"L'entrĆ©e du prince de Ligne Ć Londres 1660", painted by FranƧois Duchatel in 1660, depicting the arrival of a great procession of ambassadors walking in fine clothes and riding in coaches, watched by a huge crowd of Londoners.
Text over it reads:
THE DUEL IN 1660: a queer swashbuckling farce.
"The arrival of King Charles II of England in Rotterdam, may 24 1660" by Lieve Verschuier, showing many ships with the Flag of Holland/States Flag. The grand ship bearing Charles II has his royal arms carven on the stern.
Text over it reads:
England, 1660: the restoration of the monarchy. In Charles II's triumphant wake, a Royalist family quietly returns, but not with their single daughterāinstead, with their single son.
15-year-old Alexanderāvain, hot-tempered, and warm of heartāexpects to strut in as an aristocratic peacock. But when his ambitions are frustrated, he's sucked instead into intrigues of questionable honour and forced to reckon with what it really means to be a man.
"Man Writing a Letter" by Gabriƫl Metsu, painted around 1665. A Dutch young man, beautiful and androgynous with long blond hair, wears black doublet, breeches, and stockings and a luxurious white shirt and falling band. His expression is tranquil and far-off as he writes a letter on a table draped with an imported carpet.
Text over it reads:
Pray enjoy this tempest in a teapot, crafted of the purest tropes and set in the Age of the Rakehells, featuring:
glamour and grime of 17th century Westminster.
goofy action punctuated by primal screams of rage.
problematic characters for miles.
petticoat breeches parkour.
queer mentorship.
romantic friendship (or maybe 'tis just gay, oops).
boys who cry. a lot.
and somehow, everything turning out all right in the end.
Detail of "View from the Mussel Pier in Amsterdam", painted by Ludolf Bakhuizen in 1673, showing a peaceful sky over a ship with two gulls.
Text over it reads:
Alexander stood at the edge of the deck, one hand clutching the railing, the other fastened tight on the brim of his hat as he leaned out over the waves. He was not much afraid of falling in, though he had never swum anything choppier than a pond. Rather, he was afraid that his Acadian fur hat, the most expensive for sale in the shop on the Kalverstraat, might fly off his small crown and flap with its feathers all the way to waterāwhich, like the sky, could not quite decide between blue and grey.
There was no one to see him aside from the sailors and now Klein, climbing up from below. Still, he had meticulously dressed that morning, down to every last ribbon. Heād had a very specific vision of himself when the suit was being ordered: the azure heād picked was not just brighter than everything around him on the fluyt but even the true sky itself, and he sparkled with silver, when the wind tugged his doublet and loose breeches, and gold, when the little light managed to catch on his swordās hilt.
It was imperative, one must understand, that he look extremely stylish doing battle, should pirates suddenly appear to satisfy his fantasies. And indeed, at fifteen, he thought himself quite the dashing young manānot the boy he was.
Gay crimes!
Trans wrongs!
Enemies to enemies!
Here's my #Own #LGBT #Hu #YA #W IP again for #WSPit! A romp through a colorful, heightened #Hi storical playground.
Can one defeat the patriarchs with the very weapons of masculinity? Well, one angry trans boy can sure try stabbing them a lot. #WSPit
