#armorica: 1994

[armoricaroyalty]

...the turning point came in 1994, when Uspanian tabloid Concordia broke the story of the Crown Prince's affair with Armorican-Uspanian actress and model Anita Garcia. The Armorican public loves a wronged woman, and news of the affair inspired a massive public outpouring of support for the Duchess of Arbor. By the end of 1994, her approval rating had climbed to 73%, the highest ever recorded for any member of the Armorican royal family....Her newfound popularity came not at the expense of her husband, whose status as heir protected him from the worst of the blacklash, but at that of his 23-year-old mistress. Anita was branded as a homewrecker in the popular press and accused of leveraging the affair to promote her own image... (from Mother of Pearl: Inside the Lives of Armorica's Royal Women, Kristina Greene, 2002.)

Previous | Chapter Start | Beginning | Chapter 3

[armoricaroyalty]

coming soon to a tumblr dash near you!

Chapter 2 Part 3 Summary | Beginning | Next

[armoricaroyalty]

Previous | Chapter Start | Beginning | Next

author's note: I was not kidding about those content warnings we are already in the shit.

transcript below the cut!

Blackwell Palace, August 1994

ANDRE | [looking at a portrait of his deceased parents, sighs] FOOTMAN | [offscreen] Your Highness? FOORMAN | [offscreen] Your grandfather is ready to see you, now. ANDRE | [sighs] Okay. EVERARD III | ...I'll get right down to it: I need you on Thursday night. ANDRE | Er...at the ambassador's dinner? EVERARD III | What? No, don't be stupid. At the Daytime Broadcasting Awards. ANDRE | ...you want me on a red carpet? Can't you send Olly? EVERARD III | And you let her? EVERARD III | [scoffs] Watch your tone, boy. D'you think I'm too old to knock some manners into you? I will not argue with you. Olivia's not going, you are. ANDRE | [unhappily] Yes, sir? EVERARD III | [offscreen] Quit feeling sorry for yourself. It's one night, you'll live. ANDRE | Yes, sir. EVERARD III | Lighten up, Andre. You're so morose all the damn time. People think you're a cold fish, nobody wants you for King. It'd be good for your image... [rant continues, indistinct] ANDRE | [sighs] Damn it, Olly. [phone ringing] OLIVIA | [groaning] OLIVIA | Hello? ANDRE | [over the phone] Olly? It's Andre. OLIVIA | [resigned] Oh. Hi. ANDRE | "Hi?" Is that really all you have to say to me? OLIVIA | [over the phone] Listen, I know you're mad at me, but— ANDRE | Who do you think has to pick up your slack, Olly? ANDRE | [over the phone] When you cancel appearances for no reason— OLIVIA | Andre, I can't go. ANDRE | [over the phone] When you cancel for no reason, he sends me or Elise. OLIVIA | [offscreen] I told you! I can't go, I can't even leave the house. ANDRE | [offscreen] Why not? OLIVIA | [offscreen] ...that's none of your business. ANDRE | It is when it's costing me time with my family! OLIVIA | [scoffs] Oh, so you're the only one with a family now? ANDRE | That is not what I said. ANDRE | [looking at a portrait of his deceased parents, sighs] FOOTMAN | [offscreen] Your Highness? FOORMAN | [offscreen] Your grandfather is ready to see you, now. ANDRE | [sighs] Okay. EVERARD III | ...I'll get right down to it: I need you on Thursday night. ANDRE | Er...at the ambassador's dinner? EVERARD III | What? No, don't be stupid. At the Daytime Broadcasting Awards. ANDRE | ...you want me on a red carpet? Can't you send Olly? EVERARD III | And you let her? EVERARD III | [scoffs] Watch your tone, boy. D'you think I'm too old to knock some manners into you? I will not argue with you. Olivia's not going, you are. ANDRE | [unhappily] Yes, sir? EVERARD III | [offscreen] Quit feeling sorry for yourself. It's one night, you'll live. ANDRE | Yes, sir. EVERARD III | Lighten up, Andre. You're so morose all the damn time. People think you're a cold fish, nobody wants you for King. It'd be good for your image... [rant continues, indistinct] ANDRE | [sighs] Damn it, Olly. [phone ringing] OLIVIA | [groaning] OLIVIA | Hello? ANDRE | [over the phone] Olly? It's Andre. OLIVIA | [resigned] Oh. Hi. ANDRE | "Hi?" Is that really all you have to say to me? OLIVIA | [over the phone] Listen, I know you're mad at me, but— ANDRE | Who do you think has to pick up your slack, Olly? ANDRE | [over the phone] When you cancel appearances for no reason— OLIVIA | Andre, I can't go. ANDRE | [over the phone] When you cancel for no reason, he sends me or Elise. OLIVIA | [offscreen] I told you! I can't go, I can't even leave the house. ANDRE | [offscreen] Why not? OLIVIA | [offscreen] ...that's none of your business. ANDRE | It is when it's costing me time with my family! OLIVIA | [scoffs] Oh, so you're the only one with a family now? ANDRE | That is not what I said. OLIVIA | Oh, but that's you meant isn't it? ANDRE | [over the phone] Olly— OLIVIA | Don't "Olly" me. God, you are so fucking full of yourself! ANDRE | Oh, I'm full of myself? Excuse me, who is cancelling engagements? Who is hiding out at Morley? Who is hiding behind Grandfather? OLIVIA | Oh— fuck you, Andre. Go fuck yourself, you sanctimonious piece of shit— [call disconnects] [dialtone] ANDRE | ...damn it, Olly. [dialtone continues] OLIVIA | [sighs] FLORENCE | [from outside the room] Mom? FLORENCE | Mom? Are you still in there? FLORE

[armoricaroyalty]

Previous | Chapter Start | Beginning | Next

[armoricaroyalty]

Previous | Chapter Start | Beginning | Next

Blackwell Palace / August, 1994

ELISE | You've been awfully quiet. What's on your mind? ANDRE | ...what does 'sanctimonious' mean? ELISE | [laughs] 'Sanctimonious?' Where'd you hear that? ANDRE | Never mind. I'm just overthinking because I don't wanna go. ELISE | You know...you might actually have fun tonight. ANDRE | Oh? ELISE | You never know! Maybe you'll meet some interesting people. ANDRE | At the Daytime TV Awards? Not likely. ELISE | Rude. ANDRE | Y'know...you could come with me tonight. ELISE | Ha! Not on your life. ANDRE | It'll be no fun without you. ELISE | Sorry babe, I couldn't find a sitter. ANDRE | Rude. [clock chimes six times] ANDRE | Ugh. It's time... ELISE | Have fun, darling. I love you. ANDRE | Love you, too. Kiss the kids goodnight for me, would you? FOOTMAN | [clears throat] Your car is waiting, Sir. ANDRE | One more kiss... ELISE | [laughs] You're stalling. See you later, darling.

[armoricaroyalty]

Previous | Chapter Start | Beginning | Next

Green Room, Occidental Theater / August 1994

ANDRE | I can do this. I can do this. ANDRE | [sighs] Damn it, Olly... [door opens] ANITA | Oh! I'm sorry— [gasps] —your highness! ANDRE | Please don't. ANITA | Oh dear. Are you alright? You're grey. ANDRE | I don't like crowds. ANDRE | That must make things very difficult. ANDRE | I'm sorry, who— Oh. ANDRE | ... ANITA | ...are you alright? Should I call a medic? ANDRE | ...sorry. You look like somebody that I used to know. ANITA | [laughs] ANITA | It's okay. I'm used to men staring at me. ANDRE | No, I'm sorry. I was being a pig. ANITA | I'm Anita Garcia. I play A.J. on Wavewatch. ANDRE | I'm Andre. I'm— ANITA | I know you are. [laughs] Your Highness. ANDRE | Please don't. ANITA | ...you don't stand on ceremony, do you? ANDRE | Honestly? If I could do away with it all, I would. ANITA | Well, why couldn't you? ANDRE | That's not how it works. There are traditions— ANITA | So? Someday when you're King, you can do things your own way. ANDRE | You're not what I expected. ANITA | Oh? And what did you expect? ANDRE | You're a reformer. A radical! ANITA | ...do they ever let you out of the palace? ANITA | There's a whole wide world out there. You ought to see more of it. ANDRE | ...you might be right. ANITA | Of course I'm right. Have you ever been to Uspana? It's where my mother's family is from. We spent summers in Canaris...

[armoricaroyalty]

Armorica: 1994 Content Advisory

One of my goals with this arc was to unpack the cultural misogyny of the 1990's. The biggest influences on this series were contemporary tabloid reporting on Princess Diana, Pamela: A Love Story, and my own memories of the time period. You can't win for losing in a society that hates women: "bad girls" always get punished, but even "good" women who do everything right suffer under cultural misogyny.

This series will not contain any explicit, on-screen physical or sexual violence against women, but you can expect to see references to and discussions of the following:

physical and verbal abuse (#abuse cw)

non-partner domestic violence (#domestic violence cw)

infidelity (#infidelity cw)

slut-shaming (#slut shaming cw)

objectification and exoticification of women of color (#racism cw)

If you're not in the right head space to read this chapter right now, please don't subject yourself to it. This arc will be tagged #armorica: 1994 if you'd like to blacklist it. My regular story will resume in July!

FYI: I'll be reblogging this post a few times between now and the release of the first story post next week, just to try to make sure everyone sees this warning.

Previous | Chapter Start | Beginning | Next

[armoricaroyalty]

ARMORICA: 1994

-> coming: June 19th, 2023