mannatea

[mannatea]

meeting up

by saucypaws https://linktr.ee/saucypaws

[mannatea]

Hi Manna! I wanted to share two RoV prompts (whichever you like best!): Andre teaches Oscar how to ballroom dance, and Oscar's first realization that she loves Andre. By the way, your writing got me into the RoV fandom and its wonderful being here! Thank you ~

Where You Lead, a Rose of Versailles fanfic

Words: 9,513 words Summary: Every dance Oscar and André share over the course of their lives. Pairing/Characters: André/Oscar, appearances by Nanny, Madame, and Rosalie. Warnings: None! Extra Info: None. Rating: M, there's a mild sex scene Genre: Friendship, Romance

Anon, I'm so happy to hear I got you into the RoV fandom. I don't know if you're newer to it, or if you've been here for a while, but either way: welcome home. <3

Notes/"behind the scenes" footage below:

AHHHHHHHHHH!

I’m very pleased with how this turned out. It’s not quite what the prompt was asking for, but I’ll be so for real with you guys right now: courtly dances of the 1700s weren’t really the sort of thing I think these characters would have much fun with because they touch each other far more in just regularly daily interaction, lol.

Notes! Notes! Notes!

I needed a dance to link André to Oscar and get them touching, and low and behold: THE WALTZ APPEARED—or at least a slightly faster upbeat fun version of the waltz. Lots of dances went through some pretty big changes between the 1700s and 1800s and even into the 1900s (which isn’t really surprising, when you think about it), but the waltz is one such dance! For example, this is a pretty good view of a Victorian-era waltz, which doesn’t really look anything like a modern waltz at all.

The waltz was considered somewhat low-class and scandalous when it started making its way around. It would certainly never be danced in an aristocratic home, let alone Versailles! (TOO MUCH TOUCHING!) But in smaller communities and poorer places, the waltz and other such dances found great popularity.

In fact, it wasn’t too long before plenty of aristocrats started going to their servants’ balls to enjoy them for themselves.

I used the Victorian-era waltz above and the Viennese Waltz as references for this story, even though the former is the completely wrong era and the latter just a little too late. I had the following role put their left hand on the lead’s right arm, rather than not touch at all (Victorian-era) or touch too much (Viennese). The goal was to just give an image of something a little casual and touchy without it feeling too much so.

I wouldn’t say the waltz is, uh, versatile, exactly, but so long as the time the music is played in is correct (3/4), I think it can be made to work.

That said, the waltzes they’re dancing are closer to the speed of the Viennese Waltz while being simpler like the Victorian-era one. André learned it once from his mother when he was seven: he won’t remember the intricacies of that dance by the time he’s ten. He’s got the spirit, though. And Oscar’s not wrong: if you try to move too fast while dancing in circles like that, it almost feels like galloping, hahaha.

--

André’s feelings when he’s young about being given the “girl” role in things are complicated. I don’t think he would ever resent Oscar for this, or even be upset about it in general, but I’m sure it was hard for him sometimes, to be seen as less masculine just because he follows her lead.

And really, it doesn’t bother him at all unless attention is called to it—like her laughing about him getting told to dance the “girl’s” role. He doesn’t mind being assigned that, but her laughing feels like she’s making fun of him or mocking him and he finds that upsetting.

And while André does often fall into a more traditionally feminine role in the manga regarding things like his emotions and always supporting Oscar, the one thing I really like about him is that he can also lead when the situation calls for it. He saved Oscar’s life in Saverne by acting of his own accord; he keeps he from going after the duke when he knows it’s too dangerous for her to do it; he carries her home from the bar.

Likewise, we see Oscar dance with Fersen flawlessly; she knows how to dance both roles, somehow, even though she probably shouldn’t. (Sure, she’s seen the other role, but that’s not enough to just be able to dance most of these dances, I assure you.) I like to imagine that when they were younger, she did this mostly for André’s sake, so that he wouldn’t feel belittled by only learning how to be a girl while very clearly being a boy. It’s easy to find examples of her being selfish throughout her life, but this shows a more considerate, caring side to her and I think helps solidify why André might have fallen for her in the first place.

She really does try to take care of him.

--

Also just straight off, I have to say that the manga's depiction of dance in the French court is extremely wrong and historically bankrupt. It's fun and I don't mind it in general (I can shake off the history nerd living inside my soul if it's fun enough), but in writing a 'fic about dancing, I couldn't reconcile the history aspect of it with the rest. The live-action actually did very well with its dancing, here, all things considered (including talking during a social dance!).

--

The minuet! This is a dance that’s gone through a lot of changes. The version they’re dancing (and the one André teaches Rosalie) is close to this one (which shows the footwork at the start of the video quite well). Or this. Or even this.

This was a popular dance for a very long time and it’s even mentioned in the manga as one Rosalie knows. Yay.

--

Do you think I could cover their lives together and not give you a drunk Oscar? Of course not. I originally wanted to save this scene for when they were older, but I decided that setting it earlier in life was for the best. Even though the characters are adults, here, this still manages to seem a lot more innocent set this early in their lives, versus how it would feel if André were older.

Anyway, for once Oscar isn’t a belligerent drunk. I don’t think she’s always looking for a fight when she drinks, but I do believe the way she acts while drunk depends a lot on her mood when she's drinking; just chilling with André, talking about whatever? She’s in a pretty good mood.

I also think when she’s drunk she becomes pretty vulnerable—lets out emotions she would have the self-control to keep to herself if she were sober. She does like the physical closeness and being touched by him, but she doesn’t know what that means.

--

I knew about halfway through this story that I wanted to title it “Where You Lead” and worked for the rest of the story to try to get the title ingrained into it. You know how it is.

At that point, this story became a lot more than just a lighthearted tale of writing about them dancing a few times over the course of their lives, and turned into a story where I wanted to talk about how they switch off leading and following one another depending on what they both need.

There’s a song by John Michael Montgomery (booo old country, booo, I know) that has this chorus:

Life’s a dance you learn as you go; Sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow. Don’t worry ‘bout what you don’t know, Life’s a dance you learn as you go.

This kind of encapsulates what I wanted to show in this story, that a part of living life is knowing when to take the lead and when to follow, and Oscar and André have known it instinctively since they were children.

--

THIS STORY WASN’T SUPPOSED TO HAVE ANY SMUT IN IT BUT WHAT IS SEX BUT A DANCE…uhh I mean…

Anyway, I could have skipped “the sex scene” in this ‘fic, but I felt like it added a certain something to the story even with regards to the leading and following. He’s leading here, but he’s still following her lead at the same time by listening and touching her to know what feels good and what is working.

I made the effort not to be too detailed about it because I didn’t want this story to be about the sex, but rather, just an important moment for both of them.

For the record, in this story, they both have zero experience. He just has ears and he’s been listening to the 9000 things he hears every week from the other male servants—but still defers to Oscar to know whether or not it’s good for her. You don’t have to agree with this take but it’s usually my preference.

Finally, it is my firm belief that when Oscar tells André that she wants to be his wife, that she wants to see them united as husband and wife, what she wants is to consummate their relationship as a marriage. And in this day and age, a proper consummation involves him coming inside her—because that would be considered his right as her husband.

(For the record I think André’s pull-out game is pretty good, but he’s letting Oscar take the lead on this decision.)

Oh, and as to him knowing her secret—that she’s dying: I think it’s debatable how much he knew, but the look on his face is pretty grim when he seems to make a connection between the blood on his sleeve (and Oscar). I think he knows she’s coughing up blood and he knows what it means.

But in typical OA fashion they won’t talk about it…because he doesn’t want her to know he’s blind.

--

Is the heart-tree corny? Yes. Shut up.

--

As soon as I knew the title for this story, I knew how I wanted it to end.

At first I considered having it end with Oscar, with her curtsying to him at her own death, but I think that’s implied well enough with the end of this story, which is why I went with it. He's just waiting for her, now.

--

Thank you so much for reading; feedback would be appreciated as always.

[mannatea]

✹ mourning dove ✹

[mannatea]

hmm 9k

hey anon i'm feeling WILDLY confident about this story right now. it's an hour past when i should definitely be asleep but i have finished writing and by golly i'm convinced i've written a godly story

will i feel that way tomorrow? i don't know. stay tuned

*writes 6,000 words without saving once* hmmm maybe this is stupid and i should save the fucking docUMENT!!!

also @ anon who requested OA dancing, i'm working on it. 🥺 once again i was possessed by the devil and will try to finish it tonight so that i can edit & post it tomorrow

[mannatea]

A Snapshot of THE X-FILES: THE OFFICIAL ARCHIVES by Paul Terry Cryptids, Biological Anomalies, and Parapsychic Phenomena [1/50] ⤷ X 129202 - Tooms, Eugene Victor

Special Agent Harrison, ...I am being strong-armed to agree to the following: A private company, Perlu, will be allowed to digitally scan every single X-file, and maintain them online, so that all U.S. intelligence agencies can have classified access. Agent Harrison, I want to make this very clear: I do not trust the intention or the operation. l do believe that the contents of the X-files belongs to everyone. But I do not believe this exercise has anything to do with preserving the truth. And that is exactly what I want you to help achieve. Any digitized intelligence documents can be easily manipulated to suit an agenda. But not physical evidence. Before the Perlu process begins—and while it is ongoing—I would like to task you with a solo, covert operation: The original form of every X-file must be secured in a physical, archival binding... Walter S. Skinner

[mannatea]

*writes 6,000 words without saving once* hmmm maybe this is stupid and i should save the fucking docUMENT!!!

also @ anon who requested OA dancing, i'm working on it. 🥺 once again i was possessed by the devil and will try to finish it tonight so that i can edit & post it tomorrow

[mannatea]

thinking about what is and what isn't allowed in frame with reference ecosystems in prairie restoration

[mannatea]

"just write the thing. who cares if it's accurate?"

NO. that is the devil talking. i MUST research it first

(falls down 27 rabbit holes by mistake and writes nothing worthwhile)

oh no it's happened again

[mannatea]

[mannatea]

Pretty, a Rose of Versailles fanfic

Words: 1,335 words Summary: Humidity is the enemy, at least when it comes to André's hair. Pairing/Characters: André/Oscar Warnings: None! Extra Info: Requested by @anilcadz91. Rating: G Genre: Friendship, André's feelings lol

Notes/"behind the scenes" footage below (just a few this time):

I just wanted to write something lighthearted and silly for this prompt, which was: "long-haired André being fussy about his hair."

I think his fussiness/meticulousness could come off as vanity, and to some degree it could be argued that it is*, but I don't actually think André is vain so much as trying to ensure he looks good for Oscar's sake.

*Due to his line, "I'm handsome from far off, too." I personally interpret this line as him just being sassy back at Loulou, though, more than any real belief he has about his appearance.

In this time period, servants are a direct reflection of their master. This is why we never see André in Versailles with Oscar after he loses his eye; a disabled servant wouldn't be allowed in such a place. It's like it shatters the illusion of perfection, if that makes sense. He's very aware that as a commoner, he has to try a lot harder than everyone else to be there without causing problems/starting rumors.

I guess you could say he has some anxiety about it, but at this point it's also routine to try to manage his appearance properly.

I also mention André's privilege of having long hair. We see a lot of characters with long hair in the series, including poor characters, so I don't think this was something done intentionally by the author, but the reality is that well taken care of long hair at this time in history (and in this place) was more a privilege of the elite, as they had the time and resources with which to properly take care of it (and keep it clean—arguably the most important thing).

In most cases, I think André is happy being attached to Oscar, and thoroughly. He likes to belong to her (something I've obviously explored a lot by this point in writing). But I also think he still wants to feel like his own person, not just an extension of Oscar's will. Kind of like, "I am my own person but I still belong to Oscar."

None of these notes were at all necessary but I just like to yap. I hope you enjoyed the story. Thank you for reading!

[mannatea]

some fandom disagreements are like "I see your point but I think this other aspect of the narrative is more significant," and some are like "I don't think you can read."

[mannatea]

s n a i l t i m e

This Is Home, a Rose of Versailles fanfic

Words: 6,641 words Summary: André promises to show Oscar how much he loves her when they get home from work. Pairing/Characters: Oscar/André Warnings: 😏 PWP Extra Info: This is based on an RP. Rating: E Genre: Romance, humor

FUCK YOU SARA

Notes/"behind the scenes" footage below:

I don’t want to actually flood this with a ton of notes because I have other stories to work on and I don’t want to bore everyone, but here are some things to know/keep in mind/think about!

This story is based on a modern RP that @trash-god and I are still in the process of writing where Oscar and André meet as children and grow up together. They hook up at the very end of high school and it’s a very long, very detailed story of their lives together. I dearly love it, and have decided that it would be best written as a collection of short stories, rather than one long one, and so I’ve titled this series Look Heart, No Hands after the Randy Travis song, which is about that childhood connection and trust in someone who was always there for you.

“This Is Home” takes place when Oscar’s about 21. She and André are both in college and they are working a summer internship at the company her father works for. André’s a rather popular guy with the ladies in the office, because he’s a hard worker and he’s nice.

Things referenced in this story that come up in the RP that you don’t need to know but might find interesting:

Father pays for the townhome they live in so that they can both focus on their schoolwork and music, and so neither of them have to deal with roommates. (Oscar made a PowerPoint presentation to convince him, lol.)

The first Snail Time™ was after their first year of college; as a reward for their excellent grades Father sent them off on a vacation together. During the first snail time he tried to get her to say “please” if she was so tired of waiting but she refused to do so, claiming it was too much like begging.

Victor (Girodelle) is a friend of theirs, and he invites them to parties and other events as a way of helping everyone maintain good contacts/connections through college. They’re also friends with Alain and Bernard at this point in the story.

Part of André’s backstory is actually very similar to Bernard’s in the canon, except in this story it happens to André first. The short version is: his mother drives the family car with André and his father in it into a large body of water, and both she and his father die. This is a huge tragedy that Bernard’s mother reads about in the paper and ends up copycat-ing with him later. André spends a lot of the story anxious as hell in cars because of it, but finds some confidence when Oscar’s father teaches him to drive and explains that he is in control. As soon as he has a license, he becomes the one who always drives.

The showerhead is something she admits to using to get off when they’re younger (before they hook up) and it’s a very funny scene where she tries to harass André about his time spent in the bathroom but he turns the tables on her immediately and she blurts it out without thinking and embarrasses herself.

Oscar plays the violin and André plays the piano. He expresses an interest in music pretty early on and they already have a piano in the house (because Oscar’s mother plays), so he picks piano because he knows his grandmother can’t afford to buy him an instrument.

In fact, they do a lot of extracurriculars in this AU: lacrosse and swimming, for instance. These are all Oscar’s ideas and all paid for (thoughtfully, generously) by Oscar’s father. But the music is something they carry forward and continue for the rest of their lives. This is why he has a keyboard; there’s no room for a piano, but this way he can still practice.

The fuck bar/handle is something André installed to make fooling around in the shower safer for them lmao. It gets a lot of use, let’s say.

Yeah, Oscar definitely has sex toys in a modern AU. I don’t think she has a lot of them but they’re really useful for ensuring they get off together/close to the same time and give her an easy/fast solution to orgasm if she just wants something quick and low-effort, which happens a lot during the school year because they’re both rather busy.

This RP was started specifically to hit a certain plot point later on, which is André struggling with poor health and vision trouble only to find out he has a brain tumor. Obviously, this story takes place a good while before then, but that’s the plot point we spend the whole RP building toward.

The one thing I really love about this RP, and even about all the sex scenes in it, is the way the characters just always feel like themselves every time. The sex scenes never devolve into mindlessness; there’s always a firm grip on the characters being written at play—at least, I think so. I wanted to capture that with this story, because I think it manages to make any sex scene really charming and fun to read.

Oscar and André are a little different from the canon in this modern AU, because of course, a modern society shapes and changes them in different ways to the canon, but I hope at heart they still feel quite like themselves.

Thank you so much for reading.

And fuck you, Sara, for starting the ball rolling on this before I’m even done writing my current long’fic!

[mannatea]

A 🔔🌹 prompt, if it inspires anything for you this weekend: citoyen/citoyenne.

All the Wildflowers in Arras, a Rose of Versailles fanfic

Words: 4,057 words Summary: Oscar's last request is fulfilled. Pairing/Characters: Bernard/Rosalie, Alain, Oscar/André Warnings: Death, burial Extra Info: None. Rating: T Genre: Grief/mourning, friendship, some light romance elements.

Notes/"behind the scenes" footage below:

First of all, what a great prompt! I had no idea what to write for it for one whole minute before I spat an idea out in the chat with trash-god and she was like “oUUGHHHH” which I’m pretty sure is code for: “Ooh yes, you should write about that.”

So here we are.

Title was a toss-up between “All the Wildflowers in Arras” and “Les Citoyens Grandier” but I took trash-god’s advice and went with the former. I’m glad I did, because I think it tied in nicely to the end of the story in a way the other didn’t. Also, while I do like using prompts as titles sometimes, I find it can be nicer to sneak the prompt into the story either directly or indirectly, without making it obvious from the outset.

In this case, I wanted to write a story that really showed that, by turning sides, Oscar and André became citizens of France. I chose to focus on how they are treated as such per Oscar’s last request (which was a plea to Rosalie to see that she and André were buried together, as they are husband and wife).

It was such a joy to write for Rosalie; her grief and capacity to care for others is so sweet. I’m sure Bernard would support her in this, because I don’t think she is the type of person to ask too much of him often, and he knows how important Oscar and André are to her—not to mention how important Oscar was to his revolution, not just at the Bastille, not just the day before, but all the way back when she captured him and rather than condemn him, learned from him…and chose to let him go.

I chose to have them buried in Arras because it feels right to send Oscar there, to the place where she first met Robespierre and her mind started turning. It also just so happens that André is from Arras, so I used that as an excuse to get them there.

I wanted to let Rosalie think of a bunch more memories, like Oscar getting stabbed or failing to catch Charlotte or even a few scenes from the gaidens, but the scope of this story had limitations, so I kept the memories lighter and easier, because I think, deep in her grief, those are the things she’d want to think of; that is how she would want to remember her friends.

I got a little choked up writing about Rosalie needing to make a place for Oscar and André the way they made a place for her. It just felt so much to me like something Rosalie would feel.

And speaking of Rosalie’s feelings, I tried to angle her a little more toward romanticism and optimism because I think that’s how she is. She’s grown from the girl she was and views those memories more objectively now; she understands a lot that she didn’t before. She also draws some comfort from the idea of Oscar’s bond with André having been there a long time: a spiritual union far before it was physical. It makes it easier to imagine they were happy all those years—including André, whose feelings she knew sometimes caused him heartache.

Bernard doesn’t want her to watch or hear them drop the bodies into the grave because it’s been a couple of days for Oscar, and one more full day for André, and that isn’t going to be pretty. They probably already smell bad, but if you know anything about decay you know what probably happened when they were dropped in.

Which is also why Bernard and Alain stop her from running over there. Alain in particular is just absolutely haunted by the sight; it’s gruesome.

I had Bernard say the prayer because he’s the orator of the group and I imagine he’d think to say something. Calling them “Citizens Grandier” is that nod to the prompt directly, acknowledging their marriage as legal, and accepting them completely (for the second time, since he called André “citoyen” at his death).

Typically initials are man-then-woman but I buck this tradition myself in real life for the same reason: Oscar & André just sounds better than the other way around.

Dappled sunlight is SOOOOO OA coded. Seriously though, I wanted the grave to feel like the kind of peaceful place that they might have liked to spend some time while alive. I tried to depict the cemetery as being quite similar to the meadow I tend to write about them goofing off in (creek nearby, shade of a tree, birdsong).

“More wonderful things have happened” is certainly true, so Rosalie chooses to believe those flowers grew from the ones that made up the bottom of Oscar and André’s grave.

Thank you for reading. I'd really appreciate feedback on this one; it's my first time writing Rosalie since 2008 or so. 🥺

[mannatea]

writing 10,000 words+ in one day and editing them? i'm a beast.

a tired beast.

zzz

[mannatea]

A 🔔🌹 prompt, if it inspires anything for you this weekend: citoyen/citoyenne.

All the Wildflowers in Arras, a Rose of Versailles fanfic

Words: 4,057 words Summary: Oscar's last request is fulfilled. Pairing/Characters: Bernard/Rosalie, Alain, Oscar/André Warnings: Death, burial Extra Info: None. Rating: T Genre: Grief/mourning, friendship, some light romance elements.

Notes/"behind the scenes" footage below:

First of all, what a great prompt! I had no idea what to write for it for one whole minute before I spat an idea out in the chat with trash-god and she was like “oUUGHHHH” which I’m pretty sure is code for: “Ooh yes, you should write about that.”

So here we are.

Title was a toss-up between “All the Wildflowers in Arras” and “Les Citoyens Grandier” but I took trash-god’s advice and went with the former. I’m glad I did, because I think it tied in nicely to the end of the story in a way the other didn’t. Also, while I do like using prompts as titles sometimes, I find it can be nicer to sneak the prompt into the story either directly or indirectly, without making it obvious from the outset.

In this case, I wanted to write a story that really showed that, by turning sides, Oscar and André became citizens of France. I chose to focus on how they are treated as such per Oscar’s last request (which was a plea to Rosalie to see that she and André were buried together, as they are husband and wife).

It was such a joy to write for Rosalie; her grief and capacity to care for others is so sweet. I’m sure Bernard would support her in this, because I don’t think she is the type of person to ask too much of him often, and he knows how important Oscar and André are to her—not to mention how important Oscar was to his revolution, not just at the Bastille, not just the day before, but all the way back when she captured him and rather than condemn him, learned from him…and chose to let him go.

I chose to have them buried in Arras because it feels right to send Oscar there, to the place where she first met Robespierre and her mind started turning. It also just so happens that André is from Arras, so I used that as an excuse to get them there.

I wanted to let Rosalie think of a bunch more memories, like Oscar getting stabbed or failing to catch Charlotte or even a few scenes from the gaidens, but the scope of this story had limitations, so I kept the memories lighter and easier, because I think, deep in her grief, those are the things she’d want to think of; that is how she would want to remember her friends.

I got a little choked up writing about Rosalie needing to make a place for Oscar and André the way they made a place for her. It just felt so much to me like something Rosalie would feel.

And speaking of Rosalie’s feelings, I tried to angle her a little more toward romanticism and optimism because I think that’s how she is. She’s grown from the girl she was and views those memories more objectively now; she understands a lot that she didn’t before. She also draws some comfort from the idea of Oscar’s bond with André having been there a long time: a spiritual union far before it was physical. It makes it easier to imagine they were happy all those years—including André, whose feelings she knew sometimes caused him heartache.

Bernard doesn’t want her to watch or hear them drop the bodies into the grave because it’s been a couple of days for Oscar, and one more full day for André, and that isn’t going to be pretty. They probably already smell bad, but if you know anything about decay you know what probably happened when they were dropped in.

Which is also why Bernard and Alain stop her from running over there. Alain in particular is just absolutely haunted by the sight; it’s gruesome.

I had Bernard say the prayer because he’s the orator of the group and I imagine he’d think to say something. Calling them “Citizens Grandier” is that nod to the prompt directly, acknowledging their marriage as legal, and accepting them completely (for the second time, since he called André “citoyen” at his death).

Typically initials are man-then-woman but I buck this tradition myself in real life for the same reason: Oscar & André just sounds better than the other way around.

Dappled sunlight is SOOOOO OA coded. Seriously though, I wanted the grave to feel like the kind of peaceful place that they might have liked to spend some time while alive. I tried to depict the cemetery as being quite similar to the meadow I tend to write about them goofing off in (creek nearby, shade of a tree, birdsong).

“More wonderful things have happened” is certainly true, so Rosalie chooses to believe those flowers grew from the ones that made up the bottom of Oscar and André’s grave.

Thank you for reading. I'd really appreciate feedback on this one; it's my first time writing Rosalie since 2008 or so. 🥺