31 Plays in 31 Days, #1 - “Busy Days”
Aug. 1st, 2023 10:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
breakinglight11How is it August already? Well, that means it's time to do 31 Plays in 31 Days, for what is it-- the twelfth year? I hate to break my streak, so onward we go again!
Though I have a project I can use it to make progress with. I'm working very hard to get Hawking part 7 drafted, as I finally feel like I have a handle on it. It's a big shift in the status quo, with the team broken and split between London and New York. Also, on the wake of a huge shakeup like the Ripper story in part 6, I need to make sure we follow it up properly. This one is going to be less of an explosive plot-driven story and more of a character piece, where everybody is confronting the fallout of their actions and the split. If the story is going to turn on that, the character journeys need to be really compelling. A tall order, given that I feel like the bar gets higher every time! But nothing to do but try our best.
Here's a bit from early in part 7, showing us Mary and Arthur's new life in New York. I'm thinking we're in 1890 by now, and things are very different for the two of them now that they're out doing their own thing. Mary's got the freedom to run her life and work however she likes now, and I think Arthur's new job at the embassy has meant they've come up in the world a bit. I'm excited to explore the implications of those things. I'm particularly happy to get to give Mary a friend! The way we've written her up to this point, you'd think she never had one! But this introduces Kathleen Duncan, to demonstrate that Mary's life has gotten broader since she moved to New York and gained some independence.
Photo by Jacob LaRocca
Day #1 - “Busy Days”
From Mrs. Hawking 7 series
By Phoebe Roberts
~~~
MARY SWANN, society avenger, early thirties
ARTHUR SWANN, Mary’s husband and MI6 agent, mid-thirties
KATHLEEN DUNCAN, a friend of theirs, early thirties
New York, New York, 1890
~~~
(The doorbell rings.)
MARY: Oh, that’ll be Kathleen, then!
(MARY lets in her friend KATHLEEN DUNCAN, carrying her baby BENJAMIN.)
ARTHUR: Hello, Kat! And hello, young master Benjamin.
KATHLEEN: Hello, Arthur! The young master would say the same, but since he’s got to rest up after a night’s wailing, I’ll have to send his regards for him. He’s got teeth coming.
MARY: Oh, yes, Tory’s only just come through that.
ARTHUR: When we wrote to my mother about it, she said you can rub a little brandy on the gums.
KATHLEEN: By now, I’d rather rub it on mine.
ARTHUR: Mam never said that, but sure one of you would sleep.
KATHLEEN: I’ve got an Irish mother too, you know— and I fancy there’s a reason neither of them raised their babies in Ireland. Anyhow— all ready, Mary?
(MARY bundles the baby and packs her bag.)
MARY: Just a moment! I’ve got the invitations for the Easter picnic at St. Patrick’s. I thought we could just drop them by with Father Flannery on the way.
KATHLEEN: You never stop, do you?
MARY: I like to keep busy! I’ve got so much more time these days.
KATHLEEN: With your first baby, you’ve got more time?
MARY: Well, now that I haven’t got work at all hours!
KATHLEEN: Oh, I forgot you used to be in service. My God, you must have never had a moment to yourself.
MARY: You don’t know the half of it. Goodbye, Arthur!
ARTHUR: Goodbye, loves. Have a good day.
(MARY and KATHLEEN exit, taking the babies with them.)
Though I have a project I can use it to make progress with. I'm working very hard to get Hawking part 7 drafted, as I finally feel like I have a handle on it. It's a big shift in the status quo, with the team broken and split between London and New York. Also, on the wake of a huge shakeup like the Ripper story in part 6, I need to make sure we follow it up properly. This one is going to be less of an explosive plot-driven story and more of a character piece, where everybody is confronting the fallout of their actions and the split. If the story is going to turn on that, the character journeys need to be really compelling. A tall order, given that I feel like the bar gets higher every time! But nothing to do but try our best.
Here's a bit from early in part 7, showing us Mary and Arthur's new life in New York. I'm thinking we're in 1890 by now, and things are very different for the two of them now that they're out doing their own thing. Mary's got the freedom to run her life and work however she likes now, and I think Arthur's new job at the embassy has meant they've come up in the world a bit. I'm excited to explore the implications of those things. I'm particularly happy to get to give Mary a friend! The way we've written her up to this point, you'd think she never had one! But this introduces Kathleen Duncan, to demonstrate that Mary's life has gotten broader since she moved to New York and gained some independence.
Photo by Jacob LaRocca
Day #1 - “Busy Days”
From Mrs. Hawking 7 series
By Phoebe Roberts
~~~
MARY SWANN, society avenger, early thirties
ARTHUR SWANN, Mary’s husband and MI6 agent, mid-thirties
KATHLEEN DUNCAN, a friend of theirs, early thirties
New York, New York, 1890
~~~
(The doorbell rings.)
MARY: Oh, that’ll be Kathleen, then!
(MARY lets in her friend KATHLEEN DUNCAN, carrying her baby BENJAMIN.)
ARTHUR: Hello, Kat! And hello, young master Benjamin.
KATHLEEN: Hello, Arthur! The young master would say the same, but since he’s got to rest up after a night’s wailing, I’ll have to send his regards for him. He’s got teeth coming.
MARY: Oh, yes, Tory’s only just come through that.
ARTHUR: When we wrote to my mother about it, she said you can rub a little brandy on the gums.
KATHLEEN: By now, I’d rather rub it on mine.
ARTHUR: Mam never said that, but sure one of you would sleep.
KATHLEEN: I’ve got an Irish mother too, you know— and I fancy there’s a reason neither of them raised their babies in Ireland. Anyhow— all ready, Mary?
(MARY bundles the baby and packs her bag.)
MARY: Just a moment! I’ve got the invitations for the Easter picnic at St. Patrick’s. I thought we could just drop them by with Father Flannery on the way.
KATHLEEN: You never stop, do you?
MARY: I like to keep busy! I’ve got so much more time these days.
KATHLEEN: With your first baby, you’ve got more time?
MARY: Well, now that I haven’t got work at all hours!
KATHLEEN: Oh, I forgot you used to be in service. My God, you must have never had a moment to yourself.
MARY: You don’t know the half of it. Goodbye, Arthur!
ARTHUR: Goodbye, loves. Have a good day.
(MARY and KATHLEEN exit, taking the babies with them.)
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