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maskormenace2015-11-03 07:33 pm
desequilibre) wrote in maskormenace2015-11-03 07:33 pm
( video o4 )
[ The man who first appears on the screen is easily recognisable thanks to the very prominent scowl between his brows. People may have seen it before. Usually it comes about when he’s forced to do something like this. In his hands are varying sheets of paper that he rifles through as though to ignore d’Artagnan and his eager camera.
Athos waits a moment, then two, before he sighs. ] Go on then, I know you’re dying to announce it. Let’s not keep them waiting.
[ That’s all the cue d’Artagnan needs. The camera wheels around to show his face, where he’s looking altogether too pleased with himself. ]
We have something to tell you all. [ The camera lingers on his face for a moment and then shifts up, fixing on a sign bearing a symbol that will be familiar to anyone who’s met the Musketeers. D’Artagnan’s voice accompanies the picture. ] We’d like to welcome you to our new offices.
The thing is, we’re Musketeers. This may not be our world, but we’re still able to work. We’d like to help, in the best way we can. And let’s be honest, I was never going to help anyone at the Renaissance Faire.
So, we’re opening an agency of our own.
[ The camera pans around the office itself, showing a mostly wooden interior, a desk, several chairs, and what looks like a modern coffee machine hidden in one corner. There are several doors, including one that leads out to a yard. A couple of horses can briefly be seen there. ]
We want to do our part, here in De Chima. We’re here to protect you. We’ll be your guards, if you need us. We’ll investigate crimes that you bring to us. You can come to us in confidence, and we’ll do all that we can to help you. This is our work, and we want to get back to it.
[ A large hand grasps to reposition the camera and in looms a set of curls and not much else before the camera settles on a desk and Porthos comes into the frame. ]
Not like we get all the praise and glory, despite it being something that’s been well-deserved by our regiment, in my very humble experience. Only, there’s the bit where we take the best. I mean, I’d accept mediocre if I could train it out of you, but I think Athos might have my head first.
[ Which is actually a good point. Athos makes a noise like clearing his throat and waits until one of his companions angles the device again to get him in it. ] We’re taking anyone who wants to learn and seems as if they’d be capable. Men and women. [ And that’s at least one sign that he’s becoming one with the times. And that he’s not as bad as all that, thank you Porthos. ] We only ask that you be over sixteen and that you are prepared to learn. It is not an easy life, you do not make it without dedication. We would expect much of that. But I can guarantee that it is worthwhile. And if you trust us to teach you then you will not be let down.
[ After all that, d’Artagnan pulls the camera back to himself. All of that seriousness has not gotten rid of his excitement. ]
You can let us know if you’re interested. We open for business two weeks from today. If we can help you, you should get in touch.
( nb: the occ information post is here and sign-ups are here. Athos is black, D’Artagnan is teal and Porthos is purple. )
Athos waits a moment, then two, before he sighs. ] Go on then, I know you’re dying to announce it. Let’s not keep them waiting.
[ That’s all the cue d’Artagnan needs. The camera wheels around to show his face, where he’s looking altogether too pleased with himself. ]
We have something to tell you all. [ The camera lingers on his face for a moment and then shifts up, fixing on a sign bearing a symbol that will be familiar to anyone who’s met the Musketeers. D’Artagnan’s voice accompanies the picture. ] We’d like to welcome you to our new offices.
The thing is, we’re Musketeers. This may not be our world, but we’re still able to work. We’d like to help, in the best way we can. And let’s be honest, I was never going to help anyone at the Renaissance Faire.
So, we’re opening an agency of our own.
[ The camera pans around the office itself, showing a mostly wooden interior, a desk, several chairs, and what looks like a modern coffee machine hidden in one corner. There are several doors, including one that leads out to a yard. A couple of horses can briefly be seen there. ]
We want to do our part, here in De Chima. We’re here to protect you. We’ll be your guards, if you need us. We’ll investigate crimes that you bring to us. You can come to us in confidence, and we’ll do all that we can to help you. This is our work, and we want to get back to it.
[ A large hand grasps to reposition the camera and in looms a set of curls and not much else before the camera settles on a desk and Porthos comes into the frame. ]
Not like we get all the praise and glory, despite it being something that’s been well-deserved by our regiment, in my very humble experience. Only, there’s the bit where we take the best. I mean, I’d accept mediocre if I could train it out of you, but I think Athos might have my head first.
[ Which is actually a good point. Athos makes a noise like clearing his throat and waits until one of his companions angles the device again to get him in it. ] We’re taking anyone who wants to learn and seems as if they’d be capable. Men and women. [ And that’s at least one sign that he’s becoming one with the times. And that he’s not as bad as all that, thank you Porthos. ] We only ask that you be over sixteen and that you are prepared to learn. It is not an easy life, you do not make it without dedication. We would expect much of that. But I can guarantee that it is worthwhile. And if you trust us to teach you then you will not be let down.
[ After all that, d’Artagnan pulls the camera back to himself. All of that seriousness has not gotten rid of his excitement. ]
You can let us know if you’re interested. We open for business two weeks from today. If we can help you, you should get in touch.
( nb: the occ information post is here and sign-ups are here. Athos is black, D’Artagnan is teal and Porthos is purple. )
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Poor d'Artagnan. It must be so terribly hard without her, even for a soldier prepared to leave. Newlyweds, and you not even able to write a letter.
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[ Lucifer, Crane, and all they’d wrought. D’Artagnan would have absolutely panicked to know Constance was going through that. ]
But I miss her very much. It’s my hope that what’s said is true, and she doesn’t know I’m gone. You would like her, I think. She’s the bravest woman I know. You’d get along.
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I can imagine. I shouldn't think you'd pick anyone who's less than courageous and noble, especially after those speeches you gave me. The two of you together must be altogether fearsome.
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[ The inequality had been ingrained. For d'Artagnan, it still is. It's why he still defaults to thinking that soldiers must be men, even though he's seen proof of the opposite here. ]
Constance did not let that stop her. You'd get along. She would like the way you talk.
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Well, I like people who are fearsome on their own even better.
[ Then her smile dims, a little bit - more from curiosity than from dread. ]
But what do you mean, less friendly?
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Less friendly. Less equal.
[ He leans back, considering how to describe it without also being offensive. This is not a balance he is particularly good at striking, and he already knows that Kitty will care about it. This is the sort of thing that Kitty always cares about. ]
There are roles, I suppose. Roles for men, and roles for women, and they are distinct. Their work is different, and there are different expectations. Women could not be soldiers, as I am. Wives are supposed to 'obey' their husbands.
Many take that very seriously. Constance's first husband certainly did.
[ His eyebrow flickers as he says that. The dislike, and disapproval, is evident on his face. Even now, d'Artagnan cannot abide the memory of that man. ]
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How disgusting. I've read about that sort of thing, but I didn't know you came from that sort of system. Obey their husbands - Why'd she even marry him? Why any woman would get married at all in a society that expects that sort of thing is another question...You don't demand her obedience.
[ That's not a question. ]
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[ And if he tried, she wouldn't hear of it, he thinks. The thought brings a smile to his face. Constance is no one's vassal. ]
But that's what I'm telling you. Marriage is so often about tradition. It's not always about love, even though it should be. When Constance and I married, it was about nothing but love. Not everyone is able to do that. Most marriages are more about who your family - your father - thinks you ought to marry, rather than choosing for yourself.
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They were never in love, for as long as I've known them.
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How did their marriage end?
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He died.
Killed, by an assassin hiding in the palace. I was there.
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[ Good lord. ]
Oh. An assassin coming for him?
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No. God, no.
An assassin in the palace. Constance serves the Queen, and Bonacieux was there looking for her. The assassin had other plans. He got in her way.
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Right. And when there are matters of kings and queens...Assassins will just run roughshod over the little people, won't they.
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[ Which doesn't make it any better.
He's also leaving out some notable parts of that story, including that said assassin had been fond of d'Artagnan. Including that when she told him what she'd done, she had said she was doing him a favour.
Including that he thinks she actually was. These are the darker, more selfish parts of his heart that he aims to show no one. ]
You asked how their marriage ended. Death is the only way it could.
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Well, or through divorce.
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Illegal.
For Catholics, anyway.
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What? Illegal? But - But that's so stupid.
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The Vatican does not take that lightly.
[ D'Artagnan's words are careful. He is from a profoundly religious world, but his own observance is far more casual. He's not obsessed with this, by any means. ]
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Well, that sounds like a brilliant bloody way to make people want to murder each other.
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[ Is he joking? His voice is dry enough for that, but he sounds serious all the same. ]
It's not just women that have more freedom in this world than mine. The rules are very different there.
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[ She huffs out a sigh of frustration. ]
I wish your Constance would come here. So that then she could have a proper career. And generally be - strong and admirable and really cool, and be free and not subject to the stupid rules that your society puts on women. That'd be even better. 'Cause, yeah, when women don't have full rights, that degrades and demeans men, as well.
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My Constance is Lady in Waiting to the Queen of France. She is among those closest and most trusted by the Queen, and she has proven her bravery, her intelligence and her loyalty time and time again.
I miss her more than I can tell you. I would like it very much if she were here with me, but more than that, I wish I could be there with her. My world is not perfect, by any means, but do not imagine that Constance would want to leave that career behind. The thought of it would offend her like nothing else.
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[ Yeah, all of that's a fair point. Although - ]
But I bet the Queen she serves isn't a reigning queen, is she. I bet it's the King who makes all the choices. And that's a little rotten, isn't it.
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