AU Where Coriolanus Forces Lucy Gray To Return To The Capitol And At A Party, Makes Her Wear This Dress.

AU where Coriolanus forces Lucy Gray to return to the Capitol and at a party, makes her wear this dress.

I saw this dress on Instagram, and my brain immediately thought of Lucy Gray Baird in it. Honestly, Sugar daddy Coriolanus Snow would love to choose for her songbird the best silk, velvet, satin and brocade dresses the Capitol could offer.

I've read, and seen, several comments saying that Vlad and Dimitri should have made Anya wear a white dress instead of a blue one to look more like Anastasia to the Dowager Empress. But what if Anya refused to wear a white dress and chose the blue dress instead? Maybe she herself recognized that she could no longer be the same carefree girl she used to be after the death of her family, preferring to be recognized by her only living relative because of who she had become instead of looking like a ghost from the past.

Everybody has been wondering why Cinderella's glass slipper didn't disappear at midnight. Myself I wondered about this. But it isn't a mystery. There's a solution and I feel so dumb for not seeing this because it is right in the text.

We are so used to the Disney imagery of the fairy godmother conjuring up the slippers. But that's not what happens in Perrault's text.

I was reading an analysis of the fairytale by Constance Cagnat-Deboeuf, a very thorough thing, and she pointed out why the slippers do not disappear. It is right there in the text, but one might miss it due to how we are used to modern turns of phrase and outside images. That's the trick with Perrault's stories, you have to read them carefully not to miss anything.

Right after the fairy godmother turns Cinderella's rags into a beautiful gown, it is said that she gives Cinderella the glass slippers. She gives them to her. It isn't something transformed like the carriage or the gown. And the fairy doesn't just invoke them magically on Cinderella's feet. The fairy just hands her the beautiful pair of shoes. As Constance Cagnat explains, it is just a gift from a godmother to a goddaughter. And that's why it doesn't disappear after midnight.

I feel so dumb for not seeing this, because again, it's right in the text, at the turn of a coma. Well it's a good lesson about reading too fast.

She doesn't want to start a lawsuit but it doesn't seem right to be so harsh with Catherine of Aragon for refusing the annulment. To begin with, I consider it extremely justifiable to refuse to go to a convent so that your husband can replace you with a younger woman, but also Mary was going to being declared a bastard, which means not having the right to the throne of England, no longer being a princess and lowering her price on the European marriage market. Henry VIII never assured her that Mary would remain a princess and that she would remain his heir if she did not have a son. Catherine must also have thought that Mary, having a mother with such important dynastic connections, was going to be a threat with or without annulment, and she already knew how Henry VIII acts with imaginary or real threats. We only assume that Henry would be generous and leave Mary in her current position if her mother relented but the reality is that there is no record of that, on the contrary Henry always insisted that Mary was a mere illegitimate daughter with no right to the throne, a lady not a princess and when he was forced to put her in succession to the throne he made it clear that she and Elizabeth were going to be after the children he could have with Katherine Parr. Mary's life was always going to be unhappy with a father like Henry VIII.

A royal speech pulling at everyone’s heartstrings

On the 21th of June 1529, Catherine of Aragon spoke her famous speech at the Legatine Court at Blackfriars.  After years of Henry VIII’s unsuccessful attempts to annul his union with Catherine, Cardinal Wolsey convened an ecclesiastical court in England with a representative of the Pope presiding – Cardinal Campeggio.  The Papal Legatine court was held to determine whether the king’s first marriage was legal and valid.

Catherine of Aragon appearing before the Legatine Court at Blackfriars in 1529

The monarch was the first to speak to the court and people.  Despite his burning desire to get rid of his consort, he cheered her as she entered.  Then Henry pronounced a speech about his “love” for his wife, stressing that his conscience was badly troubled over the fact that he had married his elder brother’s widow.  The faux sweetness of his tone must have been obvious, for he was so obsessed with Anne Boleyn at the time that he wanted Catherine out of his life forever.

However, the court at Blackfriars turned quite surprising for Henry.  His queen circumvented the king’s plans by appealing directly to her royal spouse in the most dramatic way that made all those in attendance sympathetic to her cause, whether she told the truth or lied.

According to contemporary sources, Catherine said:

“Sir, I beseech you for all the love that hath been between us, and for the love of God, let me have justice. Take of me some pity and compassion, for I am a poor woman, and a stranger born out of your dominion. I have here no assured friends, and much less impartial counsel…

Alas! Sir, wherein have I offended you, or what occasion of displeasure have I deserved?… I have been to you a true, humble and obedient wife, ever comfortable to your will and pleasure, that never said or did any thing to the contrary thereof, being always well pleased and contented with all things wherein you had any delight or dalliance, whether it were in little or much. I never grudged in word or countenance, or showed a visage or spark of discontent. I loved all those whom ye loved, only for your sake, whether I had cause or no, and whether they were my friends or enemies. This twenty years or more I have been your true wife and by me ye have had divers children, although it hath pleased God to call them out of this world, which hath been no default in me…

When ye had me at first, I take God to my judge, I was a true maid, without touch of man. And whether it be true or no, I put it to your conscience. If there be any just cause by the law that ye can allege against me either of dishonesty or any other impediment to banish and put me from you, I am well content to depart to my great shame and dishonour. And if there be none, then here, I most lowly beseech you, let me remain in my former estate… Therefore, I most humbly require you, in the way of charity and for the love of God – who is the just judge – to spare me the extremity of this new court, until I may be advised what way and order my friends in Spain will advise me to take. And if ye will not extend to me so much impartial favour, your pleasure then be fulfilled, and to God I commit my cause!”

Just imagine!  Catherine stood on her knees before Henry as she gave the speech of her life.  It was a posture of absolute submission to her husband, but not surrender to his wishes.  Had this speech been prepared in advance by Catherine?  Had she planned to make it so emotional?

Catherine’s dramatic speech before Henry VIII and the Legatine Court

Catherine was a very educated and smart woman, who was truly a political animal.  She was destined to become herself as a daughter of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon.  The purpose of planning a speech is to discover what should be said to an audience so that it has the most profound impact possible; preparation is also necessary to learn what should be omitted from the completed speech.  I believe that Catherine had made every effort to ensure that at the court, her speech would be so moving that it would pull at everyone’s heartstrings.

Henry gave his stubborn consort the option of entering a convent.  At the time, history knew precedents of royal annulments.  In 1498, Louis XII of France had claimed that his first spouse, Joan of France, was physically deformed, which had prevented him from consummating their union.  His marriage to Joan had been childless.  Louis had needed a fertile young wife (Anne of Brittany) to bear him sons in order to secure the Valois line, which had become highly important after the death of Charles VIII of France.   At first, Joan had resisted this charge, but the Pope had granted the annulment.  Then Joan had stepped aside and turned to the spiritual life.

Nevertheless, Catherine of Aragon seems to have never considered allowing Henry to marry Anne or any other woman.  Could Catherine act differently?  Her strong opposition to Henry’s annulment was caused by her steadfast desire to remain his wife for the rest of her life.  She seems to have believed that it was her destiny to be Queen of England.  She defended her right for the crown, as well as her daughter’s right to inherit the Tudor throne.  If only Catherine had gone to a convent, how everything would have been different for England and for Henry, as well as for Mary Tudor, who could have been much happier in this case than she was in history.

Catherine and Arthur, Princes of Wales (from the Spanish Princess Series)

Had Catherine really been a virgin when she had married Henry?  Or had she consummated her marriage to Arthur, Princes of Wales, before his death in 1502?  The subject of Arthur’s health has been debated by historians over the years: some say that he might have been sickly, while others suppose that he had been a robust, healthy young man.  Regardless of his health, Arthur was old enough to have reached his puberty by the time of his wedding to Catherine at the age of 15.  Although the couple had been subjected to a standard bedding ceremony, later Catherine swore that she had never known Arthur carnally.  Many historians and fans claim that Catherine’s famous piety proves the truth of her words, for such a religious woman could not endanger her immortal soul by lying.  But wasn’t Catherine her parents’ daughter?  The truth is shrouded in mystery.

What is Coriolanus Snow's favorite food?

Thanks for answering my question. When I read both the novel and the manwha, I was struck by Derrick's level of power over Penelope, I am an only child and I don't know much about society in ancient times, but even with that, I felt that it was abnormal for an older brother to control more the life of his little sister, than the father. It makes sense that Derrick, due to his competition and the Duke's depression, was delegated the care of his siblings, which explains why Reynold and Original Penelope were so immature, a boy of barely eighteen years old, raised them. In Penelope's case it was worse, because her caregiver had incestuous feelings for her, and she dealt with them, verbally abusing her and allowing the servants to mistreat her. What scares me the most about Penny's situation is how realistic she can be. A father falls into deep depression, neglecting his children, someone within the family takes the reins, the grateful father, feeling that this member is more capable than himself, gives him a lot of powers over the children. With all that power, that family member begins to sexually abuse one of the children and takes advantage of the father's depression to make his victim believe that his father is not going to protect or believe him. That happens in the Eckart family, the duke confused his eldest son's administrative ability with aptitude to be a father, and gave him the responsibility of raising Reynold and then Penelope, ignoring the clear signs that Reynold was not well, an example of That every day is his abuse of Penelope. Let's remember that Reynold, even as an adult, continued to behave like a playground bully, clearly having enormous maturity and frustration control problems. That boy needed his father to teach him manners and how to treat his little sister. Not his distant brother, who if you looked closely, he was even worse mentally than his brother. Penelope got the worst of it, in my opinion, she was like Reynold, she lacked maturity and control of certain impulses, but she also had to endure mistreatment from the servants and her brothers. Derrick harassed her, looking for any excuse to punish her and keep her in her mansion, despite Penelope's supposed bad personality and immaturity, the only confirmed incident before Ivonne's arrival was the tea with mosquitoes. Besides that, the worst thing Penelope did was lash out at the maids when they brought her rotten food. Derrick obviously saw the food, but since he wanted to punish Penelope for the feelings he felt for her, he used it as an excuse to make her suffer more. hunger and keep her locked up. If when he practiced crossbow with Eckles is a sign, it is possible that if Penelope interacted with men, Derrick would make scenes like that, embarrassing her. Thanks to that, Penelope was unable to develop friendships, something that abusers always seek is to isolate the victim from her, something that Derrick worked hard for. That sick man was willing to condemn Penelope for her ridiculous accusation of having tried to kill the crown prince, just to keep her as a sexual slave. Honestly, it's not surprising that most of Penelope's deaths occur before Layla arrives. If Derrick started sexually abusing her, I'm sure the Duke would be the last to notice her, if Penny is lucky.

How the hell does Derrick have so much authority over Penelope? Something I never understood was how it was possible that Derrick, being only the eldest brother, could grant harsh punishments such as feeding his younger sister bread and water or restricting her mobility, without even consulting his father, the Duke. Clearly they have given me more power than a simple brother should have in my opinion, I am an only child so I don't know much about sibling dynamics, but it seems strange to me that Derrick has more influence in Penelope's life than her own father at the point. That when she is arrested, he is the one who goes to visit her. Don't you think that in a situation like this the legal guardian should go?

what is an elder brother if not a second absent father? From the start Derrick seemed to me more like an abusive guardian than an elder brother. His actions towards Penelope were never those of a brother towards a sister. Their relationship was not sibling like. In a similar manner I don't view Reynold and Derrick's relationship as very brotherly. It might have been different once. Before Ivonne disappeared. He helped Reynold and Ivonne sneak out to visit the festival, didn't he? Disobeying his father, that doesn't sound like something the Derrick we know would do. But something in Derrick must have changed after he lost his little sister and made him crave control.

Their relationship would be more comparable to a guardian and ward. I hesitate to call it parentification, because Derrick absolutely did not meet the emotional needs of Reynold and Penelope (he probably barely interacted with Penelope) but I do think he took to some degree care of Reynold in a way their father failed them. I believe he had to grow up too early and that his childhood was cut short given the fact that he had to be prepared to become the next head of the Eckart duchy and their father had likely fallen into a depression after experiencing the loss of his most treasured child. Perhaps Derrick wanted to share his father's burden and offered to take on some of his tasks. Such tasks may have also included looking after the children that the duke was neglecting over his grief at Ivonne's disappearance. Making sure Reynold doesn't stray away from the right path and gets in trouble, being in charge of punishments for minor offenses that he considers too unimportant to bother his father about, ironing out his mistakes, overseeing his education, budgeting etc. You can see where I'm going with this: Derrrick was a person of authority in Reynold's life (hc). And I think that's how he became easily a person of authority in Penelope's life as well. If Derrick did his role so well with Reynold then this could explain why the Duke entrusted him with Penelope. Though I suspect that most often the Duke had no idea what kind of punishments Derrick was handing out to Penelope. I can imagine that at the start Derrick was asking his father for permission for every little thing that eventually the Duke just handed a share of his power over to Derrick. And when he noticed that Derrick acted independently he found that it had a positive impact on their family interests, which caused him to have a little bit too much trust in Derrick's judgement without checking.

Unusual circumstances forced Derrick into the role of the little Duke to support his father and unconsciously everyone around him started to get used to it. Derrick gaining more power over his siblings than he should have wasn't seen as something weird, because he was a precocius child and already preparing to follow into his father's footsteps as the next Duke anyway. Everyone else was so busy searching for Ivonne or offering their condolences, they had forgotten completely that they still had two other children in the house which were in need of parental care.

In my opinion part of the reason had to do with their father's mental state and inability to act as a guardian, part was Derrick's overqualification in certain fields that made people trust him to take on tasks that they would not have given other kids his age typically, part was that his status as the Eckart heir lifted him above his siblings and he would enjoy certain privileges that were connected to serious responsibilities in the future that neither of his siblings would have to fullfill. I think Penelope's gender also played a major role given that they were living in a patriarchy where the domination of women through their male relatives and spouses was normalized. The story is set in a historically western inspired world but the author herself is Korean. It is possible that some Confucian ideas of filial piety still made it into the text.

Lastly there was the underlying idea that Penelope had to prove herself worthy of the Eckart name. If Derrick's treatment of her was that of a master to his servant or a noble to a commoner instead of a brother to his sister or a nobleman to a noblewoman then it was condoned because no one viewed Penelope as an Eckart except for her stepfather. The staff acted under the assumption that Penelope was living there temporary and would be thrown away once the true lady had returned. Even if some of them had objections they were in no position to voice them. Only very few would intervene in other people's family affairs.

As for why Derrick went to visit Penelope in prison instead of his father: plot related reasons. Love interests are generally given more screentime than side characters such as parents. Penelope's situation also wouldn't have looked that bleak if instead of her brother her father had come. Unlike Derrick the Duke would have shown that he cared. Besides the scene of Penelope trapped behind bars was important, it was meant to parallel the bird in the cage that Derrick gifted her and would serve as a hint that Derrick's desire for Penelope was dark and possessive.

I can also imagine that their father was doing paperwork, looking for a good lawyer or meeting with influencial people and trying to negotiate better conditions for Penelope in the meantime.