武媚娘 | Wu Meiniang (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ladyemperor) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
isleofavalon2021-04-07 10:49 pm
ladyemperor) wrote in isleofavalon2021-04-07 10:49 pm
OPEN: catch-all for April
🧙 WHO: Meiniang and YOU
⚔️️ WHAT: Quests but also anything and everything!
🕒 WHEN: During the beautiful month of April
🗺️ WHERE: Anywhere and everywhere
⚠️ WARNINGS: Probably none, but subject to change if anything crops up
General April Shenanigans
i. The Survival Option
[Living as a concubine for many years didn't exactly prepare you to live life on your own, and having to learn to draw her own bath, get her own food was definitely an experience. Made much easier, of course, with the various magical conveniences like running water and electricity.
And made easier still because her first thought when seeing all of it was wondering how it worked, why it worked. That took up time in her day that would have been spent in bed with the covers pulled up and a book she'd only really be reading half-heartedly. Having to learn how to live one's life anew made it easier to try and forget the life she'd had.
The emperor's death feels simultaneously like yesterday and yet like too long ago so she stubbornly keeps the white silk flower in her hair though the pure white clothing she'd worn was impractical and for all that she had to grieve, she'd also been thoroughly spoiled by Rui An and the luxury of the Imperial Palace. So plain clothes it is.
Do you...]
A. Find her at breakfast, 8am
[Learning to wake up this early is hard for a concubine that usually woke up whenever she wanted, but it was either this or go hungry and Meiniang had never liked that feeling. Though she does find herself longing for some plain buns, or even noodles as she eats her cold fruit, chasing it with warm tea and frowning as she does so.]
...I can see how this would be refreshing in the height of summer, but to eat it like this now when it's so wet outside feels odd. [It's definitely why she's already on her third cup of tea at this point.]
B. Find her standing at the top of the stairs
[This would usually be the time when Rui An comes to bring her an umbrella. And also to tell her not to go out. But on her own, Meiniang takes one look at the water then proceeds to pull the bottom hem of her robe up a little so she can actually tie it tight and wade into the water.
She knows more than one of the emperor's other concubines would be raising their eyebrows at her, probably outright saying that was exactly what they'd expect from her of all people but none of them are here. In the end, it's once again just her.
If you're at all hesitant, she turns to you and offers a hand.] Do you need help?
⚔️️ WHAT: Quests but also anything and everything!
🕒 WHEN: During the beautiful month of April
🗺️ WHERE: Anywhere and everywhere
⚠️ WARNINGS: Probably none, but subject to change if anything crops up
General April Shenanigans
i. The Survival Option
[Living as a concubine for many years didn't exactly prepare you to live life on your own, and having to learn to draw her own bath, get her own food was definitely an experience. Made much easier, of course, with the various magical conveniences like running water and electricity.
And made easier still because her first thought when seeing all of it was wondering how it worked, why it worked. That took up time in her day that would have been spent in bed with the covers pulled up and a book she'd only really be reading half-heartedly. Having to learn how to live one's life anew made it easier to try and forget the life she'd had.
The emperor's death feels simultaneously like yesterday and yet like too long ago so she stubbornly keeps the white silk flower in her hair though the pure white clothing she'd worn was impractical and for all that she had to grieve, she'd also been thoroughly spoiled by Rui An and the luxury of the Imperial Palace. So plain clothes it is.
Do you...]
A. Find her at breakfast, 8am
[Learning to wake up this early is hard for a concubine that usually woke up whenever she wanted, but it was either this or go hungry and Meiniang had never liked that feeling. Though she does find herself longing for some plain buns, or even noodles as she eats her cold fruit, chasing it with warm tea and frowning as she does so.]
...I can see how this would be refreshing in the height of summer, but to eat it like this now when it's so wet outside feels odd. [It's definitely why she's already on her third cup of tea at this point.]
B. Find her standing at the top of the stairs
[This would usually be the time when Rui An comes to bring her an umbrella. And also to tell her not to go out. But on her own, Meiniang takes one look at the water then proceeds to pull the bottom hem of her robe up a little so she can actually tie it tight and wade into the water.
She knows more than one of the emperor's other concubines would be raising their eyebrows at her, probably outright saying that was exactly what they'd expect from her of all people but none of them are here. In the end, it's once again just her.
If you're at all hesitant, she turns to you and offers a hand.] Do you need help?
If the fruit is chilly, just warm it!
[Knowing how to make the aforementioned staples of fruit preservation, he's had no occasion to ask.]
Edward VII is supposed to be a good cooking apple, too. [It's just not as popular as Bramley's.]
May Queen and Winter King apples are good for fresh eating even this late. But I haven't spotted any signs for Winter King apples yet...
[There are some apples that look like Winter King apples, but he isn't entirely certain. They could be look-alikes of another parentage, after all.]
Time for her to make fruit soup!
You are very knowledgeable on this subject. [And that effort should be acknowledged, she thinks with a soft smile before she turns to the owner of the stall.]
One of each then, please. [While the owner of the stall takes Meiniang's small bit of money, they remember to mention also that Winter King apples would come soon and that they'd let them know as soon as possible. Of course. Can't lose the possibility of a repeat customer, after all. Meiniang can appreciate that and smiles to the owner, as well, already planning on coming back. While eating too much raw fruit could be too chilly, she does think that apples are the least chilly of the bunch, right? If she wanted to eat watermelon all the time then she really wouldn't know how to face Rui An.]
Or stewed or baked fruit!
Apples are common in my country. We're known to grow quite the variety of them.
[He picks out a few more choice apples, summing up the total in his head before transferring the amount over to the merchant. He's had a little practice with his phone over the matter of the new form of currency, so he has the hang of it even if it still feels odd to not be using actual coins.]
Or jam!
May I ask the name of your country? [Knowing that might not help her. She knows it's unlikely that his country might also exist back in her own world. But at the same time, a small part of her hopes to find something familiar.
As for how familiar he seems to be with using his phone... well, that she makes sure to watch carefully in the hopes of mimicking him for purchases in the future, even craning her neck a little to make sure she can see.]
Or pies, with a few more ingredients! So many ways to have warm fruit.
I suppose you could say my country is a country within a country. I am from England. It's part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
[At least, such is how it is called in his time.]
And yours, miss? Where are you from?
no subject
I am from the Great Tang and born in the county of Wenshui. [Sure she hasn't been back in her hometown for years, probably would never be able to go back there but it holds a special place in her heart regardless.]
no subject
[He's gathered people from different countries don't always use the same name for their lands that the English use, though, so he's not entirely surprised.]
You wouldn't happen to have heard of Great Liang, have you? My friends are from there.
no subject
But at least she has heard of Great Liang.]
...you are a friend of Young Master Li.
no subject
[And for a moment, he seems almost peaceful saying that.]
He and my other friend wear clothes that look a little similar to yours, so I wondered if you might be from around the same region.
no subject
But I think we're from different versions of it.
no subject
......I thought something similar might be the case for me. The clothing you and my friends wear hasn't been associated with that region for a long time now. You're more likely to see it in very old art, or images depicting myths or the long past. But some of the things they have work in a similar way to things much closer to my time.
It's as though something happened back then that allowed them to discover that sort of technology much sooner.
no subject
Still, she puts the thought aside for now to focus on the conversation with a tilt of her head.]
Technology? [That was something neither Li Min nor Gu Yun had showed her.]
no subject
[He's not sure if it is. It's just a word he's known for so long he's been under the impression that everyone is aware of it.]
Technology is... well, the things we use in addition to ourselves to function. Like how wheels made carts and carriages possible, and those things made it easier to travel with more than what you could carry on your own. Advancements in technology make it easier to do certain things.
Just realized some of this tag had disappeared ahhhh
It is a new word. But I assume this technology they have isn't simply carriages and wheels otherwise our worlds really are more different than I realized.
no subject
I think what they have would be classified as steam-powered.
[That's the best way he can describe it, anyhow. He may be from a future era, but his education in traditional subjects of learning is unfortunately a little behind, both due to the war and his work in it.]
no subject
[That is definitely news to her and she files it away as yet another thing for her to read about.]
That's amazing.
no subject
[He still wonders how Gu Yun manages to wear his armour without getting burned. It must have a pretty sophisticated cooling system.]
They might have books about that sort of thing in one of the libraries around here, if you're interested in the subject.
no subject
[Back home the books were all collected in one place and did not cover half so many subjects.]
no subject
[And though he is from before the days of the internet, this much is no marvel to him.]
Do they not have as many where you are from?
no subject
[Information that could be bought and sold by just about anyone, things meant to be read and then discarded afterwards.]
And we weren't normally encouraged to go to the library whenever we wanted to. They'd say it was "unseemly". [Though by the smile on her face it's clear that she has absolutely frequented that library as much as she wanted, seemliness be damned. Hey, if she was going to be punished with copying out the late Empress Wende's entire 30 volume of writings on how to be a proper lady then she'd more than earned her right to be there whenever she wanted.]
no subject
Unseemly, or unseemly for a woman? What a load of rubbish. They're just afraid women will realise they are every bit as smart as men.