#Elizabethan Society

[oscarwildin]

so foul and fair a day i have not seen

[sca-nerd]

Hello sca mom! I was wondering if you could boost a inquiry for me?

I want to put together a strawberry themed garb set. Colors are not going to be historically accurate and I will be hand stitching strawberry motifs, but I am stumped on the base garb construction. The simple answer is an apron dress ensemble, but I kinda want to invoke the history of strawberries. Strawberries, as far as I can tell, were taken in the quest of colonization from the Americas and China and then cultivated into hybrids in Brittany in the 1300-1600 hundreds. But I can’t really find solid examples of clothing from that time and place from sources I trust.

Anyone out there got tips?

My first thought was to remind you of no strawberry leaves, but that's just on a coronet so you're good.

I know I've seen them in marginalia, but I'm PRETTY sure that they were used in Elizabethan garb. That's ringing a bell, but I couldn't tell you why. Let me look into it and see if anyone else here can help!

[jortschronicles]

The Don Marcus Project - a costuming diary

At Vindheim's first Accademia della Spada, the tournament for Princess Octavia's champion was held. My brother white scarf, Master Marcus von Furth, WSA was chosen as HSH's personal champion to be sicced on her foes and to defend her good name and honor. Several years ago, when Marcus was chosen to be Deanna I's champion, she approached my wife to make him one new suit so he could better look the role. That she did, and in addition a second hand silk suit (seen below) we had bought hoping it would fit me did not, but it sure did fit our boy!

(I'm still mad about that suit not fitting me, I'm OBSESSED)

This time, Marcus approached me about making 1 new suit and 2 extra doublets to help him better look the part and to accommodate his sick new gains! Ah, the joys of working out and eating sufficient protein. All your old stuff no longer fits right, and specifically in the difficult areas to let out and take in. Marcus's preferred style of doublet is almost more of a jerkin, with little sleeve puffs as seen in his old doublet and in Don Gabriel de la Cueva y Giron Duke of Albuquerque by Giovanni Battista Moroni (Moroni my beloved <3333) as seen below. Obviously, the heat of Ansteorra contributes to certain styling decisions and the removal of the full length doublet between the undershirt and the puff-sleeved doublet.

The time had come for my second attempt to figure out the barra system and pattern drafting method featured in Matthew Gnagy's The Modern Maker. For those of you who haven't yet used it, it is genius and intuitive in how counterintuitive it can feel. Gnagy walks even an intermediate (begrudgingly) sewist through a historical pattern drafting method that relies on the tendency of the human body to be proportional in certain measurements to the bust, waist, hip, and height. It makes an incredibly good first draft which, for the doublet I'm working on myself concurrently, only took one pass. In defense of the mockup for Marcus, I was figuring it out as I went, okay?

I used multiple colors of sharpies to keep my brain from melting as I went, starting with a fine pointed light pink as a "sketching" sharpie and frequently clarifying lines with an orange or blue sharpie. I did run into issues where my math failed me and had to insert extra fabric, as seen above, but who knew what chaos those simple insertions would portend....

Behold, the frankendoublet. The result of me screwing up and miscalculating in some places, learning after the first try on that the wearer had gained 2 inches of bicep and almost 3 inches of chest and back muscle in the months since I'd last measured him, and in confirming his preference for a more modern, long-torsoed garment than the higher waistline seen in late period. I swear there was a method to this madness, but it gives a few of my apprentice siblings headaches looking at it and I don't blame them. I transferred the pattern to paper, and we were off to the races!

A quick interjection about the fabric choices: we are both in the middle of financial tight spots, so as much as I'd like to work with natural materials (that don't melt by campfires at the very least) we agreed to opt for 1 silvery-blue shot silk-look polyester doublet, 1 crimson shot silk-look polyester doublet, and 1 royal blue polycotton striped brocade full suit, all intended to be interchangable for a variety of outfits. I bought 2 yards for each of the doublets and 3 yards for the pants, rocking out at $40 flat for the self fabric. While not ideal for breathability and late night campfires, right now it's hard to beat costs like that. The silvery-blue can be seen for the remainder of this post as I chose to use it for the first doublet.

In one full day's work I have managed to chalk and cut out the full doublet from the self and the lining (a slate blue linen I pulled from stash) and used approximately 1.6 yards of each. Behold my selection of pattern weights, including a remote, a basket hilt, 3 bottles of paint, most of a block of wax, some drill blocks, sticky notes, and a can of coke I was putting off drinking so it could continue to serve as a pattern weight.

By the end of day 1 of sewing I had assembled the full body and sleeves and begun pinning the collar. This is my first suit lined doublet so I am definitely taking things a little slower than usual. Thus far all the seams have been machine sewn aside from the finishing on the sleeve cuff. After some extra thought considering biceps and the volume of fabric, I patterned the bicep cuffs to have approximately 2 inches of excess cuff to hide within the seam to be easily let out if further size changes do occur. At this point I left the cuffs open for one more fitting before seaming them closed. By the end of the night I also finished the strip of waist eyelets, sewn on linen canvas provided by Asa inn blindi, so in the future pants can be pointed to this doublet. By this time, however, I was a little too dangerously sleepy to be trusted with a sewing machine so with the collar pinned I ended for the night.

The next day saw the attaching of the collar, the reopening of the shoulder seam to "zhuzh" more of the length of the back into the shoulder to accommodate the natural volume of shoulder muscles and to make the collar fall correctly. The eyelet strip was first sewn to the seam allowance of the waist line, after which the seam allowance + eyelet strip was pressed to the body and stitched down securely. After that, some lovely hand dyed wool twill tape was donated by Asa in blinda to cover and protect the raw edges along the waist line.

Rather than the strip of silk taffeta Gnagy recommends the tailor tacks in to the left side to reinforce the buttonholes, I ironed in a strip of fusible interfacing as reinforcement.

Glamor shot of the interfacing being sewn in by hand. My hand seams are getting a wee bit straighter.

In absence of the much sturdier taffeta Gnagy recommends for both trimming and reinforcement, I used scraps of a much lighter weight silvery-gray silk fished out of Asa's scraps, like a raccoon through a trash can. This does not provide the same structural benefit as the taffeta trimming, but it does introduce a little extra "pop" to the colors imho.

Then I tackled my first-ever hand sewn buttonholes. I opted for 3 strands of DMC 930 cotton embroidery floss on the final project after testing with buttonhole thread, all 6 strands, and 2 strands.

And finally, some glamor shots of the completed garment. From left to right, the "secret ease" on the bicep meant to make adjustments for more muscle growth easier to accommodate, the collar lining sewn in, and the final garment waiting in my office to be handed to the recipient at Coronation.

Overall, I think we're both very pleased with the results. Master Marcus retained his full (and simply absurd) range of motion on and off the field, the garment is machine washable, and it is a lovely color on him. The combined power of the ladies of our Princess's household has convinced him to let me raise the waistline on doublet 2 a whole two inches, which I am very excited about.

What did I learn?

The barra method is not nearly as terrifying to manage as I think it is, as long as you trust the process

Multiple colors of sharpies are a game changer.

I'm actually faster at hand-sewing buttonholes than I am at machine sewing them, because I get so anxious about sewing them by machine.

Suit-lined garments are SO much easier to do seam finishing on, it's absolutely night and day.

I think I want to make an entire doublet of silk taffeta. This is a problem. I need money and confidence to do so.

What's next?

Update the 14th C English clothing powerpoint to what I currently use for classes

I am currently making an Elizabethan suit for Darien de Shameless with my apprentice sibling Asa in blinda, with aims of finishing it for Queens Champion

I am currently making an Elizabethan-ish suit for Viscount Micauley Morison ahead of Winter Crown (but cheating on the pants so he has one pair of breezy breeches). The construction is largely the same to this one, so if I make a post about it it probably won't include an entire construction diary. Just some glamor shots.

I am making Rus for Dona Halldora Hrafnsdottir, but I keep getting distracted on which Navershnik I want to finish first.

I am looking forward to making some new and improved Rus for myself and Centurion Runa Bjarki ahead of the Crown/Coronet season, with an eye towards moving us to more accurate pieces.

I need to do a Shift Weekend where I just churn out shifts, chemises, and rubakhas

[aq2003]

TIL nina sosanya as rosaline was biblically accurate casting

[dragoneyes618]

"Tudor and Stuart society laid far more overt emphasis upon enforcing and reinforcing social order and harmony through the daily visual media of dress and behavior than that of the twenty-first century. Unlike us with our bulging wardrobes of throwaway garb, the people of the era, even the prosperous, had very fewe outfits, two or three sets for the most part, which they wore day in and day out, with one set reserved for Sundays. The clothes and the persona were much more closely linked as a result. People knew you, recognized you, by the clothes you wore and every new item that entered your wardrobe would be noted and analysed by your friends and neighbors.

Formal control as well as financial constraints refined things still further. Sumptuary laws, for example, restricted the usage of particular luxury fabrics to finely differentiated social groups, so that the clothes you wore spoke volumes about your precise rank. The clothes of an earl were not supposed to be equal to those of a duke, nor was an apprentice permitted to wear a gown like his master, and woe betide the maid who was mistaken for the mistress. Children were not 'miniature adults' as the popular modern myth would have you believe but dressed in carefully delineated age- and gender-appropriate dress, as family portraits make abundantly clear. Badges, uniforms, and signs of office were worn prominently and with pride, something that we, from a society that likes to play down such open symbols of success, belonging and power, can find hard to understand. A town's senior merchants and craftsmen jockeyed for positions such as aldermen and mayors (the tiny numbers of candidates available made such ambitions entirely feasible for a significant proportion of the urban male population). Those who were appointed were entitled to wear long and distinctively coloured gowns and did so not just for ceremonial occasions but for everyday wear. Indeed, in some towns their wives also boasted certain garments when out and about.

Who you were, where you came from, how successful you were, your age, your gender, your occupation, all were proclaimed by your appearance with a specificity that can leave us somewhat dazed. Making a mockery of this visual representation of stability and order therefore had serious impact. Changes in fashion really did upset people, as the sheer volume of vitriolic rants that survive make very clear. Youngsters got into all sorts of trouble for their edgy clothing choices (including a few actual prosecutions for offences such as wearing breeches that were too big.)"

- How to Behave Badly in Elizabethan England, Ruth Goodman, pages 143-145

[prttygirlposts]

mapping out malfoy manor while reviewing the Malfoy legacy !!

front exterior

Fun fact! The iconic shots of Malfoy Manor from the Deathly Hallow movies were actually shots of the real Hardwick Hall in Chesterfield, England. While this could not be the real home of the Malfoys, that is due to location rather than sociability.

Considering the Malfoys were still fraternizing with Muggles during the Elizabethan era (Lucius Malfoy the First was even a suitor for Queen Elizabeth the First) and that Hardwick Hall is an Elizabethan manor, the Malfoys could've bought it out. However; this isn't the case because their land is found in Wiltshire, England.

Since Hardwick Hall is the official shot of the home's exterior, I'll be using it here. Hardwick Hall is most well known for its extravagant windows. Similarly, Malfoy Manor also has these windows.

The fourth picture I have provided is not an overview of Hardwick Hall. It is actually a rendering of the description from the Deathly Hallows book: "They turned right, into a wide driveway that led off the lane. The high hedge curved with them, running off into the distance beyond the pair of impressive wrought-iron gates barring the men's way... the source of the noise proved to be nothing more than a pure-white peacock, stirring majestically along the top of the hedge."

This actually brings me to my little Malfoy theory about the peacocks. In the Goblet of Fire, during the Quidditch World Cup, the golden trio spots a tent with seven albino peacocks milling about: "Halfway up the field stood an extravagant confection of striped silk like a miniature palace, with several live peacocks tethered at the entrance." This is so clearly a Malfoy Easter egg to me, and no one talks about it. My theory is that the peacocks represent extravagance, their albino condition represents purity, and there being seven peacocks (that's an assumption on my part) is supposed to bring good fortune. Hence them being at the Cup, because Lucius was probably betting on the game.

the entrance hallway

The entrance hallway to Malfoy Manor is described in Deathly Hallows for a brief moment: "The hallway was large, dimly lit and sumptuously decorated, with a magnificent carpet covering most of the stone floor. The eyes of the pale-faced portraits on the walls followed Snape and Yaxley as they strode past. The two men halted at a heavy wooden door leading into the next room, hesitated for the space of a heartbeat, then Snape turned the bronze handle."

I actually want to take this section as an opportunity to discuss the Malfoy lineage. Mainly because this is where we see the portraits of former family members and because I imagine the decorations are actually family possessions (I think this since Lucius hid his personal artifacts in the cellar.)

I am going to go chronologically about every Malfoy we know about prior to Lucius, Narcissa, and Draco.

Armand Malfoy - He brought the Malfoy family to England in the 11th century. He came from France as a soldier in the Norman Conquests. He rose to wealth through his connections to King William the first. Armand actually did magical, shady jobs for the king. He stole the Wiltshire property that would expand into Malfoy Manor.

Nicholas Malfoy - He lived in the fourteenth century and he knocked off his muggle adversaries under the guise of the black plague. While it's implied Armand was a murderous Malfoy (with him being apart of the Norman Conquest, him doing "shady" jobs for King William, and him stealing muggle land) Nicholas is the first recorded murderous Malfoy.

Lucius Malfoy the First - He was a possible suitor for Queen Elizabeth the First. He was rumored to have jinxed her when he wasn't chosen.

Brutus Malfoy - He was an editor in the 17th century, anti-muggle periodical "Wizards at War." In the spin off book The Tales of Beedle the Bard, we actually get to see one of his pieces. He wrote, "This we may state with certainty; any wizard who shows fondness for the society of Muggles is of low intelligence, with magic so feeble and pitiful that he can only feel himself superior is surrounded by Muggle pigmen."

Septimus Malfoy - He used the Minister of Magic, Unctuous Osbert as a political pupper in the late 18th century. That relationship mimics the one Lucius and Cornelius Fudge would have many years later.

Abraxas Malfoy - Outside of the family we meet in the books, Abraxas is Malfoy we know the most about. He was Lucius Malfoy the Second's father. According to Draco in the Half-Blood Prince, he was in the slug club ( DM: "Sir, I think you knew my grandfather, Abraxas Malfoy?" HS:  "Yes. I was sorry to hear he had died, although of course it wasn't unexpected, dragon pox at his age...") We also know that he lived a fairly long life and he died of dragon pox. Most criminally, Abraxas was known for being involved in forcing the first muggle-born Magical Minister to step down early.

You might've noticed there aren't any Malfoy women mentioned. It's a shame that they don't have any descriptions. Though, with the amount of portraits mentioned, it's likely their paintings are present in the Malfoy household.

the drawing room

In Deathly Hallows there's two descriptions of the drawing room- one from the meeting where Professor Burbage is murdered and one where Harry is kidnapped by the snatchers. They go as follows:

"The drawing room was full of silent people, sitting at a long and ornate table...Illumination came from a roasting fire beneath a handsome marble mantelpiece surmounted by a gilded mirror."

"The drawing room dazzled... Harry could make out the wide proportions of the room. A crystal chandelier hung from the ceilings, more portraits against purple walls."

This brings me to the green ick I have. Everything with the Malfoys is dark green in fan media. Please guys they had a drawing room with purple walls. Also, I think it's interesting that purple was chosen. Purple is the color of royalty, so of course the Malfoys have it in their home.

Then there's this mirror. It's brought up multiple times, which leads me to think it's pretty damn noticeable. Almost like a centerpiece. Knowing the Malfoys and Lucius's interest in dark artifacts, I believe this mirror to be a magical heirloom. Mirrors are actually spiritual veils in traditional witchcraft, and in HP we see mirrors/glass be used as magical tools twice. Once with the Mirror of Erised and again with the glass the Marauders used as a communication device. It's just a headcanon, take it or leave it.

There's also a description of the marble fireplace under that mirror. When the death eaters aren't meeting, there are chairs set next to it. Apparently it's big enough to illuminate the entire drawing room when lit. Actually, it's big enough for Lucius to be stupefied into the hearth. This leads me to believe the drawing room used to be a lot cozier. Which makes sense, considering how much schmoozing this family does. A drawing room is where you entertain guests, and if you want the Minister to be in your pocket you want the drawing room to be comfortable. In conclusion, this drawing room was nice before Voldemort over took it.

Finally, I included a picture of a pine organ because I swear I read something about one being featured in the drawing room. I can't find it, but I know I saw someone say that. I'm still including it, because it makes perfect sense to me. Like yeah, these people have a pine wood, pipe organ.

Narcissa's bedroom

These three bedrooms are a complete, self-indulgent headcanon intermission, but I will include fun facts about the characters.

Narcissa- the queen- is up first. I do think Lucius and Narcissa have their own rooms. I mean they were an arranged marriage, neither of them slept well (due to the first war), and they seem like two people who need their space.

Narcissa's room would be a cross between who she was as the youngest Black sister (star themes, moody lights, and fancy mirrors) and who she is now as the Malfoy queen (feminine colors, indulgent decorations, and luxurious furniture.)

I do think the Malfoys are a mirror to the Blacks. They are both extremely powerful families, but they go about it differently. The Black family is strict- hardened by centuries of discipline. Every action must align with their motto, "always pure." Meanwhile, the Malfoy family motto is, "purity will always conquer." Malfoy's are less strict because they have the mindset that they'll come out on top no matter what. Narcissa is brought to a strange intersection: continue to survive or begin to live. You can see that in her bedroom.

The room is always filled with flowers/candy because Lucius's love language is gift giving.

She keeps Draco's baby pictures in golden, floral frames on her vanity. It embarreses him terribly.

She has a piano in her room. The pine organ in the drawing room is actually for her. She's a very skilled musician and loves to play.

Sirius took the enchanted, communication mirror idea from his cousins. It makes sense the Black Sisters would find a way to speak to one another when Bella went to Hogwarts. Narcissa has a compact mirror (with a narcissus flower on it) that used to be a communication device. She keeps it in her nightstand drawers. On harsh days, she opens it and hopes she'll catch a glance of Andromeda.

Lucius's bedroom

I'll save my Lucius/bird metaphor ramble for another post, but his room is filled with bird motifs.

His room is surprisingly simple compared to the rest of the Manor. He has a smaller bed, coffee mugs/shot glasses laying about, and books falling off their shelves.

Part of it is rebellion and another part of it is entitlement. His room is simple as a stark rebellion against his forefathers. He's not brave enough to give up all his riches, but those riches bar him from individuality. Lucius will never be his own person: just another blonde snake. So, his room abstains from the typical Malfoy luxury. Then, it's always a wreck because he assumes someone will clean up behind him (poor Dobby).

Contrary to popular belief, I do think Lucius was a loving father. He definitely wasn't a perfect father, but he did love Draco. So, I think his room is filled with presents from Draco and pictures of him.

He's also the type of parent who keeps all of Draco's achievements in files. Best junior seeker certificate from summer camp? Yeah he's got it on standby.

His windows are open- no matter the weather. Closed windows make him feel claustrophobic. He only closes the windows when he sleeps.

He also closes the curtains when he sleeps. He's a bit paranoid. He's got a lot of enemies.

Boring ministry paperwork is everywhere. Not only do his superiors pay him to commit shady crimes, they also pay him to do their paperwork. He hates it. He'd rather be black mailing a political figure.

Draco's bedroom

Draco's bedroom has really cool dragon wallpaper. Get it? Draco is latin for dragon (under-rated symbol for him).

I do think his favorite color is green. His room is covered in dark greens. He thinks it makes him look more refined.

That's also why there are no posters on his wall. He used to have quidditch posters all over his room, but Pansy made fun of them. Now, if he puts something on his walls, it's displayed on a shelf or it's framed. It's also always something he can brag about too- like a trophy or signed quaffle.

Malfoy Manor is the hangout house, so Draco keeps food in his room. There's a bowl of apples on his dresser, a jar of sweets on his nightstand, and an enchanted cabinet that acts as a mini fridge for butterbeer. All of this storage becomes handy when the death eaters take over the manor. He doesn't have to leave his room as much.

Additionally there is a bathroom connected to his room.

You're telling me this rich kid came out this dramatically and doesn't have a balcony to sit at? You're wrong. The balcony is also where he and Pansy gossip. Many rumors were planned up there.

SImilar to Narcissa, his room is also filled with presents. His lean more towards clothes and colognes though. Lucius just loves buying stuff.

I want to emphasize how spoiled he is, so Draco has a fireplace. However; he didn't originally have a fireplace. He wanted one when he was twelve. He mentioned it during winter break. By summer break, there was a fully functional fireplace in his bedroom. He adored it, by the way.

the gardens

Alright, headcanons are over. Kinda? We know there is a large garden surrounding Malfoy Manor, but we don't know a lot about its contents.

We can assume this is where the peacocks reside. There is probably a small barn/coop for them.

To go into full imagination territory, I also think there are more birds in this garden. I mean beautiful quails and swans- just to exaggerate their wealth.

I am going to say there is a small apple orchard in the gardens. I mean Draco always has one in the films, so I'm guessing they have some significance to the family. Maybe a fruit of knowledge situation? Regardless, I think Draco always has a full supply, because he gets sent apples from the garden.

The Malfoys clearly have a thing for collecting artifacts. I don't think the garden is excluded from that. Perhaps a lot of statues of former Malfoys (particularly the women/children, which I'll explain in a later post).

This is a headcanon I will not budge on. The Malfoys have a family cemetery deep in the garden. I mean it's a while away, and it's hidden. It is a very off-putting place and a breeding ground for dark magic.

Okay, time for my favorite fun fact. Are you ready? There was going to be a scene of Draco and Theodore Nott talking in the Malfoy gardens, but it got cut.

This is from a post on JK's old website (It's okay! She can't hurt you on this blog! It's just a source!): "However, in this scene Theodore's father (the same Nott who was badly injured in the closing chapters of 'Order of the Phoenix') goes to visit Lucius Malfoy to discuss Voldemort-related business and we see Draco and Theodore alone in the garden having a talk of their own. I really liked the scene, firstly because it showed the Malfoys' home, and the difference between the place where Draco has grown up and number four, Privet Drive; then because we rarely see Draco talking to anybody he considers a real equal, and he is forced to see Theodore as such, because Theodore is just as pure-blooded as he is, and somewhat cleverer. Together these two Death Eaters' sons discuss Dumbledore's regime at Hogwarts and Harry Potter, with all sorts of stories that the Death Eaters tell about how this baby boy survived the Dark Lord's attack."

That is really interesting to me. There's just this whole other side of the story that happened, but we don't get to witness it. I might write it out one day.

This took forever to make. If you read all the way through, thank you. I did cut a few rooms, so I might make a part two. I was just ready to get this out into the world. Please, please reblog/comment your thoughts or headcanons. This is my favorite topic in the whole world. I am so interested in the Malfoys. Thank you again for reading!!

[watchnrant]

A Discovery of Witches Season 2: A Darker, Richer Narrative

If you thought A Discovery of Witches was just another fantasy romp with a bit of historical flair, buckle up for Season 2—this ride gets delightfully more treacherous. Based on Deborah Harkness’s All Souls Trilogy, the show kicked off with a seductive blend of magic, academia, and some good old-fashioned supernatural skullduggery. But with its sophomore season, it doesn’t just dip its toes into darkness—it dives headfirst into the murky waters of power struggles, betrayal, and Elizabethan angst. The result? A more prosperous, textured narrative that wraps around you like a cloak on a chilly London night, refusing to let go.

Power and Betrayal: The Core of Season 2

This season isn’t content with picking up where the first left off—it’s a full-blown transformation. Power dynamics take center stage; with stakes so high, you’ll need a ladder to catch your breath. In a world where every glance, whisper, and seemingly innocuous gesture could be a precursor to betrayal, the relentless pursuit of control gives the season its teeth. Whether safeguarding ancient secrets or simply trying to survive another day, the characters are pushed to their limits, leaving you glued to the screen, wondering who will crack under the pressure first.

From Modernity to Mystery: The Haunting Atmosphere of Elizabethan London

Say goodbye to the sleek, modern settings of Season 1—this time, we’re strolling through the gritty, shadow-laden streets of Elizabethan London. The production design team has outdone themselves, crafting an environment where every alleyway feels like it’s hiding something sinister. With dim lighting and claustrophobic sets, the atmosphere is laced with palpable tension. It’s a visual feast that perfectly complements the season’s darker tone, making you feel like danger lurks around every corner—and honestly, it probably does.

A Walk Through Time: The Immersive Historical Detail

For the history buffs out there, Season 2 is a love letter to the past, filled with all the pomp and peril you’d expect from the era. The Elizabethan setting isn’t just a backdrop; it’s a living, breathing character in its own right. Every detail pulls you deeper into this world, from the meticulously crafted costumes to the period-accurate architecture. This historical immersion doesn’t just serve the aesthetics—it enriches the entire narrative, grounding the fantastical elements in a world that feels as real as your own. Unless you know something we don’t, except for the witches and vampires?

The Dark Evolution of Matthew Clairmont

Matthew Clairmont’s past comes back to haunt him with a vengeance, and Matthew Goode’s performance is captivating. He expertly navigates the fine line between restrained intensity and explosive emotion, bringing the character to life with smoldering intensity and magnetic terror. It’s a masterclass in understated menace that makes for some compelling viewing.

Love and Power: The Shifting Dynamics of Matthew and Diana

The relationship between Matthew and Diana remains the beating heart of the series, but in Season 2, it’s fraught with tension from external threats and an evolving power struggle. Diana is no longer the hesitant scholar we met in Season 1—she’s coming into her own, challenging Matthew in ways that shake the foundations of their relationship. The patriarchal backdrop of Elizabethan society adds another layer of complexity, making their love story as much about power as it is about passion. It’s a push and pull that keeps the drama sizzling, and you’ll find yourself invested in every charged exchange.

Blending Fact with Fiction: Historical Figures in the Plot

One of the season’s most delightful tricks is its seamless blending of historical figures with its fictional narrative. Queen Elizabeth I and Christopher Marlowe are more than name-drops—they’re integral to the plot, adding a layer of authenticity that enriches the story. Their interactions with Matthew and Diana aren’t just for show; they’re pivotal to the unfolding drama, offering some of the season’s most electrifying moments. This blending of fact and fiction grounds the supernatural elements in history and sets the series apart from other contemporary fantasy offerings.

A Delicate Balance: Romance and the Supernatural

A Discovery of Witches has always balanced romance with its supernatural elements, and Season 2 is no different. The romantic tension between Matthew and Diana is as intoxicating as ever, but it never overshadows the show’s broader mythos. Instead, the romance enhances the narrative, adding an emotional depth that complements the dark intrigue at the heart of the plot. It’s a careful dance between the heart and the supernatural, and the show pulls it off with aplomb.

Star Performances: Matthew Goode and Teresa Palmer

Matthew Goode and Teresa Palmer continue to anchor the show with stellar performances. Goode brings Matthew Clairmont to life with a smoldering intensity and magnetic terror, while Palmer’s portrayal of Diana Bishop is a revelation. She embodies the character’s transformation with grace and strength, creating an electric dynamic that crackles with every scene. The supporting cast also shines, each actor bringing something unique to the table, further enriching the narrative’s tapestry.

A Visual Feast: The Cinematic Brilliance of Season 2

Visually, Season 2 is a triumph. The cinematography is nothing short of cinematic, with each shot meticulously crafted to enhance the story’s mood and tone. The interplay of light and shadow, the rich color palettes, and the precise camera angles all work harmoniously to create a world that is as visually compelling as it is narratively rich. It’s the kind of show where you could pause at any moment and find a frame worthy of hanging on your wall—a testament to the care and craft that’s gone into every aspect of its production.

Fan and Critic Reactions: Embracing the Darker Narrative

Season 2 has struck a chord with fans and critics alike. The darker, more intricate narrative has been widely praised, with many appreciating the show’s boldness in deepening its themes and expanding its world. The shift to the gritty realism of Elizabethan London has been a particular highlight, adding a fresh dynamic that keeps the series from stagnating. Critics have lauded the show for its character development, atmospheric tension, and historical detail, solidifying its place as a standout in the fantasy genre. It’s a season that doesn’t just continue the story—it elevates it, pushing the boundaries of what a fantasy series can be.

Building on a Solid Foundation: How Season 2 Outshines the First

While Season 1 laid the groundwork, Season 2 takes it to new heights. The progression in tone, plot, and character arcs is evident in every frame, with the creators intent on building something more ambitious and complex. The historical setting, darker themes, and more intense character dynamics contribute to a fresh yet familiar season—a continuation of the story, but one willing to take risks and challenge its audience in new ways.

Delving into Darkness: The Weight of Season 2

The thematic weight of Season 2 is undeniable. It’s not just a stylistic shift—it’s a narrative evolution that delves into the darker corners of its characters’ psyches and the world they inhabit. The exploration of power, betrayal, and control resonates deeper, making the stakes feel higher and the choices more consequential. This isn’t just about good versus evil—it’s about survival, legacy, and lengths to protect what one loves. It’s a season that engages the heart and the mind, leaving you pondering its themes long after the credits roll.

Season 2’s Triumph: A Captivating Blend of Fantasy and History

Ultimately, Season 2 of A Discovery of Witches is a triumph. It’s a masterful blend of fantasy and history, romance and intrigue, all wrapped up in a visually stunning package. The darker, richer narrative pulls you in and refuses to let go, offering an experience as intellectually stimulating as it is emotionally engaging. Whether you’re here for the history, the romance, or the supernatural spectacle, Season 2 delivers on all fronts, leaving you eagerly awaiting what the series has in store next.

[saveugoodmadam]

made a new oc and decided to draw her in the tgs artstyle! :3 meet tobias bell, once aspiring elizabethan actor and now the society for arcane sciences' resident ghost, who is extremely pissed off at the fact he is eternally stuck in the scientific research institute and not the theatre right next door.

[deadpanwalking]

“I do not minimise the services of modern poets in exploiting the possibilities of rhymeless verse. They prove the strength of a Movement, the utility of a Theory. What neither Blake nor Arnold could do alone is being done in our time. ‘Blank verse’ is the only accepted rhymeless verse in English – the inevitable iambic pentameter. The English ear is (or was) more sensitive to the music of the verse and less dependent upon the recurrence of identical sounds in this metre than in any other. There is no campaign against rhyme. But it is possible that excessive devotion to rhyme has thickened the modern ear. The rejection of rhyme is not a leap at facility; on the contrary, it imposes a much severer strain upon the language. When the comforting echo of rhyme is removed, success or failure in the choice of words, in the sentence structure, in the order, is at once more apparent. Rhyme removed, the poet is at once held up to the standards of prose. Rhyme removed, much ethereal music leaps up from the word, music which has hitherto chirped unnoticed in the expanse of prose. Any rhyme forbidden, many Shagpats were unwigged.

And this liberation from rhyme might be as well a liberation of rhyme. Freed from its exacting task of supporting lame verse, it could be applied with greater effect where it is most needed. There are often passages in an unrhymed poem where rhyme is wanted for some special effect, for a sudden tightening-up, for a cumulative insistence, or for an abrupt change of mood. But formal rhymed verse will certainly not lose its place. We only need the coming of a Satirist – no man of genius is rarer – to prove that the heroic couplet has lost none of its edge since Dryden and Pope laid it down. As for the sonnet I am not so sure. But the decay of intricate formal patterns has nothing to do with the advent of vers libre. It had set in long before. Only in a closely-knit and homogenous society, where many men are at work on the same problems, such a society as those which produced the Greek chorus, the Elizabethan lyric, and the Troubadour canzone, will the development of such forms ever be carried to perfection. And as for vers libre, we conclude that it is not defined by absence of pattern or absence of rhyme, for other verse is without these; that it is not defined by non-existence of metre, since even the worst verse can be scanned; and we conclude that the division between Conservative Verse and vers libre does not exist, for there is only good verse, bad verse, and chaos.”

T.S. Eliot, from 'Reflections on Vers libre' (New Statesman, March 3, 1917)

[titleleaf]

Revenge tragedies!

I love the bigness of revenge tragedies, I love the way their events and technologies challenge what we think we know about the Early Modern stage, I love how they weave together the themes and tensions within Early Modern Christianity with a whole bunch of philosophical and religious thought that exists outside that framework. I enjoy how they often use other places and times as a refracting lens to tell a story about the place and time in which they were written. It's old hat to talk about revenge tragedies in terms of their relation to modern horror (an old hat that I love to wear nonetheless) but I really do think they're a wonderful case study in what you can do with lofty themes and nasty characters. There's also a really fun intertextual and parodic element to revenge tragedies, as playwrights engaged with one another's work and riffed on the expectations of their viewers; they can be irreverently funny, mean-spirited, humane, or disturbing, or all of the above in the same work. There are some really challenging, interesting depictions of characters on the margins of Elizabethan/Jacobean society, and also a lot of moments that will make you go "what the fuck was that", which I enjoy.

[canmom]

Wait is ratfic not fiction about rats???

I can talk about fiction about rats too! Let's talk about some British childrens' book series! And one American comic book.

The four relevant works for our discussion would be the Redwall series by Brian Jacques, the Welkin Weasels series by Garry Kilworth, the Deptford Mice series by Robin Jarvis, and the Mouse Guard series by David Petersen. All these works portray a world inhabited by semi-anthropomorphic animals that are at the scale of real world animals. And indeed all of them include rats, albeit mostly as antagonists.

Redwall is perhaps the one that has most penetrated internet pop culture, thanks to articles like this one on SomethingAwful which mocked some of the series's recurring elements while painting Brian Jacques as a bit of a nazi. I ate those books up as a kid, but in retrospect I truthfully can remember only snatches: the shrews' battle cry of 'logalogalogalog!', the pages of elaborate descriptions of feasts.

Redwall is a big sufferer from the 'evil races' problem. A certain arbitrary set of species (e.g. rats, stoats, weasels, ferrets) are ontologically evil, and various other species are standins for various stereotypical British social classes (e.g. iirc moles are always working class). As unfortunately tends to be the case, it even makes the strange decision to double down on this - I believe in one of the books, a member of one of the evil species is raised in the Abbey, but inevitably his evil nature comes out when the good rodents and mustelids are once again threatened by an army of bad rodents and mustelids.

Nevertheless, as repetitive and ethically dubious as these books are, they do conjour a very specific flavour which makes them memorable. The author's enthusiasm for food as child of the Blitz shines through, as does his evident love for the idyllic Redwall Abbey. There's a lot of really charming elements like the 'logalogalog' thing. Having these read out to me as kid was great, it had a bit of a panto feel, where I could join in with the expected beats.

The first Redwall book implies that humans exist in this world, but this is subsequently quietly retconned to an only-animals fantasy world.

The Welkin Weasels series is a lot shorter at six books, and you may well bounce off the author's enthusiasm to insert puns and references all over the place (I recall one book managing to set up "badgers? we don't need no stinkin' badgers"), but from what I remember of them they benefit from having more explicit horror elements which makes the stakes much more engaging. I recall the weasels trying to weasel their way into a crypt full of horrible pitfalls and finding it very tense as a kid.

There is once again a sympathetic-unsympathetic species divide - weasels are our plucky heroes, while stoats tend to be aristocratic and cruel. However, it does play out a little differently: the first three books are in a medieval fantasy setting with explicit magic, but over the course of the novels, the mustelids manage to rediscover humans, leading to a timeskip forward into a more steampunk setting where the animals and humans have built a joint society together.

Honestly, I would quite like to reread these books! They may well not hold up today, but it would be fun to revisit them.

The Deptford Mice series by Robin Jarvis - author of Deathscent, a highly memorable novel in which Elizabethans have been transported by aliens into a space archipelago where all the animals are robots which run on the four humours - is a pretty fun one, although my memory is very foggy. It's set in our world, in London, and as I recall the first book involves an evil cat wizard attempting to resurrect the Bubonic Plague from the plague pits. I recall a scene in which rats dig up the plague pit and have their paws melted by the lime coating it. Beyond that I can recall very little but I definitely think it merits inclusion in this list of rat fic.

Once again we have the good rodent/evil rodent problem. Mice and rats are almost identical creatures, so it's weird that the sympathetic/unsympathetic divide falls so consistently.

Mouse Guard is an American comic series about mice with little cloaks and swords. Making it be a comic is kind of a great idea because you get to see how cute they are at every turn. The mouse guard are responsible for defending the other mice from threats such as snakes. They have a pretty high mortality rate.

I'm... actually not super familiar with the comics, but they inspired a roleplaying game by the creators of Burning Wheel, using similar mechanics - e.g. its beliefs system, the simultaneous-resolution combat system. That got a lot of buzz around the late 2010s. So if you want a game to play as an rat at the tabletop, it's probably a good one to check out!

We might also at this juncture mention the wildly popular novel Watership Down, which imagines an elaborate rabbit society complete with a substantially fleshed out rabbit religion. I wrote about the animated film for Animation Night a couple years back - it's quite a memorable one.

Sadly, this is mostly mousefic (with a bit of weaselfic). I don't know of any true ratfic - centred on rats as protagonists. Perhaps this is an opportunity for someone out there to write ratfic ratfic to correct this imbalance.

edit: omfg i forgot the rats of NIMH. thanks to both the people who reminded me of that one

[marythequeen]

first of all: AHSBSBSBDBA FINALLY A FELLOW MARY STAN.

what are your thoughts on the fact that mainstream history has basically erased Mary's hand in: strengthening the english navy, changing coin policy to benefit the economy, and being the stepping stone of a successful queen regnant that allowed future queens the power they got in such a patriarchal society?

i actually wrote long paragraphs as an answer but much to my disgrace, they were all erased suddenly so i'm a bit angry but will do my best to write it all one more time 🙏🏻

basically, they HAD to erase mary's good works in order to glorify elizabeth and her reign. many writers and public figures, during elizabethan era and later on, did their best to justify elizabeth's actions and even erased most of her nasty works. do you see many people who talk about massacres that were made by her? or her open racisms and xenophobia? or attacking and dismissing women in her court? no you don't, and it's all the work of elizabethan propaganda.

this includes belittling the work of other women before elizabeth, not only queen mary. such as the works of queen katharine of aragón or other catholic writers both male&female. the main source of the elizabethan propaganda is xenophobia and anti catholicism. she painted herself as a saviour, saving the english from the ruthless hands of the catholic. we, even, continued to see it in the reign of the stuart monarchs. they owed their power to elizabeth, so they had no choice [even if they did, they'd still follow her because they were anglicans and protestants. anti catholicism has been a trend for over 400 years at this point] but to follow her works and propagandas.

so that's the background of the things. you can't justify elizabeth tudor unless you blacken queen mary and her works.

and let's not lie to each other, at the beginning of her reign, elizabeth was far from being original when it came to politics or economic or any other governing things. she lacked the education for it. thus, it was inevitable that she would copy what the woman before her did. everything you said above, were later copied by elizabeth tudor.

long story short, erasing mary's works and using some of them without crediting her, was a must for elizabeth. and in order to do these successful, they had to dehumanize, villainize and erase her.

thank you for your question!! it was fun to answer and apparently i missed talking about our queen. i hope my answers satisfied you. if you have further questions, feel free to ask!! have a nice day.

[riovidalswife]

so i have been fuelled on my lesbian hamlet rant . i have a google doc with things i believe would / wouldn't change in hamlet's life if SHE were a lesbian woman

to begin, her feigning madness (and later decent into) would be perceived differently by those around her. polonius probably wouldn't consider her madness a result of her love for ophelia - and would consider it a case of female hysteria. she'd be seen as volatile or just a product of "female hysteria" and perhaps would not be seen by an elizabethan audience as strategic but impulsive and imprudent.

the relationship , not only between ophelia would change but perhaps Gertrude too. as a woman herself hamlet's misogynistic comments would perhaps be looked past or considered in gest. i feel as though hamlet's hatred toward her mother would be much more confusing for her to dissect. she'd understand the societal pressure as a woman to marry quickly but equally as queen gertrude would be allowed to make the final decision on the matter. in my opinion she'd still consider the marriage incestuous but would be less inclined to voice this to anyone other than perhaps horatio.

on the other hand, i don't believe hamlet's feelings for ophelia would change. their relationship would still be strained by polonius' strictness (perhaps worried that hamlet is corrupting ophelia, turning her to ways of "the female persuasion") however to audiences of the time their relationship would probably be interpreted in more of a sisterly light , only properly being dissected as romantic to a modern reader. i believe that hamlet would still do much of what she did to convince those around her of madness (breaking into ophelia's bedchamber , writing her love letters of which she later denounces & using misogynistic language toward her, referring to her as "a breeder of sinners" and such)

her agency would be taken less seriously in society, expected to marry before inheriting the crown or even worse , would encourage claudius and gertrude to birth a boy , a rightful heir to the throne. her quest for revenge would be more poignant, breaking free from her gender constraints in order to be seen as successful. claudius would underestimate her as a threat making her later crimes more shocking to not only the audience but to claudius himself. the way claudius treats hamlet would differ too , he'd perhaps rely more on manipulation to keep her down - reducing her to nothing but a woman.

in her portrayal of , and later genuine madness, I feel as though much of her “sense in nonsense” attitude remains. she speaks in riddles and confusing terms. as well as much of her vulgar humor stays in tact , shocking for those around her as well as an elizabethan audience. her wit is integral to her character , she uses it as deflection and intellectual dominance exposing hypocrisy amongst the court. her behaviour would be more shocking than that of a male hamlet and perhaps be a further reason for polonius to advise ophelia to stay away from her. she’d use it as a weapon in a world that undermines her.

she retains much of her bawdiness but would be interpreted differently. a typical reading of this behaviour could perhaps be seen as jealousy for the ease of ophelia’s life in comparison to hamlet’s. similarly it would be a reflection of her internalised misogynistic behavior and a projection of her hatred for her mother. i believe it would also contribute to the same sex subtext i’m convinced would happen if there be a female hamlet but her “inappropriate” jokes would be fuel toward a disdain from those who observe ophelia and hamlet , specifically in the “play within a play” in act three.

rant over

[eventinelysplayground]

Tied Up

Kinktober Day 1: Bondage/Role Reversal.

Pairing: Shakespeare x Mitsuki.

It's day one of Kinktober so let's get into it, also keep in mind smut is not something I write often. This fic had been half finished for the longest time but wasn't completely done until last night because I just never got the steam to go back to it, I blame the headache that is trying to write Elizabethan sounding dialogue. You finally have some time together with Will and her won't let it be interrupted. CW light bondage. NSFW minors do not interact. WC approx 1753.

It was a breezy summer afternoon and Mitsuki was busy arranging flowers in a vase in front of the window, her dress swaying as she moved. Will had had it made specially for it, it was simple yet elegant, made of white chiffon decorated with blue roses and in her hair she wore the rosemary hair clip he had bought her. It was a stark contrast to the fancier gowns and jewels she had been wearing of late but today their plans included nothing more than enjoying each other's company.

Mitsuki had drawn the attention of quite a few society ladies not only due to their relationship but also in part because of her ‘extremely close’ relationship with the good Comte. It had been a whirlwind of inventions lately, quite a few of which were from the Duke's wife. He knew Mitsuki accepted most of these invitations out of perceived obligation, the Duke was his main patron after all. So she accepted every single one no matter the circumstances or her own desires.

As Will watched her trying to get puck to stop eating the flowers she was arranging, a soft smile lit up his face at the scene. Suddenly there was a rap on the door, both he and Mitsuki turning their attention to it at once.

“Thou didst not say thy were expecting company.”

“I'm not.”

Will went to stand but Mitsuki stopped him, placing a clearly dissatisfied Puck into his arms and smiling at him.

“I'll answer it, you just keep him out of the flowers.”

Will smiled back at Mitsuki while attempting to hold a squirming Puck.

“As my lady commands me.”

As Mitsuki went to answer the door, Will placed Puck down, away from the flowers, before heading after her. He wasn't far when he heard an all too familiar voice lately.

“My mistress hopes that your company will lighten her heart at her sister's delay….”

Will was irritated, could he not get one day of peace with his beloved? He heard Mitsuki let out a defeated sigh and knew she would go along with the butler not wanting to upset his patrons wife but he would not have it today.

“I fear you will have to extend my loves deepest apologies to your mistress but she will not be able to visit. She hath already promised her assistance to me so will be tied up the next few days. Again our sincerest apologies but fret not I'm sure your lady will find solace elsewhere and she can look forward to new tales once they are reunited.”

“Very well I shall inform my lady, please forgive the disturbance.”

The butler bowed before leaving and Will quickly shut and locked the door behind him.

“Thank you Will, but are you sure it was alright to refuse her?”

“Worry not for as I said she will find solace elsewhere, besides truthfully I do not care I have been deprived of your company for far too long.”

Mitsuki smiled and placed a kiss upon Will's cheek and they started walking back to the living room.

“That's true, but I don't like lying.”

Will stopped in his tracks, a mischievous smile lighting up his face.

“Then let it not be a falsehood.”

As Mitsuki tilted her head in question he reached into his pocket and pulled out a length of navy ribbon. He grasped her wrists bringing them together and laying a kiss upon them before tying them together.

“There, I believe that should satisfy thy desire for my words to not have been a falsehood.”

“This isn't what you meant and you know it!”

“Was it not?”

Will placed a kiss to Mitsukis ear and she shuddered.

“Tis a benefit and disadvantage of language. If one is not specific enough it becomes open to others interpretation.”

He spoke the words in a husky tone letting his lips graze against her ear and he could sense the shift in her mood. He kissed her ear again then followed it down along her neck. Will grabbed the end of the ribbon and gave it a slight tug before leading a laughing Mitsuki to their room. As soon as she had crossed the threshold he slipped his hands around her waist and kissed her deeply igniting their passion for each other. He licked teasingly at her lips and they parted, letting his tongue slip in to seek out hers. His skilled hands moved quickly up her back to undo the buttons of her dress exposing her skin. He drew his fingers down the length of her spine and felt her shudder at his touch. When their lips parted he lifted up her hands kissing the backs of them before he sighed.

“Though I prefer thy hands clasped together as such I am unable to look upon all of you this way.”

Will untied Mitsukis wrists and the ribbon fluttered to the floor.

“I also do not care to ruin a dress that lets me feast upon thy figure so well in it.”

As he spoke his hands made light work of the task of undressing her and she in turn began to remove his shirt. They kissed over and over again until the last of their clothes lay on the floor forgotten. Will was about to pull her into the bed with him when she backed away from him, he watched her curiously as she bent to retrieve the fallen ribbon and offered up her wrists to him.

“My Juliet?”

This wasn't the first time Will had bound her but it was the first time she offered so clearly for him to do it.

“My dress is off now so….”

“Aye, it is.”

Will crossed the short distance and took the ribbon from her hand. He brought her wrists up to his mouth and kissed them reverently. He wrapped the ribbon around her wrists slightly tighter this time and with a knot not so easily undone. Once done he once again took hold of the tail of it and led her towards their bed. He sat pulling her towards him so she straddled his lap and he took her chin in his free hand using his thumb to tug on her lower lip before kissing her again. This kiss was not gentle, it was rough and all consuming but his Juliet rose to the challenge, her lips moving just as fiercely and her tongue probing deep into his mouth.

He released her chin letting his one hand wander teasingly down her neck and over her breast while the other tightened its grip on the ribbon making it shorter and consequently pulling her closer to him. As his fingers reached between her legs she let out a moan into their kiss. His fingers moved slowly and lightly along her folds and they were soon covered in her arousal. He pulled back from their kiss and lifted up his hand so she could see it.

“If this is how thou wilts keep reacting I shall keep binding thee.”

Will licked her arousal off his fingers slowly purposefully flicking his tongue across the tips of them to tease her.

“Will…”

He smiled as he pulled her up using the ribbon and brought her fingertips to his lips. He kissed them one by one until he reached her index finger and bit down.

“Mmmm!”

He watched the expression on her face and when he saw that familiar look, the one that old him she was soon to become undone he moved his hands to her hips and lowered her down onto him in one swift motion. Her eyes fell shut and she moved quickly up and down his length, coating him in her wetness and making the most lewd wet noises to accompany her moans as her bound hands came to rest on his chest.

She began to move even faster, almost too fast and he gripped her hips firmly holding her in place. She whined when she realized she couldn't move and she opened her hazy eyes to look at him.

“If thy go too quickly, a most unfortunate accident could happen. If they are unable to control thyself perhaps I should take over?”

Mitsuki nodded at Will and soon he had her laying down on the bed. Her bound hands held in one of his above her head and he bit her neck as he entered her. He thrusted fast and deep like she had wanted and soon her hips were moving with his and he felt her begin to tighten around him.

“Will!”

Her hands began to struggle against his hold in search of something to grasp or cling to and he pushed them further into the mattress.

“Will Ple-”

He covered her mouth with his cutting of the rest of her words. He pulled out almost all the way then thrusted in again as deeply as he could and they both let out a muffled cry as the pleasure washed over them. His cock twitched releasing everything into her as her walls continued to clench around him and their kiss became less fierce. Mitsuki quickly drifted off to sleep and Will was content to hold her as she did so but part way through he had an idea. He was sitting on the edge of the bed just having finished dressing when he felt her stir.

“Will?”

“Worry not, I have but a small errand I must complete. I shall be back in time to sup.”

He had turned to face her and she reached out her hand to him but just before she reached him she stopped and held her hand up before her face.

“Umm Will?”

“Yes?”

“What is this?”

Will smiled as he picked up a portion of the long satin rope, one end tied around her hand the other around the bedpost.

“I did say thy would be tied up the next few days, and we can't have any falsehoods.”

“Will…”

Will placed a kiss to the tip of Mitsukis nose and then stood up walking towards the door.

“Do not fret for it is quite securely tied. Tis also several feet in length to provide some freedom of movement.”

“Will!”

He did not stop or turn around, just smiled to himself as he heard Mitsuki shuffle out of the bed.

“Will!”

He heard her groan and just before he shut the door she called out to him in an exasperated yet amused tone.

“You could have at least left me a book to read!”

Tag List: @queengiuliettafirstlady, @nightghoul381, @nani-nani-nani. If you don't want to be tagged for Kintober please let me know.

[ghostface-knight]

cinderella's castle spoilers (sort of, but not really)

ok, this is such a small thing and i know it's stupid to comment on given how funny and well written the show was, but the inconsistent use of "thou" vs "you" was driving me INSANE the entire time i was watching it 😭 because there are reasons why someone would use thou rather than you, but it sort of just felt like those words were just thrown in to sound old-timey? and i get that it's a fantasy realm and so there are linguistic differences, but as a connoisseur of young english/elizabethan linguistic practices, it was driving me crazy

that being said, if we take the way thou is used in context at face value, it DOES open up a lot of really interesting avenues when looking at the cultural makeup of the lands that are. for example, ella uses "thee" when referring to the gods, implying that there is a sense of equality or even friendship between the gods of the realm and the citizens. what are the cultural implications of a society where people view themselves as being on the same footing as their deities? how do their deities retain a sense of power despite being viewed as equals?

long story short i loved the show and intense analysis is how i cope

[ndiebrioxhe]

Another Rambling post about Ascendance of a Bookworm:

BLUE - ORANGE MORALITY

(with minor digs at Harry Potter)

When I was younger I used to browse Tv Tropes and I really enjoyed looking at them describe things I noticed in media but didn’t have a name for. On a rare occasion, I would find a trope that I had no real reference for and one of those was “blue-orange morality”.

The concept of having a morality system completely divorced from our own that we can’t really judge it. Now it’s not like I have never seen like a series or text attempt to create a character or species that has different standards of morality but the issue I always had was, that the supposed “different moral standards” were always included as a contrast to a more recognisable real world standard - which meant it was framed from a real world standard anyways.

It is always seemed like one of two scenarios:

Scenario A:

Alien/Monster/Non-human: “Here is our horrifically barbaric practice that has no functional purpose to our society and entirely superstitious!”

Human/Humanoid 1: “That’s bad”

Human/Humanoid 2: “Oh that’s just their culture”

And its like no… the narrative framing still shows that is weird and barbaric and not at all a foreign concept which is it’s own morality system so divorced from our own. If we have to be advised not to judge it on our own standards, it can be judged by our standards.

Scenario B:

Olden Times!

Stories being set in a distant past/medieval times where there are different moral standards is not true blue-orange morality. They are just the worse models of current moral standards. We are not divorced from those at all. They are just uncomfortable to think about. Like, yes it is fucked for dudes to claim to be kings and murder thousands to maintain their power… but people weren’t super cool with massmurder back then either - it was just an inevitability due to the social economical problems. It’s like being a billionaire with hundreds of sweatshops now. Even with people who are cool with the system - we all know that shit isn’t our “moral standard” - it’s our uncomfortable reality. Pushing the setting back or forward a 1000 years doesn’t really change anything. Our countries’ leaders still go off to kill and exploit people to maintain power, they just don’t get crowns for it anymore.

And I don’t care if you chose to do this with fictional races and places, that is just set dressing. They still resemble human society as we know it.

So I just never really saw a series that really grabbed me as authentically blue-orange… just typically shades of grey.

But then I read AOAB… and I really saw the potential of blue-orange morality. And it was done well.

Now it might seem logical to treat Bookworm as a Scenario B.

After all, it’s literally nobles presiding over commonfolk and elizabethan era political drama… but heres the thing… the framing of Scenario B is based on understanding that some characters still fit our present mold of a good person:

caring

considerate

fair

just

humble

attractive (no literally)

would not murder babies

religious in the right way

And these characters are the ones we root for. The characters we aren’t rooting have qualities we do not desire

mean

selfish

powerhungry

bloodthirsty

unattractive

will murder babies

over zealous or cult-like

Like in a Scenario B you can’t show the main characters enslave children in a sweatshop and allow grown adult attendants put their hands on them - and still be the good guy. You can’t plan the purging of an entire faction and hold their children hostage under penalty of death - and be THE GOOD GUY . Can’t overtly tax a city to the bones and deny them the best possible harvest because the previous mayor annoyed YOU — AND EVER HOPE TO BE THE GOOD GUY.

Well you can in ascendance of a bookworm tho.

And the readers will agree with you.

And it’s NOT because readers can overly moralise the actions of main characters.

And it’s because unlike a Scenarios A and B which are just OUR WORLD where we are all AWARE that we don’t really need kings or billionaires and antiquated traditions that rely on human suffering for the world to work. AOAB is different

The world of AOAB is not our own. Nobles have more rights because the world explicitly requires their mana to function. Nobles are human plus. They are what rich people in the regular world pretend to be.

Remove the army, the wealth, the status of a king and he is commoner. AOAB Nobles are literally magic batteries that build cities, make harvests happen, keep the population safe from deadly magical creatures …like the yearly giant blizzard monster that won’t literally won’t let spring come unless you have an army of trained magical knights slay it. Without Nobles the world literally be a giant sandpit.

So right of the bat, the nobility are integral to society. You simply don’t live your life raised as a necessary part of the world functioning and not have a social structure that reflects that. Its our world turned on it’s head. All the commoners could die and all that means is the nobles have to do more work. Instead of rich needing the poor, the commoners need the nobles. Otherwise they rarely even interact. The commoners and nobles are almost different species.

And not like it’s particularly unfair on the commoners. Not having mana simply bars you from a lot of activities, duties and experiences. Hell, not having a lot of mana as someone born into a noble family arguably sucks more than being a commoner. Nobility is earned, not given. Being born into a noble family that doesn’t have the means to regulate your mana means you won’t even make it to age where you are considered a separate entity from your parents in that society. If you have enough mana to make it to the Royal Academy without getting sent to the temple and the ability to pass or even excel at the Royal Academy - congrats you are now an asset to your duchy and that includes the commoners inside it. Just make sure you don’t blunder and cause your own execution.

So if murder, classism, deception and greed aren’t necessarily immoral in AOAB, what is?

The only real way to be a labeled a bad person in AOAB noble society is to endanger your duchy and cause widespread problems. Which only means the real way to be immoral in AOAB is to be incompetent or to FAIL.

You might initially think The Veronica-Georgine faction are the antagonists because they try to murder a barely baptised child but the guardian trio literally admitted they had plans to kill her too. They are ones committing the most one sided mass murders in the series. Ferdinand being able to outmanoeuvre and manipulate his enemies in the ring of politics is considered a SEXY TRAIT.

So what’s the difference between the Florencia faction and the Veronica-Georgine faction? Easy. The V-G faction is DESTABILISING AN ENTIRE DUCHY WITH SHORTSIGHTED NOBLE BULLSHIT. And just escalates into the entire nation being in jeopardy… because the Ahrensbachian Archducal family keeps producing nobles that are profoundly worthless with no sense of noble duty. They are defective.

In the next paragraph, I’m just going to state something this legion of defective nobles did and the names of who did it/involved.

They don’t respect the authority or wisdom of nobles of higher rank so they disobey orders (Bezewanst, Veronica). They force already new brides on married nobles that ruin established marriages for no benefit besides sating their schoolyard fantasies on a whim (Gabriele). Their spitefulness and cruelty to one of the biggest archnoble families in the duchy has made the Ehnferestian faction politics a disaster (Veronica) and were forced to create an entire section of mednobles not even loyal to Ehnferest because archnobles rightfully disliked them (Shikikoza and Gloria). They’re such suck ups it endangered their own duchy’s stability to the point where their only options is an intermediate archducal candidate that was poorly raised by all metrics (Gieselfried). Ahrensbach archducal children are regularly raised to be puppeteered by the parents instead of independent thinkers (Detlinde). Which is a real fucking problem for duchies when you keep trying (and typically succeeding) in making these children the Aubs of duchies (Georgine).

Ultimately it comes down to the fact they believe in their ideological RIGHT as nobles over their ideological DUTY to prioritise their duchies running smoothly. And that leads them to overestimate their APTITUDE as nobles.

Which is REALLY telling when a little powerhouse is redefining what it means to be an accomplished noble and entire political career is to the benefit of Ehnferest. Which is why the Ehnferest archducal family and Florencia faction who prioritise the stability and growth of the own goddam duchy instead of their own personal grudges are the good guys.

Bad guys are bad because they are bad what they are supposed to be doing and the good guys are good because they focused on what they should be.

There’s even a moral gray zone which is “trying your best but not being enough” and the prime example of that is the current the royal family. The country is only in this sorry state because one prince allowed his ineptitude and thirst for power to spiral and cause the nation lose the most important tool, and now it has a king that was only ever raised as a vassal is struggling (impressively) to keep a nation that should have dried up to keep running… A shame his intel gathering is dogshit so he keeps making mistakes and even overlook things that could have solved the problem.

So the dynamic of magic and morality is baked in the worldbuilding and it’s doesn’t feel dumb that nobles have all this power but somehow DON’T really interfere the non magical inhabitants in the world on a grand scale. These features, not flaws.

It is so much better than making a magical world where wizards hide their shit IN non magical places but don’t interact with non magical humans and have poverty and slaves that do house chores despite HAVING MAGIC that handles that shit. And also celebrate non magical people’s holidays despite thinking non magical people are beneath them because despite the book apparently being about fascism being bad - it doesn’t address any of the core issues of it and even has extra issues layered on top!

AOAB doesn’t operate on regular morality so it’s not mind numbingly incongruent when bad things happen in the universe because the magic people choose to let it happen despite thinking it’s bad. Even tho nobles do not care about the commonfolk it would stupid if they hid magic from the non magical folk and even dumber if entire spinoffs were based in fighting to keep it secret. Having a series where the protagonists realise that a faction in their world is a problem and getting RID OF THEM? Imagine getting rid of people who are the problem instead of fighting them in a WAR and reading checking the epilogue and that faction caused the fascism is STILL THERE and children are scared to end up there?? WHY DOES SLYTHERIN STILL EXIST—

Anyways,,,

I haven’t had the pleasure of reading past the translated pre-pub myself, but from what I do know is the Ahrensbachian penchant for stupidity and shortsightedness in the pursuit of positions of power they couldn’t hope to manage effectively… while destabilising as much of the nation as possible continues and I can’t wait to read it.