#I MADE THIS POSE BTW EVERYONE SAY GOOD JOB ALE

[alelelesimz]

GRAP3FRUIT IS BACK FOR EDGEWAVE! ☆ GET READY TO PARTY ☆

thanks to @aniraklova for my fav event ever!

[becumsh]

It’s been four and half fucking years, I’m still on about this fucking character in this fucking show.

  Yes, it’s The Musketeers BBC, yes, I’ve been looking at the gifs of Cardinal Richelieu again, yes, yes, yes! aGAIN, I know, what can you do. I can’t escape this hellhole. I also need to stop re-watching my own fanvideos, it’s pathetic.

thoughts under the cut because I realise people don’t need this on their dash. No coherence, no sense, no logic, just random thoughts.

Idk, it’s been FOUR AND HALF YEARS, I still speculate over BBC Richelieu, I still speculate over historical Richelieu, somebody stop me. 

Before I say anything, let me preface. I watched The Musketeers solely for Peter Capaldi. And I stand until this day by the fact, that The Musketeers was filmed solely for Peter Capaldi.

idk what it is. Random thoughts, my view on the character?? idk it’s been so many years, it’s been so many thoughts.

- Dirty monk perv moments still make me cringe, but what can you do. The man dug the ladies irl, and we have to be thankful that we were spared that fucking Anne/Richelieu motif. I just wish there was more of Marie de Medici/Ricelieu moments, what would I give to have Marie de Medici trying to seduce him for old times sake. Also, perv Richeleiu and no Chevrette? Disgrace and waste of resources. But still, perv Richelieu is meh. (with Milady, ughhhh, get out)

I really liked Adele, I never quite grasped the point of her, even though I now understand why they introduced her (because women in this show are expendable and are used to amplify manpain and serve to further male character development). But in a way it, at least for me, makes Richelieu’s character even more complicated (thanks to stellar Peter Capaldi acting and no thanks to writers) because I see what the writers want us to see, but I also see what’s far more complex and interesting. The writers want to show that Richelieu is a pervy minister who’s ruthless and jealous and will kill his mistress for adultery, thus posing him as a villain who has no remorse and no mercy (mercy belongs to God, but you’re a Cardinal, God’s servant, Cardinal, ya know). I see that Richelieu is ruthless and shit, but he killed Adele not because she’s an adultress (partly, yes, because duh), but mostly because he can’t trust her, because she’s a traitor and a spy, who slept with his enemy and probably was passing secrets. He disclosed information about the King (being an immature idiot or whatever), I mean, that could get his head chopped off. I don’t think he thought much about Adele, she was young and stupid, but she was a distraction, a human version of a pet. And boom, she betrays him like all other very rare people. Also you get Aramis, him wanting only unattainable, being a romantic, and an all-rounded wanker, but I honestly don’t care about him.

Also I can’t fucking believe that Adele Bessette was given a surname and Marguerite wasn’t. (YES I WILL BE SALTY ABOUT LADY MARGUERITE ALWAYS, IN EVERY FUCKING POST, EVEN IF SHE’S COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT TO THE SUBJECT, S T I L L S AL T Y)

- Also his relationship with Milady? I absolutely love their deadpan snarky dynamic, but his neglectful manner with her is sad.

I still see that if they were more more open with one another (and Richelieu not being a blind arsehole), they would have this very tenuous understanding of one another, because they are very much alike in some sense. Milady is all about surviving whereas Richelieu’s motives a more selfless. However he does know a lot about surviving even if it’s less backstabbing and crawling around Paris underbelly and more intruiging and avoiding being poisoned or assassinated. They are people who can be at their darkest around each other, and I think it’s such a beautiful and complex dynamic. And also because Milathos is such a blatant parallel to Trevilieu, and I’m a cheap trash for both.

And thing is, Richelieu in s1 doesn’t understand Milady at all. She has such a well-crafted persona of seductive murderess that even Richelieu can’t crack her exterior, because inside of it hides a very vulnerable girl who has to claw her way in order to survive (s2 is all about Milady, s3 can choke for ruining her redemption and character development arc). He thinks she’s a murderess and a spy because she likes it, but it’s only her means to survive. (”We’re already in hell; don’t you recognise it?” scene is jsut!!!!)

But I still think that Milady respects Richelieu for at least being selfless on some level, I don’t think Milady is much of a patriot, but still. She might even believe in what Richelieu does. Another interesting thought for another day. If Treville didn’t turn her down, they’d be a dream team (yet again, s3 can fucking choke).

- Richelieu is so fucking lonely.

No, like, really. If you take ONLY BBC!Richelieu, he’s so fucking lonely. It’s not reflected on the show enough, but man. His mistress betrays him, he has to kill her. His pal from the past came only to assasinate him. Marie de Medici comes along and reminds him why he’s indispensable (because without him s2 and 3 happen, lbr). the Anne’s assassination attempt reminds him that he can fuck up and he better be less demented (although how quick he’s to get up from that blunder because the musketeers are fucking idiots is satisfying as hell). And the entire show just pushes and pushes the idea of Richelieu being that lone warrior who fights invisible battles. You cannot see him as a villain (okay, the viewers and ann*mis stans probably can, I can’t) because everything the titular characters fight for, that pride and honour to die for king and country - they have the King and country to die for thanks to Richelieu.

“Everything I did, I did solely for the interest of France”, “I’m also the First Minister of France, in matters of religion I defer to Rome, in all else I’m my country’s servant”, “I alone will face the truth that no one else can stomach” - that line especially gets me because that line wasn’t about Queen’s assassination attempt, it was about everything he’s ever done for France and as always, he only got hate and contempt for it. Porthos was “why do you need more power” and it’s so wrong because Richelieu never needed more power. He’d already made himself indespensable, Anne asking him to look in the eyes of the woman he tried to kill - absolutely fucking pointless, he’d kill her again if necessary. I agree, that was the first and the last empowering moment Anne had ever had on the show, and I fucking adore it, but still. He’s despised by virtually everyone sans Louis who sees him as an emotional crutch and a father figure who will magically solve all of his problems.

s1 was focused on Richelieu becoming less and less accountable for his shit. In ep7 he explicitly stated that ‘No person, no nation, no God will stand in his way’. And his way is to make France the greatest country in Europe.

Before ep7 the only one who could judge Richelieu was God. No Ninon de Larroque, no Fleur, no musketeers (absolutely ludicrous, as if he remotely cares what they think about him). After that, after what Vatican tried to do with him, Richelieu goes ham and just goes ‘Fuck it, fuck it all, fuck my unbalanced account with God. I’m going to Hell anyway, so I just might murder the Queen, because what do I have to fucking lose. Not even God will judge what I do, so screw everyone, I’m gonna fucking do my job, and if you have qualms about it - fuck you.’

(Treville on the other hand, btw, feels VERY accountable and he feels that he deserves Aramis’ and Marsac’s bashing for Savoy, but it’s not a post about Treville)

Cleverer move would be asking a divorce from the Pope (but Richelieu pretty much fucked up his relationship with the Pope in ep7, but that’s another question) like Henri IV did with Marguerite Valois, or frame Anne for adultery (that would be easy-peasy lemon squeasy, she hadn’t shagged Aramis yet, but to forge the evidence would be easier that stealing a lolly from a toddler). But blame BBC, not Richelieu, that’s all I’m saying. 

Everyone wants a prosperous and powerful France, no one wants to get their hands dirty, so Richelieu ends up doing it all and getting the hate for it. And it’s the hypocrisy of the future seasons I find repulsive (don’t even get me fucking started), but even in s1 it’s very fucking sad. No one wants to get their hands dirty, everyone wants to gush about France and maintain their white cloak of innocence. Yet no country was built by good men, because good men don’t have the stomach for things that have to be done.

Anyway. My point, Richelieu is very fucking lonely and he’s doing a very fucking lonely job.

- Honestly if s2 was with Richelieu, the only thing I can think of is trevilieu? Considering it being far darker and more politics-involved (gracefully done or not is another question entirely, s3 can still fucking choke, it does not fucking exist in my universe), there would be far more episodes where Treville and Richelieu are forced to work together and where Treville realises Richelieu’s means to an end. Fucking hell, all of the episodes would have them working together. Louis was kidnapped. That gun powder. The entire Court being held by demented conman obsessed with glasses and astronomy. Spain ambassador. GOD. JUST IMAGINE.

And I’m not saying it JUST because I ship them, it’s because it would be really interesting. Richelieu would probably find an ally in Treville, because he could share at least some of the burden with Treville. Treville would revisit his views on politics and stuff, because if anything, s2 showed that even though you don’t want to get your hands dirty and even though you want to remain clean and innocent and honorable - if you love your country, if you love your King, there’s no other choice BUT to get your hands dirty. Richelieu would probably see Treville’s side of things - murdering people sometimes is necessary, but not all the time.

And because I’ve already said, Peter Capaldi left a Cardinal Richelieu-shaped hole in the show in his wake because the show was focused on Cardinal Richelieu and Peter Capaldi stole the show, basically, *shrug emoji*

- Honestly [2], Duchesse d’Aiguillon would make The Musketeers 1000000 times better. No perv Richelieu, because there would be no Adele (Aramis can find another way to have an establishing moment, the one that doesn’t deem women as expendable and serviceable only to man’s character development). Richelieu wouldn’t be so fucking lonely. There would be leverage on Richelieu because the Duchesse is his Berserk Button, fight me on this. Ninon de Larroque sucks because many ladies had reading salons, no need to be so fucking pretentious about it. But I’ve talked about it already. More Court intrigues. Better show.

/

I wanted to talk about my view on fanon Richelieu in trevilieu, but the post is so fucking long lmao.