#tudors ot3 verse reference

[malkaleh]

This video actually inspired a lot of my thoughts about fictional fashion within the tudors ot3 universe (also texting my saati @star-anise like ‘so what’s the fashion capital of the early-mid tudor era’) because in universe it went to Italian (Venetian and Florentine specifically) and French but then also obviously the Ottoman influence (I was going to say ‘later’ but actually it’s there even then) as well as earlier medieval looser silhouettes because the Spanish influence under Juana is also very different. But this was the first thing that made me go ‘…OH’

[malkaleh]

I am imagining all the “I was there Gandalf” moments that the Tudors fandom can look back on, including the Triad reveal and the Norwich discovery. A third one that’s smaller but still significant is when DNA testing backs up the Triad reveal. Either they do a paternity test with the royal remains, or they find that the known descendants of Gregory Cromwell and the descendants of George/Owen/Pippa have a distant connection or common ancestor.

I think DNA was still relatively new in the 90s, so maybe it’s several years before they can DNA test 400-year-old skeletal remains or find common ancestors going back sixteen generations. Either way it causes another upheaval and it’s also a nice rebuttal to Restorationists and other doubters.

The Norwich discovery is pretty recent so that’s definitely a Fandom Event (of OW OW FUCK THAT GUY) - I wonder if there’s a ‘fuck that guy (derogatory)’ day on in universe tumblr. And oh gosh, The Triad Discovery. So I’ve been kind of loose on when this happens (The Tudors show in universe happens around like, right now - all the actors are in universe younger) but it’s late nineties/early 2000s plus different tech advancements. So it is by this point extremely well known and taught and also a ‘Listen I Was There When The News Broke’

(With the Triad it is like in retrospect so much makes sense - with the show people are going in knowing about it by this point but oh there’s so much I Was There about the discovery. SO MUCH)

The contents of the chest make it pretty damn clear (spoilers go here about that somewhat) but yep, the current Duchess of Essex + I think one of Owen’s descendants off the top of my head take a DNA test and yep, Related.

(Oh the trainwreck there - they basically stick their fingers in their ears and sing LALALALA CANNOT HEAR YOU - because while don’t get me wrong, they LOATHE Thomas Cromwell and will admit he was uh ‘favoured’ by Henry and have Opinions about the sullied royal bloodlines they are also deeply invested in the two current royal princes being Secretly Of The True Royal Line (and a whole other thing) and so they also refuse to believe that any King would ever be bisexual or love a commoner that much so they mostly just ignore it and huff about how corrupted by the Coarse Commoner Henry Was (in his policies! they were bros! Because Cromwell was a weasel! No homo!)

[malkaleh]

🌈 + and OC of your choice <3

John Welles. Earl of Norwich. parcere subiectis et debellare superbos [spare the subjects, wage war against the proud]

such a beautiful boy - my sweet antinous, you were meant to lay against me, wrapped in nothing but fine silks

He’s intelligent, handsome, a dashing spy and courtier. Cultured, witty and well read. The perfect renaissance man, much enamoured of the Empire of Rome. The Duke of Norfolk’s trusted agent and friend. A monster and a gentleman.

John Norwich is one of my Tudors OT3 verse OCs. He respects one (1) of these fuckers and that’s the Duke of Norfolk. He would love the dark academia classics aesthetic. He has plans within plans. He’s the monster haunting Thomas Cromwell’s nightmares, who took him age ten and never wanted to let go.

When he finds ‘his antinous’ at court, a favourite of the monarchs and as beautiful a man as he was as a child (to Norwich) he is determined to reclaim him. For is he not his slave, his property after all.

with so much thanks to @lemurious for giving me Norwich’s latin motto and @nocompromise-noregrets for being a friend and plotting partner <33333.

[malkaleh]

🦆

George Boleyn-Tudor-Cromwell. Duke of York. Prince of England. Second son, third child. Spy, courtier, wife guy, poet. Did get Shakespeare to write sonnets about how gorgeous and amazing he is.

There’s a (I think) K.A. Applegate quote about ruthlessness being a bright clear line from point A to point B and WOW IS THAT GEORGE. He’s the ruthless political player hiding behind a charming prince/courtier who is known in court for his artistic/intellectual patronage. He does not trust people outside his family - like outside of them people do not know George - though he is so charming no one really gets that. He’s the cynic to his brother the heir who is not (“My brother Thomas is a good man. He doesn’t hold a grudge. That’s what I’m here for” to paraphrase Josh Lyman) and honestly the person behind the charming mask is Fucking Scary. Part of George’s thing is that honestly the only reason there are things he won’t do to protect those he loves is that Tommy would be sad about it. And even then if Tommy doesn’t know…

Also his dad Henry will fight you if you ever say he’s not Henry’s son like NO THAT IS MY CHILD MY PRINCE MY WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS GIFT THE IMAGE OF MY BELOVED SPOUSES (he is biologically not Henry’s, but Anne and Thomas Cromwells (James Frain Cromwell)).

Marries another OC (Madeleine the second daughter of Marguerite of Navarre in this AU) who isn’t so much a morality chain as holding his flower like ‘you are doing amazing sweetie’

George does go through a period of worrying about like, being legitimately a prince but he absolutely got over it because he got Loved So Hard (like one thing about King Henry VIII in this is wow he will fight anyone about this question those are his babies) and also fundamentally he’s pretty grounded in himself.

send me an emoji and I’ll tell you about one of my OCs

[malkaleh]

@star-anise

Can you answer this?

So the post reads:

So like ... did french hoods have a chin strap or nah? Because some portraits show the wearer as having one. And some don’t. One wonders if the portraits with the missing straps is evidence of the artist taking creative liberties to create a more streamlined look or if perhaps there was another was to secure the hood to the head? Pins maybe?

There's no hard evidence either way, but it seems to me more probable that there were french hoods without the chin strap.

The modern understanding of french hoods is that it's made up from two separate parts. There's the cap and the hood. The cap is the part that has stiffening (especially in 1540s) while the hood is folded on top of it. The earlier French hoods show the construction clearer as they were not yet as stiff and smoothly folded. This portrait from 1520s shows pretty nicely the cap and the hood.

Under everything is the white linen cap of which only the edge is showing. On top of it is the red cap made from a fashion fabric and secured clearly with a chin strap. It has very little stiff structure if at all. The black hood is then pinned into the cap and it's edge is turned to reveal the white lining, which creates the iconic (though still understated at this point in time) crescent shape of french hood. Here in this statue from around the same time the folding of the hood is seen even clearer.

The fold shows a small crescent of the brownish lining. The half-folded strip of fabric along the edge of the hood with the gold trimming is probably what people at the time called billiments. Billiments were either just the gold or jewel trimming along the hood edge or strip of fabric with the trimmings attached to it, that would then be attached probably with pins or baseting stitches to the hood. The fabric billiments made it possible to change the adornments of the hood to change it's look. In this depiction I think it's safe to say that the white cap into which the hood is attached to was very much not secured with chin strap, but with a tape that probably goes around the head under the hood. The cap seems already to have a bit of structuring on it's visible edge.

Here's a portrait with just the cap from around 1520s or 1530s. It's edge clearly is stiffened and probably secured with the stiffening and white tape that goes around the hair and would be hidden by the hood. Because the edge of the cap is stiffened it doesn't need the chin strap to keep it's shape. Possibly, if the weight of the hood would be added here and pinned to the cap, it might need a chin strap to keep it well secured.

Later in 1540s the crescent of the hood becomes larger, it becomes more structured and the points of the cap in the jawline start curving more dramatically. Here's example of that version of the French hood, first one from 1535-40, second from 1544.

Here the structuring is so sleek, it's very hard see that the crescent is the lining of the hood turned very carefully. Some theories suggest that the lining at this point has become a separate piece from the hood, but if you look really closely, you can see that in the first picture there is a thin line that suggests that the white cap is under the white crescent that's likely still the folded lining. In the second example the cap itself is white, and the lining is red. In these portraits the billiments have also become very stiffened and almost like thin hair band that probably also keeps the folded lining smooth and in shape.

I go into detail about the construction, because the curving stiff shape of the cap might be the key here. If the earlier cap that had it's points on the jawline straight, could hold the cap alone secured, the newer curved and even stiffer (likely added wire too along the edge) might have been able to keep the hood too secured on it's own (and with the help of the tape that's under the hood). In fact dress historian Samantha Bullat says in her video, where she recreates French hood, that her 1540s French hood probably wouldn't even need the chin strap she added to it. Her video is super great if you want to understand some probable ways of how the hood was constructed (I've learned most of the information here from it).

So in conclusion, there was at least one way to secure the hood without chin strap, but that was with a visible headband, though possibly 1540s more structured French hoods didn't require the chin strap. If I would guess why some of them didn't need the strap, I'd say the hood itself was probably made from a lighter material, maybe lighter lining, and therefore it would have been easier for the strapless cap to hold it's weight. Maybe during summer they had lighter hoods. This is though purely speculation, I haven't read any evidence from that.

[malkaleh]

@nocompromise-noregrets I also want this show to exist SO BADLY. And I had a revelation about who plays Anne and maybe Luke Evans plays Henry for like you ;)

Anne and Henry are mostly background cameos but it’s absolutely there (and everyone goes Feral about the Hints - because obviously it’s not something they are going to admit, except maybe Phryne says once “your secret is safe with me Your Grace, though it should not have to be a secret” after they have like, an emotional case/she’s rescued Jack From Peril (Jack Robinson, narrative Bond Boy ;)) and he smiles softly and you get this glimpse of Thomas Cromwell the person ANYWAY.

(Though I do think Phryne and Anne would absolutely be friends so….)

(And by hints I mean things that like, you’d only pick up if you know or are Phryne Fisher/Sherlock Holmes*)

Also Lee talks about how he thought of playing Cromwell here as playing two roles - he’s playing Thomas Cromwell playing his professional job role by and large but as things go on you slowly slowly get more glimpses of Thomas The Person.

Also his children all show up, variously. (Yes including the namesake Prince Tommy)

*Another piece of media to think about or I’m OT3ing the hell out of it

[malkaleh]

Once news of the triad comes out, and people realize that Henry cheated on Thomas with Jane just as he cheated on Anne with her, there’s a strain of thought where people think that because Gregory Cromwell married Bess Seymour, he had some resentment against his father and married the affair partner’s sister as revenge.

actually I think the triad letters that are discovered by Maya Aburbeh (?) are in Gregory Cromwell’s possession? So maybe not, but there’s a Philippa Gregory-esque novel or two out there with that subplot

I had totally never thought of that my friend! (I know it’s a strong subplot that Gregory resents Henry but I could absolutely see like, either a homophobia plot line or a resentment for being ‘replaced’ plot line in an historical drama/fiction)*

*this is fundamentally in universe absolutely bullshit because there is ample documentation/letters/records of Gregory and his father being incredibly close all their lives and Gregory loving his half siblings (I think one thing I, Doylistically at least was always clear on was that the kids were the thing that everyone agreed on, even if they agreed on literally nothing else but in universe I could see some people turning Gregory into A Hater). Which is also funny because while he did worry about Unconventional New Family it was kind of directed at feeling like Henry and Anne maybe resented him (that’s a plot thread…)

(I only read the first Wolf Hall book and my memory is fuzzy but hmmm I wonder what Wolf Hall looks like in the OT3 verse)

[malkaleh]

☀️

Thomas (Tommy) Boleyn-Tudor-Cromwell. Prince Of Wales. Duke Of Cornwall. King Thomas I of England. My biromantic demisexual wife guy of all time. What happens when you live up to your (extremely positive) legend as a leader and a person and then somehow exceed them by an infinity.

Tommy gets migraines, really struggles with asking for help for himself which does make his family feel useless/like he doesn’t trust them to help him as a person/open up, feels like he absolutely cannot fuck up anything ever. Struggles to talk about his own problems So Hard, though he’s a fantastic listener/advice giver if you want. Loves dogs, loves Small Humans and will be So Patient with kids/babies, best dad you could imagine. Literally only into his wife, will sacrifice anything for other people (his wife does not trust him with his life because he’s good and kind and does not consider himself) and maybe needs to work on that, kind of also sees the best in people a lot/his family worries that he’s too gentle, disney princess.

Does so much policy/infrastructure with his wife. Genuinely progressive by modern standards too, a lot by virtue of himself but also see again his wife, unconventional family etc.

Married to (in this universe she’s the youngest child and also she and her brothers are doing independent of England reforms) Mihrimah Sultan who would methodically burn the universe to the ground if anything happened to him even if he would not want that. She does not care. He would be gone.

Does have moments of feeling like he’s not living up to what a Tudor Prince should be honestly but everyone loves Tommy, even if it’s just the image they have because he’s so like, gentle and kind and wise presence. Actually does have a sense of humour if you get to know him.

Character models are (book versions only): faramir, elrond and aragorn.

send me an emoji and I’ll tell you about one of my OCs

[malkaleh]

Oh that all makes sense - especially re Mary because she absolutely does have Conflicted Feelings! (Partly why she asked for Thomas at all - she actually does like him, she feels like she shouldn’t etc)

Honestly I think Thomas keeps it private - genuinely because I think he thinks of it as a very private thing so he’s not going to betray a confidence?

(I have no idea how/if Anne and Henry find out)

Some more thoughts!

I think a part of Mary has thought that her father thinks she’s a monster because…she’s got all these feelings jumbled up! (Understandably!) She looks at Thomas and I know I joke like ‘WHY IS THIS MAN SUCH A GOOD DAD/SPOUSE I HATE IT’ but it’s also - it goes against everything the world tells Mary about Those Kind Of People and it’s…so one of the things Ruth Goodman refers to in her book is the dissonance between ‘those evil sinful sodomites over there’ versus ‘these people I know and love’ (which is actually something Wolsey articulates somewhat) and Mary has just hit this reality now.

And also she had this moment of seeing her father (who had not previously ever been like that) angry near her in reaction to something she said (even if not at her it still sticks and it still led to consequences) and she’s kind of like…is my father scared of me? Does that make me a monster???

(I have no idea how much of this is consciously thought about but these are my vibes).

And I really like the idea of it not being yelling but just said.

Honestly it probably is that Mary bought it up

@mihrsuri

How do Henry and Anne react to finding out Thomas told Mary about Norwich, after the Seymour attack? Are they surprised that he trusted her with something like that? Are they afraid Mary might use it against him? Are they hopeful this might mean the start of a warmer relationship between them?

I think Anne would be surprised but not startled, and hopeful that this means good things for the Mary-Thomas relationship. Henry would be less optimistic, and protective of Thomas/fearing Mary might use this information against him somehow, and tbh once the dust has settled a bit, I envision him giving her a sort-of platonic shovel talk, like “you know now just how much it cost him to tell you that, you better not hurt him”.

[malkaleh]

OT3 Verse Headcast

So @onekisstotakewithme asked me this question from a meme:

🎬 If a movie or show were based on your fic, which fic would you choose and who would you fancast?

And listen I usually say ‘Jewish Anne Boleyn’ but I don’t actually know of any biracial Persian Jewish actors to cast for that so I thought I’d do my giant emotional support Tudors AU aka The OT3 Verse. See here for summary of. So I thought I’d write out (with pictures) all the headcasts I have.

PLEASE feel free to ask me about any of them and I will answer like I was a show runner giving an interview to a media outlet because DUH.

Under a cut because LONG.

The Triad

Natalie Dormer (Anne Boleyn)

James Frain (Thomas Cromwell)

Jonathan Rhys Meyers (King Henry VIII)

Boleyn Family

Rufus Sewell/Luke Thompson (Thomas Boleyn)

Joanne Whalley/Eleanor Tomlinson (Elizabeth Boleyn)

Jonathan Bailey (George Boleyn)

Morfydd Clark (Jane Boleyn)

Holliday Granger (Mary Boleyn) because @houseofborgia in part because I think she would rock OT3 verse Mary.

Dudley Family

Matthew Goode (John Dudley)

Tom Blythe (Robert Dudley)

(Jane Dudley is obviously here but placeholder for now because stuck on headcast)

Children Of The Triad (adults)

Princess Mary (Sarah Bolger)

Princess Elizabeth (Sophie Turner)

Prince Thomas (Patrick Gibson)

Prince George (Ethan Peck)

Prince William (Ruari O’Connor)

Princess Margaret (Lola Petticrew)

Prince Owen (Ben Barnes)

Prince Edmund (Kerem Busin is the best visual representation I have but honestly like picture Travis Kelce with red hair and Giant)

Princess Philippa (Goldshifteh Farahani)

Other Major Characters

Princess Mihrimah/Mihrimah Sultan (I go between Sujaya Dasgupta for VIBES and because I think she’d kill it and Pelin Karahan)

John Welles, Earl of Norwich (Rupert Graves)

Thomas Howard, Duke Of Norfolk (Jeremy Irons)

Bridget Grey, nee Talbot (Hannah New)

Lionel Grey (Toby Regbo)

Charles Brandon, Duke of Sussex (Henry Cavill)

Mary Brandon, Duchess of Sussex (Debra Messing thank you @the-ships-to-rule-them-all so much for suggestion 🩷)

(I do also have the grandchildrens generation but that’s WAY TOO MUCH)

[malkaleh]

Tudors OT3 Verse In Universe Media

I wanted to make a masterpost of the in universe media if only for myself. This is very much a work in progress and feel free to ask questions about them and I’ll do my best (I know more about some than others).

TV

Mistress Fishers Murder Mysteries: So @nocompromise-noregrets and I are batting this one back and forth - it guest stars Lee Pace as Thomas Cromwell, Luke Evans as Henry VIII and Cynthia Addai Robinson as Queen Anne Boleyn

Crowned: this universes version of The Crown, though it’s a very very different royal family (though there is still an abdication). Like as in functional, productive and loving (I mean there’s still some Dysfunction but that’s actually mostly external).

The Terror: So @lemonsharks and I came up with a series about the unauthorised and definitely punished/failed (the fact that they were jailed when they returned kicked off the English Civil War in this universe) attempt to colonise what we call the USA. And I just realised it’s the 1600s: The Terror. In universe a very young James Frain is in it to be pretty, be woobified and die prettily after being whumped. Restorationists (these guys suck) think this show is a depiction of Noble Manly Men Doing Noble Manly Things. No one else thinks so (I think James plays a young Jewish boy who was kidnapped and essentially used as bait :/).

Oxford Mysteries: this is another one @nocompromise-noregrets and I have batted about that also co-stars Luke Evans as Indira Vamira’s Emotional Support Pretty Sidekick (she’s the Professor from a noble and old money family).

Bridgerton

My Lady Jane

The Welles Brothers

Becoming Elizabeth

The Scarlet Pimpernel Show

The Tudors (OBVS ;)): except there’s a sequel show called The Tudors: Golden World or similar.

Books

Tolkien (still exists)

Grishaverse (OH MY GOSH IDEK WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE BUT)

Theatre

Henry VIII: LOOKS SO DIFFERENT. I mean Shakespeare in general does but.

There’s a whole bunch of ballets about the Triad I know it.

[malkaleh]

A Tudors OT3 Verse Thought

Listen in terms of in universe Law and Order SVU (though in universe it’s a very very different thing but assuming it’s same(ish) as our universe here) doing a thinly veiled interpretation of The Norwich plot it’s like okay (putting under a read more because discussion of child sexual abuse)

(I have never actually seen any SVU because (a) been there lived several didn’t even get a tshirt but I do have a friend/friends (largely @sarking <3) and so Blorbos In Law.

The Criminal Minds episode though. I WANT IT. (Again assuming similar universe) (though the actual alt history played out Criminal Minds is a thing I would also watch). Particularly because I cannot decide which of the CM team would find Norwich the most Odious and I suspect the answer is ‘all of them, on balance’

(We have not even got into Lionel which is also definitely a ‘ripped from history’ episode)

The White House Chief Of Staff (who is also married to the President and First Lady in secret) was sexually abused for years by his foster father who happens to be the aide of the like Secretary of Defence*

*Trying to think of the equivalent position for the Duke Of Norfolk and that was the one I came up with

[malkaleh]

This is so incredible! Also now I’m thinking about what the press release(s) might have looked like because wow that would have been a meeting and a half! (Also revamping the interpretation materials!)

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Tudors (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Original Female Character(s) Additional Tags: Archivist making discoveries, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, ot3: political power trio, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence Summary:

During rewiring work at Welles Hall, a most curious sealed wooden box is discovered behind a fireplace.

Written for @writersmonth day 2, ‘chance’.

I don’t normally go here, but I am an archivist by profession so when the lovely @mihrsuri  was talking on Tumblr about the discovery of What Norwich Did To Thomas Cromwell in her Tudors OT3-'verse, I found myself chipping in. And then there was one of those 'what would you like to see me write?’ memes and she said she’d like to see me write the discovery of the evidence, and day 2 of Writers’ Month is 'chance’, and…well. It all fell together perfectly. :D

Big thanks to @mihrsuri and @allegoriesinmediasres for AU-'verse advice and checking! :D

[malkaleh]

Tell us what the TV show trailer is like?

EEEE. This is THE BEST.

Season One

All happy endings have a beginning. To get to the heart of the ever after you have to go back to the once upon a time…

This is a henry voiceover - you flash between their statue, the three crowns, a baby in a cradle in a beautiful field of flowers and trees - lit by a spring sunrise - all soft gold and pinks. And then you go to Henry, saying he wants a divorce, KOA falling to the ground, Bessie Blount with Henry and then an image of Thomas on a ship with small!Gregory looking at the English shore, Anne in France.

“I need a son” - Henry, talking to Wolsey. “And the Queen can no longer give me one”

Thomas, waking from a nightmare.

Anne, reading City of Ladies and discussing it.

End tagline ‘the journey to a golden world starts with a choice’

I’m now imagining promo posters with different characters and it’s like:

Anne. ‘The Queen is the most powerful piece on the chessboard’ and ‘Loving Mother. Beloved Queen. Political Genius’ oh also ‘she’s the intellectual powerhouse’ (Anne is wearing her crown and sitting on her throne, smiling dangerously)

Wolsey’s is actually essentially the same as it is for our Tudors (The Cardinal With A Lover).

Thomas Cromwell. ‘Proof That Fairy Tales Are True’ ‘The Commoner Who Became A King’ ‘He’s sleeping with the King…and with the Queen.’ (The first one is genuinely shot like a fairy tale ending disney movie and the second is one of the sexy shots with the three of them in bed, Thomas in the middle).

Henry. ‘Can The King Conquer His Own Demons?’ And listen there’s definitely a Taylor Swift song involved I know it.

[malkaleh]

For this to make sense read this gorgeous fic by @nocompromise-noregrets and also have knowledge of my OT3 verse. This is an in universe fandom post (on a tumblr that it is like, Good Website But Also Still Hell Site)

So I went to the panel discussion at Welles Hall (with a friend which was life changing levels of great) and I wanted to write a book report for the tumblr.

Natalie is actually Aphrodite. Like, I was speechless. I do not know how us mere mortals can gaze at such beauty and anyway, I was the most useless of lesbians.

I’m not personally into men romantically or sexually but like, aesthetically James and Jon and Rupert are very appealing. Like a sunset or a piece of art. Also very charming, A+

Ahmed is a sweetheart and very funny.

The questions/answers were all great but uh, some highlights:

Ahmed really talked about how much he admired the work Rupert did in particular - that he really sat down with the primary sources and asked great insightful questions (quote “I think in some ways actors have a similar drive to historians - to understand people, even repellant ones”)

“People ask me if I have any sympathy for him [Norwich] and the answer is no! I loathe him - the historical study is fascinating and important but I have never liked him”

Rupert said it was hard to be in [Norwich’s] head - that he ended up developing a ritual for getting in and out of character to separate himself - he really gave credit to the shows intimacy coordinator for the workshopping before anyone was on set.

(Aside we learned that Rupert was cast really early on - apparently they didn’t want anyone else because he’s quote ‘handsome and charming and a brilliant performer and that’s what we needed’)

Maya said there were times she had to stop herself from quote ‘making excited squeaking noises’ on set (world renowned historians - they are in fact just like us) and that her favourite set was the Arthurian Masque plus “one I can’t talk about yet” *eyes emoji*

Maya “I went into the process of revising it (The Tudor Triad: New Edition) with delight and sadness” she talked about how she loved being back with these three but also the heaviness of it - how she wrestled with how much to include.

Ahmed interjected and said that it was one thing he really struggled with as well - that only having Norwich’s voice, Noriwch’s details on the abuse was something particularly sickening and that’s in large part why it was so incredible to see James’ performance.

(“I think, I hope that somewhere in the afterlife Thomas Cromwell is glad to see that he is given his story back to him”)

Both James and Rupert really talked about how the townhouse visit was the most confronting part - that Norwich’s journals are awful and chilling but somehow being in the space where it happened, that made it all the more real, especially because by this point they’d both been in their characters heads for a while.

“It was horrible - i actually don’t like to talk about it in detail honestly”

They both talked about how great Ellie at Welles Hall was - that she and Ahmed and Maya really talked them through the diary/papers and the decoding. (“All props to Rupert and James - not only is the content not an easy read, reading/interpreting Tudor handwriting is a process and reading Tudor handwriting in a mix of languages is even worse”)

Natalie “my guiding sense was that Anne would rip him [Norwich] apart with her bare hands and dance on the remains - I just found that through playing her, reading her own words even if it’s never referred to directly”

Jon was very sure he wanted to have what Henry says to Norwich remain a mystery (though Rupert knows!) and he didn’t want the audience to see Henry’s face when it was sad - Rupert said that it was ‘incredibly bloody satisfying’ to play the moment when Norwich realises that he has ‘fucked around and found out’

Rupert said he thought that Norwich absolutely believed in his own mythology - that essentially, might makes right, that he was a great Roman General etc. (Which apparently Ahmed is currently working on an academic article about Norwich and Ancient Rome)

I’ll be back for part II: the Lionel Discussion Panel later.

-semperlyqueerly

[malkaleh]

Listen Liam Boleyn-Tudor-Cromwell is a boytoy. He’s a trophy husband. His eventual wife was like ‘I want a hot slutty poly pansexual younger man with a shitload of money as a treat’ and she got him. If Tudor England had tshirts he is wearing one like ‘I don’t question my wife’s choices because I’m one of them’ or something about pegging.

Rosamund really went ‘I’m manifesting’ and got her dream and Liam really got the Top of his dreams.

(Liam’s other partners include: lesbian who thought he was hot and also would be a great dad, local woman who was like ‘I murdered my abusive husband I deserve to have all the great sex (and she does!)’ and ‘husband and wife really wanted threesome’)

(This was loosely inspired by a post I saw on my dash that @emilykaldwen reblogged from a question she asked what can I say my brain is A Brain)