#my best friend gutenberg dot org helped tho

[emby-m]

Highway Cavalier and Dulcinea

Fifth in the “Putting Alice into Nort’s Skin Lines” project

They would tell tales of thee, if they knew thee, my Dulcinea. Instead, I, thy humble vassal, thy cavalier of the highway, tell tales of thee. A lady of grace and poise, riding astride your piebald hackney, hair of gold plaited back, eyes like suns beneath your goggles, hands like ivory steering your noble steed – any beam of the sun of thy beauty that reached my eyes would have given light to my reason and strength to my heart, so that I could be unmatched and unequaled in wisdom and valor. Thou hast strayed away from El Toboso, and yet I cannot seek thee.

Design and backstory under the cut:

Setting/text notes:

Highway Cavalier obviously based on Don Quixote with ‘the Cavalier’ and ‘Rocinante’, so Alice was a natural fit for a Dulcinea, a remote and far off lover who the cavalier acts for.

I imagine Alice died prior to the events of the story but maybe she’s just far far away…

Part of the text is directly lifted from Chapter 8 of Volume 2, in the Ormsby translation.

Thee and thou for ~intimacy~

Imagine this as an old-timey black and white photograph Norton keeps in his glovebox…

Norton’s design:

Agh agh agh so much to change so little time agh agh agh

Ok so the typical motorcycle jacket we think of wasn’t in production until at least the 20s but I figured a short riding coat would make sense. We do have motorcycle riding in this period (motor corps in World War I!) plus riding gear is consistent between that and horses.

The pants with the knee-reinforcements are normal, so I kept them but they’re not… jeans. His undershirt is a regular stand-up collar shirt – protective, but not whatever he’s got for padding there.

Alice’s design:

So women also had a motorcycle corps in World War I which is pretty cool. Their coats tended to be longer and somewhat fuller, with most of the shaping coming from the belting and some very heavy pleats in the waist. These were, quite spiffily, worn with a shirtwaist and tie. Pants/ jodhpurs were common (split skirts were too, the point being you NEED to ride astride on a motorcycle.)

The motorcycle they’re leaning on is hers, which is a contemporary Phelon & Moore 500cc single cylinder motorcycle. 

This is the age of no helmets. So. No helmets.