#meanwhile he was on the Tudors

[historyartthings]

Cromwell?? Actually styled in colour???? Not black???

[spending-life-pretending]

started reading the lymond chronicles and I truly have no idea what’s going on but I do like the funny words this guy is speaking to me

[wonder-worker]

“Edward IV was never the sole, undoubted representative of the kingship before I47I. The crowned, anointed and, most important, de facto king of nearly forty years standing, was still alive, never abdicated and was never deposed; he was free until I465 and safe thereafter so long as his heir was beyond Edward's reach ... Barnet, Tewkesbury and the prompt murder of Henry VI, the moment it was safe to do so, alone changed all this and secured Edward's de facto kingship at last. The 'first reign' was in fact the road to the throne.”

- B.P Wolffe, review of “Edward IV” by Charles Ross

[llyfrenfys]

PLEASE TELL US ABOUT Y DDRAIG TRAWS!

Certainly! I'm more than happy to oblige.

First though I'm gonna need to tldr: the history of Y Ddraig Goch before we get onto the (accidentally) canonically trans part.

A brief history of Y Ddraig Goch:

(The modern Welsh flag)

Y Ddraig Goch first appears in the tales of the Mabinogi (Charlotte Guest version) in the tale of Lludd and Llefelys where it is fighting a white dragon. The fight is also described/expanded upon in the c. 829 AD text Historia Brittonum (attributed to Nennius) - where the red dragon represents Wales and the white dragon represents the Anglo-Saxons. In the story the red dragon triumphs over the white. Of course, Geoffrey of Monmouth also covers the story c. 1136 in Historia Regnum Brittaniae in which he introduces the concept of the red dragon heralding the arrival of King Arthur.

Geoffrey of Monmouth claims Arthur used a banner featuring a golden dragon. But we also know the accuracy of Monmouth can be questionable at times. Owain Glyndŵr did use a banner with a golden dragon called Y Ddraig Aur - raised in 1401 at Caernarfon - Glyndŵr chose this banner as a nod to the supposed banner of Arthur and his father.

Later on the Tudor monarchs (being a Welsh family) adopted a red dragon on a white and green background in their heraldry. Eventually Y Ddraig Goch on a white and green background became the official badge of Wales in 1800. The design became the official flag of Wales in 1959.

Y Ddraig Traws:

Now for the thing you're all here for -

So, as outlined, the history of the dragon as a national symbol of Wales goes back a long way. If we're just talking post-1959, there's some interesting implications for Y Ddraig Goch's depiction.

This is what the Welsh flag (and Y Ddraig Goch) looked like in 1959 when it was officially adopted as the flag of Wales. It looks broadly the same as the first flag and has some common features - such as not having a penis (or, as in the correct heraldic terminology - a pizzle). Meanwhile, in the arms of the Tudors (specifically Henry VII)

(Tudor dragon with pizzle) vs (dragon on the flag of Cardiff - pizzleless)

the penis is almost always included. So much to the point that the present royal family still includes the penis. While pretty much 0 depictions of the dragon in Wales include a penis. So you could interpret this as the dragon is seen as male only by the British royal family and as female everywhere else (which kinda implies that at some point the Tudor dragon had an mtf transition in Wales and she keeps getting misgendered by the royal family every time she is depicted in (mostly) England).

So much to the point that in 1995 this pound coin was made by the Royal Mint featuring the pizzle on the dragon with all four feet touching the ground as opposed to standing up (passant rather than rampant).

But in Wales you'd be hard pressed to see a pizzled dragon anywhere. Ergo, we can only conclude Y Ddraig Goch is trans and she transitioned in Wales and keeps getting misgendered in England.

[note: This is mostly tongue in cheek - but I do think it's fun to extrapolate that the Welsh dragon is trans because of the differences in depiction between Wales and England. Like many things Welsh, it is misrepresented by England and the idea of the Welsh dragon being misgendered only in England is, I think, a good metaphor for a whole lot of English treatment of Wales.]

Unrelatedly, there is a gay Welsh flag held at the National Museum of Wales which has a very wonky dragon which I find very endearing.

(cleaned up version I made)

So much so I made it an emoji in my Welsh bilingual LGBTQIA+ Discord (requirements for joining are - be 16+, either speak or are learning Welsh and identify as LGBTQIA+ in some way. Dm for link!).

(triaist ti 'you tried' emoji)

~ Completely unrelatedly ~ never forget the time someone was trying to homophobic to me by suggesting that I was disrespecting all the soldiers who died 'for the Welsh flag' by making it rainbow colours and not red - arguing that any change of colour of the dragon was disrespectful. Reader, my bus pass at the time for Mid Wales Travel had a purple dragon on it.

[gulnarsultan]

Hii, i have a writing request about the tudors :) Reader is henry 8’s first n true love but couldn’t marry that time cuz of family. He meets the reader again after Anne’s execution n break up with Jane to marry the reader who is now a widow with a small child. Reader is horrified and disgusted at how he treated his wives n fears for her life, she no longer wants to be near the man she once wholeheartedly loved. Henry tries to win back her love n remind her of the time they were deeply in love but she refuses. He desperately tries to reassure he would never treat her like her predecessors, he can’t even imagine hurting her. Reader’s child is scared of him too n he tries to win over the child to win back readers love and trust. He wants reader to marry him out of love not fear

Hello darling. I love writing about the Tudors. Thank you for sharing this beautiful idea with me. I hope you like it. 💫

"Scenario"

The love between Henry and the reader goes back to their childhood. They both always promise each other that they will get married when they grow up. However, the changes brought by fate cause this promise to be broken. Years pass, Henry's three daughters marry. Meanwhile, the reader had been married once and became the mother of a son. However, her husband died years ago. After his third divorce, Henry turns to his first and only love, the reader. He wants to marry the reader and make your reader Queen. But now the reader is disgusted and afraid of the man she fell in love with years ago. Frankly, it is not surprising that he is afraid. Henry's first move is to try to gain the boy's approval. Because the child is also afraid of Henry. After a few months, Henry finally gains the boy's trust and approval. But the reader is very insistent on not getting married. However, Henry is not a man who will give up easily. There are a few alternatives for the ending of the scenario. (In my opinion.)

1.Henry really gets the reader's approval.

Henry forces his reader to get married.

Henry respects the reader's decision. He keeps his love in his heart. It leaves your reader alone.

[queer-ragnelle]

Camelot (2011) | Created by Michael Hirst & Chris Chibnall

Arthurian Film List | Arthurian Show List | Movie review below the cut ⤦

Star Rating: 10/10

Content Warning: graphic nudity & sexuality, heavy gore, torture, rape

Overview: Full disclosure, I'm hella biased. I watched this every week while it aired back in 2011. But having re-watched the series again numerous times since then, I stand by my love for it. If there was anything I would add, it would be dogs. Where are the puppies?! The costume designer for this show went on to win awards for her work on The Tudors, all the acting is prenominal, the set designs, the score and sound design, the writing is just insanely good. Even when I don't agree with all narrative choices, I'm convinced to appreciate them here. Eva Green is by far my favorite Morgan and James Purefoy my favorite Lot. I wasn't born queer, their intense sex scenes with blood oaths and body hair queerified me. Who said that. Anyway the biggest thing to praise about this show is how abundantly and well it centers women's stories. Igraine, Guinevere, Morgan, Vivian, Sebile, Bridget. You're all really amazing. I support women's rights and women's wrongs.

Synopsis: Morgan returns from her many years at the nunnery and is immediately rejected by Uther and her step mother Igraine. She vows vengeance and returns to the castle later in the guise of a child to secretly poison the king. As Uther lays dying, Merlin gets him to sign over his kingship to the son he never met. The show then transitions to Arthur, who has been raised along side foster-brother Kay by their loving parents in ignorance they are not fully brothers. Merlin shows up and spills the beans, taking Arthur and Kay with him to Camelot, an old crumbling castle they need to rebuild as the center of a great city. There, Uther's old knights, including Lancelot Leontes and his fiancée Guinevere, wait for them. Meanwhile Morgan turns castle Pendragon inside out to remake it for her own liking, including bringing on Vivian as her messenger and handmaiden, and Sebile the nun as her advisor. She also allies herself with King Lot intending to claim the throne of Britain for herself. Morgan and Arthur must battle for the right to take their father King Uther's place.

Final Thoughts: This show really has it all. It's a tragedy it was cancelled after a single season. There was so much set up that will never get pay off. I cry every day. The homoeroticism between Kay and Gawain going unfulfilled haunts me. Read Exiled From Camelot by Cherith Baldry to get your fix but damn I'm so sad we didn't see more of them in a second season. HUGE SPOILERS FOR THE ENDING but it set up that Guinevere was pregnant with Galahad and would take the bloody seat of the Round Table where Leontes was meant to sit, meanwhile Morgan was pregnant with Mordred in a last bid for power after she was finally revealed to Arthur as a threat. GO WATCH!!!!!!!

[heather123fan-blog]

My Lady Jane 2024

I just finished episode 1 of My Lady Jane with my mom. I usually can't get her to watch Tudor historical dramas with me and she thought this one was pretty bizarre. I'm loving it so far though. It's an action-packed adventure. Love the fantasy setting! The actor playing Guildford Dudley is adorable. Edward Bluemel looks so much like Jacob Avery who portrayed him in Becoming Elizabeth. He's getting the hot, sexy, romantic male hero treatment. Meanwhile, Jane Grey is the sassy, book smart, rebellious princess. I'm just crushed Robert hasn't appeared yet.

[mckinleygirl98]

i know every single thing imaginable about john wilkes booth like his family EVERYTHING

i'm typing this from memory so please bear with me. it's my favorite fact:

Did u know once when Booth was a kid, they were very poor living on their farm, and their mother had gone down to Baltimore for a week or two to get groceries. It was Asia, Rosalie Ann (the eldest sister) and John Wilkes. Edwin was acting in California and ballin' while his family was still at Tudor Hall... not ballin'.

So anyway they're sitting around and they don't have any food. Suddenly a VISITOR. Two ladies on horseback come to visit. Friends of their mother. By the way, the servants were all on a bible study trip so they had ONE kid there helping. They sent him to put away Wilkes' horse. Rosalie and Asia pretended he was on the farm working and they started entertaining the guests with talking. Wilkes meanwhile sneaks into the kitchen and starts cooking PANCAKES. THIS IS ALL THEY HAVE, GUYS.

So anyway, the visitors are RAVENOUS and they run out of pancakes fast. Rosalie is like "OHHH HAHA the SERVANTS are so SLOW today (wink wink at Asia, who says she's gonna go get the "servants"- Wilkes.) The ladies are like "oh, we can get them for you" and the Booth sisters are like "NOOOO JAHAHAAAJA there's a DOG in the KITCHEN who will bite you."

So anyway at the end of the day John WIlkes "came in from work on the farm" and talked to the ladies about flowers and they rode off into the sunset. and that's my fav story of the flop Booth siblings. You can read about it on lincolnconspirators.com

[fideidefenswhore]

it is funny that everytime you get to the thomas seymour part of any tudor biography every author is invariably is like oooo, thomas was so handsome and charming, all women found him sooooooo irresistible........meanwhile, real ones know that he proposed to mary howard fitzroy thrice and she rejected him...thrice <3

[dragoneyes618]

Curtains were not for windows, they were for beds. The owner of a curtained bed as  lucky indeed. A room within a room - warm, dark, and private -a four-poster, curtained and canopied bed was one of the most sought after and highly prized household items in Tudor times. After bequests of landholdings and cash, eds were often the very first thing upon the minds of those making their wills. Shakespeare's famous bequest of his second-best bed to his wife, Anne, is sometimes seen as a slight, a symbol of a broken relationship, but I doubt that Anne or anyone else in the family saw it like that. Although his best bed went to his married daughter, he made sure that his wife would be warm and comfortable in her later years.

Many people have spent a night in a four-poster bed at a hotel, and some may have one at home, but they are unlikely to have got the full benefit from it within a modern building. Think instead of a Tudor room, which would have been draughty even if there was glass in the window frame. Tudor houses rarey had corridors, and access to rooms was generally through other rooms, so people would wander through now and again, and servants and children would be asleep on other beds within the same room. Even within larger, wealthier homes, few people had a room to themselves. With no separate servants' quarters (that was a later architectural development), some of the largest houses had the most crowded bedrooms. A house's occupants were more likely to be divided according to sex rather than social class, with male children and servants in one room and female children and servants in another. You, meanwhile, are tucked up inside your own private tent of thick, usually woollen, curtains, which muffle the sounds of other people's snores, allow a fug of warmth to build overnight, and keep away prying eyes and ears.

- How To Be A Tudor, Ruth Goodman, pages 2-3

[scotianostra]

On May 28th 1503 a Papal Bull was signed by Pope Alexander VI confirming the marriage of King James IV and Margaret Tudor and the "Treaty of Everlasting Peace" between Scotland and England.

From an early age, Margaret was part of Henry VII’s negotiations for important marriages for his children and her betrothal to James IV of Scotland was made official by a treaty in 1502 even though discussions had been underway since 1496. Part of the delay was the wait for a papal dispensation because James’ great-grandmother was Joan Beaufort, sister of John Beaufort, who was the great-grandfather of Margaret Tudor. That made James IV and Margaret Tudor fourth cousins, which was within the prohibited degree. Patrick Hepburn, the Earl of Bothwell, acted as a proxy for James IV of Scotland for his betrothal to Margaret Tudor at Richmond in January 1502 before the couple was married in person.

James was dashing, accomplished, highly intelligent and interested in everything, James IV of Scots enjoyed himself with mistresses while manoeuvring to secure a politically useful bride, so the marriage was not just an "English thing".

Our King was 30, his bride was what has been described as "a dumpy 13 year old".

I'll dip into the "newspaper" of the day in Grafton's chronicle the following was written....

"Thus this fair lady was conveyed with a great company of lords, ladies, knights, esquires and gentlemen until she came to Berwick and from there to a village called Lambton Kirk in Scotland where the king with the flower of Scotland was ready to receive her, to whom the earl of Northumberland according to his commission delivered her." he went on "Then this lady was taken to the town of Edinburgh, and there the day after King James IV in the presence of all his nobility married the said princess, and feasted the English lords, and showed them jousts and other pastimes, very honourably, after the fashion of this rude country. When all things were done and finished according to their commission the earl of Surrey with all the English lords and ladies returned to their country, giving more praise to the manhood than to the good manner and nature of Scotland."

Not exactly flattering words!

The wedding finally took place for real (after several proxy marriages) on 8 August, 1503 at Holyrood House in Edinburgh. Margaret was officially crowned Queen in March 1504. The Scottish poet William Dunbar wrote several poems to Margaret around this time, including “The Thistle and the Rose”, “To Princess Margaret on her Arrival at Holyrood”

Now fayre, fayrest of every fayre,

Princes most plesant and preclare,

The lustyest one alyve that byne,

Welcum of Scotlond to be Quene!

Margaret was apparently homesick and not happy in her early days in Scotland, but the couple settled down to married life, there first child, James was born four years later, he died within the year, their second, a daughter fared little better she never survived a day. In 1309 another son only lived to be nine months old, such was the difficulties of trying to produce and heir, it's a wonder the human race survived, what with mortality rates being so high in the nobility, one only wonders how high it would have been for the ordinary citizen of Scotland?

Meanwhile Margarets father passed away and Henry VIII took the throne.

Margaret’s next child was born on April 11, 1512 at Linlithgow and named James. He survived childhood and was to become King James V and father of Mary.

As for "Treaty of Everlasting Peace" it lasted around 10 years, in the first few years of Henry VIII’s reign, the relations with Scotland became strained, and it eventually erupt in 1513, when Henry VIII went to France to wage war, this invoked The Auld Alliance and James IV, Henry VIII's brother-in-law marched his army into England only to be disastrously cut down on September 9th at Flodden Field, with too many of our Scottish Knights to count. The Queen gave birth to another son, Alexander the following April, but things would turn sour for her.

Margaret, then regent, remarried into the powerful Douglas family, the Scottish Parliament then removed her as Regent a pregnant Margaret fled Scotland in 1515, her sons were taken from her before she left. She was given lodgings by her brother at Harbottle Castle, where she gave birth to daughter, Margaret Douglas, who herself played a big part in Scottish history, becoming mother to Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley.

That wasn't the last we had seen of Margaret Tudor though, she returned to Scotland with a promise of safe conduct in 1517 but her marriage to Douglas was a disaster, he had taken a mistress while she was in England.

In 1524 Margaret, in alliance with the Earl of Arran, overthrew Albany's regency and her son was invested with his full royal authority. James V was still only 12, so Margaret was finally able to guide her son's government, but only for a short time since her husband, Archibald Douglas, came back on the scene and took control of the King and the government from 1525 to 1528. This would all come back to bite the ambitious Douglas family in the bum

In March 1527, Margaret was finally able to attain an annulment of her marriage to Angus from Pope Clement VII and by the next April she had married Henry Stewart, who had previously been her treasurer. Margaret's second husband then arrested her third husband on the grounds that he had married the Queen without approval. The situation was improved when James V was able to proclaim his majority as king (he was 16 at the time) and remove Angus and his family from power. James created his new stepfather Lord Methven and the Scottish parliament proclaimed Angus and his followers traitors. However, Angus had escaped to England and remained there until after James V's death.

Margaret's relationship with her son was relatively good, although she pushed for closer relations with England, where James preferred an alliance with France. In this, James won out and was married to Princess Madeleine, daughter of the King of France, in January 1537. The marriage did not last long because Madeleine died in July and was buried at Holyrood Abbey. After his first wife's death, James sought another bride from France, this time taking Marie de Guise (eldest child of the Claude, Duc de Guise) as a bride. By this same time, Margaret's own marriage had followed a path similar to her second one when Methven took a mistress and lived off his wife's money.

On October 18th 1541, Margaret Tudor died in Methven Castl. probably from a stroke. Margaret was buried at the Carthusian Abbey of St. John’s in Perth. Although Margaret's heirs were left out of the succession by Henry VIII and Edward VI, ultimately it would be Margaret's great-grandson James VI who would become king after the death of Elizabeth.

[queenmarytudor]

Mary I's Fight For The Throne

19th July - Mary organises her army

After hearing of the Earl of Oxford's defection, Mary sends him a letter of thanks, with a commission to "make provisions for six days victualing and come through with a speed." 1 She also orders six days worth of food from Great Yarmouth 2, and 300 quarters of malt to be brewed in Ipswich 3.

Due to lack of money she cannot afford to pay all the wages for soldiers in her growing army, but orders "where captains in every band shall perceive any soldier lacking money, his captain shall relieve him with so much as his discretion shall think good, but in such sort that it appears not otherwise but to be of his own liberality." 4

Her army is slowly growing more disciplined under the instruction of the Earl of Sussex, but they need more bows and arrows. Mary and her council send to Norwich for them, promising the city "shall receive money presently" 5 for them.

After hearing the army is ready and eager to do battle, Mary sets a day "when she would come from the castle to view and muster her army, and gratify her soldiers, who deserved so well of her, with her presence. Consequently at the queen's command issued through a trumpeter, 20th July was assigned for the inspection." 6

Meanwhile...

Henry Neville, Lord Abergavenny and Sir Thomas Wyatt (of Wyatt's rebellion) write to the gentlemen of Sussex, requiring them to proclaim Mary queen and denouncing "the lady Jane, a queen of a new and pretty invention." 7

Jane Grey acts as godmother to Edward Underhill's child, a son named Guildford in honour of her husband. 8

The Privy Council meet in private and agree to proclaim Mary queen. 9

The Imperial ambassadors are visited by the Earl of Shrewsbury and John Mason from the Privy Council. They inform them that "Though it had been said that the late King Edward's devise touching the succession had received the assent of the Council, only three or four of them had given their willing consent, and the rest had been compelled and treated almost as if they were prisoners." 10 They reveal they are planning to proclaim Mary queen.

Around 4pm, Mary is proclaimed Queen of England, France and Ireland around London. 11

When the Duke of Suffolk hears what the Council have done, he "went to the Lady Jane, who was at supper, and tore down the canopy, saying no more than that it was not for her to use it, for her position permitted her not to do so. When the Lady Jane heard of the Council's determination, she replied that she would give it up as gladly as she had accepted it; she knew that the right belonged to Queen Mary." 12 The Duke then rushes to proclaim her himself on Tower Hill. 13

At nightfall, Northumberland retreats back to Cambridge. 14

Sources:

1. Acts of the Privy Council, Vol 4

2. Acts of the Privy Council, Vol 4

3. Acts of the Privy Council, Vol 4

4. Acts of the Privy Council, Vol 4

5. Acts of the Privy Council, Vol 4

6. Vita Mariae Angliae Reginae of Robert Wingfield

7. A Guide to the Manuscripts in the Grenville Library

8. Tudor Tracts

9. Spanish State Papers, 19th July 1553

10. Spanish State Papers, 19th July 1553

11. Spanish State Papers, 19th July 1553

12. Spanish State Papers, 22nd July 1553

13. Chronicle of Queen Jane and Mary

14. Vita Mariae Angliae Reginae of Robert Wingfield

[idiotwithanipad]

OC Hot Take: Humphrey occasionally forgets that Amy (My OC) is NOT related to him by blood and sometimes remarks on how similar she is to his former wife, Sophie.

The Tudor will laugh along with something Amy is doing/saying and say something along the lines of:

“Your Mum would’ve scowled at me for laughing at that”

“You’re just like your mother sometimes, you are”

One of Amy’s biggest flaws is being overly judgmental when she first meets anybody, and she has a tendency to scowl a lot when in an uncomfortable setting or situation. Often prompting Humphrey to recall when he and Sophie would be dragged downstairs to attend events or situations neither of them really wanted anything to do with.

Humphrey would just smile through the pain, but not Sophie; her face would be as stale and as rock solid as steel. Causing the Tudor to make connections, pinpointing little details similar between the woman and the girl.

Meanwhile, Amy has no clue what he’s on about…

[gulnarsultan]

hiiii can you do yandere henry viii headcannons where the reader has the look of daenerys targeryan but is a peasant please ?  like she hides her hair and he finds her by a lake where she lets them out or the reader saves anna boleyn and henry falls in love with her.  NSFW AT THE END PLEASE

Perhaps reader is truly a Targaryen. She came to the Tudor universe by accident. Or Targaryen was the reader's descendant. Most likely the reader is Edward's mother.

"Scenario."

Reader always hides her beauty. Because she doesn't want to get himself into unnecessary trouble. Meanwhile, Henry notices the cabin while walking through the woods for a tour. He notices the reader when he pauses to catch his breath. By this time, Henry and Anna were already in bad shape. Henry's heart and mind go wild when he sees the reader's silver hair, violet eyes, and pale skin. He immediately takes the decision to take her reader to the Palace. But first it has to get the reader on. The reader becomes uneasy when Henry enters the garden.

"Don't worry. I won't hurt you."

"What do you want from me, your majesty?"

Henry gets very close to the reader. He takes a lock of the reader's silver hair and brings it to his lips.

"To be mine."

"What if I don't accept it."

"Honey, I'm not a very patient man. Besides, you should accept this offer for everything you care about."

"Ok."

This obedient attitude of the reader pleases Henry. He begins to eagerly kiss the reader's lips. The reader gives a kiss to Herynin's kiss, causing a kissing session. He strokes the reader's body with his hands. The reader's face turns red with embarrassment. He carries the reader to the bed inside the hut and lays him down. He takes off his clothes and that of the reader. He plays with the reader's breasts as their lips meet once again. He massages the breasts and bites, sucks, squeezes and tugs at the nipples. The reader can only whine. Henry's hand goes between the reader's legs.

"You're wet for me."

One hand makes fun of the reader's clistoris, while the fingers of the other hand pump the reader's cunt. The reader ejaculates on Henry's fingers. Henry rubs his hardened penis against the wet lips of the reader's cunt. Henry bangs the reader's pussy in a fast rhythm. When they both reach orgasm, Henry ejaculates deep in the reader's cunt. He hugs the reader and rests. He will take the reader to the Palace and make him his mistress. After the divorce with Anne, he will marry the reader.

[smallerplaces]

It's the most wonderful time of the Playmobil Christkindlesmarkt

When Dad said "oh, we have to keep and use the Playmobil Christmas figures," he probably believed the box contained a Santa's house, a sleigh, and maybe a couple other things.

He was so, so wrong. Last year's diorama required three shelves in the dining room. This year, I found the 1980s medieval houses and decided to go for the gusto with an entire Christmas fair, which takes four shelves.

Santa's house is alone on the upper top shelf because he lives at the North Pole.

Digging through Playmobil boxes as I was sorting to sell or give away excess found me an extra rocker, so now both Clauses can sit by the fire. It also yielded a red desk, so the Clauses have somewhere to work on the naughty-nice list. Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Mrs. Claus is stress-baking.

On the main level, at far left, is the ski and sledding slope and enchanted forest. Get up too much momentum on your sled, and you may end up stolen by the fae!

The elves clearly have the day off. Judging from how the guy in the green vest and red tuke is being treated by his elf, he's Tamlin.

New this year are non-white characters! Playmobil is a German brand, so they were slow-ish to expand characters into other skin tones, plus my parents' collection went back to the 1980s, so it reflects eras that were stingy with non-white rep. We had Native Americans in my original collection, but I sold that 20 years ago (if I hadn't, there'd probably be a buffalo menacing the reindeer).

During the big clean-out, I discovered Black adults and kids. I moved winter gear to every single one of them (except one, who you'll meet later), so that the Christmas Market is less out of line with modern Germany.

But what is Rufus, the Black parent in the white sweater and red cap, looking at so warily?

It's Russian Orthodox Santa! He's being pulled by a magical small horse, which the foxes in the background have chosen not to pursue.

Beyond St. Nicholas, something pagan appears to be afoot. I'm honestly not sure what, or even why the dead tree with the animals is kept with Christmas items.

The center section of shelves is one side of the town green, where a brass band of Santas is performing.

Santa has sprung for rent on a garage and workshop. Mrs. Claus is relieved to have this part of the home business out of the home. (That's his sports sleigh parked in the garage, while the big family sleigh is upstairs by the house. Santa had a bit of a midlife crisis a few years back.)

The Santa Band plays swing.

The right-hand Tudor house is a vet's office, convenient for when Santa's reindeer get a cough.

The final section of shelf is the rest of the town square and Christmas market.

Some of the vendors and shoppers are a little weird.

The porta-potty is the entire reason why the town square scene expanded this year. I found it in a box and had to use it.

The pizza restaurant equipment was also a must-use. Poor Santa has nobody to take his order! Meanwhile, small angels are panhandling outside.

The toy shop is delightful for those who don't want to wait for Santa.

Meanwhile, upstairs in the pizzeria's eating area, an indie band does sound check. (Or at least we hope it's sound check, since no one is upstairs to listen.)

[finitefall]

You know Lice's stans believe women can’t be ambitious on their own. They only had ambition because their fathers, brothers, male relatives, husbands ordered them or manipulated them into seeking power. Women are poor victims, always. Nothing more. That’s what all these Lice's stans think. She has zero agency, no thoughts that are her own, not a cunning or manipulative bone in her body, and her fans love it.

I know. As I said before, it's self-insert for many. Even with Otto making his daughter seduce Viserys (which was creepy since she was 14, younger than book!Alicent), they could have made her seek power and have agency, telling him and everyone else that she was the Queen. Parallel with The Tudors, when Anne Boleyn tells her shitty father (who put her up to seduce the King), after he told her to not forget how she got there:

"I know how I got there, Father. And it was not all you. It was not all you, or Norfolk, or George, or any other man you want to name! It was also me. He fell in love with me, he respected me!"

Meanwhile, Alicent was surprised her father had conspired with other men to put Aegon on the throne after Viserys' death and that she didn’t know about it.