#the counterfeit countess

[mariocki]

Kate O'Mara pulls double duty as twins Nadine and Yvette - one a countess, the other a nightclub hostess, both villains! - in The Saint: The Counterfeit Countess (5.20, ITC, 1967)

[nixariel]

oh hey wait a minute, hold the phone!!

THIS is from S1E05 as it originally aired. But THIS

seems to be what the episode looks like now (pls excuse the watermark, couldn’t find a better clip to screencap). They’re similar enough to be father and son, but that is NOT the same person sitting next to Zack!

So the CS production crew... switched the art forger (or so he is credited; voiced by Liam O’Brien) to the counterfeiter from the bayou episode... to accomplish what, exactly? If anything, wouldn’t it have made more sense to just continue with the S1 forger instead of designing a younger-but-very-similar character and then retroactively subbing the S3 version into S1′s place? I am. confused.

[cantsayidont]

Despite its protestations of progressive values, STAR TREK media has always explicitly presented (and, with only fleeting exceptions, consistently celebrated) the Federation as an expansionist imperial power, engaged in a large-scale project of colonialism.

The usual apologia/rationalization for this, both from the franchise itself and from its fans, is that the Federation is also a post-scarcity socialist utopia. However, that is expressly not the case in TOS, despite the attempts of the later series to insist otherwise.

Indeed, the plots of some of the most famous and acclaimed episodes of TOS are specifically about resource extraction and ensuring the Federation's access to crucial resources, including lithium (in "Mudd's Women"), pergium (in "The Devil in the Dark"), and dilithium (in "Mirror, Mirror," et al). We are told repeatedly that the Enterprise has a mandate to use force to secure these resources if gentler methods fail. Moreover, while the Federation has a strategic interest in these resources, it's clear at various points in TOS that their extraction and exploitation are, to a significant extent if not exclusively, overseen by private interests for profit. For instance, in "Mudd's Women," Harry Mudd remarks:

Well, girls, lithium miners. Don't you understand? Lonely, isolated, overworked, rich lithium miners! Girls, do you still want husbands, hmm? Evie, you won't be satisfied with a mere ship's captain. I'll get you a man who can buy you a whole planet. Maggie, you're going to be a countess. Ruth, I'll make you a duchess. And I, I'll be running this starship. Captain James Kirk, the next orders you're taking will be given by Harcourt Fenton Mudd!

In "The Devil in the Dark," Kirk ultimately takes a regulatory position — he will not permit the pergium miners to kill the Horta or continue to destroy her eggs — but at no point does he suggest that stopping the pergium production that threatens the Horta is a viable or even acceptable alternative. The accord he proposes is contingent on the Horta's agreement that she and her children will support the mining efforts on her planet, since Kirk emphasizes that "a dozen planets" are depending on the miners to supply needed pergium. (What would have happened to her if she hadn't agreed is not stated, but the episode strongly suggests that she would have been severely punished for noncompliance with Kirk's mediated solution: forcibly relocated to some kind of Horta reservation away from the main mining operations, perhaps.) When the Horta does agree to this proposal, Kirk assures Vanderberg, "you people are going to be embarrassingly rich," which once again suggests that while the miners may have contractual agreements to delivery pergium to Federation worlds, they are still a private, for-profit business, not a Federation department or nationalized entity.

Profit is also Ron Tracey's motivation for breaking the Prime Directive in "The Omega Glory": He believes that he's discovered a "fountain of youth" that he can own, monopolize, and exploit, and that the value of that resource will be enough to buy his way out of legal trouble for his regulatory violations.

We mostly don't see the Enterprise crew handle money except on away missions in other cultures or times, but there are a number of indications that the Federation in this era has not abandoned money: For instance, Harry Mudd's list of past offenses includes purchasing a space vessel "with counterfeit currency," while in "The Apple," Kirk rhetorically asks if Spock knows how much Starfleet has invested in him, which Spock begins to answer, "One hundred twenty-two thousand two hundred …" before Kirk cuts him off. More tellingly, in "I, Mudd," we have the following exchange:

KIRK: All right, Harry, explain. How did you get here? We left you in custody after that affair on the Rigel mining planet. MUDD: Yes, well, I organized a technical information service bringing modern industrial techniques to backward planets, making available certain valuable patents to struggling young civilizations throughout the galaxy. KIRK: Did you pay royalties to the owners of those patents? MUDD: Well, actually, Kirk, as a defender of the free enterprise system, I found myself in a rather ambiguous conflict as a matter of principle. SPOCK: He did not pay royalties. MUDD: Knowledge, sir, should be free to all. KIRK: Who caught you? MUDD: That, sir, is an outrageous assumption. KIRK: Yes. Who caught you? MUDD: I sold the Denebians all the rights to a Vulcan fuel synthesizer. KIRK: And the Denebians contacted the Vulcans.

Whether Deneb is a member of the Federation at this time is unclear, but Vulcan certainly is, and so we may assume that Vulcan and presumably the Federation itself are also part of "the free enterprise system."

The first indication that the Federation does not use money is in STAR TREK IV, and it's not obvious there if Kirk's remark that "They're still using money" is talking about money more broadly or just physical currency, which the Federation may have phased out even if it still uses credit or electronic transfers of monetary value. (Certainly, McCoy's attempt in STAR TREK III to charter a starship indicates that he had some means of paying for passage, since the captain of the ship specifically demands more money upon learning of the intended destination.)

If we accept at face value the assertion of TNG and DS9 that the Federation has genuinely abandoned the use of money, rather than simply going cashless, the most reasonable Watsonian explanation is that this has been a relatively recent development during the 70–80 years between the TOS cast movies and TNG, most likely related to the development of replication technology (which the Federation did not yet have in Kirk's time).

Of course, from a Doylist standpoint, we could chalk up some of this incidental dialogue to the franchise's evolving construction of its own setting, in the same manner as anomalous references to Vulcans as "Vulcanians." Roddenberry and his apologists might also insist that he always meant to depict a socialist utopia, but was prevented by the nattering nabobs of negativity (i.e., the network's BS&P); I'm very skeptical of such claims, but the writers were acutely aware that depicting what Earth is like in Kirk's time would be opening a can of worms, which is why we didn't actually see 23rd century Earth (even briefly) until the movies.

However, the focus on resource extraction and its ramifications is such a load-bearing story element in TOS that the revisionist assertion that the Federation was already a post-scarcity socialist utopia in Kirk's time (as both DISCOVERY and STRANGE NEW WORLDS have attempted to claim) would require really substantial retcons of the original show, perhaps to the extent of insisting that some of those events never took place at all, or happened radically differently than what's in the TOS episodes most STAR TREK fans have seen. For me, anyway, that crosses a line from willing suspension of disbelief to "don't trust your lying eyes," and suggests a frustrating and somewhat disturbing determination to insist that TOS is something much purer and nobler than it is rather than grapple with its actual conceptual flaws and ideological shortcomings.

[dailyadventureprompts]

Monster Hunt: The Ruiner Prince

On his first name day, the faeries approached the king and queen to ask what gift they would have for their son. They could have wished that the prince would be wise, or that he lead a long and happy life, or that he bring prosperity to his people. Instead they wished him be strong, stronger than any who would challenge him.

The heir to a kingdom faces many challenges, and only a fool, or a monster, could think that strength could solve them all.

- Braidbrook’s Fables

In the husk of a once grand palace, a wretched giant squats among squalor and bones awaiting the champion that will slay him. Surrounding villages have been abandoned for decades for fear of the giant’s rampages, and all in the realm dread the day that boredom or some mad fool’s promise of tribute bring the giant to their homes. It will take more than blades and bravado for the party to overcome this foe, as they will not only have to face off against an invincible opponent, but an awful and irrevocable curse.

Adventure Hooks:

For generations the counts and countesses of Galinae have borne a blade handed down since the founding of the kingdom, a mark of their steadfast and indelible honour. This tradition has become a problem for the countess Orana Galinae, since her brother lost the sword and got himself killed trying to slay the Ruiner Prince thirty years ago. Only recently ascended to her ancestral seat, Orana is already hearing rumours circulate that the blade’s absence is a dire omen for her reign. The countess is sure to bestow great rewards and honours for any who return the heirloom to her, though the party’s attempt at a stealthy extraction might be hindered when they realize that though the castle is littered with scattered weapons, many of the choicest ones have been impaled into the meat of the giant’s back, where he is sure to notice their theft.

Fairy gifts are not easily returned, even when the fairy in question could wish nothing more  Over a century of watching the boy she was supposed to be godmother to go feral has filled the fey known as Mossmaven with regret, and seen her doting on the mad giant in those few moments where his brimming rage gives way to confusion and loneliness. She may take on a disguise to request the party’s help in undoing the magic she has done, or attempt to intercede should she discover them skulking about the ruiner’s palace. Should the party agree to help her, they’ll likely end up on a journey through the feywild in search of a partiularly introspective mirror.

Further Adventures:

Actively fighting the Ruiner prince is courting disaster, especially if the party blunders into the fight without doing the proper research on the giant’s origins. “Stronger than any who would challenge him” definitely includes anything the party can dish out, as they’ll find as the giant grows more dangerous the more he’s wounded, eventually culminating in repeatedly coming back from death itself thanks to his Mythic creature status, at which point the exhausted party should likely consider using the surrounding ruins to run and hide.

One of Countess Orana’s cousins is plotting to make a move on her title, using the decades of doubt that’s preceded her ascension to countess and a masterfully counterfeited blade to insist that he has a stronger claim.  This cousin will prove a possible headache for our heroes ( even subtly offering to pay them off and not risk their lives). Should the party wish to do the gallant thing, testing the real and rusted blade against the glittering forgery might be enough, especially since the ancesteral blade of Galinae is said to be as unbreakable as the family’s honour, and will surely shatter the imposter upon impact.

The Mirror the Mossmaven seeks is one that shows you lives that could have been, and is currently in possession of a fey that hordes luck and second chances among his many other ill gotten treasures, meaning the party will have to be very clever should they wish to obtain it without cursing themselves in the process.  Presented to the giant, the ruiner prince may come to understand the live he could have lived had he not always needed to be strong, and in so doing realize that he gift he was given was instead a burden, invalidating its bestowal in the first place.

Depending on the order of events, Orana’s cousin, fresh off the players foiling his scheme, may roll up to the Ruiner’s palace with a cartload of treasure asking only that the giant take revenge on the ones that have already stolen from him.  This may put a time limit on their whimsical mirror seeking quest, or give them a second chance to reconsider the fairy’s offer when the giant begins wandering toward their current settlement.

[mermaidsirennikita]

Hi,

Can you rec books where one of the leads is a servant or similar to it? Not slaves though

I recently read Any Duchess Will Do and wanted to see if there are other books lile it.

Thanks!

I gotcha! And definitely, there are more—Tessa Dare has another one called The Governess Game, which I didn't particularly care for, but lots of people like it. I feel like "governess" is a little different from the standard "servant" role, though (valet, maid, footman, etc). Servants are employees too, obviously, but some roles are more "upstairs" employees (governesses, music teachers, secretaries), versus what I think we often conventionally consider the serving roles.

His Valet by S.M. LaViolette is has a hero whose valet is actually, unbeknownst to him, not a man (she uses she/her pronouns and was assigned female at birth, most readers including me interpret her as nonbinary). This is a GREAT servant romance, because Jo's servitude is both a friction in her relationship with the hero, and something that REALLY gets her going. She loves to serve him... in every way. This is stupid hot but also stupid emotional, with an incredible grovel.

The Postilion by S.M. LaViolette. Another "disguise" romance, this time with a heroine disguised as a postilion (fancy horse boy) working for a kind doctor who recently unexpectedly inherited a title. It's LaViolette, so always be ready for a traumarama backstory, but this one has a somewhat softer hero than her typical standard.

Selina by S.M. LaViolette has an upper-class heroine take a job as a housekeeper (while keeping her identity as a lord's daughter secret) while trying to FIND HERSELF~ as a person. Then she finds out that the angry, reclusive lord of the manor is actually that way because he relatively recently lost his vision in an accident, and romance ensues.

Joss and The Countess by S.M. LaViolette. In this one, the hero is the servant—the widowed heroine's footman/bodyguard while she trolls the city for a proper lover since her (horrid) husband is dead. Of course, Joss is probably a better fit for that job, too. Another favorite of mine, but beware, it can be pretty dark.

Delicious by Sherry Thomas. In this one, the heroine is a cook, and when her boss (and former lover) dies, his .... estranged brother, I think, inherits. Little did she know, the man inheriting is the same man she had this incredible single night with years ago....

The Counterfeit Scoundrel by Lorraine Heath has the hero eyeing up his new maid/housekeeper... except she's actually secretly a private detective hired by a man whose wife the hero is ALLEGEDLY sleeping with.

To Beguile a Beast by Elizabeth Hoyt. The heroine goes to become the scarred, reclusive hero's maid/housekeeper. However, she's also fleeing her horrible lover—taking their two children with her.

Duke of Sin by Elizabeth Hoyt. Bridget is spying on Valentine on the low, but she's also legitimately his housekeeper, and quite good at it.

[choicesficwriterscreations]

CFWC FotW - October 9 - 15, 2022

🖤 = Adult Content 🔥 = NSFW ORANGE = NAUGHTY & NICE 😈 😇

BLOODBOUND

Happy Anniversary: A Bloodbound One Shout | Adrian Raines x F!MC x Jax Matsuo - @harleybeaumont 🔥

CRIMES OF PASSION

The Adventure of Counterfeit Coins | Trystan Thorne x F!MC - @inlocusmads😇

DESIRE & DECORUM

The Dowager’s Tale | Dowager Countess Dominique - @noesapphic

IMMORTAL DESIRES

Cuddles With a Vampire | Cassius Harlow x NB!MC - @aallotarenunelma 😇 Heatwave and Starry Midnight Sky | Cassius Harlow x NB!MC - @aallotarenunelma

NIGHTBOUND

Nightbound vs. Hansel & Gretel AU: An Introduction - @peonierose

OPEN HEART

THE ELEMENTALISTS

The Haunted Halloween Predictions (Series) | Beckett Harrington x F!MC - @sunnyshiftyyChapter 2: Atlas and Griffin 😇

THE ROYAL ROMANCE

WAKE THE DEAD

Moving In | Eli Sipes x F!MC - @julia-highstorms  🔥😈 Touche | Eli Sipes x F!MC - @jerzwriter 😇

[dhaaruni]

What I'll be Reading in 2023:

Fiction (aka romance novels):

The Duke Gets Even by Joanna Shupe

The Countess by Sophie Jordan

A Rogue's Rules for Seduction by Eva Leigh

Ana María and the Fox by Liana de la Rosa

The Counterfeit Scandal by Lorraine Heath

The Notorious Lord Knightly by Lorraine Heath

Knockout by Sarah MacLean

How Not to Marry a Duke by Tina Gabrielle

An Island Princess Starts a Scandal by Adriana Herrera

Take the Lead by Alexis Daria

Nonfiction:

Rules: A Short History of What We Live By by Lorraine Daston

Untouchable: How Powerful People Get Away with It by Elie Honig

Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks by Patrick Radden Keefe

All the Living and the Dead: from Embalmers to Executioners, an Exploration of the People Who Have Made Death Their Life's Work by Hayley Campbell

Queens of the Age of Chivalry by Alison Weir

[minayuri]

Happy 101st Anniversary to Fritz Lang's silent epic crime thriller masterpiece, Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler!

Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler was released on April 27, 1922 in two parts, The Great Gambler: A Picture of the Time and Inferno: A Game of People of Our Time. In its entirety, the film clocks in at four-and-a half hours. Based on the novel written by Norbert Jacques, it tells the story of the exploits of the criminal mastermind set against the tumultuous backdrop of Weimar-era Germany - in a zeitgeist of high-crime, decadence, and degeneracy.

Of the German title, Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler - "spieler" carries several meanings for the character of Mabuse - a gambler...actor...player. He's a man who gambles with money and people, effortlessly maneuvering between the classes while in disguise and embodies whatever role he's in, and plays with the lives and fates of others.

Mabuse shares attributes with his forebearers Professor Moriarty, Svengali, Fantômas, and Dr. Caligari and he epitomizes the aspects of a Nietzchean Übermensch.

Rudolf Klein-Rogge (Rotwang of Metropolis & King Etzel of Die Nibelungen) stars as the titular villain - a diabolical crime lord who is a master of disguise, nefarious gambler, reputed psychoanalyst, and a ruthless manipulator of people. He also has the powers of mind control and hypnosis at his disposal. Dr. Mabuse commits a myriad of crimes ranging from theft, counterfeiting, predatory gambling, extortion, blackmail, kidnapping, murder, and others. Mabuse runs his criminal empire like a well-oiled machine. He is abetted by a network of underlings, agents, and accomplices. Anyone could be in league with Mabuse to undermine law enforcement. Mabuse is a harsh boss to work for - punctuality is paramount and expects his orders to be carried out with no room for error. When one works for Mabuse, it's for life - any betrayal and/or desertion carries a death sentence.

He is also quite charismatic, and his seductive prowess affects anyone who comes in contact with him.

Dr. Mabuse's arch-nemesis is State Prosecutor Norbert von Wenk, a dedicated public servant of the state determined to bring him to justice and doggedly pursues the man whom he has labeled, "the Great Unknown". Wenk is brought in to investigate the numerous cases of predatory gambling on the rise. He makes contact with one of Mabuse's victims - millionaire playboy Edgar Hull and to put him under police protection. His investigation takes him from one gambling den to another. As Wenk becomes more of a threat, Mabuse gets even more relentless in his quest to eliminate his most hated enemy.

The gorgeous and alluring women connected to Mabuse are popular nightclub dancer, Cara Carozza and the jaded and mysterious Countess Dusy Told. Carozza is also a intensely dedicated agent of his and deeply loves him. She was his mistress and had lived in a private room in his house. Once she developed actual feelings for him, Mabuse started acting callous towards her, and is treated as nothing more than a tool to him. He even has her honeypot Hull. When Mabuse meets Countess Told at a séance, he is immediately captivated by her beauty. In their first interaction, he feels a kinship between them. Wanting further contact, Mabuse hypnotizes the countess into inviting him to a soirée that she and her husband will be hosting. His desires for the countess quickly escalate into lust and obsession. He plots to take her for himself and to ruin her husband, Count Told.

Another man also carries a torch for Countess Told and it is Wenk.

The film also stars Aud Egede-Nissen as Cara Carozza, Gertrude Welcker as Countess Dusy Told, Alfred Abel as Count Told, Bernhard Goetzke as State Prosecutor Norbert von Wenk, and Paul Richter as Edgar Hull.

Those portraying Mabuse's underlings are: Robert Forster-Larrinaga as Spoerri, Hans Adalbert Schlettow as Georg, Georg John as Pesch, Charles Puffy as Hawasch, and Grete Berger as Fine

Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler is highly recommended for any silent film fan to watch, it's truly engaging from start to finish.

[birddogoriginal]

Hey, Have you entered Jade lee's giveaway to win Regency Riddles: Win Booklovers' Bag + Counterfeit Countess from Cheryl Bolen! yet? If you refer friends you get more chances to win :) https://wn.nr/Jm5mydG

[bradenton171]

The Saint: S5 E20 - The Counterfeit Countess

[mariocki]

The Saint: The Counterfeit Countess (5.20, ITC, 1967)

"I found a Swiss artist. Superb."

"Your engraver."

"Yes. Unfortunately, he is, uh, deceased."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that too. It's not your year, is it?"

"I shall miss him. I shall also miss you, Mr. Templar - but you see, I have no alternative but to let Carl and Maurice kill you."

"Well, I really am sorry to hear that."

[pilferingapples]

LM 1.1.4

Well this chapter escalated quickly.  Family gossip!  A little snark about grudging charity! Musings on the nature of sin and forgiveness! Abuse of the legal system by the prosecutor to destroy a family! PUBLIC EXECUTION. 

-the bit with the Countess is obviously mostly silly, but--I'm not sure how to say this? -- but ...like,we're told, repeatedly, by the narration and the Bishop , that their family Lost Everything and was in exile and had no one after the Revolution.  But here's this Countess, whose children have such great expectations and such a Promising Future in a very Inherited Position kind of way, not even one generation out from the Revolution.  I don't know if Hugo meant it (for once) , but to me it speaks to just how deeply  entrenched the old power structures were/are.   There was a disruption in the lines of power, but it clearly wasn't a permanent severing...

-I'm curious about the visiting priest and his speech! He may not have moved Geborand (...who I can only assume is a dig at someone Hugo knew , because aren't they always) to especially impressive heights of charity, but it's apparent that his sad little "pennyworth of paradise" is more than Myriel had been able to convince him to give. Is it maybe because Myriel , being Hugo's Ideal Priest , doesn't deal in Threat sermons and that's the only thing that gets Geborand's attention--not hope, or compassion for others,  but a threat to his own wellbeing?

-I love the "fall onto the knees" speech/section for a lot of reasons ( despite the Bahorel who lives in my head rent free definitely adding unintentional lols to that line) .  It introduces so many running through-lines? 

- Gad, the slow horror of the Counterfeiter case.  Sentencing the counterfeiter means leaving the mother and child without support --he was already committing crime to take care of them, so things must be desperate! -- and it means destroying what seems to have been a sincere love on both their sides.  It's very likely the mother and child won't live, or won't both live--and if she can't keep the child alive on her own , it's just as likely this prosecutor or another will be getting to accuse her of infanticide for her failure to survive the justice system.  It's such a direct study in how the systems of power convince people to act against their own interests ??   I'm Upset. 

- The death penalty case!  Beccaria namedrop!  And also first Joseph de Maistre namedrop, and yeah I see how that's already being set up in opposition to ..everything this book is in favor of , really

Abolishing the death penalty is one particular issue Hugo really could claim to have fought for all his life (unlike the republican politics, which, wellllll). He'd had personal acquaintance with it  since he was very young , with his mother's lover/his godfather, General Victor Fanneau de La Horie, being executed for treason in 1812. 

 The most obvious place that he first deals with it seriously is in the Diary of a Condemned Man; as (IIRC) @prudencepaccard once pointed  out, Bishop Myriel here is something like the ideal priest the prisoner of that story hopes for, one who can truly bring comfort and a sense of his God, and offer real sympathy and connection.  There's a lot to say about that--but what's sticking with me this time is the effect that the execution has on Myriel.  Aside from his obvious trauma about it (and this is the first time it's occurring to me he probably had friends and family executed, sight unseen by him, in exactly this way, and that...cannot be making it easier) , there's his speech: 

"I did not think that it was so monstrous. It is wrong to become absorbed in the divine law to such a degree as not to perceive human law. Death belongs to God alone. By what right do men touch that unknown thing?"

--which feels to me like it's hitting a lot of the same thematic notes as Enjolras does in the "Love, Thine is the Future" speech, but almost from the opposite direction? there's so much to say about the two of them in narrative conversation (the two genuine idealistic priests of their respective ideals, who are actually able to change and grow , who in their own way represent the Just) but..agh, this chapter write up is so long already? well, put a pin in it for later, I guess.><  

..And this read through is the firs time I've consciously made the connection-- Works Like Words, Les œuvres semblables aux paroles , that is, they're both based on the Gospels. Small thing , but it's zoomed past me all these years!

A Final Note for this chapter: I remain highly entertained by the concept of the Phantom of Social Justice haunting Myriel like a Woke Opera Ghost.  PRACTICE CHARITY!  PRACTICE CHARITY,  MY PRIEST OF JUSTICE!

[bellamer]

Part 8 of the Miraculous Ladybug Castle of Cagliostro AU. Part 7 can be found here

Roger goes to his headquarters and tries to tell them that Gabriel is counterfeiting money but they refuse to hear him out since Gabriel has already bought their silence, sending him away and dismissing him.

Back with the gang, Luka, Alya and Fu are taking care of an injured Nino, Fu bringing Nino food and letting them hide out at his place. Nino wakes up, Alya telling him that it's a miracle that he's still alive. Nino sees Fu's cat Plagg and greets him. Fu asks how Nino knows Plagg by name because only he and Adrien know his name and Nino jokes that he's psychic. Nino asks them how long he's been unconcious and Luka tells him three days. Nino bolts up, saying that they have to do something because the wedding is tomorrow. Luka says that Nino can't do anything because he's still injured. Nino eats the food on the nightstand so he can build up strength even though Luka says he won't let him go back out. Nino insists that he can't let Adrien marry Chloé and eats as much as he can before getting sick. Luka and Alya force him to rest. Luka and Alya ask Fu how he knows Prince Adrien and Fu tells them that he used to be the palace gardener and that Adrien used to visit the garden every day and their mutual love for nature created a bond between them and when Queen Emilie died and Adrien was sent to go live abroad, Adrien left Plagg in Fu's care and that Plagg and Nino seem to know each other. Luka states that Nino called Plagg old buddy. Nino opens his eyes and explains that years ago, he met Adrien when he tried to find the Agreste treasure but was shot and barely made it to cover before he collapsed and that it was a narrow escape and later woke up to Adrien and Plagg standing over him and that if he was going to die, he was glad that he was going to die in Adrien's presence because he was so beautiful but Adrien nursed him back to health and kept bringing him food and water, keeping him hidden away until he was strong enough to make his getaway and that he never had the chance to thank Adrien or tell him goodbye and that he never knew that Adrien was a prince and that he's ashamed that he forgot him but seeing his ring brought everything back. Just as Nino finishes his story, a piece of paper with a kiss mark flies through the window. He knows it's from Marinette and reads that an archbishop from the Vatican is coming to perform Adrien's wedding. Nino gets an idea.

Back at Roger's headquarters, he gets a phone call from Marinette, telling him that Nino is going to be at Adrien's wedding and even though he's off the counterfeiting case, he still has orders to catch Nino. Just as he's getting ready to leave, his daughter, Sabrina, a reporter, comes, asking if she could come to see the wedding, to see Countess Chloé and her wedding dress,and he reluctantly agrees.

As tourists are stuck in traffic for the wedding, Luka, disguised as an old man, approaches The archbishop's car with a lamb, asking him to bless the lamb because it is sick. The driver of the car asks Luka if there's any way he can get to the castle because the archbishop is preforming the wedding and Luka says he can get them there.

Marinette is disguised as a news reporter to televise the wedding,Sabrina, who Roger sent with her for safety, has the camera and will be filming the wedding, much to her delight, getting into the wedding with ease as Roger is trying to lead his men to the castle with difficulty, through a detour.

A guard asks Nathalie why Gabriel is allowing the news media into the castle to cover the wedding and Nathalie tells him that it's necessary for the wedding to be televised so that the world will know that its legit. She then notices that the archbishop has arrived right on schedule. She tells the guard to post guards at every entrance so that Nino doesn't pop up.

As the wedding ceremony is about to start, Gabriel approaches Adrien, who was drugged to keep him complicit, walking him down the aisle, towards Chloé, who is waiting. She looks like she had been crying, showing that she doesn't want to do this either. The archbishop asks Adrien to give him his ring to provide proof that he is an heir to the Agreste family and asks Chloé to show her haircomb to prove that she is an heir to the Bourgeois family, which they do. The archbishop asks Adrien of he consents to the marriage and if he remains silent, he will have to take it as a yes and that all of the wedding guest present are witnesses to Adrien showing his 'silent consent' before asking Chloé if she consents to the marriage, Chloé only nodding her head. As they're about to be named husband and wife, Nino's voice rings out, objecting to the wedding, calling it an illegal and unholy alliance, before appearing with Alya and Luka. The archbishop shields Adrien away as Nino says that he's there to save her, Marinette and Sabrina recording the whole thing. A guard grabs Sabrina and tells her to stop recording, Sabrina fighting back, which causes her to fall off the banister, right in front of Chloé, who catches her, as they lock eyes, faces red. Nino tells everyone to look at Adrien because he's obviously been drugged and that the wedding is a fraud. As guards attack Nino, they find out that the Nino speaking was an exploding dummy, that had counterfeit money tucked inside, exposing Gabriel for his counterfeiting crime, showing that Gabriel corrupted the governments and made everyone his slaves. The archbishop grabs Adrien's ring and Chloe's haircomb, revealing himself to be Nino. Adrien is snapped out of his drugged trance and hugs Nino. He undoes his robes to reveal fireworks underneath and releases them as the police storm the castle, causing a riot as Luka and Alya fight the guards off. Gabriel grabs a sword and charges at Nino, Nino using his grappling hook, grabbing Adrien and swinging away to safety, out a broken window. The police start to fight the guards too. Marinette is still televising the event, fighting off guards, before following Roger with a remote camera down the cellar where all of the counterfeiting equipment is, exposing Gabriel and the bribed governments who took his money, with the entire world watching.

[the-book-queen]

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[samanthajameswriter]

Today’s post will be the tale of a royal exit written by guest poster Simone T. Whitlow from the blog History and Imagination. Whitlow discusses and tells the life story of Princess Sophia Dorothea and her exiting the royal family. The consequences were enormous. it is a story filled with an unhappy marriage and daring escapes.

I have taken a few shots at writing it under the auspices of a whodunit, but I don’t think there’s any doubt who the murderers are. I then had another run – this time as a faux fairytale, an OG soap opera? I had a line from John Wilmott, Earl of Rochester kicking round in my head about his patron Charles II, and thought what about riffing off that; this is an example of what a crazy, swinging place Europe’s courts were in the late 17th Century after all… but I abandoned all of these.

Then Megxit happened; The Sussexes – Harry and Meghan – announced they were leaving ‘the firm’. In some quarters there was shock, and I understand there was an urgent family meeting. Harry didn’t get thrown into a cell in the Tower of London. There was no clandestine dash for the English channel (like the aforementioned Charles II after his defeat at the Battle of Worcester in 1651). No disguising himself as a servant. No hiding in oak trees. Public discourse re-centred on whether you wished them well, or thought them a pair of spoilt brats. This brought me back round to this tale again… Imagine you’re a deeply unhappy royal, but it is 1694. Does Sophxit play out any differently?

This tale begins on the evening of July 1st, 1694. The setting, Hanover – a Germanic Duchy which would eventually be subsumed into a larger German nation, and whose first family would go on to be kind of a big deal.  A young man, aided only by moonlight, sails along the Leine river till he reaches the Leineschloss – the palatial riverside home of the duke and his family. He moors his boat, then cautiously enters the property. The man is Phillipp Christoph, Count Konigsmarck – an aristocratic German born Swede from a long line of mercenaries. His father had served King Gustav II Adolph in the 30 Years War, rising through the ranks to Field Marshall. Phillipp himself had fought the Turks for Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I. At this point in the tale however, he was under the employ of the Elector of Saxony. Tonight he’s been summoned to met his paramour – Sophia Dorothea, princess of Celle – the very unhappy wife of Duke George Ludwig.

Count Konigsmarck

Princess Sophia Dorothea

Duke Georg Ludwig

Sophia, though surprised- she never summoned him – is ecstatic over his arrival. They haven’t seen each other for weeks. She is also a little perturbed and angered at ‘that woman’s’ gall. “Well, clearly she’s still spying on us” I imagine one saying “Never mind, in a day we’ll be out of this nightmare” the other may have replied. With rather less poetic license you can imagine the rest of their night – Konigsmarck had not come to play solitaire after all, nor Sophia to play old maid. I like to imagine Sophia enfolding the count in her arms as he left and whispering “keep safe, hell hath no fury and all” but that is a little anachronistic – Congreve would not publish ‘The Mourning Bride’ till 1697. This is the last time Sophia Dorothea would see Count Konigsmarck – in the following hours he would disappear from the face of the Earth, never to be seen again.

Joining ‘The Firm’.

To explain how Sophia Dorothea found herself in an unhappy marriage, I need to take us back a generation. The first fact worth knowing is there was no German nation in the modern sense until January 1871. People could be ethnically Germanic, but Germany was a collection of feudal states for most of it’s history. Until 1806, they were also overseen by a ‘Holy Roman Emperor’. From 1346 the Emperor was elected by a council from the Elector states – This is important to know later. The second fact is marriages of convenience were very much a thing in the 17th Century, particularly among the aristocrats. Third, this tale concerns two duchies, Brunswick- Celle and Brunswick- Luneberg, afterwards known simply as ‘Hanover’. These duchies were ruled over by two brothers. Fourth their leading citizens of the duchies wanted to see the two areas reunited one day. Now that is out of the way…

Sophia Dorothea’s father was a man named Duke Georg Wilhelm of Brunswick- Celle. Georg W had been engaged to a princess from the neighboring duchy of Rhineland Palatinate (her name was also Sophia, though she hardly gets a mention beyond this point), but he was desperate to stay a bachelor a little longer. He cancelled the engagement – passing her on to his brother, Ernst August, Duke of Brunswick Luneberg. The leading figures of Georg W’s duchy were furious, but when Georg signed a legal agreement stating he would never marry – and would pass his duchy to Ernst, (merging the duchies) on his death, all was forgiven. Georg was not exactly out of the firm, but was free to enjoy his newly acquired freedom. The problem was Cupid laid Georg W low after he crossed paths with the beautiful Frenchwoman Eleonore d’Olbreuse.

Georg immediately knew they must marry and start a family. His own duchy and brother Ernst were unimpressed, so Georg W approached Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor for permission to marry Eleonore. Leopold gave his blessing, but many years after the fact– at this stage Georg and Eleonore had a child, Sophia Dorothea, now 10 years old. There was a caveat to Leopold’s blessing – Georg W had a daughter, Ernst a son (Georg L) – the two cousins would marry, uniting the duchies. This suited all, but the two cousins themselves, who detested each other.

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Georg Wilhelm

Eleonore d’Olbreuse.

Ernst August

Sophia Of Hanover

Complicating matters further, both Georg L and his father Ernst were openly having affairs outside of their marriages. Given what transpires it is worth mentioning Georg L’s double standards with affairs. The key fact to take on however is Ernst, Sophia’s uncle-stepdad, was involved with a lady named Countess Platen.

The Konigsmarck brothers.

We’ll come back to this lot in a second, but first let’s discuss Count Konigsmarck. He has quite a fraught backstory too. Konigsmarck was brought up at court, and knew the rest of this cast well. Both he and his brother, Karl, were sent to England in their mid teens, around 1680. They were sent off to learn courtly skills and mingle, but both brothers soon got into trouble. Phillipp’s trouble involved losing huge sums of money through gambling. Karl’s trouble was on a whole other level.

The two brothers began associating with several high society Britons- including Charles II. Karl had become smitten with Elizabeth Seymour, Duchess of Somerset. Elizabeth was – you guessed it – caught in a loveless, arranged marriage to a wealthy, cheating husband – the wealthy landowner and MP Thomas Thynne. On 12th February 1682, Thynne was travelling in a carriage through Pall Mall, when three men with pistols – Christopher Vratz, John Stern and George Borosky gunned him down. The three men were captured, and named Karl Konigsmarck as the man who hired them to make the hit. The assassins would hang, Karl walked free – but both young men were outcasts in England from this point on. Both returned to Europe and joined Leopold’s army. Karl would be killed in action fighting the Turks in Greece in 1686. As an aside, not long after Thomas Thynne’s murder, a poem circulated through London.

“Here lies Tom Thynne of Longleat Hall Who ne’er would have miscarried; Had he married the woman he slept withal Or slept with the woman he married.”

Let the Dangerous Liaisons begin.

In 1688, after eight years service in the wars with the Turks, Phillipp Konigsmarck returned to the court of what was then Hanover. The ladies of the court fell for this dashing, young soldier. He became a close friend and confidant of Sophia Dorothea – a sympathetic ear who would keep tales of Sophia’s horrible husband, hideous uncle/stepdad, and terrifying mistress of uncle/stepdad – Countess Platen, confidential. Konigsmarck also began an ill advised affair with Countess Platen himself.

The young count soon realized; one, he had fallen in love with princess Sophia – and two, Countess Platen is a dangerous lunatic he should have never become involved with. He took on a new military commission and left Hanover, hoping the countess would forget about him.

On his return to the court in the spring of 1690 he began wooing the princess. The countess, meanwhile resumed her wooing of the count. When left unrequited she hired spies to follow the couple, and intercept their letters. By 1693 Countess Platen stopped even attempting to repair the broken seals on the couple’s love letters. Phillipp resumed his affair with the countess, hoping to placate her; at the very least to stop her from spilling the beans on them. Phillipp and Sophia make the decision to run away together; to start a new life elsewhere- far away from courtly life. This presented a problem for the two. Phillipp was lousy with money, and currently broke – he had not been working, while wooing two ladies. Sophia, upon marrying Georg L, ceded all her possessions to her husband.

Phillipp took a commission with the elector of Saxony, in Dresden in May 1694. Sophia sat tight and waited for Phillipp to make some money. 1st July, at the urging of a counterfeit letter, Phillipp returned to Hanover. Possibly aware it was a trap, Phillipp had saved a month’s worth of wages. Most of the court were away at their summer house at the time – Georg. L included. Tomorrow morning they would run away – and begin a new, happier life together. The following day Count Konigsmarck was nowhere to be found. A distraught Sophia Dorothea eventually hears the scuttlebutt from the markets “the witches of Dresden…” lured Phillipp away.

So…. what happened?

Let’s work through the facts – and suppositions – of the case. There are at least five possibilities. It’s generally accepted the counterfeit letter came from the countess. She had spies watching the couple, who reported to her that the couple were planning to abscond the following day. It is established fact also that Countess Platen informed her other lover, the uncle/stepdad Ernst, of the two lovers’ plan. Ernst ordered four cavaliers to arrest Count Konigsmarck immediately. The four men caught him outside the palace, swords were drawn. When the men eventually faced trial they claimed the count had drawn his sword, a fight broke out, and the count got stabbed to death in the melee.

What happened to the body? Who the hell knows? That is the real mystery. The four suspects were never on record on this matter. One theory has his body thrown into the Leine river, or immolated, or buried on the property. There was excitement in 2016 when bones were dug up on the site, but DNA proved the bones belonged to five separate men (none Phillipp) and a selection of animals.

Possibility one is simple as this, manslaughter. Count Konigsmarck, the battle hardened soldier of fortune thought he could fight his way out of an awkward situation and the four men got the better of him. It was, at most, a case of manslaughter.

Two, when Ernst August sent the cavaliers out to stop Konigsmarck, did he give the order to murder him before the elopement uncovered his dalliances, causing him embarrassment? He may have wanted him out of the way for this reason. Besides personal embarrassment, Hanover had only just been appointed an elector state, who help choose the Holy Roman Emperor. A scandal involving their royals may have jeopardized that position.

Three, well that ‘hell hath no fury’ motive is also out there. Countess Platen was jealous, and involved in high level stalking behaviour. She had laid this trap for the couple, does it not make sense to go that one step further. Did she kill Count Konigsmarck, solipsisticly to say ‘if I can’t have him, no-one can’?

Four, did Georg Ludwig know of the affair, and order the assassination? An elopement certainly would have left him a cuckold. Working counter to this, Georg L seemed unaware of the affair till after the affair was exposed. As soon as he heard, he divorced Sophia Dorothea. He exiled her to house arrest in Ahlden Castle, another family possession. She was kept prisoner until her death 32 years later. Here’s my reason to doubt Georg as the mastermind – he divorced and imprisoned her six months after Count Konigsmarck disappeared. Perhaps Georg was an endlessly patient man? I doubt it.

Now, I want to put a fifth suspect on the table – I said I would not mention her again – but I need to in order to tie this to the Sussexes at the very least. Ernst August’s wife, Sophia the elder, scorned by Georg W, and in what one would imagine as unhappy a marriage as anyone else in this tale – Her husband was cheating on her with Countess Platen after all – well she had a dream.

Discontent with her lot in life, married to a petty duke of a tiny duchy, she daydreamed of a time when herself, or her son would run the larger archipelago to the north-west. This did not seem such a crazy daydream. Her grandfather had been James I of England. In 1685 Charles II died leaving 14 illegitimate children, but no heirs. The crown passed to his brother James II, who was deposed in the ‘Glorious Rebellion’ of 1688. This saw a joint rule by James II’s daughter Mary, and the Dutch Import William of Orange. The line of succession had gotten a little complicated of late, and Sophia the elder’s daydream was seeming less and less blue sky thinking, more a genuine possibility – just so long as a giant scandal didn’t break out about her cheating husband, cheating daughter in law, and surrounding rogues gallery. I can’t count her in, but I certainly can’t ignore she too has a motive.

By 1702 both Mary and William of Orange had died. The crown passed to Mary’s sister – Anne. Anne fell pregnant 18 times – and suffered six miscarriages, five stillbirths, and none of her remaining children lived beyond two years of age. When Anne died on August 1st 1714, the crown passed to one Georg Ludwig, of an obscure German duchy, henceforth known as George I of England, whose family sit on the throne of England to this day.

How do I feel about the Sussexes and Megxit? Well, I am glad for the couple that it is 2020, not 1694 – and I wish them well.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Simone T. Whitlow is a musician, history blogger, and occasionally a squeaky wheel, working for well oiled corporate machines. Simone is based in Auckland, New Zealand and writes most weeks for Tales of History and Imagination.Tales of History and Imagination is a collection of strange and eccentric stories from our collective past. From Victorian Boogeymen to forgotten wars in far flung nations, mysterious super-weapons to people who simply took a path less traveled – Tales of History and Imagination is a compendium of the stories never told in history class.

FOLLOW SIMON T. WHITLOW: 

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  The Deadly Sophxit of Count Konigsmarck and Princess Sophia Dorothea Today's post will be the tale of a royal exit written by guest poster Simone T. Whitlow from the blog…

[dyns33]

Immortal love (5/?)

Summary : Michael is the “brother” of the Countess, who visits her every ten years at the Cortez Hotel. Unlike her, he has no creation, preferring to roam alone in the night. He loved only once, in his youth. Centuries later, the new Cortez employee looks exactly like his lost love. Will he replay the Dracula movie ?

- Take place before the events of Hotel.

"It is very well done. Professional work. But I can tell you this without hesitation, it's a fake."

While Mutt continued to admire (Y / N)'s identity card, which he had almost taken for a real one, Jeff was trying to answer Michael's other question, could anyone know who had made it and where.

           "If you find the answer," said Mutt, "we have to contact him. This guy is a genius."

           "I do not think I can, unfortunately. Every counterfeiter has theirs methods and often leave a signature, but not this one. It's impossible to find any clue. Sorry Mr. Langdon, you have asked us an insoluble enigma. Congrats, it's a first."

They had not helped him much, since Michael already suspected that the id was fake, but the mystery around the true identity of (Y / N) remained intact. Was she dangerous ? What was she hiding ? Where did she come from ? Why did she need a fake card ? Was (Y / N) even her real name ? He did not like not knowing. He needed to know. Once back at the hotel, he reunited Elizabeth and Liz, to share his small, but important, discoveries with them.

           "So she has a fake name ? Me too, that does not mean she is a bad person." Liz said. "I do not think it proves anything except that she follows fashion. Plus, (Y / N) is a very pretty name, maybe she just wanted to change it."

           "Have you changed your mind again ?" joked the Countess, "what a jowl, your kitten leads you by the nose."

           "I just thought about it !" Liz snorted, a little irritated. "Maybe March really wants to wreak havoc. So, as long as you do not prove to me that she is guilty, I will consider her innocent."

           "That's nice of you. And stupid. The best way to get you killed from behind, when you least expect it. You must always be suspicious."

           "Because you are suspicious of her ? You treat her like your own daughter, do not make me believe that you have changed your mind !"

Michael watched the two women arguing with a lot of weariness. During his absence, (Y / N) did absolutely nothing strange. Nothing. The ghosts became almost irritable because of that.        "No, really. NOTHING !," said Sally, almost disgusted, "as if she were dead, but more dead than you or I. She wakes up, she works, she reads, she eats, she drinks, and she sleeps. That's it. It's so boring !"

If even the dead looked more alive than her... Yet she was not dead, Michael was certain of that. Her heartbeat, her blood pulse and her sweet scent reminded him of it as soon as they were in the same room. It was becoming more and more of a torture each time, and she still did not seem to realize it. When he asked Sally if (Y / N) had already killed anyone in the hotel, or if she had ever come back with blood on her, the answer was no again.

           "I told you, said Sally. No-thing. I do not understand what March sees in her. She's just a poor girl, not at all interesting. Believe me, you're wasting your time, little vampire, even if you have a lot to lose."

Sally was right about one thing, he was wasting a lot of time, instead of going straight to asking the main questioner, the only person who had the answers he was looking for. The only problem was that he was not sure he could keep calm in front of her. If she purposely had this physical appearance, he would make her pay dearly. If she had not done anything... he would continue to look at her and smell her, dreaming of planting his fangs in her little neck. If she was really innocent, as Liz hoped, he should not stay here for a minute longer, to not endanger her. He had been wrong to believe that he could tell the difference between his dear Catherine and this child, when they were so alike, and not just from the outside. For her sake, he would leave. He found (Y / N) at the reception, reading as usual, but looked up as she saw him coming, as if waiting for him. She reached out her hand.

           "My identity card, please."

Oh, she had noticed that he had taken it. Michael took it out of his pocket and returned it to her, making a small grimace of shame.

           "Thank you." she said simply, putting the card next to her book, The woman who lost her soul, by Bob Shacochis. Then she seemed to hesitate between resuming her reading and listening to what he had to say. In any case, she did not seem to want explanations for this robbery. She did not seem to want to talk to him at all.  He saw Catherine again in this library, who did not want to be seen and who was always embarrassed that he come to talk with her, a bit because "the Master should not spend so much time with the servants", but especially because she loved to read in peace. He had been ashamed to haveasked her read to him so often, even though he had cherished every moment spent with her. But he could not think of Catherine, he had to stay focused.

           "You have to wonder why I took it." he said stupidly.

           "No."

           "Ah, good...," said Michael, who did not expect this answer. "I know it's fake and I'd like to know why."

(Y / N) sighed slightly, as if she expected to have to explain it one day or the other. She closed her book, and looked into his eyes, and then she did not look like a child anymore. What did James say ? A Goddess ? Maybe not, but right now, she was giving off something... powerful.

           "I had to change it," she replied. "I did not have a choice. If you want more details, know that I'm not a killer, I'm not a thief, nobody chases me, I'm not a threat, I'm here because I I need a job, but I'll leave in five years, if you want to know. Anything else ?"

She did not talk about a supernatural creature, but perhaps she did not really know about the existence of vampires, ghosts, and witches... He did not feel any flutter in her voice, no fear in her heart. She did not lie.

           "One thing... what is your real name ?"

And then all her confidence left her and her eyes filled with sadness. Would she say... No, of course not. She opened her mouth to answer.

           "(Y / N) !"

Michael turned to face James Patrick March, who seemed furious.

           "My dear, could you come with me for a moment, I need to talk to you."

           "Yes, Mr. March.", said (Y / N), who seemed relieved by this intervention.

She got up quickly and followed the ghost to the elevator, greeting Michael without saying anything. It was only a postponement, he would ask her the question tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow... After all, he had plenty of time. He should have thought of Catherine this time. The last time he wanted to ask her an important question, she was gone forever. But the story was not going to be repeated, was it ? (Y / N) had said she would leave in five years. Why ? She stayed with March for most of the day, and Elizabeth decided that it was useless to wait. She invited him to go out to hunt again, asking Liz to warn them if anything happened. He should have refused, he should have, but he could never have guessed what was going to happen during his absence. If he had known, he would not have left. Despite his age and all his experience, Michael felt really foolish when he heard the news.

Tag : @allyadarth @sloppy-little-witch-bitch26 @kahhlo @moonagecordelia @two-unbeatable-beaters