Yuletide Reveal!
Jan. 1st, 2009 05:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dreamflowerAt last I can reveal my ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
yuletide story!
It was Polly Pepper's New Friends, written for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
elanne, and beta'd by our own dear febobe!
Now, I do know there are probably about two or three other people on my flist who are familiar with the dear little Peppers, but they were a childhood favorite of mine--I first found them in fifth grade, in the library at my new school--all but two of the entire series, and I devoured them voraciously. I later was lucky enough to pick up four of them at a yard sale, and so have been able to revisit the world of the Peppers.
What you have to understand is that the series was first begun in the 1880s, with all which that implies. The stories are full of little moralisms, and Polly is very much a Mary Sue! *Everyone* loves Polly! Yet there's also a charm about them--in the first book Polly, her widowed mother, her three brothers and her little sister Phronsie (who is probably the *Fluffiest* child in literary history!) are struggling to live from day to day.
More about them behind the cut, though there are spoilers for the books:
By the time the first book ends, they have been rescued by a wealthyfairy godfather old man, and are living in the lap of luxury, though it seems not to spoil any of them a bit. My story picks up after the first book, and before the second book of the series.
There is a cool website about the Peppers:
Flying Dreams: The Five Little Peppers Webpage Fortunately for me, my recipient linked to it in her "Dear Santa" letter!
If you'd like to read some of the original stories by Margaret Sidney, that page links to several of the series that are available online at Project Gutenberg.
The coolest thing about this, is, I think I want to write *more* Pepper-fic! I already have several bunnies nibbling at my ankles!
yuletide story!It was Polly Pepper's New Friends, written for
elanne, and beta'd by our own dear febobe!Now, I do know there are probably about two or three other people on my flist who are familiar with the dear little Peppers, but they were a childhood favorite of mine--I first found them in fifth grade, in the library at my new school--all but two of the entire series, and I devoured them voraciously. I later was lucky enough to pick up four of them at a yard sale, and so have been able to revisit the world of the Peppers.
What you have to understand is that the series was first begun in the 1880s, with all which that implies. The stories are full of little moralisms, and Polly is very much a Mary Sue! *Everyone* loves Polly! Yet there's also a charm about them--in the first book Polly, her widowed mother, her three brothers and her little sister Phronsie (who is probably the *Fluffiest* child in literary history!) are struggling to live from day to day.
More about them behind the cut, though there are spoilers for the books:
By the time the first book ends, they have been rescued by a wealthy
There is a cool website about the Peppers:
Flying Dreams: The Five Little Peppers Webpage Fortunately for me, my recipient linked to it in her "Dear Santa" letter!
If you'd like to read some of the original stories by Margaret Sidney, that page links to several of the series that are available online at Project Gutenberg.
The coolest thing about this, is, I think I want to write *more* Pepper-fic! I already have several bunnies nibbling at my ankles!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-01-02 01:35 am (UTC)'Twas such an honour and a pleasure, sweetheart!!!! :D I was pleased and proud and thrilled to do it!!!! Thanks for the credit!!!! :D
*snugglebunnies and applauds you*
Such a charming ficcie it turned out, too. :D So sweet and true to the Peppers. . . . :D
no subject
Date: 2009-01-02 03:22 am (UTC)I'm so glad you helped me with it! Thank you again!
no subject
Date: 2009-01-02 02:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-02 03:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-02 04:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-02 02:54 pm (UTC)I'm not sure what makes the Peppers so charming--they certainly don't have the depth, for example, of the characters Little Women, and Polly is neither as intelligent nor as enterprising as Jo. Though Polly does have her own brand of spunk. She really is a Mary Sue in a lot of ways: everyone loves her, and all she has to do to bring her brothers or friends into line is to give them a disapproving look!
But there is a wealth of love and sincerity in the stories, and they have a kind of gentleness to them--considering the prevailing opinions of their times, the attitudes towards the "less fortunate" is more enlightened than you'd expect, though still somewhat jarring to modern sensibilities.
no subject
Date: 2009-01-02 04:59 am (UTC)The only Little Peppers book I've read is the first, "The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew" -- and I've always wanted to read more.
I loved the Five Little Peppers, as well as the Bobbsey Twins. What fun families and little snatches of late-nineteenth-century home life.
Congratulations on your story (which I'll go read) -- and thank you for the links!
*hugs and happy reading*
no subject
Date: 2009-01-02 05:38 am (UTC)What a fun read! Thanks so much for sharing it! You've certainly done the Little Brown House proud!
*double hugs and brownies for you and Febobe*
no subject
Date: 2009-01-02 03:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-02 08:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-02 03:14 pm (UTC)