Frigid

Frigid by spitkitten, with art by Tamago (卵) first appeared in issue Issue 94 in 2021.

Creator's Notes

FIRSTLY AND MOST IMPORTANTLY look at that beautiful art!!!!! :’’’’) Thank you very, very much to [[Tamago[[]] who kindly agreed to illustrate for me and did just a phenomenal job. I love it all so much. I hope the story around the artwork lives up to it!

No real backstory to this one! Or possibly twenty-four years of backstory, depending on which way you look at it. If I had an objective, it was to stretch my character-writing muscles and strive for a smidge of complexity, with Sophy at the very least — I feel sort of nervous saying that, because I don’t really know how well I succeeded! For you to decide, dear reader. (You may notice that there is still one stock himbo running about in there… What can I say? I can’t relax unless I know there’s at least one present.)

I think parlour games in general were more of a Victorian than a Regency thing, but people were definitely playing Russian Scandal and Snapdragon by 1810. And, honestly, I didn’t think two girls would fit in a wardrobe if they were wearing Victorian-style gowns haHA. I must shout out the book Round Games For All Parties by David Bogue from 1854, which was an invaluable resource for getting the writing style of a Ye Olde Game Guide. It also lists a whole load of deranged games for Victorian perverts, so if you ever need to make characters in a period piece do something saucy and weird in public without repercussions — up to and including calling each other master, being human furniture, crossdressing, and stripping…Oh, Victorians! — then check it out on Google Books (with the caveat that it is from 1854 so, y’know. Watch out.)

On the other hand, if you were thinking that Bear seems a little too perfectly tailored for queer porn purposes, well… that’s because it doesn’t exist. Never happened. I made it up. There’s an unfinished M.R. James story called “The Game of Bear”, but he never got to the bit where he described how it’s played, beyond jumping out at people and screaming: there’s been some speculation over the last 100 years so I just followed that/went rogue. I think the frankenversion I came up with sounds like it might be quite fun? Idk, give it a go at your next assembly and let me know the verdict.

Think I am officially done with the Regency for a WHILE — I am ready to write about people who have at the very least heard of MTV, oh my god. Thanks again to Tamago, and to my beta, and to everybody who gives my silly wintry story a read. I hope you enjoy! And a broader thanks to everybody in the SSBB cosmos for all your support this year. Been a weird one, but my work here is something I’m quite proud of and I wouldn’t have done any of it without the deadline to aim for, comments to cheer me up, and the discord to help me out. Here’s to ya! <3

External Links

This story is also available on Archive of Our Own (AO3).