aut caesar's / aut nihil

You think you no longer need me, but you've forgotten the most important thing: those who've been made, can be unmade. private and selective ANNE BOLEYN from "Wolf Hall" written by marg. revamped feb. 2018

[groigne]

mary    /    idiosynchronics

          “that’s a contradiction right there.” already her pads are a tap-tap on the screen/ “it’s either a booty-call dinner, and by the way there’s no such thing, or a romantic one.” the text is sent, the phone discarded. “it’s just dinner, anne. i won’t go back with him after. i’m…” what? what is she? trying to overgrow being a people pleaser? proving a point to both henry and anne? being strong - whatever that means? heaving out a sigh, mary shrugs. “i’m not spending the night with him. just dinner.” her legs unfold and a groan ensues at the unpleasant and briefly hindering sensation of pins and needles coursing up and down her feet. it’s just like her sister to shy away from a situation she’d rather view as awkward instead of embracing it and reaching out.

“i’m hungry,” she mumbles. the reflection caught in the mirror hanging in the hallway compels her to groan, again, and to fish out brush and a small bag from the purse she dropped by the coffee table what feels like ages ago. “the food is amazing there. by the way.” anne is left behind when she crosses over to the mirror to fix her hair with a few vigorous pushes of the brush through her strands which are then quickly and expertly twisted and arranged in a small bun on her nape. her makeup isn’t that bad but she looks tired and irritated - well, she is hungry. “come on or it’ll take forever to find a cab and i am not using public transport.” not that she usually minds but you cannot turn up in a trendy soho restaurant smelling of cigarettes or weed or vinegar or fried food.

“he’s quite good looking, you know, so at least there’s that.” like it’ll make anne budge. “look,” mary turns around, rolling and pressing her lips together, “i’ll owe you one, ok? come with me andlet’s order the most expensive wine on the least. he’s paying anyway.”

         anne rolls her eyes              at the fact like mary, like the rest of the boleyns, has never really learned to take no for an answer, even when it came from her own sibling, who could be as stubborn as she was. now there would be going head to head over this dinner which, she was sure, wasn’t even worth the fight and the energy going into the arguing. “mary, i said no,” she sighed, knowing that it was a poor effort against the bulldozer that has now set its course on dragging her to a dinner in central london with a stranger. “and i don’t care what you do with him tonight. i just want to stay out of it.” 

          really she felt like she wasn’t asking for the moon when she just wanted a peaceful evening in their flat — but now mary was dead set on disturbing her peace, and she let her head falls against the palm of her hand as she watches her sister arrange herself in the mirror. she groans. “i could have done with a simple mac’n’cheese and a glass of cheap wine,” she complains. but she understands now that she’s not going to be left alone to her own devices here. reluctantly she gets up and join her sister at the mirror. her reflection stares back at her, sulking, and she forces a smile on her lips. taking the hand brush from her sister’s hands, she gives a few tugs at her own hair, before wetting her fingers and pressing the skin under her eyes, removing any scraps of dried-up mascara which have fallen there.              “he could be a supermodel, i wouldn’t even care at that point,” anne sighs. “as long as he lets me drink as much wine as i want, we’re not going to have a problem.” she shrugs, turns a devilish smile to her sister. “of course you owe me one. that’s a card i’ll use wisely, trust me.” 

[groigne]

mary    /    idiosynchronics

          “alright, he’s eager. i get it.” borderline creepy is what she really wants to say. it wouldn’t be fair though. anne is better guarded than a fortress, something mary can understand to an extent, so she mentally wishes good luck to the poor sod she’s been seeing without much hope. “and i won’t say a word, i promise.” now that she means.

funny how her virgin and prude of a sister is the one dispensing coach-like speeches and breathing in what she believes to be self-esteem. it both touches and irks her. as much as she needs anne’s shoulder, she resents it. that she strives for the one by denying herself a good fuck reads as silent judgement and a severe condemnation of mary’s own stance on her own conduct; and anne fails to realise that it only serves to reinforce the slut painted on her back. her fingers caress over the soft skin of her wrist. slowly. “i give amazing blowjobs, i’ll have you know.” deflecting. the best strategy. the safest one, too.

trapped between her bottom and the sofa’s cushion, a muffled vibration sounds. shifting on herself, mary reaches out a hand to retrieve the phone, believing it to be anne’s, those bloody things always slipped and fell everywhere, but pauses  with a frown. “it’s mine,” she says, staring at it in confusion. “i guess they do call after all.” between the henry displayed on the screen and her sister’s face, her blue eyes dart. back and forth, back and forth. will answering prove that she’s weak? desperate? or will it show anne that she can dump them just as easily, just as remortlessly as they do? the screen goes dark, the vibrations stop. is it disappointment milling in her chest? or a small sense of pride? “well.” two beeping sounds. “oh.” she brushes a pad over the device’s black mirror. “blablabla dinner tonight in soho.” when mary looks up at her sister again, she’s grinning. “care to join us? see what face he’ll pull when i turn up with my sister?”

          anne rolls her eyes                at her sister’s remark. “ i never put the quality of your blowjobs into doubt ” she points out. that’s what mary does, whenever anne gets too close — or is it, more generally, a boleyn trait? — she backs down with a witty comment and hopes her sister won’t push it any further ; and anne never does, because both of them, in their own way, completely suck at being open with each other for more than a minute at a time, without trying to shift the subject. 

           the buzzing of the telephone gives her a good reason to pause anyway, until mary fishes it out from under her, looking at the screen, and anne observes, intent. this is what it always comes down to, doesn’t it ? whether or not to pick up the phone, whether or not to show that person at the other end of the line what we’re there, no matter what they need or when they need it. so will mary pick up that phone ? and if she does, what will she say ? anne is aware of her own gaze on her sister, maybe that’s why she lets the buzzing dying and the screen go dark ? and what does that make anne feel — guilty ? responsible ? 

           but once again, the phone saves her from having to pander too much on her own thoughts and self-debate. “ seems like he’s eager, too ” she says, mirroring mary’s remark when her phone buzzes anew. but anne shakes her head at her sister’s invitation. “ i don’t want to play at candle-holding between you two ” she purses her lips. “ especially when i don’t even know the level of actual romanticism a ‘dinner booty call’ will entail ” she points out. but more than that, she doesn’t want to be the butt of the joke between her sister and whoever that guy is to her. 

[towyns]

Today in Tudor History: Anne Boleyn is crowned at Westminster Abbey (June 1st, 1533) 

[groigne-a]

[towyns]

groigne-a:

        claire  foy  in  “wreckers”

[groigne]

mary    /    idiosynchronics

          “nonsense,” mary admonishes. all of it. far from her to dispute anne’s lack of confidence when it comes to relationships, or to her own worth whenever men are concerned, but the mere fact that this percy isn’t only seeing her but willing to move forward is enough for her to wave a dismissive hand towards the television. “we fucked, big deal. you,” she now points her index at anne, “are a catch. he knows it. he asked you, didn’t he? you’re the one stalling. trust me, if he didn’t think you were it, he wouldn’t bother. and he clearly doesn’t give a shit about bloody classes.” her brows draw together at the sudden realisation of what it must already mean for others. “what does father dearest has to say about it?”

the unexpected closeness of both words and presence take her unawares - not that she minds. anne isn’t usually inclined to demonstrations of love, to those sorts of effusive outpourings. “you’re giving me a pep talk?” letting herself fall sideways against the plush cushions already flattened by the pair of them, a groan is heaved out. “i do say no. you’ve no idea. i should have kept notes of the number of dick pics. you say yes to one of them, you suddenly become available and easy to everyone.” at least anne isn’t implying she brought it upon herself. “i just…” head cocked, she observes the perfect oval of her sister’s face, the keen expression of her eyes, the smooth and fair complexion of her skin. “i just want someone nice who will marry me and love me for who i am.” how dull can she be?

          anne cannot help           the slight rolling of her eyes at mary’s words. it’s not that she doesn’t want to believe her sister is right, that he could really mean to go forward with her, that maybe there could be something there: settlement, happiness, marriage even. but anne certainly doesn’t want to set herself up for disappointment, and would rather cater for disaster than tell herself everything her sibling is vouching for. “ mary, i said no when he asked. like i said, we’ve only been on a couple of dates, and i don’t want to turn this into a big thing prematurely. you know, in case he actually didn’t mean anything by it and it’s just another stupid pick up phrase... ” 

           her face reddens slightly. “ neither mum or dad know about him and i’d rather it stays that way, please ” not that anne ever had many boyfriends to introduce to her family, but she had done so always at the very last possible moment, when the relationship had been steady for a few months and she could be sure the guy in question wouldn’t turn into a complete arsehole when faced with her parents.             vulnerability is not a side of mary she is used to see, and sibling affection is not something she is used to display. so obviously she reaches for her sister’s hand, in a gesture of somewhat comfort. “ if that’s what you want, you’ll get it mary ” she smiles. “ you just got to let the bastards go and find the nice ones. and nice ones usually don’t say ‘i’ll call you’ after a blowjob ” 

[towyns]

Anne Boleyn, during that one night in Calais: come get your fucking cheesecake, ginger

[queensdontlie]

Anne Boleyn: you should stop taking mistresses

Henry VIII: blocked

Anne Boleyn: unblock me I need to tell you something

Henry VIII: okay

Anne Boleyn: bitch

[groigne]

mary    /    idiosynchronics

          anne is getting defensive. figures. “i guess i don’t fully understand.” part of her does - always has done. and if her sister believes that mary’s total lack of inhibitions when it comes to the way she’s chosen to behave as far as men and sex are concerned doesn’t come with its own share of issues, then she really should think again. think and squint to catch a glimpse of what prevails between the cracks. complaining won’t do; and how hypocritical would it be anyway? no one’s forcing her hand. no one’s prying her legs apart. no one’s making her do anything with anyone. her gaze veers downward. is it guilt? shame?  “it’s not what i want, you know.” with every bed she climbs out of, a shred of hope is left behind. not this one, she has long learned to resign herself, not this time.

“why do you bother with him, then?” she’s curious, almost fascinated by this propensity to deny herself and to remain inflexible in the face it all, by this sheer abnegation. and for what? what is it that she’s so determined to achieve. “you said he wasn’t wedding material so…” mary looks up again, raises her eyebrows.

          her sister could be                  both protective and judgemental towards her, and anne isn’t entirely sure which way the scales tip this time. “ i like him, but it’s not so easy... ” anne sighs, shaking her head. “ he’s like, a league above me. we’re not exactly poor or lower class, but his family, they’re the closest thing to royalty. he’s only ever dated members of the aristocracy... ” she indicates the television with her head. “ not that it seems to frighten you, catching big fishes yourself ” she comments with a sly grin. “ but i’m bracing myself for disappointment, i suppose ” another shrug. 

          her sister’s downcast glance and tone spark concern in her, and she leans forward. “ but mary, you could just say no, if you wanted ” there is no reproach in her voice — anne has always just assumed mary must have liked it, this life she has created for herself, if she kept going for all those meaningless flings and one-night stand. “ you also have the power to leave all those men on read, if you want ”

[haticesultanas]

anne boleyn meme // (1/9) outfits → wolf hall 

[groigne]

mary    /    idiosynchronics

          “god! you’re making me sound like some sort of man-eater!” her laughter persists. to take umbrage would require a seriousness mary doesn’t need or want when it comes to her decisions. especially when those pertain to men. “they’re not all good,” she concedes. “and i wish there was a way to know beforehand.” for a moment, the notion is entertained and the only solution her mind could come up with entailed a much longer - and much more dull - courting period. and it isn’t that mary is opposed to the whole concept, to what anne herself is living by, it’s simply that she hasn’t found a man interesting and clever and handsome enough for that hassle.

“oh, well, obviously,” she parrots her sister in an exaggerated imitation. it’s her turn to boast a pointed smile though. “he hasn’t asked you to sleep with him but he’s asked you to move in together?” her head cocks and the look she gives her sister begs her to see the light, the blinding light. “because a man moving in with his girlfriend won’t expect or ask for sex. oh, anne.” mary might bed her fair share of bastards but at least they don’t deceive or play games. “what aren’t you putting out, anyway? you clearly fancy him.”

        “ you don’t understand ”               she shakes her head. they differ on a lot of things, but nothing as much as relationships. of course mary wouldn’t understand her own reluctance to have sex because sex has never been a big deal for her sister. mary has always embraced it, used it even sometimes, to get what she wanted. but anne, she has never really liked the way boys would look at her sister, or talk about her, and she always felt like there was something more to sex than just finding someone remotely attractive and going to bed. feelings of some sort. 

        “ what i mean is that he wanted to sleep with me and i said no and he didn’t dump me afterwards ” which most boys who had been interested in her at first had done, when learning anne was unlike the other boleyn sister. “ and you know why i’m not ‘putting out’ ” she gives her sister a pointed look. “ i just want to wait. even if i fancy him, i don’t feel like sleeping with him... yet ” she crosses her arms over her chest. “ i might, in the near future. don’t worry, you’ll be the first to know ”

[amatchforyourmadness]

Henry: I wasn’t that drunk last night.

Charles: You were flirting with Anne.

Henry: So? She’s my wife.

Charles: You asked if she would marry you.

Charles: And started crying when she said she was already married.

[groigne]

mary    /    idiosynchronics

           “see? you do know.” as barbed as anne’s observation was, as insulting and hurtful as it might sound, it becomes a tool for mary. the english excell at self-deprecation, don’t they? her own smile is less pointed, more joyful. it falters a bit when her sister decreets that the odds aren’t that good. she has a point - and mary has come to the same conclusion more often than she cares to remember. “i don’t always put them in my mouth,” comes her muttered retort. paltry and crass and true. “not going to bed?” oh now she laughs. “are you mad? i am not letting any of them bore me to death through a four course meal and not getting me off at the end of the evening. call me old-fashioned,” she mimicks, “but i’d rather get a bloody orgasm out of it.” or try to, anyway.

“what?” mary sits up, turns to face anne, tucks her legs under her. the magazine opened on anne’s lap is grabbed and pulled from her reach. “and you haven’t told me?! i need details and i need them now.”

          she has to              laugh at her sister’s statement. “ orgasm? ” she repeats. “ how many times have I heard you complain about men’s inability to give women any sort of pleasure? ” she snorts. “ if women were having sex for the sole purpose of getting orgasms, lesbianism would be on the rise, trust me ” she shakes her head, smiling. “ just admit you like sleeping with men for fun, whether they’re good or not. in fact, i think their qualities only come as a bonus to you. you’ll take them all anyway ” that last statement might have been harsher than anne intended ; mary will understand it anyway, and won’t take the offence so easily. 

          she grunts when the magazine is snatched out of her reach. “ mary, come on, it’s really not a big deal ” she sighs, rolling her eyes, though she knows her sister will now make a big deal out of it. “ he said it just like that and i said no, obviously. we’ve been on dates for a couple of times and that’s it. it’s hardly wedding-material... ” she points out. “ he’s nice and doesn’t sound like a complete dick and guess what? he hasn’t even asked me to sleep with him ” that was something her sister wouldn’t understand.

[groigne]

 mary    /    idiosynchronics

          “manner of speech.” her hand dives into the open box of shortbread. “you don’t know know but you know…” her other hand waves towards the television. “you’ve seen films and shows.” the biscuit is crammed in her mouth and she chews, eyes riveted on the screen where henry’s back is glimpsed at as he disappears into parliament. mary shrugs, too. yes, her sister has a point but it makes no difference and won’t alter the way she goes about these things. “i’m thinking,” she adds after she’s swallowed. “that one of them is bound to stick. it’s mathematical. out of a hundred dicks, at least one will turn out to be a keeper.”dick and personality. the years have worn off what influence used to exist between them, and the bond once so strong and seemingly unbreakable has been put to the test more than they both care to admit. if mary has always been more outspoken about her feelings, the distance installed by their respective coming of age and lifestyles prevents her from a complete and blunt honesty. and perhaps a part of her wishes that anne could, if not understand, listen to her and offer some advice.

to avoid the temptation to empty the box, she discards it then falls back into the sof a with a sound between resignation and disgust. her head rolls on the cushion, her gaze falls on anne’s perfect profile. “what about that percy bloke? he was quite easy on the eyes.”

          anne raises              her head with a little pointed smile. “ so, in a movie, you’d be the slutty popular girl the main heroine hates, right? ” her gaze is as sharp as her teasing towards her sister. they’ve been used to it for some time, now, ever since anne’s tongue has got witty and capable of fencing for herself. another skill she has picked up from her sister, but where mary stays on the kind side of wittiness ( most of the time ), anne never hesitates to prick where it might hurt. “ anyway, that is a very poor statistic ” she shakes her head. “ call me old-fashioned, but i’d rather keep the number of dicks i put in my mouth to a minimum, and that’s not how i intend to find a ‘keeper’ ” absent-mindedly, she turns the pages of her magazine. “ maybe you should try it: going on date without going to bed ” she chuckles. 

         she gets defensive when mary switches to her own private life. “ what about him? ” she says, her cheeks reddening. “ he’s not too bad, yes — maybe too eager for my taste. he’s speaking of somewhat moving in together next year or something... ”

[groigne]

mary    /    idiosynchronics

        “you know that moment when you stop being the-girl-he-sees and get the booty call status?” would she even know? anne’s privacy isn’t what it used to be. not to mary. her sister has boundaries and a wish for a certain discretion that she can understand and even respect. she wants to say that she misses it, the shared gossip or the confidence exchanged under bed covers to stifle giggles and exclamations. that she misses her. “anyway, i blew him and that was pretty much it. he said he’d call me.”  a scoff. it was henry’s face on the bbc news that triggered mary to share the latest development of her volatile liaison.

@groigne​  / sc.

          she turns             towards her sister a semi-interested face. “ i’m afraid i don’t ” unlike mary, anne wasn’t the sort of girls to attract such sexual adventures ; if anything, boys who hovered around her sister never paid much attention to her, and anne never strayed far away from mary’s shadow when going out. ultimately it wasn’t a life that interested her : if she had been fascinated by her older sister in her younger years, when the blonde one was a charming and captivating figure to look up to, and to which everyone found themselves attracted ( drawn in both by her looks and the soft quality of her personality ), anne eventually had found her own path, and it didn’t cross that of her sister’s. and like so many siblings, those little differences had eventually grow with them, drifting them apart, slowly but surely, a little more by the day. they still share sisterly camaraderie, and confidences only spoken into ears you’ve known forever, but they find themselves understanding less and less of each other.             she follows mary’s gaze towards the television, raises an eyebrow at the ginger face on screen. “ i don’t understand why you even bother. you know they never call, or if they do, it’s days later and they’re drunk and feeling lonely ” she shrugs and goes back to reading the magazine sprawled open on her lap. 

[catherinexlinton]

queens : Anne Boleyn

Anne was the daughter of Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, and his wife, Lady Elizabeth Howard, and was educated in the Netherlands and France,as a maid of honour to Queen of France. Anne returned to England in early 1522 where she secured a post at court as maid of honour to Henry VIII’s wife, Catherine of Aragon.

In February or March 1526, Henry VIII began his pursuit of Anne. She resisted his attempts to seduce her, refusing to become his mistress, which her sister Mary had been. It soon became the one absorbing object of Henry’s desires to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon so he would be free to marry Anne. When it became clear that Pope Clement VII would not annul the marriage, the breaking of the Catholic Church’s power in England began. In 1532, Henry granted Anne the Marquessate of Pembroke.

Henry and Anne formally married on 25 January 1533, after a secret wedding on 14 November 1532. On 23 May 1533, newly appointed Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer declared Henry and Catherine’s marriage null and void; five days later, he declared Henry and Anne’s marriage valid. Shortly afterwards, the Pope decreed sentences of excommunication against Henry and Cranmer. As a result of this marriage and these excommunications, the first break between the Church of England and Rome took place and the Church of England was brought under the King’s control. Anne was crowned Queen of England on 1 June 1533. On 7 September, she gave birth to the future Queen Elizabeth I. Henry was disappointed to have a daughter rather than a son but hoped a son would follow. Anne subsequently had three miscarriages, and by March 1536, Henry was courting Jane Seymour. In order to marry Jane Seymour, Henry had to find reasons to end the marriage to Anne.

Henry VIII had Anne investigated for high treason in April 1536. On 2 May she was arrested and sent to the Tower of London, where she was tried before a jury of peers and found guilty on 15 May. She was beheaded four days later. Modern historians view the charges against her, which included adultery, incest and plotting to kill the king, as unconvincing. The execution took place 19th of may 1536.

After the coronation of her daughter, Elizabeth, Anne was venerated as a martyr and heroine of the English Reformation. Over the centuries, she has inspired, or been mentioned, in many artistic and cultural works and thereby retained her hold on the popular imagination. She has been called “the most influential and important queen consort England has ever had”, as she provided the occasion for Henry VIII to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon and declare the English church’s independence from Rome.

[madamelamarquys]

[groigne]

ic stats !   (  BOLD ALL THAT APPLY.   italicize leaning or former  ) Tagged by  : @sixthofficer Tagging : @threecardtrick ; @hrhmonpetitchou ; @idiosynchronics and anyone who wants to do it

WEALTH  —

$  financial :  wealthy / moderate / poor / in poverty / n/a ✚  medical : fit / moderate / sickly / disabled / disadvantaged / non applicable ✪  class or caste :  upper / middle / working / street trash / slave / unsure / exile ✔  education :  qualified / unqualified / studying / other ✖  criminal record :  yes, for major crimes / yes, for minor crimes / no / has committed crimes, but has not been caught yet

FAMILY  —

◒  children :  has a child or children / has no children / wants children / verse dependent ◑  relationship with family :  close with sibling(s) / not close with sibling(s) / has no siblings / sibling(s) is deceased / verse dependent ◔  affiliation :  orphaned / adopted / disowned / raised by birth parents / raised by the state / not applicable ♡  romantic relationship :  single  / dating  / engaged  /  married /  it’s complicated  /  verse dependent

TRAITS  +  TENDENCIES  —

♦  extroverted / introverted / in between ♦ disorganized / organized / in between ♦  close-minded / open-minded / in between ♦  calm / anxious / in between ♦  disagreeable / agreeable / in between ♦ cautious / reckless / in between ♦ patient / impatient / in between ♦ outspoken / reserved / in between ♦ leader / follower / in between ♦  empathetic / unempathetic / in between ♦  optimistic / pessimistic / in between ♦  traditional / modern / in between ♦  hard-working / lazy / in between ♦  cultured / uncultured / in between ♦  loyal / disloyal / unknown ♦  faithful / unfaithful / it’s complicated

BELIEFS  —

★  faith : monotheist / polytheist / atheist / agnostic / it’s complicated ☆  belief in ghosts or spirits :  yes / no / don’t know / don’t care ✮  belief in an afterlife : yes / no / don’t know / don’t care / it’s complicated ✯  belief in reincarnation :  yes / no / don’t know / don’t care / it’s complicated ❃  belief in aliens : yes / no / don’t know / don’t care ✧  religious : orthodox / liberal / in between / not religious ❀  philosophical : yes / no / somewhat

SEXUALITY & ROMANTIC INCLINATION  —

❤  sexuality :  heterosexual / homosexual / bisexual / asexual / pansexual / demisexual ❥  sex : sex repulsed / sex neutral / sex favourable / naive and clueless ♥  romance :  romance repulsed / romance neutral / romance favorable / naive and clueless ❣  sexually :  adventurous / experienced / naive / inexperienced / curious / inhibited ⚧  potential sexual partners :  male / female / agender / other / none / all ⚧  potential romantic partners :  male / female / agender / other / none / all

ABILITIES  —

☠  combat skills :  excellent / good / moderate / poor / none ≡  literacy skills :  excellent / good / moderate / poor / none ✍  artistic skills :  excellent / good / moderate / poor / none ✂  technical skills : excellent / good / moderate / poor / none HABITS  —

☕  drinking alcohol :  never / sometimes / frequently / to excess ☁  smoking :  never / sometimes / frequently / to excess ✿  other narcotics : never / sometimes / frequently / to excess ✌  medicinal drugs : never / sometimes / frequently / to excess ☻  indulgent food :  never / sometimes / frequently / to excess $  splurge spending : never / sometimes / frequently / to excess ♣  gambling : never / sometimes / frequently / to excess