#The house of mourning

[suzannahnatters]

all RIGHT:

Why You're Writing Medieval (and Medieval-Coded) Women Wrong: A RANT

(Or, For the Love of God, People, Stop Pretending Victorian Style Gender Roles Applied to All of History)

This is a problem I see alllll over the place - I'll be reading a medieval-coded book and the women will be told they aren't allowed to fight or learn or work, that they are only supposed to get married, keep house and have babies, &c &c.

If I point this out ppl will be like "yes but there was misogyny back then! women were treated terribly!" and OK. Stop right there.

By & large, what we as a culture think of as misogyny & patriarchy is the expression prevalent in Victorian times - not medieval. (And NO, this is not me blaming Victorians for their theme park version of "medieval history". This is me blaming 21st century people for being ignorant & refusing to do their homework).

Yes, there was misogyny in medieval times, but 1) in many ways it was actually markedly less severe than Victorian misogyny, tyvm - and 2) it was of a quite different type. (Disclaimer: I am speaking specifically of Frankish, Western European medieval women rather than those in other parts of the world. This applies to a lesser extent in Byzantium and I am still learning about women in the medieval Islamic world.)

So, here are the 2 vital things to remember about women when writing medieval or medieval-coded societies

FIRST. Where in Victorian times the primary axes of prejudice were gender and race - so that a male labourer had more rights than a female of the higher classes, and a middle class white man would be treated with more respect than an African or Indian dignitary - In medieval times, the primary axis of prejudice was, overwhelmingly, class. Thus, Frankish crusader knights arguably felt more solidarity with their Muslim opponents of knightly status, than they did their own peasants. Faith and age were also medieval axes of prejudice - children and young people were exploited ruthlessly, sent into war or marriage at 15 (boys) or 12 (girls). Gender was less important.

What this meant was that a medieval woman could expect - indeed demand - to be treated more or less the same way the men of her class were. Where no ancient legal obstacle existed, such as Salic law, a king's daughter could and did expect to rule, even after marriage.

Women of the knightly class could & did arm & fight - something that required a MASSIVE outlay of money, which was obviously at their discretion & disposal. See: Sichelgaita, Isabel de Conches, the unnamed women fighting in armour as knights during the Third Crusade, as recorded by Muslim chroniclers.

Tolkien's Eowyn is a great example of this medieval attitude to class trumping race: complaining that she's being told not to fight, she stresses her class: "I am of the house of Eorl & not a serving woman". She claims her rights, not as a woman, but as a member of the warrior class and the ruling family. Similarly in Renaissance Venice a doge protested the practice which saw 80% of noble women locked into convents for life: if these had been men they would have been "born to command & govern the world". Their class ought to have exempted them from discrimination on the basis of sex.

So, tip #1 for writing medieval women: remember that their class always outweighed their gender. They might be subordinate to the men within their own class, but not to those below.

SECOND. Whereas Victorians saw women's highest calling as marriage & children - the "angel in the house" ennobling & improving their men on a spiritual but rarely practical level - Medievals by contrast prized virginity/celibacy above marriage, seeing it as a way for women to transcend their sex. Often as nuns, saints, mystics; sometimes as warriors, queens, & ladies; always as businesswomen & merchants, women could & did forge their own paths in life

When Elizabeth I claimed to have "the heart & stomach of a king" & adopted the persona of the virgin queen, this was the norm she appealed to. Women could do things; they just had to prove they were Not Like Other Girls. By Elizabeth's time things were already changing: it was the Reformation that switched the ideal to marriage, & the Enlightenment that divorced femininity from reason, aggression & public life.

For more on this topic, read Katherine Hager's article "Endowed With Manly Courage: Medieval Perceptions of Women in Combat" on women who transcended gender to occupy a liminal space as warrior/virgin/saint.

So, tip #2: remember that for medieval women, wife and mother wasn't the ideal, virgin saint was the ideal. By proving yourself "not like other girls" you could gain significant autonomy & freedom.

Finally a bonus tip: if writing about medieval women, be sure to read writing on women's issues from the time so as to understand the terms in which these women spoke about & defended their ambitions. Start with Christine de Pisan.

I learned all this doing the reading for WATCHERS OF OUTREMER, my series of historical fantasy novels set in the medieval crusader states, which were dominated by strong medieval women! Book 5, THE HOUSE OF MOURNING (forthcoming 2023) will focus, to a greater extent than any other novel I've ever yet read or written, on the experience of women during the crusades - as warriors, captives, and political leaders. I can't wait to share it with you all!

[dimsilver]

this heartbreaking segment from the end of The House of Mourning by @suzannahnatters 🤝 Till We Have Faces

[zef-zef]

Album Art for:

Maurizio Bianchi & Telepherique - The House Of Mourning (Radiotarab, Cold Current Productions, 2006)

[starry-eyed-psychopomp]

Amity undercut, short-haired Willow, Raeda earring swap, Luz wearing the purple moon necklace, Aladarius real.

I’m satisfied tbh

[bixels]

I just saw one of your fave games is What remains of Edith Finch and I’m so happy! I feel like its a lesser known game but i loved playing through it. I’m so happy to know more than just my small friend group know about this game!

Sorry this isn’t a question. Also want to say that you’re art is amazing and the development of the designs is so interesting to see. Also the way you draw intimate scenes have so much emotion to them. I love the Aj and rarity kissing comic so much, you can just feel their love for each other ;w;

Thank you so much!

I highly, highly, highly recommend What Remains of Edith Finch to anyone interested in narrative game experiences/"walking simulators." It's one of those games that was handcrafted with nothing but love. Every room you explore is just... real. The way the light flows in and makes the colors of the living room, the kitchen, the bedrooms glow. Playing the game is like walking through your childhood home as an adult and seeing how the dust clings to everything you once touched. Also genius-level gameplay mechanics, ones that can make you completely empathetic with the character you're embodying or feel completely complacent in their tragedy. It's really not fair to call it a walking simulator because it's so much more and so much smarter than that.Everyone talks about the fish one.

The theme of death and memory and storytelling and the burden of invisible trauma and self-fulfilling prophecies is so affecting too. The ending made me cry.

[everydayesterday]

Some backyard birds in the late afternoon sun. Pretty decent lighting.

photos by me. 2024-03-13, Nashville, TN

[maladaptivewriting]

yall remember in canon when kreacher charged into battle against the death eaters yelling about fighting for regulus?

[diezmil10000]

i'm replaying fe3h :) have some dorogrid

[ellewod]

Aegon's doomed, haunted queen and mother to his children.

[notbecauseofvictories]

When I was younger, we had a clock in the garage that would sing bird calls every hour, instead of chiming or ticking or the regular things clocks do. (......I am fairly sure it was exiled to the garage by my mother, who hated the hollow, tinny sound of it.) Anyway, I mostly remember that clock because the mourning dove call was so distinctive---twoo, twoo, too too too, too too too. I can shut my eyes and hear that song, and it taught me to identify it with unerring precision, even though I couldn't pick out another birdcall to save my life.

To this day, mourning doves are one of my favorite birds. and when I caught sight of one perched delicately on my bird feeder I lost my ever loving mind and will take it as a sign of good things to come.

[suzannahnatters]

one of my favourite weird historical facts is that the Assassins once threatened Saladin by sneaking into his tent and leaving one of their distinctive knives on his pillow, along with two cakes of the bread only they made. "hi, these scones verify that we can kill you. bon appetit!"

(this weird medieval fact brought to you by the House of Mourning line edits, which I am nearly finished!)

[prince-aegon-targaryen]

Alicent after walking in on her son crying

[itsnotmourn]

breakfast date with a side of death glare

art trade with @eatyourmaker !! except i went overboard and made my part into a comic HEHE

fanfic below because i’m not sure how to alt text this without going overboard :’3

———————— A TREAT YOU DESERVE

“How about you tell me what you want for breakfast? My treat.”

Evermore places his hand on Rick’s back as he lets the tired man think.

It’s a cold winter morning. Although the sky is a nice blue, clear and clean, it is awfully windy, and even when the air is still, the cold bites when it can.

The mayor of this small simple town finds himself at the iron gates of a large, ivory-coloured house. In front of its grand exterior is a carefully tended garden of colours. Tall trees almost caress the walls but not quite; they barely reach the upper level windows.

Of course, it’s nothing that impressive compared to his one-of-kind home but… Evermore could consider it competition.

That’s a thought for another day.

“Hmm…” Rick stands still in thought. “Maybe… Well, pancakes are a nice idea,” he begins.

As the tired man tries to figure out his options, Evermore suddenly couldn’t help but feel something at the back of his head. Like a burning feeling. A very gradual one but it’s there.

Rick continues to muse, inattentive. “Or eggs. Like eggs on toast? But I can make that at home though.”

Internally, Evermore excuses himself and tunes out Rick for the moment, trying to find that burning feeling. It annoys him.

As he glances behind himself, he peers over the iron gate’s finials and above the young trees, beyond the finely trimmed garden, Evermore finally spots his problem.

At the house itself, facing the open streets, there is an open window with a woman there, holding a steaming cup.

It is a woman he knows very well; a relative of his partner, Rick. Carmen, one of the few people that could rival the greatest man himself, stands by the window with one of the most seething scowls she could ever give. A familiar look but seething nonetheless.

Evermore’s face scrunches slightly. Ough, he groans in his mind.

He knows too well what words that glare of her’s tell and Carmen doesn’t even need to say anything. It is one of those ‘do something wrong or you will get it’ looks. In this case, Evermore thinks it’s probably something like ‘treat him right or you die.’

“I don’t know,” Rick concludes. “I can have anything. I’m not picky.”

But Evermore knew that. That was in his plan from the start.

“I hear you,” the mayor finally answers to Rick. “I’ll get you all that you ask for.”

Rick blinks. “No, just one thing is fine.”

“Nonsense!” Evermore pats Rick’s shoulder assuringly. “It’s my treat and a treat you deserve.”

[homoqueerjewhobbit]

I'm allowed to make this joke, but I love that Jewish death rituals are like:

"Pfeh, for what should I spend $12,000 on a big fekakte box they see only for five minutes before they cover it with dirt?"

"Don't waste my good suit what might fit my nephew Lev if the bum should ever even try to get a real job!"

"Embalming? Don't mind me, I'll rot in the dark."

[pookiebearhelaena]

Our little army boy

Is coming home from B.F.P.O.

I've a bunch of purple flowers

To decorate mommy's hero

Mourning in the aerodrome

The weather warmer, he is colder

Four men in uniform

To carry home my little soldier

(Army Dreamers, Kate Bush)

[bietrofastimoff23]

An idea that has been spinning in my head for a long time.

(in book) towards the end of his life, Aegon gained enough strength to walk on his own with the help of a crutch. and I would kill i want to see the scene of his last walk through the castle, during which he is overcome by memories and for a few seconds the images of his loved ones come to life.

he hears the sounds of their voices, in the corridors he sees Jaehaerys laughing, running away from the nanny along the corridors, in Helaena's room he sees her singing for a giggling Maelor in her arms, in the window he notices a proudly smiling criston who approvingly slaps the shoulder of a joyful Aemond, who defeated him for the first time, in front of the entrance to the dining room there are images of the cargyll twins, hotly arguing about something. he opens the door and a picture flashes before his eyes of the dinner hosted in honor of Daeron's arrival. he sees his younger brother saying a toast with a wide smile on his face, next to him he notices the dark top of his uncle's head and a little further away the figure of his grandfather, on the other side of daeron sits Alicent, looking at her son with tender longing. this image didn't last more than a few seconds, but it was so vivid and full of life, as if everything was real now.

at the end of the journey through the past days of the rare serene happiness of the family, traces of tears and a bitter smile are visible on Aegon's face. the past has never let him go, but now he stops running away from it. for the first time in a long time, there is no struggle in his eyes, but quiet humility. he does not know the future, but he feels that this is the end of it. and he gives the order to take him to the sept in order to find peace in his last prayer in the name of the living and the dead.