The Indomitable Captain Holli
Novella 23,530 words Recommended by 3 award/anthology sources
"Holli was hanging upside down off the edge of her flimsy folding bed, watching goretoons in her goggles, when Puck the Pirate showed up again. Ahoy, Holli! Guess what? His red-cheeked puppet face swelled, blocking out the show, which annoyed Holli until his next words. Today’s the Big Day!"
Content warnings 2
deathviolence
Quasar links out; the story lives on Clarkesworld, where the author gets the click.