also there's a ton of technology; one of the magic types is literally Piloting, where you animate/control vehicles!
- There's a lot of thoughtfulness around grief, which I appreciate, and characters react in a lot of different ways to the hard things that happen to them.

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?:
- f/f, because the story itself very much assumes everyone's het and I sigh about that. (Li'ain/Kia! Kia/Calica! Aurin/Calica, tbh.) Possibly also m/m? (Hochi/Tochaa, mostly.)
- Post-canon adventures! There's such nice teases about where everyone's going post-canon.
- More about Aurin and her arc throughout the story.
- The work of rebuilding the world after the war ends.
- Interstitial scenes about what happened during the timejumps between volumes.

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfill your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?:
I'll be requesting from the standpoint of having read all three volumes, so I'm not sure. Maybe? Because the series is good at setting up worldbuilding questions and then answering them later, I would recommend reading the whole series.

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence):
While this series is marketed towards young people (it was published by Scholastic!), it contains depictions of: war, death, torture, suicide, slavery, imprisonment, and discussion of genocide (as something that should not be condoned). None of those are particularly graphic, but they sure do exist! There's also canonical racism that's called out as being bad and is seen as confusing/senseless by the main characters.

There's some genre-typical fat jokes that mostly seem like they exist because of late-90s-anime-tropes and not because they're meant. Similarly, there's some "women can't do X physical task as well as men" comments but I keep forgetting about them because it's not really borne out in the text as being true.

"A Dry, Quiet War" by Tony Daniel

[yhlee]

Title: A Dry Quiet War - Tony Daniel

Media: novelette

Approx length: 9,000 words

Where to find it:
A free, legal online reprint is available here.

What is it, in summary?:
This is a science fiction novelette about a soldier from a war at the end of time - he returns home to meet the woman he loves, and finds that the war follows him.

What do you love about it?:
The haunting, exotic future paired with the everyday rhythms of life on the soldier's home planet, and the tragedy that unfolds.

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?:
Worldbuilding, or a post-story fix-it sequel in which the lovers reunite, or an outtake from the war at the end of time.

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?:
You really have to read the whole thing, but it's a fairly quick read.

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence):
The two big ones are rape and gore. The actual rape (of the woman) occurs off-page but uses an ugly science-fiction mechanism, and we see the aftermath. Extreme gore - the story's ending is pretty violent. Background genocide in the context of the war at the end of time.

Fighting Fantasy - Various Authors

[yhlee]

Title: Fighting Fantasy - Various Authors

Media: This is a series of gamebooks originally created by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, although there have been many, many authors in the series.

Approx length: A typical gamebook is around 300-400 pages and a single playthrough will take one to two hours, depending on how good you are at surviving the combats/puzzles.

Where to find it:
You can often find used books in this series on used book websites, a number of which are out of print; a number of the books are also currently in print. They tend to run ~$10 USD new.

What is it, in summary?:
Fighting Fantasy is a long-running series of gamebooks - think "Choose Your Own Adventure" branching path narratives, but with a simple system of mechanics largely geared toward combat/puzzles. All books have the three stats Skill, Stamina, and Luck in common, plus inventory tracking; individual books may have additional special mechanics like magic spells, particular skills, or (in the case of horror gamebook House of Hell) a chance of dying of fear. These are designed to be a gaming experience that you can play solo with the aid of a pair of six-sided dice.

The majority of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks take place in a high fantasy setting called Allansia, but there are some exceptions - Space Assassin and The Rings of Kether are science fiction, the aforementioned House of Hell is horror.

What do you love about it?:
I'm an old-school gamebook fan and I really enjoy being able to disappear into a self-contained dungeon hack/puzzle/adventure experience on my own! The whole premise is that YOU are the hero and it is by your decisions (and the luck of the dice) that YOU will defeat the adventure...or fail.

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?:
Rather than nominating a specific book or subseries, this year I'm nominating the whole series with "Worldbuilding" and "Adventurer." I'd love to see a fic based on ANY book in the series, either exploring the adventure and/or setting further, or leaning into the premise that YOU are the hero.

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?:
Please do not attempt to read every single Fighting Fantasy book!!! If you're writing for me, any single one is fine. My personal recommendations are Steve Jackson's Creature of Havoc, anything from Steve Jackson's Sorcery! quartet (four books, but each can be played as a standalone - #1 The Shamutanti Hills, #2 Kharé - Cityport of Traps, #3 The Seven Serpents, #4 The Crown of Kings), Keith P. Phillips' The Siege of Sardath, Steve Jackson's Starship Traveller, or Jim Bambra & Stephen Hand's Dead of Night. But, you know, there are a lot of options!

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence):
There's sometimes sf/f-typical fictional racism (you know, "evil lizardmen" type things) and questionable depiction of "primitive" peoples. Violence (and sometimes gore) is baked in since these tend to be combat-driven adventures. I can't recall any instances of rape or sexual violence - since I have not read all the books, I can't guarantee it doesn't show up, but since these were written for and marketed toward schoolchildren, I suspect it's pretty unlikely.

Princess by Daniel May

[(Anonymous)]

Title: Princess by Daniel May

Media: Novella

Approx length: 190 pages

Where to find it: Amazon

What is it, in summary?: This is a dark, m/m erotica about West Song, who is an up and coming actor who gets manipulated into a BDSM relationship with his manager, Ellis Hui.

What do you love about it?: I don't think I can even really explain what it is I love about this little book, because it is so messed up. I guess it's that I haven't ever read anything quite like this before, and there are themes that I really enjoyed. It's also incredibly hot and well written, and despite it's messed up-edness, it has a sort of HEA (probably more of an HFN), and I love that for West.

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Basically anything post-canon. I want it to stick with the general feel of the book, I just want more of West and Ellis.

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: No, you have to read the full book.

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence):
This book contains exceptionally dubious consent, mindbreak, blackmail, rough handling, extreme dom/sub dynamics, and intense emotional and psychological abuse. There are more CWs, but these are the main ones.

Gossip Girl 2021

[gala_apples]

Title: Gossip Girl 2021

Media: Tv

Approx length: 12 episodes about an hour long.

Where to find it: In Canada it’s streaming on Crave, I’m not sure about other countries.

What is it, in summary?: An ensemble cast of modern day upperclass teenagers (and their parents) facing relationship dramas, while dealing with a nasty Anonymous rumour spreader.

What do you love about it?: I’m gonna be honest, I watched this show entirely because in the trailer there appeared to be a threesome. My poly ass is always starving for content. I ended up liking it more than I thought I would, and being invested in several of the characters, but the people I’m nomming are (SPOILERS AHEAD)

Audrey: a pretty rich blonde with control issues. She’s essentially running her home and raising herself, her mom being clinically depressed post infidelity and divorce. Long time girlfriend of Aki, but has cheated on him with Max.

Max: a mildly drug addicted slutty pansexual boy with currently divorcing gay dads. Self destructively sleeping with a predator high school teacher for a while until his best friend Aki rescues him.

Aki: a very chill skater, whose zen outlook occasionally pisses off his dramatic friends. Realises he’s bisexual when he makes out with Max at a bathhouse. Is accidentally outed to his family by his girlfriend, then forcibly outed by his father to the world on the national news.

The second half of the season is about them building towards a throuple, the rise and fall and rise again. They have so many feelings about each other, and then I have feelings!

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Literally any relationship fic. Directly post canon fic, future adult them fic, anything that happens in the high moments of the episodes.

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: I wish there was a Makidrey supercut, for the amount of times I’ve rewatched this show, but no.

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): Nothing I can think of.

Deadly Class

[gala_apples]

Title: Deadly Class

Media: Tv

Approx length: Ten hour-ish long episodes.

Where to find it: Netflix recently acquired it, I have dvds.

What is it, in summary?: Set in the 1980's, a homeless, believed to be serial killer teenager gets invited to attend a school for assassins. The boarding school has two factions, those who are the next in line to head gangs or are government aligned, and the 'rats', teens handpicked for their circumstances. Marcus, the main character, did NOT actually kill a few hundred people, but surely any bed is better than another lonely night on the streets?

What do you love about it?:
-aesthetic! the main characters are various flavours of punk, emo, and goth. Music, fashion, and belief systems of the MCs are all centred around 1980's counter culture. The show just looks good.
-multi and poly shipping! there's a love triangle easily solved with poly, an actual threesome, and essentially any character could be shipped with any other character(s).
-found families! lemme repeat that Marcus joins a murder boarding school because he's LONELY. This show has bonding road trips, covering up murders, group revenge, and multiple instances of saving each other's lives.
- animation! most episodes have a cartoon scene that delves into the angsty back story of different characters. Again, it just looks good.

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Ship fic! Slam basically of the characters together and I’m happy. Arguments could be made for any of them being bisexual. Angstfic! They’re the underclass losers of a murder school with occasionally unspeakable homework, each with Tragic Backstories. Mildly world building day in the life fic! We mostly see the characters when shit is going down, I’d love to see what a standard day at Murder School is like.

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: No, it all builds on itself.

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): Definitely gore and violence, though we’re talking more Deadpool than Hostel in delivery. Murder, obviously. Domestic violence. Suicidal ideation. Drug use.

SoftBank's Next 30-Year Vision (2010 corporate PDF)

[vass]

(crossposting this to the yuletide promo post, of course)

Title: SoftBank's Next 30-Year Vision (2010 corporate PDF)

Media ...corporate internal document? Let's go with "Other Media".

Approx length: It's a 135 page PDF, but it's a PDF of a PowerPoint presentation with one page per slide and not more than a sentence or two per slide. So that's maybe half an hour of reading.

Where to find it: https://group.softbank/system/files/pdf/philosophy/vision/next30/next30-presentation_en.pdf (the company's own website)

What is it, in summary? SoftBank Group Corp is, according to its Wikipedia page, "a Japanese multinational conglomerate holding company [...] which focuses on investment management." This document, which went mildly viral over the last couple of years, lays out their strategic planning for the next 30 years. It is, and I cannot state this strongly enough, extremely WTF.

What do you love about it? I honestly believe it's one of the best works of dystopian fiction I have seen all year, all the more so because it wasn't intended that way. It's got worldbuilding, it's got drama, it's extremely cracky, and it's an excellent size for an "instant Yuletide fandom", while still having plenty of variety and range.

What sort of things are you likely to request for it? Definitely worldbuilding. Probably the robot whose hand is shown holding a heart. Whatever a "brain computer" is, I'm nominating that, and I ship it with the human brain (don't forget, "Our biggest theme: Symbiosis between humankind and computer"), because I love human/robot (or computer) romance. I also love the source material's inclusion of the telepathy trope.

And I'm very curious about slide 81 ("new work styles") and what that earth-energy is that's beaming between the theremin player and the touchscreen operator and the wallpaper-reader and the guy with the worrying smile. And of course there's the inherent tension between this utopian vision and their terrifying capitalist mandate to "become a company needed by people around the world".

I favour an enthusiastically literalist, science fictional approach (with full awareness of the dystopian underpinnings of, well, everything about this document) but there's also scope for a satirical approach, of course, e.g. "people who know what cloud computing even is interpret "SoftBank works to make cloud computing the greatest human asset" as pessimistically about human assets as the sentence deserves."

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. This canon certainly contains single slides that contain enough material for a whole Yuletide fic, but the whole canon's short enough that I'm content to just nominate it and let anyone who offers it and is matched with me pick one for themself.

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence) None that I can think of.

I think that's everything. Thank you for reading this pitch, and have a great Yuletide.

Re: SoftBank's Next 30-Year Vision (2010 corporate PDF)

[amphipodgirl]

Thank you for enlarging my universe by exposing me to this batshit document.

Scary Stories To Tell in The Dark

[gala_apples]

Title: Scary Stories To Tell in The Dark

Media: Movie

Approx length: 108 minutes

Where to find it: I think it’s on Netflix? I have a hard copy.

What is it, in summary?: A horror movie about three best friends plus a love interest plus a sister accidentally awakening an evil book that sends fictional monsters to destroy them.

What do you love about it?: I love Stella, Auggie, and Chuck’s friendship. Stella is implied to be a social pariah, in this small conservative town in 1968, and yet these two boys choose to stay best friends with her, instead of siding with the town. I hate what happens to Auggie and Chuck, but I love that the movie ends with Stella vowing to get them back. Just the three of them bonding over the world being against them, and PTSD.

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Ship fic. It’s so easy to imagine Chuck and Auggie being queer, and Stella knowing and keeping their secret. I also am totally uninterested in Ramon, and ship the trio. Fic about their friendship pre-book would be great, but so would a fixit fic, or one where Stella does what she vows, and gets them back.

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: Nope, just the full movie.

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): Mild gore/violence, it’s a pg13 horror movie. Racism towards a secondary character. Major character death.

Re: Scary Stories To Tell in The Dark

[withinadream]

I'm so excited to see another Scary Stories fan, and another Chuck/Auggie(/Stella) fan at that!

Shining Girls (TV)

[keerawa]

Title: Shining Girls (TV)

Media: TV series

Approx length: 8 episodes

Where to find it: Apple TV+

What is it, in summary?: Our protagonist is a reporter rebuilding her life after a vicious and near-fatal attack, in a world that is never quite right. She discovers that her attacker is a serial killer and begins to dig for the truth about him. Down the rabbit hole Kirby will find hints of time travel, alternate realities, and more.

What do you love about it?: Elizabeth Moss gives us an unflinching portrayal of Kirby dealing with trauma and mental health issues as a strong woman who refuses to let anyone take her agency from her. The portrayal of gendered stalking and violence can be difficult to watch, but watching women expertly negotiate the boundary-pushing and escalating behaviors is freeing. The plot twists are incredibly clever, and the writer wasn't afraid to leave the unknowns as mysteries.

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Femme-slash! Worldbuilding! Character studies about strong women recovering from trauma. Hurt/comfort around trauma and mental health issues. Epistolary fic.

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: No, you need to watch all 8 episodes!

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): Murder, gendered violence, threatened harm to children, off-screen rape, gaslighting

Slash/Back (2022)

[keerawa]

Title: Slash/Back (2022)

Media: film

Approx length: 1:26

Where to find it:

What is it, in summary?: A group of Inuit girls fight off an alien who invades their tiny town on the Arctic Circle.

What do you love about it?: Did you enjoy Prey? How about Blood Quantum? Check out an Inuit take on the horror genre in Slash/Back! This is a B-movie, but one created with love by the people of Nunavut. This movie does a wonderful job of showing the characters embracing or rejecting their traditional culture for the lure of the big city. Inuit language and culture are centered. Maika wears a leather jacket proclaiming NO JUSTICE ON STOLEN LAND. The setting is beautiful and wildly different; with all of the adults celebrating the Summer Solstice, the teenagers have to rely on each other and their traditional hunting weapons and skills to save the children and deal with the threat.

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Character studies, interviews, investigations into the culture of Pang, how did these girls learn their skills, this story making it into the traditional story-telling of their people.

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: Nope, it's a short movie

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): mild gore, off-screen death, racism and internalized racism, threats to children

Re: Slash/Back (2022)

[rachelmanija]

Do you know where it's possible to see this movie?

Ultra Q

[bobcatmoran]

Title:
Ultra Q

Media:
TV Show

Approx length:
28 episodes, a bit less than a half hour each

Where to find it:
Streaming for free on Tubi!. Also available on Blu-Ray from Shout!

What is it, in summary?:
A science-fiction anthology, in the same vein as The Outer Limits or The Twilight Zone, only made in Japan. And, since it was the brainchild of Eiji Tsurabaya, who had worked on the original Godzilla movie and would go on to create the Ultraman series immediately after this, a lot of the episodes feature kaiju, giant monsters. Original airdates were in 1966.

What do you love about it?:
The endless imagination of the scenarios that the show came up with. Unlike the Ultraman series that came afterwards, it wasn't beholden to the beat-a-kaiju-every-episode format, which gave it more flexibility. Also, Yuriko is, by the standards of a 1960s Japanese TV show (and quite frankly by the standards for decades to come) is a very adventurous, independent character, so much more than the Token Girl and often the driving force of the episode's plot.

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?:
Anything involving the main trio of Jun, Yuriko, and Ippei, either platonically or as a poly trio. Bonus points for a tale that includes a kaiju/alien from a later Ultra series, but that's super duper not a requirement.

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?:
It's a very episodic series, so most episodes can be watched in a vacuum. Personal favorites include Episode 4, "Mammoth Flower," Episode 5, "Peguila is Here!" Episode 11, "Balloonga," and Episode 17, "The 1/8 Project,"

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence):
Period-typical sexism sometimes, flashing lights in many episodes.

Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake - Alexis Hall

[(Anonymous)]

Title:Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake

Media: Book

Approx length:The book is a bit over 400 pages; the audiobook is about 11 1/2 hours.

What is it, in summary?:This is a contemporary romance with comedic elements. Bisexual single mum Rosaline goes on a baking competition reality show because she loves baking and the money would be a real help. Two of the competitors are attention-gettingly attractive, but which one will she end up with?

What do you love about it?:Rosaline struggles with questions of identity and values -- What is really important to her? Who should she be trying to please? There are fun and funny side characters and lots of yummy-sounding baked goods (and recipes in the back for three of them!). The book illuminates, unpacks, and subverts British class assumptions. And as a bisexual woman married to a man, I really appreciate that Rosaline is no less queer for being in a story with two ccompeting male love interests (and an ex-girlfriend she's really close to, which is serving some Sapphic realness right there).

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?:I would love to see Harry and Amelie (Rosaline's cute, precocious daughter) making some kind of surprise for Rosaline, maybe a birthday cake. Harry and Amelie's dynamic is delightful -- the way he takes her seriously and yet playfully. I'd also be delighted to get smut, maybe Rosaline pegging Harry.

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?:No.

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence):Rosaline experiences biphobia.

Stay? - E. Jade Lomax

[liyana]

Title: Stay? - E. Jade Lomax

Media: Interactive fiction

Approx length: The length is variable, depending on choices you make, but you can probably play through it in an afternoon

Where to find it: Available for free here

What is it, in summary?: Interactive fantasy adventure (with optional romance elements) set in a magical city called Elaia. Choose your major at magical university, choose your friends, and confront the choices your life throws at you. I can't say much more without massive spoilers, but if you're on the fence, play through to the end of the first chapter to get a real feel for what it's like. (You can play as a woman, a man, or as a nonbinary person, but this only affects your pronouns, not the plot.)

What do you love about it?: I've replayed this game many times, and it still makes me cry in the best way. I love all of the characters, I love the balance of lightness and darkness, confronting hard choices and tragedy while also eating delicious scones and spending time with your friends. It's a love letter to the big and small choices that make up a life, as well as the people you spend it with. It's a cozy slice of life story with major stakes.

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: I'm planning to request Worldbuilding--there are a lot of tantalizing bits of history and culture mentioned in the game with plenty of room for expansion--as well as missing scenes/prequel/sequel stories about Esteban, Myka, and Jo.

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: Not really, but it's a fairly short canon.

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): War, death, and apocalypse can play a role in the plot but descriptions of these elements are not graphic.

The Tucker Twins Series - Nell Speed

[evil_plotbunny]

Title: The Tucker Twins Series - Nell Speed

Media: Books

Approx length: 6 book series, about 300 pages each.

Where to find it:
The first 5 are available on either Gutenberg or archive.org
1. At Boarding School With the Tucker Twins
2. Vacation With the Tucker Twins
3. Back At School With the Tucker Twins
4. Tripping With the Tucker Twins
5. A House Party With the Tucker Twins
6. In New York With the Tucker Twins

What is it, in summary?: A series for girls, published between 1915-1924. Page Allison, whose mother died a few years back and who has been living at home taking care of her doctor father, is sent to boarding school where she meets the Tucker Twins, who are also motherless but also much more chaotic and their "very young" father. Hijinks ensue.

What do you love about it?: Level-headed Page being the responsible one of the group, the mirror it holds up to the time it was written. Page's romance, which is very evenly handled while also being strongly telegraphed from the beginning of the series. Page being so much more responsible than the twins or their father.

There are also ties to Nell Speed's other two series, but catching those is not required to enjoy the series. Oh, and the appearance in book 5 of "Lady John", a cross-dressing Black man, who is treated surprisingly respectfully for the time (though the representation did not age well).

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: In series hijinks. Page's wedding (she gets engaged at the end of the last book).

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: Book 6 is unavailable, but that shouldn't be necessary. If you haven't figured out who Page is marrying during the first 5 books, you haven't been paying attention. The 6th book ends with Page and the Twins getting engaged (not to each other).

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): Period typical racism, including a doting Mammy, happy but poor black people who speak in dialect, and the use of terms which were common in their era but distasteful today. The romance of the pre-Civil War South is occasionally laid on a little thickly. Page meets her future husband when she is 15 and he is an adult in his early 30s, though nothing happens until she's out of school.

Re: The Tucker Twins Series - Nell Speed

[(Anonymous)]

It looks to me like Book 6 is available (free) on FadedPage in various formats,if the missing book was putting anyone off.

Girl Scout Series - Margaret Vandercook

[evil_plotbunny]

Title: Girl Scouts Series - Margaret Vandercook

Media: Books

Approx length: 5 book series, about 250 pages each.

Where to find it:
Books 1-3 and 5 are available on either Gutenberg or archive.org
1. The Girl Scouts of the Eagles Wing
2. The Girl Scouts in Beechwood Forest
3. The Girl Scouts of the Round Table
4. The Girl Scouts in Mystery Valley
5. The Girl Scouts of the Open Road

What is it, in summary?: A series for girls, published between 1921-1923. We have the daughter of an artist, who's been sent to the US to become a real American girl named Tory, and an orphan called Kara (Katherine), and the text is going on and on as to how attractive they find each other (as pals!?!). Sadly, Kara is injured in a landslide and is sent to NY for treatment, which helps several b-plots along and Tory pals up with next door neighbor and fellow troop member, Dorothy, who has two brothers in the local boy scout troop and a doctor father. The Girl Scout troop is mostly backdrop to a variety of soapy and adventure plots, including, but not limited to: the mystery of Kara's origin, the local herb woman turned troop leader's failed romance with Tory's uncle, Tory's resentment of the stepmother she doesn't meet till midway through the series, one of Dorothy's brothers running away to NY to learn music instead of following in his father's footsteps, a wedding or two, two of the girls being stranded alone in a cabin for weeks, etc. There's a lot of plot crammed into these books and they don't end as neatly as I'd like.

What do you love about it?: The stories will go on mundanely for a while and then take a sudden left turn when you're not expecting it. Lots of delightful coincidences. It gets insanely femshippy at times and then the boys will show up and ruin the mood. Memory Frean, who gets to be this lovely woman living in a cabin by herself in the woods, with a failed romance and is neither bitter nor pining. It doesn't shy away from some of the social issues of the time. The characters are all complex individuals who don't always like the same people or things.

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Tory/Kara, Tory/Dorothy, Tory/Kara/Dorothy, resolution of any of the plots left hanging at the end of the series.

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: Book 4 is unavailable online, but because of the conventions of series books is well-summarized at the beginning of book 5.

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): Period typical racism of various types. Deadly peril of the sort one finds while camping in the woods and the author needs something thrilling to wake you up. Hunting for food. One girl is injured in book 2, another is ill for an extended period of time.