#the league of the scarlet pimpernel

[knitepercival]

He raised his pistol, ready to fire. But already Sir Percy Blakeney was on him, and with a swift movement, which the other was too weak to resist, he wretched the weapon from his enemy’s grasp.

“Why, how hasty you are, my dear M. Chambertin,” he said lightly. “Surely you are not in such a hurry to put a demmed bullet into me!”

The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel

[starshipstories]

*pleading with the void* I'll pay you $5 to talk about The Scarlet Pimpernel with me 😭🙏

[burnsopale]

"He raised his pistol, ready to fire. But already Sir Percy Blakeney was on him, and with a swift movement, which the other was too weak to resist, he wrenched the weapon from his enemy's grasp."

When you're a little snake of a man and your nemesis is huge.

"So you are coming with us, my dear M. Chambertin," he continued, and, with force which was quite irresistible, he began to drag his enemy after him towards the door."

O-okay, okay, huge and strong, I get it, that's pretty hot-

"Chauvelin's whole nervous system was writhing with the feeling of impotence."

Calm down, Baroness, jeezus!

"The boy Etienne was up on the box next to [Sir Percy Blakeney], whose broad back appeared to Chauvelin like a rock on which all his hopes and dreams must for ever be shattered."

I need to lie down.

From The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy

[bellatrixnightshade]

If you could spend a week living in the world/ time period of any book, which book would it be?

Oh! Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea for the submarines 💖

Although, on second thought, Captain Nemo is batty so...

The Scarlet Pimpernel for the French Revolution and how I would find it fun to travel with the League and save people amidst danger.

Or any Gothic book ranging from the classic Jane Eyre to Belladonna.

Thank you for the ask love ^^

[fictionturnedherbrain]

[hiddenvioletsgrow]

literally cried with laughter imagining a scarlet pimpernel social media AU with my bestie

• Percy runs a scarlet pimpernel fan page and reposts photos of himself and sometimes “rares” he has the league take.

• Marguerite is always posting hot professional photos and Percy simps HARD in the comments.

• Percy has his own fan page (this one not run by himself) and someone catches him kissing the ground after Marguerite walks by the internet goes absolutely insane

• Sir Andrew posts to his story one night at like 12am “can any women tell me if burnt paper is actually good to cure a headache”

• Chauvelin posts fit checks and Percy always comments roasting him and his comments get more likes than the video

• Percy posts “how to tie a cravat” tutorials and tags Chauvelin mercilessly

• Percy’s “they seek him here” poem goes viral on tik tok

[guspartenza]

THE SUPERWOMAN FROM KRYPTON, FANART+FANFIC INTRODUCTION

art by https://www.deviantart.com/gabrielrb91

What would you think about an alternate universe with a female-Clark as Superwoman in the golden age?

Is the only main change in the classic canon together with her love interest, is not Earth-11, let's say is Eart-19...meet Clara Kent/Superwoman!

It's 1948, in Metropolis!

Up in the sky! Look! It's a bird? It's a plane? No! It's Superwoman!

Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, this amazing stranger from the planet Krypton, The Woman of Steel: Superwoman!

Empowered with X-ray vision, possessing remarkable physical strength, Superwoman fights a never-ending battle for love, truth, and justice, disguised as a mild-mannered newspaper reporter, Clara Kent!

In a world plagued by the Cold War and mistrust, can Superwoman bring peace to the world while fighting for love, truth, justice, and the American way? Can she finally find a happy life with Louis Lane, the love of her life? Can she defeat Lex Luthor and the terrible ancient evil he is about to awaken?

You can download full free illustrated fanfic in pdf here! SUPERWOMAN FROM KRYPTON-FREE ILLUSTRATED FANFIC by lordmallory on DeviantArt or here https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XPh48B9_giTgDpnBXjRP-4Z4ksUU-WzR/view?usp=drive_link

Art by https://www.deviantart.com/letoart

KALA-EL/CLARA JOSEPHINE KENT/SUPERWOMAN

BORN: Krypton, a moon in a distant galaxy. Formally 28/02/1918, SMALLVILLE, KANSAS

PROFESSION: ASSISTANT REPORTER

YEAR: 1948

PLACE: METROPOLIS (METROPOLIS COUNTY, NEW YORK)

art by https://www.deviantart.com/wagemagegames

-Farmgirl, born Kansas 1918. No sisters nor brothers.

-Nicest girl in the office but very unfunny.

-Disappears without reason very often.

-Lives alone in a little flat and has a golden retriever dog called Krypto.

-Daddy issues. Her father didn't let her pursue a career as ballet dancer or swimmer (he didn't want her to take advantage of her powers) and died when she was 18.

-Former nurse during the war in the Pacific Ocean and in the Philippines.

-Loves children and dogs

-Tomboyish trails. Not quite elegant.

-Music-Hall fan, Katherine Hepburn and James Stewart fan

-Favorite books: Scarlet Pimpernel adventures, Jane Austen, Upton Sinclair and Virginia Wolf, somewhat eclectic.

-Amateur writer of children's stories, with characters such as DeeDog and the Komfy Dragon.

-She greatly admires her boss, Perry Weiss. A 1940s very liberal Republican style journalist, chief editor of the Daily Planet. She despises her deputy boss Cat Grant.

-Ambiguous relationship with her other boss Louis Lane. Clara has a good friendship with Louis and hides that she is very much in love with him. At the same time, she competes a lot with Mr. Lane and is annoyed by his political ideas and his paternalism.

-Strange friendship with young millionaire Bruce Wayne, something that is very surprising for the people in the Daily Planet newsroom.

-Always good scoops but never appears in the front line and too stubborn and independent to grow fast in the newspaper.

-Progressive quaker like her fathers.

-Civil rights supporter.

-Dislikes General McArthur, dislikes even more Lex Luthor

-Loves Eleanor Roosevelt but also Governor Dewey.

-Hates guns

-Supports unions, splits ticket between Metropolis Liberal Party and the two main parties. Politicians must be kind.

art by https://www.tumblr.com/bobbinalong

SUPERHEROINE LIFE

-Superpowers: Flight, Super-Strength, Super-Speed, X-Ray Vision, Heat Vision, Enhanced Vision, Super-Hearing, Super-Breath, Freeze-Breath, High Invulnerability, Super-Stamina

-Can fly to a Mach 100 speed.

-Acts as Superwoman since October 1945.

-Defeated Zod invasion in July1946.

-Initial bad relationship with Batman but now close friends and allies. Together with Flash they conform the Justice League.

-Didn't act as Superwoman during the World War II because she was afraid of her powers. After the discovery of the Holocaust and the atomic bombs she decided to step in and showed herself to the world on autumn 1945.

-Worst enemy: Lex Luthor, heir of Nikola Tesla, rocket engineer & CEO of TELCORP (Tesla-Luthor Co.)

-Deeply in love with Louis Lane, who strongly rejects the superheroine.

-She hides her supersuit and cape under her normal clothes. The material is extraordinarily thin, flexible and resistant, and very easy to wear under normal clothing. Whenever someone needs Superwoman, she just needs to find an inconspicuous place, rip her shirt, unfold her cape and fly away at full speed.

-Widely admired.

art by https://www.deviantart.com/bluerollerball

art by Gabriel Larragan (Ko-Fi)

FAMILY & ORIGINS

The El family & Krypton

Krypton was a decadent civilization located on a moon near a large gaseous planet in the Orion belt, next to a green sun. In the past they had visited Earth and other planets expanding civilization, but their penchant for slavery, war, resource extraction and violence caused many of these projects to fail. Even in 10,500 BC the Kryptonians almost caused the terraforming of the Earth, melting the poles and destroying Atlantis and other civilizations, causing among other things the end of the Ice Age. Nearly 99% of humanity perished during that Kryptonian attack.

Over the centuries the Kryptonians lost the fuel necessary to travel across space and ended up confined to their planet, dedicated to warfare, genetic engineering-creating clones whose organs they needed to extend their lives-to pleasure and to exploiting the subsoil of their planet. The Kryptonians also established a dictatorship with a caste system based on genetic engineering and prohibited natural reproduction.

Jor-El and Lara were a couple of scientists critical of the system and supporters of the abolition of the caste system. They also fought against genetic engineering, violent repression, and the permanent destruction of the ecosystem. After a series of terrible earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and gas outbursts, it became clear that Krypton's core was collapsing, due to the energetic drilling and magnetic energy used in Krypton's industry. The Planet was doomed but the ruling caste ignored it. Jor-El and Lara had a daughter, Kala-El in a natural way against all the rules of Krypton. Lara managed to manufacture a small ship capable of making a space jump to save her daughter from the end of Krypton. General Zod stole her design and managed to build a larger fleet of ships but Jor-El managed to sabotage them and send the fleet to the Phantom Zone, a black hole near Krypton.

Lara decided to send Kala to Earth, confident that the culture of this planet was much more hopeful and kinder, and less prone to the mistakes of Krypton than other distant inhabited planets closer to them. Jor-El preferred to send her to New Genesis, another distant inhabited planet, because there Kala would receive less radiation and develop less extraordinary abilities that would allow her to live a normal life, but eventually Lara convinced him. During her journey to Earth and her growing period under a yellow sun, Kala would develop wonderful powers and could live a long life in the service of mankind, rehabilitating Krypton's legacy.

Within hours of Kala's birth, she was placed in the small ship, accompanied by the robot guide Kelex, whose memory was imprinted with the consciousness of Jor-El and Lara, as well as nearly all of Krypton's cultural heritage. They included several Kryptonian artifacts inside, such as a nearly indestructible ceremonial female ancestral caped suit with the crest of the House of El on its chest.

The ship was launched just hours before Krypton's demise and travelled through space for thirty years...

art by https://www.tumblr.com/bobbinalong

Joe&Martha Kent, Kansas life

Joe and Martha Kent were a Quaker farming couple whose farm was struck by the pod carrying Kala-El the 28th of February of 1918. Although owners of substantial property they were a very humble, cooperative, austere, devout, and civil rights-minded people. Martha Kent was a descendant of Kansas abolitionist guerrilla fighter John Brown. They both raised Clara very lovingly and unwilling to ask too many questions about the baby's origin. Clara was a very sickly child as her body did not adapt to the Earth. She was an affectionate and obedient girl and devoured books. The Kent family were avowed supporters of the New Deal and Joe Kent was a member of the local farmers union.

With puberty Clara developed very fast, and her superpowers began to appear. She soon began to excel in swimming and ballet, while still questioning her origins, but Joe forbade her to pursue a professional career to prevent her from taking advantage of her powers, and moreover he forbade her to use her superpowers to help others, fearful of humanity's reaction and wary of savior messiahs in the era of interwar dictators.

Clara rebelled against her father but eventually gave in, fearful of her own abilities and understanding her parents' position. During these years, Clara didn't fit in very well, but she had two best friends, Pete Ross, with whom she was secretly in love, and Lana Lang. Pete didn't know about her superpowers, but Lana did. In 1936 Joe Kent died of a heart attack, devastating her daughter. Clara was unable to go to college after her father's death and worked as a teacher and nurse's aide in Smallville. Her engagement to Pete Ross, her teenage sweetheart failed in 1939 when she revealed her powers to Pete and he panicked, although he later promised to keep the secret. In those times of sadness, Kelex, the Kryptonian robot, was activated, explaining to Clara her true origins, which filled her with confusion.

Between 1939 and 1941 Clara lived in Canada and Alaska searching for the Fortress of Solitude, a strange place Kelex was pointing, but with the outbreak of World War II she decided to enlist as a nurse in the Pacific, refusing to use her powers except to help the wounded, fearing to cause more harm than good. In late 1944, the hospital ship on which he was traveling, the USS Shuster, was torpedoed by the Japanese. Clara jumped into the water and managed to keep the ship afloat with her super strength until she managed to beach it. No one understood how miraculously the ship had stayed afloat and even levitated. The incident was kept secret. Clara got a permit to return home and she revisited Alaska where she found the Fortress of Solitude with the help of Kelex. There she was able to better understand her origins and began to train her superpowers.

After learning about the Holocaust first and the atomic bombs later, Clara decided to become Superwoman and help others with her superpowers dressed in the ceremonial Kryptonian costume of her ancestors. Her mother Martha supported her decision. She relocated to Metropolis, where in September 1945 she was hired as an assistant reporter by Major Louis Lane, who had just returned from Europe.

art by LuisF47 - Hobbyist, Digital Artist | DeviantArt

On October 1, 1945, Superwoman unveiled herself to the world and caused a huge sensation. The world was changed forever. Superwoman introduced herself to the newly formed United Nations, explaining her origins and her desire to help others and to stay out of political conflicts except to protect civilians.

Clara Kent began her double life as a journalist and as Superwoman. In July 1946, she defeated the invasion of General Zod and the survivors of Krypton. She also had to face other enemies such as the Intergang - an alliance of all organized crime in Metropolis and Gotham, Atomic Skull - an ex-Nazi agent with terrifying technology, Lex Luthor who began to develop his hatred and paranoia towards the superheroine, and his creations such as Metallo.

art by https://www.deviantart.com/xtophe

DAILY PLANET CHARACTERS

Perry Weiss, a major shareholder and editor in chief of the Daily Planet. Born in Odessa in 1886. Jewish immigrant from humble origins who became a skilled journalist and founded the Daily Planet as a tool of the liberal wing of the Metropolis Republican Party to unseat the city bosses of the time. Still a staunch liberal, he supported Roosevelt in 1932 and 1936, is an ally of Mayor LaGuardia. He won the Pulitzer Prize in the 1920s for defending the innocence of Sacco and Vanzetti. Friend and ally of Louis Lane's father. He is very demanding with his employees but is very fond of Clara. He admires and defends Superwoman despite Louis Lane's distrust. Best friend of Cat Grant.

Cat Grant, Co-chair of Perry Weiss, Pulitzer winner, closeted lesbian, and Ayn Rand Fan. Born 1901, she comes from a fine family of Metropolis Knickerbockers. She is like Louis the least liberal element of the newspaper. To protect herself she married a very old friend of her father who helped her lead a double life. For twenty years she lived with a painter named Margaret Ivy. Considered the best writer of the Daily Planet, in addition to being a journalist she has published two novels. Very elegant and popular in intellectual circles. She is tremendously authoritarian. She mistreats Clara a lot because she does not respect her authority and because of her different political ideas, but as Clara grows as a journalist and Cat Grant suspects that she is Superwoman, she will protect her and push her forward without Clara knowing it. Best friend of Perry Weiss

Jimmy Olsen and Lucy Weiss, best friends of Clara.

Jimmy is a junior urban photographer. He comes from a town in Massachusetts. He is 7 years younger than Clara. He is a party animal, friendly, generous, and somewhat naive. Yet he is a skilled photographer who has been able to capture the worst of the night and day of Metropolis. Miraculously he always gets the best pictures of Superwoman (Clara helps him a little). Very democratic and complains about working for a newspaper that is too conservative for his taste. Adores Clara whom he treats as his big sister. It doesn't even cross his mind that she is Superwoman. Jimmy thinks that Louis is a snob and a bigot.

Lucy is a senior political photographer and the only woman on photo reporting on the Daily Planet who works outside the fashion department. She is the eldest daughter of Perry Weiss. She is an intrepid photojournalist who gets overseas passes and has been to several military conflicts. A loyal friend of Clara, and a very serious and professional woman. She is suspicious of Clara's double identity but would never say anything. She is the same age as Clara and a lover of jazz and the more alternative circuits of Metropolis.

art by https://www.deviantart.com/milkydraws8/gallery

art by https://www.artstation.com/pabloalcalde

LOUIS LANE, SUPERWOMAN'S WEAKNESS?

NAME: LOUIS LANE

BORN: 08/02/1912, METROPOLIS (NEW YORK)

PROFESSION: SENIOR REPORTER

YEAR: 1948

PLACE: METROPOLIS (NYC)

art by https://www.deviantart.com/rickcelis/gallery

-Rich family, born in 1912, first of 6 brothers.

-Caustic, cynical, ironic but somewhat kind.

-Commanding.

-Lives in Park Avenue with his 6-year-old daughter and his rich unfaithful wife, fashion reporter Pat Lane (neé Kelly). Very unhappy marriage.

-Major rank during the war in the US army. He also worked with the OSS.

-Elegant, sportsman, plays violin.

-Teaches music lessons in an orphan house in secret.

-Not that snobbish nor Wasp, new rich family traits.

-Arkham University alumni.

-Classic music and literature lover.

-Heavy drinker.

-Does not enjoy journalism, thinking of quitting to politics or teaching literature.

-Jewish father (Lane surname is a change from Lantzman), Irish catholic mother, raised catholic and religious, but not extremely orthodox.

-His father is a self-made tycoon who started as democrat in the Tammany Hall and then switched to republican. Close ally of Mayor LaGuardia.

-Fought in the European theater during World War II.

-Conservative republican opposed to his father liberal republican views, loves McArthur, who he thinks should be the next President.

-In the past he had a good opinion of Lex Luthor. He saw him as an innovator and freedom fighter, but his opinion changed when Luthor kidnapped him to set a trap for Superwoman.

-Perry Weiss favorite reporter.

-Won the Pulitzer Prize in 1941, for his articles about the first defeat of the Intergang.

-First person to interview Superwoman.

-Very nice and paternalistic to Clara. Louis pushes Clara's career forward despite Cat Grant's opposition. He is also secretly in love with Clara. Although he rejects Superwoman and suspects she is the same person as Clara, he deludes himself and rejects these suspicions.

-Tired of New Deal Politics, anticommunist.

-"a brilliant and kind man" for most of the Daily Planet staff, a "terrible asshole" for many others like Jimmy Olsen.

-Strongly rejects Superwoman and other heroes.

-Sometimes Clara really hates him.

-Famous line "Neither reds nor capes".

-He lives a bizarre love triangle with Clara Kent and Superwoman. Although he publicly rejects the superheroine, he also desires her and he and Superwoman have had moments of passion, which Louis feels guilty about because he is married and because of his religion. On the other hand, he is in love with Clara Kent as much as he rejects the figure of Superwoman. He deludes himself about the identity of both. A bit James Stewart in Vertigo, which destabilizes and infuriates Clara.

art by https://www.deviantart.com/guinnessyde

art by https://akiko02.carrd.co/

CURRENT AND PAST ENEMIES

Lex Luthor

Rocket engineer, CEO of TELCORP and Heir of Nikola Tesla. A Brilliant scientist who defines himself as a "radical humanist"...but in the early 30s supported closely fascism to stop "imperialism" and "usury" but later changed his mind and move closer to the USSR to fight "predatory western capitalism". Publicly, he is a tycoon and scientist loyal to the United States and works closely with the government. The world's greatest philanthropist. Loving father and husband. Hates Superwoman to death and believes she spells the end of humanity. Paranoid and ruthless but convinced that he does everything for the greater good.

art by https://www.deviantart.com/gus-art

General Zod & Faora

Political dissidents like the El on Krypton on the other hand believed that Krypton's only salvation lay in emigrating and invading, terraforming, and exterminating other planets. They almost succeeded in a coup d'état but after their failure they and their henchmen tried to flee by space jumping their ships, Jor-El managed to sabotage the launch and send them to the Phantom Zone. Over the years they managed to escape and arrived on Earth in 1946, shortly after Clara showed herself to the world as Superwoman. They tried to exterminate all humanity, but Superwoman and the armies of Earth managed to defeat them. Their invasion caused 5,000 human casualties but could have caused complete extermination. The experience was traumatic for Clara because she had to send Zod and Faora back to the Phantom Zone where they would surely die. Zod, Faora and their henchmen had not yet developed the full powers of a yellow sun like Earth's and so several of them were killed by human bombs and missiles. Their remains were stored by Russians and Americans. Superwoman managed to expel all Kryptonian technology and weaponry into space so that humans would not use it for warfare.

Doomsday

A truly near-indestructible abomination.

Perhaps from Krypton's past? Perhaps created by mistake by human scientists?

art by https://www.deviantart.com/fernando-damasio & https://www.deviantart.com/kristherion

The Toyman

Winslow Schott, former entrepreneur, and inventor of the 1920s toy business who was ruined in the Great Depression by banks and various betrayals. After a crime spree he was imprisoned in 1933 but escaped from prison recently completely crazed and ready to take revenge on the whole city using his inventions.

Brainiac "The Eternal Traveller"

An android resulting from the abhorrent merger of a famous astronaut and artificial intelligence, which was used by the first civilization of Krypton to collect information from other worlds. It is more than 100,000 years old. With the passage of time, he revealed against the Kryptonians, became evil and phobic to any form of life that he considered imperfect or inferior. It caused the destruction of many cultures. He wanders through space visiting planets and analyzing life forms. He probably has no enthusiasm for humans, much less for a descendant of the House of El.

art by https://www.instagram.com/estefaniaart_/

art by https://www.deviantart.com/midnightowl07

art by https://www.deviantart.com/artsandar

art by https://akiko02.carrd.co/

art by https://www.deviantart.com/son-neko

art by https://www.deviantart.com/dommnics

You can download full free illustrated fanfic in pdf here! SUPERWOMAN FROM KRYPTON-FREE ILLUSTRATED FANFIC by lordmallory on DeviantArt or here https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XPh48B9_giTgDpnBXjRP-4Z4ksUU-WzR/view?usp=drive_link

[irregularjohnnywiggins]

So, since apparently I'm in a DC posting mood right now, you all want to hear this concept that's been baking in my mind for a while now?

Stephanie Brown is the same level of crimefighter as Bruce Wayne. Hear me out.

First, a common thematic reading of the Batfamily, especially the Batkids, is that all of them are in some way better than Bruce at one specific thing. Like with the equally broad thematic reading of 'All of Batman's rogues reflect a part of his psyche' this doesn't entirely hold up to scrutiny and doesn't apply to all of the Batkids, but it applies to enough: Dick is the better leader, Babs is the better strategist, Tim is the better detective, Cass is the better fighter, you get the idea. Now, normally when considering this reading the consensus for Steph is that she is the negative archetype, similar to how the Joker is interpreted in the rogues reading - an inverse of the common rule, in this case meaning that Steph isn't particularly good at anything. Some people who take this reading end this part with 'And that's why I love her!' - most don't. But I think that's entirely wrong, and to explain why we need to examine Bruce's own past.

In most versions of the Batman origin, there's a period, usually immediately or closely after Bruce graduating from either high-school or college, where Bruce travels the world, seeking masters of specific disciplines and learning all he can from them. The amount of people he meets is extensive - seriously, I have a word doc of 40 names and that's not even all of them - and later stories, particularly the Nolan trilogy, Batman/The Shadow, and IIRC Batman: Earth One, try to par that down to a single entity - The League of Shadows, The Shadow, and Alfred, respectively - teaching him all that is necessary to become Batman. It's not a change I particularly like, for one simple reason - the trek around the globe is as much metatexual as it is backstory. Like many of the prototypical superheroes, Batman isn't just one thing, he's many influences that Bill Finger brought to the table when creating him - he's a pulp hero like the Shadow, an adventure swashbuckler like Zorro and the Scarlet Pimpernel, a detective like Sherlock Holmes, all melding together to form our concept of 'Batman'. Having him learn from all these disparate sources - from ninjas and car thieves and magicians and detectives - seems like a way of acknowledging that breadth of influence, and I can't help but feel like limiting it to only Ra's or Lamont or Alfred takes away from that.

So, what does all that have to do with Stephanie Brown? Well, think about it - almost all of the Batfamily have only one real mentor - there are exceptions, like Tim basically becoming Babs' apprentice in No Man's Land and Cass' very funny shared custody situation, but mainly all of the Batkids learn from Batman, and what they excel at they were just kind of naturally good at anyway - Babs and Cass especially, no shade. With Steph, though? It's not as impressive as Bruce's list, but she learns general Cowl skills with Bruce, hacking and cryptography with Babs, detective skills with Tim, get fighting tips from Cass and Black Canary, is taught teamwork by Kate, evasion skills with Damian (that last one may not be purposeful), plus whatever else she can learn because, unlike the rest of the Batfamily, at least Pre-Flashpoint Steph was always learning.

True, Steph started out with very few practical skills in crimefighting, but you know who else did that? Bruce - every single time a comic or adaptation has shown him attempting to fight crime before the training trek has him absolutely suck at it. At the very least Steph never decided to stop her dad by attempting to assassinate him in a courthouse full of witnesses by veeery slowly pointing a gun at him, like Nolanverse Bruce.

Bottom line? If one more person says Steph 'isn't particularly skilled at anything', I will chew glass.

[mihrsuri]

The utterly ridiculous Scarlet Pimpernel (Richard E Grant Version) OT4 with Trauma fic. Featuring the fact that I absolutely believe Chauvelin is in love with both Blakeney’s and inspired by @sherwoodknights watching the series. (A content note for sexual assault and also Chauvelin being The Worst) also @quillington who I tag in my Scarlet Pimpernel stuff (if okay?)

Chauvelin had found the man by chance. Nothing more, but then Percy Blakeney for all his protestations of incompetence did not seem to be so - his kidnapping had been a matter of a hostage, a drug and luck besides. And now one of the Blakeneys he wants is on his knees before him, in chains.

Percy is sure of what to expect of Chauvelin - some torture, some posturing, almost certainly a death sentence (he wonders, idly if they’ll find some better charges for him this time - if he will be condemned then at least condemn him for something substantial) but instead, instead the man looks almost fond.

“Blakeney - there is a school, one for all the children of France or so I have been told. It does very well - too well. But then, you might well know that. And you will know that I mean it when I say that if you do not obey me, I will have it raided and I will make sure they all die. I will not regret it - they have the blood of traitors in their veins so it is no great loss that they might have, shall we say, an accident.”

Percy does know the school. Of course he does - it has become a refuge for many, not just the orphaned children of aristocrats - in fact many many more are not. He also knows that the League had planned a rescue of them in a very short time.

Three weeks. It is not a choice at all, to agree to Chauvelins terms - it is not as though he has not endured torture before and he knows that the man will want to gloat, will want to drag out whatever it is he plans. All to the better, Percy thinks, that his focus should be on me - not upon Andrew and the others - they will save them all the easier.

He is tired and filthy and bored so he merely agrees with a lazy “if you so wished to play games with me Chauvelin you might have simply asked” because it is the truth. Torture and death do not hold fears for him, though he will regret leaving Marguerite, Andrew and Suzanne and their children he does not regret or fear giving his life for this.

Chauvelin leans down, pulls him back by his hair and kisses him instead.

-

Both Blakeney’s are beautiful when they are kissed - that is Chauvelins first thought - the second is that he does not think he will ever get enough of this, of having this man chained and kneeling at his feet.

“It had occurred to me that I did not wish to claim only Marguerite again - I wished to also claim her husband. And I will have you - all of you.”

He only manages to control himself from taking Percy right there on his desk with an effort - instead he will take him to the country, to the refuge he has built for himself against the possibility that he might be able to leave Paris and keep a family there. And now, now it is almost realised.

-

It is not the first time that Percy Blakeney has bartered his body in a bed for the League, but it is the first time he has done so as himself - which is a strange thing, he thinks, scrubbing off the filth of the dungeons to go and sit upon Chauvelin’s bed and wait for the man to fuck him in it. He shuts off all thoughts of Andrew, of Marguerite and Suzanne in this moment - he does not want them here, with this man, not even in his mind.

[adiduck]

Was trying to get myself writing again, and decided to write another saintspy kiss! So: little bonus for all of you tonight. Send me a kiss for SaintSpy May!

-

3. Forehead kiss

He’s on the couch with a book, pretty thoroughly absorbed in the adventures of Percy Blakeney, his wife Marguerite, and the infamous League of the Scarlet Pimpernel, when the familiar click-clack of greyhound paws stops before him and a head is placed very politely into his lap.

He looks down at Cat, staring up at him with wide, soulful eyes. “Hm,” he says. “I am pretty sure this counts as begging, Kitty-Cat.”

Cat does not respond to this, which is typical. She also doesn’t move, though, so he’s left either way with something of a decision to make. “I don’t know, Noodle,” he tells her. “Last time we tried this was a bit of a disaster.” He puts his book down to silk her ears with his fingers, then has to make a low “ah!” noise when she takes this as permission to try to climb up. “Manners, Miss Kitty.”

Cat settles down on her haunches, head still very stubbornly resting over his thighs.

He sighs. “You may just be too big for this,” he tells her, going back to petting her head. “I told you to stop growing, but you didn’t listen to me, and now look where we are.”

Cat, being a dog, does not respond to this, either. Instead, she yawns, big and wide, and continues to stare at him very, very sadly.

He sighs again, reaching up to rub a hand over his face. “We’ll try,” he says, and then pats his thighs. “Up!”

He barely has time to brace before a 65 lb greyhound sits up all at once, places her front paws on his knees, and leaps her whole gangly self up and onto his lap. She impacts his chest with her full weight in the next moment.

“Oof!” He flails and catches Cat as she tries to twist around, standing directly on his stomach painfully in the process. “Cat—hold on, kitty, let me help—”

Cat pays him no mind, very clumsily twisting so that her ass stays on his thighs and her paws continue to dig painfully into his flesh, doing her absolute best to stay off the couch proper like the very good girl she is. He catches her before she topples over, picking up her forelegs and trying to lay them flat on his legs as she twists around, trying to get comfortable. There’s a moment where they both realize that she is going to have to lay her head on the armrest, and she freezes just where she is, staring soulfully up at him with the world’s most heartbreaking expression, before she twists around again, shoving her whole body weight into his bladder, so that she can very carefully lay her head down on her own paws, dangling just slightly over the edge of his knees.

He starts to laugh somewhere in there, kind of helplessly, which is how Ethan finds him: sitting on the couch like a moron, considering his life and choices, and trying to cuddle a full-sized standard greyhound, who is doing her absolute best to stay within the confines of his lap.

“Don’t say anything,” he wheezes, trying to shift Cat just a little bit more so that she’s not digging a back paw directly into his kidney. “I know, I know, I did this entirely to myself.”

“I mean, you did,” Ethan says, and when he looks up his husband is clearly trying not to laugh, green eyes bright and devastatingly fond. “And you continue to be doing it to yourself. You realize you are going to have to pick no-dogs-on-the-couch or Cat’s-allowed-on-the-couch eventually, right?”

“I realize no such thing,” he says, sniffing as his dog gives a great big doggy sigh and settles more firmly against his lap and chest. “She’s just fine, see?” He’s mostly holding her on, and he’s not going to be able to read like this, but the point stands.

“I see,” Ethan acknowledges, and walks over to drop a warm, affectionate kiss on Cat’s head, and then on his forehead.

And then, because Ethan’s actually the best husband in the world, and he got incredibly lucky, he sits down next to the pile of man and dog and picks up the book. “Where were you?”

“Top of the page on the right,” he says, and settles in himself, listening to Ethan’s lovely voice read aloud until the end of the page, and then the next, and then the next.

Somewhere around the middle of the next chapter, Cat realizes that there is a second lap at her disposal, and stretches out between them. He takes the opportunity to drop his own head onto Ethan’s shoulder. Ethan doesn’t even pause, wrapping an arm around him and flipping the page with his thumb, as Marguerite begins to realize that perhaps not all is right with her understanding of her husband after all.

Can’t relate, he thinks, very comfortable on the couch with his whole little family, and lets himself drift off to sleep.

-

[knitepercival]

La but someone has to strike a pose

And bear the weight of well-tailored clothes

And that is why the Lord created men!

[ladykailitha]

All but the Medieval one is on my Master List but...

1- Eddie uses his little black book that he keeps record of all his deals to help Steve out of a jam

2- Steve is the Scarlet Pimpernel and the party, his League.

3- Five times one of the kids thought Steve was making out with one of the older teens and he wasn't and the one time they caught him making out with Eddie

4- Reality star Steve and Rockstar Eddie.

5- Hockey Steve and figure skater Eddie become doubles partners

6- Robin is sent live with her creepy uncle in the middle of a small town. She befriends townie, Eddie to solve the mystery of the secret garden and the boy kept locked away (Steve)

7- Eddie is accused of murder, journalist Steve thinks he's innocent

8- Eddie is made court jester to Steve's dad when his family is disgraced but doesn't have time to get to know him before he dies and Steve is made king. They fall in love.

9- Eddie and Wayne are in Witness Protection after vecna and the lynch mob. Al Munson blows into town and takes Wayne hostage thinking Wayne's in witsec because he was hiding money. Eddie is forced to call the one person who could help you with the ransom. Steve Harrington. A man who thinks Eddie was dead.

10- Time Travel loop from Vecna's POV. He loses. A lot.

[burnsopale]

From "A question of passports" in League of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1919):

"Citizen Chauvelin, one of the most implacable and unyielding members of the Committee, was known to have suffered overwhelming shame at the hands of that daring gang, of whom the so-called Scarlet Pimpernel was the accredited chief. Some there were who said that citizen Chauvelin had for ever forfeited his prestige, and even endangered his head by measuring his well-known astuteness against that mysterious League of spies."

I need you guys to understand that Chauvelin is not in this story. Orczy just can't resist rotating him over the fire like a rotisserie chicken. She must roast him.

[avaantares]

@the-old-fashioned-girl:

Since you mentioned some of the sequels are better than the original, which ones do you recommend?? (I've only read the og novel)

(in reference to this post)

There are several great titles in the series, but I'll limit myself (or else we'll be here all week, LOL).

Eldorado is the sequel most SP fans are familiar with, as it provided the expanded plot for several adaptations, including the 1982 miniseries starring Anthony Andrews, Jane Seymour and Ian McKellen, as well as the Takarazuka version of the Frank Wildhorn stage musical (this story differs substantially from the Broadway version). In this book, the Scarlet Pimpernel embarks on a mission to rescue the imprisoned Dauphin, but faces betrayal from within the League. It features high stakes, Marguerite in an active role, and even some rare moments of hurt/comfort for the whump fans. IMO, this is the best of the sequels from a story standpoint.

Sir Percy Hits Back is another one I have a fondness for, as it's the book that delves into Chauvelin's private life (he actually has one!). Like several of the books, it spends more time focusing on the victims who need rescuing than it does on the Scarlet Pimpernel himself, but it does feature a few priceless moments of trademark Percy sass. The story isn't quite as strong here, but I enjoy the payoff, and it's nice to see the villain stop twirling his metaphorical moustache and be humanized for a bit.

If you're here for the adventure more than the romance, the short story collections (League of and Adventures of) also have a lot to offer; they tend to focus on individual rescue operations, so there are more disguises and League shenanigans than swooning and pining.

For easy reference, I've listed all the books in the series below in publication order. Note that this is not chronological order in terms of the story content, as the definitive "final" book in the series was followed in publication by other titles that take place before that story's events. (I won't spoil anything by saying which one it is, though!)

Boldface denotes novels; non-bolded text denotes short story collections, etc.

Asterisk (*) denotes a story that is related tangentially to the series, but does not feature the main cast (usually about SP's ancestors/descendants)

Pound (#) denotes "nonfiction" material (obviously still fiction, but presented as essays or biographical information rather than a story)

The Scarlet Pimpernel (1905) I Will Repay (1906) The Elusive Pimpernel (1908) Eldorado (1913) The Laughing Cavalier * (1914) Lord Tony's Wife (1917) The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1919) The First Sir Percy * (1920) The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1922) Pimpernel and Rosemary * (1924) Sir Percy Hits Back (1927) The Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1929) The Way of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1933) Child of the Revolution * (1933) The Scarlet Pimpernel Looks at the World # (1933) A Gay Adventurer, or The Life and Exploits of the Scarlet Pimpernel # (1935) Sir Percy Leads the Band (1936) Mam'zelle Guillotine (1940)