PLEASE READ THIS! I understand that posting Author's notes as chapters is not allowed, which is why I'm making this statement.
THIS IS A PREFACE! Why? Because to understand this fic, you must take a short adventure into my life.
On Monday, January 2, 1012, my Bible teacher introduced us to our next section: LSD: Love, Sex, and Dating. In this class, we will learn the different faults of dating, the truth about "love", and the role of sex in our culture. Mainly, we're focusing on how to build a successful relationship and how to avoid marrying the wrong person. In reality, the class has been pretty interesting. Anywho, on Friday, January 06, 2012, we learned the four ways that one finds their desired mate (and yes, DB [Dr. Brokes] uses the word "mate", not "husband" or "wife", and it's friggin' awkward.) Like the obsessed Transfan I am, I automatically compared these ways of marriage to transformers, and I decided that this would be the perfect fic-let for Valentine's Day. Before I actually start posting the four chapters of this short fic, I must make a few points and then explain the four ways to get married.
– First and foremost (just in case you didn't glean this info from that last paragraph) this is going to be a collection of four one-shots. None of these will be continued stories, mainly because I don't have time to start them. I believe my readers would murder me if I started a new chapter story, anyways. I have too many incomplete ones.
– There will be no smut or lemons in this! None! Nada! Zilch!
–This fic will be centered on MY OCs, so if there is an OC you do not recognize, then you have likely missed one of my stories or one-shots. Why? Because I want my readers to be able to recognize my OCs and say, "Oh, my Primus! Mercury was in Love Story!" I believe there is nothing as gratifying as the knowledge that your story/one-shot was good enough that your readers can recognize your characters, even when they are in a completely different story. :)
– Now… Due to the nature of this fic, I must make a statement. THE OCS IN THIS FIC WILL BE ACTING VERY DIFFERENT THEN HOW THEY ACT IN MY OTHER FICS. In addition to that, the canon characters may be slightly OOC, but you guys know that I will write this with good taste and finesse. The only reason canon characters will be OOC is because these are very different times than the ones we live in. I will try VERY hard to keep them in character, but once again, it's hard to write them in character when I'm writing about something like this.
THIS IS A SPOILER FOR THOSE WHO DON'T WANNA KNOW THE TYPES OF MARRIAGE BEFORE THE CHAPTERS ARE PUBLISHED. IF YOU DON'T WANNA FIND OUT UNTIL THE CHAPTERS ARE PUBLISHED, SKIP THIS WHOLE SECTION AND MOVE TO THE NEXT CHAPTER! I WILL POST THE DISCRIPTION OF THE MARRIAGE AT THE BEGINNING OF EACH CHAPTER AFTER THE AN! THIS IS JUST FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO WANNA FIND OUT NOW AND TRY TO GUESS WHO WILL BE ASSIGNED TO WHAT TYPE OF MARRIAGE!
February 11, 2012
1) Arranged marriage:
Arranged marriage is when the parents of two children get together and decide that their children will marry. This is taken very seriously. A parent will spend years studying the chosen child to insure that their decision is what's best for their child. Very often, a groom would not see his bride until their wedding day, and vice versa. This has been the most successful way of finding a groom/bride in history, as the divorce rate was only 7%.
February 12, 2012
2) Purchasing a bride:
In many cultures, a man will purchase his bride from the bride's father. A father would normally announce that his daughter was eligible for marriage at a large party, while many other girls could be announced at once. A man took careful time studying a girl before he bought her. After all, he was about to spend his whole life-savings on her, so why shouldn't he be careful? For royalty, a large series of parties were usually thrown for the royal male so that he could interact with the eligible females before seeking a bride. In truth, a royal male rarely bought a bride, though, as his parents usually arranged his marriage. If a man couldn't afford to buy the woman of his desires, he could work without wage for her father to pay for her, or he could barter some of his goods for her.
February 13, 2012
3) Capture:
In more unsophisticated cultures, a bride was captured and forced to marry. It was due to this that most women did not leave the house without an escort. The man, to insure that this was the woman he wanted, often followed her around and studied her closely whenever she was outside. (Tell me that wouldn't suck. Take a walk in the woods, get knocked out, and wake up married to your stalker. :\) The man was very careful with whom he chose to capture. After all, he was risking his life to capture and marry her (Fathers fought the invading man to insure that he was worthy and able to defend his future wife. It was not uncommon for a father to kill a man who was trying to kidnap a daughter.)
February 14, 2012
4) Dating:
This is the most UNSUCCESSFUL way to find a mate so far. There is currently a 50% divorce rate, and another 20% say that though they did not get a divorce, they are unhappy with whom they married. In the early stages of dating, when it was more successful, it was defined as a rigid judgment of a member of the opposite sex to see if they would be a suitable mate. Because there were no automobiles, men and women would have to walk long distances to see each other in between jobs. Because of the distance, dating was taken a lot more seriously. However, once the automobile was invented, dating became more lax, as people tended to go on dates for entertainment rather than to learn more about each other.