i do it for the girls and the gays, that's it. (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
grinded) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
bakerstreet2014-02-24 09:26 am
grinded) wrote in bakerstreet2014-02-24 09:26 am
Arranged Marriage
recognised as a social contract. Unions were entered into for many
reasons: to obtain property, to unite families, to carry on a bloodline,
et cetera. Whatever the reason, congratulations, you're getting married!
HOW IT WORKS:
❧ Post a comment with your character's name, canon, and any preferences.
❧ If there's a specific set of circumstances you like best, set the scene.
❧ Or leave your comment blank and let others use RNG to choose the scenario. Feel free to mix and match.
❧ Please note the prompts below are merely suggestions and you're more than welcome to come up with your own situation.
❧ Have fun!
POSSIBLE REASONS FOR MARRIAGE:
① Station → You come from a royal, noble, or otherwise distinguished family who has chosen a suitable spouse for you.
② Feud → You are being married to put an end to the bitter enmity between your two families.
③ Economics → Your economic state and/or your station will improve through the union, though one of you may be marrying down.
④ Empire → You and your spouse are merging your businesses and/or property to create something more influential or profitable.
⑤ Tribute → You have been offered as a gift or appeasement, alternately you're the spoils of war.
⑥ Bloodline → Carrying on your distinguished family name has fallen to you and the equally well-bred spouse of your family's selection.
⑦ Disapproval → Your marriage has been arranged to keep you away from the person with whom you truly wish to be.
POSSIBLE SCENARIOS:
① First meeting → This is the very first time you're meeting your future spouse.
② Courtship → To get to know each other and encourage affection, your family has approved of you going on dates.
③ Engagement party → Be it a huge, formal affair or a small, intimate get together, you're celebrating (or pretending).
④ Wedding day → The big day!
⑤ Reception → The big party!
⑥ Wedding night → Every meme needs a smut prompt, right?
⑦ Honeymoon → Where will you go with your new spouse and what will you do there?
2 - 2 plot spoilers?? and cough let's just say blue hair is common..........
They weren't at war, not technically. But they sure were hella rude to each other.
So when Morgan learned of his arranged marriage, he wasn't sure what to think. Could it be a ploy by the Ylisseans? Or was it part of a cunning strategy by the Plegian queen? When he put this question to her, his mother only laughed and mussed his hair as she liked to do, and told him to trust her.
He tried to do just that as the ballroom doors opened before him, gold and music and finery and nobility engulfing his senses like lightning. The other guests didn't pay any particular attention to his entrance -- he was a bullion among bullions in a crowd this prolific, and the engagement was still a quiet matter -- but he felt antsy all the same knowing that his future wife was somewhere nearby. Judging him? Maybe judging him.
Because if rumors were correct, the Princess of Ylisse was the finest her nation had to offer. Morgan himself had been cleaned up for the event, his familiar worn tactician's garb folded away in exchange for a stiffer, princelier dress outfit, black and gold in the Plegian fashion. His mother had been delighted with it, but then again... she was his mother. It was her obligation to be delighted over those things. He could only hope it would make as good an impression on the Princess...
what do you mean blue hair isn't common...
It would have helped a little to have Falchion by her side, even if… greeting the prince of Plegia with a weapon at hand was out of the question. (And a little too ridiculous for her to imagine.) No, Falchion did not belong in this ballroom. This betrothal was an effort to ease away the lingering tension between their two nations, a cause she very much supported. Lucina would treat this prince as if he were an ally, as if he were her equal, and it was a standard she hoped her people would follow one day.
She kept an eye on the doors, and when at last they opened for the Plegian prince, Lucina carefully excused herself from the Lords and Ladies surrounding her and moved to greet him. He was too far for her to read his expression, but she thought he seemed a little stiff. And he looked rather short, too, until she came closer and found he was at least a head taller than her. As tall as Father, her mind supplied and she smiled.
"Welcome, Prince Morgan. How does the night find you?"
i don't mean anything clearly... 1/2
The truth was... he was five steps into the room and already distracted. The ornate, boldly colored fashion of his fellow guests was a world removed from the grim palette Plegians were so famed for. His eyes lingered on the crowd for a moment longer before snapping to the person addressing him as if waking from a dream. Blue and gold dress. Simple yet distinct tiara...
2/2
4:18 AM for you...!!!
"Thank you. I'm glad to hear that." About him being peachy, of course. But the compliment was nice, so thank you for that, too. "You look rather dashing yourself!"
Which was true enough. He did cut a fine figure in those clothes, but it was his bright eyes that she took notice of. Very kind, bright eyes. And it would be a relief if he turned out to be kind and bright himself.
Then again, there had been that flash of a grimace she'd caught him wearing...
She paused before giving him a mildly concerned smile. "I know you've only just arrived, but is something the matter? You seem... a little distracted."
If there was anything she could do to help, he only need say the word.
half an hour before i woke up :')
"No, it's nothing. I was only admiring the atmosphere," he said, looking out on the scene. "Have you ever been to Plegia? Our idea of a fun evening involves dark corners, blood rituals, and the long and anguished torture of our foes. Meanwhile, it looks like a rainbow got trapped in here and decided to party it up, heh."
A cheerful analysis, and one he looked content to have voiced as he turned his attention back to Lucina. It was easier saying what was on his mind than fretting over what kind of impression he was making, definitely.
my tag called you awake
"Well, I am grateful you washed the blood off before coming here," she said. Her tone was grave, but her eyes crinkled slightly at the corners. "I'm afraid I've never had the pleasure of visiting Plegia. Once our nations are united, I hope..." She stopped and flushed faintly. "I hope I'll be able to see for myself what you mean."
And that didn't come out how she wanted it to at all. Dark corners, blood rituals, and torture certainly wasn't her idea of a good time. Now how was she to politely correct herself without offending him and all of Plegia?
fe: rude awakening
"Are you sure?" he asked, smiling and shoving his hands into his pockets. "You struck me as more of an aboveboard type. Fair and kind and just and so forth. But if you insist..." He trailed off invitingly.
damnit I laughed
And he looked rather happy about it all... Lucina found herself reluctant to disappoint him. Maybe it wasn't as bad as it sounded...?
"I admit..." She faltered, trying to find the right words. "... that might be too extreme for a first visit. Perhaps we could start off with something simpler?"
With less blood and torture.
no subject
Because technically, that was what it would be, right? They were engaged, and he would almost certainly be escorting her around for most of the time. Calling it a visit made it sound so impersonal, and the point was for them to get to know each other...
And yet, even with solid reasoning on his side, he began to pink at the cheeks, gaze locked firmly on the space above Lucina's head. A date...
no subject
"It sounds lovely, Prince Morgan," she replied, blushing again because he was, as if they could only keep infecting each other with blushes and smiles in this strange exchange. "Honestly. I'd like to know more about you."
As curious as she was about Plegia, she wanted to know more about its prince.
"Could I ask you to tell me a little right now?"
no subject
"But first, how about we move away from the entrance? As fantastic as your dress is, I think it's causing a traffic jam." The newly arrived were moving around the pair like a stream around a boulder. A detail he found more entertaining than anything, apparently; he teased her no further, but there was laughter in his brightness of his eyes and the bounce of his step as he walked backwards to lead her.
no subject
"I'm so sorry..." She had completely forgotten about the size of her dress, unused to wearing something so voluminous. When she wore dresses, they were usually simple things, and more often she was found training in worn breeches and tunics.
Her flush spread from her cheeks to her ears, leaving her hot with embarrassment as she hurriedly followed his lead. But he didn't seem mad - just the opposite, in fact - and she sighed, shaking her head at him, even as a smile lingered on her face.
no subject
"So you want to know about me...?" He hummed and clasped his hands behind his back, his eyes already wandering over the crowd again. "Well, I like books, but that won't come as any surprise. Strategy texts are my favorite, though. I'm studying to become a tactician like my mother!" Said brightly, with a note of pride.
His mother queen had yet to find a war worth waging in her name, but scholars still wrote textbooks on the battles she directed under the reign of her father. The passing of the old king had led to a decline in Plegian hostility, but that dampened Morgan's enthusiasm by exactly nil.
5:43 AM...
To say that she admired her father was an understatement. He was the greatest man she'd ever known, and while there was no shortage of great men in the world, there were none who could touch him. She worried, sometimes, about what such a man would sacrifice of himself for his country. It was a lucky thing they lived in times of peace, brought by Queen Robin of Plegia, together with her father and her aunts. She could see very clearly why Morgan spoke so proudly of her majesty.
"But a tactician and not a king?"
He would be a good king, she suspected. There was an ease in the way he smiled and moved, and it was charming in its own way - certainly something to be admired. Something the people would admire him for, even. Lucina, on the other hand, moved with a quiet grace, but not with ease. She was contained, and she had been told the air around her was stifling at times. Too formal even for a princess.
stares...
... But he knew it wasn't his choice to make, and he looked askance at Lucina, softening. His future was about a lot more than just him now. "Probably not what you want to hear from me, seeing as how we're going to be in this together and all. But come what may, I promise I'll do whatever is in my power to be a worthy partner to you, king or prince or pauper."
what...
She slowed to a stop and turned to looked up at him with serious eyes.
"You are already worthy to me. You value human life over station and riches. I don't want to marry a king. I want to marry a good, just man, who will work with me to aid our people. And—" She reached up, lightly touching her tiara, and then looked down at her elaborate dress with a frown. "You don't have to be a king or a queen to do these things."
5:43 AM!!
Relief melted the small bit of tension from his shoulders. Their engagement was a done deal, true -- but it was always nice to know your fiancee didn't find you a colossal failure. Maybe she would enjoy the same sentiment?
"I know we've only known each other for all of five minutes," he said, bending to meet her lowered gaze, "but for what it's worth, I'm feeling pretty good about this thing. I never really thought about the kind of woman I wanted to marry, but I'm happy I saved myself the effort. You only would have made her look bad, ha!"
but you were awake tho
"I hardly think that would be the case." And yet she was smiling again, charmed. "If you loved her, she would have been leagues above me no matter what."
She fell silent for a moment, still smiling up at him, as she wondered how special a woman would have to be to win the heart of a man like him. Doubtless, an incredible woman. And an incredibly happy woman. And what of someone like her?
She hummed vaguely, carefully putting that thought aside and sliding her eyes from his to look around them. Her smile turned wry. "I seem to have caused another 'traffic jam' as you put it." She reached out and touched his arm. Perhaps it was her turn to lead. "Shall we then?"
we were on very opposite ends of the spectrum there
In any case his smile grew, and he took her laugh for a success. It wasn't mature like his mother's, or even loud or carefree, but he tucked it away inside him all the same, liking its quiet sincerity.
"I guess we shall," he said, looking down to where she'd touched him. After a second's thought, he offered an arm. That was a thing people did at fancy functions, wasn't it?
aren't we always
Its position, however, was a treat. Tucked closer to the corner of the ballroom for as much privacy as one could get in such a place, it sat next to a set of large balcony doors, their curtains opened instead of drawn, granting them a lovely view of the night sky above and the garden below.
A crowded ballroom was no place for a nice chat Emmeryn had insisted with difficulty – after all these years, speech still came hard for her – and so it had been done. Lucina had agreed to a degree; the ball was a necessary formality, but that didn't mean they had to be on display all night. Yet nervousness had gnawed at her at the idea of having to sit alone with a stranger and present herself well at that. As if it were so easy...
"Is this all right?" she asked once they neared the table. She wasn’t as nervous now, she realized with a breath, and it was because the stranger was Morgan.
how do we live in the same timezone
"Perfect," he answered, finding that he could speak more softly now, and was glad to be rid of the competing murmur of the crowd. The mellow sounds of the chamber orchestra, on the other hand, were clearer than ever. He let go of Lucina so he could trot up to the view, peering down at the garden below. Even at night, it looked magnificent. Accents of moonlight lit the flowers like jewels, and the trail of lanterns winding around its walkways cast an ethereal glow on what it could touch.
His eyes lingered there for a moment longer, and then he remembered Lucina. Getting distracted again... True, there was a lot to get distracted about, but he had to at least try to keep a lid on it. He turned back to her. "Say, you asked about me, but I never got around to asking about you. Who's the Lucina going around on non-party days?"