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LARP with a twist...
This isn't an update per se since last week pretty much looked exactly like the week before that. Tuesday with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
finari (always nice). Well, Wednesday was an exception because my sister hurt her back and I went over to play with her kid for her (whee!). Gaming on Friday. Farm chores on Saturday. Oh, and of course visiting Mom & Dad on First Sunday for lunch. 'Course, Annie and Dave and Lex were there, too, so I got to hang out with them some more. So yay!
So on to what I've been thinking about a lot for the past several days...
Matt and I have had the same idea lurking in the back of our minds for quite some time now that started with our Camarilla LARP days. We have long since detached ourselves from the Camarilla, but we still share a love for live-action role-play.
So, what to do?
Well, that idea I mentioned...
Yeah. I'm pretty sure we're going that way.
We both have wanted to do Civil War reenactment for the longest time, and I think that finally we're at the point to move forward with that. Yay! Fortunately for us, there is a very active Civil War reenactment unit based out of the DFW area called The 9th Texas. We've seen them every year for the past eight or so years at the North Texas Irish Festival, and every year we've discussed the various pros and cons of just actually doing it.
The biggest con of course is the start up cost. The 9th Texas is famous for it's accuracy in depicting the Southern soldier during the Civil War, but with that accuracy comes a spiffy amount of cash out of pocket. Matt tallied up his full kit and the sum was jaw-dropping (although in all fairness, I've probably spent that much on all my current garb, though over the space of ten years). However, and luckily for us, much of the truly expensive gear like the gun, ammo, ammo box, etc, can be borrowed from within the unit and he can slowly collect those while using the loaners. If I were a talented seamstress instead of the amateur that I am, I could save more money by making Matt's stuff, but I'm not good enough to tackle that quite yet, so we'll be out the expense for his clothing, too.
My stuff will be easier because I think I can actually make my own things. My clothing won't have to be as sturdy as Matt's either, since I'm going to spend my time around camp with the other women, heh. At first, that thought bothered me. I mean, there were women who disguised themselves as men and ran around shooting Billy Yanks (and Johnny Rebs). However, the 9th Texas won't let women do that since no one has been able to prove that a woman actually did it in the historical 9th. They are pretty serious about their accuracy.
I also thought how boring it would be to sit around camp and do nothing while my boys are out shooting guns and running all over creation. However, I've been thinking about it some more, and the women's stuff actually sounds fun, too. I wouldn't be doing nothing. I'd be learning to embroider, lounging around reading, learning to cook camp-style, working on mending, playing with kids...
And best of all, I'd get to wear spiffy clothes and play pretend just like I did when I was a kid raiding Mom's costume box.
finari (always nice). Well, Wednesday was an exception because my sister hurt her back and I went over to play with her kid for her (whee!). Gaming on Friday. Farm chores on Saturday. Oh, and of course visiting Mom & Dad on First Sunday for lunch. 'Course, Annie and Dave and Lex were there, too, so I got to hang out with them some more. So yay! So on to what I've been thinking about a lot for the past several days...
Matt and I have had the same idea lurking in the back of our minds for quite some time now that started with our Camarilla LARP days. We have long since detached ourselves from the Camarilla, but we still share a love for live-action role-play.
So, what to do?
Well, that idea I mentioned...
Yeah. I'm pretty sure we're going that way.
We both have wanted to do Civil War reenactment for the longest time, and I think that finally we're at the point to move forward with that. Yay! Fortunately for us, there is a very active Civil War reenactment unit based out of the DFW area called The 9th Texas. We've seen them every year for the past eight or so years at the North Texas Irish Festival, and every year we've discussed the various pros and cons of just actually doing it.
The biggest con of course is the start up cost. The 9th Texas is famous for it's accuracy in depicting the Southern soldier during the Civil War, but with that accuracy comes a spiffy amount of cash out of pocket. Matt tallied up his full kit and the sum was jaw-dropping (although in all fairness, I've probably spent that much on all my current garb, though over the space of ten years). However, and luckily for us, much of the truly expensive gear like the gun, ammo, ammo box, etc, can be borrowed from within the unit and he can slowly collect those while using the loaners. If I were a talented seamstress instead of the amateur that I am, I could save more money by making Matt's stuff, but I'm not good enough to tackle that quite yet, so we'll be out the expense for his clothing, too.
My stuff will be easier because I think I can actually make my own things. My clothing won't have to be as sturdy as Matt's either, since I'm going to spend my time around camp with the other women, heh. At first, that thought bothered me. I mean, there were women who disguised themselves as men and ran around shooting Billy Yanks (and Johnny Rebs). However, the 9th Texas won't let women do that since no one has been able to prove that a woman actually did it in the historical 9th. They are pretty serious about their accuracy.
I also thought how boring it would be to sit around camp and do nothing while my boys are out shooting guns and running all over creation. However, I've been thinking about it some more, and the women's stuff actually sounds fun, too. I wouldn't be doing nothing. I'd be learning to embroider, lounging around reading, learning to cook camp-style, working on mending, playing with kids...
And best of all, I'd get to wear spiffy clothes and play pretend just like I did when I was a kid raiding Mom's costume box.
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If it turns out that I really really want to be a soldier, then we can search out a unit that actually accepts women combattants. I'd probably have to be Union, though, since there were more women that disguised themselves to fight for the North than South.
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They're possibly one of the best Reb reenactor units in the US and it's cool that they're so close to us... but no ladies in the battle line. :(
According to "An Uncommon Soldier, The Civil War Letters of Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, alias Private Lyons Wakeman" the author (Lauren Burgess) has found documented proof of 135 women that fought and estimates the number goes as high as 400. Most of these fighting women wore blue. Estimates place the Union army at roughly 2.1 million and the Rebs at around 800,000. Let's round it off and say 3 million soldiers. Using the 400 number, that's 0.013%. Of course, this is just one source. We don't actually know the real numbers since ... kinda by definition... these women didn't advertise they were disguising themselves.
501st
Now this is a group I could have fun with getting dressed up for. Sorry I couldn't help myself.
http://www.501st.com/default.html
Re: 501st