The Courtly Love Meme

That's COURTLY LOVE. Not COURTNEY LOVE.

Courtly love or domnei was a medieval European conception of nobly and chivalrously expressing love and admiration. Generally, courtly love was secret and between members of the nobility. It was also generally not practiced between husband and wife.

The "courtly love" relationship is modeled on the feudal relationship between a knight and his liege lord. The knight serves his courtly lady (love service) with the same obedience and loyalty which he owes to his liege lord. She is in complete control of the love relationship, while he owes her obedience and submission.The knight's love for the lady inspires him to do great deeds, in order to be worthy of her love or to win her favor. Thus "courtly love" was originally construed as an ennobling force whether or not it was consummated, and even whether or not the lady knew about the knight's love or loved him in return.

The "courtly love" relationship typically was not between husband and wife, not because the poets and the audience were inherently immoral, but because it was an idealized sort of relationship that could not exist within the context of "real life" medieval marriages. In the middle ages, marriages amongst the nobility were typically based on practical and dynastic concerns rather than on love. The idea that a marriage could be based on love was a radical notion. But the audience for romance was perfectly aware that these romances were fictions, not models for actual behavior. The adulterous aspect that bothers many 20th-century readers was somewhat beside the point, which was to explore the potential influence of love on human behavior. The behavior of the knight and lady in love was drawn partly from troubadour poetry and partly from a set of literary conventions derived from the Latin poet Ovid, who described the "symptoms" of love as if it were a sickness. The "lovesick" knight became a conventional figure in medieval romance. Typical symptoms: sighing, turning pale, turning red, fever, inability to sleep, eat or drink. Romances often contained long interior monologues in which the lovers describe their feelings.

tl;dr characters are in a fantasy/medieval setting and having a courtly romance.

How to Play
- Comment with your character, preferences, etc. Also, be sure to include what "role" your character will be taking on in this little affair.

• Lord/lady
• Knight (gender neutral, of course)
• Prince/princess
• Bard or poet
• Servant
• Commoner (for the ultimate "forbidden romance")

-Comment to others, using the RNG to determine your fate.
( Prompts under the cut )

The Nest of Eggs Meme

(An interactive Fire Lizards of Pern meme)

One day, while exploring the world you stumble across a nest with a single egg inside. At first, you think it must be dead. Why else would it be abandoned like this? Suddenly, the egg jumps and you realize that something must be alive inside. What could this mysterious egg be hiding? Hang around and you might just find out.

How to Play
Step One: Leave a comment with your muse. Nest O' Flitts will reply with a randomly selected fire lizard hatchling for your muse. We will give you the basic information, color, gender and personality. Congratulations, you have a brand new companion!

Step Two: Now that you have your pet, time to go around and tag others. Play in the Pern canon or play in your muse's canon. Either way, you tag whomever you want to play around with your new pet.

Can't think of anything? Here are a few suggestions to get you started:
Hunting Party: Fire lizards make excellent trackers. Think of them like scaly birds of prey. Gather your friends together and go hunt some wild game.

Social Event: A fire lizard is a symbol of status. You have the wealth and means to take care of one of these special pets. Time to show your pet off and be the envy of the event.

Playing Games: Fire lizards are playful creatures. Get together and play some fetch with your new pets or perhaps set up an aerial obstacle course. Have fun!

Fighting: Oh no! You're under attack! Luckily your new pet is very protective and is helping you fight off your attackers.

Mating Flight: Female fire lizards go into heat once or twice a year when they lead males on a merry chase until the strongest or cleverest catches them. Your pet is either leading the flight (female fire lizards) or your pet has joined a chase (male fire lizards).

[For more information please check this post. If you have any questions, please comment here.]

THE STUCK IN A VIDEO GAME MEME



Video games. We love 'em. You love 'em. Let's get stuck in them. ...Wait.

This meme is the considerably more fantastical version of the "Playing Games" meme. Except this time, you and someone else are now STUCK in the game, and now your only hope to get out again is to finish the main story. Or get the high score, depending on what's more applicable. Note that this does not necessarily have to be an EXISTING game, if you would find it simpler to make up your own. But it CAN be, which naturally might make things a little complicated for, you know, actual video game characters.

Anyway. You probably know the rules at this point, but here's a refresher:

1.) Post with your character.
2.) When you reply to someone, roll from the options below.
3.) Congratulations! You are now stuck in that game. Feel free to pick a specific one if you want, or make up your own random-ass game.
4.) We hold no responsibility for how you and your friend(s?) completely derail the storyline.

OPTIONS:

1. Dating Sim (eg. Tokimeki Memorial, Katawa Shoujo): The question is, are you getting hit on by the main jerk, or are you the aforementioned jerk? And if so... what does that make your buddy?

2. Japanese RPG (eg. Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Tales of): Carefully crafted narratives which you're probably going to mess up the moment you step out of the king's chamber. Welp.

3. Western RPG (eg. Fallout, Baldur's Gate, Wizardry): WHY DOES EVERYBODY ASK YOU TO DO EVERYTHING FOR THEM EVER.

4. Management Sim (eg. Evil Genius, Rollercoaster Tycoon, Simcity): You will probably want to consider your road budget a bit more when the short-tempered man in charge isn't stuck behind a computer screen.

5. Beat'em'up (eg. Final Fight, River City Ransom, God Hand): But why DO all these goons look the same ANYWAY?

6. First Person Shooter (eg. Doom, Medal of Honor, Half-Life 2): Sure, you're surrounded by a bunch of horrible flesh-eating monsters, but you've got a pretty sweet gun there, so it's kind of a trade-off.

7. Adventure Game (eg. The Walking Dead, Monkey Island, King's Quest): Turns out when you're not restricted by event flags, your options on how to resolve your issues expands dramatically...

8. Platformer (eg. Super Mario Bros, Rayman, I Wanna Be the Guy): The platforms are floating in mid-air. Don't ask questions, just jump.

9. Strategy (eg. Starcraft, Civilization, Total War): Command great armies and vast kingdoms, and promptly drive them into the ground.

10. Survival Horror (eg. Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Dead Space): Alternatively, just treat this like pretty much any Dreamwidth RP ever.

11. Puzzle (eg. Puyo Puyo, Chu Chu Rocket, 2048): Fighting each other with the power of LOVE... and dropping blocks.

12. Fighting Game (eg. Street Fighter, Tekken, King of Fighters): Does this game have a support team mechanic? No? Sucks to be you two.

13. Shoot-em-up (eg. Gradius, Touhou, Tyrian): You think dodging the bullets in 2D was bad, wait until you try it in 3D.

14. Metroidvania (eg. Metroid, Symphony of the Night, La Mulana): We have to go all the way back WHERE?!

15. Classic Arcade (eg. Frogger, Pac-Man, Lunar Lander): This is pretty much the point where trying to create a logical setting starts to break down half the time. Just go with it.

16. Sports (eg. Tecmo Bowl, NBA Jam, Mario Kart): Screw you and your dang blue shells.

17. Visual Novel (eg. Fate/Stay Night, Higurashi no Koro Ni, Dangan Ronpa): Try not to skip straight to the contractually obligated porn scenes, thanks.

18. Action Adventure (eg. Zelda, Okami, Dark Souls): And if Zelda, try to figure out who gets stuck with the green tunic.

19. Block-Builder Sandbox (eg. Terraria, Minecraft, Lego Worlds): Build your dream home, and then watch it get destroyed by the enemies.

20. COMBO: Pfft. Like video games stick to one particular genre anymore. Roll TWO numbers and see what you get.

21: Wildcard/Other: For anything I might have missed.

  THE WAR ZONE MEME


WARNING: Meme will contain TRIGGERS, including war, violence, capture, and general uncomfortable content. Please do not click if you don't want to see, and please respect your fellow role-players.

◊ Post with your character with name and canon. 
◊ List any preferences(roles, scenarios, time periods, etc.) you have.
◊ Reply to others! Roll using random.org or choose your prompts.

ROLES
1) The General/Admiral: You're the head honcho, the guy in charge. You have hundreds, maybe thousands of lives resting on you. What decision will you make?

2) The Officer: Not the leader, but you've got responsibility for your crew. What's your specialty -- independent initiative? Insubordination? Or do you let the noncoms walk all over you?

3) The Soldier: Just an ordinary soldier with your pike, or rifle, or energy gun. Your job is to follow orders. But when it comes down to it, when you look the enemy in the eye -- what will you do?

4) Spy: Dressed in civilian clothes, disguised as an enemy officer. Your job is to get as much information as you can, and then get out. Or are you going to sow a little chaos and destruction along the way?

5) Civilian: This is your land that's being fought over. Do you support a side? Do you hide, or do you hold steady in the face of such violence?

6) Other. 

SCENARIOS
1) Battle: In the middle of the fighting.

2) Downtime/R&R: A few peaceful moments, to spend as you will.

3) Sabotage: Something's gone terribly wrong. A factory blown up, a bridge destroyed, an assassination. What do you do about it?

4) Planning: How do you go about storming that beach?

5) Capture/Rescue: The enemy soldiers have you surrounded. Or maybe you're on a daring mission to break your buddies out of jail.

6) Other. 

TIME PERIOD
1) Ancient times: Grab that centurion's helmet, form up into a phalanx, and let's go crush those Gauls and/or Persians!

2) Medieval times: Suit up in your armor, grab a lance and make sure to bring along your squire.

3) Revolutionary times: Basic guns and muskets, very little medical care, and very little tactics. Give the other army a few days to dig in, and they'll hold you off forever.

4) World War I/II: Technology is advancing, and warfare is more sophisticated than ever. Remember the trenches, the skirmishes in cities, the spies and the drama.

5) Modern times: Guerilla warfare, modern tactics, modern technology.

6) The future: Ray guns? Space battles? Let your imagination go wild.

7) Other.