Fic of the week: Dec 17th!
Here we go with round 2! And @devoverest didn’t just pick a great story but also typed up this week’s info-post. (Which I’m extra thankful for. ;) )
We're beginning the Talking Stick/Circle series, a "braided novel" of stories written in turn by Macedon and Peg Robinson.
Inspired first by Macedon's desire for credible representation of Chakotay as an actual Native person, "Talking Stick" is a Chakotay and Tuvok friendship tale premised on the emergence of a story-telling circle on Voyager early in the series. "Circle," by Peg Robinson, is Captain Janeway's response to the story circle, and by extension to Chakotay, told from her point of view. We learn more about how she sees her captaincy and there's a wonderful scene with her and Tom Paris doing some truth-telling in Sandrine's. The third story, "A Cherished Alienation," by Macedon, goes further into Chakotay's Native spirituality, and is about what happens when Janeway finally visits the story circle herself.
These three stories together open the door to what the series ultimately becomes -- an epic saga that deals seriously with the Starfleet/Maquis conflict and what it takes to build a real community from that starting point. If you can dig in and take on the full nearly 350K-word-long series, all 8 stories/novellas, you will experience an early-seasons alternate-reality Voyager that will bring new life and depth to established characters and show you what Voyager might have been in different hands. And, I must add, you will eventually get some J/C shipping to die for. These three stories together add up to about 27K words, which may be more than many readers can get through in a week, so please just do what you can. we'll keep the discussion questions open-ended on Sunday so everyone can have something to say. Spoilers from the first three stories shouldn't ruin them for anyone.
Here are the links:
The complete Talking Stick/Circle series on AO3
1. “Talking Stick” by Little Otter (Macedon)
2. "Circle" by Peg
3. "A Cherished Alienation" by Little Otter (Macedon)
