#i was like weeping with laughter at all the respect WOMEN scenes and the action agehdjndkrh

[cosmicrhetoric]

finished it when i woke up that was crazy btw . what if your local marxist theorist could also throw hands

finally watching shyam singha roy EXCLUSIVELY for sai pallavi but I'm like 40 minutes in and i haven't seen her. i feel like that pride and prejudice rosamilf pike tweet

[honoredbyblood]

On an early spring morning I could hear the innocence of children's laughter and heavy hands steady at work. Something about the noise was peaceful and simple— the humans all around lived a simple life and were content with what they possessed. Some were never satisfied, I'll admit. My family came from similar simple means and yet even my mother with all of her power could not resist herself from turning into something… more. One of humanity's greatest faults fell in the hands of selfishness. Nothing was ever enough— until one day it was.

I rose from my bed and went to the nearby window that cast a daring view over rolling hills and countryside. The castle was by far the most glorious thing I had laid my eyes upon in all of my years though I had not expected anything less. England was a powerful state. It held lands all across the world, growing more dominant each day than the last. Such means would not have normally bothered someone such as myself. I was immortal; ruling power, colonies, entrapping people, none of it held any meaning when there was nothing in this world that could put an end to me.

Yet I knew there was one person this power could appeal to: my brother, Niklaus. He would stop at nothing to find the doppelgänger, wherever she may be, to break the vile curse out upon him. Aware of the growing power I dared to think ahead and best him before he could take a dagger and place it into my heart and leave me to rot inside of a box for another century. It was in this castle that I began to establish allies and friends— ties that could help aid me in certain powers over my brother. An army of humans was meaningless; however, an army of vampires was something else entirely.

“My lord,” the young child assigned to my services spoke, breaking me from my gaze out of the window. I thought back to Elizabeth and how this scene was very much like that from a fortnight ago. However this time, I would let this child live out her days just as she intended: human. There was an innocence in her eyes that I wish I could have held in my youth. I gave her a smile. With her cheaply made gown and hair braided behind her head, she bowed at my sight before speaking again. “Your presence has been requested in the library.”

“The library?” Curious, I took a step forward and used my powers of compulsion upon her. “And whom is it that requests me, Grace?”

“Her majesty The Queen.”

I thanked the child for her services and departed from my room. I was not a fool, as a vampire I could not father any children of my own. In many ways I did my best to avoid them at all costs in order to not subject myself to these feelings. The longing of protection and family, a brief connection to call something my own in a way my family could never bring me. Many times I had given children of poor nature means to live out their lives without pain and suffering. I knew I could not leave England without doing the same for young Grace. Children were innocent and did not deserve to know the cruel pain of this world.

Down long corridors I walked, regarding each knight and people of nobility with the same regal air that they noted me with. Lord Elijah of Chartley— notoriously honorable and kind. Or at least that was what was mentioned of my falsehood father that I compelled these people into believing. No one would dare question or suspect anything different; and yet my word was requested under The Queen herself. Surely word had traveled of me here during my stay— I would humble myself into believing as much. As I reached the grand hall, knights before the doors guarded it before allowing me in.

Yes, they knew who I was upon arrival which furthered my suspicion of my place here at court.

I could sense the human of royalty before I saw her. Before she made herself known to me, I dared to take a moment to look around the room. The ceilings were high, covered with paintings that called straight to the heavens above. Gold and power sealed each corner and rim, while a shine from a grand window cast beautiful light into the room. I was in awe of the artwork that did not even begin to match that of the books I saw from as far as the eye could see.

“We have everything in this room a man could want,” a chime of vocals rang from the center of the grand luxurious abyss. I turned to the center of the room to see The Queen. I began to bow before her; however she stopped me with a motion of her hand before I could further my actions. “There are works from the west, the east, the south and north. From ancient hands to worldly scholars. Do you know something they all lacked?”

My mouth began to open, but her majesty continued: “Eternal power.”

Caught particularly off guard, my gaze stopped at marveling at the glorious masterpieces around me and landed directly on The Queen. Her words were chosen carefully so that much I knew to be true. My posture changed, taking in whatever card she was about to play next.

“Do go on,” I advised.

She smiled at me in a way that was almost cruel in nature— a smile I had only seen one other time before. Queen Mary of Tudors, to be frank, was not particularly stunning in ways that many other women of court were. Her face was plain, with dull features that could have been mixed with any other people for a hundred miles. She was very pale and short, and from what I had seen of her, she never smiled. It was her eyes that were the most off putting— cold and unforgiving like a harsh winter. Therefore when she smiled at me now, I knew it was a move of power. She had played me.

“I know what you are, Lord Elijah.” She took a single step forward, capturing all the power in the room. “Noble and honorable— the kind hearted of all your siblings. You wouldn't harm a fly if it landed on you.” With each step she took, The Queen stopped once she had stood before me. Looking down at her, I dared not speak a word. “If you know what is good for you, you'll do as I say.”

Only then had I had enough of her display. Foolish and arrogant, I chuckled before The Queen with as much disrespect as I could manage. How dare she accuse me of such— more over, how dare she assume she knew anything at all? Much like the red of her hair, The Queen’s face boiled in rage at my backhanded amusement.

“How dare—” I cut her off before she could continue on with her arrogance.

“No your majesty, how dare you.” Whatever calmness I possessed in the beginning of our interaction failed to uphold now. I could feel palms grow tight in a fist at my side. “Request my presence here and suggest following your orders would be in my best interest. I do not follow anyone— I am not a fool to be pushed around.”

Out of respect for her honor I held what little control I held left from gripping hold of her throat and ripping out onto the perfect marble floor. Her sneer curled out of anger and spite; how often had she been talked to in such a way?

“Your brother suggested you would put up such a fight.” Her final card played itself— Niklaus. Of course this had been his doing all along.

Instead of acting by surprise, I continued off her I'll threats: “My brother, much as you should know, does not scare me, your grace. But it is you who should be afraid.” Whatever gap between us that remained was slowly closed. I was not afraid of my brother's power— it was his lack of power that would be his undoing. He crawled his way into whatever means he could and ended up alone each time.

Losing my focus, I grabbed hold of Queen Mary’s neck and held my grip tight. She clawed at me— my hand, my chest, my face. Daring to push me away with whatever strength her frail inbred body held, it was not even a sliver of a match compared to me. I brought her human face up to my own out of sheer spite and anger. “I will harm the fly that lands upon me, dear queen. I will rip it apart and not think twice.” Nearly purple in the face, I threw her body upon the ground as she gasped for air.

“Tell me brother I will do the same to him if he dares cross me again. Better yet, he could show himself and I'll relay the message from my own mouth.” With those final words I retreated from the library in haste.

Fury followed my every step as I stormed back towards my corner of the castle. No longer could I stay here, and I thought back to Elizabeth once more and that fateful night she met death. I knew the evil I tasted in the air that night. Niklaus was near and I should have known better than to think I could outsmart him. He was one step ahead and whatever power he seeked to gain I knew I needed to go back to the drawing board before attempting such plans of my needs.

As I finally reached my room, I faltered as the smell of fresh blood tainted the air all around me. It was heavy and suffocating, piercing a hole right into my chest the closer I got before nearly ripping the door from its hinges in order to get inside. What was drawn out before me was artwork at its cruelest. Blood and body parts spread themselves from one end to the other making everything tainted with foul coldheartedness. I wanted to believe it to not be true; yet when I saw the head of the young child Grace at the edge of my window I knew I couldn't deny the sight. The girl was dead: my brother, I knew to be responsible.

I fell to my knees and grabbed at my face— horror striking my core. I wanted to weep, cry for the loss of someone I barely knew, but someone who deserved better than this. I thought of how scared she must have been and how unforgiving Niklaus was. I could not cry nor could I bring myself to gather up off of the floor. I sat in the blood and carnage and knew one thing to be true: I could not leave this city without ending such evils.

My brother would die at my hands.

[first-empire-fancy-boys]

Young soldiers like myself had been accustomed to seeing misguided men behave in this manner, and were in the habit of laughing at them. I was no wiser than my comrades ; I did not realise that to deserve respect one must honour that which others revere, and I thoughtlessly made a water-colour sketch of the scene I am about to describe.

On the day when our army was approaching Ebersdorff, our soldiers with the excellent appetites travelling gives had gone some distance from the camp to get provisions. In the midst of the confusion into which the unexpected visit of our troops threw the village, a cottage took fire and the flames spread to the neighbouring houses. The first thought of our young soldiers was to rescue the villagers, but in throwing out the objects they were anxious to save they came upon the provisions &c. which had been hidden from us by their owners, and which had attracted so many unwelcome visitors. Loaves of bread, lumps of lard and vegetables, were now piled up out of the reach of the fire, mixed helter-skelter with the clothes, household linen, furniture, kitchen utensils, jars of wine, and casks of beer of the luckless peasants. The fire was scarcely extinguished before our thirsty soldiers fell upon the liquor and drank more than was good for them. Then, having quickly taken. their fill, and seeing that nothing but trouble would come of further delay, they started to go back to the camp laden with provisions, which in their very unstable condition they found much too heavy to carry.

The road to the camp was soon strewn with the debris of the booty, each man throwing away what he could not take with him, till the track was marked with a long uneven line of scattered fruits, ducks, saucepans, hams, linen, fat geese, clothes, and even books, for some of our soldiers were educated men, who cultivated literature when their brains were not muddled with wine. In their reckless gaiety, many of the high-spirited young fellows had decked themselves out in women's clothes, putting the petticoats on over their uniforms, and the blackened faces of the grenadiers, with their huge moustaches, presented a most comic appearance beneath the caps and above the bodices and short skirts of the peasants as they capered, shouted, and roared with laughter, whilst near them stood the owners of the stolen property, weeping in angry bitterness. One soldier, mounted on a donkey which had belonged to some peasant, and wearing a saucepan as a helmet, was dragging back to camp a lamb, a sack of vegetables, the cure's spit with his joint of meat on it, and a doll; another, his clothes all in disorder, had made a luckless villager don his helmet and breastplate, and drive in front of him the pig fattened for the use of the family, whilst he himself, with the peasant's cap on his head and so tipsy he could hardly keep himself steady, was trying to console the weeping daughter of his victim, who would not leave her old father in the hands of the intoxicated troopers. What shocked the Emperor most, when, thinking to please him, some one showed him this sketch of mine, was the fact that in the midst of the scene of fire and pillage with the grotesque medley of dancing and weeping figures such as is only seen in times of war, some of the soldiers were amusing themselves with sacred objects taken from the burning sacristy. One was wildly brandishing in the air a barber's wooden block with the cure's tonsured and powdered wig upon it; another, reeling with intoxication, had put on a stole embroidered with silver, with other sacerdotal ornaments, in which he was preaching wisdom and sobriety to his comrades. The Emperor was annoyed at this profanation of religion, and, angry with the author of the sketch for seeing anything comic in such a scene, he sent a message to me to the effect that I had better employ my brushes in the perpetuation of beauty and of noble actions. ' Lejeune,' he said, ' has distinguished himself by many deeds of brilliant courage ; it would be more worthy of his talent if he were to represent them.'

Massively paraphrased, but basically what happened.