#the fact that richard is his mother's son (daughter) and

[rustchild]

watching the lion in winter like it's my own personal super bowl and cheering every time philip says something cunty

[afewproblems]

Having depressing Steve Harrington Whump thoughts this sunny Sunday morning.

I usually headcanon Steve's parents as being neglectful and absent given their lack of screen presence in the show and thought about Steve grappling with this throughout his childhood.

Being left alone for days and eventually weeks at a time, starting much younger than was appropriate, but it was the era of latchkey kids and Richard and Darleen Harrington assumed Steve was capable enough to not really need watching. The house never burned down.

Their son was fine.

And Steve would be the first person to agree, to smile wanely while the migraines pounded in his head, a parting gift from Billy Hargrove and the and Russians. He was fine.

It was fine.

Until the spring of 1986 when all Hell literally broke loose.

During the last events of the Upside Down and the earthquakes that almost decimated Hawkins, the Harringtons finally come back to town, horrified to be called in from Indianapolis by the charge nurse at Hawkins General Hospital.

Their relationship does get a little better after nearly losing their only son. They don't talk about it, the lost years of quality time, but Steve has made begrudging peace with it and is happy to have them around now for family dinners and the holidays.

They are even fairly good about his relationship with Eddie once he finally comes out. Richard takes a little longer to warm up to the idea, but Darleen seems determined not to lose Steve again.

And things are fine for awhile, the four of them have found an equilibrium amongst each other. Richard busies himself with offering to help with repairs around their house as needed, the leaky sink in their guest bath or the backdoor that was never hung correctly. While Darleen is always quick to bring over a new recipe for them all to try at the next family dinner.

They don't talk about the fact that this is the most home cooking Steve has ever experienced in his 30 years of life or that he didn't know his dad even owned a screwdriver.

But it's fine.

They manage.

It's only after the adoption of their daughter that Steve begins to notice the changes in his parents in a way that makes his chest feel tight.

"I just, I don't get it," Steve says quietly to Eddie one summer day. Richard and Darleen are out in the yard with Abigail, playing in the sun. Abigail shakes a flower from the garden in Richard's face while he pretends to sneeze exaggeratedly, making Abigail break into peals of laughter.

Eddie frowns at Steve, watching as he crosses his arms tightly around himself.

"There has to be something going on, it doesn't make any sense how they're being with her," Steve bites out eventually. He lifts a trembling hand to his hair and tugs harshly at the roots.

"Okay woah woah," Eddie says slowly as he stops forward and gently coaxes Steve's hands away from his hair, "Stevie, sweetheart, I don't understand".

Eddie watches as Steve's gaze travels out the window once more to see Darleen lift their giggling baby girl above her head before lowering Abigail to pepper kisses all over her cheeks. Eddie smiles at the sight but it quickly vanishes as he looks back at Steve who is looking longingly at his mother.

"Because," Steve says, his voice catches on the growing lump in his throat, "if they were always capable of this, of being there, then why couldn't they do that for me?"

[gingersnaptaff]

It's me again. Back to bore this shit out of u all with More Welsh Shit Nobody Cares About. (Is that a good title? Probs not.)

Gonna do a quick one about Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd today. He was a poet-prince of Gwynedd (so a Prince of the House of Aberffraw) and eight (possibly nine if the Gorhoffedd is actually two separate pieces that were fused during the transcription process) poems of his have been handed down to us.

His dad was Owain Gwynedd, also known as Owain Fawr, who was King of Gwynedd and self-proclaimed Prince of Wales from 1136 until he died in 1170. He fought against the Normans to ensure that Gwynedd was afforded its independence, and was successful right up until his death when everything went up the shitter.

Now, Hywel's his second-born bastard son according to Wikipedia BUT Y Brut y Twysogion suggests he was the THIRD-born bastard son. (Remember if u were a bastard then u could inherit land if ur dad recognized u as his.) I'm making this point because both Rhun - Hywel's oldest brother - and Llywelyn - Hywel's second oldest brother - were struck down by illnesses in 1146 and 1165. This meant that Hywel, under Welsh Law, was seen as the Edling (Etifedd in Welsh.)

Not much is known about him or his early life. Records are scarce about when he was born, where he was raised, or who exactly his mother was. His birth year has been estimated as being 1100 right up until 1125, but we can't say for sure. We do know that, judging by the fact he was set to deal with his pesky Uncle Cadwaladr in 1143, he would've reached his majority by then. (14 was when u were legally considered to be a man in Welsh law, and Hywel was under his father's orders and given land once he'd dealt with his uncle so it's plausible.) For what it's worth I'd say he was about 23-24 during the events of Cadwaladr Being A Tit.

Hywel's mum was an Irish woman referred to in Welsh texts as 'Pyfog,' or 'Fynnod'. Nerys Ann Jones in her book 'Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd: Bardd-Dywysog' has suggested that his mum's name might be Fionnait, but we don't know anything about her. We don't even know if Rhun, Llywelyn, and their other bastard brother, Cynan, are brothers or if they were born to different mothers.*

As for Hywel himself, he's quite an interesting character. In 1143 he was sent to deal with his Uncle Cadwaladr after his uncle had killed the Prince of Deheubarth, Anarawd, before he could marry one of Owain Gwynedd's daughters to aid in an alliance between three two kingdoms.

Again, we have NO IDEA (I'm gonna be saying that a lot) why Cadwaladr did what he did. Perhaps it was over a land dispute, considering that Cadwaladr held Aberystwyth which had been a Deheubarthian territory* but we can't quite say. Cadwaladr himself was married to a Norman wife, Adeliza, the daughter of Richard de Clare, and so perhaps that helped to spark tensions between the two.

Either way, with Anarawd dead by his brother's hand Owain Gwynedd knew he needed to dispense justice.

And so, Hywel was picked to ensure it was done. The Brut Y Twysogion states: 'Then Hywel son of Owain, seized Cadwalader's share of Ceredigion, and burned a castle of Cadwalader which was at Aberystwyth.'

This being done, Owain then set Hywel up with his uncle's lands while Cadwaladr hot-footed it to Ireland where he fell in with the Danes. Desperate to reclaim his lands his nephew now held he entreated the Danes for their aid, which they gave, and so they landed at Abermenai in 1144. Now, Owain Gwynedd - and Hywel, presumably, as he was his father's right-hand man - had raised an army in response and so the two brothers met.*

Cadwaladr presumably entreated Owain for his forgiveness which Owain granted, yet as for the Danes there would be no mercy. Once again the Brut y Tywysogion states: 'Owain ... became outrageous against them, and attacked them without mercy; and when some were killed, and others taken and confined, they ignominiously escaped by flight to Dublin.'

Hywel then remained in Ceredigion until 1146 when he and his brother Cynan* waged war against their uncle (again. Seriously, lads, get a better hobby.) Cadwaladr held the cantref of Merionnydd in North-West Wales and Owain, intent on further ridding Cadwaladr of his influence instructed his sons to fuckin Get Him Out which they did.

Cadwaladr would remain a thorn in his big brother's side for the rest of his life, essentially. He loved to undermine Owain because all princes were afforded land within their kingdom which led to power struggles. (Don't worry, this will have NO CONSEQUENCES LATER. NONE.) He'd do some dodgy stuff again in 1157 but then after that, he'd spend his days at Henry II's court, presumably in luxury.

Now, Hywel's life at this point boils down to being a warlord enacting his father's will. In 1146 his oldest brother Rhun died, causing Owain Gwynedd to fall into a deep depression. It would only be lifted when he heard Mold Castle had captured the castle from the Normans. Rhun by all accounts was the quintessential golden boy prince with the Brut y Tywysogion eulogising him thusly: 'fair of form and aspect, kind of conversation, and affable to all... tall of stature and fair of complexion, with curly yellow hair, long of countenance, with eyes somewhat blue... he had a long and thick neck, broad chest, long waist, large thighs, long legs which were slender above his feet; his feet were long and his toes were straight'

This means that he is the only one of Owain Gwynedd's kids to have a contemporary description accorded to him! Crazy!

After this, Hywel would zigzag between his lands in Ceredigion(what little there were. Deheubarth re-gained a foothold and Hywel's cousins: Cadell and Rhys BURNT DOWN HIS CASTLES) and Gwynedd. Now, I am fast-forwarding for the sake of enjoyment but in 1170 Owain Gwynedd died. Now, you'd expect that Hywel as the designated heir would have an easy time.

You would be wrong.

Dafydd, Hywel's pesky LEGITIMATE half-brother*, claimed the throne! Hywel did a Cadwaladr and hot-footed it to Ireland, which, was very silly of him but Hywel wanted his throne. This meant the two brothers met in Ynys Môn and fought a battle. Hywel had Irish mercenaries with him but they couldn't help him. Dafydd speared him in the chest which, as Hywel's foster brother, Peryf ap Cadifor states: Buant briw ger eu brawd-faeth’ (‘They were injured beside their foster brother’). Suggesting that he saw Dafydd kill Hywel ‘with a spear’ (â gwayw), he curses him, calling him ‘false’ (enwir).

We only have eight extant compositions of Hywel's that survive today, sadly. All are pretty fuckin cool though.* His topics included war, love, Gwynedd, and he used both Welsh mythology and classical mythology to great effect in his compositions. Hywel's Ode V concerns Ogrfan Fawr and Gwenhwyfar and is partly what Dafydd ap Gwilym later took inspiration for his poem 'Y Ffenestyr' or The Window.

Now, onto Hywel's poetry. He, unlike other poets and bards that occupied the Welsh courts, did not need to make a living from it and so he's purely indulging in art for art's sake. A bit like Arthur in Culhwch and Olwen then although his compositions are MUCH better. His Gorhoffedd is the most well-known which praises Gwynedd and its beauty, as well as the beauty of his lovers*. However, it defo has a political context. Seriously it starts with: 'Caraf, trachas Lloegr, lleudir Gogledd heddiw’ (‘I love the North’s [or North Wales’] open land today, England’s great hate’) and from there list what he loves about his father's domain with a kind of Ovidian bent because of its geographical immediacy.

A lot of his poetry inspired later poets like Dafydd ap Gwilym, Goronwy Owen, and T. Gwynn Jones.

Now, this legend is lost for the two men to both allude to Gwenhwyfar either directly (as in Dafydd's case, or indirectly as Hywel does), but as the author states in my poorly translated Welsh: 'The essence is preserved in 'Chrétien de Troyes' 'Le Chavalier de la Charrette,' where Lancelot breaks down the iron bars/window to get to Gwenhwyfar in her room.'

Furthermore, in contrast with Hywel's putting himself in Arthur's shoes, Dafydd does so with Lancelot, only this time rather than saying he and Lancelot are the same Dafydd highlights, 'the contrast between his failure [at opening Gwenhwyfar's window] and the legendary hero's success.'

Now, Hywel himself also gets a fair few praise poems that compare him to Arthurian / Welsh mythological figures. Several praise poems were made about him during and after his death including the one I mentioned earlier from his foster-brother, Peryf. Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr also sang praise poems of Hywel that mention his generosity comparing him to Gwalchmai, and Arthur. These poems are called 'arwyrain' which means 'elevating in/by/with praise.' You can kinda see the Gorhoffedd as being perhaps an extension of this if you so wish.

* Wikipedia says Rhun, Hywel, and Cynan ARE Owain and Pyfog/Fynnod/ Fionnait's kiddies, whereas Peter Bartrum in his 'Welsh Genealogies' says that Hywel was the uterine twin of another brother, Einion. 🤷🏻‍♀️

* To fully go into it: Aber WAS Deheubarthian territory UNTIL the Normans captured it. During 1136, Owain and Cadwaladr captured Ceredigion for Gwynedd and DID NOT GIVE IT BACK. Cad held all of Ceredigion right up until he was A Silly Bastard and murked Anarawd, thus necessitating Hywel having the North Side of Ceredigion to Cadwaladr's South until 1144 when Hywel yoinked all of it after his uncle provoked Owain's wroth.

* You should all read Ellis Peters' Cadfael book: Summer of the Danes if u haven't already. It's honestly great.

*I KNOW I said Cynan wasn't his full-blooded bro but it is EASIER. Plus Cynan is FASCINATING IN HIS OWN RIGHT. He was imprisoned by his dad in 1147 /48 and we DONT KNOW WHY. Some speculate it was because Hywel was going to gain Meirionnydd (he was the Edling at the point) and Cynan took offence to that. Presumably, this is why he fought on Dafydd's side in 1170 and helped slay Hywel.

* Dafydd was the first-born son of Owain Gwynedd and his wife/cousin Cristina. He and his brother Rhodri once they'd defeated Hywel ruled Gwynedd together for a few years before Dafydd backstabbed Rhodri and took the throne for himself. Llywelyn Fawr eventually defeated him.

*I am heavily biased.

*And the man fucked. Presumably, he was following his father's example because Owain fathered upwards of twelve kids. He had two kids that we know of Gruffydd and Caswallon. Idk if they were legitimate or not but we know that after Hywel was killed in 1170 by his half-brother, Dafydd, they were cared for by Hywel's brother Rhirid.)

READ DAFYDD AP GWILYM IMMEDIATELY. HE IS SO FUN. TALKS ABOUT HIS DICK BEING 'A ROLLING PIN.' Also, he IS a contemporary of a sort to Gwerful Mechain and you should read her click poem.

[that-lazy-animator]

I got motivation so I'm going to post my whole head Cannons/Au for slendytubbies!

☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆

slendytubbies headcanon.

Nick-Name: Snow ball (Miles and Lenny) Bunny (Ron) W.t (Everyone)

☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆Name : Guardian or Walton.

age: 46-49

birthday: March 31

Sex : N (Non-binary)

sexuality : bisexual and ace

pronouns : All/Any

friends : Ron, Lenny, Anne, Miles (Some times) Dutch, Conner, Sally And Cole.

family: Rainbow (step sister) Luke (Brother?), Tinky-Winky (adopted son), Dipsy (adopted son) Laa-Laa (adopted daughter) And Po (adopted daughter)

Love/crush: Ron (husband)

enemies: Richard. Noo-noo. And Shadow.

Hight: 6’11

species: Teletubby

Likes: Coffee, Quit, reading, and sleeping.

Dislikes: loud noises, screaming.

Status: Alive/Not-infected/married.

Awareness: 100%

physical health: 78%

Mental Health:50%⚠️

infected: 0%

Pet: None

Fact:

Has a coffee addiction.

He is the only tubby with five fingers instead of four.

His tummy screen doesn't work.

He Needs glasses.Is socially awkward. (due to him not having any interactions) and having a bit of social anxiety.

suffers from survivor's guilt and PTSD.

Cat lover.

He has an Irish accent. And heterochromia.

Has a very bad sleep schedule and sometimes doesn't sleep for multiple days.

A bit of a perfectionist.

He's very protective of the main four and does everything in its power to try to rehabilitate them.

Info:

Guardian is a very smart and intelligent tubby. Even when he was at a loss he tried to smile and bring Joyce to others. He's quieter and likes to be by himself rather than talking to other people.

additional info:

Guardian doesn't actually remember why he has to take care of the main 4 (before the infecteds happens) ; it was just the last task the scientists gave him.

He's a main leader of the IRP (infected. Rehabilitation.Program) project.

Voice Clam/Song:

☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆

Name : Miles or Sgt. Miles

Nick-Name: Sgt (Everyone ) Boss (Gary and lenny) Sgt.Mcnugget (Guardian)

age: 40-46

birthday: October 1st

Sex : M

sexuality : bisexual (In the closet)

pronouns : Him/He

friends : Conner and dutch (his best friends) Anne, and Guardian (sometimes)

family: Stacy (younger sister), Sebastian (half-brother), Drake (Older brother). Martha (mother). Mr.William (stepdad), and Dave (Dad). Jett (adopted kid) and Kyle (adopted kid)

Love/crush: Anne (Crush)

enemies: Richard (Ex-Best friend), Noo-noo. And Dave.

Hight: 10’11

species: Teletubby

Likes: alcohol, cigarettes, cats, reading.

Dislikes: Gary, infections, his dad.

Status: Alive/Not-infected/single.

awareness: 100%

physical health: 99%

Mental health: 78%

infected: 0%

Pet: buggy (a Saint Bernard) ( he's actually the military's dog but miles is the one who takes care of him)

Fact:

is a big softy but never shows it to people besides Anne.

He cares about the Guardian but never says it to his face.

I Love cats. And dogs.

Pretty good with kids. ( it's a 50/50 with him he can protect your kids and teach them good lessons but also probably teach your kids how to swear. So pick your poison)

He smokes quite often but doesn't drink as much. (he reasoning is because he “doesn't want to be like his father”) {and he does tries to quit smoking for Jett}

He is completely blind in his left eye.

He has pretty severe burn scars due to an accident.

A bit suicidal.

Anne can easily beat his ass which embarrasses him.

Mama's boy.

Very overprotective of his family especially his younger sister.

Miles is part Russian and can speak fluent Russian.

Info:

Miles can be a very nice and compassionate person but due to the mistreatment and abuse he suffered during his childhood and adulthood he feels like he can't show emotions without being deemed weak.

additional info:

Voice Clam/Song:

☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆

Name : Anne

Nick-Name: Pinky (Miles) misses (Guardian)

age: 41

birthday: December 5th

Sex : F

sexuality : Pansexual

pronouns : She/Her

friends : Sin, dutch, miles, Guardian, conner, Lenny, Gary, Zach, and luck.

family: Adam (younger brother) Jett (adopted son), Kyle (adopted son)

Love/crush: none

enemies: Rich and noo-noo.

Hight: 7’6

species: Teletubby

Likes: tea, cookies, baking and taking care of the kids.

Dislikes: yelling, miles being an asshole

Status: Alive/single/Not infected.

awareness: 100%

physical health: 99%

Mental Health: 87%

infected: 0%

Pet: None.

Fact:

Has the next highest rank in the military.

Anne is one of the strongest soldiers, even stronger than Miles.

Anne usually tries to find the good and things, trying to keep everyone else's Spirits out.

Has a bunch of burn scars all over her body due to an accident.

A very kind of polite woman

very polite to the soldiers.

will kick someone's ass if she has to.

Cat lover.

Acts like a mother figure to a lot of the soldiers and children.

She can speak fluid German.

Info:

She is a sweet, compassionate woman who is very short but very sweet. She is caring to everyone she meets no matter what.

additional info:

She was a rebellious teenager when she was a kid.

Voice Clam/Song:

☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆

[randomestfandoms-ocs]

Please introduce James the people need to know about the boy 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

James!!

Introducing James William Gilmore Danes

(aka what if Dani Gilmore-Danes were a boy and raised by Luke)

a year before Rory was born, Lorelai had a son with a boy she'd met on a family beach vacation. She'd left before she knew she was pregnant, but still had his name and phone number written on a postcard. When she found out that she was pregnant, she panicked. She and her parents came to an agreement, they would tell everyone that she was spending a year abroad, she would give the baby up for adoption, and it would be like nothing ever happened.

But then her son was born, a son she couldn't stand to look at or even name, but a son she couldn't just give away to strangers. Instead she took him, left him on the doorstep of Williams Hardware in Stars Hollow with a note, and never looked back. Until two years later, when she moved to Stars Hollow with Rory

James William Danes (named after Jim Kirk, not that Luke will ever admit it) was a happy baby, but a sick one. Some lung issues, frequent pneumonia, health problems that Luke would always blame on him having been left outside, on a doorstep, during the first snow of the year. It was hard to get him the help that he needed, but William Danes was always happy to help his son and grandson as best as he could, and they were making ends meet. Until James was five. William had just died, and while Luke was doing everything he could to take care of funeral arrangements and the hardware store, he'd asked Liz to help with James. Only for her to leave James in a car during a blizzard for several hours.

The fact that James survived was nothing short of a miracle, but it was an expensive miracle, one that Luke couldn't afford. And it was either a miracle or incredibly creepy that at the same time as his son was fighting for his life in a hospital room, James' maternal grandparents showed up. They'd found the postcard in their daughter's room, apparently, and they wanted to know if their grandson was okay.

It was impossible for Luke to swallow his pride and let Emily and Richard help with the medical bills, but he couldn't refuse the help either, so they struck a deal. The Gilmores would cover all of James medical expenses, not only current ones but any future ones as well, and once a month, Luke and James would call and tell them about his life. He'd never seen them face to face, didn't even know their last names, but he knew that they loved him, and he loved them.

It was a system that worked, and James grew up healthy (for the most part), very athletic, and very loved. He was considered a bit of a prince charming around town, attractive and popular and always ready to lend a helping hand – whether it be at his dad's diner, town events, or anything else anyone asked for. Life was good.

Until he went to Rory Gilmore's sixteenth birthday party – Lorelai had always been cold to him and normally he would avoid spending more time around her than necessary, but Luke asked for his help bringing over bags of ice. But it was fine, really. Until, out of absolutely nowhere, he heard his grandmother's voice in the doorway. His grandmother, whom he had never met in person. His grandmother, who was there for her granddaughter's sixteenth birthday. His grandmother: Lorelai Gilmore's mother.

[heartofstanding]

Tell me everything about Joan if Kent, specifically which historians I should hiss at.

Oh man, Joan of Kent is awesome. It's hard to describe her life quickly because she had such a long and varied one. It spans from the end of Edward II's reign and the upheavals of Edward III's minority throughout the glory years of Edward III's reign to the decline in his latter years to the Peasants Revolt and the fragile beginnings of Richard II's reign. She can assume a number of different shapes: romantic heroine, powerful and influential woman, fashion icon, mediator, literary patron, scandal, survivor. She makes a status-defying match, ostensibly for love, and then follows it up by marrying the heir to the throne of England, again ostensibly for love.

Of course, it was the Middle Ages so a lot of medieval chroniclers and commentators saw her as the stereotypical wanton, transgressive woman.

Her story:

Joan was the daughter of Edmund, Earl of Kent (Edward I's youngest son) and Margaret Wake, and was thus Edward I's granddaughter, Edward II's niece and Edward III's first cousin. She was born before or on 29 September 1326-1328 (the exact year is debatable). Her father was executed in 1330 in highly controversial circumstances for attempting to free the deposed and likely dead Edward II.* Joan is generally believed to have become a ward of Philippa of Hainault as a small recompense for Kent's execution (Edward III and Philippa are believed to have played no role in Kent's execution). In the winter of 1340-41, Joan was married to William Montagu, the son and heir of the Earl of Salisbury. This was an entirely conventional match: he was of similar age and status to herself, the marriage ensured she would become Countess of Salisbury upon his father's death. But about seven years later, there was a scandal: a knight, Thomas Holland, claimed that Joan had married him clandestinely and that they had consummated it before she married Montagu. He appealed to the papal authorities to return her to him.

A long, protracted dispute followed. Montagu appears to have kept Joan imprisoned in strict seclusion so she could not respond or appoint an attorney to respond on her behalf to the papal investigation. Eventually, she was able to do so and evidently supported Holland's claim: the investigation found in Holland's favour. Her marriage to Montagu was annulled and she and Holland were have their marriage solemnised publicly.

Because of the scandal and the struggle to have the marriage recognised, as well as the unusualness of the match itself, Joan and Holland's relationship has typically been seen as a romance for the ages. But Joan was, at most, 13 years old (and possibly even as young as eleven) and Holland, born c. 1315, was around 25 years old, i.e. close to, if not actually, double her age, when they married clandestinely. At around 12 years old, she was considered to be "marriageable age" and a medieval 12 year old was likely considered more mature than a modern girl of the same age. But she was, still, you know, a 12 year old girl marrying a 25 year old man. That it has been hailed as a great romance is not really surprising given the stereotypical view of the Middle Ages as a time when dirty old men married preteen girls and raped them and the fact that until very recently Lolita was published with a blurb calling it the "only convincing love story" of the 20th century.

There are a number of legends attached to Joan from around this time. Two stories refer to a Countess of Salisbury and Joan held the title for the last four years of her Montagu marriage, though her then-mother-in-law, Katherine Grandison, also held the title as the dowager. The first story records that Edward III raped the Countess of Salisbury - the details of the story make it clear that Katherine, not Joan, is who was meant, though that has not stopped some with connecting the story to Joan specifically. The story itself is unverifiable - the earliest, i.e. contemporary, recording of the story contains both factually correct and factually incorrect details, and it is French in origin, which might mean it was propaganda designed to smear Edward III (this does not prevent it from being true, however). Some have suggested that the story has been confused. We certainly have no way of proving or disproving it beyond a doubt, but the idea it was meant to refer to Joan are very slim.

A second, much lighter story involves the foundation of the Order of the Garter. In it, the Countess of Salisbury is dancing when a garter slipped from legs, producing amusement. Edward picked up the garter and returned it, admonishing, "Honi soit qui mal y pense!" ('Shame on him who thinks ill of it!'), which then became the order's motto. This tale has also been heavily doubted and whether it was Joan or Katherine who is meant is debated. In both stories, Joan is often the more prominent candidate but that likely reflects how b*etter known she is and how these stories "fit" with her reputation as a beautiful, sexually desirable woman.

From 1350 to 1361, Joan gave birth to five children: Thomas, John, Joan, Maud and Edmund (who died in infancy). In 1352, Joan's only surviving sibling**, John, died childless and she inherited the earldom of Kent. This led to a massive step up in status and wealth for her new family. Holland died on 28 December 1360 from illness.

By spring 1361, Joan had another husband in line: Edward of Woodstock. Edward was the eldest son and heir of Edward III, Prince of Wales, war hero, chivalric icon and known famously, if anachronistically, as "the Black Prince". Joan was not the obvious choice for the Prince's wife - a conventional choice would be a royal or noble woman from the European continent (there had been a number of failed marriage negotiations for this type of marriage for the Prince), and had the Prince outlive his father, Joan would have been the first English-born queen since the Conquest. She was also the first Princess of Wales since Wales was incorporated into the English crown. It's frequently asserted that the Prince had long-loved Joan and he does appear to have referred affectionately to her, but we don't really know what Joan felt about the Prince or her marriage.

As a result of the Treaty of Bretigny, the Prince was to rule Aquitaine on Edward III's behalf. Joan and her Holland children accompanied him when he sailed to Aquitaine the following year. We don't know a lot about Joan in Aquitaine. We know her fashion sense drew fairly predictable criticism and that she gave birth to two sons while there. The first, named Edward, died in Aquitaine in 1370, aged 5 years old and the second would become Richard II. The Prince was much-criticised for his arrogance and ostentatious style in ruling Aquitaine and it's possible Joan was a part of that. A lot of work has gone reassessing his rule, however, and found it was not necessarily as bad as has been assumed.

After 1367, the Prince became seriously ill and the war with France was set to reignite. Incapable of carrying out his duties in Aquitaine effectively, Edward, Joan and their family returned to England in 1371, where his health declined further. Joan often acted in his stead during this period, and when he died in 1376, she was made guardian of their son, Richard, who was now the ailing Edward III's heir and became king himself in 1377, aged only 10.

Joan remained a infinitely influential and powerful woman in the coming years, with some historians describing her as a "quasi-queen". A large portion of pardons and grants were made at her request, and as Countess of Kent and the dowager Princess of Wales, she had large estates of her own to administer. She also enjoyed a great reputation as an mediator: she mended the quarrel between John of Gaunt, Henry Percy and the city of London and mediated between Gaunt and Richard. Interestingly, her entourage included leading members of the Lollard movement, suggesting she may have been interested in reform of the church. This was also time of Geoffrey Chaucer and literary scholars has been suggested Joan served as inspiration for a various number of figures in Chaucer's work.

During the Peasants Revolt of 1381, she was harassed en-route to London and the rebels asked for her to kiss them. Chroniclers also recorded her state of terror when the Tower of London was broken into, though it may have been more of a rhetorical device on behalf of chroniclers to show what they saw were the horrors of the rebels' behaviour.

Joan appears to have taken a step back from court. Possibly, she was increasingly incapacitated by illness (it's been suggested Joan suffered from dropsy/edema; the chronicler Thomas Walsingham claimed she was so fat she could barely move, though no other chronicle made this claim), or possibly she retired once Anne of Bohemia married Richard II so not to overshadow the new queen. Despite illness and retirement, Joan attempted to mediate between Richard and another of her sons, John Holland, when the latter murdered Ralph Stafford and Richard had determined to execute him. One chronicler claimed Richard's refusal to hear her pleas caused her to die of grief. The stress of the situation could hardly have helped if she was suffering an illness. She died 7 August 1385 and was buried in the same church as her first husband, Thomas Holland. This has generally been taken as evidence that she loved him best but the situation may have been more complicated. The plans for the Prince's burial changed dramatically, which may have led Joan choosing to be buried elsewhere or she may have made her choice to as a gesture of affection for her less royal family. Richard did pardon John after Joan's death and they were reconciled, so one might say that even in death she was a successful mediator.

In terms of her descendents, Richard died childless but most of her Holland children had issue. She had descendents on both sides of the Wars of the Roses.

*If you're unfamiliar with the reigns of Edward II and Edward III, the short summary is that Edward II ended up basically alienating everyone through his relationship with and preferential treatment of Hugh Despenser the Younger (quite possibly his lover). The queen, Isabella of France, eventually allied with Roger Mortimer, Earl of March and spearheaded a rebellion that led to Edward's deposition and the execution of Despenser. His son, Edward III, became king but as he was a minor, Isabella and Mortimer effectively ruled in his reign. Edward II was said to have been murdered on 21 September 1327 and most historians accept this. However, there are some references to Edward II surviving well past this, including the plot to free him that Edmund was involved with, and there is a coterie of historians who believe it, namely headed by Ian Mortimer and Kathryn Warner. Given Edmund's royal blood, his execution was deeply unpopular - no one could be found willing to execute him until a criminal was given a pardon in exchange. Edward III is said to have wanted to pardon Edmund but was blocked by Isabella and Mortimer by doing so. When Edward III took control of government and ousted Mortimer, he posthumously pardoned Edmund and executed Roger Mortimer. One of the charges against Mortimer was that he'd duped Edmund into believing Edward II was still alive.

** Joan had two or three siblings. Her brothers were Edmund, the eldest boy who was born had died before 5 October 1331 and John, who was born posthumously on 7 April 1330, inherited the earldom as an infant and died childless on 26 December 1352. A sister, Margaret, is sometimes identified but she seems to be attested only from an authorisation to negotiate a marriage - Penny Lawne has argued that it was more likely that Joan was the intended bride but the clerk writing out the authorisation confused her name with her mother's (Margaret). There does not seem to be any other evidence of her existence - she is not mentioned as attending the baptism of John, though her other siblings are, and she is not mentioned in the Inquisition Post Mortems for John where Joan is named as his only heir. If Margaret had existed, she must have died sometime before John's death. Her death is sometimes given as 1352 but I'm not sure what the source for this is..

Historians To Hiss At.

As you might guess, Joan's life suggests a sexual impropriety and scandal, or in a slightly less misogynist sense, a life dominated by romance. She was a bigamist. She was married for love. She married three times and only one of them to a man appropriate to her status. She's both Lady Chatterley, driven by lust into the arms of a man of lesser status, and the relentless, cold-hard social climber like Philippa Gregory's Anne Boleyn.

So of course historians through the centuries have replicated that bias. For some, like Anthony Goodman, she's a giddy romantic who follows her heart who never manages to mature. For some, she's a romantic heroine, her and Thomas Holland are the epic romance of the Middle Ages which, uh, doesn't really take into consideration Joan's youth at their marriage. For others, she's a saucy wench, hooker with a heart of gold - I've seen someone point out how young Joan was when she married Holland on Twitter and gotten the response of "well she was saucy ;)". For others still, she's just a slut and a selfish, slippery, scheming one at that. After all, all those good men wouldn't have been falling themselves over her without her seducing them, would they? Anyway, it's a Russian Roulette whenever you pick something up about Joan. Will it romanticise a guy having sex with a 12 year old? Will it call the 12 year old a giddy romantic? Will it slut-shame the 12 year old? I've only found one thing - Samantha Katz Seal's review of Anthony Goodman's biography of Joan - that actually suggested Joan was a victim of abuse without immediately offering a theory to work around it.

Two examples:

The peach that is renowned Ricardian crank and misogynist John Ashdown-Hill wrote that "the girl's [Joan was in her 30s) reputation left a good deal to be desired … she was deficient in some respects and rather too-well endowed in others".

Ian Mortimer's biography of Henry IV makes overly frequent comparisons between Henry and Richard II, who Henry deposed and had murdered, basically to the tune of "Henry was better than Richard! Henry had the biggest penis!" One repeated comparison is their mothers, where Mortimer describes Joan's legacy as "burdensome" for Richard and cast a shadow over his legitimacy, while "Henry’s mother, in contrast, was popularly regarded as one of the most lovely adornments of the English court". One's a burden, the other's a beautiful object.

But the historian that I really get my hackles up about is Kathryn Warner, probably I once thought really very highly of her. She talked a lot about going back to the original sources instead of repeating what other historians have said, not speculating without supporting evidence, and having progressive values. Notably, she called out the homophobia and misogyny that hung around depictions and discussions of Edward II and Isabella of France. She was originated (I think?) or at least got heavily involved with the Don't Defame The Dead movement with history bloggers and the histfic community on Goodreads.

Warner follows Mortimer's example, talking about how "embarrassing" Joan was for Richard II unlike the Saintly Dead Paragon Of Medieval Feminine Virtue That Was Blanche of Lancaster. She even deepens that comparison when talking about Joan being sexually harassed during the Peasants Revolt:

even the rebels in 1381 demanding kisses from her, though it may indicate that they liked her and found her considerably more approachable than other members of the royal family and the nobility, does not imply deference for a royal person and the king’s mother. It is difficult to imagine anyone demanding a kiss from Joan’s predecessors Philippa of Hainault or Isabella of France, or from Henry of Lancaster’s mother Duchess Blanche.

So... we're victim blaming Joan for being sexually harassed. After all, as Warner loves to point out (repeatedly) Joan did have a "habit of dressing in the style of a freebooter’s mistress" that "did Joan’s reputation no good whatsoever". In her Philippa of Hainault biography, Warner seems to imply that Joan's style of dress was the sole complaint about the Black Prince's conduct in Aquitaine.

Edward and Joan of Kent lived in magnificent, extravagant splendour, and not everyone approved: one observer stated that the princess of Wales and Aquitaine wore great furred gowns and low-cut bodices in the style usually worn by the mistresses of freebooters: ‘I am disgusted by those women who follow such a bad example, particularly the Princess of Wales.’ Even so, not a word of condemnation came from Edward’s parents the king and queen.

There are many, many complaints about the Prince's actual conduct but Warner chooses to single out Joan's fashion sense and implies that it was worthy of condemnation from Edward III and Philippa of Hainault. Given Philippa herself was an assiduous follower of fashion and it seems doubtful that she'd think Joan following the new fashion style was worthy of complaint.

Actually, it would be very reasonable to interrogate this. Richard Barber points out this is the "French view" of English fashion and it may well be that there was underlying xenophobia in the sentiment. Additionally or instead, we could read it as another entry in the age-old misogynistic tradition of men complaining about women's fashion. In short: we should not be replicating the biases of the Middle Ages as an excuse to talk about how embarrassing or condemnatory Joan's behaviour was.

But what was, you may be asking, a freebooter's mistress? A freebooter was a effectively a pirate so Warner is effectively saying that Joan dressed like a pirate's whore.

In discussing Joan's marriage, she gives Joan's age as "only thirteen or fourteen" before correcting herself to "at most thirteen and a half" and then notes Holland was in his mid-20s. Warner then says:

Evidently, though, she found him extremely appealing, and they married clandestinely and consummated the marriage, or so they later claimed.

I feel like if a man writing in the 1970s can recognise that Joan may have been coerced in marrying Holland, as Karl P. Wentersdorf did, saying Joan may have "been placed under pressure by her suitor and had not given her full and free assent", Warner can do much, much better than "clearly 13 year old Joan of Kent found him soooooo hot". We have no idea how they married or how Joan felt about her marriage as it happened. Of course it's possible that Joan found him hot - kids have crushes on adults all the time, though they don't really want to have sex with their crush except in the theoretical sense. But maybe Joan didn't, maybe Joan was pressured, as Wentersdorf suggested in 1979, or maybe she was groomed and believed she did. But I think it is just... a really irresponsible, victim-blaming line to take in relation to a 25 year old marrying a 13 year old (if Joan was as old as 13).

While Warner does recognise the creepiness of the relationship between Holland and Joan, she discusses it like so:

Thomas Holland was twice her age, a gap which makes their supposed love-match seem less romantic and more creepy and abusive to modern sensibilities (though contemporary opinion would have held an earl’s daughter and king’s granddaughter marrying a man so far beneath her in rank as a far worse misdemeanour.

I'm so glad she threw in the reference to how Joan, contemporarily speaking, was the worse offender in the relationship. We have no idea how people who actually knew her understood the relationship, it's possible they were horrified on her behalf. We only know what chroniclers - writing when Joan was an adult - made of it and chroniclers were frequently full of misogyny. As Warner has pointed out herself, they were the gossip magazines of their day.

Warner suggests that rather than using the money Holland had gained for fighting in the Crecy campaign to finance the very expensive process of appealing to the papal authorities, he felt that finally, with all this money, he could keep Joan "in the style to which she was accustomed", making her sound like a spoilt brat who'd been like "eww poor person" at Holland. Montagu, in Warner's telling "supposedly kept her prisoner". That neither Joan nor an attorney on her behalf responded a summons and that Pope Clement VI dispatched a brief to the Archbishop of Canterbury and other prelates enjoining them to ensure Joan could appoint her own attorney suggests that Montagu was preventing Joan from responding in some way.

This is all a prelude to the theory Warner believes in which is that Joan and Holland made up the story of their earlier marriage because they met while Holland was working as Montagu's steward and fell in "love or lust" and wanted to marry. So, in that regard, Joan isn't a victim of what today we would call child sexual abuse but actually an adulteress who lied to the papal authorities because she wanted to be Mrs Thomas Holland.

Only problem is that there is absolutely no evidence of this and quite a lof of reasons why it doesn't make sense. This post is long enough already so I'll write them up in a separate post. We can't even say that Holland was Montagu's steward because the only evidence of this is in John Hardying's chronicle, written during the Wars of the Roses - over a century on from events.

Some of this might sound like nitpicking or disagreements on historical record, and maybe it is. But Warner does have a Facebook post where she complains about Joan's "fans" who depict her as "amazingly special and unique and far more important than anyone else" (where are all these fans, I wonder). In the comments, she indicates her reasoning for the theory Joan and Holland lied which basically boils down to:

it's sickening that the story is treated as a great love story when it's not love and "just disgusting"

Not speaking up about his marriage makes Holland look like a coward, which he wasn't and it makes Holland look like an abusive groomer which she sincerely hopes he wasn't

she "prefers" the version where Joan wasn't groomed and raped and it's empowering to imagine her choosing Holland

Joan's fans are annoying

To which I would say:

It is sickening! But also: how people have interpreted and represented the relationship has nothing do with the reality of it.

It's not "brave" for a grown man to admit to having sex with a 12/13 year old. And he did very much admit to having sex with a 12/13 year old Joan - eventually. Being brave in battle does not make a man more or less likely to be an abuser. Finally, wishing and hoping does not make history.

It is a historian's job to interpret the evidence, not ignore it for a fantasy scenario in which they can feel good about what happened. It is also not really empowering or feminist to erase Joan's abuse.

How do people living almost 650 years on from Joan have any impact on Joan's lived reality? Girlbossed historical women is an annoying phenomena but it has nothing to do with the real Joan or her life.

[townsenddecades]

1317– Day 4 – Elbenhawke Hall

Caroline is still recovering from her daughter’s – her second daughter’s – birth when her husband goes out for a hunt. That itself is not unusual. When there is no warfare to indulge in, hunting is a favourite sport of any noble, and she feels quite at ease spending time alone with the three children or reading a book. Sometimes she just stands on a tower, looking over the frozen landscape and the nearby Varuga River. The view from the Hall, settled on its hill as it is, is quite beautiful.

She is standing there, admiring the view, when she notices the riders coming back in great disarray. It is immediately obvious that something is wrong. She hurries down the many steps, her heart beating double-time.

Everything after that is a whirl, but one fact is clear: her husband is gravely injured, after he has run afoul of a boar on his hunt. The quickly summoned physician does what he can, but his body is so mangled that there is no help for him.

Caroline mostly feels numb. She hasn’t been married to Richard long, and while she gets along with him, there is no deep love between them. She will grieve, once the shock has worn off. She is sure of that much. But theirs has never been a love match.

Far worse is watching her father-in-law, after all the losses he has already suffered, kneeling by his son’s bedside as they keep vigil for him. She doesn’t know if she will ever be able to forget his sobs when Richard finally passes into the Watcher’s embrace.

They lay him to rest in the family crypt. At least the succession isn’t in question; he has two sons and a daughter. If they aren’t as unlucky as the Dudley family has been, that will be enough to make sure the family line continues.

Caroline does her best to support Baron Elbenhawke through all of it, although she is once again thrown into insecurity about her own position in life, now that she is a young widow. Thankfully, her father-in-law clears that away by taking pains to tell her that she will always have a home at the hall. She is the mother of two of his grandchildren, after all. She wouldn’t have wished to leave in any case; she’d have to leave her children behind, wish she is fairly sure would kill her.

But it is comforting to hear that her staying won’t be an issue.

Prev: 1317, Day 4, Part 1/3 <--> Next: 1317, Day 4, Part 3/3

WATCHER’S COMMENTARY:

‘Fun’ fact: this wasn’t a famine death. Poor Richard just failed his age-up roll a few years back, and as I explain in my info post, I find all sims dying at 6/13/20/30 boring.

No great insightful commentary this time, I merely have a default replacement for Grim that I want to show you in all its glory, because I think that it’s very cool. I’d known that there was a Sims Medieval Grim mod for TS4 and was always a little jealous of it, so imagine my delight when I spotted one for TS3.

You can find the mod here.

[imagoddamnonionmason]

Howdy Goose! What do you think Steph’s family would think about Zach when they met for the first time? I imagine they wouldn’t think he’s ’masculine enough’, due to the fact he was in therapy, not understanding that bro literally has hallucinations cause of Afghanistan.

Zach would be respectful, get both his mother in law and Rachel flowers, but wouldn’t stand for any ‘jokes’ about Steph. He’d be subtle about it, but would stand up for her if they made any comments about her.

(Why do I imagine Rachel would try to flirt with him unless she’s married 🤢)

I think her Dad, Richard, would actually be very accepting; he's a man who's fought for his country, he takes care of his daughter and the two seem to be very in love. But this man is especially blind to the life the both he and Stephanie have lived, the experiences they have had and the trauma that they learned to live with. I think it comes down to not understanding, but made worse by his lack of not realising that there's issues there that need to be understood, so there would be quite the disconnect. It's not intentional disconnect, but I don't think that Richard and Zach's father-son relationship would ever go any deeper than a surface level. It'll never go beneath a surface Zach allows him to see because, quite frankly, who talks about their trauma gained from war and especially with a man who has the emotional capacity of a pre-fried chip. You know, that part of the process where the potato is just a soggy wet slice of blandness.

I think later on in life, Richard would regret not getting to know him better, regret not trying harder to understand him and would genuinely wish he could turn back time to thank him more for taking care of his daughter and giving her a family she loves so dearly. But, regrets hang heavy around the neck and his back hurts from the weight of them.

Regarding the wife and daughter?

Huh. Yeah, I feel like Agatha would be that type of Step Mom that would hide awful remarks behind non genuine concern. It would be comments towards Steph's hair, her body, her looks, the scars on her arm, sides and thighs. It's taken a while for Stephanie to become indifferent to the marks on her skin, having gone through a lot of shit trying to reconcile the connection of the scars to the shit that happened in Afghanistan. So then for Agatha to make comments like "oh, I know you struggle with how people see those scars, so I got you this to try and hide them! We don't want to be scaring kids with ugly things like that! We don't want you getting upset!" Like, fuck off, right? I love the idea that Zach would straight up just be thinking "why don't you mind your fucking mouth, Aggie, before someone minds it for you." But really he's so calculated about how he claps back.

Agatha or Rachael make a comment on her, maybe her hair, like "oh, did you style your hair like that today? What a... choice! It could only suit you." "I was thinking the same about yours, Rachael, no one else could pull off something like that."

ON THE TOPIC OF RACHAEL THOUGH

She would flirt with him. Imagine it's like... idk a family get-together and there's a lot of extended family present. Stephanie didn't really want to go, but she does because it's good for Zach Jr to see family and while Stephanie is sorting out Zach Jr, Zach Sr is just chilling in the kitchen waiting with his Wife's drink.

Rachael saunters in, maybe a few too many drinks in than she should be, and comes to stand in front of Zach. She watching him with a furtively coy stare with the slightest attempt of a flirtatious upturn of her lips and sucks on the straw of her drink. Zach isn't even looking at her. He's just doing his job of keeping his eye on his wife's drink and speaking with those who deserve his time.

She tries flirting a little more overtly, and it would be this that catches his attention because like??? This bitch? really being so forward?

I don't think she'd take lightly being shut down, probably still got that stereotypically snotty popular girl attitude of 'every man thinks I'm god's gift' and she thinks 'he wants me, not my step-sister'. Being told no would probably lead to her having a petulant reaction.

I also don't think even marriage would stop Rachael from flirting with him - I imagine her bagging such a lovely guy but she treats him like shit. She's that kind of person. Probably ends up divorced and the ex-husband finds someone better and lives happily. Good for him, Steph and Zach would think, and he dodged a bullet.

Let me know if there's anything else you'd add!! This was fun to think about 😎

[wonder-worker]

richardiii and frideswide lovell? I am only just hearing of this

Hi! We don't know the truth and don't know the exact details, but yes, that's definitely a (potential) relationship worth discussing!

For those who are unaware, Frideswide Lovell was the daughter of John, 8th Baron Lovell, and his wife Joan Beaumont. This made her the sister of Francis Lovell, the future chamberlain and best friend of Richard III - who she may have had a personal connection to in her own right.

Frideswide seems to have been much younger than her siblings and was not born before 1363, most likely in 1464. She was orphaned soon after her birth, with her father dying a year later and her mother a year after that, leaving her to spend her childhood and adolescence in the household of her brother's parents-in-law. The first properly contemporary mention of her is found in the 1470 pardon Edward IV's government issued for Henry FitzHugh and all those in his household. Unfortunately, not much is known about her beyond that, including the kind of education she received.

When she was around 16, Frideswide married the 15-year-old Edward Norris, oldest son of William Norris of Yattendon and his first wife Joan/Jane de Vere. The teenage couple had their first son, John, in 1481, followed by a second son, Henry, a year later. The latter would be executed in 1536 as one of Anne Boleyn's alleged lovers.

Here's where it gets interesting. As we know, Richard III became King in 1483 after deposing his nephews. Michèle Schindler, author of the book Lovell Our Dogge: The Life of Viscount Lovell, Closest Friend of Richard III and Failed Regicide, has speculated that Richard may have been having an affair with Frideswide, aka his best friend's sister, during that time.

To quote Schindler from a blog post about Frideswide:

In 1483, Frideswide received a "reward" of 50 marks from Richard III after he was crowned king. Perhaps it was this, her support and closeness to her brother`s close friend, that caused a rift between her and her husband, and the couple was divided over political opinions which they needed some time to overcome. Edward`s father William, who had originally supported the Lancastrian cause, had accepted Edward IV as king, but rebelled against Richard [in support of the Princes in the Tower] in autumn 1483. Edward Norris may have supported this, though he never acted against Richard, while Frideswide seemed to support Richard.

However, there is evidence from 1484 which throws a rather different light on Frideswide`s marriage and her relationship to Richard. While her "reward" from 1483 could well have been simply a gesture of friendship by the new king towards his closest friend`s sister, their interactions clearly did not stop there. In August 1484, Richard granted her an annuity of 100 marks, a rather large sum. While this has traditionally been assumed to have been because of her father-in-law`s rebellion, leaving her husband disinherited, this does not seem to have been the cause. None of William`s other children, nor his wife, was granted anything by Richard.

Naturally, it could be that Richard chose to favour Francis`s sister over the rest of her marital family, but this is contradicted by two facts: one, that the grant was for unspecified "services" to the king, not, as that to other traitor`s relatives, as a compensation, a generous gift by the king. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, is that a second grant of an annuity of 100 marks was made from the same venue, dating from 10th January 1485. This grant was not a confirmation of the first, but was added to it, meaning that Frideswide received 200 marks yearly from Richard, a sizable sum, more than the Countess of Oxford, or even his own mother-in-law, received.

The key to this may lie in the fact that the second grant was dated back nine months, and appears to have been made just after Frideswide gave birth to her third child, a daughter called Anne. Very notably, the grants to her, for unspecified services to the king, have the same wording as one to Katherine Haute, a woman often assumed to have been the mother of Richard`s illegitimate daughter Katherine, Richard made years earlier.

Equally notable is that Richard made grants to Francis on the same days as he made those to Frideswide, as a compensation for equally unspecified services, and that Frideswide appeared to have lived with her brother [rather than her husband] while pregnant.

That Henry Norris, in later years, appeared to not treat Anne as his sister, and that William Norris, Edward`s father, later favoured Frideswide`s sons, even apparently helping them become established at court, but not Anne, might also point towards the idea that there was at least a question mark over Anne`s paternity, and that she may have been Richard`s.

If so, Frideswide was in a bad position after Richard`s defeat and death at Bosworth only eight and a half months after her daughter`s birth. It seems, though, that she and her husband Edward made the best of it, and even reconcilliated. In around 1486, Frideswide gave birth to her last child, a girl called Margaret, presumably after Edward`s sister. From surviving documents, Margaret seemed much closer to her brother Henry and her grandfather William, again showing up a difference to Anne."

Of course, we don't explicitly know if this is true - and if it is true, we don't know the exact details - but the circumstantial evidence is indeed very strong, and it seems very plausible to me. I would love to know more about Frideswide, who seems to have had a very interesting and tragic, albeit mostly unknown, life.

In short, it's very interesting and opens up a lot of possibilities, for sure!

[mischiefmanaged71]

Let’s Fall In Love For The Night - (3/10)

Summary: Being the eldest daughter of a Duke and Duchess means that Lady Y/N has been prepared for society; to fulfil her duties as the next heir to her family name and estate. However, she dreams of so much more than that, particularly, finding someone she truly loves rather than a political match. Intrigue sparks an idea with the introduction of Tom Bennett, a soldier she meets on a Press tour - forming a new relationship that could either make or break her apart should things turn against her favour.

Pairing: Tom Bennett x fem! Reader

1938

The annual Westminster Charity for Orphaned Children, hosted by the House of Richmond, wrapped up last night. Photographs of the Duke and Duchess of Richmond featured with their children, Lady Y/N, Lord Matthew, and youngest Henry. Many stipulations over the Lady Y/N circulated with several people sighting an interaction with Lord Edward Dashwood.

***

1939

Coverage of the races over this past weekend saw many royals and sportsman's on the racing fields... A reported interaction with the Lady Y/N approaching one of the riders before the races began sparked discourse on the young woman's social circle, residing to herself.

***

Tuesday, the 19th March | 1940

The Duke Richard II and his daughter, the Lady Y/N, pictured below with naval soldiers. The ship is scheduled to depart in two months time where it will provide British allied support abroad.

The paper smacked against the breakfast table, the clinking of cutlery and chatter filling her ears once more.

"Darling, what is it?"

Y/N tilted her head, looking to her father at the end of the table, "Nothing. The publication is out now."

He stretched his hand out, accepting the paper from her. It wasn't necessarily the journalist's depiction of her in the article at all, moreso than the photograph. From another's perspective it was perfectly normal looking photo with Y/N standing at her father's side along with the rows of soldiers.

However, to her own knowledge, she could see the very moment before she turned away. It was the fact that Tom was still very much looking at her in the photograph. It had sent her heart racing off as she held the paper in her hands. Proof that it had happened. A reminder of the encounter. Of the day prior when she had returned to Manchester, Tom, keeping to his word, had shown her around the local square. He was kind, and playful, albeit flirtatious most of the time.

Her father nodded, "Hmm, you did splendidly, darling. I actually heard around you were quite popular with the soldiers."

She looked at him in astonishment, "What do you mean?"

He placed the butter knife down, "Well, I mean, they were pleased to meet you."

"Oh, yes." She looked down at her plate, hmming "Of course. Although, I gather being restrained to a ship of men for a time can do that to a person. Seeking out other attention."

"I suppose." Her father agreed, sipping his tea.

She glanced at her mother who eyed her after the comment. "Wouldn't you agree?"

Her mother nodded, glancing at her youngest sons as they munched on their toast before school.

"I understand we make these...appearances, but does it not grow tiresome?" She stared out the window into the garden.

"Elaborate." Her father beckoned.

"Pretending. Putting on a fake smile and accepting all the backhanded compliments and sly commentary on your life."

Her mother paused, "It's what we must do."

"It's how we work, darling. I understand it is difficult sometimes, but always been this way."

She nodded, swallowing the itch in her throat, "Course. But change isn't necessarily a bad thing, is it?"

A moment of silence passed as they soaked up the question.

"May I?" She stood from the table, gesturing at the paper. The Duke nodded and she grabbed the paper from the table before departing to her room.

***

A calm feeling flowed through her, thoughts fading into the background as Y/N brushed through the horse's mane. She found herself spending more time at the stables each day. Time she spent riding across the fields was a getaway from her overthinking and anxieties.

The sound of approaching footsteps broke her from her daze, turning to the doorway. Much to her surprise, she was met with a familiar mop of blonde hair, and that slight smirk.

"What are you doing here?" She breathed, "How did you even get on the premises?"

"I was in the neighbourhood." Tom shrugged, "Also, wasn't too hard to get past the back fence."

"That is reckless. You could have been caught."

He shrugged, "But, I wasn't. I managed to get here."

She sighed, a smile growing on her lips "And what other reasons brought you to my abode?"

"Oh, a promise. I believe I'm owed a tour?" He stepped forward.

She chuckled, a glint in her eye "Of course."

"Who's this?" He glanced at the horse between them. The black and white stallion grumbled, glancing around.

Y/N smiled fondly, patting his mane, "His name is Orion. I picked him out when I first started my lessons."

"Why Orion?"

"I've always had an affinity for history and mythology, especially Ancient Greece. The name suited him."

"You must come here often then." Glancing around.

A shy smile crossed her features as she flickered between the two, "This is my favourite place to get away."

"Won't say I'm jealous."

"Guess you'll have to settle for second then." She surmised, a grin tugging at her lips.

"I'll have to work on it." Lips pursed.

A glint in her eye, she hummed to herself and they made eye contact.

"What've you got in mind?"

"Have you been riding before?" She asked.

"A few times."

Tom followed as Y/N left him with a grin on her features, "What?"

***

The blood rushed in her ears, the thudding of the hooves beneath racing in tandem with her heart. She pushed on, the excitement of the wind blowing through her hair akin to flying as she raced through the field atop Orion. She glanced over her shoulder at Tom behind her. A laugh bubbled from her throat as she slowed and circled around, feeling breathless.

"I'd hardly call that fair, love." Tom called out, circling his horse to her side.

"You're not up for a game, then."

"Can't exactly compete." He retorted, a breathy laugh to follow.

"You're not bad for a beginner, you know."

"Yeah?"

"Although, my twelve-year old brother is far more competitive."

Tom shook his head at her, teasingly narrowing his eyes. Arriving at the stables, he hopped off his horse and glanced up at her.

"You bring all of the boys round here?"

"No." She replied immediately, hopping off Orion and landing on her feet. She found herself stood in front of Tom, now looking up at him. The silence drew them closer as she felt herself drift in his direction. The lingering stares drew to a tense close, his hand cupping her jaw. Her breath drawing shorter and eyes fluttered shut, breathing each other in and-

Footsteps drew close and Y/N turned, Tom's hand dropping from her face. Her heart raced in her chest as she saw Charlie, one of the carers approaching from the entrance. He was an older man in his sixties who dedicated himself to caring for the horses. He'd taught all of the children of their House to ride, including her father.

"Ma'am. I didn't expect you today."

She waved her hand, a flush to her cheeks "I took Orion for a ride. You know how he gets anxious staying in for too long."

Charlie nodded, glancing at Tom, "Who might this be?"

Her mouth opened and closed as she glanced at Tom, "This is Thomas. He is a new member of my security."

Charlie glanced between the two, clearly sceptical but nodded nonetheless. "Well. I'll leave you to it."

A sigh left her mouth as she finally looked Tom in the eye. "Thomas?"

"What?"

"Bit on the nose, isn't it?"

She rolled her eyes, tugging Orion's reigns to the stables.

"I'm joking!" He laughed, and she found herself smiling despite her effort to stifle it. She replaced Orion in his stable, removing the saddle and reigns to begin and placed them on the side. The door swung behind her and she turned and the air left her lungs as warm lips pressed against her. She gasped lightly into Tom's mouth, breathing him in. His touch sent shivers along her skin as he gently brushed the hair away from her neck. Her hands found their way around his neck, needing him closer. He deepened the kiss, only releasing for air as they exhaled deeply.

A neigh sounded in the background, but she was too absorbed in him leaning against her forehead, their exhales mixing together in the heat of things. Eyes half lidded, gazing into his blue eyes that faded into a gunmetal blue when fully blown.

"Charlie is probably still around." She whispered.

He hummed, "I don't think that's gonna stop me." Pressing another soft kiss to her lips as she sighed, hands resting on his chest.

***

The sun dipped below the horizon as they sat beneath the tree, settled in a comfortable silence. Y/N nestled her head in Tom's shoulder.

"This is nice."

"It is, isn't it?" He hummed, glancing at her. He brushed her hair from her face.

"Would you...want to do this again?"

"This?" He feigned confusion, begging her to elaborate.

She glanced up at him, "You know. Seeing each other."

"D'you mean as mates or..." He smiled at her, "Just thought I'd confirm."

She sat up, tucking her hair over her shoulder "As in, I'd like to see you again, Tom."

He smirked, "I'm only pulling your leg. I understand perfectly."

Leaning in to press a kiss to her cheek, "I'd love to see more of you. Just know, I'm known for getting into trouble sometimes."

"I'm certain there's never a dull moment with you." She remarked, breaking into a grin as he tugged her into his arms.

"So it's settled then?"

"Yeah." She breathed, glancing between his eyes and lips. "Although, there is the one thing. To keep this secret."

He listened, "The media are known for distorting stories, and I wouldn't want that for you...us."

"Okay. If that’s what you want." He nodded.

"Thank you." She smiled, caressing his hand. "My family wouldn't know either. They're...my parents are open-minded, but-right now, things are uncertain. I'm unsure of what they're thinking."

"Understandable." He replied, "Not sure about dad, but I think Lois would agree. Try not to worry about all that." Tom clasped their hands together. "Focus on right now."

She exhaled, "I'll try, yeah."

Although it was a wishful thought for the most part that they could exist together without question. Without doubt of intervention or disapproval of their relationship.

Tom tugged her into his chest, "One of these days, I will beat you in a race."

"Oh, yeah?" She tilted her head, "You're about twelve years behind in training. I'm sure you'll get there, though."

"Hey," he murmured in her ear in a teasing voice. She giggled and the sound caused his heart to flutter. "I could-"

"-I'm sure you will." Y/N laughed as he tickled her neck.

TAGS

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[chicago-pd-is-weird]

Alt Prompt 2: “Leave the kids out of it.”

@the-three-shits-whump

Read it on AO3 via the link, or find it below the cut:

Hank, Al and Trudy sat in their treehouse in Hank’s backyard. It had been nearly four years since Richard Voight had died on the job. Hank had spent his free time making sure the treehouse, the last of his dad’s handiwork, was still as new as the day he built it. It was hard for the young boy, but he kept it in decent shape, considering it was one of the last things he had of his father. The only people he’d ever let in were Al and Trudy.

So, the three sat in the treehouse, avoiding the adults. It was a warm summer night, Hank having rolled out some sleeping bags. “I don’t care what your parents say. You can stay with me, Al.”

“Thanks,” Al mumbled, curled up in the corner of the treehouse, Trudy beside him, rubbing his back. The boy was only eleven, but he had already been through hell and back with his parents.

“I probably can’t stay,” Trudy said with a frown, seeing as she was thirteen and hitting puberty. “My dad… He doesn’t even like that I hang out with you guys anymore.”

Hank rolled his eyes. “Your dad is so old fashioned.” He sat down on the sleeping bag, patting the other ones for Al and Trudy.

Trudy got up and sat on one of the sleeping bags, shrugging. “He says I’m a young lady now, so I can’t be hanging around boys all the time. But I can’t stand the girls at school.”

The two waited, letting Al slowly come out on his own as they chatted away. Finally, he crawled over, sitting on the empty sleeping bag and talking with Hank and Trudy. They talked about everything from school and their classmates to home issues, though Al didn’t say much at all. He was a quiet boy, quieter than most. He liked the silence.

Hank looked out the window of the treehouse, sighing as he saw their parents inside. “Maybe they won’t be able to find us here.”

“Classic spot. This will be the first place they look,” Trudy replied.

“No, the second or third. Hank’s bedroom first,” Al chimed in.

Trudy looked at him and nodded. “You’re probably right, Al.”

Hank sighed, but shrugged. “Maybe if we’re sleeping, they’ll leave us alone. Come on, let’s go to sleep.”

So, the three of them tucked into their sleeping bags. Hank and Trudy fell asleep, but Al laid awake, looking out the window at the stars from here he was. He tried to find constellations, but couldn’t. He relished in the silence, though, finally calming down enough to shut his eyes and get some sleep…

That’s when a loud bang came from the house, followed by screaming. The adults were fighting. Al whimpered, sitting up and seeing if Hank and Trudy noticed, but they were asleep. He covered his ears as the door slammed open and the yelling got louder. In fact, he scrambled up and took the sleeping bag over to the corner, sitting and covering himself with it, squeezing his eyes shut and holding his hands over his ears.

“Leave the kids out of it!” Hank’s mother screamed, prompting Hank to wake up, Trudy not too long after.

The two frowned at one another, seeing Al in the corner below a sleeping bag. Before they could get to him, however, Al’s father had climbed up. “I’m taking my damn son and never coming back here again! Where is he?!” He screamed at Hank and Trudy, who scrambled out of his way. Al’s father was terrifying, especially when angry. “Tell me where my son is!” He grabbed Trudy by the shirt, shaking her a bit, making her cry out.

In an instant, Robert was also in the tee house, grabbing Al’s father and punching him, pushing him to the ground of the treehouse. “Leave my daughter alone! You ever touch her again, you’ll be sorry!” He huffed. “Come on, Trudy, let’s go.” He grabbed Trudy by the arm and took her down, driving off.

“Hank, honey, come down from there, please.”

Hank frowned as Al’s father got up and went for exactly where Al was hiding. “No.” He got between them.

“No? The fuck you mean by that, boy?!”

“No! You’ll hurt him! I won’t let you.”

Al’s father grabbed Hank and picked him up, shaking him, then tossing him out of the treehouse. He wasn’t able to grab anything before he fell. Hank fell to the ground, hitting it hard. Hard enough to crack his skull and for a lot of blood to come out. Al’s father grabbed Al and quickly took him away as Hank’s bother knelt beside him, crying

[richmond-rex]

Did Elizabeth of York really live in Stanley's house before Richard III sent her to the North for detention?

Hello! I doubt she did, in fact the only 'evidence' (if we can call it that) that Elizabeth of York stayed some time with Thomas Stanley comes from a heavily fictionalised ballad written by a servant of the Stanleys in the 1490s or early 1500s. It's obvious that the ballad is meant to portray the Stanleys in a good light and maybe even overstate their importance by linking Elizabeth so closely to them. In that ballad, Elizabeth goes to live with them as soon as her father dies because Edward IV had made 'Father Stanley' her spiritual father before his death, something we actually know did not happen because contemporary sources (and Richard III's declaration) state she went into sanctuary at Westminster Abbey.

After her uncle promised not to harm them Elizabeth very probably stayed with her mother and then went to court for a brief time — the Croyland Chronicle specifically says Elizabeth Woodville sent her daughters to court for Christmas, meaning they were not there before. After her brief spell at court Elizabeth either went back to her mother or was sent directly up north to be kept with her Clarence cousins by their other cousin, John de la Pole, until Henry VII's invasion was successful and she was set free.

To sum up, it's very unlikely that Richard III would have sent her to stay with the Stanleys after Elizabeth came out of sanctuary because by that time he already knew Henry Tudor had declared his promise to marry her and Henry was no less than Stanley's son-in-law. Stanley was also guarding Henry's mother the one who had advocated the most for their marriage. It would have been really stupid of Richard to have trusted Elizabeth to Stanley knowing she could come in contact with Margaret Beaufort who in turn could facilitate an escape to the Continent to join her to her son. Logic aside, there's really not any evidence that Elizabeth stayed with the Stanleys as I said above.

[byneddiedingo]

Joan Crawford and Lon Chaney in The Unknown (Tod Browning, 1927)

Cast: Lon Chaney, Joan Crawford, Norman Kerry, Nick De Ruiz, John George, Frank Lanning. Screenplay: Tod Browning, Waldemar Young, based on a novel by Mary Roberts Rinehart; titles: Joseph Farnham. Cinematography: Merritt B. Gerstad. Art direction: Richard Day, Cedric Gibbons. Film editing: Harry Reynolds, Errol Taggart. 

One of the kinkier movies in the Lon Chaney filmography, The Unknown betrays its pre-Code nature very early. It's set in a circus where we see women in the audience ogling a performance by the strong man, Malabar (Norman Kerry). But the mother of one of the oglers, sitting across the aisle, hisses at her son to "go home and take off that dress." Chaney plays Alonzo, whose knife-throwing act involves his lovely assistant, Nanon (Joan Crawford), the daughter of the money-grubbing Zanzi (Nick De Ruiz), owner of the circus. What makes Nanon's job more perilous is that Alonzo throws the knives with his feet, being armless. Eventually Alonzo's attraction to Nanon will involve murder, dismemberment, and a love triangle in which Alonzo almost tears his rival, Malabar, to pieces. Chaney's gift for physical transformation reaches a new peak in the movie, which requires him to do everything from throwing knives to drinking from a teacup with his toes. In fact, although Chaney learned to do many of these things, some of the actions were performed by his body double, Paul Desmuke, who was in fact armless. Careful camera manipulation kept Chaney's upper body in the frame as Desmuke actually lit cigarettes and threw knives with his feet. The Unknown was one of Crawford's earliest featured performances, in a role that MGM originally wanted Greta Garbo to play. She's still a little raw as an actress, but her presence outshines that of her leading man, Kerry, whose career fizzled as hers ignited. The Unknown, one of eight movies director Tod Browning made with Chaney, lacks the sympathy for the physically divergent of Browning's most notorious film, Freaks (1932), although Alonzo's dwarf assistant, Cojo (John George), sometimes serves as the moral corrective to Alonzo's schemes.  

[isadomna]

Isabel of Castile, First Duchess of York

Isabel was the third of four children of King Pedro I, also known as Pedro the Cruel, who ruled the Crown of Castile from 1350. Her mother was the vivacious and intelligent Maria de Padilla, often described as Pedro's mistress. In 1361, when Isabel was only six, her mother died. The following year, Pedro declared that he and Maria had been lawfully married before he was forced to espouse his estranged French wife, Blanche of Bourbon, who was by then also dead, some said murdered by her husband. His claim of an earlier marriage was subsequently endorsed by the Cortes, thus legitimising Pedro's children by Maria. Pedro was killed by his illegitimate half-brother and deadly enemy Enrique of Trastámara in March 1369. Trastámara became King Enrique II of Castile.

Isabel accompanied her elder sister Constanza to England, and married Edmund of Langley, son of Edward III and Philippa of Hainault, in 1472 at Wallingford, as part of a dynastic alliance in furtherance of the Plantagenet claim to the crown of Castile. Isabel was only 16 or 17 to Edmund’s 31, and brought him no lands or income or even the promise of such because her sister Constanza – who married Edmund’s elder brother John of Gaunt as his second wife – was their father’s heir. John and Constanza spent many years trying unsuccessfully to claim her late father’s throne from her illegitimate half-uncle Enrique of Trastamara, while Edmund and Isabel were required to give up any claims to the kingdom of Castile and were not compensated.

As a result of her marriage, Isabel became the first of a total of eleven women who became Duchess of York. She was appointed a Lady of the Garter in 1379. In their twenty years of marriage, the Duke and Duchess of York had three children:

Edward of Norwich, Duke of York

Constance

Richard of Conisburgh, Earl of Cambridge

Contemporary sources suggest that Edmund and Isabel were an ill-matched pair and their relationship was a rocky one, with Isabel accused of having an affair with John Holland, Duke of Exeter and half-brother to Richard II. The affair is believed to have started as early as 1374 and likely continued for a decade. As a result of her indiscretions, Isabel left behind a tarnished reputation. The chronicler Thomas Walsingham considered her to have somewhat loose morals.

John Holland has also been suggested as the real father of Isabel’s youngest son, Richard of Conisburgh, who was the grandfather of Edward IV and Richard III. The fact that his father Edmund of Langley and brother Edward, both, left him out of their wills has fuelled this theory. However, leaving a son out of your will was not entirely unusual, and Richard had died when his brother made his will.

Isabel of Castile died in December 1392 at the age of about 37 and was buried at Langley Priory in Hertfordshire. In her will, Isabel left items and gifts of money to close relatives by blood or marriage, and to numerous servants of hers, men and women. Isabel referred to Edmund of Langley as her "very honoured lord and husband of York", and left him all her horses, all her beds including the cushions, bedspreads, canopies and everything else that went with them, her best brooch, her best gold cup, and her "large primer". Isabel named King Richard II as her heir, requesting him to grant her younger son, Richard, an annuity of 500 marks. Isabel left nothing at all to her older sister Constanza, duchess of Lancaster, and failed even to mention her. Isabel doesn't forget John Holland in her will, at this time married to Elizabeth of Lancaster, John of Gaunt's daughter.

About 11 months later her widower married Joan Holland, niece of Isabel's supposed lover, John Holland. In another bizarre family twist, it was Joan’s brother, Edmund Holland, Earl of Kent, who had an affair – and an illegitimate daughter – with Constance of York, the daughter of Edmund and Isabel. In Edmund’s own will of 1400 he requested burial ‘near my beloved Isabele, formerly my consort.’  Despite Isabel of Castile's bad reputation and supposedly having been involved in a court scandal that humiliated her husband, Edmund seems to have felt great affection for her as demonstrated by his willingness to rest eternally with Isabel and not with his second wife.

Source:

[sbrown82]

I wonder how The Stones children feel about they’re parents doing drugs, having sex with multiple people, having to have multiple stepmoms, or reading a book about how they were pretty much unwanted. I feel bad for Jade Jagger, Marlon Richards, all of Ronnie’s kids, Nicholas Dunbar and Brian’s kids. They have to continuously hear about how their parents were on drugs. Like Anita was on bad drugs with all 3 of her children, I wonder how they felt being around that. Or someone like Jade how both parents not really being there for her and then judging her for being just like them. Or Karis having to see her mom struggle most of her childhood while her dad didn’t even want to claim her. Or Brian’s children who probably only seen him on tv or in magazines because he didn’t really come around for them. Or Nicholas who’s mother was on terrible drugs and was sent to his grandma after his mom tried to commit suicide, it’s a lot to swallow.

Many of the Rolling Stones children have talked about this, specifically Jade Jagger, Marlon Richards, and Brian Jones' children. I mean, that couldn't have been easy, which is why some of them either acted out when they were young or completely stayed away from the spotlight. Keith Richards and Anita Pallenberg's son Marlon said his parents were both reckless and very heavy drug addicts. In fact, Anita did heroin while pregnant with her daughter Angela and even gave birth to her in a rehab clinic, and Keith once fell asleep at the while and crashed his car with his son in the back seat. One of their children even died at 10 weeks old from SIDS while in her care. Keith's mom had enough and took their daughter Angela to live with her and said Anita was a bad mom.

And yes, Jade always talks about how her parents were never really around and how she was treated like a mascot instead of their daughter. Mick was always on tour or doing whatever with whoever, while her mother Bianca was a "socialite" who partied at nightclubs or would travel for days leaving her daughter alone with nannies. Her childhood wasn't very pleasant as she had to fit into their lifestyles, which is probably why she acted out a lot. She did drugs, was kicked out of school, and even dabbled in "soft porn". Paparazzi even caught her having sex on a nude beach in Europe. She's a hot ass mess!!

Karis is the total opposite! Her mother, Marsha Hunt, was a real hands-on parent who took her everywhere with her, provided her with a great education (even though she couldn't afford it), and kept her out of the limelight - probably a main reason why she doesn't do any interviews or cares about celebrity culture. I don't think I've ever even heard her mention her father before. The asshole didn't claim her until she was 12 years old. TWELVE!!!!! That's a loooooong time to deny your fucking kid. It's unbelievable that she wants anything to do with him. And even though she grew up poor and on food stamps, she had an extremely normal upbringing as opposed to all her siblings who are now "professional Jaggers". You never hear about her in the news, but can you blame her? After the way the media treated her mother back in the day, I wouldn't care either. She's very strait-laced and a real class act.

Brian Jones was probably the worst of them. By the time that fool was 19, he already had 3 children by 3 different baby mamas and didn't take care of any of them. Not one! That was his M.O.: he would date some teenaged girl (And I mean young, like 16/17 years old), knock her up, then abandon her and the baby, at times leaving them to starve. His third baby mama, Pat Andrews, even outed him about his behavior in 1965:

A few of his other baby mamas actually gave the children up for adoption because they couldn't raise them on their own. But that had to be painful for all his children. They all lost a father they never knew, they didn't even know they had siblings growing up until they met each other in their late 20s and 30s. Another one of Brian's sons actually spoke about him and this pattern of treating the mothers of his children with such disregard:

Also, Nicholas Dunbar is not Mick Jagger's son, even tho the skinny mf spent more time with him when he was a baby than his own damn child Karis. Ain't that a bitch?!

[endlich-allein]

I think it's safe to assume that Till was involved in Khira's life, especially when Richard moved to NYC. Khira of course joined Nele, Louise and the unnamed sons when they were with Till because why wouldn't she? And even Merlin said Till is like a second father. Again, with Richard living abroad, I've no doubt Till tried to make Merlin more comfortable and feel part of the family once he was revealed to be Kruspe.

Richard's children undoubtedly spent a lot of time with Till's children, if only during the holidays, and considered them as one family. But they had their mothers and were brought up by them. We shouldn't forget that Till had to leave his daughter, Nele, with her mother because he couldn't look after her as well with the advent of Rammstein. It was heartbreaking for him not to have enough time to look after her. So taking care of Richard's children is even more complicated. I see Till more as a cool uncle with whom you spend holidays in the country, who gives you the best presents on your birthdays and to whom you can confide without fear of being judged. In fact, Till does this with just about every child close to him - he's godfather to Joey Kelly's children, for example. He also looked after the daughter of one of his friends who had died. So yes Till probably considers Richard's children as his own but he didn't raise them.