Waterman
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Listing Series
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The Abolitionist (Master and Servant #1) by Dusk Peterson (duskpeterson) for Maculategiraffe
Fandoms: Original Work, Slave Breakers - maculategiraffe
23 Dec 2019
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Summary
When a foul-mouthed, seditious foreigner turns up at your door, what are the benefits of letting him in?
So wonders Carr, a young man living in a bayside nation that is troubled by internal battles. In his world, servants fight against masters, tonging watermen fight against dredging watermen, and landsteads eye one another's oyster grounds with greed. It seems to Carr that the only way in which to keep such warfare from entering his own home is to keep very, very quiet about certain aspects of himself which his family would not be able to accept.
But "trouble" is a word that appears to delight the new visitor. He is ready to stir up danger . . . though he may not be as prepared as he thinks to confront what lies within Carr.
(Note: This is set in my Toughs universe, and nearly all the characters are my own. However, one of Maculategiraffe's characters has taken a stroll into that universe, with kind permission from Maculategiraffe.)
Series
- Part 1 of Waterman
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The True Master (Master and Servant #2) by Dusk Peterson (duskpeterson)
Fandoms: Original Work
12 Mar 2020
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Summary
"Ledwin growled, 'I trust the slave is dead. The last thing our landstead needs are perverts wandering about causing trouble.'"
In a society where the rank of master or slave defines every aspect of a person's being, what do you do when you're a master and you envy your slaves?
This question is debated by the men who have gathered for the quarterly meeting of the High Masters of the Dozen Landsteads. It seems an impossible dilemma; in the Dozen Landsteads, one's rank is determined at birth. A master or a slave who wishes to hold a different rank is considered shocking.
The masters sitting in that room, receiving the service of slaves, would be even more shocked if they realized how deeply this question will affect their nation's future. Only one man there could tell them, but he is not yet free to reveal his secret.
Series
- Part 2 of Waterman
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Summary
"Master Meredith, whose entitlement to a last name had not yet been determined by the courts, was sitting in a window-seat overlooking the playing fields of Narrows School when the Third House bullies found him."
He needs a guard.
In his final terms of school before his university years, Meredith is faced with a host of problems: A prefect who abuses his power. A games captain who is supposed to protect Meredith but has befriended the prefect. And a legal status that makes everyone in the school question whether Meredith belongs there, among the elite.
Unexpectedly, rescue arrives, in the shape of a fellow student who seems determined to right wrongs. There's only one problem. . . .
"Fair play" is the motto of the Third House, but that motto takes on a different meaning when Meredith is secretly wooed by a young man from a rival House.
Series
- Part 3 of Waterman
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Lost Haven: a master, his servant, and a disappearing island by Dusk Peterson (duskpeterson) for yingtai
Fandoms: Original Work
28 Dec 2013
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Summary
Amidst a servant's nightmare, can a haven of hope be found?
Meredith has brought his beloved master to the island where he spent the happiest days of his childhood. But when danger descends upon them, they must seek refuge, and Meredith must confront the tantalizing sorrows and rewards of change.
You can read this story without having read the rest of the series.
"Then he remembered (on the edge of his memory, like a smudge of land on the horizon of the Bay) the reason that he and his father had lived alone on an island where once hundreds of people had lived."
Series
- Part 4 of Waterman
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Summary
He was his master's piece: the model for his master's sculptures. But his master was different.
As Pip longs for the unobtainable, his master finds that he is beginning to have doubts about a long-standing custom in his nation. Yet how can he risk giving up what he values most?
Series
- Part 5 of Waterman
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Summary
"The panic was stronger, now that they had reached the wharf. It was his parents' mightiest rule: Never allow himself to be seen. If, by terrible chance, he met someone in the woods, he must run away immediately."
His entire life has been a secret. Now he must rip open the secret.
Hannibal S. Mercer has lived all his life in an isolated island home with his loving parents and two servants. Hannibal never receives the opportunity to meet anyone else. The older servant doesn't speak to Hannibal. The younger servant might or might not be an ally in time of trouble.
Now trouble has arrived. When hostile strangers invade Hannibal's world, he must uncover the truth his parents have been hiding from him. And then he must make a choice that will determine the course of his life.
Series
- Part 6 of Waterman
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"He came down the mountain one early summer afternoon, toward the end of what had not yet been dubbed the Hydrogen War. He was just in time to catch the climax of the war."
He knew he wasn't normal. Now he must save others who have been left behind.
For two years, since his parents left for the west coast of the continent, Phillip Schafer has lived in a mountain home, as far as he can get from society. But when the loss of his beloved companion forces him out of his refuge, he finds that the world is on the cusp of change. And he may be one of the few people left who is able to outrace that change.
Accompanied by two unusual allies, Phillip must escape from his nation before disaster strikes. But with no jet-car, he must somehow reach the skyport before the last rocket blasts off. . . .
Series
- Part 7 of Waterman
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Summary
"Ira had never beaten him, even though their pack-leader clearly found his constant suggestions to be annoying. That showed good sense."
Five boys. Five rainy days. Five opportunities for trouble.
This mini-cycle of five stories is written as part of the 50 Darkfics challenge and as a 2014 holiday gift for my readers.
Series
- Part 8 of The Eternal Dungeon
- Part 9 of Life Prison
- Part 4 of Michael's House
- Part 8 of Waterman
- Part 2 of The Eternal Dungeon, Volume 1: side stories to Rebirth
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"Having a servant-boy accompany them on this trip was annoying, Kit thought. But there was no way around it; Honey's parents would never have allowed Honey to visit Yclau without her young bodyguard."
Kit has reached her apprenticeship birthday and is on a path to inherit power. But what sort of power will she wield?
A journey from the First Landstead to the neighboring Queendom of Yclau seems an easy enough day-trip for two young women and a faithful young servant. Kit and Honey will simply catch a monorail to the queendom's capital and enjoy their first sight of a foreign nation.
But Yclau is not the First Landstead. It is a land of robots, memories of the Bomb, and a lingering fear of what might occur next.
Kit is determined to have her birthday the way she wanted. But she will need allies for her fight, and one of them is an ally she did not expect.
Series
- Part 9 of Waterman
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Summary
"This is the right place for you, boy. They'll school you here to be a right-standing man, one who can keep control over his actions, like any good man should. You just got to keep yourself open to learn and to grow."
How far can trust grow, when you're in a place you despise?
Arrested for a crime he doesn't regret, Bat ends up handcuffed to a group of fellow city boys and sent on a long journey into the countryside. He knows that he is being transported to a prison for delinquent servant boys, but what form will his imprisonment take?
Tattooed with the rank-mark of servant, Bat must learn how to keep from losing his temper with the men who carry the keys to his freedom. But in the unbelievable world where he has been deposited, in which a genial master orders strict punishments and a servant acts like a master, will Bat be able to locate the door to his release? Which of his fellow prisoners can he trust to help him?
And will he survive long enough to find out?
Inspired by true events at a turn-of-the-century reform school, this novella (short novel) is set in an alternative version of the Chesapeake Bay region during the 1910s.
Series
- Part 10 of Waterman
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Tripp has two friends in high school: a rebel without a cause, and a girl fighting the social restraints upon her. But only one human being has any real hope of understanding Tripp, and he isn't human at all.
"Tripp leaned back against the leather. Leather reminded him of Jack, roughly masculine. That wasn't quite Tripp either. 'Al, what material are you?' he asked finally, closing his eyes.
"There was a pause before Al said, 'Ferrite, mainly.'"
Warning: The story tags include major spoilers. If you want to skip the tags, the important information is that this story is original slash (with original gen and original het subplots), set in an alternate-universe, retrofuturistic 1960s.
Series
- Part 11 of Waterman
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"When she was hired as a maid, no one told her that she'd hold the future of the Dozen Landsteads in her bosom."
It's sweeping day again, and her task seems straightforward: clean the dirt in her master's study and leave.
But Sally's master is no ordinary master, and Sally's sweeping could be the trigger for war. Finding herself in a dangerous trap, Sally must draw upon the wisdom of her allies in the servants' kitchen before disaster strikes.
Series
- Part 12 of Waterman
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"Depositing money in the bank was always the worst problem."
Series
- Part 13 of Waterman
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"Perhaps, when they spoke next, the other young man could tell Simmons of any masters here who were in need of an apprentice who was perilously close to the age of journeymanship."
Simmons has been waiting all his life for the day when he would come of age and pledge his service to a liege-master. But at the last minute, all his plans go awry; he is left in the awful position of having to find a liege-master quickly. Desperation may force Simmons to pick the worst of liege-masters.
Working at his uncle's waterfront store on a bay island, Simmons seeks a way out of his dilemma. Then another young man walks through the door, one whose problems may be even worse than Simmons's. . . .
Series
- Part 14 of Waterman
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"What wonders would he see in Yclau? Robots? Holovisions? Visiphones? Microwave ovens?"
Bat is in trouble. Again.
The only way out of the trap this time is to take a leap into the future, into a world of wonders that his mind can scarcely grasp.
But trouble awaits Bat at the border to his refuge. How he handles that trouble will determine his own future . . . and the future of what he is leaving behind.
Series
- Part 15 of Waterman
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"Trafford came first. Trafford was always going to come first, Davenham quickly gathered when he announced his intention to take a liegeman."
Studying at boarding school is hard enough. Balancing the needs of your liege-master and liegeman is impossible.
As Davenham struggles to be both loyal and protective, he finds that he must consult the most despised student at school. But what use is it to seek advice on duties from a boy who seems incapable of mastering his own duties?
Series
- Part 16 of Waterman
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"On the other side of the postcard was a message from his liegeman: 'My research goes well here, sir. If I may be of further service, please let me know.' Nothing more. Nothing about him missing Pembroke. Nothing about him wishing Pembroke was there."
Bereft of his liegeman, Pembroke is forced to cut short his education in order to serve his liege-master at the Third Landstead University. War upon the waters seems imminent in their bayside landstead. But Master Rudd, who will soon rule over their landstead, is interested in nothing but food, games, and his most recent passion, women.
With his own bed now cold, Pembroke must decide how far his loyalty extends to his liege-master. The answer may lie in long-remembered tales from Pembroke's boyhood.
Series
- Part 17 of Waterman