#The Dowager

[touchmytimeladyghosts]

Why

Why on earth did I just realize that Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham named her son, Robert after her deceased younger sister, Roberta?

[elycetellsall]

if we had a daughter, i’d watch and could not save her

i’m telling you those redheads will get you

[guiiay]

alicent hightower post 2x6. someone check up on the dowager queen please

[thepastisalreadywritten]

27 September 2024

—

Dame Margaret Natalie Smith CH DBE (28 December 1934 − 27 September 2024) was a British actress.

Known for her wit in comedic roles, she had an extensive career on stage and screen over seven decades and is one of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actresses.

She received numerous accolades including two Academy Awards, five BAFTA Awards, four Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Tony Award as well as nominations for six Laurence Olivier Awards.

Smith was one of the few performers to earn the Triple Crown of Acting.

🖤🕯️🖤

[newts-gay]

where is my alicent “i shall have one of her son’s eyes in return” hightower?

where is my alicent “you may do as you wish husband, when i am cold in my grave” hightower?

where is my alicent “congratulations, stepdaughter. what a blessing this is for you” hightower?

where is my alicent “do keep trying ser laenor, sooner or late you'll get one that looks like you” hightower?

AND

don’t even get me started on alicent “bastard blood shed at war” hightower

she would have been way too powerful for anyone’s screen (especially with olivia’s brilliant performances) and tb stannies kept her from us

[nrthernsong]

Wands raised for you Maggie, a whole generation of kids have been raised to love and respect your work. We'll remember you forever. R.I.P Dame Maggie Smith 1934-2024 ❤️

[wonder-worker]

A central element of the myth of [Eleanor of Aquitaine] is that of her exceptionalism. Historians and Eleanor biographers have tended to take literally Richard of Devizes’s conventional panegyric of her as ‘an incomparable woman’ [and] a woman out of her time. […] Amazement at Eleanor’s power and independence is born from a presentism that assumes generally that the Middle Ages were a backward age, and specifically that medieval women were all downtrodden and marginalized. Eleanor’s career can, from such a perspective, only be explained by assuming that she was an exception who rose by sheer force of personality above the restrictions placed upon twelfth-century women.

-Michael R. Evans, Inventing Eleanor: The Medieval and Post-Medieval Image of Eleanor of Aquitaine

"...The idea of Eleanor’s exceptionalism rests on an assumption that women of her age were powerless. On the contrary, in Western Europe before the twelfth century there were ‘no really effective barriers to the capacity of women to exercise power; they appear as military leaders, judges, castellans, controllers of property’. […] In an important article published in 1992, Jane Martindale sought to locate Eleanor in context, stripping away much of the conjecture that had grown up around her, and returning to primary sources, including her charters. Martindale also demonstrated how Eleanor was not out of the ordinary for a twelfth-century queen either in the extent of her power or in the criticisms levelled against her.

If we look at Eleanor’s predecessors as Anglo-Norman queens of England, we find many examples of women wielding political power. Matilda of Flanders (wife of William the Conqueror) acted as regent in Normandy during his frequent absences in England following the Conquest, and [the first wife of Henry I, Matilda of Scotland, played some role in governing England during her husband's absences], while during the civil war of Stephen’s reign Matilda of Boulogne led the fight for a time on behalf of her royal husband, who had been captured by the forces of the empress. And if we wish to seek a rebel woman, we need look no further than Juliana, illegitimate daughter of Henry I, who attempted to assassinate him with a crossbow, or Adèle of Champagne, the third wife of Louis VII, who ‘[a]t the moment when Henry II held Eleanor of Aquitaine in jail for her revolt … led a revolt with her brothers against her son, Philip II'.

Eleanor is, therefore, less the exception than the rule – albeit an extreme example of that rule. This can be illustrated by comparing her with a twelfth century woman who has attracted less literary and historical attention. Adela of Blois died in 1137, the year of Eleanor’s marriage to Louis VII. […] The chronicle and charter evidence reveals Adela to have ‘legitimately exercised the powers of comital lordship’ in the domains of Blois-Champagne, both in consort with her husband and alone during his absence on crusade and after his death. […] There was, however, nothing atypical about the nature of Adela’s power. In the words of her biographer Kimberley LoPrete, ‘while the extent of Adela’s powers and the political impact of her actions were exceptional for a woman of her day (and indeed for most men), the sources of her powers and the activities she engaged in were not fundamentally different from those of other women of lordly rank’. These words could equally apply to Eleanor; the extent of her power, as heiress to the richest lordship in France, wife of two kings and mother of two or three more, was remarkable, but the nature of her power was not exceptional. Other noble or royal women governed, arranged marriages and alliances, and were patrons of the church. Eleanor represents one end of a continuum, not an isolated outlier."

[alicent-archive]

[costumersupportdept]

As someone who works/has worked professional wardrobe, this man is at Peak Worst Performer right here- he clearly didn’t hang his robe up, he’s got shit in his pants pockets, he’s forgotten his belt, like buddy, there is only so much we can do to save you before you get onstage. You have to *try*.

[galinneall-dearg]

TTTE Texposts Part 3 (Source)

[utilitycaster]

I do want to plug The Re-Slayer's take again if you're not listening: it's short and goes very fast (it's edited to have no real table-talk, so it plays like a scripted podcast even though it's actual play) and despite being all ages...think AT:LA or Doctor Who and how fucked up things can get. Also the core cast is great (I was already a fan of Jasmine Bhullar and William Jasper Cartwright but Jasmine Chiong has won me over as Farah, a cranky older blood hunter woman), they've had some great guests (those listening on the main feed - Christian Navarro is about to show up!), and some of the main cast of CR has shown up as very fun NPCs!

[clixsmxdernxs]

i do not care about anything else other than this BEAUTIFUL FACE wtf

WHAT THE FUCK literally what the fuck is that face

[elycetellsall]

they deserve everything and more

[pookiebearhelaena]

"and Helaena, my sweet girl"

Sometimes I wish that I could freeze the picture

And save it from the funny tricks of time

(requested by @lawolfe)

[fictonrantsworld]

Oh my beloved she's so scared😭😥🥺

[ladymarycrawleyofdownton]

1.04 Sybil’s new frock: the shock, the horror