Re: Alternate Universe Challenges
Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 4:24 pm
#245
Set in an olde worlde, fantasy time with a Pygmalion twist.
Max is a prince and heir to the kingdom of wherever. He has reached the age where it's time for him to choose a wife. But as the heir to the kingdom of wherever choosing a wife is no simple matter. It's a complex and difficult matter involving negotiations and treaties. Should he marry a princess from another kingdom? But that would upset the nobles of his own kingdom. Should he marry the daughter or a nobleman? But then he would be upsetting the other noblemen. If he marries a girl from that kingdom then the other kingdom will get suspicious and feel snubbed.
Then of course the girl in question has to be a lot of things - beautiful, graceful, kind, intelligent and educated but not too smart, accomplished, polite, come from a well connected and rich family, know her place and is virginal.
It's difficult to find the right girl. And things like love and compatibility don't come into it.
To take Max's mind of these matters, his cousin Michael takes him out on the town one night. Michael is a soldier in an elite regiment and he knows how to have a good time. He takes him to a bar and Max gets stonking drunk.
And wakes up the next morning married to a coarse, vulgar, illiterate, rude, far from virginal woman named Liz.
Liz is poor - grew up in a orphanage, lived on the streets, never been to school or owned a pair of new shoes type of poor. She's smart but she's never learned to read or write. She's kind but she's also rude, impolite and cheeky.
She's also a con woman and conned Max into marrying her. She thought he was rich but didn't realize exactly who he was.
The marriage is legal and worse - consummated. Max's family are appalled at what happened but they don't believe in divorce so they have no choice but to acknowledge the marriage. It becomes public before the royal family can hush it up and get rid of Liz. So she and Max are stuck together.
At the start, neither of them are happy about it. Max is horrified by Liz's behavior and knows he has failed his duty to his kingdom. Liz is disgusted by Max, she think he's a wimp compared to the men she knows. Gradually they fall in love.
Now the task is to groom Liz into a princess. She gets lessons from Max’s sister everyday but the main responsibility falls to Maria. She is appointed as Liz’s ‘Lady in waiting’. But really her job is to always be at Liz’s side and to tell her what to say, how to act, what to wear and to prevent Liz from bringing any further embarrassment to the royal family.
Michael – as punishment for getting Max involved in the mess in the first place is demoted and appointed Liz’s bodyguard. But it turns out, it’s probably a good thing as there are a lot of people out to get Liz. (There are some people who want Max single so he can marry their daughter, there are other’s who are loyal to the crown and who believe that Liz is a national embarrassment and want to get rid of her.) Naturally he falls for Maria.
That's just the general idea, you're free to add or subtract whatever you like. There are one or two other optional extras that I didn't mention here, pm me if you're interested.
Set in an olde worlde, fantasy time with a Pygmalion twist.
Max is a prince and heir to the kingdom of wherever. He has reached the age where it's time for him to choose a wife. But as the heir to the kingdom of wherever choosing a wife is no simple matter. It's a complex and difficult matter involving negotiations and treaties. Should he marry a princess from another kingdom? But that would upset the nobles of his own kingdom. Should he marry the daughter or a nobleman? But then he would be upsetting the other noblemen. If he marries a girl from that kingdom then the other kingdom will get suspicious and feel snubbed.
Then of course the girl in question has to be a lot of things - beautiful, graceful, kind, intelligent and educated but not too smart, accomplished, polite, come from a well connected and rich family, know her place and is virginal.
It's difficult to find the right girl. And things like love and compatibility don't come into it.
To take Max's mind of these matters, his cousin Michael takes him out on the town one night. Michael is a soldier in an elite regiment and he knows how to have a good time. He takes him to a bar and Max gets stonking drunk.
And wakes up the next morning married to a coarse, vulgar, illiterate, rude, far from virginal woman named Liz.
Liz is poor - grew up in a orphanage, lived on the streets, never been to school or owned a pair of new shoes type of poor. She's smart but she's never learned to read or write. She's kind but she's also rude, impolite and cheeky.
She's also a con woman and conned Max into marrying her. She thought he was rich but didn't realize exactly who he was.
The marriage is legal and worse - consummated. Max's family are appalled at what happened but they don't believe in divorce so they have no choice but to acknowledge the marriage. It becomes public before the royal family can hush it up and get rid of Liz. So she and Max are stuck together.
At the start, neither of them are happy about it. Max is horrified by Liz's behavior and knows he has failed his duty to his kingdom. Liz is disgusted by Max, she think he's a wimp compared to the men she knows. Gradually they fall in love.
Now the task is to groom Liz into a princess. She gets lessons from Max’s sister everyday but the main responsibility falls to Maria. She is appointed as Liz’s ‘Lady in waiting’. But really her job is to always be at Liz’s side and to tell her what to say, how to act, what to wear and to prevent Liz from bringing any further embarrassment to the royal family.
Michael – as punishment for getting Max involved in the mess in the first place is demoted and appointed Liz’s bodyguard. But it turns out, it’s probably a good thing as there are a lot of people out to get Liz. (There are some people who want Max single so he can marry their daughter, there are other’s who are loyal to the crown and who believe that Liz is a national embarrassment and want to get rid of her.) Naturally he falls for Maria.
That's just the general idea, you're free to add or subtract whatever you like. There are one or two other optional extras that I didn't mention here, pm me if you're interested.
