bakerstreet | monday meme seance: historical, a meme

monday meme seance: historical, a meme

The Historical AU Meme

The glory of Rome! The pageantry of medieval times! The etiquette of the Regency era! The glamour of the twenties, the free-wheeling of the seventies, and - of course - the final frontier of the future.

R U L E S:

1. Post your character! Name and series in the subject line.

2. Find someone to play with! Use the RNG for a time period and situation.

3. Make excellent choices!

O P T I O N S:

1) Greco-Roman - Togas! Tunics! Gladiatorial fights and getting stabbed right in the forum! (And that's really sensitive, you know.) Maybe you're in the recently-conquered Londinium, or maybe you've made your home in Pompeii and ... hey, do you hear that?

2) Medieval - Jousting! Pointy hats! Castles! Dormice inside of a rabbit inside of a chicken inside of a duck inside of a swan inside of a pig inside of a cow! Are you royalty, a peasant, or something in between?

3) Renaissance - It's a time of discovery and revelation! New scientific breakthroughs are being made every day, and incredible literature and poems are being written all the time. Perhaps you've made your home in Venice, and you're adding to the flow of progress - or fighting against it.

4) Victorian/Edwardian - Everything is repressed and a series of gestures with a fan can make or break a hopeful suitor's night. There are balls and salons and ridiculously thorough rules of etiquette. Are you solving mysteries with Sherlock Holmes or drinking absinthe in a bar by the Moulin Rouge?

5) 1920s - Flappers! Prohibition! Everyone's dancing the Charleston and watching these new silent movies. That is, unless they've escaped to Paris to drink a lot and write about the human condition. Do you party like the world's about to end or ponder what would happen if it did?

6) 1950s - Are you willing to leave it to Beaver? It's the time of adorable housedresses, three-martini lunches, and everyone owning a brand new refrigerator - on credit! Gee whiz, it sure is great, isn't it?

...wait, what was that about nuclear bombs?

7) 1970s - Disco! Margaret Thatcher! Drugs! The '70s are a time of social upheaval and change, not to mention leisure suits. Are you at the forefront of feminism or busting a move at the discotheque?

8) Present day - it's now! Everyone's got an iPhone and a Facebook and are constantly Twittering about their MySpace. People are more connected than ever, and the world is growing smaller and smaller every day.

9) The future! - The final frontier! Are we colonizing Mars or exploring the galaxy in a big, groovy spaceship? Have we made first contact yet? Has someone finally gotten around to inventing Holodecks? If you can dream it, maybe it's happened!

10) Got a different/better idea? Some time or place I didn't think of? This is for you!

S C E N E S:

1) Having a meal! With your family, your significant other, your best friend. Is it fit for a king or what you've managed to scrounge together from what's left?

2) A night's entertainment! Going to see a show at the Globe Theater, taking in a movie, or watching a troupe of performers put on a passion play - either way, it won't be a dull night.

3) Courting! Maybe you're in an arranged marriage, or necking in the backseat of your best guy's T-Bird at the drive-in movie theater.

4) School! Are you learning from Miss Emmeline at a one-room schoolhouse, taking notes on Latin from the tutor your father hired, or at a British boarding school?

5) It's a party! Maybe you're having a hell of a time at Studio 54 or giggling behind your fan at a ball with your best friend while you wait for the boys you like to ask you to dance.

6) Political intrigue! Is someone trying to stage a coup for your throne? Is your political rival trying to knock you out of the Senate?

7) Rivals! Maybe you're two lords fighting over the same eligible lady, or maybe he's picked on you since you were both kids growing up on the same block.

8) Family! You've got kids now, or maybe you are the kids. Perhaps you're out from dawn till dusk tilling the fields, or your biggest concern is making sure your daughters marry well.

9) Market day! Are you at the mall checking out the newest saddle shoes and cuffed denim? Are you making your way to the nearest town with sheep and cows to sell?

10) Got something better? Want to combine a couple of these? Go for it!

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[Preferred choices would be medieval, Renaissance, regency, Victorian, Edwardian, 1920s (her own canon point) and up to about WWII. Also may be interested in old west, colonial, and pirates/age of sail. F/M for any shipping.]

[Looking to explore just about any era of the past with Destiny.]

[Isolated Roman military outpost maybe?]

[m/m if shipping, OTA for everything else]

[20th century and onward is probably best for this one]

[ I see you. ♥ ]

[ Pre-Victorian isn't an AU for him, post-Victorian is. ]

Edited 2016-06-27 22:33 (UTC)

Edited 2016-06-28 01:20 (UTC)

The Coulsons and the Starks have shared a land border for as long as anyone can remember. There's a small creek that runs between their two properties, and a bit of a path on either side and after The Incident, it is not to be crossed by either side of the stale-mate. Because, of course, the Couslons and the Starks have shared a land border for as long as anyone can remember and they've been at odds for even longer. The story is different every time it's told--sometimes it's a murdered Coulson cousin. Sometimes it's a tarnished Stark reputation. Sometimes it's deflowered women, or stolen jewels or impugned honor--the fact of the matter is that no one exactly remembers The Incident, but they do remember it happened and if you're holding a banquet with both noble houses in attendance, Lord Anthony Stark and Lord Phillip Coulson best be sat on opposite ends of the room or the night might very well come to blows.

Jackson Stark, son of Lord Anthony Stark and Lady Virginia knows this. Of course he does--he's been warned since he was a child by his father to avoid the Coulsons at all cost, for they are a family of poorly mannered louts. But you see, the problem is that the best hunting happens to be on the edge of their holdings, right along the creek. The fact that it's a little bit more dangerous and a little bit more thrilling doesn't have anything to do with it. Honestly. Besides, he's pretty convinced the Coulsons don't come anywhere near this part of their land. He's certainly never seen any of them around, though he has caught sight of the stableman in the distance a time or two.

He's there now, along the side of the creek, bow slung over his shoulder, reigns tight in his hands. He hadn't expected the storm that blew up seemingly without warning, and he's keen to be out of it now that thunder rumbles low and threatening and the clouds seem to be fit to spill buckets of water any moment. His mother is going to kill him -- she keeps reminding him not to ride in his finer clothes--

Beneath him, his horse lets out a heavy sigh and flicks long ears back toward her master, the ire at being kept out past her normal feeding time radiating through her disdain. He pats along her neck and pushes her a bit further along. He's reasonably sure if they try and double back along this game trail, they can cut off a good bit of the ride back. It just means they'll cross onto Coulson land for a moment. Surely given the situation, it'll be ignored. Not that there's anyone to even see him breaking the rules. He'll just--encourage his horse into a small jump over the creek and they'll cross further up. They're significantly less vegetation to wade through on that side. And really it's all to avoid getting his velvets soaked and incurring the wrath of his mother--

--which is, of course, when the skies open in a downpour. Well, damn.

The tale of the Feud has been told for as long as Morgan can remember. The reason behind it (the infamous Incident) differs depending on who is telling it, but each reiteration agrees, the Starks are to blame. If the tales are to be believed -- and not being introduced at Court yet, Morgan has no other sources -- the Starks tend to be born vain, with brilliant minds and a lack of common courtesy. It is said, that a Stark can be instantly recognized by his (or her, but Morgan has to add that part on herself) poor manners and dark hair. (Morgan does not point out, to the handmaiden or stable hand telling the tale, how many of the castles inhabitants that particular description fits.) Once she's formally introduce, she's sure someone will have the good grace to point out all the Starks she is to avoid like the plague itself. (Once, she suggested to her father that he ought to commission portraits of all the Starks-- as a learning tool. He stared at her like she had grown a second head. The idea was never brought forth again. Though perhaps, it would've been beneficial.)

The line between the Coulson and the Stark lands is as theoretical as the people she's supposed to hate. (Lord Anthony Stark and Lady Virginia Stark, with their sole heir, are nothing but names on a paper to her. They conjure up no true image.) Now, she is aware their lands are adjacent to the Stark lands and that she should never venture across the line. Now, the only problem is, the line (by virtue of being a line) lies at the outskirts of the Coulson lands, far too far for a respectable young lady to ride out on her own. The line exists, she knows. But where it lies? It's anybody's guess. On any given day, she might keep well clear of it, but she may also cross it about a thousand times. The green rolling hills hardly give the appearance of being bisected by an invisible, if powerful, line.

The black stallion shifts its weight beneath Morgan, each muted roll of thunder making its ears flick and its eyes roll upwards towards the sky. Her tight grip on the reigns is the only thing keeping it from bolting. Her thighs tighten around the stallion's flanks and she makes a soft and frustrated noise. If the horse tosses her, she'll never hear the end of it. The stallion -- a gorgeous, if skittish creature -- is headstrong. A challenging ride for any rider, and hardly an appropriate mount for a young lady. (Oh, how Morgan detests that word. Appropriate. Never was there a more foul word.) He's also Morgan's favorite.

All Morgan's soothing falls on deaf ears. The storm is whirling into being around them, dead leafs come to life after the harsh winter, rattling around the stallion's hoofs. He dances in the spot, restless and nervous. They'll be hit by the storm, no matter which direction Morgan turns. From here, she can't even see the shape of the great mansion she calls home.

There's nothing gradual about the rain. One moment, the clouds look heavy and dark up above, the next everything is covered in a near impenetrable sheet of water. Morgan's grip on the reigns tightens and she urges the stallion into motion. They start at a steady trot and pick up speed for each passing moment. The stallion stretches out beneath her, water splashes from his hooves. There will be mud spattered all along the hem of her dress by the time she makes it home, she's sure.

Later, she won't be able to tell anyone just how it happened. One moment, she is in control, tight grip on the reigns and knees clamped tight, the next she is flat on her back, watching the idiot horse speeding away in the distance. Her lungs burn, breath chased fresh out of her, but except for the surprise she seems no worse for wear. Except-- How in all damnation is she supposed to get back home again?

It's not that he doesn't see the horse and rider when they break out from somewhere near the Coulson lands, it's just that he doesn't see the horse and rider until they're nearly on top of him. It's an entirely different thing. And were it not pouring fit to drown someone just thinking about looking skyward, they wouldn't have snuck up on him, he's certain of it. And really--it's a moment in time that passes quickly because one moment there's a horse and rider and he has time to think 'oh this will be hard to explain to Mother' and then the stallion (it must be, given the size of the thing--ironic considering the small stature of the rider, at least what he can make out of them from this vantage point) is rearing up, letting out a panicked whinny and when he comes back down his rider isn't atop him.

He bolts, and Jackson has another moment to think the unfortunate: 'ah, if I leave now, there won't be anyone to catch my wrongdoing' before he spies the rider down on the ground, not doing very much moving. Caught by the Coulson's and reprimanded for reigniting a generations old feud is one thing--leaving someone to die in a monsoon is quite another. And if Jackson knows his Mother (and her opinions on 'the ridiculousness of having a feud in the first place, Anthony, honestly') he knows which one he'll actually get killed for.

Jackson Stark will not be responsible for two dead bodies today.

It doesn't take much to get his mare (small, perhaps, for him--and sometimes teased as a mount for a woman, but wicked smart and surefooted like she's part goat) to change her forward path, and she circles to the fallen rider with a heaved sigh that has him promising her extra oats and a warm scrub over the sound of the rain.

Only once he's next to the rider does he dismount, holding his horse's reins in a hand--because while he may trust her with his life she's still a horse and that thunder sends a shiver down her coat every time it cracks overhead--moving over to the prone figure. It's hard to tell, with all the folds of fabric and the muck, but it seems to be standard riding clothes, something maybe the help would wear. A bit of tension releases in his chest despite himself--at least he's not actually engaging with a proper Coulson. Just a member of the household, that has to be slightly less of a breach of etiquette then.

He reaches his hand out, tugging the poor rider up out of the mud and to their feet. It's easy enough to use his sleeve to brush some of the mud and wet hair out of their face (his velvets are ruined anyway, his mother will make such a face) and easier still to drop his hand down to steady the rider as they find their feet. It's only then, looking down at what turns out to be skirts rather than a cloak and looking back up to catch bright eyes and full lips that he realizes--

"You're a girl!!"

Edited (one should ride horses not pantaloons ) 2020-05-09 02:52 (UTC)

( Anything other than Medieval. )

Lady Asuka Langley, "oi! Why can't anyone even pronounce or write a name well around here? Didn't your masters teach you to write other languages well? It is Long Glaive, you Dummköpfe", daughter of Baroness Kyoko Blue-Dragon, clanked her overly-decorated red armor loudly as she pointed at the scribes whose painting of her Dancing Red Devil clad over her shield did little to satisfy her, after being forcibly given a new surname.

Hailing from Swabia, she was the daughter of a prominent family of nobles that fought with Barbarossa himself only two decades ago, and thus had the lineage of champions in her veins. And yet, it also had the reputation for madness, be it by engineered marriages that had allowed for little space for newer blood, or fate. Word ran that her mother was hit so hard on her helm by a lance at a joust, that she never recovered. Even outrageous rumors such as her adopting a doll as her own daughter in that period of insanity, before her mysterious death little word was let out.

It was said that madness runs in her family's blood. If it was true, Lady Asuka hid it too well. In times of jousts and tournaments, she hid it too well under bravado, pride, and eagerness to fight and win.

Lady Asuka's armor rustled loudly when she turned to your character, smiling. "Are you my new challenger, or what?"

((OOC: All eras allowed, this prompt or all others are good. Feel free to take any role if you take this prompt, allowing the question to be either a genuine one or a tease.))

Edited 2016-06-28 05:43 (UTC)

[ Yes, please. Can start off. ]

Edited 2016-06-28 12:03 (UTC)

(All but Medieval will be AU for him. No Wardens or Inquisitors for shippy prompts. Gen CR would be fine.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

monday meme seance: historical, a meme

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Destiny Rumancek | Hemlock Grove | OTA

Doug Eiffel | Wolf 359

Yamamoto Takeshi | Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

Frank Castle | Daredevil

Sara Lance | Arrow/Legends | OTA

mairon ( S A U R O N ) | tolkien legendarium

Dr. Alexander Sweet ( D̶r̶a̶c̶u̶l̶a̶ ) | Penny Dreadful

Elizabeth | Bioshock Infinite | OTA

Merlin | Kingsman

Hikaru Sulu | Star Trek TOS/AOS

Cassie Cage | Mortal Kombat X | OTA

mindy macready (hit girl) | kick-ass

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Morgan Coulson | MCU OC | OTA

no subject

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Alistair » Dragon Age » OTA

Asuka Langley Soryu | Neon Genesis Evangelion

Dick Grayson | Batman | OTA

Peter Parker | The Amazing Spider-Man | OTA

Bucky Barnes | MCU | OTA

Stiles Stilinski - Teen Wolf - ota

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