#oeurves

[altruistic-meme]

I’m honored to be on the rec list. I love you bestie 🥹💜

i love you too babe 😘 your writing is absolutely incredible and at the risk of sounding like the fucking sap i am, you constantly leave me in awe and you make me want to be a better writer 💜

[une-sanz-pluis]

hello! i wanted to ask whether there is any record of what isabella of valois’s reasons were for refusing to marry into the english royal family again after the death of richard ii. obviously it’s easy to speculate a variety of possible reasons, given the circumstances, but do we have evidence of what was actually primarily motivating that decision? or at least what reasons she gave publicly for it?

Hi, sorry for taking so long to get to your ask. The last few months have been hectic and I had to take some time to research this. The research took awhile because the image of Isabelle of Valois making a furious stand against Henry IV and refusing to marry his son is very common but actual contemporary sources for it... are not. At least, I haven't been able to find any.

I'm not saying that we definitely have no contemporary source for it - I'm aware that, since I can't read French or Latin and don't have access to an academic library, I can only check things that have been published or translated into English and are easily accessible. However, I'm reasonably certain that I've not missed anything obvious since none of the academic work I've read ever cite anything like the story. The most sources say is that Henry IV wanted Isabelle to marry into the royal family (e.g. Jean Creton claims that Henry wanted to marry a woman in the French royal family himself and marry his son, the future Henry V, to Isabelle) and that Charles VI* was steadfast in his refusal to even countenance the offer and instead wanted Isabelle to be returned.

The best source I could find for Isabelle's feelings on her potential remarriage is in Jean Froissart's Oeurves, which is available online for free but in French. Working off an ill-advised Google Translation and other historians' discussion of the passage, Jean de Hangest, lord of Hugueville was able to have a private audience with Isabelle, during which he informed her that her parents absolutely forbade her from marrying into the English royal family again and that she should refuse any efforts even if she incurred the wrath of the English. Isabelle confirmed that the English had spoken to her about marriage on several occasions (there are no other details were given) and then she asked Hugueville to assure her father of her obedience to his will and said, on fear of death, she wouldn't disobey him and marry without his permission. Then she began to weep and Hugueville ended their meeting.

Her anger at Henry IV does have some support in contemporary sources, however, but these relate to reports of her behaviour during the ceremonies for her return to France in Mary 1401.

The sources almost universally agree that Isabelle was agitated during the ceremonies, both in England and in France. Adam of Usk reports that she said little but scowled with "deep hatred" at Henry and that some feared "her burning desire for revenge". Other writers report her weeping during the ceremonies. Juvenal des Ursins, for instance, writes that she wept and continued to weep loudly, despite her parents' joyful greeting of her.

It's important to stress that Isabelle is given little to no direct speech in these reports (the exception is John Hayward who wrote Isabelle openly reproving Henry, but given he wrote during the Tudor era, his version should be considered suspect) and that all reports interpret her body language in order to fit their own narratives. For instance, Usk depicts her unconcealed anger as a sign of her childishness which, in turn, feeds his overall aim in discrediting Richard II's kingship. For Richard to choose such a young and childish girl for his queen speaks to a serious error in judgement and further adds to Lancastrian narrative of Richard being unable to mature into adulthood and rule properly.

This is not to say that Isabelle's agitation was a wholesale invention by the chroniclers but, rather, it is they who have assigned the meaning to her behaviour.

I suspect that the narrative of her furious refusal to the proposal that she marry Henry's son conflates the reports of Usk and Hayward (the latter of whom is probably given too much weight) with the fact of the marriage negotiations. It's a perfectly logical leap to make. We know from Hugueville that the English did speak to her about marriage but we know nothing about what was said or how she felt about it, so we borrow from the accounts of her open anger at Henry IV when she was returned to her parents. But in terms of actual evidence, all we know is that her parents had prohibited it and that Isabelle wished to be obedient to their will. It's also important to recognise that Isabelle was still under the age of consent so she, personally, could not agree to a marriage and permission had to be given by her parents as long she remained underage.

As you say, it's very easy to speculate. I came away from my research feeling incredibly sorry for Isabelle. It's very, very easy imagine that Richard's deposition and the prolonged negotiations between England and France over her future were incredibly distressing, especially when we read of the pressure she was under from both sides. It would be entirely natural if she did resent Henry for what he had done to her and to Richard and I do think there was at least some truth to Usk's reports of her anger. In terms of what she felt about her potential husband - who was very probably the future Henry V, though the official records are somewhat vague on this point - we have no evidence.

* I use "Charles VI" here as it was in his name that these actions were carried out. It should be read as a shorthand for his government as due to his severe mental illness it is not always clear who was directing French policy. As far as I can make out, however, Charles was in one of his lucid periods during these negotiations.

References

Stephanie Downes and Stephanie Trigg, "“she shal bryngen us the pees on every syde”: The Ceremonial Restoration of Women in Late Medieval Culture", Literature, Emotions and Pre-Modern War: Conflict In Medieval and Early Modern Europe (ARC Humanities Press 2021)

Nancy McLoughlin, Jean Gerson and Gender: Rhetoric and Politics in Fifteenth-Century France (Palgrave 2015)

Christopher Phillpotts, “The Fate of the Truce of Paris, 1396–1415,” Journal of Medieval History, vol. 24, no. 1 (1998)

S.P. Pistono, “Henry IV and Charles VI: The Confirmation of the Twenty-Eight-Year Truce,” Journal of Medieval History, vol. 3, no. 4 (1977)

S. P. Pistono, “The Diplomatic Mission of Jean De Hangest, Lord of Hugueville (October, 1400),” Canadian Journal of History, vol. 13, no. 2 (1978)

Louise Tingle, "Isabella of Valois: Child Queen", Later Plantagenet and the Wars of the Roses Consorts: Power, Influence, and Dynasty (Palgrave 2023)  

Deanne Williams, "Isabelle de France: Child Bride", Shakespeare and the Performance of Girlhood (Palgrave 2014)

[o-avosetta]

All that we could do with this

I usually treat the world of Stardew Valley as its own, but I've long wanted a Haley/Sam thing where they fall for each other while debating the merits of Carly Rae Jepsen's oeurve. Haven't got a lot of bandwidth for writing still, so have the outline.

Sam hears Call Me Maybe blasting out of Haley's window and gets on his favorite music forum to rant about his neighbor's taste.

Little does he know, Haley is a member of the forum and is 99% sure this guy dissing CRJ is Sam. The timing is just too precise. She decides to see how long she can mess with him online before he figures out it's her. All in good fun, right?

She accuses him of letting his genre biases cloud his recognition of one of the best songwriters ever, so Sam begrudgingly listens to all of E•MO•TION since it's the one user forgetme_getme_not swears is the one that will change his mind.

Slowly, slowly, as the songs work their way through his head, he understands that it really is emotion; it's an ode to desire and love and heartbreak, from the cuteness of I Really Like You to the way Gimmie Love crosses the brink from crush to plea-slash-confession, to the twist of a promise of true companionship in All That to the mascara-ruining devastation of Your Type, and on and on and on. This online stranger was onto something. What else has he missed? What else can they trade?

Offline, in town, Sam starts to talk to Haley. Sees her on her doorstep and makes conversation — "You know, I used to hate your music, but ...." They have an impromptu jam session when she starts to sing along from her room while he's trying to figure out that funky guitar on Boy Problems in his. This turns into frequent sing-alongs through their windows, shouting "Baby!!" together during Run Away With Me. One saloon Friday, they dance to I Didn't Just Come Here to Dance. His bandmates are bemused, but they're down to add a cover of Black Heart to the setlist.

Online, Sam tells his anonymous music buddy, maybe it's the Let's Get Lost of it all, but he's starting to feel something for his neighbor. They're having so much fun together. He might have misjudged her, just like he misjudged CRJ. Should he make a move?

Haley freaks out. This isn't what she had in mind; she just wanted to teach Sam a lesson in pop music. Sure, they're friends now, and sure, they have more in common than she expected, but that's it, right? Right?! This is all getting a little too Warm Blood for her.

It's Sam's turn to put two and two together. Haley's window has been closed and quiet for a while, and forgetme_getme_not hasn't been online for roughly the same time. He pulls out Fever from Side B and plays it himself, acoustic, from his window. No response.

Time for the best friends to intervene. Sebastian, Abigail, and Alex are tired of their pals being idiots. They get the farmer to throw a barbecue or something and contrive to lock Sam and Haley in the greenhouse together ("She likes sunflowers; I'll let you pick one" / "The sunflowers have come up nicely; why don't you check them out?").

Haley blurts out her admission about being his forum buddy. Sam says he knows and doesn't care. There's some soft kissing and a trade in giggles and little revelations. Favourite Colour plays over the end credits.

[marzipanandminutiae]

Just noticed the tea cup from CPeak show up in CoC Ep 7 "The Viewing" around 12:54 time mark. I think this is not one of the GDT-written episodes?

It's not, no! Seems like that's just a nod from the director of that episode to their producer/host's oeurve. The cup is actually one that never appeared onscreen in CPeak- a demitasse cup in the same pattern, Royla Crown Derby’s “Imari 2451.”

(The episodes GDT wrote the concepts for were Lot 36- loosely based on his own experience trying to get back the contents of a mistakenly sold family storage unit -and The Murmuring.)

[siegesquirrel42]

Well, I hang out on Discords with a lot of history nerds, and one time we got into a discussion about how various historical leaders would fare in the modern day. And we realized that Ludwig II, who altogether seems to me to have lacked a violent soul and really just wanted to build castles and kiss boys, would make an excellent Minecraft Youtuber. The catboy Vtuber part was comedic extrapolation.

As for Bismarck, he simply strikes me as the sweatlord gamer type. Expensive gamer chair, custom logo depicting some kind of robot eagle, the works.

So this is essentially a hypothetical scenario where various late 19th century historical figures have been reincarnated in the modern day, possibly in a Ya Boy Kongming situation, and for whatever reason are all trying to make it on Twitch. Neither Bismarck nor Ludwig are actually any good at shooters - Bismarck's oeurve lies more in RTSes - but evidently they're not letting that stop them!

Jokes about which fictional characters would be calling people homophobic slurs on the Call of Duty voice chat can be much funnier if the character in question is from a historical or quasi-historical milieu and you imagine them using period-appropriate slurs. Picture your blorbo calling their squadmate a "sodomite".

[corallapis]

Henry ‘Chips’ Channon: The Diaries (Vol. 1), 1918-38, entry for 22nd February 1923

—

Lord Morpeth¹ has arrived safely. How overjoyed the Carlisles² will be … especially Biddy [Carlisle] as now she will be spared the agony of childbearing for ages. Somehow I secretly suspect George [Carlisle] of deriving some strange primitive satisfaction quand Biddy est enceinte de ses oeurves.³ I am to be a godfather and the child is to be named Charles James Ruthven Howard, Viscount Morpeth. He is heir to Biddy’s Ruthven barony as well as George’s titles. I fear he will never have Castle Howard;⁴ he has been cheated of more than half his birthright.

—

1. Charles James Ruthven Howard (1923–94), by courtesy Viscount Morpeth until 1963, when he succeeded his father as 12th Earl of Carlisle.

2. George Josslyn L’Estrange Howard (1895–1963), 11th Earl of Carlisle, married in 1918 Bridget (‘Biddy’) Helen Hore-Ruthven, in her own right 11th Lady Ruthven of Freeland (1896–1982); in the Second World War she commanded the Women’s Auxiliary Corps (India).

3. When Biddy is pregnant with his works.

4. The 9th Earl had left this Vanbrugh house in the North Riding of Yorkshire to his younger son, Geoffrey Howard, in 1911.

[shesnake]

wes anderson is basic bitch cinema

[couldnt-think-of-a-funny-name]

galaxy, silk, sense for the ask game?

what fascinates you? ....stuff? 

what outfit makes you feel confident? I have an overall/kimono/combat boot combo that always gets me compliments so I guess that lol

best subject? favorite subject? english and theater

[darcylindbergh]

SPEAKING of dracula those of u interested in mark & moff’s new project should definitely watch a history of horror with mark on youtube. mark is ah. REALLY into dracula

[swingsdown]

it was the vampires

i'm going crazy was that one post i read about whatshisface going to dinner and eating dirt about iwav or goncharov

[thelovethatyouhad]

‘Taylor as underdog’ may be well-trod terrain in Swift’s oeurve at this point, but never has she taken aim at her detractors as squarely — or as relatably — as she did on “Mean”. With its indelible banjo line and sweetly barbed lyrics, the single remains an anthem tailor-made for every starry-eyed dreamer who was ever bullied for not belonging, and moved to the big ol’ city with something to prove to the haters back home. Fast forward 10 years and, if you’re really lucky, the song might also sound like sweet vindication — because now you’re the one writing about it for Billboard.”

— Glenn Rowley (Taylor Swift’s Speak Now Turns 10: Billboard Staff Goes Track-By-Track On Their Favorite Songs)

[bhadpodcast]

“Sterek shippers don’t need to read this? Of course not. Anymore than I need to read stories that I find every day, such as Rezzekmood’s oeurve – none of which is tagged, by the way – where Peter rips Scott’s heart out of his chest for the crime of allowing him to be imprisoned in Eichen House or the one where Stiles embraces the nogitsune in order to murder Scott for the crime of not wanting to be his friend anymore. Or there’s Churkey’s work which has Scott murdered for being ‘weak.’ Also not tagged”

LMFAO WHY YOU LYING ESCALUS

They are all tagged perfectly https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rezzekmood/pseuds/Rezzekmood/works?fandom_id=258526

https://archiveofourown.org/users/churkey/pseuds/churkey/works?fandom_id=258526&page=2

It is no one’s fault user @princeescaluswords is so bitter and unhealthily OBSESSED with Sterek and Steter that he stalks the Sterek and Steter tags on both tumblr and ao3 on a daily basis :-)

___________________________________________

Interesting... Uggh, he’s such a troll.

[athena1138]

Ooh, Inquisitor asks! 22, 25, 38, and 39 for all of your girls please? :D

Oh dear ok lesdoit. 

22- Fav weapons

Alena and Vikara are mages. Alena is a fire/force mage, so her favorite is the Heart of Rage staff. It helps that she thinks it’s pretty, and since it’s a more natural-looking staff, it reminds her of her clan. Vikara is an ice/knight-enchanter mage, so her favorite is the King Fisher’s staff because it’s aerodynamic enough that when she adds a blade to the end of it, it feels super good. 

Asena is a 2H warrior. She has a penchant for mauls, but anything will do so long as it’s sturdy. Her all-time favorite weapon, though? The Avvar War Maul. It’s got 2 bear’s heads on it ffs. How cool is that? She doesn’t use it, though. It hangs above her bed until she moves in with Josephine and they hang it over the fireplace instead because Josephine is scared it might fall and hit them while they’re... um... Y’know. 

Gemma, Kalam, and Madeira are all rogues. Gemma is an archer, and her favorite bow is one she made herself from dragon bone that has a super good Spirit rune embedded in it. (She asks Blackwall to carve a pretty design into the handle for her :3 ) Kalam and Madeira are both dagger-rogues. Kalam doesn’t get super attached to any specific one, and she’ll usually let Cole have the stronger ones she finds, so she just takes whatever is second-strongest. Madeira’s favorites are the Walking Death one, and one that The Iron Bull gave her for her birthday that has a deep red hilt that matches her tattoos. :3 

25-  what is their favourite place within playable regions?

Alena loves the desert areas, and she loves being in high places. She absolutely hates being cold, so the hotter it is, the better. (I headcanon that mages in Thedas can draw power on similar elements, so fire mages in deserts, ice mages in tundras, electricty mages during thunder storms, that’s when they’re all at their best.) If she can be somewhere hot, perfect. If she can be somewhere high, just as good. She likes to sit on the very edge of the Ritual Tower in the Western Approach since it sits on a cliff, so it feels like she’s on the edge of the world, BUT. Her ALL TIME favorite place to go? The Frostback Basin. She likes to sit over the big cavern that makes Dorian say, “Be careful, I don’t want to have to tell Cullen you fell to your death” or however he phrases it. 

Vikara is happy just about anywhere. She’s been Dalish her whole life, so she’s used to moving around. Skyhold feels very much like home, though. It isn’t until after Trespasser that she realizes it’s because it feels like Solas. 

Asena likes Val Royeux, surprisingly. She gets funny stares, but it’s fancy like Josephine. She likes to shop for presents for her tiny human girlfriend whenever she can spare the time, and when Josephine is there with her, she likes to swing her arm over her shoulders and look smugly at everyone who passes by like she’s saying, “Yeah that’s right. This is my girl.” 

Gemma weirdly likes the Deep Roads? She was born in Orzammar and lived there til she was 19 and got fed up with it all, so the Deep Roads remind her of home a bit? And let her work out her angst against it? 

Kalam doesn’t like to sit still. She has to be moving like all the time. The longest she’s ever stayed in one place was for like a week at Skyhold and that was because she fell off the walkway between Cullen’s office and the castle because she was showing off for Sera. Her favorite place is wherever Sera is. Sera is her favorite place. 

Madeira likes the Emprise because dragons. And because TIB likes dragons. And dragons. Did she mention dragons? There’s three there, y’know. 

38-  are there any insults they find to be especially offensive? (i.e. “knife ear”/”rabbit” for elves, “oxmen” for qunari, ect.)

Alena doesn’t take much to heart. After everything she’s been through, it’s hardly worth getting upset over a few racist remarks, isn’t it? She’s alive, she’s in love, she’s powerful, it shouldn’t be a big deal. Though, the things people say at Halamshiral really get under her skin. She isn’t sure what she expected, but it wasn’t that noble assholes would be saying that shit to her face. So, that, paired with their creepy advances on Cullen? Nah, nah, she had to put a stop to it, partly to help Cullen get out from under the pervs and partly so she could be all smug like, “Yeah, that’s right bitches, this rabbit nabbed Cullen Stanton Rutherford, Commander of the Inquisition’s Forces and Former Knight-Captain/Commander of Kirkwall.” 

Vikara gets mad over pretty much all the elven slurs. Like scary mad. Like, you can physically feel how mad she is because the temperature drops quite a bit. She won’t say anything, though, not if it’s just her. If they come after Sera or Solas though? Oh hell no. Hellllllllllllllllllll no. She’s hurting someone. Hands down. 

Asena doesn’t care. She cares that Josephine cares, but that’s it, and even then she just tells Josephine that it doesn’t bother her and tries to persuade her to drop it. (There is something ridiculously attractive about how Josephine will cut the racists down to size, though, with just a few sharp words.) 

Gemma hates being called short. Like, she knows she’s hot as hell, and Blackwall certainly thinks she’s hot as hell, but she gets so annoyed when people point out her height. 

Kalam tries to make a fun spin on the ones like Oxwoman, but it’s just to hide that they do bother her a lot. It helps when Sera catches on and they start playing off one another to roll through their discomfort. 

Madeira isn’t bothered. She’s got more important things to worry about, and TIB thinks the sun shines out her ass so why should she care about what some layabout thinks of her? 

39-  if varric gave them a nickname, what would it be?

I’ve answered this before for at least some of my girls but I can’t find the post e_e oeurv. Time to think of new ones I guess 

Alena would be something like Snowball because of her hair. Later, like way later, like a month before Corypheus, she would tell him he can call her Lenny, which up until that point was a name expressly reserved for Anders. It’s her way of telling him she loves him as much as if he were her own brother. 

Vikara would be Pinky because of her vallaslin. 

Asena might be Shiny because her horns are polished and tipped at the end and she likes Josephine who is a shiny thing. 

Gemma is Ghost because she sneaks about the battlefield. She made it all the way through the giant’s grove in the Emerald Graves without alerting a single giant or mammoth once. 

Kalam is Lilly, because it pairs nicely with Buttercup and that’s what he calls Sera. (I guess. Idk. Kalam is my weakest Inquisitor tbh. She’s just a taller, buffer, more coherent Sera.) 

Madeira would be Princess because she’s a royal pain in his ass powerful and commanding. 

@_@ was that it? Was that the end of it? I... I need to lie down. Omg. (THank you, sweetie!~) 

[writing-at-dusk]

Wow, these guys are really interesting! 11 kingdoms-- is there a secret 12th? actually don't answer that if it's a spoiler. Is there a specific reason Delaneira is so close to her older siblings but not the younger? Or is it just the fact they're the closest in age. What kind of role does Laertes play in the kingdom?

I was especially intrigued by the nameless guard, do they resolve to call her just "The Guard" or just manage to only uses pronouns to refer to her? Was the assassination attempt on her, or was she trying to assassinate someone else only to fail and barely escape capture?

(You don't have to answer any of these if they'll spoil things, they're just some of what i was thinking about.)

I can't wait to read more about these characters!

The Clock sounds incredibly interesting! Could you give a quick run through of all the characters? I'd love to be on the taglist for it.

Thank you, and yes, of course you can be added!

There are three main characters in The Clock:

Delaneira, our main protagonist is a princess of Evania who has trained to be a tactician, in case the eleven kingdoms were to return to war. Something she believes unlikely at first, and knows could get her in something of mess if officials from Naevius ever found out. She has five siblings, though she’s closest to her twin, Matthias, and her older sister, Aurelia, and would do anything to protect them, even crossing the Emperor if it came to it. She’s a bit stubborn, and a bit too quick to jump to conclusions, but is fiercely loyal to those she loves, and wouldn’t let those who crossed them make it very far.

The Guard is a young woman without a name, her family were too poor to afford one, but as she grew older, and fell in with various rebellions, she realised one would only create a path for her to be traced. She’s stoic and has difficultly expressing her feelings for those she cares for. Though she mostly sticks to herself and has spent the last few years pretending to be dead following a disastrous assassination attempt she’s more reliable than the vagrant, only-in-it-for-herself air she usually assumes.

Laertes is... tired of fighting. He, like the Guard, remembers all too well what they’ve been through and is growing tired of their seemingly endless defeats. He is more like his family than he would care to admit, even if he spends most of his time planning how best to piss them off. Having grown up around liars, politicians and various schemers he’s an excellent liar and knows how to keep a few steps ahead of both his enemies and allies.

Three antagonists oppose them, though two of them I can’t really get into because I think they would spoil some later reveals, but the main one is:

The Emperor. In the running for Worst Father of the Year He is utterly ruthless when it comes to stamping out rebellion against His rule. He is seen as a god by many and feared to be one by others. Openly opposing Him is a guaranteed death sentence, though that rule doesn’t seem to quite apply to His own house. To those He trusts, to those who work well, He rewards generously, though His enemies are usually quickly silenced and removed it’s considered common knowledge that He’s starving the more rebellious North, rather than having to deal with them. He’s cold, calculating, but sometimes a little too convicted about how tight His rule over Helia is.

[welcometomy20s]

September 23, 2019

Little review for today.

Philosophy Tube or Olly Thorn recently read all of Shakespeare with all of his friends and more, and it’s certainly an experience. While the HBomberGuy, or Harry Brewis, was like watching a torture chamber, this was a communal experience. Group of people huddled in a campfire, reading the only source of wisdom they have and perhaps ever need. The stream felt warm.

Some production are passable like Midsummer Night’s Dream or As You Like It, but there are gems. I think Hamlet was definitely in the top five production I ever heard, even though as of this moment it might not be a complement, but I do believe the play I will come around again and again.  

I still haven’t gone through the oeurve, and I think I want to commit to this task as I do enjoy Shakespeare and a bit of passion, as any romantic nerd do.

Also I like poetry! Which is something I didn’t in high school as well, but I think poems somehow came to me during time where I need solace and I started to enjoy the poem not as something you want to dissect to but to feel the rhythm.

I think I’m starting to enjoy myself in the world. Perhaps that’s a good sign.