#Mancini sisters

[onlinesweetheart]

<3

[marril96]

Chucky 2.02 | The Sinners Are Much More Fun

[pintsofguinnesmakeyoustrong]

i could cry. i could seriously fucking cry.

[fordarkmornings]

Jacob Ferdinand Voet (Flemish, 1639-1689)

Hortense Mancini and her Sister Marie

[wonder-worker]

I really dislike (the second half of) David Baldwin's biography of Elizabeth Woodville, tbh. It's the first modern biography of her, and probably the most "academic" one out there till date, but it's unfortunately heavily flawed.

He takes Elizabeth and her family's "general unpopularity" as a given.

He wrote that after Edward IV's death, "Elizabeth allegedly urged Rivers to bring the young King to bring the young King to London as quickly as possible and with as large a force as he could muster...There can be no doubt that Elizabeth wished to see her son crowned before anything could frustrate it." In Baldwin's view, it's only after Hastings expressed reluctance that she decided to act as a "peacemaker" instead. How on earth is this any different from what Ricardians have said about Elizabeth during this time?

He claimed that after Richard of Gloucester seized 12-year-old Edward V - against his will, I might add - "The Woodvilles [Elizabeth and Dorset] tried, unsuccessfully, to raise an army to recover the initiative", referring to her unpopularity as a reason for why she wasn't successful, and incorrectly states that both Croyland and Mancini refer to this. They don't - only Mancini does. Croyland, on the other hand, does not write of any Woodville attempt to raise arms, but does write that after Elizabeth sought sanctuary, adherents gathered under Westminster "in the queen's name". Mancini presents Elizabeth as aggressive and unpopular, Croyland presents her as understandably worried and widely supported.

He believed that Elizabeth of York genuinely wanted to marry her brother-vanishing uncle Richard III and quoted George Buck's letter on this.

Even worse, claimed that Elizabeth Woodville "approved and encouraged" her daughter in this, because she was "cynically hoping that a marriage between King Richard and her daughter would restore her [meaning EW] to her position at the centre of affairs". Like. Do I really need to say anything?

And lastly, he believed that Elizabeth genuinely plotted against Henry VII and her own daughter in Simnel's Rebellion due to her own desire for power and prominence, along with "resentment" towards Margaret Beaufort, and was subsequently imprisoned and deliberately depowered for it.

While Baldwin certainly gives credit and sympathy to his subject, his biography of Elizabeth during Richard's usurpation and Tudor rule is effectively no different from the way Ricardians and other general histories write about her. He is inconsistent, objectively incorrect, and never once questions the blatantly propagandic narratives (both misogynistic and classist) that were spread about her. Some of the things he said about her in his book "The Kingmaker's Sisters" aren't expecially great either, but I'll leave those out for now.

Again - this is the most academic biography of Elizabeth till date, and this is the crap it said about her. That's literally how bad historical studies of her have been till date.

This epitomizes another problem I have with most - tbh, pretty much all - of Elizabeth's historians. They focus primarily on contradicting post-contemporary rumours and accusations about her (Thomas Cook, the queen's gold, the Earl of Desmond's death, etc). It's understandable to an extent: these are "safer", less contrary, less disruptive. They probably won't offend most of their readers. But when it comes to actual contemporary accusations? Every single historian till date has been utterly lacking and disappointing. This applies to both Warwick's rebellions and Richard III's usurpation. They never question the fundamental narrative of 1483. If they do focus on propaganda, it's the more overt ones (eg: Richard's letter accusing Elizabeth of treasonable necromancy). And even then, they never acknowledge - let alone emphasize - the true extent of what was said about her, and how much of it was very unprecedented when it came to queens.

The greatest irony is that it's two of Richard III's historians - Rosemary Horrox and A.J Pollard - who have done a better job highlighting the extent of Ricardian propaganda (reflected by Mancini, an innocent newcomer, who unknowingly painted Elizabeth and her family as aggressors and Richard as a victim of circumstance forced to defend himself). Of course, while Horrox and Pollard analyzed this mainly from Richard's perspective, with little attention given to Elizabeth herself, the mere acknowledgement is still somehow better than anything that any of Elizabeth's historians have ever done till date. That's a shame, tbh.

[thedreemer-artrequestsopen]

trying to figure out Chucky’s timeline

//also don’t make any negative comments about the show as a whole. It’s my comfort show rn and I’m just trying to have fun

I’ve been rewatching the show bc I’m pretty sure I’m right… but Lexy says her sister was taken “a year ago”. And I’m not entirely sure if Devon Sawa is on his 3rd or 4th term of presidency

BUT ALSO. I haven’t even gone back to check what the time skip between Child’s Play 2 and 3 is. But Don Mancini said that the series was set in 2017, 2 weeks after cult… so… OMFG on episode 1 of season 3 and Devon sawa just said “we’ve been here for months” how long has this man been president for this is soooo fucked

[winterhalters]

imagine the potential for a sisters-themed anthology, with one group of sisters featured each season. The Mitford sisters. The Mancini sisters. The Brontë sisters. OTMA. The Bouvier sisters. The daughters of Elizabeth Woodwille and Edward IV. Give me Sanchia, Beatrice, Eleanor and Marguerite, and all the other sibling dynamics that i don't know about

i swear there's more to sisterhood than anne and mary boleyn or elizabeth and mary. i swear, trust me

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 12/19/2022

shambling along towards the new year

listening

cotton heads by caravan palace. i think this has been on every spotify wrapped playlist ive ever had. soft and comforting in a way that’s hard for me to describe. this has been part of the background music in some of the softest times of my life, winter-warm and safe and solitary noodling around on some project that involves a lot of fiddling with tiny pieces on a desk. spotify

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reading

houston thrift stores are, predictably, awash with cowboy western novels. mostly it’s every louis l’amour or zane grey possible (no thanks)

jake logan’s SLOCUM AND THE YELLOWBACK TRAIL is number three hundred and seventy nine in the series, which is quite impressive. i am fascinated when a book attempts to transplant a cowboy into an urban environment so we’ll stick with it for a bit, despite a truly horrible sex scene describing a “rigid pole”. there were no onomatopoeia sex sounds which is both blessing and curse bc the intel SLOCUM gathered during this sex scene seemed like a completely different conversation totally unrelated to the sex he was having. she simply happened to come three times in three pages while telling him everything he needed for Next Location.

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watching

saw several very beautiful movies in the last two weeks, one of which i liked very much.

Experiment in Terror (1962, dir. Edwards) has one of my favorite Mancini-composed pieces of music but i had never seen the movie it was from. a neo-noir man with an asthmatic rasp puts pressure on a bank teller and her teen sister to rob the bank by terrorizing them through various means. however, despite successfully playing on a lot of Womanly Fears (unexpected phone calls, driving at night, being alone) the fbi. this is perhaps a bit snide since it is extremely good at keeping the tension up through most of the runtime, the leads all did a good job imo— a letterboxed reviewer pointed out the villain played by Ross Martin has a certain chameleon-like quality from scene to scene and it is really arresting, he pops up in some unexpected places to great effect. a well-shot movie, just a hair longer than i wanted it to be, i don’t think any movie could survive the hype i built up in my head after loving than mancini piece so much, and was not quite the vibe i was looking for on the afternoon i finished it.

in a different noir with an important scene during a baseball game, Stray Dog (1949, dir. Kurosawa). everything you could possibly say about this movie has already been said. mifune is such a fucking joy to watch as a somewhat hapless young cop with a bad case of the scruples. gets his fully loaded pistol pickpocketed on the tram, sending him hither and yon during a brutally hot summer tracking down every bullet. widely available for free. fucking beautiful work of art. deeply annoying when widely acclaimed movies are actually really good

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playing

nothing new to report, nothing i want to play has been a free epic game lately. very excited that a character ive been waiting for is dropping in genshin on…uhhhhh…tomorrow? she has sunglasses. she has a gunbrella. she can call in heavy cannon bombardment. she’s just so cute

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making

one of the purposes of the tuesdaypost is to remind myself to expand the selection of things i do and my brain partially feels like sludge bc of the time of year and partially bc i haven’t fucking done anything more complicated than scrambled eggs or cleaning things in like two weeks

[eliasyourlocalcryptid]

Chucky/Child��s Play info dump :D

tiny little disclaimer :]

*these were compiled from a bunch of old separate/individual Chucky rants of mine *

a majority of this is just be gushing about behind the scene details and character quirks with SOME synopses about some of the movies (mostly focusing on my favorites,curse and cult)also i learned a lot of this info from dead meats yt channel,they do kill counts and go in depth about horror movie productions n stuff!!if you like my little ramble and wanna hear a more concise in depth summary of the story with added behind the scenes info I’d suggest checking out their Chucky franchise recounts !! I do paraphrase some cool parts that I noticed only after watching dead meats kill count so again,highly recommend checking out their video if you want a better in depth look at the Chucky/childs play series!!!

(also fyi not beta read ,pretty much word vomiting about my favorite horror franchise)

Chucky ramble ⬇️ : D

(Spoiler warning and tw for canon typical violence/violent scene mentions)

Offshooting from a Scream tangent discussing favorite horror movies,Chucky (for me atleast) just handles the characters much better. the way that they never stray away from the main antagonists and also manage to introduce new protagonists in a way that they relate the the ever growing franchise lore/plot just amazes me not even to mention the way that Don Mancini directs the franchise and continues to integrate the same actors in a way that i havent seen a lot of horror franchises do. EX: using Jennifer Tilly to play the non doll Tiffany Valentine,using her voice after her character's normal human self dies,and using her as a full actor again to play herself in the later Chucky movies i just adore how Don finds as many ways as possible to give the actors that have been loyal to him and his franchise new roles/work also it really helps out with the franchises actual story too Also i just think it’s cool that Nica Pierce is played by Fiona Dourif,daughter of Brad Dourif (Charles lee ray's actor + Chucky's voice actor) I can go on for hours about Cult and Curse of Chucky :v

When Nica Pierce,a traditionally fem presenting person,gets possessed by Charles lee ray/Chucky,a visceral traditionally masculine serial killer,the way her mannerisms change to reflect that change in mindset and personality makes me go fucking wild genuinely most of my favorite parts of the franchise is when she's possessed by Chucky Also Devon Sawa has appeared so much in the Chucky franchise and he plays different characters almost every time(since the characters he plays keeps on dying) and when he appeared in the 2nd season of the Chucky franchise he makes a reference to his earlier horror comedy work (Idle Hands) and i hshdjajdnkkajs makes me so happy cause i love that movie so much Also the way that all the movies vary tonally makes me so happy.its like sampling a little bit from each horror genre. from horror comedy,to the traditional slasher esc moments,to the utter suspense of the cult and curse movies,then not even to mention how it (in my opinion) works so well when being integrated to the tv it just works so well for me also just i love the gore effects so much Dr.Foley's death was genuinely one of my favorite parts of the franchise like the way his head gets bashed in with Nica's stiletto heel was really well executed,I love the practical effects used !!!

okay actually getting to each movie (and a little bit of the TV series)

The 1st movie was just a cult classic and it deserves all its recognition and it's premise and plot has still held up pretty well to present day the 2nd movie does so well letting the audience see how the events of the 1st film plauged the young Andy Barclay into his late childhood,it's also excellent when introducing his new foster sister Kyle (best character in the first 3 movies ong) can't say too much on the 3rd movie,it's not bad by any means,it still excels at practical gore effects and the characters and pretty solid but it's nothing compared to the movies that follow it Bride of Chucky. LORD

Don Mancini's turn in directors chair after overseeing the franchise since the first movie, and he does not disappoint I've seen a lot of people claim that Bride is the worst in the franchise because of its overly silly tone but that's one of my favorite parts about this era of the franchise The way that Don isn't afraid to play around with the characters and plot makes way for so many outlandish moments in the franchise that help it out so much overall Anyways god i adore Jennifer Tilly Bride being the first film that i had ever seen her act in,it was like a whole experience the way she played Tiffany Valentine just stuck with me,then her voice acting as Tiff in doll form is so well performed,and Bride has some of the most iconic/best lines and line deliveries i have ever seen!! Btw im trying to speed run talking about the earlier films because i really want to talk about Curse and Cult but i think that Bride is such an interesting movie when you step back and compare it to the ones the come and the ones that came before it

Anyways any film with Jennifer Tilly is a win and im so glad that she remained a mainstay in the Chucky franchise because her acting skills and her character are so much of the reason that im infatuated with this series Okay but anyways Seed of Chucky! Putting aside the lovely queer representation (something that will become a running theme in Mancini's work with the franchise) I lovelovelove Glen/Glenda's character(s) so much as a juxtaposition to Tiff and Chucky's.Their strange family-esc dynamic allow for so many comedic moments that let me just relax and genuinely enjoy the movie so much. Also the fact that Glen/Glenda's voice actor is the same one that played a hobbit in lord of the rings/hobbit (i forget which) just adds a bit of silliness to them OOO And the scene when Tiff calls a help hotline is a masterpiece on its own The concept of a killer doll calling a help hotline because she feels like shes goiing to relapse on killing already has such a comedic premise to it but the way the movie plays it dead serious always amuses me,it adds a layer to her character that's so entertainingly nuanced

OKAY NOW ONTO CURSE + CULT Okay so Curse of Chucky is one of my favorite movies of all time (no surprise) starting out with the mere fact that Fiona Dourif is in it AND she plays Nica Pierce.Fiona Dourif being the daughter of Brad Dourif,the actor and voice actor for Chucky/Charles lee ray,is already fantastic but Nica's character by herself serves as an astoundingly well written and complex figure in the Chucky franchise She's strong,witty,kind,resourceful,and downright badass at times and i adore her to bits The way her character is portrayed in Curse and Cult makes for such an interesting viewing She's a woman whos been looked down on/pitied for all of he life,on account of the fact that she's handicapped and wheelchair bound,despite that she still manages to carry herself with a sense of self confidence that doesn't make her come off as arrogant but headstrong When shit hits the fan she's downright distraught when her sister dies at the hands of Chucky,showing that although she has a sarcastic attitude she's still very much a well fleshed out character

Throughout the movie she's shown to be compassionate but still not taking anyone's shit and she makes for a really interesting character to nitpick Despite her horrid situation she still manages to (almost) best Chucky at his own gritty game,she's shown to be able to both take and throw punches,even against someone/thing that's killed the rest of her family (except for alice,niece,but well get to her later) The end of the movie is bittersweet in the sense that while Nica does manage to survive Chucky,she's left to take the blame for the massacre he left behind. Her screaming "i'm still alive" to an unmoving chucky while in court at her own sentencing is a scene that never gets old to me Also i cant talk about curse without mentioning the Andy Barclay cameo end credit scene because when i say i went absolutely feral to see his character come back into the franchise,still played my a now grown Alex Vincent anyways CULT OF CHUCKY!!!

This movie take so many stylistic liberties which i dont mind,heavily reminds me of experimental artistic late 70s-early 90s european films It also fully brings back Andy Barclay as a mainstay character + a cameo from Kyle!!!

This film taking place a few years (i believe) from the last movie,still following Nica Pierce The whole premise is that she's thrown into a mental/psyche ward and after a while accepted the false truth that she was insane and hallucinated the whole Chucky is alive thing.Eventually Dr.Foley,the main doctor at the ward overlooking Nica brings in a Chucky doll as a sort of exposure therapy and Chucky shenanigans ensue All while Andy Barclay is trying to kill all the Chuckys (because theres more then one because of voodoo soul splitting across multiple vessles) and Nica is just trying to survive The movie ends with Chucky shoving part of his soul in Nica Pierce,possessing her and the possesed Nica runs away from the asylum with Tiff I could go on and on for hours about the practical gore/sfx/effects,and the great stylistic choices in the movie but i'd just be rambling more at that point than i already have But like lord The one scene when Dr Foley's head gets bashed beneath Nica's heel is one of my favorite parts of the franchise,both because of Fiona Dourifs and the awesome practical effects !!! anyways

Can you tell i really like the chucky franchise- I just realize i didnt even mention the practical Chucky animatronic effects Throughout the whole Curse and especially Cult movie the amazing work of the puppeteers really shines through in the scenes with multiple chucky dolls! Also how Brad Dourif decides to voice the different chucky dolls makes me so happy,like he makes the newer created Chucky's have voice cracks and a slightly pitched voice to indicate the new life brought to it and its just so well done in the movie(noticed this after it was pointed out in the Chucky recount/kill count on yt :D) also also the multiple chucky shenanigans makes me so happy lord I could go on about the practical effects in the franchise,i havent mentioned it a lot but the puppeteering and animatronics and effects have been spectacular since the beginning,and the way that the animatronics evolve with the innovation with technology and also the bigger budgets with the movies

Rahh also also if anyone ever wants me to go into the filmography and special effects of the Chucky franchise just tell me because i will go crazzyyyyy i really need to find a clip of the scene when Nica bashes Foleys head in underneath her heel because it will never get old for me trust i could write a whole essay on the complexities and nuances of dynamics and the strained relationship between so many of the characters 🙏 Tiff (especially in Bride) really encapsulates a lot of what I love about the series,I just adore how she’s written Omg and don’t get me started on Brad Dourif. He plays Chucky so well and his character both as the human Charles lee ray and in doll form as Chucky is so amusing More on the actual franchise,i have so much to say about the tv show but i still havent finished it yet (on season 2) Mini ramble abt Nica and Tiff,their dynamic in the show and plot wise has always interested me The strained dynamic between Nica and Charles/Chucky in Curse ultimately culminating in Nica being possessed by Chucky in Cult,the on and off relation between Chucky and Tiff,and the absolute infatuation between Nica and Tiffs (or well at least Tiff’s infatuation with Nica)carries so much of the character driven plot in a way i wouldn't have expected initially,in something i thought was going to be a silly slasher series

Wooooo okay mini mini rant on the tv series because its so good even though i havent finished it yet As mentioned prior i adore how the franchise handles introducing new characters to the ever growing plot and lore or the series,one amazing example of this is how they bring a new generation of protagonists into the show while not throwing aside Andy Barclay's character Jake serves as a great stand in for Don Mancini himself (admitted as much in interview) and the striking conflict that he has with his sexuality mirrors Don's own personal experiences with his own life.While Jakes sexuality is a part of his character it isnt the only thing about him (which i adore,i dont like when a characters whole personality is just being queer) but his sexuality creates great context and depth to his character and his struggles anyways the way that the characters keep on evolving as the series progresses is highlighted in Nica and Tiff's relationship compared to them at the end of cult to them in the ending of season 1

Oml and not even mentioning the sapphic twist on the traditional killer couple,the interactions between Chucknica (Chucky possessed Nica) + Tiff and Tiff + normal Nica make for some of my personal favorite scenes in the series,having the characters written and interacting in such a way allows for so much more comedic and sometimes downright suspenseful scenes !! i.e. the scene when Nica overcomes the possession for a bit,gaining control of her body,but she's still in a room with Tiff,Chucky's girlfriend,being forced to play cards with her to make sure Tiff doesn't notice its Nica in control Tiff’s giddy psychotic personality really creates the sense that Nica is in genuine danger when around her,like when she giggles about her murders with a smile while nica has to act like she's still possessed by chucky WHILE playing cards with her.

The scene comes to a somewhat sudden shift in conversation when Tiff reveals that she's known Nica was there since she first regained control of her body.She knew it was her since she stabbed Nica in the thigh and Nica didn't feel a thing (paralysed by the waist down) then comes the shocking notion announced to Nica from tiff,being that Tiff actually likes her more that she likes Chucky.All of Nica's cunning acting,trying to seem like Chucky in front of Tiff was for nothing because Tiff was just playing with her all along the dynamic between the 3 is so interesting to analyze and it gets even stranger in the 2nd season

Since Tiff is still a psycho and a killer at heart,she can't handle the idea of letting Nica go,but, since Chucky's soul is still in Nica's body Tiff had to find a way to "disarm" Chucky The most heart wrenching scenes in the tv show,to me at least,is the one at the ending of season 1.It reveals that Tiff drugged Nica and cut off her limbs,making it so that Chucky cant harm Tiff in Nica's body Nica is one of my favorite characters and to see her headstrong resolve shatter when she realized what had happen to her is so unnerving Her character doesn't disappear from the show though,she's kept alive in Tiffany's house,captive the beggining of season 2 reveals that tiff had been keeping Nica and taking care of her for the better part of a year Nica still keeping with her character of sarcastically witty even in the face of insanity,she suprisingly still has the energy to keep her bitterness towards Tiff despite the horrid things she'd been put through Thankfully Nica gets back on her feet (pun intended) when Tiff's kid,Glen (in human form since should transfer to human body + Glenda's there too) breaks Nica out of Tiffs house and gives her her wheel chair back with the addition of prosthetic arms to help her use her wheelchair

[fieldofdaisiies]

Ars Amatoria | ch. IX

-all rights reserved-

Elucien AU word count: 3k words warnings: none

masterlist

“Is there a chance I can join?” Elain peeks into the room, one hand braced on the door, the other toying with the necklace around her neck. Her eyes are open and bright, her lips forming a little hopeful smile. Both Vanserra brothers lift their eyes to her, and Eris moves his head from one side to the other, like weighing the options, then looks at his brother, then back to Elain. 

“Of course.” He closes the book in front of him. “Feyre is your sister after all, Rhysand your brother-in-law. You would have a chance to see your family, I don’t know why I haven’t thought of that before.”

Elain releases a happy noise, her whole body glowing, and waddles into the family room. The prospect of seeing her sister is enough to make this day good. It has now been three days since Elain and Lucien talked in the garden, in the meantime they haven’t spoken that much, as Lucien had a lot to do concerning the bank and Elain has still been moving in, placing her things in the different rooms.

Her and Lucien sleep in separate bedrooms, something Lucien has arranged for them. Elain, although she said she would not mind sharing a bed, was quite relieved about these news. It makes it easier for her, for her to adapt and find her place in the new city. 

“You think this is a good idea?” Honest concern rings in Lucien’s voice when he gives his wife a once-over and then looks back at his brother with furrowed brows. “It can be dangerous.”

“It can be dangerous not matter I am with you or not. It doesn’t matter. And I would like to come, I would like to see Feyre and Rhysand and I would like to join you.” Elain stands her ground, she has always been a bit stolid in certain situations. And now she wants to join, no matter if Lucien finds it dangerous or not, she wants to come along on this journey. Since everything, every choice has been taken from her, she at least wants to be able to decide the trips she goes on. 

“She has a point.” Eris leans back in his chair, and only then Elain notices the deep, dark rings that are gracing the skin under his eyes. Lucien has noticed them as well and knows that he has not snuck out to meet Azriel the previous night, has rather stayed in and was bent over his desk and documents for the bank the whole night. The whole crisis weighs heavily on him and the least Lucien can do is travel to Milan for him, to assure the alliance with Rhysand Mancini, the Duke of Milan. In all honesty, Elain joining in is quite beneficial, as Rhysand will probably much easier say yes when his wife’s sister is there.

But the way up to Milan can be dangerous, there are many robbers and smugglers in the area and the Vanserra family is not unknown in Italy. But if Elain wants to join, he won’t say no. He has seen the sparkle in her eyes when Eris said yes, he could never tell her no now, as much as he wants to protect her. “You need to pack a few pieces of clothing, we won’t stay long in Milan, but the journey is already close to four days.”

Elain gasps a little — that is even longer than the journey from Venice to Florence took. 

When dawn arrives the next morning, Lucien and Elain are ready to climb into the family carriage. It is a little bigger than the one her and Nesta have arrived in, but the benches are just as hard and uncomfortable as in the other one. Elain still tries to make herself as comfortable as possible and Lucien claims the seat across from her. He smiles as he does so and it warms Elain’s heart, her gaze holing his for a long moment.  

The snap of the reigns cracks through the air and it is the only thing the makes her turn her eyes away for a split second. The carriage starts rolling as they set out for their journey to Milan. 

“Did you sleep well?” Lucien asks into the silence of the inside of the carriage, his question somehow serving as an icebreaker to start this morning's conversation. 

“I did, thank you,” Elain answers politely. She leans back against the wall of the carriage and poses the same question to him. Lucien tells her that his night was alright. He stretches his legs, his bones cracking a little when he rolls back his shoulders and he relaxes as he nestles into the corner of the carriage. 

“What do you like to do, Lucien?” Elain gives him a questioning look and Lucien is honestly surprised about her query. He hasn’t been asked this question in a long time, nobody has ever seemed really interested in him. Most people just show interest in the bank and their success or failure.

He takes a moment to think, inhales and then smiles. “I like to ride and travel. I like to bathe in the small lakes around Florence. I enjoy reading from time to time and I am great lover of art and music. And I am really interested in the art of map making, of trade and finding possible new trading routes..”

Lucien is happy that he has told her everything and really enjoys with how much admiration she looks at him. He wants to get to know her as well, so he quickly asks Elain the same question in return.

“I like…I like going on walks. And I love cooking and baking. And I love tending to flowers and a garden. I occasionally enjoy reading and also dancing. And I love spending time with people, just chatting and drinking tea,” she blabbers. It is the first time she speaks so freely and so happily and it feels so good, Elain thinks. Graysen has never asked her about the things she enjoyed, he always assumed she liked the same things he did…

“Well, our garden is your garden as well now. You have free reign there. You can buy all sorts of plants and flowers at the market and plant them, no one will mind. Mother, I think, will appreciate it a lot.” Lucien smiles and continues, “And I am sure we can arrange something with the cook that you are allowed to help there whenever you want. You just need to ask, or you tell me and I will go ask for you.” Elain’s heart does a few happy skips at that and she can only grin at her husband. He is a good man, she knows this, and she was really lucky that she ended up in this marriage with him. 

As the journey continues and their conversation turns to a small talk which then turns to comfortable silence, Elain pushes the curtain of the carriage a little to the side and looks outside. They are travelling on a long and winding pathway that is surrounded by olive trees and vines. The vineyards on the rolling hills in front of them are beautiful, the early morning sunlight casting them in a beautiful glow. Only in the valleys behind the rows of grapevines, she can spot small villages, but they are in the far distance.

Elain’s eyes travel as she leans further outside, assessing the marvelous landscape. A light breeze dances through the leaves of the lush trees and even tingles her skin a little. And so their journey continues. Over the blend of gently rolling hills, to the sharper peaked mountains behind them. They travel through soft valleys, stop in some cities for food, or to stretch their legs. They do so in the city of Piacenza where Lucien also grabs something to eat for them, other than the other provisions they have taken on road with them.

Most days are rather calm, but one late afternoon as they still travel through the idyllic landscape, Elain can’t keep the questions bottled up. She wants to know more, wants to be informed as she is also a Vanserra now and has a right to know. “Can you tell me a little about the problem with the Hybern bank. You and your brother talked about it and I understood nothing.” 

Lucien feels a kernel of guilt bloom in his chest, having not yet told her all about it. He folds his hands in his lap and nods. “Of course. I am sorry, I should have done so earlier.”

He cranes his neck a little, weighing is options about where to exactly start. “Our family, the Vanserra family, has for ages been the bankers for the Camera Apostolica. It is the central board of finance in the papal administrative system and of great importance to our pope and the whole state of Italy.”

Elain’s eyes widen a little, because she did not know that. “Obviously the Vanserra bank is the leading one in Florence, and well-known even outside the city borders. The Hybern family is not too fond of that, has never been, which also makes sense. They are always second in line, don’t have the biggest possibilities, don’t have that much money, lack the most important allies that both my father and now Eris are so frantically trying to ensure. They were born noble, we were not and they think only people born of noble blood should rule.”

He gives Elain a moment to process everything and when she tips her head, he continues. “Eris, I and Tamlin Hybern were friends a long time ago. But the relationship got strained when his parents died and Jacobo, his uncle, took over as his legal guardian. They are in constant search of more power, and have gained quite some through the evasion of taxes. We don’t really know what is about to come, but that is why it is so important to secure the allies.”

Lucien releases a loud breath and rolls his shoulders back. “Eris wants to bring Tamlin onto our side again, make him an ally, but that is difficult. Our father always used to say that it is a shame he has no daughter, he could have married her to Tamlin and make him an ally that way.” Lucien swallows thickly, somehow happy that they don’t have a sister. 

It is a lot, a lot of information, but Elain nods her head, slowly working through it all. God, the situation truly seems messed up and utterly complicated. 

After nearly four days on the road, Elain can barely sit anymore. She starts shifting and wiggling, her rear aching fiercely. She lifts herself up a little which makes Lucien open his eyes. “Slept well?” he asks, a little drowsy from his earlier slumber. Elain nods. “You?”

“It was alright. A little harsh, but we should be there soon.” The younger Vanserra brother rolls his shoulders back and cranes his necks, some bones cracking with his movements. “By the way, I saw you returned Odyssey. Now I am wondering, have you had a chance to take a look into Ovid?”

Chuckling softly, Elain shakes her head. “I have not. I really don’t think it is appropriate literature for me. I know from my sister that there are very explicit descriptions in this book, aren’t there?”

“There are,” Lucien says with a grin. “A man can learn a lot from those books. What women like and enjoy.” He tips his head, his eyes aglow with something close to mischief. 

Lucien Vanserra is a generous lover, Nuala told her, and Elain has no doubt about that. She doesn't want to ask, but some small part of her is terribly intrigued and wants to know what one can learn from those books. What he has learned. 

“Like what?” Her question is posed in a breathy tone, her voice barely audible. Her cheeks and ears turn warm, probably red as well, and a sheepish smile spreads over face.

Lucien cocks a brow, sucks his lower lip between his lips and lets got off it again. “Like what, you are asking?”

Her heart is beating a little faster at the intensity with which Lucien holds her gaze. “Yes.”

“Well, if you really want to know. I don’t want you to be scandalized.” Lucien stretches his long legs, the muscles of his thighs rippling as he does so. He braces his hands on the bench next to his hips, not once breaking eye contact with Elain.

“From these books a man can learn a lot about the things women enjoy: attention, little gifts, valuable time together. But also about all things surrounding intimacy.” He watches Elain intently, wanting to see if her expression gives anything away. And it truly does. She looks intrigued, maybe a little nervous, but nevertheless like she is burning for him to continue. And of course he does. Only stopping when she wants him to.

“There are instructions in it how a man can bring the woman the most pleasure…in the bedroom. How to touch her body, how to use his tongue and mouth, how to kiss even her most private parts. How to make her reach her height, not once or twice, but three times a night.”

The last part was made up, it is not written in the book, but Lucien wanted to add it nevertheless, he has taught so himself. He grins as colour fills every fiber of Elain’s face and her lips part a little. He does not know how much she knows about sex, most women, especially those born into noble families have been raised in a rather prude and conservative way. “What are you thinking, my lady?” 

Too many things, Elain thinks, her whole focus on Lucien’s face, on his lips in particular, how his tongue pokes out and licks over his lower lip. Her thoughts start to stray, to wander towards undiscovered places in her mind. What would his lips feel on hers? On her skin? On the skin of her belly? Her—

Elain cuts her thoughts off, eyes going a little wider as she stares at Lucien. He chuckles, and folds his hand over his belly. “I assume your thoughts are going into the right direction.” He grins brightly and brings both his arms up, to fold his hands behind his neck and leans back. 

“I am not,” Elain promptly says but her trembling voice definitely gives her away. She fidgets with her hands in her lap, toying with the outer layer of her dress. 

“What other books do you enjoy? What other writers?” She needs to change the topic, otherwise her head will explode with heat as all and everything she can think about is Lucien and his damn lips. Damn. Oh God! That word is new in her vocabulary. 

“I really like Homer as well. I think he is my second favourite. Illias. Odyssey.” Elain nods, wanting to pick up Illias next. She makes a mental note to remember. 

“But I am not the big literature lover in our family. That is definitely Eris,” Lucien explains. “He writes even. Mostly some really cheesy love poems for his lover.”

“His lover?” The corners of Elain’s mouth turn downwards. She hasn’t met her brother-in-law’s wife yet, but the mention of a lover makes her stomach twist. “You brother has a lover? I thought he has a wife.”

Lucien realises what he has started, that he has opened a can of worms which can’t be closed anymore. He knows he has to explain it all to her. He lowers his hands and leans forward. The expression on her face speaks volumes when he looks at her for a moment. Do you have a lover as well? he knows she wants to ask. 

“He does, but you have to know that I would never. I would never do that to you, Elain. But the situation with my brother is difficult. Ianthe is also different than you are. And they are…Eris is—

“Madonna Vanserra, Messer Vanserra, we have arrived.” The door of the carriage opens and both of them are surprised about not even having noticed that the carriage has slowed down. 

“I’ll tell you later.” Lucien reaches over and quickly gives Elain’s hand a soft squeeze. He climbs out of the carriage, and waits, extending his hand so Elain can take it. There is now a kernel of uncertainty blooming in her chest, that she can’t push away. Nevertheless, she takes Lucien’s hand, forces a bright smile onto her lips and just focuses on finally seeing her sister again. Moreover, finally being able to move and stretch her legs again is also quite beneficial. 

✢ ✢ ✢

“Of course that can be arranged,” Rhysand says in his deep rumble. He forks a piece of potato and chews on it when Lucien thanks him. Elain would have loved to pay attention to their talks and discussion, but the small babe in her arms has stolen her full attention. Nyx happily suckles on his thumb, giggling and squealing when she pokes his little belly or his cute chubby cheeks.

Elain grins at the happy baby in her arms and only when she hears nothing but silence around her, she lifts her gaze. All three of them are looking at her, Feyre grinning brightly, Rhysand smiling politely and Lucien…she can’t quite place his emotion. His eyes are wide open and soft, his lips parted a little and the piece of meat he has on his fork just dangles in the air. He just looks at her, nothing but…It is admiration that laces his features!

And even though, Lucien mentioning his brother having a lover and the possibility that bloomed in Elain’s mind that Lucien could have a lover too, landed a blow to her happiness, the look on his face gives her hope. Would a man who has a lover really look at his wife like that?

~~~~~~~~ taglist AA: @octobers-veryown @velidewrites @areyoudreaminof @acourtofthought @liftyourhipsformelovex @hallway5 @stickyelectrons @honeysuckle-daydreams13 @bibliophiliaxvignette @thelovelymadone @sunshinebingo @arabellatheauthor @autumndreaming7 @nestas-workwife @rarephloxes  general el. taglist: @rippahwrites @shadowhunter2003 @my-inner-crisis @ladyelain @acourtofthought @itwasalwaysaboutthetea @multifictional  @moonlightazriel@aayo-whatt@brekkershadowsinger @sunshinebingo @gracie-rosee @a-frog-with-a-laptop

[mermaidsirennikita]

🎄Romance Advent🎄 Day 20: Mafia Madman by Mila Finelli

One-sentence summary: Four years after being tortured to the brink of insanity, a mafia don seeks revenge by kidnapping his enemy's sister-in-law--only to find that she is actually.... a LOT to deal with.

Why read it: I feel that it would be disingenuous for me to talk about this criminally underrated book without then pushing it onto everyone again with this Romance Advent that is in fact, entirely up to me. This is one of the most insane, hottest, ridiculous, FABULOUS books I've read in my life. People SAY their romance heroes are crazy, but few of them are as legitimately cracked as Enzo D'Agostino, living on his hidden yacht for FOUR YEARS, asking a woman out for an Aperol spritz, blowing up the bar, planting a body, and then going "no one will figure THIS out". People SAY their romance heroines are rebellious, but is anyone on the level of "doing naked yoga in a cage, picking locks and flinging herself off the yacht knowing she can't swim, going all BUT DADDY I LOVE HIM!!! over some dude who took her sister hostage once", Gia Mancini? This is a book where two assholes stare at each other, waiting for the other to blink, and then just decide to furiously bang it out instead. You want real enemies to lovers? This is it. And it actually does have a lot of feeling, a ridiculously great grovel, and a reframed understanding of past wrongs. I love it as much as Enzo loves making Gia kneel next to him while he feeds her off of a fork, and as much as Gia loves chicken piccata (which is a lot).

Lives rent-free in my brain: The entire book, but one of many moments I could call out is when Enzo saves Gia from the whole "jumping off a yacht and can't swim" moment, then grumblingly drags her into a shower and begins washing her hair while bitching about how dumb that shit was. Because that's what you do with your revenge captive. That's what you do when you're trying to prove a point to your enemy. THAT is vengeance!!!

[marril96]

Chucky 2.01 | Halloween II

[spookyscarydemonbabe]

Girls Night

A/N- I’ve been wanting to write a platonic fic between the reader and the corroded coffin guys for a while, just because overall i love all of the guys together 🥰 so i was very excited to write this!

Summary- You’ve been waiting for weeks for the girls night you had planned with your girlfriends. You were going to do all the normal sleepover things you did when you were younger, doing each other’s makeup and hair, gossip, talk about boys, facials, watch cheesy romcoms and bake cookies, all your favorite things! Unfortunately, you didn’t plan on having them all cancel on you, so your other friends decide to fill in for them.

Genre- Fluff(?)

Warnings- None that i can think of :)

Tag List- Currently no tag list for my platonic fics, but if you’d like to be added to it or to the tag list for my other fics please let me know! :)

Words- 1.8k

You sighed as you looked at the clock on the basement wall.

7:43 pm.

Tonight was supposed to be an amazing night for you and your girlfriends, and you had been planning it for weeks!

It was finally time for a girls night, and you had planned to do all of the things you did when you were younger at all your sleepovers! Though now it would be a bit different when weed and alcohol was brought into the mix, but nonetheless it was going to be an amazing night for all of you. Especially with your parents out of the house.

The morning of, one of the girls had called and canceled for a family issue. No problem! You can’t control things like that, and they could always come to the next one.

A few hours later another one had come up to you during school and said that she had gotten stuck babysitting her siblings, and you understood. Parents never wanted to let their eldest kids have fun or go out, they were always stuck as the babysitter, and you didn’t blame them for it!

You had been so excited still, even after half of the girls cancelled, and you spent the whole lunch period telling the boys about it.

Though it was strange to some people that you were the only girl that the ‘freaks’ hung out with, you were like their sister at this point. You’d known each other since Corroded Coffin was formed and you always came with to every practice and they always listened to your boy problems. What you had was a normal friendship, and it didn’t matter if other people thought it was weird, as long as it worked for you and the boys then it didn’t matter.

After school you had started bringing everything into the basement to get ready for the night. Snacks, alcohol, some board games you had to wipe the dust off of from the top shelf of your closet, a few romcoms you had rented from family video, and everything else you might need for the night.

Another call came right after you had changed into your pajamas, and though you were starting to feel upset that your plans were falling through, you didn’t blame your friends for it! You knew that things could come up that they couldn’t control, and there was always going to be more time to spend with each other.

The final call came just a few minutes ago, and you understood entirely why your last girlfriend couldn’t come with. Having their bills paid is a lot more important than coming to a girls night, there would always be more time to see each other.

Still, it hurt to be all alone in your basement with all the fun things you had planned for the night.

There was a bowl of popcorn all set up on the table, cookie dough in the fridge, and you had already put on Can’t Buy Me Love to watch while you waited for the girls to show up, but it wasn’t the same to be doing those things alone.

You tried your best to keep your head up, setting onto the couch and bringing the popcorn into your lap as you watched Cindy Mancini get wine all over her mothers suede outfit. You deserved a nice relaxing night in by yourself, and even if your friends couldn’t be there with you, you still wanted to have fun. Even if it was by yourself.

The phone started to ring on the wall and you set the bowl back onto the table, picking up the handset and placed it to your ear, rolling your eyes as you heard a few of the guys chatting in the background as you answered,

“Hello?”

“(y/n)! Hey, did your girlfriends come over?” Eddie’s voice was instantly recognizable, “Think they might need some male attention?” You could sense his smirk over the phone and rolled your eyes.

“Alright, first of all, gross. Second of all, you’re never dating my other friends because if something bad happens i’m not getting torn between it.”

“Aw, come on!” You heard Jeff call out in the background.

“Come on, you’re the only girl we know that willingly talks to us, so maybe you can convince your friends to talk to us too.” Eddie tried pleading with you, earning a smile from you.

“Eddie i’ve told you guys the same thing the last 20 times you asked. No! Besides, none of them could come.”

Eddie could tell that you were trying not to be bothered by it, but he knew you all too well, and could hear a light tinge of sadness in your tone.

“Oh. I’m sorry, i know you were excited about tonight, it sucks they couldn’t make it.”

“Yeah, it sucks…” You shrugged and leaned against the wall, “But it’s alright! I don’t blame them for not coming, i know shit happens. Besides, i’ve got snacks and weed and the Brat Pack to keep me company tonight. I’ll be fine.”

You could hear Eddie try to quiet down the guys behind him,

“Alright, sounds fun. You sure you don’t want us to come by or anything so you don’t have to be all alone?”

“Yeah, i’m sure.” You looked back over to the TV and tried to continue on watching the movie, doing your best to keep your tone up so Eddie couldn’t suspect you were more upset then you had been leading on, “I don’t think you guys would have much fun doing my girl stuff anyways.” You giggled, “I’ll see you guys at practice on Saturday alright?”

“Yeah, yeah sure, no problem. See you then.”

You hung up the phone and went back to your place on the couch, dragging one of the blankets off of the back over your body and bringing the bowl of popcorn back into your lap to continue on finishing your movie.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You yawned and looked over at the clock on the wall once again.

It was close to 8:30, and your movie was finally getting into the best part. The school dance, halloween, Bobby breaking up with Cindy over her ‘relationship’ with Ronald. This really was one of Patrick Dempseys best roles.

You were surprised to hear the doorbell suddenly start rapidly ringing upstairs, and you knew that was Grants ring.

You ran over and paused the movie before quickly running upstairs, looking out the peephole to see Eddie, Grant, Jeff and Gareth all waiting at your doorstep.

You opened the door and saw that they all had changed into their pajamas too, holding pillows under their arms and overnight bags on their shoulders,

“What’re you guys doing here?” You said with a laugh.

Grant shrugged and the guys smiled behind him,

“Girls night.”

You giggled and looked over the guys once more in their plaid pajama pants and old band shirts,

“What do you mean ‘girls night’?”

“Well none of your other girl friends could make it, and we knew how excited you were for it.” Jeff said as he adjusted the bag on his shoulder, “We make you do our guy stuff all the time so it’s only fair we do your girl stuff too.”

“Yeah, you got anything that’ll keep my hair from getting all frizzy?” Eddie said from behind Jeff.

You smiled and your excitement for the night was evident from the blush at your cheeks.

The guys were never into so called ‘girl stuff’ but they hated seeing you unhappy, and it meant the world to you for them to step in and have a good night with you doing all the things you had planned.

You led them in and brought them downstairs and they looked around at the things you had set up all over the basement.

Gareth sat down on the couch and you pressed play on the VCR once again for the movie to play on as background noise,

“So what do girls usually do? Like dress up?”

You smiled and sat next to him on the couch,

“No, it’s not like your little sisters’ sleepovers Gare. I was planning on just doing what we would normally do on our girls nights, romcoms, gossip, do each other’s hair and makeup-“

“Speaking of hair, didn’t you tell me about some hair mask or something? To help with the frizz?” Eddie asked as he toyed with the ends of his hair.

“Yeah! I’ll go grab the stuff from upstairs, it’s all in the fridge, Gare do you wanna come with and help me put the cookies in the oven?”

“Wait, there’s cookies?” Jeff’s attention was grabbed by the quick mention of sweets.

“Oh absolutely, i got cookies, chips, drinks, weed, anything you guys want just help yourselves!”

“I’m coming up to help with the cookies.”

“No i am!”

You smiled and Gareth and Jeff ran up the basement stairs into the kitchen, shoving each other as they tried to push past one another to get to the fridge first with you following soon after them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your so called ‘girls night’ with the boys had to have been the best night you’ve spent with them.

Eddie was currently combing out his curls after washing out the hair mask you had made for him, and he was surprised to find out that you could make a hair mask out of bananas, honey, and yogurt.

Jeff and Grant were sat in front of the TV, a package of Oreos and a joint being shared between them as they were invested in the plot of Girls Just Want to Have Fun,

“You think Janey and Jeff are gonna end up together?” Jeff asked Grant as he took a bite of his Oreo.

“I don’t know, but i do know that Natalie is a bitch and doesn’t deserve to win that dance contest.”

“(y/n), you’ve seen this movie, do they make up at the end?”

You giggled as you sat in front of Gareth, the only one out of the others who was willing to let you practice doing makeup on him, though it was mainly due to him already having it done by his sisters so many times,

“I’m not telling you! That ruins the whole movie, just watch it!” The boys groaned and Gareth smiled as you brushed on more eyeshadow onto his lids,

“Yeah, you’re definitely more of an autumn, your hair is brown but there’s a little bit of red in it too so darker neutrals would probably work best with you.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that those colors compliment your skin tone and your hair color and all that stuff. Like your vest is perfect, maybe you should wear some more darker browns though.”

To be honest, you didn’t expect the night to be so fun, especially with the guys. They had their boy things and you had your girl things but it was nice to be able to do the things that you liked with them, even if they weren’t too fond of them.

“Alright (y/n), my hair is still a little wet,” Eddie said as he walked out of the bathroom, scrunching his hair with the towel in his hand, “but since i’m the only one out of all of us that has long hair, you wanna braid it?”

“Yes i want to braid it!” You quickly got up and sat on the couch, pushing the table out to give Eddie some room to sit on the floor in front of you,

“Sorry Gare, i’ll finish your makeover another time, i can’t pass up an opportunity like this.”

Eddie sat on the floor in front of you and you took the comb that was in his hand, carefully getting out the little knots and tangles that he missed.

Gareth got up and went into the bathroom to wash off his face and you sat cross crossed behind Eddie as he sat on the floor before you. You set the comb next to you and grabbed the sides of his hair, making sure to not make it too tight as you braided.

Jeff and Grant moved back from the TV for the rest of you to see the screen, and Gareth took his place next to you on the couch as he left the bathroom, and you were all sat comfortably as you watched the movie.

You tied up the ends of Eddie’s hair with an elastic and smiled as you took in the scene before you.

All of you, together, having fun like you did when you were younger. And though it was a bit different given the fact that you were doing your ‘girl stuff’ as they liked to call it, it was still sweet of them to go out of their way to come over and spend time with you doing things that you knew they didn’t particularly enjoy.

“Thanks for coming over tonight guys,” You said with a smile as they turned to you, “i really appreciate it. It means a lot to me, it really does.”

“Aww, (y/n) is getting all sappy.” Grant said with a smile.

“I think she wants a hug.” Jeff quickly got up from his spot and so did the rest of the guys as they piled onto you, wrapping their arms around you tightly as they squeezed you tightly.

“No! No, no, no!” You said with a fit of giggles as they rushed you, your arms and legs flailing to try and fight them off of you, but you knew it was no use. You finally gave in and took their hug like a champ, though it felt more like you were being crushed into the couch cushions, “Ok! Get off, it’s getting hard to breathe.”

They did as you said, unwrapping their arms around you in a fit of laughs as they went back to their spots, Eddie moving to the other spot next to you on the couch.

Best girls night ever.

[wishesofeternity]

"The Affair of the Poisons: Murder, Infanticide and Satanism at the Court of Louis XIV”:

“Born in 1649, she (Marie Anne Mancini) was the youngest of Cardinal Mazarin’s five nieces and the fact that she was of Italian origin made it easier for the French to suspect that she had been ready to use poison.

The Duchesse de Bouillon was described by one observer as ‘not beautiful but singularly seductive’. Instead of sharing her sister’s brunette colouring and elongated facial features, she had a retroussé nose and tiny hands and feet of which she was very proud. In April 1662 she had married the immensely wealthy Godefroy, Duc de Bouillon, ‘at that time without question the best match in all France’.

“...The Duchesse had not been faithful to her dull husband, treating him, according to Saint-Simon, with something akin to contempt. She had had many lovers, though at least it was conceded that she only took one at a time. Some years earlier she had conducted such a blatant affair with the Comte de Louvigny that she became anxious that her husband’s family would intervene to protect his honour. To calm things down she had retired voluntarily to a convent for a time, but her husband was most upset by her decision to absent herself. Primi Visconti noted, ‘Without his wife the Duke was a body without a soul; he did not bother about the others provided he had his share.’ Much to Bouillon’s relief, she rejoined him after a brief separation.

“...The Duchesse had been called before the commission because Lesage had alleged that, during her visit to him, she had set down a written request for the death of her husband. This would have freed her to marry the Duc de Vendôme (who had accompanied her on that occasion) and Lesage testified that the Duchesse was so eager about this that she subsequently pestered him relentlessly, sending a servant to summon him to her on several occasions. At one point she had offered him a sack of gold if he would help her but Lesage said, highly implausibly, that he had spurned this as he did not want to become entangled in her schemes. According to him, however, others had been less scrupulous. Some weeks after he had made his first allegations against the Duchesse, he stated that she had also been a client of la Bosse and la Vigoreux, and that those two women had been ready to poison the Duc de Bouillon.

Once it became known that the Duchesse was to be questioned by the commissioners of the Arsenal Chamber there was lively speculation in Paris society as to the causes. An unfounded rumour gained currency that she was suspected of poisoning some servants who had become too knowledgeable about her infidelities. As ever, M. de La Rivière had a snide comment at the ready. ‘I greatly pity Mme de Bouillon if she has poisoned a man to keep her love life secret,’ he wrote waspishly. ‘She has committed a great crime which has availed her nothing.’

The Duchesse appeared before La Reynie and Bezons on 29 January. She arrived at the Arsenal flanked by her husband and the Duc de Vendôme, who in turn were followed by a cavalcade of more than twenty coaches, packed with friends and relatives. Her supporters had to wait outside while she faced the commissioners, but Mme de Bouillon was not in the least discomfited by the prospect of her solitary interrogation. Having entered the chamber ‘like a little queen’, she at once took off her gloves in order to display her fine hands to best advantage. She then insisted on formally recording that she had come there solely out of respect for the King, rather than in deference to the authority of the Chamber, whose jurisdiction she did not acknowledge extended to the higher ranks of the peerage. Only once she had registered these objections did she deign to answer questions in a ‘laughing and disdainful’ manner.

The Duchesse was adamant that she had never had any contact with la Vigoreux, but she readily agreed that she had once seen Lesage in the presence of the Duc de Vendôme. She explained that the two of them had written a few frivolous questions on a piece of paper, which Lesage had appeared to burn but, to her amazement, two or three days later the magician had given her note back to her. She had been so intrigued by this that she had asked him to perform the trick a second time. She had then written another note, which Lesage had again reduced to ashes, but this time he never returned it to her, even though she had several times sent a servant to enquire what had become of it. She concluded, ‘She had found the whole thing so ridiculous that she told several people about it and even wrote of it to Monsieur le Duc de Bouillon … who was with the army.’

When asked whether she had written a request that her husband should die prematurely she indignantly denied it. Mme de Sévigné heard that she expostulated, ‘Me, get rid of him? You have only to ask him if he thinks so. He accompanied me right up to the door.’ When the commissioners had finished their questions she demanded mockingly, ‘Well, Messieurs, is that all you have to say to me?’ On being told that she was free to leave she exclaimed, ‘Truly, I would never have believed that clever men could ask me so many stupid things.’ She went out to receive a rapturous welcome from the crowd clustered about the door of the Arsenal, all of whom were delighted by her stylish refusal to be intimidated.

Elated by the reception accorded her by her admirers, the Duchesse delighted in recounting how she had routed La Reynie and Bezons. Doubtless she could not resist embroidering the way she had defied them, for the witticisms which were now attributed to her certainly do not feature in the written record of her interrogation. It was said, for example, that La Reynie had asked her if she had ever seen the devil, to which she supposedly fired back, ‘Yes, I have seen him and he looked just like you.’

The Duc de Bouillon was so proud of his wife that he even asked the King if he could print an account of the interview to be distributed throughout Europe, but the King curtly refused. He had been much displeased by the way the Duchesse had glorified her interview with the commissioners, which threatened to turn the Chamber into an object of ridicule.”

- Anne Somerset

[triviareads]

ARC Review of Mafia Virgin by Mila Finelli

Rating: 4.5/5 Heat Level: 4/5 Publication Date: December 13th

Premise:

Aspiring doctor Emma Mancini is forced into an arranged marriage with Cosa Nostra Don Giacomo Buscetta allegedly to keep the peace between their families, and now they have just a few months to get pregnant.

My review:

This was the perfect end to the Kings of Italy series complete with all the greatest mafia hits: an intelligent but innocent heroine who's just begging to be corrupted, a brutal, gruff don who is VERY into that, an arranged marriage, and an order to get pregnant.... or else.

Emma's vibe is innocent, but also not. As she won't hesitate to remind you, she's an aspiring doctor who's not squeamish of bodily functions, and then she'll proceed to interrogate Giacomo about how his foreskin impacts his dick piercing, and whether he's into prostate play (the answer is yes, in case you were wondering). Not only does Giacomo find her brand of scientific exploration hot, but it also compliments his blunt personality.

Giacomo (under no circumstances will I be calling him Mo I'm sorry) is very different from the previous three Kings of Italy heroes; he doesn't bother with an elegant or legitimate facade of any sort and is more of a rough-and-ready type (a bit o'rough, perhaps?). Everyone thinks he's a "more brawn than brain" kinda guy (which he also internalized thanks to his dad), but that couldn't be further from the truth. For one, every time Emma tries to pull one over him, he catches on real fast. And he's good at math. I thought it was interesting that always being second best in his father's eyes is also the reason Giacomo is deeply into Emma being an *untouched virgin* because she's just for him and no one else.

Much like Fausto and Enzo, Giacomo is an older hero (there's a 12 year age gap) who feels guilty for exactly 10 seconds for being attracted to the younger, more innocent heroine (well tbh, I don't think Enzo ever felt guilty) before going into full-throttle seduction mode. Let me put it this way— the first "little girl" he utters might be derisive, but the rest of them are... very much not. And on Emma's part, she's super into the biiiiig, jacked, tatted thing Giacomo has going on (shoutout to that gym voyeurism scene), even if she's slightly upset that biology has triumphed logic.

And that's actually a pretty big part of Emma and Giacomo's romantic conflict; you won't get a lot of histrionics from these two, but everything Emma regards as logical and right— her dreams of becoming a doctor, her bodily autonomy, and even her being able to return to Toronto— has little to no meaning in the mafia world. And because of Giacomo's powerlessness in the past, he has no interest in relinquishing the power he has as a Don now, which is why the overarching plot centers around him trying to take back his power after being forced to marry Emma, and the retaliation that ensues. Ultimately, Emma and Giacomo have to reconcile these two distinct worldviews to be together.

Sidenote: in case you miss the rest of the Kings of Italy gang, don't worry; Frankie and Gia show up to support their sister and to remind us they're getting dicked down on the reg by wealthy, powerful (older) men, Enzo and Fausto are still trading insults like hissy kitties off-screen, and tweedle dumb and tweedle dumber (Vito and Massimo) make appearances as well.

The sex:

EXCELLENT. What I love about Mila Finelli sex scenes is that they will always deliver (complete with loads of Italian—and in this book Sicilian— dirty talk), and then toss in a few extra things you're thinking about long after you finish the book.

For one, Giacomo and Emma have a pretty hilarious start to their sexual relationship thanks to some questionable advice from Giacomo's cousin and his cook that amounts to "if you wanna make nice with her to get her preggo, you gotta make nice with her pussy first", which Giacomo takes quite literally. You have to appreciate a man who's trying, even if he responds to her "you're beautiful" with "I love your tits".

Also, if there's a breeding kink involved (and there is; if you couldn't tell by the summary, there absolutely is), cum-play/cum-eating feels like the natural progression of this kink, and Mila 100% delivers.

There is many a "moglie" and "marito" in this book which I personally love (and many a "sporcacciona" because they can't be all sweet).

There is a also good amount of ball play (and Giacomo pondering on the sad lack of love they get lolol), and I mention this because the specific moment from this book that lives rent-free in my head involves said act during a shower blowjob, AND it ties into their breeding kink. Brava.

Overall:

This is a sexy and satisfying (and just really fun) end to the Kings of Italy series. I don't think the book is very dark, but it definitely has all the hallmarks of a mafia romance and I'd absolutely recommend it to anyone who is even remotely interested in this subgenre.

Thank you to Mila Finelli and Valentine PR for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my review.

[niamh-oshea]

With a twist of her key, Niamh turned the knob and pushed her front door open. The silence that greeted her was loud, producing echoes from her heels with each step she took. Closing the door behind her, the darkness swallowed her whole.

Relief was supposed to come. She had expected it. She'd even been looking forward to it. But as she stood there, alone for the first time that day, with nothing more than a moment to herself, none of it felt right. In lieu of the calm she'd hoped for, away from countless diplomatic discussions she'd had to interpret for that day, Niamh felt sick to her stomach.

Rogue militia stormed the compound... some armed with AK-47s... some machetes. They had jeeps surrounding the house... burnt the whole place to the ground...

Niamh couldn't stop the ringing in her ears; her friend's voice kept pounding in her skull like a broken record, his devastating news as clear as when he delivered it early that afternoon.

Niamh... He didn't make it...

Vince relayed the worst of it all, the answer to a question she couldn't find it in herself to ask. It was these words that rang the loudest.

The inevitable pain that followed the truth was like a punch in the gut. This was the stuff of horrors, stories you hear in the news or read in the paper. And that was the harsh reality, wasn't it? They lived in a world where this happened more times than the media could, and would even cover.

Exhaustion hit her like a brick, as if she wasn't already overwhelmed. Collapsing against the door behind her, she clutched at her heart as she slid down into a crying mess. She didn't care that all her belongings fell pell-mell on the floor around her; she cried hot, angry tears, everything she'd been fighting to keep at bay all afternoon.

Niamh didn't know what to do next. Her childhood friend, Marco Mancini, a journalist, had been slain in his home in Indonesia, along with four others. He had been a friend who shared her passion for humanitarian work. A friend with whom she'd made countless memories with. A friend who'd always been there for her.

Now, gone. Just like that.

The entire thing was a living, breathing nightmare. Niamh wanted nothing more than to wake up from it all, and have Isaac by her side, to keep her safe, warm and comforted like no one else could. But after having informed him earlier that evening that she wanted to sleep on her own that night, a first for the couple who'd been entwined since the first day they met, she feared she might've upset him. Especially when she had offered no further explanation.

In hindsight, Niamh didn't mean to leave him in the dark. She could barely process the news herself, let alone find the words or energy to reiterate such gruesome news to her beloved. Nevertheless, she could only imagine how he must be feeling.

At a complete loss, Niamh called her brother, Alistair, to seek his advice, a rarity in and of itself. She was met with a great big sigh once she had told him everything, and the older O'Shea didn't care to mince his words when it was time to deliver his honest opinion.

"Now is not the time to be proud or brave or noble," he told her, softly but firmly. "You've just been hit by a terrible, terrible news. Even if you're not ready to share all, or any of the details to your boyfriend, it's not good to keep things from each other. Besides," he went on, "you're grieving the loss of a dear friend. You shouldn't be alone at this time. So, either you call him to come get you," he concluded, "or I will."

Alistair knew his sister well. Too well, by the looks of it. His challenge was enough to shut her up and have her admit (at least to herself) that she needed help. And although she was someone who'd always been adamant of doing everything herself, withstanding anything on her own, she knew Alistair was right — that there were just some things in life one mustn't go through alone.

With a meek thanks, Niamh hung up and stared at her phone. The photo on her homescreen was that of her and Isaac on the beach in Tulum, Mexico. One of their first photos together. A single glance at his handsome face was enough to bring fresh tears in her eyes. How could she have believed she could do this without him?

Wiping the tears that never seemed to stop, she sniffled softly as her fingers made quick work to locate Isaac's name on her address book. Before fear of rejection could once again grapple her, her body was already acting on pure instinct, calling Isaac at once. All it took was his familiar deep set voice to say hello for Niamh to break down all over again. Her plan to sound brave, or at the very least "normal", failed before she could even set it in motion. With her hand cradling her massive headache, she knew she'd be a downright fool if she believed she could go an entire night without him, let alone another minute longer.

"My baby...?" Niamh cried softly on the phone. Her voice was barely above a whisper, but her accent as distinct as ever. "Can you come get me? I need you... "