#Princess of thieves

[piratesandjungles]

Keira Knightley as Gwyn, daughter of Robin Hood

Princess of Thieves (2001)

[ladystardustinblackjeans]

I have read/watched a lot of books/movies about a girl pretending to be a boy during my long career as a transmasc avid reader/movie watcher. And I don't mean stories that are out and proud and explicitly about a trans character. I mean the stories you would find in your public library in circa 2010, or on the second evening slot of the children's TV channel on a random thursday night.

And i generally like to judge these pieces of media by the metric of how much the protagonist doesn't return to life as a woman after the end of the plot. And so far only the Leviathan trilogy by Scott Westerfeld hasn't failed by that metric.

I also judge them by how much they don't make the protagonist give up on the aspirations and reasons they pretended to be a boy for in the first place, and while Leviathan trilogy takes the gold medal again i also want to add Princess of Thieves, the book about a medieval venetian girl i can't remember the title of, and monstrous regiment (which portrays having a choice as what gender you want to live at even after being discovered by the plot, shoutout to Terry Pratchett for real).

[princess-of-thieves-id]

14

Chapter 13

Arik is done talking to Diyan, now it's Inara's turn...

The room was dark as Inara lay on the bed in the room she was sharing with Arik, all the lights were off save for a small lamp in the corner that barely gave any light. Her head was aching, but not as much as her heart. She feared that her explosion of emotion at Noar would cause all kinds of problems between her and Arik. They were friends, it wouldn’t be too hard to figure out whose side he would take if forced. Arik would hate her for it if they got kicked off of the vessel at the next port. Noar probably was enraged she slapped and embarrassed him, thankfully at least it was not in front of anyone else. At the next port maybe she could get off and figure something else out to hide from her family and the soldiers that were no doubt hunting them. She would let Arik know he did not have to go with her if she left. He’d done enough for her, and she was sure that her words to his best friend would test his loyalties. It hurt to think of being rejected, but she had to be prepared for it. How could she compete with his best friend? She wasn’t even going to try to do that.

As she awaited Arik’s returns, her tears were making slow rivulets down her cheeks. Small damp spots were forming on the pillow under her head. When she had returned to the cabin, her clothing from dinner had been discarded and still lay in a heap on the shirt. Now she had clothed herself in one of Arik’s shirts. At least it smelled like him, even if it might be the last time she got to experience that. The longer that passed, the more certain she was that he would not return to the cabin that evening, or if he did, that it would not be a friendly encounter. The longer she lay alone in the room, the more her tears flowed and her heart ached. The only comfort she had was curling up into a ball, hugging herself.

With how quiet the room was, she could not miss the soft click of the door unlocking. It caused Inara to freeze, almost afraid to breathe. The desire to roll over and see the look on his face was great, but she also feared what it was that she would see.

When she had left Noar’s cabin, she knew that he had been enraged. Her mind had gone over what Noar’s conversation with Arik would have been like, how he would have phrased everything that had transpired and was said. The sound of the door closing once more cause her to pull her knees up tighter to her chest.

Had Noar twisted her words to mean things other than what she had said? Was it possible that he had told the truth? Was there much of a difference between the two as afar as how Arik would react? Her mind once more tumbled all the questions around as the silence stretched in the room. It was all she could do not to say something. Her jaw tensed, steeling herself against the harsh reaction she was sure to get.

The sight of Inara on the bed, the way she was laying, and her obvious upset sent a lightning bolt of rage through Arik. He had warned Diyan about upsetting her, and here she was beyond upset. The whole situation had his hands slowly balling to fists at his sides, maybe it was not too late for that promised broken jaw after all.

After careful consideration, however, he decided that Inara was the greater and more urgent need. Delaying further words with Diyan would change nothing; but leaving Inara alone in the room would causer her more upset. That was the last thing he wanted to do, quite the opposite.

It was with that in mind that he stripped off his boots and clothes, before climbing onto the bed. Her need for his comfort and reassurance was almost palpable in the air of the room, hanging like a fog in the silence that was still unbroken.

“Inara, my Princess, it’s okay. I’m back now. Shhh…” Arik kept his voice soft and low as he spoke to Inara. He was torn between curling up behind her and giving her physical space, trying to decide which she would prefer. In the end, he leaned up against the headboard, his fingers dancing lightly across her upper arm.

What exactly had transpired in Diyan’s room, he was not sure, but he was not going to press for more than she wanted to tell him. Arik felt out of his depth trying to understand how not to upset her more. Diyan had experienced more relationships, even if the majority of them were short lived. His motivation at the moment was only to reassure and comfort the woman who had his heart.

“I don’t know all that happened or was said. You’re not alone, I’m here and I will do anything you need.” Arik felt like he couldn’t breathe waiting for some form response from Inara. She had his heart, he’d realized it up on the bridge while waiting for that infernal date to be over. During the weeks of watching her from the shadows, he’d slowly fallen in love with her. She had professed that she was falling in love with him, but he had realized he had already fallen for her before they had even step foot outside of the castle. His only hope at the time was that Diyan had not done or said anything to cause her mind and heart to change, Arik was not sure what his actions would be.

“Arik?” Just his name felt like such an effort to say, her lungs feeling like they could not get enough air. It came out not as a question, but was more of a plea for him to understand what she was not saying. Tears once more threatened to fall, sobs feeling like they were waiting for one wrong move to begin again. Even if his words had been gentle and reassuring, his touch light and soft, Inara could not get the fear out of her brain that it was deception. She had seen the manipulation one human could do to another when wanting to cut someone deeper than a blade ever could.

There was something unspoken that the tone of her voice screamed at him. She needed his deeper reassurances and physical presence to assuage whatever fears that Diyan had caused to take hold in her mind. If that was what she needed, that was indeed what he would do for her.

Laying down behind her, his arms banded around her to pull her back against his chest. “I’m not going anywhere Inara. Your knight will always be here for you, my princess. Whatever is troubling you, you have nothing to fear when it comes to me.” A soft and loving kiss was planted on the top of her head.

[martiszcz]

--Princess of Thieves

I like that they went for two teenage girls and it is a nice character introduction.

[perplexingluciddreams]

Watching Princess of Thieves (2001)! It has Keira Knightley in it.

I have watched before. I remember liking the gender-ness of it last time.

The full film is available free on YouTube! 👍🏻

[nicteh]

Diana

Sailor moon 1992

Rei Hino, Sailor Mars

Inuyasha

Kikyo

The Hunger games 2012

Katniss Everdeen

Brave 2012

Merida

Prey 2022

Naru

Avatar 2009

Neytiri

Hawkeye 2021

Kate Bishop

The chronicles of Narnia 2005

Susan Pevensie

Princess of thieves 2001

Gwyn

King Arthur 2004

Guinevere

[friendrat]

Rewatched Princess of Thieves last night, and I realized that Gwyn and Philip have the same vibe as Danielle and Henry in Ever After.

[movies-to-add-to-your-tbw]

Title: Princess of Thieves

Rating: PG

Director: Peter Hewitt

Cast: Keira Knightley, Stephen Moyer, Malcolm McDowell, Stuart Wilson, Jonathan Hyde, Roger Ashton-Griffiths, David Barrass, Hannah Cresswell, Crispin Letts, Del Synnott, Brendan Gregory, Gaye Brown, Luke de Lacey, Peter MacQueen, Paul Ready, Peter Cellier

Release year: 2001

Genres: adventure, action

Blurb: Sherwood Forest has a courageous new hero - Gwyn, the daughter of Robin Hood. Possessing the cunning skills of her legendary father and the beauty and intelligence of her mother Maid Marian, Gwyn is anxious to follow in her father's footsteps. King Richard nears death, and Robin Hood and his Merry Men are summoned to help bring Richard's son Philip to his rightful place on the throne before the evil Prince John can assume power. Robin Hood's life and that of the future King of England soon lies in Gwyn's hands when Robin is captured and sentenced to death.

[cartoonfangirl1218]

Twisted Tales: Princess of Thieves Review

What if Maid Marian was the real outlaw?

Three years after her beloved uncle, King Richard, and best friend, Robin of Locksley went to war, and Maid Marian went to Paris for schooling, Marian is back. The war is over and her uncle promised her a spot on his council. But she is greeted at the docks by the Sherriff of Nottingham who informs her that King Richard is dead, Robin is a wanted man and Richard’s weak-willed brother is on the throne.

The kingdom isn’t in better shape as the villagers are destitute from the high taxes while King John feasts, naps and is advised by the sneaky Sir Hiss. Not on Marian’s watch. She may be relegated to her room thanks to Sir Hiss but that’s not going to stop her from aiding her beloved England.

This was a cute albeit predictable story where Maid Marian takes the reins of the Merry Men but not in the way you think. The subtitle is misleading as she doesn’t really live in the forest, shooting arrows with other fugitives.

Rather Mancusi takes a more realistic approach where Marian uses the castle’s secret entrances, and King John underestimating her because she’s a noble lady to sneak out and give stolen riches to the poor under the cover of night. In fact, it’s so realistic, that I nearly forgot they were all animals despite her mentioning it on every page.

Like Mancusi’s other Twisted Tales, she has a romance between Robin and Marian that plays out like a good regency romance. They are childhood friends who haven’t forgotten their promise to remember each other after the war. The spark is still there but Robin is haunted by his failure to save the King, and he doesn’t want to bring her into more danger. He doesn’t want to bring any of his merry men into danger so they’re content to stick it out in Sherwood Forest so the Sheriff won’t retaliate against their families.

It’s a reasonable switch that highlights Robin’s care for his friends and sense of duty while giving the more optimistic and headstrong Marian to strike out on her own to help the poor. She has less to lose than the men so she and the delightful nursemaid, Lady Kluck are able to practice their “badmiton” (sword training) and filch from the royal coffers. Unfortunately, Marian’s arc is rather static as she doesn’t have any flaws to overcome or big obstacles. It doesn’t help that beyond a few twists like the mystery of what really happened the night King Richard died, it plays pretty straight to the movie with Lady Kluck and Marian taking on the roles of Little John and Robin in the royal carriage robbery scene, and the archery contest. Like I wrote in the Conceal, Don’t Feel review, I looked forward to these tales as wild new takes on the source, complete AUs. This lack of depth to Marian or deviation to the story may also be due to the page time shared between Robin, the Sheriff, King John, Skippy and Tagalong’s POV that made this more of an ensemble novel compared to the other Twisted Tales.

In fact the whole plot is pretty close to Braswell’s take on the Robin Hood story in the Twisted Tales anthology so it feels really uninspired. So it’s a nice twist but not memorable as others.

3 bows and arrows.

[princess-ibri]

Is Gwynn the DisneyVerse version of both Gwynn from Princess of Thieves and Robin II from OUAT? Or Robin II is a different character in the DisneyVerse?

Yup! That was my basic idea yeah :)

[ladystardustinblackjeans]

Incomplete list of transmasc awakening movies for people who were kids in the 2000s and had the same taste in movies as me (and who were perhaps also discovering their attraction to women), and of transmasc awakening books for people who were kids in the 2000s and had the same taste in books as me (and who were perhaps also discovering their wish to be with men as a man and not a woman):

Stick it (with Melissa Peregrym)

Gwyn - Princess of Thieves (with Keira Knightley (of course))

Kick it like Beckham (the legendary Keira Knightley)

The pirates of the carribbean movie where Elisabeth becomes the pirate king (with Keira Knightley)

Leviathan trilogy by Scott Westerfeld (special feature and so far only one on this list: the protagonist keeps on living as a man at the end of the book, and while in a relationship with a man too)

That one book i read in my public library that had a girl run away to avoid being arrested, set in vague 18th century times, where she even cut her hair and temporarily worked as a maid with short hair towards the end of the book, and also kissed the guy she had been travelling with as a man and ended up together with him, abandoning her life as a man, a book i can't find anymore and can't remember the title of

Hawkmistress by Marion Zimmer Bradley (love the story except the ending where she disappointingly submitted back to normativity and life as a woman according to woman social roles after having escaped it, painting the very revolting and odd message of "the best you can hope for as a woman, and only viable option (despite showcasing several other options over the course of the story), is to find a husband who respects you enough to allow you a little freedom in addition to making you his breeding stock, because the aforementioned other options don't allow True Happiness As A Woman because they bar you from being in a truly fulfilling relationship with a man aka marriage with a man and running a household with him")

The one book i read in my library about a young girl in medieval venice who learned latin and writing at a jewish mans scribery and her twin sister covered for her and at the end she was discovered and disappointingly submitted back to normativity and life as a woman but at least not entirely according to woman social roles, however with a disgust inciting air of wisdom/"this is what's best for everyone" on the part of the author, except the part where she respected the culture of the jewish man she was in love with too much to make a mess of it and by extension his life by agreeing to a romantic relationship with him, which is also the only part of the ending the protagonist chose herself as the rest was out of the good will of those who hold authority over her as women were property at the times, and this fundamental constellation was not questioned by the story)

Merida (disney animation film)

Pope Joan (book)

Downton Abbey (Lady Mary specifically, i was quite disappointed by how her plot progressed in the next season after her bob haircut cliff hanger)

Lady of the Trillium by Marion Zimmer Bradley (for the sense of alienation while having companionship with a teenage boy and then man while feeling stuck and roo young and other yourself which honestly does relate to transmasc gender feelings)

Monstrous regiment (with the rather breathtakingly surprising side plot of the one officer who kept living as a man when he returned home as that was not an option i had thought would ever happen because it seemed and seems so forbidden in stories (unless it's explicitly a trans story, which monstrous regiment, for all it's very strong trans themes, was not at it's creation))

All of these books and movies i read/watched multiple times, and generally with a feverish sort of obsession, something i wouldn't realise the reason for until years later.

If you have more examples or thoughts about the ones i gave i would love if people added on!!

If you know the titles of the ones i explained but couldn't find anymore i would be eternally grateful!

[princess-of-thieves-id]

12

Dinner is over, what more could the night hold...

"See, that wasn't so bad was it?" Diyan sat back after they had finished eating.   Most of the meal had been in silence.   What wasn't, had been him apologizing to her and trying to get her to relax.  Arik was no doubt going to have a lot to say to him later.

"No, but now it is over and I will be returning to my cabin." It wasn't just the Captain that had her wanting to get out of there.  What he'd said about Arik’s words still had her heart aching.  

"Is there any way I could convince you to have coffee with me and talk for a bit?" He rose and walked over to offer her a hand to help her stand. "Nothing more. Just talk. We got off to a bad start and I upset you this evening.   I would like to remedy that."

Inara took his hand to stand then felt herself pulled closer to him.   She looked up into his face and saw what she thought to be sincerity.  "Noar, what are you hoping to accomplish with all of this?" She gestured to the table. "I've made my feelings clear. "

"Renisa," his hand not joined with hers rose to run his fingers down the side of her face softly, "you have.  I won't lie that I'd like to change those feelings." He stepped closer to her, seeing how far she'd let him go. 

"And this is what you think it would take to do that? A nice dinner and some seductive looks will make me forget that the man I am starting to care about is not in this room,  but up on the bridge?" Inara remembered what Noar had said about Arik not being with a woman like her, and had a feeling she knew why.  Noar stole them.

"Yet he didn't protest this dinner."  He closed the small space between them.  "He didn't declare you his.  Didn't tell me not to touch, hold, or kiss.  He said nothing of the sort." His fingers caressed her face as his drew nearer.

"In fact he didn't say not to do anything you might enjoy.  So what does that say?" He was going to kiss her.  As defiant as she seemed, she was going to let him.

"Is that so?" Inara’s heart hurt even if she knew why Arik might have done just as Noar said. She was trying not to get drawn in by those whiskeyed pools of Noar’s but it was hard with the way he was looking at her and the deep and seductive tone of his voice. 

"It is, Renisa.  He may care about you, but not enough to say anything." His voice deepened. His fingers danced across her skin.  Almost there…

The shove away from her and hard slap Inara delivered caught the Captain off guard.  "Maybe he was saving his breath.  Goddess knows you haven’t listened to me because it's not what you want to hear.   You say he hasn't had a woman like me? Maybe because you were too busy seducing them into your bed, or his other best friend, the asshole Prince, was."  Her eyes were narrowed and she was trying to control herself, her hands balled to fists as she shook lightly.   She was beginning to not believe a word of what Noar said, even if it stung.  Something felt off. 

"Now wait a minute, Renisa…" He was going to die.  Arik would kill him.

"No, you don't get to tell me what to do.  Throw me off at the next port if you have to, but I'm not some prize for you to try to win.  I’m not a rope for tug-of-war.  I've made it clear how I feel about your supposed best friend and you keep trying to seduce me and change my mind.  I'm done listening to you.  If I didn't know better I'd swear you were the asshole Prince Diyan who I was…" Inara’s anger had gotten the better of her and she'd almost given away who she saw.  Arik was going to be upset.  Her eyes widened as she realized what she’d just done and she backed up away from him more.  

Diyan felt he'd had all the air knocked out of him.   He was before her in one step, both her upper arms in his hands. "Who you were, what?"  His words came out sharper than he’d intended and his face was closer to hers, needing to know what she was about to say.  There was no way that she was going to finish the sentence the way he thought she would.

She huffed, trying to play it off. "That I loathe.  I owe you no explanations, Noar."  Her eyes narrowed and her voice dripped venom.  "The only difference between you and the Prince is at least he has royalty going for him.  You don’t, but otherwise your egos are the same size, as is your behavior.  I want nothing to do with either of you." She wrenched her arms free from him and all but ran from the room.  She knew he didn’t believe her lie.  There was no way he didn’t know.  Oh by the goddess and all the fates, what had she done!?

Diyan stood there trying to process what just happened.  Had he been hosting his fiance this whole time? The more he went back over Arik's words, the more that he became convinced he had; and that now he had made things even worse for everyone.

[roseunspindle]

Malcolm McDowell: What I've Seen Him in

Hidalgo - Major Davenport

Bolt - Dr. Calico

Captain Planet and the Planeteers - Zarm

Aladdin - Shaman

Batman: the Animated Series - Arkady Duvall

Spider-Man the Animated Series - Abraham Whistler

The Magic School Bus - Mr. McClean

Adventures from the Books of Virtues - Indra

Princess of Thieves - Sherriff of Nottingham

Teen Titans - Mad Mod

Phineas and Ferb - Grandpa Reginald "Reg" Fletcher

[psychicbluebirdmiracle]

Did this movie really just say england 1184 reign of Richard the lionheart lmaooo I'm dead

[heartbreakfeelsgoodinablog]

If you thought Robin Hood broke all the rules, wait until you meet his daughter!

[mysynonym]

my fav part about princess of thieves so far is that keira knightley can pass as a boy, truly anything is possible