#I've made Frederick too miserable

[solradguy]

You have no idea the amount of restraint I exercise not writing a dumb nsfw side story for Interlude inspired entirely by the fact that I could title it Interlewd and laugh like a dork at myself the entire time I'm writing it

[transthadymacdermot]

Please tell me more about your OCs, Fredrick, Sarah and Annie?

Sure!!! They are main characters in the vague sequel story to my wip red & riotous light that I'm writing + they are tenant farmers on a vaguely located estate owned by a fictious marquess somewhere in co. antrim, ireland, in the mid 1790s. Their family situation is best explained I think by this diagram but to shorten it, Frederick and Annie are the nephew + niece of Sarah's toxic boyfriend Jem, who she basically adopted after she moved in with them. She also has 2 more younger kids but she sent them off to help F&A's father on his search for work in scotland, so they don't factor in to the actual story much. I will go through them in depth one at a time.

Frederick

Frederick is 11 and he's like. one of those annoying street urchin artful dodger type characters but in an almost wholly rural setting. He's def. got what would be today recognised as undiagnosed ADHD and he's working through a lot of complicated feelings surrounding his relationship with his mother (which swings between loving and being like a cage fight like a pendulum) as well as his place in the world and what he's meant to be doing about the incredible violence he's witnessing around him daily. In some ways this manifests as him having grown up far too quickly -- he's already an active member of 1 of the most feared gangs in his area and him stabbing a man without batting an eye is what starts the plot -- in other ways it's him acting at all times like he knows exactly what's up and like he's 100% in control even when he's obviously just a helpless kid.

Some facts about Frederick:

When he grows up he wants to join the army, ideally as an officer + ideally in the cavalry

He is a narrative foil to another character, Seamy, who I went into detail on here

He slowly develops the ability to see snatches of the future in his dreams, although he doesn't typically tell anyone about these dreams so for now it's more of a mounting dread situation than something with any massive effect on his life.

Sarah

Probably the main facet of Sarah's character, imo, is that she really does not give a shit. About anything. She has been utterly miserable due to the fact that she and Jem both despise each other (but she won't leave cos she wants the children to grow up with some kind of father figure + is too exhausted to find anything or anyone else. not answering questions on whether or not this was inspired by anything I have witnessed in real life at this time) for so long that she crossed the threshold of not caring about people's opinions/consequences/moral implications wrt any of her actions years ago. This typically does not end well for people who anger her, especially when taken with the fact that she spent so long blaming herself for things other people did to her that she swung to the opposite extreme + the fact that she is living most of her life now in survival mode, and therefore no longer regards a single one of her actions as her own fault. It does not take much to push Sarah over the edge. If she decides you are jeopardising her survival AND aren't useful for anything otherwise that's you done with this mortal coil and good luck trying to talk her out of it.

Some facts about Sarah:

She is fluent in english, irish, and latin + she can read + write in all 3, and though her family members only know english she often says simple commands and asks simple questions in latin to her children. Her favourite book (a copy of which is owned by a local schoolmaster) is ovid's metamorphosis

She is also a narrative foil to another character called Lady Durham, who I've not made a big post on yet

For many years she sang all the psalms at the local chapel (before she got into a fight with the priest and stopped going)

Annie

Ah, Annie. She is a 12 year old eldest daughter and she has all of the complications that implies. Tbh, she's probably the most capable in her family, or she would be if she didn't spend most of her time wandering around climbing trees and pretending to be a wolf or whatever. She and her mother tend to both blame each other for every single thing that is wrong with the world + fight constantly about everything, but ironically they're very similar -- Annie, too, is very independent and a loner by choice, though she doesn't necessarily dislike company if it's someone who can keep up with her, and she has more than a little of Sarah's ruthless streak in her. Her head is often in the clouds but she isn't incapable of being more practical, nor is she not razor-sharp, she just chooses to get a little whimsical with it. If the rest of the world wants to know what she's talking about they should simply come up into the clouds with her.

Some facts about Annie:

She has a tortoiseshell kitten called Chicken which Sarah gets her early in the story to patch things up after a fight

There is some kind of bizarre cosmic horror monster following her around and doing whatever she tells it to. This manifests as the ability to kill people basically with her mind, though the trade-off is that Annie spreads plague and misfortune wherever she goes as a result of its malign influence leaking out. More lore posts on this coming soon 👍

She enjoys going to see plays &c a lot. Her current favourite is shakespeare's titus andronicus, which she saw when a troupe of players came to perform it for the Marquess (he was so scandalised he nearly perished on the spot) and the local innkeeper Lazarus managed to entice them into doing a cheap showing of it at his inn

[orangepanic]

Directors cut for the uncommon rainsss

Aw, thank you.

Sigh. After the Uncommon Rains. Though it's not yet finished, this is without a doubt my least popular long fic. Despite some initial interest, even most of the people who normally read my stuff (all 2-5 of you, bless) aren't really picking this one up - or if they are, they aren't telling me about it. I have a few theories as to why this one is a flop, but that's not what you asked. Besides, I personally love it, so I'm gonna gush about it anyway. Maybe someone out there will give it a chance. And to the few readers it has, thank you!

As I explain in the summary and author's note, "After the Uncommon Rains" is essentially Jane Austen's last novel, Persuasion, rewritten as a Western. Some of this is self-serving. Persuasion is my favorite Jane Austen, and one I think is generally severely underrated in favor of others like Emma or Pride and Prejudice. In it we have characters who aren't in the throes of folly and misunderstanding, but actually living with the consequences of that previous folly. The action opens with main protagonist, Anne Elliott, faced with the prospect of reuniting with Frederick Wentworth, a man with whom she was deeply in love and briefly engaged to some seven years prior. Her family disapproved of Frederick's lack of wealth; Anne caved to their pressure and broke it off. She's been miserable ever since. Frederick, however, is now the dashing and very rich Captain Wentworth, having made his fortune on the very wit and intelligence that Anne fell in love with. Now he's back. And oh boy, does he hate her for breaking his heart.

So immediately this screams Irosami to me. What I love about Anne and Frederick is that their attraction isn't just physical, but intellectual. They both love culture and reading and learning about the world, and have good hearts and strong moral compasses and are brave and selfless with their friends. Which is what I see as the chief attractions of an Irosami ship as well. Their minds are made for each other just as much as their bodies. But I didn't just want to re-write Persuasion with Iroh as the naval captain and Asami as the quiet victim of her family's hatred of benders. Not only was that boring, but it didn't quite fit. Asami stands up to her father in canon. She doesn't take anyone's shit. Of the two of them, I think Iroh the more likely to cave to the pressures of honor and duty. Therefore, Iroh is a more obvious Anne. And Asami, the ambitious and talented 19-year old CEO with a bit of a temper and ride-or-die loyalty, is a better Frederick. It also allowed me to bring in more members of the OC family I've already created for Iroh, including especially his little sister.

I also wanted to do something fun with the setting. I personally struggle when I have to follow another work too closely, so I thought the challenge of making Persuasion work outside of Edwardian England would help. I've been playing with the idea of a Western for a while. So, why not? A Western it became. What is Anne's stay at the Musgroves became Iroh working at Tenzin's sky bison ranch in the Si Wong desert, and Captain Wentworth's success in the navy became Asami's inheritance of Future Industrial Railroad, which just happens to be building a line out that way.

The most fun I've had with this fic is hands-down the worldbuilding I've had to do for the setting. I've done so much research on cattle ranching and clothing styles and climate and locomotives. I've looked at so many pictures of dresses and hats and trains. I have my friend with a horse on speed dial to ask her questions about riding and the care of ostrich horses. I feel like I invent a plant or animal or food every ten lines. It's really great. Is it a coach or a carriage? Did you know that there's a difference?

By far the least fun - or maybe just the hardest - is matching up all the characters. In the novel there are far fewer main characters. The Musgroves' two daughters are Anne's only real rivals for Wentworth's affections. But in this fic I had to figure out what to do with all the air kids, all the Beifongs, Korra, plus Mako and Bolin. It was absolute chaos, with like five different people filling the roles of two. Other characters don't cleanly map - Baatar Jr. is playing the role of two characters, as is Bolin, while Commander Bumi is more like one and a half and Lin combines the roles of 2-3 bit parts so sometimes I feel like I forget that she's there. The endgame Linumi is based on the flimsiest of side ships. There's no renters of Kellynch, so Frederick's sister and the Admiral's roles are spread out among the cast. The whole plotline of Mr. Elliott, Anne's creepy cousin who almost marries her instead of Frederick, is dramatically reduced because I cut out the entire inheritance sub-plot altogether. Same with Tahno, who is playing a reduced version of Mrs. Clay who doesn't really want to marry Izumi (Sir Elliott), just kind of be a sponge on the family. Basically, it's been chaos.

If there's one mistake I made in planning, I think it's probably trying to force the Korra sami bit. For one, it's probably clear as day to a reader that I don't vibe with the ship because I can't write it to save my life. The whole Korra and Asami dynamic feels awkward and forced to me. Second, though I know it's an AU and 2023 and I'll probably be roasted for this, no one remarking on the same sex relationship also feels weird for both the Western and the Austin genre, mostly because there is always so much about inheritance and marriage there. Nobody batting an eye that Korra wants to marry Asami without addressing money and heirs and all that in a world where those concerns were the driving force of most of the plots seems a glaring omission. Finally, it introduces even more people into the mix, and other side ships like Makopal that I struggle to write or have to spend extra time justifying. I think everything would have gelled better with eventual Makorra and Bopal as the other side ships. Oh well. I wanted Borra. :-) I will live with my choices.

That said, I still love this fic. I'm having fun writing it. It's stretched me in new ways, most notably in it being the first time I've ever worked with beta readers. THANK YOU YOU LOVELY AMAZING PEOPLE. And whether a lot of folks read this story or not, I'm glad that I tried to do something different and difficult.

[radio-nano]

Queen concerts were also successful beause of those guys!

Scroll if you want to learn who these guys are and what they did. You will also read about a Lord, a henna user, who had best haircut and Queen’s favorite food. (I wrote in bold letters the parts about Queen members and some funny facts.)

1. a"rigger". They assemble the stage (all 6000 square feet of it). Sometimes this can take two days, so there are two stages on this European tour. While one is being taken down at one venue, the other is being assembled at the next.

2 another "rigger".

3 John "Tumbridge" Wells, one of the security men responsible for looking after the members of Queen. "Tumbridge" looks after Brian May, escorts him wherever he goes and keeps the fans from getting too close.

4 Wally Gore group security, he looks after John Deacon

5 Alex Alexandrou, carpenter. There's two of us, and we put up all the stage scenery. I put up the walkways around the back and sides of the stage wich Freddie runs along. He likes to run on carpet, so I have to lay that down everywhere.

6. Chris "Crystal" Taylor, group coordinator. He organises all of the personal Queen crew, roadies, the security men. He makes sure they all know what they have to do and when they have to do it.

7. Jim Deveney, monitor engineer. "I sit out of sight on stage. I have to make things sound good so that the band can hear what they're doing. The sound comes through these speakers called "monitors" wich face onto the stage. The worst act I ever worked for was Rod Stewart. He was really miserable.

8. Joe Fanelli, Freddie's main personal assistant, who cooks for him at his London Home. "He likes anything really exotic, North African food, curries, good French cooking. He hates veal and doesn't eat carrots. Lambs is a bit iffy too. Brian's vegetarian but he eats fish. John likes very simple food, pie and mash and Roger likes anything but lamb.

9. Tony Williams, in charge of Queen's wardrobe. "I have to look after all of the band's stage clothes. That includes lots of details like making sure all the changes of clothes they need are backstage (Freddie changes about three times each performance), labelling the band's stage shoes (because they all wear the same stripey Adidas), and looking after Freddie's special moustache scissors. Also I have to wash all of their clothes in my hotel bedroom. My bath is always full. And Brian May has been using all this red henna do dye his hair and it comes out all over his shirts. It's very hectic".

10. Brandan Hyland, group security

11. One of the 15 "truckers" who each drive a massive 40 feet lorry loaded up with sound and lighting equipment.  (For extra money they also operate the spotlights wich "follow" the group around stage).

12. Brian "Jobby" Zellis. one of Queen's personal road crew.

13 Brian May, Queen's guitarist.

14 John "Moxy" Glover, Roger Taylor's personnal roadie. "Basically I have to look after his drum kit and set it up on stage. I have to keep him supllied with drum sticks. He has sticks made with his own name on and he uses about ten sets  a show. I got a bit drunk with Status Quo's roadies in Paris earlier this tour, and started throwing all his sticks in the audience.

15. Terry Giddings, group security.

16. Dieter Breit, physiotherapist for the group and crew. He has to look after any sprains and injuries that anybody might suffer, e.g. a sprained guitar-playing finger which needs massaging on Brian May's valuable hand.

17. A lighting assistant.

18. A "rigger"

19. Peter "Ratty" Hince, one of Queen's personal road crew. "I have to look after John Deacon's bass guitars and Freddie's guitar and special radio microphones (the one that don't have a fead) and keyboard instruments. I have to make sure that everything is exactly where it should be on stage, otherwise Freddie particularly will glare and let me know if anything's wrong. He's very particular about things being just right. Personally I don't enjoy these tour as much as the old ones. Nowadays ther's too much equipment, too many hangers-on, and everybody's trying to be important."

20. John "Collie" Collins, one of Queen's personnal road crew. "I'm the spare man, really. I work with Ratty  and the piano tuner, help to see that everything is where it should be at the right time. Do you know I got married yesterday! I celebrated the wedding with the band and crew. It had to be squeezed in during the tour.

21. Roger Taylor, Those "shades"! That turned up collar! Must be Queen's drummer.

22. A trucker

23. Another trucker.

24. A rigger.

25. Another rigger

26 John Deacon, youn know , Queen's bass player, the one with the good haircut.

27 Tom "Midget" Foehlinger, sound monitor

28 An unknown person who sneaked in

29 Mickey Conafray, trucker

30 Mick Riddle, caterer

31 A lighting assistant

32 Albert Sutton, truck driver. "I carry the sound system, or some of it. We don't see the band or the road crew most of the time, because we travel ahead of everyone else. We have to get to the site before they do, and although we help with the setting up, we're off for two days while the rest of them are working on the concert. There are 15 "truckers" on this tour, plus the bus wich takes the road crew and sometimes the band. The worst thing about this job is being away from home for a long time when you're on tour. And the best thing is...erm maybe that should be a secret".

33. A caterer

34 Dave Lewis, another Caterer

35 A sound monitor.

36 Stave Benjamins, one of Queen's personal road crew, or "roadies" as they hate to be called. They look after all the instruments, microphones and amplifiers which Queen use on stage, setting them up, tuning them, and keep them clean.

37. another trucker"

38. Dave Thomas, caterer. I've been catering for Queen since 1975, every tour. The band eat the same food as everyone else, but they do have certain favorite foods. After a show they usually like an omelette or sometimes beans on toast or occasionally a steak au poivre. They're also pretty fond of Indonesian cooking".

39. Rex Ray, second sound engineer. He mixes the sound for all the support groups.

40. Spike Edney, keybordist and second guitar player: " My biggest fear is that it might get too damp, which makes the synthesisers cut out. I just pray that I'm out of clouting range of Freddie if that happens. He might not realise why I'm not playing and he'd be very upset if he thought I was daydreaming of something. But Queen on the whole are great to work with and they get drunk a lot too. Champagne every night, it's great!

41. Simon tutchener, lighting director. "I operate the main lighting console during the concert. It took three weeks to rehearse. I have a crew who set all the lights up, and 14 spotlights operators who I control through an intercom system and one man on a "Ver-lite", plus a man on the colour changer computer, plus a man on a computer which controls the up and down movement of the whole lighting rig, and then there are a few bits on stage, including Brian May special spaceship thing which comes down during his solo spot with all the flashing lights and..." (that's quite enought about lighting. Ed)

42 Stage rigger, who helps to set up the 6000 square feet of stage (all carpetted)

43 Sylvia Reed, assistant to the tour manager, Gerry Stickells. She is really a personal secretary.

44. James "Trip" Khalaf, chief sound enginer: "I mix the live sound for Queen, and I'm in overall charge for the half a million watts of PA (ie sound system. pa means Public adress) that we're carting around.

45. Lord Frederick Lucan of Mercury. You know him. Freddie.

46. "Phoebe", one of Freddie's personal assistants. These people help to arrange Sir Frederick's day, making sure he gets to appointments on time, and taking care of all those little details, which keep him happy.

47. A rigger

48. Lyndsey Beckingham, caterer. One of a team of five who feed the crew and the group. The caterers have their own van to transport all the food, cookers and fridges necessary to feed up to 60 people three times a day.

49 Bill Louthe, sound monitor. One of the assistants to the chief sound engineer, who sets up the massive sound system making sure it works perfectly, and run around while Queen are on stage, putting things right ( like tangled wiring) and making sure that there are no problems which could cause any deterioration of the sound quality.

50. Dave Mills, head of backstage and front of stage security. "My job is to stop any skirmishes or fights by pulling people out, people who faint, and putting in the hands of the first aid people. Earlier on this tour, in Dublin, I pulled out a young man whose ear was barely hanging on by a thread, probably because some idiot threw a glass."

51 Gerry Stickells, tout manager. The most important poeple on the tour. He looks after the road crew, from the lighting team to caterers; hiring them, making sure that they're paid and that everyone's alright. (he even remembers every crew member's birthday, making a fuss of them so they get too miserable). The other important thing he does is to go out months before the tour to look at the planned concert sites and to make all the thousands of arrangements that need to be made in advance. He's been working with acts like Rod Steward and Elton John and has organised Queen's road tour for 11 years. "They have to be highly-strung crazy people, they have to in order to ware themselves up to perform. So I admire them, yes. But I wouldn't want to socialise with them. Soon as this tour is over I'll go home and watch television."

52 Mike Weisman, production and stage manager. "I'm in charge of seeing that the stage and scenery is all but together properly. We work all day to get everything right. I have to coordinate all the work of the riggers and carpenters."