brownbetty: (Default)
brownbetty ([personal profile] brownbetty) wrote in [community profile] halfamoon2010-02-09 01:02 am

The shocking lack of pirate queens in your life

I'd like to recommend a Yuletide story, but it is in a fandom so obscure I am first going to recommend the canon: Polly and the Pirates, by Ted Naifeh.

You are going to say, "Betty, do you mean I need to go out and buy a graphic novel in order to enjoy this Yuletide story?"

No! You should go out and buy SIX of this graphic novel; one to read, one to keep in mylar, and four to give out to younger relations who might otherwise damage their minds by reading inferior grade comics.



Polly Pringle boards at Mistress Lovejoy's Preparatory School for Young Ladies in St. Helvetia, an American city that never existed.



Already you can see why this story is amazing.

Polly is a quiet, somewhat romantic girl.


And she's a bit hung up about her mother. Polly would seem a poor candidate to become mixed up with pirates, and yet.



These pirates tell her she is, in fact, the daughter of legendary pirate Meg Malloy.



Polly, naturally, takes this claim seriously.



And yet, for all her primness, Polly proves remarkably adept. As the story progresses, Polly is pulled in two directions, between her desire to be the perfect lady she believes her mother was, and the more frightening desire to find out who her mother actually was.



Polly's story is fabulous, filled with swashbuckling, moral dilemmas, and silly accents, but I actually wish to recommend a Yuletide story.

At the end of Polly's story, we meet her father, Ambassador Archibald Pringle.



(Sadly, you cannot tell in this frame, but he has just descended from a hot air balloon which is apparently his customary mode of transport.)

One of the things I love about Polly and the Pirates is that there are plenty of stories about women who have fraught relationships with their mothers, but we seem to lack stories about women who have to live with the fact that their mother was legendary.

Finally, my story rec:

Now, how did Ambassador Archibald Pringle meet and have a child with Queen of Pirates, Meg Malloy?

The Prize, by Fiercleydreamed answers this question, and more. All the swashbuckling, Pirate Queens, romance, hot air balloons, and balcony climbing one could desire. Meg Malloy, and how she made her mark on the world, and on Archie Pringle.

[identity profile] coyotesuspect.livejournal.com 2010-02-09 08:13 am (UTC)(link)
I read the fic despite not knowing the canon (because pirate queens!!!!) and it was wonderful. So thank you for that!

And now I shall I see if I can acquire the graphic novel...

[identity profile] jinian.livejournal.com 2010-02-09 08:15 am (UTC)(link)
I love Polly and the Pirates, and I now love this story. Thanks for the rec!
used_songs: (Default)

[personal profile] used_songs 2010-02-09 11:27 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks for this rec! And I'll be getting a copy of the graphic novel for me and one for my niece.

[identity profile] scintilla10.livejournal.com 2010-02-09 06:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, how delightful is this? Now I must track it down, thank you! :)

[identity profile] odditycollector.livejournal.com 2010-02-09 08:53 pm (UTC)(link)
<3

[identity profile] eralkfang.livejournal.com 2010-02-11 02:32 am (UTC)(link)
I have to read this. Now. Thank you so much for this.

[identity profile] maidmarian158.livejournal.com 2010-02-17 01:37 am (UTC)(link)
*adds to Amazon wishlist*

And now off to read this fic!

[identity profile] maidmarian158.livejournal.com 2010-02-17 02:55 am (UTC)(link)
Also, *friends you*

[identity profile] wabbitseason.livejournal.com 2010-04-04 11:13 pm (UTC)(link)
This is delightful.

Thankfully more is coming early 2011. CBR has a preview (http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=25565) of the second volume.