She Who Staples

Grant someone's wish from Challenge #5.

I answered a couple of requests for recommendations, and am copying my answers here for reference.

1. for someone who wanted to hear from people forty and up about shopping for clothes:

I hit forty last year, and what I've done is to keep on experimenting until I find something that works - whether that's a shape, a colour, a manufacturer - and then keep on experimenting with that. What that looks like depends very much on circumstances - at the moment I have quite a lot of unscheduled time and my small town has a lot of charity shops, so I'm mostly buying things second-hand and donating them back if they don't end up working. But when I was working full-time I did a lot more internet shopping. (Svaha and Joanie were what worked for me then, for what it's worth.)

I had a most illuminating conversation recently with a group of friends, most of whom like Seasalt. I said that Seasalt ought to work for me but never quite does, but that Fat Face is pretty reliable. Interestingly, most of the Seasalt fans said that Fat Face never quite works for them. I take from this the lesson that even makes that appear very similar at first glance will be more or less suited to different groups of people, so it's worth keeping on looking.

I also like the Who Wears Who blog for thoughtful prompts on style and experimentation with same.


2. replying to someone who wanted to talk about femslash

Femslash! Here are three of my favourite books with canon femslash ships:

- my oldest - The Count of Monte Cristo, a rambling but enjoyable French doorstopper tale of revenge, appeared from 1844 to 1846 and has canon femslash. And no bury your gays! (Obvious warning: it is, of course, very much Of Its Time.)
- my newest - I've just finished The Priory of the Orange Tree. Will it be one of my favourites of all time? Probably not, but it was a lot of fun - an ambitious fantasy novel that attempts to put a valiant number of belief systems and all the dragon lore on the page. And yes, canon femslash.
- the one that feels like it was written just for me - the Alpennia series by Heather Rose Jones. It includes many of my favourite tropes (fictional European country, swashbuckling, complicated power dynamics) and weaves religious practice into the way the magic works in a way that I've rarely seen done so effectively. And, for a third time, canon femslash.

Post the results of your fandom scavenger hunt.

Some of these are more fannish than others, and one is somewhat NSFW.

( Read more... )

I have had a busy couple of months, and failed to sign up for Little Black Dress entirely. I have picked up a pinch hit for that, however, and I did manage to participate in both Jukebox and, for the first time, Into A Bar.

I was extremely pleased to be assigned Trenuleţul - this was Moldova's song in the Eurovision Song Contest. (I missed Eurovision on account of being busy on my own European train adventures; we were in Freiburg on the finals night.) My story is based on the music video, and probably doesn't make a huge amount of sense without it. Anyway, this isn't the first time I've included arguably unnecessary detail on European train services in a Jukebox story, and it may or may not be the last, but I had a better excuse than usual and a great deal of fun. I would have liked to have had time to write more, but it seems to have been quite well-received.

What an exchange! (2101 words) by El Staplador
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Trenuleţul - Zdob şi Zdub & Fraţii Advahov (Music Video)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Train passengers - Character
Additional Tags: Trains, caper, Travel, Magical Realism
Summary:

Of course this train is special. But then every train is special.

Then fate had me on a train to Brighton when reveals happened, and my gift was this most gorgeously melancholic timeslip/ghost story:

Each life has its place (1935 words) by hangingfire
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Seaside Rendez-Vous - Queen (Song), Original Work
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Female Character
Characters: Original Female Character(s)
Additional Tags: Supernatural Elements, Queer Themes, Queer Character, Historical References, 20th Century
Summary:

Seaside discoveries—a ghost story or perhaps a slippage in time, and oneself.

This year I took part in intoabar for the first time. In this challenge you pick a character, nominate four other fandoms, are assigned a random character from one of those fandoms, and write a crossover based on what happens when they meet in a bar (or bar-like environment). My character was Eugénie Danglars from The Count of Monte Cristo and I was assigned Lady Capulet from Romeo and Juliet. The result was this:

Immortal Gifts (1563 words) by El Staplador
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Le Comte de Monte-Cristo | Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas, Romeo And Juliet - Shakespeare
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Eugénie Danglars & Lady Capulet
Characters: Eugénie Danglars, Lady Capulet (Romeo and Juliet)
Additional Tags: Crossover, Community: intoabar, Gothic, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Post-Canon
Summary:

The city of Verona is glad to welcome the great prima donna - and for her, a meeting with a stranger raises some old ghosts.

(Eugénie Danglars goes into a bar and meets... Lady Capulet!)

Thank you for writing or creating art for me! I'm very open to whatever you might be interested in creating for me. I've given some specific prompts below, and you can find some information on my general likes and dislikes here.


Doctor Who (1963)

Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart/Liz Shaw - They wouldn't. Or would they? Maybe tidily, after Liz leaves UNIT. Maybe messily, before. Either way, I really enjoy the chemistry between these two, and the tensions between them too.

I'd be very happy to see the Doctor, or any of the rest of UNIT!


Isobel Watkins/Liz Shaw - I love Isobel the artist cheerfully hanging around with all the scientists who show up, and it seems plausible that she might meet Liz through her uncle. What would they make of each other? On the one hand, they'd have a lot in common: they're both independent women with careers. On the other, it's the old art vs science debate, isn't it?

Show me a moment, an evening, or a lifetime, as you feel inclined, and throw in an alien menace or six if you think it could fit.


Sarah Jane Smith/Harry Sullivan - I think maybe there could have been more between these two than we saw in the series. I love how independent and inquisitive Sarah is, and how Harry doesn't quite manage to keep up with her. How might a relationship between the two of them work - in the TARDIS, in Aberdeen, anywhere? Giant clams optional.

Zoe Heriot/Isobel Watkins - Miniskirts and mindwipes, triumph and tragedy. Fix it (Isobel knows a lot of scientists: perhaps eventually she'll persuade one to invent time travel and restore Zoe's memories) or don't, make it the defining moment of Isobel's life or a minor footnote to the swinging sixties, whatever. Whatever their relationship is or could be, we get very little in The Invasion. I'd like more.


Doctor Who (2005)

Ashildr | Lady Me/Clara Oswin Oswald - The ending that these two got delighted me. I'd love to see some of their continuing adventures, whether those span the universe or are restricted to the confines of a diner-shaped time-and-space vehicle... Make this as serious or as light-hearted as you like - they've both got plenty of issues to work through, but at the same time they've got the whole universe to have fun with.

Eleventh Doctor & Amy Pond & Rory Williams & River Song - I loved the twisty turny timey wimey double trouble of the Ponds' storyline - and I loved the atmosphere in the TARDIS when they were all around. I'd like to see more of that. For this one, I'd prefer something light-hearted rather than angsty, but I'm happy to pass through angsty dimensions on the way, IYSWIM.

Grace O'Brien/Graham O'Brien - I loved Grace, and I'm really sorry that we don't get more of her. Graham's grief is portrayed really sensitively in the series. Show me something from their relationship before canon (we know that Grace told Graham about the Montgomery bus boycott - what about the Bristol one?) or fix it as you see fit.

Jenny Flint/Madame Vastra - I love these two. How many Victorian sensibilities can one outrage in 'I'm a lizard woman from the dawn of time... and this is my wife'? At least five, I should think. Case fic is great; so is domesticity; so is General Sarah Watersesque Victoriana. Presence or absence of the Doctor, anyone else from canon, or historical personages are all fine. Keep them in London or take them to Scarborough or Glasgow or Monte Carlo or outer space or anywhere else you fancy.

Specific DNW: Jenny's accent written out phonetically, particularly if she's the narrator or the point of view character.


Thirteenth Doctor/River Song - the Thirteenth Doctor and her wife, who is a convict/archaeologist/thief. I'd love to see them together, whether getting into tight spots and out again, going on a centuries-long date, or anything else.

Thirteenth Doctor & Yasmin Khan & Graham O'Brien & Ryan Sinclair - another delightful TARDIS combination! Let's see more of them, on the TARDIS, in Sheffield, on some unknown planet on the end of the arm of some distant galaxy, wherever! Again, I'd be happy with anything from a TARDIS tea party (complete with custard creams) to a full-scale battle for the universe. I'm up to date with canon at time of writing (and how very interesting it's shaping up to be!)


Original Work

Ageing Male Operetta Singer/Recently Widowed Young Duke - Oh, look, this is an operetta plot in itself! So maybe it needs a waltz scene, or some military costumes with far too much gold braid, or class-related misunderstandings, or maybe some well-meaning friends who try to sort things out. Happy ending or wistful and bittersweet, whatever.

All-Girls Boarding School Runaway/Schoolmate Who Goes Away with Her - I'm an on-and-off school story fan, and this premise seems to have potential. What motivates the runaway? Is she the victim of bullying, or trying to win a bet? Something else? What about the one who follows her? Were they friends before? Or is she a prefect or dorm monitor or someone else worried about the dormitory's/house's/school's reputation? Do they get caught and brought back to school? Expelled? Do they just keep on running, and, if so, what do they do next?

Closeted Gay Athlete/Out Gay Athlete - I'm always interested in the dynamics of a relationship where one or both partners has a demanding career that puts them in the public eye. Show me how this one works out! Are they on the same team, or are they rivals? Or do they practise different sports altogether? I'm happy with either m/m or f/f here. In terms of sports: the ones I follow are road and track cycling, Formula 1, figure skating and biathlon - but I'm very happy to read about something I know nothing about!

Female Failed Chosen One/Female New Chosen One - This is an intriguing concept. Chosen for what? Why did one of them fail? And will the other one succeed? Maybe it's a situation where the whole concept of 'chosen one' is a red herring and anybody (or nobody) could potentially have done whatever needs doing. Does the failed chosen one resent the new one, or is she happy to have got out of the challenge in one piece?

Female Pilot/Female Enemy Pilot - This could all end horribly, couldn't it? I am OK with this possibility! I am also OK with a more optimistic ending. What's the war? Are these women fighting for principle or practicality? How do they encounter each other? What happens when they do?

Female Prime Minister/Female Prime Minister of Another Country - Politics. Loads of it. What are the relations between the two countries, and what are the relations between their prime ministers? Are they both career politicians? What are their backgrounds like? How on earth does one go about having a liaison/relationship/anything with one's counterpart? Do the press find out, and, if so, what happens?

Female Suitor Sent As An Insult To Ruling Monarchs/Princess Uninterested In Male Suitors - Well, this could be fun: massive potential for hurt feelings on all sides, unhelpful reactions from secondary characters, a happy ending, an unhappy ending, very complicated politics. I could see it working in a real-world setting (perhaps a Tudor AU?) but I'd be equally happy with a speculative setting.

Femme Fatale/Female Private Eye (Original Work) - 'I knew she was trouble'. And then what? Presumably everybody's got something to hide. What might those things be? I enjoy the atmosphere, the twisty plots, and the dark, ambiguous morality of the noir genre. Please feel free to get as dark and ambiguous as you like with this!

Governess in Gothic Mansion/Female Ghost - This has delightfully creepy possibilities. What is the origin of the ghost, and what is it that makes her interested in the governess? Maybe it's one unending nightmare for the governess - or maybe it's the one thing that makes her job bearable. If you wanted to introduce other characters (a bored mother? a curious debutante? other ghosts?) I'd be fine with that, too.

Queen/Her Lookalike Who's Meant To Be Impersonating Her - I could see this going at least two different ways. Is the lookalike impersonating the queen for her protection, or to her detriment? How is this working out? Presumably there's some sort of plot going on somewhere. I would be very interested to read about this. But I would be equally interested in the 'you look just like me and yet/also are extremely attractive' aspect.


The Comfortable Courtesan

Lady J-/Miss A- - I adore these two and the gradual progression of their love affair from its rocky beginnings to its ultimate stable ménage, and I'd be happy with anything within that. A backstage visit? Miss M- causing trouble? Something around the time of Lady J-'s miscarriage? (I love the bit when Miss A- goes to visit her in drag.) A visit to Hampshire, or even to the Admiral's ship? An older and wiser Miss A- dealing with a younger actress' inconvenient passion for her? Mention, or indeed presence, of Miss M- or the Admiral, is fine.

Lady Emily M-/Lalage Fenster - I was delighted to see this pair reappear in the current series, and amused to see that Emily is still susceptible. But there's a lot of space that could be filled in. Working out how and what to tell Em's siblings? Dealing with an unexpected suitor? Em falling for yet another glamorous young lady who proves to be unworthy of her affections, and returning with pretty contrition to Lalage? Lady B- hints in the second snippet that she's prepared to offer some instruction in the Sapphick arts: do they take her up on the offer? (I would be very happy for this to get into threesome territory if you felt it going that way.)

Specific DNW: these two are, as best I can work out, first cousins once removed. There's no indication that they consider this to be incest; I certainly don't consider cousin relationships to be incest; and so I'd very much prefer this not to be mentioned as a barrier to their relationship.

Madame C-/Mr F-/Mrs F- - the triangle, in a quiet moment or dealing with some political or household drama. Cryptic notes in Josiah's memorandum book? What else is in Pandora's Clorinda's chest?

Mr MacD-/Maurice Allard - I really like Sandy and Maurice as a couple (though I do miss Gervase). I love how prickly they both are and how they manage to work around that, and the sexual dynamic between them. Casefic could be fun. Or something looking at how the news gets around Maurice's connexions?

Maurice Allard & Biddy Smith - Biddy Smith, sorry, Mademoiselle Bridgette, is a character I'd like to know more about. And I would like to know more about her business and her business partner, either when she first takes him on, or later, once she's retired and he's running it under her name.


The Count of Monte Cristo

Eugénie Danglars/Louise d'Armilly - I never get tired of these two. How did they meet? Dumas introduces Louise as Eugénie's singing teacher, but later implies that they're friends from school. Both could be true! Show me more of the 'wedding night' at the Bell and Bottle? What happens after the end of the book - do they make it as musicians? Do they necessarily stay together? What about that ominous hint Dumas drops about Louise's health?

Eugénie Danglars/Countess G- - These two never meet in the book, but it seems plausible that they might move in the same sort of circles. A night at the opera? (Either within the timeline of the book, or later, with Eugénie an opera singer.) The Countess seems very interested in vampires - maybe Eugénie plays along. (Or maybe one of them actually is a vampire!)

Eugénie Danglars/Valentine de Villefort - Their parents assume they're friends, but they don't seem to think much of each other. Could either of them change the other's mind? Can opposites attract? And, if they did, what then? Conversations through a fence? An elopement?

Hermine Danglars/Baron Danglars - I don't expect it to be an edifying spectacle, but I would be intrigued to see more of the inside of this marriage. How did these two get together? When did they grow apart? Eugénie is their only child: might there have been more?

Hermine Danglars/Gérard de Villefort - We see the result of an affair, but what about the causes? Clearly, both of them have regrets about their liaison, but presumably it made sense at the time. Again, I'd be really interested to read about the missing years.

Fernand Mondego/Mercédès Mondego - So what made Mercédès change her mind? And how did the two of them get from a fishing settlement outside Marseille to the pinnacle of Parisian society? Is Mercédès complicit in Fernand's questionable dealings?


Zenda novels

Osra (Zenda)/Original Female Character(s) - 'The Heart of Princess Osra' seems to leave room for all sorts of people to have fallen in love with the titular princess. Why shouldn't some of them have been female?

Rudolf Rassendyll/Rupert of Hentzau - I like the idea of Rudolf as unreliable narrator. What might have happened that he doesn't want to tell us about? What happens in the three years between 'The Prisoner of Zenda' and 'Rupert of Hentzau'? (Having said that, please retain canon characterisation for Rupert. I'm not interested in the 'Henchmen of Zenda' take on him!)

Flavia & Helga von Strofzin or Flavia/Helga von Strofzin - I love the loyalty that Helga has for Flavia, and I'd like to see a little bit more of that relationship. During canon, where Helga's the only person that Flavia can really trust? After canon, when she's left ruling the country and needs someone she can talk to? Or maybe before canon? What's it like growing up in the court of Ruritania? How do you make friends there? And I'd be very happy for this to be romantic if you see it going that way. (Deal with Fritz in any way that works - I have often killed him off in fic, and would also be OK with infidelity or polyamory.)

Flavia/Rudolf Rassendyll - Can they be happy, even if just for ten minutes? I'd love a missing moment from canon where they manage to forget about all the reasons why they can't be together. Or you could go AU and have Rudolf swallow his pride and become king: what happens next? Alternatively, more of the unremitting guilt and angst of canon is absolutely fine!


Yuri!!! on Ice

Anya/Mila Babicheva - Anya's a bit of an enigma, isn't she? We see her through Georgi's imagination and her Instagram. Mila, by contrast, seems much more in-your-face. How would Georgi react to a relationship between the pair of them? What about Anya's professional partner, whoever that is? What would they look like, skating together? Ignore, include, or explain away, Georgi, and Mila's hockey player partner (do we ever know their gender?) as you feel inclined.

Anya/Sara Crispino - I'd love to see these two getting away from the possessive men in their lives and having some fun together! There's no indication they've ever met in canon, but presumably they'd run across each other sooner or later at some competition or other. What if they decided they wanted a change from the overdramatic, needy, men in their respective lives, and got together? Could be anything from a one-night stand at a competition to a full-blown secret relationship. Is Sara any good at ice dance, and could Anya ever be a singles skater? It could be funny to have Mickey and Georgi appear, or you might prefer to keep them offscreen.

Victor Nikiforov/Christophe Giacometti - They're two of the older skaters on the circuit and share a lot of history. I'd be happy to see some of that history, or alternatively some present or future. I'd rather not have outright infidelity, but would be fine with e.g. a story where the events of canon were presented as 'Victor is trying to distract himself from a breakup with Chris'.

Mila Babicheva/Sara Crispino - Friends? Rivals? Friends and rivals? However things really stand between them, I'm interested in their relationship as competitors, and how they might manage a personal connection in that context. Skating detail is welcome but by no means compulsory! Ignore, include, or explain away, Mickey, and Mila's hockey player partner (do we ever know their gender?) as you feel inclined. Show them on the ice, or exploring Naples or St Petersburg or anywhere together.

Lilia Baranovskaya/Okukawa Minako - How far back do they go? Did they know each other from their performing days? Or do they meet at a skating competition and argue about coaching techniques? They seem like very different characters: do opposites attract, or is that why things never really get off the ground? Perhaps part of Victor's motivation for going to Hasetsu is to persuade Minako to get back in touch with Lilia (or maybe it just works out that way). I'd love to see them together, onstage or offstage.

Lilia Baranovskaya/Yakov Feltsman - So how did they meet, and why did they fall apart? Was it because Lilia had to retire from ballet, or was it earlier than that? Was it because Yakov had to retire from skating? And, of course, do they get back together? Outsider view from any of the St Petersburg skaters could be hilarious here. I'd love to see their younger selves, or the personalities they are today.

Thank you for writing for me! I hang around in rare fandoms most of the time, and it's lovely to have some company. Anything new in any of the fandoms I've requested will be a win so far as I'm concerned, but I've given some prompts below in case they're helpful, and I have a list of general fic likes and dislikes here.

The Count of Monte Cristo

A perennial favourite of mine. I'm delighted by the selection of characters included in the tagset - five very different women - and would be very happy to receive a story about any one or any combination of them. I'm up for any pairing if you can make it work. Feel free to go dark with this if you want to - it's that sort of canon. Here are a few prompts:

Eugénie, going it alone
Mercédès, learning how to be Comtesse de Morcerf
Hermine Danglars, after canon
Louise's life before Eugénie
Valentine: what might have been

Eugénie/Louise, backstage
Valentine/Eugénie, commiserating

Feel free to include unrequested characters if appropriate!


The Comfortable Courtesan

I've requested 'any'. I would love a glimpse of Gervase and Sandy enjoying life together - whether that's filtered through Clorinda's point of view, an extract from Mr MacDonald's commonplace books, or any other form.. I'd be equally happy with something domestic or something plotty. There's quite a gap after the end of Clorinda's memoirs that could be filled, or alternatively you could go back to the beginning of their relationship.

But I also love the later relationship between Sandy and Maurice, and I'd be very happy to see how that develops.

And Eliza is fantastic, and I'd be very happy to see her interacting with any of the other characters. Sorting things out at Raxdell House, for example.

Or if you wanted to explore any of the characters on their own that would also be great. Gervase's schooldays? His friendship with the Marquess of Bexbury? Sandy as a student, or elbow-deep in some mystery or other? Maurice's apprenticeship with Biddy Smith, or dealing with an awkward customer? Eliza as a young mother (or mother-to-be - how did that confrontation with her father go?) or later in life. (I'm up for a grand Victorian deathbed scene if that's where it's going for you.)

Please feel free to bring in any unrequested character you like!


The King of a Rainy Country

I loved this book. Nothing turned out the way I wanted it to, but I loved it anyway. I've asked for 'any' character: here are some things that you could do with them:

I'd love an AU where Susan decides to go away with Helena after all, or where Helena isn't as ill. Perhaps something happens slightly differently in that delightful scene at the photographer's.

What does Susan do after the end of the book?

I'd also love Helena's backstory - to see her as a very young singer, for example, making her debut in her first solo role. Or something that explores her friendship with Philip.

Cynthia's point of view on the whole series of events could be interesting. She's seen so much through Susan's eyes that it's difficult to get a sense of who she really is, but the trajectory that took her from school to Venice must have been a fascinating one. Even just the other side of that scene under the stage would be lovely.

Alternatively, I think Gill is a brilliant character, and if you wanted to ignore everybody else in favour of giving me the backstory of that letter she sends Susan, I'd be just as happy.

I think this would work fantastically well as a crossover with Marlows fandom, if you happen to know that. Other mid twentieth century book fandoms might also work - and please don't worry if you're not sure I'll know it.


Zenda novels

Again, a decent assortment of characters, and I've requested 'any'. I'm familiar with all three books in the Zenda canon.

Princess Osra of course comes from a different era, so I'll deal with her first. Anthony Hope clearly sees Osra as the little black dress of Ruritania. What are the stories we didn't hear? I'd love to see a f/f story in the same mould as the existing ones.

I'm happy to believe that the narrator of The Heart of Princess Osra is unreliable if you want to interrogate some of the existing stories. (But if you want to do that please note that the Bishop is one of my favourite characters!)

I'd also like to see her after canon - either adjusting to marriage and her new role, or in later life - still breaking hearts, perhaps, but perhaps also something of a stateswoman?

Please feel free to bring in original characters, or anyone from The Heart of Princess Osra.

For everybody else: I'd love more Ruritanian high jinks, and any combination of any of the nominated characters, or just general worldbuilding. Some prompts:

Flavia & Helga (or Flavia/Helga!): loyalty
Rupert/Rudolf R: play-acting
Fritz & Rudolf (or Fritz/Rudolf): heaven doesn't always make the right men kings
Fritz/Helga: married life
What if Fritz is an unreliable narrator? Or what if he doesn't know that the document that Flavia sent to Rudolf, and that Rupert stole, is far more important than a love letter?


One firm DNW: if you're including Rupert Hentzau, please don't use the Henchmen of Zenda characterisation. (More here, with spoilers for THoZ.)

In your own space, share a favorite piece of original canon (a TV episode, a song, a favorite interview, a book, a scene from a movie, etc) and explain why you love it so much.

A decade ago, when I was living in a horrible bedsit which had mice and a leaking wall and a very dodgy light fitting, I read The Count of Monte Cristo. It's a long book. This is good. It got me a long way towards the end of my time in that horrible bedsit. Ten years on, I still return to it when I want some unashamed comfort reading in the form of some good old-fashioned over-the-top melodrama. At heart, it's a revenge drama, but it has a supporting cast of thousands: murderous stepmothers, treacherous cousins, bandits, corrupt justices, bright young men, Bonapartists, lesbian singers, smugglers... It's all fabulously Gothic. One minor character affects to think the titular count a vampire, and, while there isn't anything outright supernatural in the book, one can't really blame her. And it has the most deliciously ironic narrative voice:

That evening, Lucien Debray had the minister's box at his disposal and had offered it to the Comte de Morcerf who, on Mercédës' refusal, had sent it to Danglars with a message that he would probably go and visit the baroness and her daughter in the course of the evening, if those ladies would like to accept the box that he offered them. Those ladies were sure not to refuse. No one likes a free box as much as a millionaire.

As for Danglars, he had declared that his political principles and his position as a député for the opposition would not permit him to go into the minister's box. As a result, the baroness wrote to Lucien to take her, since she could not go to the opera alone with Eugénie.

True, if the two women had gone alone, people would surely have considered this very bad behaviour; while no one could object to Mlle Danglars going to the opera with her mother and her mother's lover. One must take the world as it is.

Hello new people! I'm shewhostaples, or Staps.

I have been on Dreamwidth since 2009; before that I was on Livejournal (now deleted). I'm on various other places on the internet under my given name. I occasionally conflate the two identities under access lock, but never outside it. I check my reading list several times a day, comment when I feel I have something interesting to say, and post anything from twice a day (very rare) to once a month (also quite rare). An average would be once or twice a week.

I am married to and live with countertony in Cambridge, UK.

I hang around in various rare fandoms, most of them books of a vaguely sensationalist nature. (The Prisoner of Zenda; The Count of Monte Cristo; the works of John Buchan; that sort of thing.) Occasionally I wander into a megafandom, to the confusion of everyone. (The last one was Yuri!!! on Ice.) I write fic, mostly femslash. It's all on AO3.

I have a bad habit of getting behind on canons and not catching up again. For this reason I tend to gravitate towards closed canons, or things like Doctor Who where it's generally acknowledged that nobody's ever going to have watched everything.

Under friends-lock I am likely to post about:

1. day-to-day life
- work (I work for a major trade union)
- family drama (I usually manage to see the funny side)
- church (I am a middle-of-the-road Anglican; religion-related posts tend to be either 'this hilarious/infuriating thing that happened at church', 'I told some more church people that I'm bisexual' or 'here is a thing that I found irritating/helpful'; I don't proselytise)

2. writing. I've self-published two novels, one of which won a fairly major award but has made little difference to my life otherwise. I have no intention of giving up the day job.

3. my mental health (seasonal depression)

I like clothes, opera, dark chocolate, poetry, cherries, hymns, cycling, walking, and travelling by train. I don't drive (never passed my test) and won't fly (eco-worrier).

I occasionally unsubscribe from people without notice. This is invariably a 'it's not you, it's me' thing. I'm very relaxed about people doing the same to me: permanent subscribing and unsubscribing amnesty applies round here!

Or something in the middle. I was aiming for a full house on ladiesbingo. I managed a row. Next time round I won't be so distracted with original work, probably...

( Card under the cut )

( Links to fics in: The Count of Monte Cristo, La Boh�me, Yuri!!! on Ice, Lord Peter Wimsey, White Boots, Antony and Cleopatra, and The Comfortable Courtesan )

Well, it mentions Valentine a lot. Other than that... no.

False Angostura (517 words) by El Staplador
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Le Comte de Monte-Cristo | Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Héloïse de Villefort (Le Comte de Monte-Cristo), Valentine de Villefort (Le Comte de Monte-Cristo)
Additional Tags: Murder, Poisoning, Stepmother & Stepdaughter, Amoral scientist, Community: ladiesbingo, Tone: ironical, Canon-Typical, Character Study
Summary:

Héloïse de Villefort had, in all aspects save one, the gift that the true scientist must desire: that detachment from human loves and hatreds that allowed her to perform certain actions and to observe the results, without distressing herself about the means that she was obliged to employ.

Just in case anyone was worried that I was going to drown in fluff. I was, a bit. I suppose 'scared by my own narrative voice' makes a change.

The plot bunny where the angostura bitters are, in fact, false angostura and there's strychnine in the pink gin is free to a good home in the Charioteer fandom.

An Eugénie/Louise fic: dressing room smut. Rather in the manner of Dorothy L. Sayers giving Lord Peter a new Daimler whenever she was feeling particularly broke, I have given Eugénie a flawless top G, and probably more beyond that.

Opening Night (1084 words) by El Staplador
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Le Comte de Monte-Cristo | Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Eugénie Danglars/Louise d'Armilly
Characters: Eugénie Danglars (Le Comte de Monte-Cristo), Louise d'Armilly, Original Characters
Additional Tags: Theatre, opera - Freeform, Community: ladiesbingo, Rituals, Singing, Oral Sex, Post-Canon
Series: Part 2 of Bright Gifts
Summary:

No one disturbs the prima donna when she's warming up. No one except Mlle D'Armilly.

For the ladiesbingo prompt 'Artist'