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fellowshippers2005-12-18 06:12 pm
v-angelique.livejournal.com) wrote in fellowshippers2005-12-18 06:12 pm
Brethren Prologue
Note: Fixed the cut to this story to keep the banner within cut tags. Apologies to those who pointed this error out; I haven't read my FL in awhile and missed the warning about that rule. Hard to keep all the lotrips communities straight sometimes :)
Title: Brethren
Author: Viktoria Angelique
Email: viktoria_angelique@hotmail.com
Pairing: DM/VM, possibly other pairings as well
Rating: G this part, up to NC-17
Beta: The amazing![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
saura_
Feedback: Please!
Disclaimer: This is purely fiction. Nothing vicious meant by it.
Summary: Here we begin an AU featuring Dom and Viggo, but others to come, set in 18th century America. It was inspired jointly by my coursework in the American colonies and by the amazing “Abomination,” written by my fantastic beta, saura_. A little historical context for those who aren’t familiar with the period—Bethlehem, Pennsylvania was a settlement established in 1740 by a group of German Moravians, mainly from a community called Hernnhut. Much of the necessary details about Bethlehem and Moravian practice will be revealed throughout the story, but the basic idea is that Bethlehem was a closed community with somewhat unusual and progressive religious practices. The Moravians lived and raised children community, and segregated living based on age, sex, and marital status. Married couples did not live together, and the nuclear family unit was virtually non-existent. Since sex is an issue that will come up fairly soon in the story and is part of my fascination with this community, I should explain a bit—the Moravians were liberal in their allowances of sex within marriage, much more open about discussing sex, and even set aside a certain time and place for relations to occur between spouses. All sexual practice was to take place within the confines of a marriage, but as sex was considered sacred and parallel to the personal relationship with Jesus Christ, it was more highly tolerated than by, for example, the Lutherans. The actual physical act of sex would be explained to a couple that was to be married in advance, and discussion was welcome on the topic. Being single was also a valid choice, though not a common one, and there needed to be a reason to remain single. So there’s your brief introduction to Moravia! Without further rambling, here is the prologue…
The wind whipped warm in Dominic Monaghan’s face as he stood on the upper deck of the ship, enjoying a rare warm and sunny day as the party finally left the Mediterranean and journeyed out into the open ocean. His skin felt red and raw from the exposure, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the swell of the waves or go below deck where he wouldn’t feel the soft rustle of his shirt against his chest. The trip from the mountains where he lived to a seaport to the south had been long, and sometimes he wondered if this was all worth it, but as long as he could stand here on the deck and watch the world go by, he felt a sense of adventure that couldn’t be calmed.
The year was 1747. Dominic was just eighteen years old, a robust young lad and clearly fit for the journey overseas to the Americas. Born to British parents in Bavaria, he was fluent in both English and German from a young age, a skill that would be useful as a missionary in the new colonies overseas. His spiritual education had been put into the hands of the Moravians when he was eight, and the teachings of that community appealed to him. He lived in a small Moravian community in the heart of Bavaria, and it was there that he received his spiritual education as a member of the young boys’ “choir,” or Moravian living group. Lessons on the Bible and basic academics were taught by an older male supervisor, and children lived in gender segregated communal housing where they did chores, worked, and were educated as a group. He made friends easily among the group, and though he was fairly obedient to his elders, he was also a favourite among the boys, who looked up to Dominic as a foreigner and therefore worldly in some sort. His sense of humour, sensitivity, and generosity endeared him to others, and he enjoyed this treatment much more than he had liked life in a secular village when he was very young. The other boys in this neighbourhood has been much rougher, and looked down upon him for his love of books and investigation of the styles of the days in the shop windows. He was called a number of names he preferred to forget, but things were different when he joined the Moravians.
By the time he was twelve, though he had been baptised originally in the Anglican Church, he was re-baptised and fully committed to the spiritual community. His parents, who entrusted him to the Moravians but did not join the community themselves, became a marginal part of his life, which was not unusual given the communal style of childrearing in the village. Therefore it was the other boys with whom he was closest, and it was in them and in the supervisor that he trusted most. At twelve, he was moved into the older boy’s choir, where the boys aged twelve to seventeen were even more serious and engaged in their studies. He learned the intricacies of Moravian doctrine, including the importance of an emotional relationship with Christ, the idea of late marriage by lot, and the somewhat liberal idea of marriage as a sacrament with ritualized sex being a part of community life. He watched the members of the married choir disappear into the Schlafshallen for an hour at a time, and like all boys was somewhat curious about what would happen when an older married couple explained to him and his intended how they would enjoy their rights of marriage in the eyes of Christ. He didn’t feel particularly strongly towards a female member of the congregation, but he had quite awhile before he had to worry about that, and he knew the lot would choose for him the wife that Christ wanted him to have. Occasionally, he felt stirrings of what might be described in modern terms as attraction towards another boy in the choir, but physical affection was not shunned in Moravian society, and if the traditional greeting at church of a kiss between friends occasionally set a little flutter in motion in Dominic’s stomach, he wasn’t too concerned. Emotional response, after all, was a natural part of spiritual health and an important way of relating to his brethren and sisters.
At eighteen, when he reached the age to leave the children’s choir and join the Single Brethren Choir, a group from his village was embarking on a voyage, a long and difficult trip to America. They would join there with their Brethren and Sisters in the newly established Bethlehem colony in Pennsylvania, and help in the important task of converting the heathen and expanding their teachings. Supervisors of the older boys and girls choirs, as well as the Single and Married choirs, chose representatives that best make the voyage and were considered to be fit for embarking on missions. Dominic, who was both healthy and charismatic (an important trait for the mission of conversion), spoke English (the principal language at the time in the colonies), and was conveniently just at the age of adulthood, was quickly chosen. Though he was sad to leave some of his friends who had just moved up with him, he was also ripe for adventure and change. He set out on the voyage with light baggage, but a full heart, ready to encounter whatever America was to give him. If God wished his path to extend across the ocean, so it would be, and he awaited whatever challenges would follow with open arms.
Title: Brethren
Author: Viktoria Angelique
Email: viktoria_angelique@hotmail.com
Pairing: DM/VM, possibly other pairings as well
Rating: G this part, up to NC-17
Beta: The amazing
saura_Feedback: Please!
Disclaimer: This is purely fiction. Nothing vicious meant by it.
Summary: Here we begin an AU featuring Dom and Viggo, but others to come, set in 18th century America. It was inspired jointly by my coursework in the American colonies and by the amazing “Abomination,” written by my fantastic beta, saura_. A little historical context for those who aren’t familiar with the period—Bethlehem, Pennsylvania was a settlement established in 1740 by a group of German Moravians, mainly from a community called Hernnhut. Much of the necessary details about Bethlehem and Moravian practice will be revealed throughout the story, but the basic idea is that Bethlehem was a closed community with somewhat unusual and progressive religious practices. The Moravians lived and raised children community, and segregated living based on age, sex, and marital status. Married couples did not live together, and the nuclear family unit was virtually non-existent. Since sex is an issue that will come up fairly soon in the story and is part of my fascination with this community, I should explain a bit—the Moravians were liberal in their allowances of sex within marriage, much more open about discussing sex, and even set aside a certain time and place for relations to occur between spouses. All sexual practice was to take place within the confines of a marriage, but as sex was considered sacred and parallel to the personal relationship with Jesus Christ, it was more highly tolerated than by, for example, the Lutherans. The actual physical act of sex would be explained to a couple that was to be married in advance, and discussion was welcome on the topic. Being single was also a valid choice, though not a common one, and there needed to be a reason to remain single. So there’s your brief introduction to Moravia! Without further rambling, here is the prologue…
The wind whipped warm in Dominic Monaghan’s face as he stood on the upper deck of the ship, enjoying a rare warm and sunny day as the party finally left the Mediterranean and journeyed out into the open ocean. His skin felt red and raw from the exposure, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the swell of the waves or go below deck where he wouldn’t feel the soft rustle of his shirt against his chest. The trip from the mountains where he lived to a seaport to the south had been long, and sometimes he wondered if this was all worth it, but as long as he could stand here on the deck and watch the world go by, he felt a sense of adventure that couldn’t be calmed.
The year was 1747. Dominic was just eighteen years old, a robust young lad and clearly fit for the journey overseas to the Americas. Born to British parents in Bavaria, he was fluent in both English and German from a young age, a skill that would be useful as a missionary in the new colonies overseas. His spiritual education had been put into the hands of the Moravians when he was eight, and the teachings of that community appealed to him. He lived in a small Moravian community in the heart of Bavaria, and it was there that he received his spiritual education as a member of the young boys’ “choir,” or Moravian living group. Lessons on the Bible and basic academics were taught by an older male supervisor, and children lived in gender segregated communal housing where they did chores, worked, and were educated as a group. He made friends easily among the group, and though he was fairly obedient to his elders, he was also a favourite among the boys, who looked up to Dominic as a foreigner and therefore worldly in some sort. His sense of humour, sensitivity, and generosity endeared him to others, and he enjoyed this treatment much more than he had liked life in a secular village when he was very young. The other boys in this neighbourhood has been much rougher, and looked down upon him for his love of books and investigation of the styles of the days in the shop windows. He was called a number of names he preferred to forget, but things were different when he joined the Moravians.
By the time he was twelve, though he had been baptised originally in the Anglican Church, he was re-baptised and fully committed to the spiritual community. His parents, who entrusted him to the Moravians but did not join the community themselves, became a marginal part of his life, which was not unusual given the communal style of childrearing in the village. Therefore it was the other boys with whom he was closest, and it was in them and in the supervisor that he trusted most. At twelve, he was moved into the older boy’s choir, where the boys aged twelve to seventeen were even more serious and engaged in their studies. He learned the intricacies of Moravian doctrine, including the importance of an emotional relationship with Christ, the idea of late marriage by lot, and the somewhat liberal idea of marriage as a sacrament with ritualized sex being a part of community life. He watched the members of the married choir disappear into the Schlafshallen for an hour at a time, and like all boys was somewhat curious about what would happen when an older married couple explained to him and his intended how they would enjoy their rights of marriage in the eyes of Christ. He didn’t feel particularly strongly towards a female member of the congregation, but he had quite awhile before he had to worry about that, and he knew the lot would choose for him the wife that Christ wanted him to have. Occasionally, he felt stirrings of what might be described in modern terms as attraction towards another boy in the choir, but physical affection was not shunned in Moravian society, and if the traditional greeting at church of a kiss between friends occasionally set a little flutter in motion in Dominic’s stomach, he wasn’t too concerned. Emotional response, after all, was a natural part of spiritual health and an important way of relating to his brethren and sisters.
At eighteen, when he reached the age to leave the children’s choir and join the Single Brethren Choir, a group from his village was embarking on a voyage, a long and difficult trip to America. They would join there with their Brethren and Sisters in the newly established Bethlehem colony in Pennsylvania, and help in the important task of converting the heathen and expanding their teachings. Supervisors of the older boys and girls choirs, as well as the Single and Married choirs, chose representatives that best make the voyage and were considered to be fit for embarking on missions. Dominic, who was both healthy and charismatic (an important trait for the mission of conversion), spoke English (the principal language at the time in the colonies), and was conveniently just at the age of adulthood, was quickly chosen. Though he was sad to leave some of his friends who had just moved up with him, he was also ripe for adventure and change. He set out on the voyage with light baggage, but a full heart, ready to encounter whatever America was to give him. If God wished his path to extend across the ocean, so it would be, and he awaited whatever challenges would follow with open arms.
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Anyways, great writing and I can't wait for more!!
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I didn't used to see the point in studying American History, I'll admit, but now that I've taken a couple of courses I find it fascinating. I study history for a similar reason... I greatly enjoy reading up on the start of (Irish) nationalism and Sinn Fein. It would actually be an interesting comparison to make, as revolutions all over the world have fascinated me. But that's neither here nor there. Glad you liked it!
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