#unhinged!anne boleyn

[letsgoravendors]

The Queens from my quote book

Aragon: “who will win? Generations of religion or one child with adhd?”

Anne: “bro I pee with no hands dog”

Jane: “minigolf has never been an allegory for life”

Kitty: “I have emotional motion sickness”

Cleves: “I’m gonna roundhouse kick you in the face”

Cathy: “y’all peel your pickles?”

[heartblobs]

So I'm Finally Watching the Tudors...

And why is Henry absolutely fucking unhinged. Like balls to the walls crazy. Idk how historically accurate this show was but goddd damn. Also I love Catherine of Aragon with my entire heart why does everyone wash over her and have pity right for Anne Boleyn.

[cowperviolet]

Thinking about

how I’ve got notes for three whole books of one fanfic that involves a whole Dorothy Dunnett-esque sprawl of European politics just because I want Anne Boleyn to be happy

Like, right now I’m brainstorming the way a conflict with the Holy Roman Empire could play out on the battlefields of Italy when Emperor Charles inevitably protests against his aunt Catherine being set aside by H8 for Renee of France in that AU.

Self-published spicy mafia romance authors might have all the money, but they would never have my unhinged drive

[tenebrielle]

I will never actually write it, but I want the public to understand the inherent p o t e n t i a l in the concept of thrusting Natalie Dormer's Anne Boleyn into the world of AMC's Interview With the Vampire.

That version of Lestat and that version of Anne together. Imagine the chaos, the pure unhinged energy, the drama proneness, and the sheer inability control themselves, leading to escalation of apocalyptic proportions.

The entire street would be an inferno in about... two days and twenty hours (and 15-23 minutes). They are the couple that would eat each other. I don't think Anne would even make it to her vampire state, she would just *munch* with her little human teeth, full of rage.

My God, just thinking about them together gives me mental illness, I love it so much.

[antnich]

TRAITOR'S GATE, TOWER OF LONDON...

Passing through Traitor's Gate at the Tower of London was like entering the antechamber to eternity. If you came in this way, then the only way out was a final, all too short stroll to the scaffold on Tower Hill.

In the later reign of Henry VIII, it became increasingly common for his victims to be arrested under a policy known as an Act of Attainder. This required no judicial proof of guilt; the decision of the increasingly psychotic and unhinged Henry was deemed proof enough. There was no right to any form of judicial appeal.

Most of Henry's numerous victims were tried by a court of their peers, usually assembled at Westminster Hall. Once the foregone conclusion of a verdict was issued, the condemned man (or woman on rare occasions) was taken back to the Tower, there to await their imminent appointment with the headsman.

From the moment that sentence was pronounced, the condemned person was considered to be legally dead. His goods and lands were, needless to say, forfeit to the King. He would be encouraged to make his peace with God, and prepare his soul for the afterlife.

The most famous of Henry's victims was his second wife, Anne Boleyn. Contrary to popular belief, Anne did not enter the Tower of London via Traitor's Gate at all.

After being arrested at Greenwich Palace on Tuesday, May 2nd, 1536, Anne was placed in a barge. She was put in the charge of her uncle, the Duke of Norfolk, Master Secretary Thomas Cromwell, and Thomas Audley, the Lord Chancellor.

After the boat carrying Anne arrived at the Tower, it actually entered the complex via the Court Gate, in front of the Byward Tower. This was considered a more discreet means of entry for royalty of Anne's exalted status.

Standing there, ready to escort her to the Queen's Lodgings was the Constable of The Tower, Sir William Kingston.

She would feel no more fresh air on her face until her final walk, to a specially erected scaffold near to Tower Green on Friday, May 19th, 1536...

#toweroflondon #travelhistory #timetravel #towerhill #traitorsgate #courtgate #bywardtower #saintthomastower #annebolyen #henrytheeighth #TWA #travelswithanthony #artoftravel

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[rssspockuhura]

Assignment: 15th Century Earth

Warning: Some M/M works might show up here because the Spock/Uhura tag is used in ref to S/U as a side pairing, past pairing, etc. Currently there is no way to filter and exclude feeds on Ao3 to get only S/U F/M works.Solution. Read at your own risk.

by CanadianWriter78

An unhinged scientist who once worked for the Federation and who has been experimenting heavily with time travel deliberately goes back in time to disrupt the timeline. Kirk and his crew must find this renegade, and can only do so by travelling back to the late 1520s England, which is under the rule of Henry VIII and is on the cusp of breaking with the Roman Catholic Church.

Words: 1009, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Star Trek: The Original Series, The Tudors (TV)

Rating: Not Rated

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: Gen

Characters: James T. Kirk, Leonard "Bones" McCoy, Nyota Uhura, Pavel Chekov, Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, Hikaru Sulu, Henry VIII of England, Catherine of Aragon, Thomas More, Charles Brandon 1st Duke of Suffolk, Margaret Tudor

Relationships: James T. Kirk/Leonard "Bones" McCoy, Spock/Nyota Uhura, Pavel Chekov/Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, Pavel Chekov/Hikaru Sulu, Anne Boleyn/Henry VIII of England, Alice More/Thomas More, Joan Larke/Thomas Wolsey

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Historical, Science Fiction, Time Travel

read it on the AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/40916250 via AO3 works tagged 'Spock/Nyota Uhura' https://archiveofourown.org/works/40916250

Need an Ao3 invite? Don't want to wait? Get one via LiveJournal or Dreamwidth. Remember to check out the Spuhura fanworks community on livejournal. Follow rssspockuhura for Spock/Uhura fanworks from around the web.

[livinggod]

b for (b)ad bitch

[thewritingpossum]

somebody should make an amv for TSP!Catherine of Aragon with ‘she’s lost control’ by joy divison, that would nicer to watch than the show itself tbh

[letsgoravendors]

Six Villain AU

Kitty: Name one way to be nice to someone.

Anne: ...don’t kill them?

Kitty: Setting the bar extremely low but you’re not wrong so I’ll allow it.

[noor-chaidi]

MEET NOOR

Is that NOOR CHAIDI? Wow, they do look a lot like FAH YONGWAREE. I hear SHE is a EIGHTEEN year old FRESHMEN who are studying VISUAL ARTS at Luxor University. Word is they are an ARISTOCRAT student who is AGAINST The Unhinged. You should watch out because they can be MANIPULATIVE and EGOTISTICAL, but on the bright side they can also be CHARMING and GENEROUS. Ultimately, you’ll get to see it all for yourself.

THE ESSENTIALS

Noor Chaidi is a British trust fund princess descended from  Thai royalty - and she’s not afraid to make sure you know it. She may be a bit manipulative, but when she cares about someone, she throws her entire weight behind it. Or really, her entire wallet behind it. She’s all about the aesthetism, and essentially lives her entire life as if it was one large art performance - after all, why have an emotion if there’s no one around to react to it? noor doesn’t just want people’s reactions though - she wants their adoration, and will do whatever it takes to get it.   

CHARACTER INSPIRATIONS

margary tyrell (game of thrones) - blair waldorf (og gossip girl) - big red (bring it on) - taylor swift (blank space music video) - elle woods (legally blonde) - jamie moriarty (elementary) - ben campbell (21) - amy dunne (gone girl) - sarah cameron (obx) - luna la (gossip girl 2021) - massie block (the clique) - jordan baker (the great gatsby) - tony stonem (skins gen 1) - femme fatale (the powderpuff girls) - regina george (mean girls) - anne boleyn (the tudors)

TV TROPES

loves only gold - attention whore - shameless fan service girl - even the girls want her - commitment issues - the chessmaster - wicked cultured - muse abuse - smarter than you look - ambition is evil - lovable alpha bitch - sugar-and-ice personality - i am very british - conspicuous consumption

LUXOR UNIVERSITY 2021-2022

MAJOR:

VISUAL ARTS

MINOR:

ART HISTORY

EXTRACURRICULARS:

ARTS CLUB, PHOTOGRAPHY CLUB

CONNECTION IDEAS

TBD

BASIC INFORMATION

FULL NAME: Noor Saengdao Chaidi

NICKNAME(S): Noor is technically a nickname, as in Thai culture babies are often given a nickname - sometimes related to their given name, but usually not, that they go by more often than their actual given name. It’s totally come for people to not know their close acquaintances or coworkers given names, and almost no one knows Noor’s name is Saengdao at this point. 

DATE OF BIRTH: december 31st, 2003

AGE: nineteen

ZODIAC SIGN: capricorn sun, aquarius moon, gemini rising (also aquarius mercury, taurus venus, sag mars) (also also - leo jupiter, gemini saturn, aquarius uranus, aquarius neptune, sag pluto)

OCCUPATION: student/heiress

HOMETOWN: dubai, UAE/cambridge, UK

NATIONALITY: british citizen

ETHNICITY: thai

LANGUAGE(S): english, thai, a teeeeeeny bit of arabic

GENDER & PRONOUNS: she/her

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: bisexual

RELIGION: one of her parents is buddhist, and one is muslim, Noor is not particularly devout to either

POLITICAL AFFILIATION: 

PHYSICAL INFORMATION

FACE CLAIM: Fah Yongwaree

HEIGHT: 5′2″

EYE COLOUR: brown

HAIR COLOUR + STYLE: dark brown, almost black - she usually wears it up or slicked back, even if it’s down - such as this, this, or this. 

ACCENT + INTENSITY: the queen’s english, tah

TATTOO(S): none

SCAR(S): none

PIERCING(S): double piercings on each of her lobes

GLASSES: nope, blessed bitch

CLOTHING STYLE: sleek, neutrals, designer - think kendall jenner/hailey bieber street style. the row, mcqueen, sally lapointe, alexander wang. looks like this or this, or street style pics like this, this, this, this.

PERSONALITY

MBTI TYPE: ENTJ

POSITIVE TRAITS: charming, generous, forthright, witty, intelligent, daring, ambitious, outgoing

NEGATIVE TRAITS: manipulative, egotistical, selfish, self-absorbed, condescending, snobby, very money focused/motivated, flighty, sharp-tongued, attention seeking

GOALS/DESIRES: having a successful art career/getting art in museums like the louvre/musee d’orsay, the met, etc and being able to give everyone she wants whatever she wants to give them for all time with no concern ever what it may be or how much money it may cost

FEARS: being poor, being irrelevant

HOBBIES: shopping, breaking men’s hearts

SMOKES? yes - cigarettes are chic in paris

DRINKS? yes

DRUGS? yes - usually fashion-y ones, like cocaine or xanax, but occasionally she’ll dabble in other things

Noor’s personality is pure chaos. She is definitely a self-absorbed snob, but she also can extremely empathetic. While she doesn’t really know how to handle or show emotion, she does often want to show people she empathizes, and her way of doing that is throwing money or gifts at them - after all, that’s what makes her feel better. She can be extremely condescending, though she often doesn’t realize it - she holds herself to high standards, and essentially applies them to everyone around her. She doesn’t understand people not sharing her ambition, and her disdain for that often rubs off on how she views them in general, even if otherwise she has no issues with them.

When she cares for you, she cares for you. She is extremely bad at expressing it, so like said above, she does tend to throw money at those people - though she does that with everyone, not just those she really cares for. She will turn into a sugar mama for someone she cares about with no prompting, and treat them to everything possible. If there’s one thing Noor hates that isn’t just focused on herself, it’s seeing the people she cares for go without - even if it’s without some ridiculous designer handbag they only ever said they thought was pretty. She can be almost alarmingly earnest underneath her cool exterior, mostly because she doesn’t really know how to express she cares for someone when it doesn’t involve just spending all her money on them. 

She is also extremely charming, to the point where it veers into pure manipulation. Noor is spoiled, and wants what she wants, expecting to get it, so she will not hesitate to lie if that’s what it takes to accomplish it. She really wants to be worshipped, so she presents what she has to to someone, disguising her negative traits if necessary, so they adore her in the way that she wants them to. Even if she doesn’t particularly like someone, she still wants them to like her. 

Noor, as is fitting for someone who wants to be the center of attention, also wants to be worshipped. That goes for people she likes, and those she does not. In relationships, she expects her partner to worship her completely, and she often toys with them until they do - at the expense of the other’s mental state, for sure. She can be a bit of a sloot (in a good way) and definitely will make out with anyone (plus go further...), just because she loves the attention and adoration that comes with it. She definitely looks for validation in attention from other people. 

Most importantly, though, Noor is all about aestheticsm. She does things for the ‘gram - she does things for how they look. She is always down for a good time, but not if she’s alone in a room with other people. She wants to be out having a good time where everyone can see it and be jealous. She wants to be surrounded by beautiful people and beautiful things and document it so those who aren’t beautiful enough to be around wish they were. For Noor, an emotion isn’t worth having unless someone is around to react to it - her entire life is basically one large art performance. 

FAMILY

FAMILY INFO TBD

SOCIAL CLASS: very upper class

BIOGRAPHY

Saengdao Chaidi was born in Dubai, to two wealthy Thai parents who had moved to the UAE due to business opportunities. Since most Thai people are given a nickname at birth - often times becoming more known as that then their actual name - they decided to call her Noor, which was the Arabic word for light, very similar to the given name they gave her, which means starlight in Thai. Noor was only a toddler when the Chaidi family decided to move to England, so she grew up really only knowing Cambridge. Despite not living in Thailand, Noor never hesitated to give people her families background - namely, that she’s descended from Thai royalty, and as one may expect from someone who drops that routinely, she acts like a princess, and expects to be treated like one at all times. In some ways, she is your typical trust fund princess, and she often throws money around like it’s disposable to her (because it is). 

Noor grew up not as close with her parents, but extremely close with her two maternal aunts, who in some ways were more like sisters - they were a decade younger than Noor’s mothers, so they were always the coolest role models to Noor. One of them, Malee, an art dealer who lived between Dubai, Paris, Bangkok and London, always seemed like the coolest person in the world to Noor, and she grew up wanting to emulate her in almost every way. That was what led Noor to wanting to be an artist, something she learned fairly young in life that she was quite talented at. She loves painting, she loves the aesthetism of art, and having an in to the art world to help her future success definitely doesn’t hurt - Noor never planned to be anything but successful. 

She originally wanted to go to school in Paris, to be closer to Malee, but ended up deciding on Luxor. Luxor was the exact type of school someone like Noor coveted - it drew people of high status in all sorts of way. Royalty (and not just those descended from it, like she was), celebrities and their children, the richest people around the globe, basically anyone she could ever want to rub elbows with. Noor had always wanted the best for herself, and Luxor was the best. Combining that with her artist talents, Noor knew she would make every connection she could ever possibly desire while at school, and what else was college for, if not networking? Noor’s career ambitions may seem at odds with her love for shopping and talking about herself, but ultimately, she’s a very determined girl who is set on keeping herself in the lifestyle she deserves.

SOME FUN FACTS

TBD

[oldbaton]

Spencer (2021) IS available on DVD and Blu Ray I repeat Spencer (2021) IS available on DVD and Blu Ray. Now, from the comfort of your own home, you too can have an unhinged lynchian fashion show in a palace after violently hallucinating Anne Boleyn and building a monument to your dead dad in a field.

[politicalprof]

2019 in books:

David McCullough, 1776: A highly accessible, if somewhat naive, depiction of the year that defined the prospects for American independence. I wouldn’t go there for deep, critical analysis. But for a story of a year, it is well done.

Michael Palin, Erebus: HMS Erebus was a British naval vessel that spent much of its career in Arctic and Antarctic exploration. If you are interested in Victorian era explorations of hard places, a fascinating read.

Emilio Corsetti III, 35 Miles from Shore: The story of an airline crash in the early 1970s in the Caribbean. What happened, why, how, who survived and what we learned. Interesting if not brilliant.

Raymond Thorp, Crow Killer: Old-fashioned tale of the inspiration behind the Robert Redford movie Jeremiah Johnson. As much fantasy as history. But it offers a flavor of a time and a subgroup few Americans would know.

James Corey, Caliban’s War: The second book of “The Expanse” series. The protomolecule is working its mojo, and Earth, Mars and the Belters are none too happy with one another. A fun read of a massive space opera.

Walter Kempowski, All for Nothing: Set in the context of the collapsing Eastern Front during WWII, this story proceeds from the fractured point of view of the Germans who are about to be turned into refugees fleeing oncoming Soviet forces. The book, notably, does not make these Germans sources of sympathy: the mood is dissonant and disordered. A real piece of literature.

Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall: Because who doesn’t want a point-of-view account of a key counselor to Henry VIII, one who rose to extraordinary wealth and power despite his humble birth and then managed the, how shall we say, removal of Kathrine as Queen? Replaced by Anne Boleyn? Who wouldn’t want to read it? It’s excellent, by the way.

James Corey, Abaddon’s Gate: Book three of The Expanse, and the protomolecule has remade humanity’s relationship to the universe. But we’ll probably screw that up, too. Another good story, filled with actual thought about the problems of space travel and space living.

MIchael Krondl, The Taste of Conquest: The Rise and Fall of the Three Great Cities of Spice: Venice, Lisbon and Amsterdam each in their turn dominated the global spice trade -- a trade that was one of the main stimuli for early colonialism and imperial conquest, and which strongly influenced the rise of the modern corporation as a linch-pin of global capitalism. The book is not as good as it should be, but the story is one that few people know, but should.

Hilary Mantel, Bring Up the Bodies: Hey, it’s time to get rid of Anne Boleyn everyone! Or, at least, to separate her head from her body. And let’s manage the English Reformation, too ... all just a few years before losing our own head. Welcome to the early/middle 1500s in England everyone!

Leigh Perry, A Skeleton in the Family: Who doesn’t have a skeleton living in their house who helps solve mysteries. I mean, who doesn’t?

JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: So my son has started reading Harry Potter. So I have started reading Harry Potter. I liked this book: it’s tight, it’s focused, it’s a fun read. I see the appeal.

Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, Good Omens: The answer to the questions: “What if the angels and demons charged with over-seeing Earth as humans go from the Garden of Eden to Armageddon decide that they like Earth and don’t want Armageddon to happen (even if their allies do)? And what if the Anti-Christ were raised in a perfectly mundane family in a perfectly mundane English village? How might it all turn out?” To delightful and funny effect.

JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Meh. Okay. Not as good as book one. But still a good story.

Gilbert King, Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America: A broad pastiche of events surrounding one of the many civil rights cases of the 1940s and 50s: the abuses and murders of several African American men accused of raping a white woman in Lakeland, FL, in 1949. With a whole lot of associated discussions of other cases, the NAACP, corrupt and criminal law enforcement, race riots, and the like. A good read. And how can it be that the bastard George HW Bush, put Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court to fill a seat once held by the staggering legal figure that was Thurgood Marshall. Shameful is the only word.

JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Certainly better than the Chamber of Secrets. A darker turn. But beginning to get padded as readers demanded “more” if not “better.”

James Corey, Cibola Burn: Book 4 of The Expanse ... and I didn’t like it. It seemed like filler, a book written to a contract deadline. Maybe it will pay off in the end. But another one like that and I’m not going to care.

Tom Phillips, Humans: A Brief History of How We Fucked It All Up: Did you know our oldest known ancestor, Lucy, probably died by falling out of a tree? If stories about how people have messed things up, have suffered both intentional and unintentional consequences, turn you on, do I ever have the book for you. Schadenfreude much?

JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Dear lord is this book long. Why? No doubt because the fans wanted it to be. But it is as gratuitously padded as any book I have ever read. It’s okay. But I wasn’t particularly impressed. Perhaps another six Quidditch matches would have helped ....

Adam Higginbotham, Midnight in Chernobyl: Thought the HBO miniseries was scary? It was tame. I mean: the Soviets, with their level of “technical prowess” and their industrial “quality control checks” ran the facility. Heck, Chernobyl wasn’t even their first disaster. Let’s just put it this way: the actual fuel piles in each of the FOUR Chernobyl reactors were so big that: 1) different sections had different characteristics, and didn’t all operate at the same rates or temperatures; and 2) the monitoring equipment couldn’t record how all of the pile was operating at any time. Happy now? Russia still has 10 Chernobyl-style reactors in operation. Enjoy your good night’s sleep everyone!

JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Yes, yes: I know. This isn’t Order of the Phoenix. Well, I read Order of the Phoenix many years ago, and thought it was deeply annoying. A pile of words with little point. A way to keep the audience happy with long passages about very little.

Meanwhile, I, like my son, roared through Half-Blood Prince. A ripping good tale. Much tighter than the last several of the series.

JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: A fine read. A bit slow getting going: let’s go here! Let’s go there! Let’s recap the plot! But after the first 1/3 or so, the story got moving and I enjoyed it. Didn’t expect great literature; didn’t get great literature. But then again, I deeply appreciate how much pleasure my son got from this, and how excited my daughter is to engage with it. If it hadn’t been conceived and written, it seems like there’d be a Harry Potter sized hole in the universe.

Neil Gaiman, American Gods: In all honesty, I didn’t really like the first 2/3 of this book: too many tangents; too many sub-stories for the sake of sub-stories. And I’m still not sure I think it was a great book. But I really enjoyed the last third of it, and there were moments, vignettes, and sentences that truly blew me away. So I am glad I stayed with it.

Kameron Hurley, The Light Brigade: A sci fi story of soldiers apparently engaged in a war with Mars who are transported to the battlefield as beams of light. One gets unhinged from time. I am not sure it was worth the work, and I came to understand it was based on a short story and so, at times, it seemed a bit one-trick pony-ish. But it had its share of moments.

Daniel James Brown, The Boys in the Boat: A bit slow going at first, but it grows more compelling as it moved forward. This is the story of the 1936 crew (rowing) team at the University of Washington that went to Berlin and won the gold medal as Adolf Hitler watched. An interesting story about crew as a sport (about which I knew basically nothing), and life in Depression-era Washington state -- with a little, somewhat gratuitous, commentary about life in Nazi Germany layered in. One takeaway? The actor Hugh Laurie’s father was the lead oarsman on the British crew at Berlin in 1936. Hugh Laurie rowed crew at Cambridge as well.

James Corey, Nemesis Games: The next in the Expanse series. Much more enjoyable than the last one, but still a bit strained. One heck of a plot “twist.” A perfectly lovely way to relax; didn’t change my life. Some interesting character twists. But also a lot of “here are some giant developments (a lot of giant stuff) that give us lots of things to write about going forward!”

Alan Stern and David Grinspoon, Chasing New Horizons: the story of the New Horizons mission to Pluto. Interesting behind the scenes look at how the mission got funded, planned and implemented. Accessible in terms of the explanations; thick with bureaucratic story-telling and summary. It turns out this stuff is really, really hard. Interesting, but it didn’t blow me away.

And to end the year, I am reading: Christopher Moore, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal: What if 13 year old Jesus had a buddy who, 2000 years later, wrote a gospel that filled in those missing years of Joshua’s (as Biff calls Jesus) life? Well, here’s your answer.

[15billionyears]

“(...) she sent for me, and at my commyng she sayd, M. Kyngston, I he[ar saye I shall] not dy affore none, & I am very sory ther fore; for I thowth [than to] be dede [an]d past my payne. I told hyr it shuld be now payne it w[as so sottell. And then she said I] hard say the executr. was very gud, and I have a ly[ttle necke, and put he]r hand abowt it lawying (laughing) hartely. (...)"-- Sir William Kingston to Lord Cromwell, 18 May 1536 | Anne Boleyn In Her Own Words & the Words of Those Who Knew Her (Elizabeth Norton)

“Natalie Dormer plays the “little neck” speech as a moment when the unimaginable stress that Anne is enduring breaks through her composure, and both the absurdity and the terror of her situation erupt in a crazy joke and then, hysterical laughter - an interpretation that fits well with the evidence that Anne’s behavior in the tower was frequently unhinged.” -- The Creation of Anne Boleyn (Susan Bordo)

[waterlilyvioletfog]

Rhaegar Targaryen was a Dick

Using real life, historical evidence, and based on what we know for sure (and also some speculation on what we don’t) (and also some things that I’ve seen most fans of the series agree as canon ex. KotLT was Lyanna). Oh, and by the way, SPOILERS.

DISCLAIMER: I love Jon Snow. He’s arguably my favorite character, both in the show and in the books. He’s intelligent, kind, honorable, and good (and far smarter in the books by the way) and I do agree that after the life he has had, Jon deserves everything he’s ever wanted. Jon, Sansa, Gilly, Davos, Grey Worm, and Missandei- they all deserve the Iron Throne. They deserve that after having such absolutely SHITTY lives. I am also pretty much a member of the Lyanna Stark Protection Squad. She’s blameless in all of the events in my eyes. She’s a teenager, for fuck’s sake, she goes with Rhaegar when she’s FIFTEEN years old, for Christ’s sake, and she gets WAY in over her head. Cut her some slack- in America, she wouldn’t have been able to vote, smoke cigarettes, or get drunk. She was not in any way responsible for the events that unfolded in her life. This is my stance on BOTH of these characters until there is sufficient evidence disproving my claims. MOVING ON. 

This past Sunday’s episode included a crucial scene where Gilly is reading from a book of an old maester, who wrote down everything because y’know, that’s the job of maesters. Fact. She asks Sam what an “annulment” means. He tells her, and it’s clear that he’s not really listening because he interrupts her sharing crucial information for the future of the show: this maester gave Rhaegar Targaryen an annulment on his marriage to Elia Martell, then in a secret ceremony in Dorne remarried him to “someone else.” Gilly never explicitly states the name of the other woman, but we can infer that the “someone else” is Lyanna Stark, who was revealed to be the mother of Jon Snow in the season six finale. Ergo, we can safely conclude that Lyanna Stark found out that she was pregant, told Rhaegar, they got married, and eventually Jon was born. (Actually she might have gotten pregant after the ceremony, but regardless. Something like that.)

While many fans (including myself) were screaming with joy at the thought that Jon is the rightful ruler of the Seven Kingdoms (moreso than Dany, actually, because of the male primogeniture rule that most monarchies work with) others expressed rage at the thought of Elia Martell, Rhaegar’s wife, with whom he had two children, being set aside.  And rightfully so. 

YES, it is pretty widely understood that Princess Elia of Sunspear and Crown Prince Rhaegar were not in love. It was an arranged marriage, devised by the mad king. They were married at twenty and twenty-three, when all other options (in the eyes of Aerys) were either unacceptable or non-existent. Under ordinary circumstances (hell even in our universe) the annulment would’ve been perfectly acceptable. Their marriage was amicable, but divorce is always an acceptable alternative. I’m not saying that the divorce was bad. Hell no, it was probably a good thing. But the consequences of Rhaegar’s actions mean that the many people see that Rhaegar was a dick who screwed over his wife and kids. 

Through out Robert’s Rebellion, the Dornish fought with the Targaryen forces, knowing that if they did not, their beloved princess and her children (three years old and an infant) could easily be disposed of. Yes, the war basically started when Rhaegar kidnapped (we now know actually ran away with) Lyanna, “Shaming Elia” in the eyes of many, but that didn’t matter. Elia was in King’s Landing. Elia, beloved by her people, could not be risked. 

And oh, yeah, sure, Elia might have known that she and Rhaegar were divorced, but it is doubtful, but there is very little reason to believe that she was okay with it. Since, you know. She was still a hostage, and you might as well be destined to be queen if you’re gonna be a hostage. (Note that Targaryens were cool with polygamy so actually Rhaegar didn’t have to divorce Elia at all but whatever showrunners, we’ll ignore that for now.)

Remember that whole “Tyrion’s on trial for Joffrey’s murder” thing? And how Tyrion demanded a trial by combat in that awesome scene? And how Oberyn Martell volunteered as tribute to be Tyrion’s champion so he could avenge his sister Elia Martell and her children? And how that got Oberyn killed? And the insuing Dorne plot, which we all hated? Yeah. You do. 

Oberyn Martell needed to avenge the deaths of Elia Martell and her children due to Rhaegar’s actions; he and his father started the war, Elia and her children paid the price alongside them. 

So, after abandoning Lyanna in the Tower of Joy, Rhaegar proceeded to be murdered by Robert Baratheon. The Lannisters, figuring that “Yeah, the Targs are screwed” decided to march to King’s Landing and clear the way for the Baratheon forces. This was called the Sack of King’s Landing. 

Tywin Lannister, hoping to curry favor with Robert, sent on a couple of his goons (including the Mountain, Ser Gregor Clegane) to go kill Elia and her kids. Cause y’know. Tywin was a Bad Dude. 

Rhaenys Targaryen, age 3, was stabbed multiple times. Aegon Targaryen, who was even younger, was thrown against a stone wall. Elia Martell, at this point not even the wife of Rhaegar, was raped with the blood of her son still on her rapist’s hands, and had her skull crushed in. 

But here’s the thing: Sunday’s episode says that these deaths were pointless. Those weren’t Targaryen deaths. 

We can infer this using real life history. 

Back up a second, to King Henry VIII of England. The dude who had six wives. Yeah, him. 

King Henry’s first wife was Catherine of Aragon. Catherine was the Princess of Spain, and it was an arranged, political marriage. She was beloved by the people, and was certainly the longest marriage Henry had. They were married for nearly twenty years, but she only gave him one living child: a daughter, Mary. Henry couldn’t have that. He needed a legitimate heir. A son. 

Henry looked around his court, and lo and behold, his eyes fell upon Anne Boleyn, the daughter of an important emissary. She was feisty, tempramental, and extremely intelligent. She was unwed, and younger than Catherine, and soon Henry came to the conclusion that shit would need to go down so they could be married. 

So, Henry split off from the Roman Catholic Church and created the Anglican Church, which at the time was basically the same thing as Catholicism, but whatever, that’s not relevant. Henry could divorce his wife, and so he did. Meanwhile, he and Anne ran off to get married in a secret wedding (NOTE THAT CATHERINE PROBABLY HAD NO IDEA OF ALL OF THIS BEING A THING THAT WAS GOING ON), and she got IMMEDIATELY PREGNANT, so they had another  secret wedding, and then finally he and Catherine were officially divorced, so Henry and Anne had NOT secret wedding, blah blah corronation blah blah blah, out pops the baby. 

Oh, and while all the secret weddings and pregnancies were going on, Henry made his legitimate daughter, Mary, sign a contract that essentially said “My dad is a certified dick, but he believes in the power of true love to grant him the kid he needs, so I, after being a princess for all thirteen years of my life, do rescind my princess-hood and declare that I am a bastard. I have no (ZERO) claim to the throne, etc etc etc wow my dad was a dick.” 

When Henry got bored with Anne’s feisty, intellectual, quick-tempered-ness, he had her beheaded and made their daughter Elizabeth sign the same contract so that he could marry Jane Seymour, the only one of his wives to actually give him a son (though she, like Lyanna died from birthing fever). 

So, to sum up: THE PARALLELS BETWEEN RHAEGAR AND KING HENRY, ELIA AND CATHERINE, AND LYANNA AND ANNE ARE UNDENIABLE. 

Both Henry and Rhaegar were obsessed with having children (Henry a son and Rhaegar a second daughter) and both, upon receiving the information that their current wives were incapable of giving them more children, turned to the young women who were available. Henry chose the feisty, temperamental, quick-witted ANNE, a daughter of an important emissary, younger than his current wife, and Rhaegar chose the feisty, temperamental, sword-wielding LYANNA (c’mon, you get what I’m getting at with Anne and Lyanna being kinda the same, right?) the daughter of an important lord, younger than his current wife. Both married their respective second wives in secret ceremonies, either immediately before or after said wife becomes pregnant. Catherine and Elia, two “foreign” princesses (many people have noted the vaguely Spanish tinge to Dorne, in the show at the very least) who were beloved by their people, who gave their slightly unhinged husbands legitimate children, and who were set aside due to an inability to give said husband the child he needed. Both were divorced from their husbands, likely largely against their wills and without knowledge of it, and after each had been set aside, it was all for naught: Lyanna couldn’t give Rhaegar his Visenya, just as Anne couldn’t give Henry a son. Considering these parallels, it is not beyond the scope of the imagination that Rhaegar could also have had Rhaenys and Aegon made bastards, especially since we know from the books that Lyanna didn’t like the idea of Robert having children with women other than her! This means that the death of Elia, already being pointless, is now complemented by the pointless deaths of her two innocent children. 

That’s my two cents on why Rhaegar is a dick. 

[ladyfenring]

Parallels Between Mary I and Daenerys Targaryen

Mary was born to a king who many consider unhinged (Henry VIII)--Dany was born to Mad King Aerys. Both of  their mothers (Catherine of Aragon/Rhaella) suffered in childbed (Mary and Henry had at least one son who did not survive infancy; Rhaella and Aerys had several children who did not survive infancy).

Mary was briefly delegitimized--Dany’s family was killed/forced into exile.

Both women had brothers who were considered unfit to rule--Mary’s younger brother, Edward VI, was a sickly child who was made king at a young age; Viserys was weak and spoiled and scorned by the men he planned to command. Both brothers were orphaned at a young age.

Both women were aliens to their courts--Mary was sent away during the “Thousand Days” of Anne Boleyn, and Daenerys was raised in exile.

Both women also made political marriages that were loveless, childless, and ended badly. Though Mary was enamored of her husband, Philip of Spain, he was bored with her and was rarely in England, preferring to spend time abroad with his mistress. Dany married Khal Drogo, who raped her, and Hizdahr zo Loraq, who she rarely spent time with, for their political ties. Mary believed she was pregnant, though is now believed to have suffered from dropsy or a stomach tumor; Dany’s child was killed and transformed during birth. Later, she finds blood between her legs, which some believe to be a miscarriage after a period of infertility.

Jon and Dany seem to be becoming a pairing that may possibly end in marriage; similarly, Mary’s husband, Philip of Spain, was also her cousin.

Dany has to reclaim her birthright from a queen who forced her way into the succession; Mary deposed the nine day queen, Jane Grey, a cousin of Edward VI whose family convinced him to name Jane as his heir. Both Cersei and Jane succeeded boy kings who were very religious.

Mary and Dany support/supported unpopular religions. Mary restored Catholicism as the country’s religion; Dany (or rather, Tyrion and Varys) use the influence of R’hllor to gain support for Daenerys’s rule.

Neither woman was well-received as queen. Though England had no Salic Law, England had never had an undisputed reigning queen before. Daenerys was raised in  Essos after the Lannisters and Robert Baratheon killed her family. Interestingly enough, the only reigning queen before Mary I was Empress Matilda during the Anarchy, where she fought her cousin Stephen for the crown. Similarly, Daenerys’s ancestor Rhaenyra claimed she was heir to the throne and fought with her brother Aegon in the Dance of Dragons. Neither woman succeeded to the throne and many still do not recognize them as reigning queens.

Mary burned Protestants (and other perceived heretics and criminals) at the stake, earning her the name Bloody Mary. Daenerys crucified and burned slavers and those who did not recognize her claim to the throne. Despite the many worse atrocities committed by their male ancestors, people seem intent on vilifying both women for fighting for their birthrights.

[katybirdy95]

Opinion: Catherine Parr is an underrated Queen.

Hey there!!

I would say compared to Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn most definitely, which is a shame as she was a highly intelligent woman, who was a major player in the early days of the reformation movement.

Honestly, this woman had so much going for her, she was politically savvy and was trusted by Henry VIII to be queen regent whilst he was in France and she knew just how to deal with her - shall we say - unhinged third husband. If Catherine hadn’t put her mind to use and challenged Henry’s more sensitive side, she would have ended up in the same fate as Anne Boleyn and Kathryn Howard, but by using her time wisely in such a dire situation and with the fear of knowing what happened to her predecessors, she was able to do what those two woman weren’t given the chance to do, prove her loyalty towards an unpredictable, suspicious king and luckily managed to keep her life in the process.

If Henry VIII is known as the king with the most wives, then Catherine is his female counterpart for being the queen with the most husbands. Catherine was married in quick successions to three men and proved herself to be a caring, loyal wife and a wonderful stepmother to all of her husbands’ children from different marriages. Catherine shocked all of her contemporaries when after three arranged marriages, and not willing to wait a year (the appropriate mourning period) and not receiving the new king’s permission, married for the forth time, the love of her life, Thomas Seymour.

She was also the first queen of England to publish not one, but two books under her own name and went on to influence a woman who would shape a country’s history forever?

It is a real shame that she is not celebrated as much as more popular queens, but I would say she is definitely more known than some Plantagenet queens and being one of the famous six wives, if people go on to study Henry VIII, Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth I etc. they will eventually come across Catherine Parr. So, although she is not well known as a standalone queen and more for being a part of the infamous six, I wouldn’t say she is completely ignored compared to other consorts before and after her.

Thanks for the ask anon, hopefully I was enlightening enough for you!!