Since Mother Eve in the Garden long ago

Oh, had a couple of fics to share:

Parched, a Mary-centric fic.

The sun comes in at an angle on the letter like a knife, highlighting the words “fond regards.” Fond. Regards. It makes Mary so angry that she could just ball her hands up into fists, shut her eyes, and scream at the top of her lungs. It’s a wave that goes through her and then subsides, washing out to leave her empty and trembling.

After Stede leaves home in the middle of the night, Mary grows and changes.

Also Pretty and Witty and Gay (in the same genderbend continuity as Sweet Damsel although set earlier).

When Ed had asked, “Do you want to do something weird?” she really hadn’t been thinking about anything but getting her hands on Stede’s fantastic wardrobe.

Things do not go as planned. (Because oops, she's hot.)

The latter is clothing porn ... I'll often try to be comprehensible in the text when I talk about clothes and then maybe put more info in the endnote so that people understand what I'm getting at, but in this one I just went off pretending to assume that readers will understand what I'm describing and didn't bother to annotate, and it was really fun. Yep, stays with a stomacher, we've all seen them and know how they work.

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I bought a bunch of bras online - on sale! - and several of them have straps that are just too long for me. Trying to decide if it's worth it to actually alter them or not ... I think it may be worth it because the amount of time it takes me to get myself together to buy things I need is horrible, plus it's always a crapshoot as to whether the straps will fit or not.

I also bought new Clairs from AD because the heel totally wore out on one of mine and was really dangerously bad on the other, and the new ones came with extra heel soles ... which made me go, oh, should/could I just write to Lauren and see if I could get a replacement heel for the ones I have? But then I can feel on the inside of the old ones that they're kind of chewed up in the toe (probably my large big toes' fault) and so is it really worth it to return these, patch the old ones up, and then have to order them again? Should I keep these in waiting and use the new replacement heels on the old ones? This is too much thinking!!! (I also ordered a pair of the Paris boots in black because I think they're awfully cute ... the heels have a small footprint which isn't great, but they're low, which is, so I think I should be able to walk well in them.)

Found this today and I wish there were more of it: Pennsic Pals, a social media AU of OFMD where they are SCAdians. We've crossed the streams of my interests perfectly.

Me a month ago: I think I'm done with historical sewing, it just doesn't do it for me anymore and I can't maintain the stamina to finish a whole outfit.

Me now: I'M GONNA SEW A HISTORICALLY ACCURATE WOMAN'S OUTFIT BASED ON STEDE'S TURQUOISE SUIT!

Shift - I started making a new shift at some point in the last seven-five years I guess? It's all put together but needs some felling, hemming, cuffs, and the neckline cut out. Perfect. The sleeves are a bit tight because my arms have gotten a bit fatter, which isn't great, and I'm pretty sure they're really 1770s-1780s sleeves, but I don't much feel like altering them, so they'll have to do. (THE COMPROMISES BEGIN.)

Stays - Why do we basically only have turn of the century court bodice stays and then 1740s-on proper underwear stays for patterns? I'm torn between the stomacher stays in C&C and the front-lacing 1740s(?) stays in PoF5, but honestly the problem with both is that I'd really like to make them out of a green brocade and go stomacherless because that's one of the things I find really cool about early 18th century dress. Because of that I'd really love to do these at the MFAB, but they seem sooo much more complicated, especially with the rounded point. Lots of layers. But I'm psyched to try out some of this new research about shaping and paper and whatnot, and the curved lines scaling-up thing.

Gown - XIV in Waugh, I think? Same problem, so much court dress pre-1740s, but in all honesty XIV looks earlier than it's dated to me, at least by Waugh's cartoon. Turquoise (poly) satin with gold braid trim.

Shoes - My Fugawees with pretty white ribbon! I haven't worn them in so long. Not that I know where I will wear all of this but I will come up with something.

Finished up and posted the latest chapter in my WIP - I actually had a number of other plot points that were meant to happen, but it was getting long (for me) and I decided to just cut and print what's there, and start a new chapter with a new POV for the other plot points.

I was contemplating starting a social media AU of my own the other day, but that kind of multimedia storytelling is so different from text-only writing that it's all a bit daunting. The premise would be that Stede becomes the director/curator of a very small historic house museum (with a very absent board) (or maybe it should be a state historic site so there is no board) and wants to follow the Anarchist's Guide principles of changing the way things are done. Ed runs a dangerous dive bar in town. They run into each other because Stede is trying to find unorthodox partnerships for the museum ... (It took me a LONG time to figure out how I could make a museum-centric setting work for an OFMD AU.)

On the other hand, I also had the idea of a Prohibition/speakeasy AU. Definitely less massaging to figure out: Ed is a crimelord and Stede decides to open his own speakeasy, which is of course ridiculously fancy and the alcohol is basically an afterthought. The Badmintons are Volstead Act enforcers. *vague gestures*

I could try both! What's the harm in possibly getting bored of a WIP, for real.

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I'm trying to break my habit of chewing on the inside of my cheeks and my lips, and it was going well for a few days but I fell off the wagon. :( It's so harrrrrrrd. TBH, it's picking my fingers I should probably prioritize, but mouth things felt easier. All of these habits are technically probably stims, though, so I really need to find something to replace them with to succeed, I'll bet.

Was typesetting last night! It feels good to get back into it. The fic I was working on is COLDBLOODED, a kind of fusion of OFMD with Fleabag's style and fourth wall-breaking, written as a screenplay. I put it all in Courier New and then adjusted the formatting so that it meets screenplay conventions. Fun!

Personal writings to share: as promised, He That Plays The King, my H/C Exchange fic. Original m/m, rated M largely for the one sex scene; I am terrible at summarizing my own writing because I never know what's most important (and to be fair, that varies by reader), but basically it's the story of a young king (Edward) who has been dethroned and imprisoned until he's brought out to marry the man who's now king (Athelstan) at the behest of his (Athelstan's) villainous, manipulative uncle. The story is largely from Edward's POV and deals with him overcoming the obstacles between him and Athelstan, largely emotional ones like "stole my throne" and "can't trust him", as well as the fact that the villainous uncle persists in victimizing him. But also, there is my ongoing OFMD hurt/comfort WIP, Prisons of Our Own Perceptions, an AU based on the premise that a different pirate rescued the Revenge from the Spanish at the end of 1x03 (it's Izzy's fault), one more inclined to take advantage of the situation. It's ... if you read it and HTPTK, you will definitely come away with a strong impression of the shape of my id, I can't lie. I think I'm coloring in some of the same lines because I had to sit on HTPTK for so long (reveals were pushed back three weeks to get more pinch hits in) and so my brain wasn't finished with it yet.

I actually just found out today that there's a Patterns of Fashion 6 from checking in on my flist, and I have odd feelings about it. There's something about the fact that I didn't know because I've checked so far out of historical costuming, and that I don't even really feel the need to get it; there's also the memory of Batsford telling me in 2014 that they didn't want to publish the book I'd already written because they didn't think there was the demand for a book of 18th century patterns, but it's like, even if they had published it, it probably wouldn't have been at all successful because what makes these new PoF books is a) the title and b) the fact that the people putting them together really know what they're doing! The entire structure of my adult life has led to me not being part of an elite academic historical fashion team, it's just how it is and there's no real way I could be involved with them unless something had gone very differently like 15 years ago for me. I don't know what my point here is, I guess that it's an odd feeling to realize that something that once was EVERYTHING to me is now something I'm ambivalent about (lately I've been considering shutting down my Etsy shop because I am legitimately bad at grading patterns, and/or maybe just publishing the 1/8 scale originals Janet Arnold-style because I don't really care as much as I used to about people using them).

Things I need to do: make a list of remaining illustrations for D&D

Things I am doing: writing a one-shot exploring-without-naming Stede's queerness and probable autism pre-canon

and I'm supposed to just go back to my desk and work? Like it's a normal day??

I really am, I just think about it all the time. It's a fantastic thing to think about because it's so wonderful.

I realized that I've just kinda launched into talking about how it's the best thing ever but didn't really tell you all what it is and why you should watch it, so I'll write a little promo bit.

Our Flag Means Death is a ten-episode HBO sitcom starring Rhys Darby and the considerably more famous Taika Waititi as, respectively, Stede Bonnet and Blackbeard (Edward Teach, Ed). Ed is also the considerably more famous historical figure, but Stede Bonnet was a real rich guy who ran away from his home and family in Barbados to become a pirate. The show largely follows Stede's perspective, only showing glimpses of Blackbeard in the first few episodes as Stede hears stories about him and he hears rumors about Stede until they meet at the very end of episode 3. Ep 4 opens with Ed sitting quietly on the edge of Stede's bed, watching over him as he sleeps, and quite frankly things only get more tender and intimate from there - five minutes later they trade clothes and go do a bit that confuses everyone around them. The cast is also filled out with Stede's delightful and diverse crew, and Ed's first mate, the extremely cantankerous Izzy Hands. Please go check out my OFMD tag for captivating gifsets, meta, and fanart.

And now I will cut to preserve your flist, a courtesy those who follow me on Tumblr cannot and do not receive. ( but Erin rb's from me sometimes so I think you don't hate it? )

ANYWAY. I have to go write my daily whump and domestic fluff pieces!

Watched Our Flag Means Death a second time. The thing that keeps standing out to me is that basically up until they kiss, it is completely believable that they wouldn't, because that kind of queer subtext leading up to "we are such good friends" is so common ... I am really resistant to labeling stuff "queerbaiting" because it's more reasonable to me to expect that that's what will happen, it always seems somewhat delusional to me think that some network show or major studio movie is going to suddenly have two leads or even supporting characters of the same gender be romantically involved. (One of the few exceptions is Good Omens, where I was genuinely disappointed that they amped up the explicitness of A/C but cheated at the end with no outright declaration.) But at the same time, while I believe the motives are different - they're not trying to build up a slash fandom, they don't care about the intricacies of fandom beyond people liking a franchise = more money - they do deliberately take the "language" of romance and use it to develop supposedly platonic character relationships and I'm just so tired of it.

Anyway, studio meddling could have easily been like "take out the kiss" and left it all ambiguous and subtextual. And I'm so glad they didn't. (Taika would never have allowed it.)

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I've come to the end of my rough draft of my still-untitled H/C Exchange fic! Now I'm going back through to fill in the [write more here] bits - there are only a couple left; I also made a few notes for myself about concepts and characters that need to get introduced earlier or need to be thought about more on the page.

The [write more here] thing really works! I've always been resistant to it because I worry that if I skip things, a) I won't introduce stuff when it needs to be introduced and b) I won't be interested in coming back to fill it in. But what I'm finding is that once I've gone through everything I really want to write, my brain lets me write these transitions etc. It might mostly work because I only do it for short jumps - I don't know if I could competently write really disparate scenes and stitch them together. (A) is still potentially an issue but that happens with normal writing anyway.)

The one problem I do have with it is that I'm kind of good at writing scene openers, and I tend to write openers for whatever picks up after the [write more here] and you don't really want that a lot of the time if you intended for an actual transition rather than one scene ending and another beginning. So I sometimes have to scrap the initial sentence.