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bakerstreet2022-01-06 05:23 pm
morphs) wrote in bakerstreet2022-01-06 05:23 pm
arranged marriage AU to scratch the itch.
 Arranged Marriage Turned More To have and to hold, you said, till death do us part, all while the sharp, swinging pendulum of obligation hung overhead. But how could you have truly meant those words? This union has been tainted from the start, forever bearing the chains of an arranged marriage. It would be understandable if you couldn't bear to look at your new life partner, eternal reminder of your stolen future that they are, much less like them. Much less love them... Still, things can change. You could realize that they are in the same boat as you or, that when compared to others around you, they are the lesser of evils. Perhaps you even open up to the idea of a friendship; at the very least, an alliance may be in order to become a power couple in a perilous world. From that innocent decision or sense of self-preservation, a new feelings sparks. Something like affection. Something, you realize in the wake of speeding heartbeats, like love. Will you acknowledge this? Can the two of you have a happily ever after - happier than if you'd met in another fashion - or will you hold firm in your distaste? how to play. - Everybody loves "couples forged by less-than-ideal circumstances" tropes! 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? |
[ Since the other marriage meme disappeared, I guess it's okay to post this one? ]
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charlotte put a great deal of work into the previous nottingham, the duchess's tiara so close to being within her grasp. if he had but waited a year to be idiotically thrown from his horse on a hunting trip, she would have been mourning him a widow, a dowager duchess still in the full flush of her youth and beauty, and in that case he'd have been the very best of husbands. but no: instead she remains at the hall, arranging her features into solemnity instead of pique as she endures whist and smalltalk and Their Shared Grief.
she had fantasized of finding husbands for her new sisters-in-law to have the pack of them out from underfoot, just as soon as she could call herself mistress of the manor; a twofold stroke, in ridding herself of competition for that title and in putting her own sisters' noses collectively out of joint at her failure to exert herself so on their behalf—
now, she is nearly back where she began. no. not quite. there is the matter of the new duke, who she understands to also be in need of a wife, and who the dowager has heavily hinted she might simply marry instead.
has she so ingratiated herself, or does the old woman think she'll need an ally when he arrives? it will be a delicate matter. when he is announced, charlotte raises her head at what she knows to be her very best angle, even if mourning blacks wash her out terribly. )
no subject
The dowager was quite dangerous, the gossip from the servants telling him that she planned to angle for him, despite the fact that she had married his uncle as his second wife, merely so she would be the current Duchess, a role he knew she was loathe to give up to some other lady.
Noah entered the sitting room, draped in black and filled with the dowager, her daughters and an extra woman? He hadn't heard that that his cousin had managed to get to the point of betrothing himself to a lady willing to deal with the Dowager.
Bowing to the ladies, Noah allowed himself to glance at the unknown, clearly aware of his unmarried state the way she held her head. ]
Aunt, cousins, hello. [ Noah greeted his relatives, curious eyes watching the unfamiliar lady, and also knowing his aunt by marriage detested being addressed as his aunt.
He approached Charlotte, and bowed in front of her ] I'm afraid I am at a disadvantage, my lady.
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Of course this is Miss Geddes, ( she says, ) who has been so essential to us, in our shared griefs.
( somewhat cynically, charlotte suspects — as she takes pains to only acknowledge noah, and not to cast even a sidelong glance to see the expressions of her intended sisters — that the royal we is being used, here. she has been unendingly gracious, of course,
if she occasionally wishes to bury her face in a pillow and scream her frustrations with this household into it, that is between only her and god. who, she further suspects, has not cast an eye upon this tiresome place in some time. how much lovelier it would all be, if it were hers. )
Your grace, ( is demurely delivered, and an instant tell: even in but two words, this woman is certainly scottish. ) If only we met in happier times.