#hc: percy blakeney

[walkingshcdow]

I’ve been thinking about lately how ill-equipped Percy Blakeney is for a life beyond the French Revolution and how, despite later conflicts under the rise of Napoleon, the French Revolution (certainly The Reign of Terror) is an incredibly short period. The way Orczy writes about the French Revolution through her serial novels, which followed the success of “The Scarlet Pimpernel,” implies a more drawn-out conflict and, therefore, a longer, more drawn-out period of vigilante heroism on Percy’s part. However, historically speaking, that’s not true. When France reverts to a kind of monarchy, what does Percy do? 

I once posited to a friend of mine that the real spirit of The Scarlet Pimpernel is not about aristocracy but instead protecting refugees. I argued that the work of The Scarlet Pimpernel points out the hypocrisy of claiming “liberty, fraternity, and equality” for all men while persecuting some men (and women and children) and that, if alive and operating today, The Scarlet Pimpernel would operate in places where similar atrocities occurred. I remember this conversation as one of the last with that friend, in no small part because she claimed she did not want to politicize literature. I think Leslie Howard, who directed and starred in “Pimpernel Smith” and who played Sir Percy in the 1934 film, would readily agree with me. He reimagined Sir Percy as Horatio Smith, a man who freed inmates from concentration camps, in a film released in 1941. If it is so easy to see where The Scarlet Pimpernel might work his will in the 20th century, the question becomes where would he go as the 18th century faded into the early 19th century? 

I once read the “biography” of Percy Blakeney. I remember that he and Marguerite have two children, and I know little else of what Orczy imagined Percy Blakeney doing after the conclusion of the French Revolution. Knowing that she continued to publish novels until 1940 always makes me think that she understood the melodrama of her work and the popularity of her characters but it also makes me wonder why (and how) she limited herself predominantly to writing about the French Revolution. I know “The First Sir Percy” exists, but he’s not who I’m interested in. I am fascinated as to why Percy Blakeney’s original author never explored the ennui he must have felt when the Revolution ended and how that must have conflicted with his humanitarian nature, which would have been glad to see the war was over. I wonder why she didn’t explore other conflicts for him to take up arms in or why we never learn what his children must have thought of their father’s stories (if he ever told them stories). With the Revolution behind them, could Percy be a devoted husband in the mundane ways life demands a spouse to be, or did he only ever know how to show love through large acts of devotion? I suppose not many people looking at adventure novels want to read about domesticity but would Percy want to be domestic? If he was dissatisfied with it, what would an active character like Percy do to change his lot in life? What about Marguerite? Would she want to be included in the next round of adventures, or would she be happy maintaining the Blakeneys’ home and reputation? 

I once read a charming fanfiction wherein an older Sir Percy and Lady Blakeney meet the newly married Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy in an inn. It’s the only time I’ve been content with something that depicts Percy Blakeney as retired. Whenever I’ve set out to write him, I’ve wanted to explore the restlessness of retirement or else give him a new task. It’s why my Fae verse for Percy began in the first place: reimagining him and the League as Fae vigilantes allowed me to traverse time and space with the same, wild characters I fell in love with, with some added pizazz. 

Returning to writing Percy Blakeney this week has made me remember the questions I asked, which led me to create my original character: Percy Brightstar. Like his namesake and predecessor, Percy Brightstar is an adventurer; unlike Percy Blakeney, however, he is tied to the world not only for adventure’s sake nor only to make large-scale changes. He is a brother and father and friend and lover. He is more practical with a similar set of skills. He is so divorced from Percy Blakeney that I thought I could not return to the latter. I was happily proven wrong. Still, the questions remain: who is Percy Blakeney without the French Revolution?

I don’t know yet. I’ll be delighted to see what comes next in this writing journey. 

#ch: percy blakeney #hc: percy blakeney #x. told by an idiot | out of character #war tw #((I have a lot of half-formed thoughts)) #((I feel very vague and soft about both Percy Blakeney and Percy Brightstar))

[walkingshcdow-a]

Announcement: Muse Activity

I know that I’m constantly fussing with my muse activity pages. I’m sorry for the inconvenience, but I am not sorry I’m doing it. 

My physical, mental, and emotional health have been tested these last few months. I’m just trying to survive to summer vacation. I feel... weirdly out of place on tumblr lately. So to fix that... consider what I’m about to announce as spring cleaning. 

Active Muses - Always around, any mutual can interact.

Gleb Vaganov: Please, whoever you are with the hate anons. Stop. He’s my main muse. I enjoy writing him. I know he’s problematic, but he’s also incredibly human and not synonymous with real, historical figures. Let it go. Everyone else, keep on hitting me up for those sweet, sweet threads!

Anna Garcia: I love my girl. I know she’s.... not everyone’s cup of tea, simply because she’s not high powered or a super genius or a total bad ass. I get it. But I’ve worked hard to make her, so please! Keep on RPing with her! I promise I don’t bite!

Semi-Active - Not always around, any mutual can interact

Santiago Ortiz: I’m surprised how fast he became a secondary character in his own story. Again, I know urban fantasy isn’t everyone’s thing. If you want to plot, please message me! I’m open to AUs!

Selective - Not always around, may be choosy about threads

Finnegan - Not my most popular muse, but he likes to hang out. Come say hello! He might be slow to respond but he will respond.

Highly Selective - Used only for certain partners/threads

Erik:  Look. He’s awful. But I’ve also worked really hard on him. Because of his violent nature - and the intense development I have done with select RP partners - Erik is not for general consumption. I wouldn’t recommend asking about him unless I approach you to thread with him or we have a very clearly established thread/verse.

Sorelli: My gal is here mostly for her ballet rats, opera community and count... and other historical peeps. If we talk frequently OOC, go ahead and ask about her, even if you aren’t part of her canon. i really only feel comfortable RPing her with people I am close with. 

Vlad Popov - Literally only here for my Anastasia GV members ( @dcarhcarts, @mortalmenagerie, @vclikaya) and their associated blogs. We have plots. Other Fanastasias can ask, but I’m going to tell you right now: Vlad is not an active muse. 

Hiatus - Will return in the summer,, muse permitting

Nadir Khan: Sorry, Nadir. A new government official who falls in love with a fugitive has captured my heart. Enjoy your vacation.

Meg Giry: Sorry, Meg Monster. I’d rather be the Erik or Sorelli to someone else’s Meg right now. I love all our unique HCs but it’s not the time for it.

Victor Frankenstein: He’s A-OK with doing discord RP with @professor-of-predators, little things to keep him well-oiled, but he’s gonna rest up for his wedding night day.

Removed - I took them off

Elizabeth Lavenza : I love you, baby girl, and if I get a better opportunity to do canon stuff, I’ll bring you back. AUs are stressful for me.

Diaval: I want to do stuff with my bird shifter, but I don’t have time. Sorry, buddy. Maybe when the new movie is closer to release.

Percy Blakeney: You were a joy to write, but extremely niche. If @personnages gets the SP bug again, I’ll know where to find you. But I just can’t handle your high energy right now.

Marguerite St. Just: Let’s be real, hon. I’ve struggled writing you for a year now. It’s better I let you rest. If @sinkxme gets the SP bug again, we’ll try again on a highly selective basis. 

#;;told by an idiot | {out of character} #;;signifying nothing | {personal} #;;full of sound & fury | {announcements & psas}

[margueritestjust-a]

((I know Armand gets a love interest in Eldorado - and, consequently, the 1982 film - but I feel like until that happens, he’s a bit of a playboy. Not because he’s an ass (he’s very respectful of the women he sees), but because he’s spent most of Marguerite’s life being her parental figure and having to be A Responsible Adult from a young age and now that she’s grown and happily married (and has a career in some verses/points in the time line), he feels compelled to catch up on his twenties, if you know what I mean. He doesn’t know what to do because even though he has a romantic and passionate nature, he’s never had the luxury of being able to direct those energies towards a special someone. 

When he falls for St. Cyr’s daughter, he falls hard and he recklessly ignores the consequences of pursuing her because he doesn’t know better. He doesn’t think anyone would be so opposed to him expressing affection that they’d try to have him killed. After that, he determines to separate love and pleasure... which means the Blakeneys have to contend with Armand’s fille du jour every so often, keep her name straight, and watch what they say to one another and to Armand, lest his current love interest is not trustworthy. To his credit, Armand does not confide secrets of the League to the women in his life. He’s reckless, but not stupid. Everyone is very thankful when he sensibly falls in love with and settles down with Jeanne L’Ange, an actress that Marguerite knew during her time at the Comedie Francaise. Everyone is less thankful that in the process he manages to get himself captured by Chauvelin and causes the League all sorts of headaches. (Especially poor Percy and Marguerite, let’s be real). 

Once he and Jeanne are married, Armand mellows out a bit. I’d say he mellows out a lot, but this is a guy who will say “fight me” to inanimate objects, so.

NOTE: This is my general HC. Ladies! If you are single and looking to mingle with an attractive Frenchman who has more passion than sense, is kind to women and children, and is very brave and loyal, Armand is an NPC available for you to date. I’d actually really love a plot between Marguerite and her brother’s GF. Just talk to me about it if you’re interested!))

#c: Armand St. Just #c: Jeanne L'Ange #r: Armand x Jeanne #;;headcanon & meta #((Tonight is Armand St. Just night))

[walkingshcdow]

Fae AU

Upon the death of the Queen of Air and Darkness, the Unseelie Court passed to her son, commonly known as “Percy”. Rumors have circulated for hundreds of years that Percy killed her himself or otherwise imprisoned her. Until Percy ascended the throne, none of the Queen of Air and Darkness’ children had lived to inherit the throne. Percy was fond of pulling pranks in the mortal realm and expressed hopes that the Unseelie Court could expand to be “more”. He was engaged to Titania and Oberon’s eldest daughter when he severed his ties to the Unseelie Court several hundred years ago. He neither died nor became mortal, but instead became a creature who can pass freely between the Realms. Others followed him into liberation and became his Wild Hunt. As leader of the Wild Hunt, Percy is afforded respect, fear, and admiration, however he is Courtless and if he were to declare a Court now, it would be seen as a declaration of war against both the Seelie and Unseelie Courts (to say nothing of what lesser Courts might take offense). 

His “cousin” (in actuality a nephew who was his age contemporary), Finnegan, assumed the kingship, systematically ridding himself of competition. His magic is great, as is his talent for politics. He would not take up Percy’s broken engagement and instead proposed that there should be peace between the Seelie and Unseelie, so long as the princess, now queen, Masha and he did not marry. He devised a dark gauntlet which lovers must succeed to become Champions of the Unseelie Court - sworn to him and him alone. Many mortals have gone mad to survive this maze and many more have died. Fae know better than to accept the challenge: should they prove worthy, they also prove dangerous and risk death or banishment. 

The Seelie Court kidnaps mortals, too, but their challenges vary on the whims of the queen. Masha is known to collect artists and poets as often as she takes warriors. She asks that her Champions gift her something of themselves, indeed, gift it to all generations of Seelie to come so that their beauty my be immortalized. Those who do not sacrifice cannot become Champions and no Fae would dare give to their queen without reservation. 

Lesser Courts pledge fealty to the Unseelie or the Seelie Court and only the Wild Hunt, which must wander the mortal realm for the cruelest months of the year, remains free of such ties. Both Unseelie and Seelie Courts live under the threat of war with the Wild Hunt.

The Feywild itself is divided into the lands of the Great Courts and the Lesser Courts. It is impossible for a mortal to map due to the shifting geography. A mortal who wanders into the Feywild or who is brought to a Court is very unlikely to leave or, if they do leave, to find themselves when and where they started. 

But why ever would you want to return to the mortal world now?

None of the royal characters use their True Names To invoke a True Name is to know a person or a thing almost too intimately. 

Eating or drinking from a Fae table will keep you in the Feywild. It may even pledge your loyalty to a Court. 

Some of the Lesser Courts hope to rebel as the Wild Hunt once did. Others hope that the Seelie and Unseelie Courts are weaker under new rulership and could be taken advantage of. 

Within the Seelie Court and the Unseelie Court there are Duchies, which are smaller than Lesser Courts, but very prestigious. 

Celebrations (revels) are held in tandem with the swells of magic, which are marked by the waxing and waning of the moon. 

Some Fae take on “fairy godmother” roles with mortals, make deals with mortals, or prank mortals, however the Wild Hunt (”The Un-Court”) deals most frequently with mortals

#.007 | fae #hc: percy blakeney #hc: Finnegan #hc: masha voronina

[walkingshcdow]

Tag Drop: Headcanons

#hc: finnegan #hc: masha voronina #hc: rudyard funn #hc: percy blakeney #hc: stolas #hc: anna garcia #hc: strahd von zarovich #hc: ireena kolyana #hc: victor vallakovich #hc: rahadin #hc: ez d'avenir #hc: lucian petrovich #hc: stella wachter #hc: ludmilla #hc: anastrasya #hc: volenta #hc: ismark kolyanavich #hc: alek gwylim

[margueritestjust-a]

((Weird modern HC I don’t know what to do with. Warning! It’s shippy fluff!

Marguerite and Percy actually met for the first time when she was in college, studying abroad in Europe. (My logic says London; my heart says Paris. I’ll figure it out.) She fell in love with him then, but they did not officially date or have time to confess their feelings before she went back to the States to finish her degree and she thought of him as her summer romance that never was. She did not know him as Lord Blakeney then, just as this infinitely kind and charming man who she could spend hours with.

A few years later, Marguerite is Hollywood’s It Girl. Just absolutely beloved by critics and audiences alike. She meets Percy again at a charity gala she’s hosting and he seems changed, but when they recognize each other, he begins to act like the man she loved - but only in private. When her publicist suggests they date for publicity she agrees because she’s determined to find the man she fell in love with behind the superficial facade Percy has put up.

Let me live.))

#;;headcanon & meta #;;modern | {modern au}

[margueritestjust-a]

1-5 !

Questions for Canons | Not Accepting!

1. What is the biggest headcanon deviation from the canon material that you have incorporated into the way you write your muse? Why did you come up with it?

I don’t know if it’s a headcanon deviation from the source, or if it’s merely the way I interpreted Marguerite’s character, but I believe that A) she was always in love with Percy, even when she was acting snarky about him and B) she wasn’t “testing” Percy’s love for her by not telling him the truth about St. Cyr - she was overcome with emotion and claims that it was a “test” to save face. In fact, I believe a lot of Marguerite’s actions that audiences use to vilify her are about saving face when overcome with emotions that she doesn’t know how to process. Let’s start with the snark towards Percy. 

The book starts after the honeymoon phase is over for the Blakeneys - literally months into their marriage. Despite being the most fashionable couple in London, you couldn’t find a stranger match. We have Marguerite who is clever and charming and talented and Percy... whose chief talents seem to be superfluous commentary, bad poetry, and a laugh with the power to irritate everyone in a two mile vicinity. Why on earth would the intelligent, charming, beautiful Marguerite St. Just marry this guy? In the book, she confides in her brother, Armand, that she’s sure people think she did it for the money, but that she really, truly loved Percy for his passionate nature. And that, after she told him about the St. Cyrs, that passion dried up and that she’s left with this buffoon of a husband who does not love her and who is not the man she loved in Paris. It is, however, clear to me that prior to their argument, Marguerite loved Percy a great deal - and perhaps continues to wistfully love him (or the memory of him) and that his change in behavior baffles her. Armand, being the reasonable, level-headed (lmao) big brother he is, gives Marguerite Actually Solid Advice that basically goes, “Well, maybe if you told him the whole truth about the St. Cyrs, you two would be okay!” and Marguerite is like, “He wouldn’t listen to me about it now; it’s too late. I messed up and I just have to deal.” And her way of dealing is by making sarcastic jibes at her husband to get him to pay attention to her because otherwise, he’s much more into his fatuous, foppish friends than her. It’s the only time Percy pays attention to Marguerite (as far as Marguerite knows) and it lets her get out some of her hurt and frustration. 

Fast forward to when she tells him “I betrayed St. Cyr at the tribunal because I thought he was just going to be punished for trying to murder my brother but APPARENTLY we just guillotine entire families these days in France for one man’s crime and now I have the blood of an entire family on my soul and have been living with the guilt since.” And Percy is like, “Babe, why didn’t you tell me?” and Marguerite - who told her brother pages and pages ago that she didn’t think Percy would believe her, that she was afraid of losing him and lost him anyways, goes, “... I wanted to test your love for me.” 

What.

The conversation gets EVEN WEIRDER because Percy is like “Well, I wanted you to keep explaining yourself and you didn’t” and Marguerite is like, “I just wanted you to ask me to elaborate” and it goes on for a bit and you’re sitting there as a reader trying to reconcile Marguerite-talking-to-Armand and Marguerite-talking-to-Percy. It’s a nightmare tbh because there’s so much inconsistency. So here’s what we have to bear in mind: A) Armand is the man who raised Marguerite, her brother and dearest confidant. He has never betrayed her trust and vice versa. B) Marguerite and Percy have marital issues like woah and at this moment in time, she’s justifying herself to her husband - while worried that she will lose what little of his love for her remains. (Surprise: there’s a whole lotta love there and she doesn’t lose any of it. She probably gains some because he has a SUPER EMOTIONAL moment in the garden once she’s gone to bed where he kisses all the places she’s walked and like Percy find your chill). 

So here’s what I think - and it may be a deviation from canon, it may not be, it’s so unclear that I just roll with it and smile. I think that Marguerite loves Percy but when she tells him “Hey, so I accidentally got an entire family murdered” she freaks out internally and shuts down because How do you explain that? Omg my husband is going to hate me - see look he hates me!  and then, by the time she’s recovered from her internal panic attack, she convinces herself that it’s too late to make things right with Percy. Doesn’t help that now Percy has chosen to freeze her out because of what she told him and has nothing else to go on. So, what’s she do? Lash out. When she’s finally forced to tell him the truth and he asks why she didn’t just tell him, she doesn’t want to admit weakness - she already looks so weak and emotional and vulnerable - so she says, “I was testing you.” As if it was some kind of intentional maneuver on her part. And with most guys, this would shame them because they failed the test. But Percy is smarter than that and he calls her bluff with “I was just waiting for an explanation.” And HERE IS MARGUERITE’S GOLDEN CHANCE to tell him how scared and repentant and guilty she’s felt but instead she continues to save face as much as she can. 

Yes, she’s still prideful. Yes, this pride still leads to miscommunication. But, no, she is not some unfeeling bitch. I will fight anyone who says otherwise. Meet me in the pit. 

2. Do you have any controversial headcanons that go against what is generally accepted by the fandom? Do you incorporate this into writing your muse or keep it to yourself?

Umm... I guess one HC that I have - which is actually canon, not headcanon - is that Marguerite was never a prostitute. I’ve been seeing a lot of things in the tags that indicate people believe otherwise even though there is no canon indication that Marguerite was ever a prostitute (she was the leading actress of the Comedie Francaise and her family was bourgeois). The thing that most frustrates me about this headcanon is that people who hold it tend to A) slut-shame Marguerite (and/or all prostitutes and sex workers) and/or B) hold Percy up as a paragon of virtue for not slut-shaming his wife? Like, guys. That is literally doing the minimum as your job as a husband (and as a human being). It’s not heroic and it’s definitely not more heroic than saving innocent people from the guillotine. 

Anyways, my adherence to canon crops up plenty in threads, but it’s not something I’m like... making a point of showcasing? It’s just the facts where my muse is concerned. 

3. What is something that was never addressed at all in the canon material that you have independently developed for your muse?

Canon - as far as I know - never addresses the St. Justs’ social status prior to their parents’ death. We just know there’s an eight year age gap between Armand and Marguerite, that their parents died when Armand was “a youth” and Marguerite was “a child” and Marguerite raised her, and that they aren’t nobility, but they’re doing well enough to be respected by all walks of society. Soooo... I’ve had to elaborate. 

I’ve HC’d that the St. Justs were upper-middle class business owners - perhaps Moniseur St. Just was a merchant - whose work brought them into contact with the nobility as well as common people and whose profit was enough to send both Armand and Marguerite to school. Furthermore, when their parents died, Armand and Marguerite would be left with a sizable inheritance and a business... which they could sell or run. It just makes sense to me.

As with the prostitution HC that’s so popular in the fandom, there’s a notion that Armand and Marguerite were born and raised in the gutter, which has no canonical basis and doesn’t really make sense with either of their characterizations. So... yeah. I had to develop that on my own.

4. Have you made any outright changes to the canon material in order to write your muse the way you wanted (entire scenes you chose to omit, chapters you say never existed, things you assume were never said, etc.)?

Probably, but I can’t think of any specifics. 

5. What is an aspect of your muse’s canon material or canon existence that you never had the opportunity to explore but really want to?

Marguerite’s relationships with other canon characters, Percy aside. We’re talking Armand, Chauvelin, Suzanne, Ffoulkes, Dewhurst, the whole damn League. It’s a little hard to do since... like... the fandom is a ghost town, but I’d love to explore some of these relationships somehow.

#asks #meme response #munday #;;out of espionage | {out of character} #exitiumparit