Even Though We Didn’t Get To See Sansa And Arya’s Reactions To Jon’s Parentage Reveal, Their Next

Bad Feel: The silent film classic Metropolis was taken out of the US  Public Domain via the Uruguay Round Treaty; which was ultimately ruled by the courts to be an okay thing to do; and it doesn’t go back into the PD until 2022.

Good Feel: The original novel from 1925 went into the public domain just now, so you can still totally adapt that!

Weird Feel: The famous robot’s design was wildly different in the book tho, less of an art-deco gynoid and more described as akin to a Terminator-type skeleton in a transparent “skin,” a bit like a Henshin Cyborg or Crystal Bowie from Space Adventure Cobra, if you’re familiar with either of those exceedingly obscure points of reference…

I think the book series might work better as a HBO or Showtime or Starz or Netflix mini-series able to go all out in terms of the grittiness, sex, and violence of the book. 

‘Red Sparrow’ Post-Mortem And Why The Sequels Deserve To Be Made

WARNING: This post contains major spoilers for Red Sparrow (original Jason Matthews book, 2015 Eric Warren Singer screenplay draft and Francis Lawrence’s film) as well as minor story details from sequel novels Palace of Treason and The Kremlin’s Candidate. For my thoughts on the film, head to Letterboxd.

I can’t seem to muster up some sort of pretentious intro, so getting right to it:

Keep reading

Henry’s coronation was followed almost at once by his marriage. As his mother pointed out in a letter to Bellièvre, the surintendant des finances, savings would be made, notably in the distribution of gifts, by combining the king’s coronation and wedding. The marriage contract was signed on 14 February and the wedding followed next day. De Thou tells us that it was delayed till the afternoon because Henry took so long fussing over his attire and that of his bride, but royal weddings always took place then to allow time for the participants to recover from the previous previous evening’s festivities. Henry arrived at Rheims cathedral in pomp preceded by bugles and trumpets. Behind him walked the bride’s father, the count of Vaudémont. Louise’s cortège followed. Tall and blond, she wore a gown and heavy cope of mauve velvet embroidered with fleurs-de-lys. Her future brothers-in-law, the duc d’Anjou and the king of Navarre, walked on either side of her. Behind came Catherine de’ Medici and many princesses and other ladies. For once Catherine had set aside the mourning she had worn since her husband’s death in 1559. The wedding itself took place outside the cathedral’s main porch under a canopy of gold cloth. It was followed by a low mass within the cathedral celebrated by cardinal de Bourbon and the day was rounded off by a banquet and a ball at the archiepiscopal palace. According to a Venetian witness, the king and 12 princes wore suits of silver cloth adorned with pearls and jewels. The new queen, too, was superbly dressed.

Robert J. Knecht, Hero or Tyrant? Henry III, King of France, 1574-89 (pp. 105-106)

At first glance Louise de Lorraine looks like a Renaissance Cinderella story--the unappreciated young woman mistreated by her cold step-mother rescued by a handsome young king/prince--only to turn into a nightmare. Maybe that handsome king isn’t as stable as she first thought...and maybe he doesn’t really like her for herself, but because she looks a lot like his dead ex-lover who he idealizes...

How has no one written a Louise-centric novel casting her as Cinderella? The White Queen turned Elizabeth Woodville’s life into a Cinderella-gone-wrong story, it’s Louise’s turn. 

Are the writers saving all the deaths for the finale....???

GOT spoiler ahead!

I’m not entirely sure how I feel about that episode. The whole battle from what I could see was great, it was intense and the music was just blowing me away. And sure I’m happy at Arya being a badass and taking out the Night King but it felt too easy and too quick. It didn’t give us any answers either. I dunno. They made the enemy too powerful, too mysterious and gave him too much hype that I thought there would have been a larger one on one fight with someone then killed.

My obsession with Catherine Cookson miniseries has evolved to its next logical phase: Catherine Cookson books.

Could this cover (carbon dated 1970) be any more amazing?

Since it was released, cover design isn't the only thing that has changed about books. Check out this marketing copy: "Catherine cookson transforms the simple plot of riches-to-rags and back again into a vivid, textured, and highly romantic novel that is not altogether unlike Jane Eyre in its impact."

"Not all together unlike Jane Eyre in its impact." Does praise get any more backhanded than that?

It’s interesting looking at the series’ original outline and then comparing it to what the series eventually morphed into. There’s a huge difference between how Arya in book one is written versus how someone like Sansa, Daeneryes, Jamie, or Tyrion are written in later books. Arya in GOT initially comes across as the stereotypical girl-dresses-as-boy/girl-wishes-she-was-boy trope that we see waaaay too often in fiction, especially fantasy fiction (it was everywhere in the 80′s and 90′s to the point where anything feminine in fantasy was seen as unfemminist somehow). I’m so glad the series matured and the characters with it so that we got the complex and rich story that we have with complex and well rounded characters, the types you don’t always see in fantasy. 

When she opened the door to the garden, it was so lovely that she held her breath, unwilling to disturb such perfect beauty. The snow drifted down and down, all in ghostly silence, and lay thick and unbroken on the ground. All color had fled the world outside. It was a place of whites and blacks and greys. White towers and white snow and white statues, black shadows and black trees, the dark grey sky above. A pure world, Sansa thought. I do not belong here. Yet she stepped out all the same.

Its honestly sad that antis can’t understand that this line is Sansa’s character. They spend so much time debating the specifics of how spoiled, bratty, bitchy, selfish, and treasonous she is, when the reality of her character is so completely different.

She’s a young girl who, even after all these tragedies have happened to her, can look out upon a garden and be taken away by how completely beautiful it is. Despite how profoundly depressing her life has been for years at this point, despite seeing her family murdered in front of her, she instantly jumps to see how the snow has made a wonderland outside her door.

And then she thinks I do not belong here 

She sees all of this beauty around her, and doesn’t think she belongs; she doesn’t think she deserves something so perfect. A far cry from the narcissistic and power hungry bitch that her antis paint her to be, she can’t even include herself in the good she sees outside. 

Yet she stepped out all the same

That line says everything you need to know about Sansa. She thinks she doesn’t belong with beautiful things anymore; that she is too damaged, traumatized, or wrong to fit in with a world of whites and greys and blacks. But she steps out all the same. She so desperately wants to be a part of this world, to be a part of the beauty she sees in it. Her snow castle is her part of making something beautiful, of just being a part of the wonder she sees. 

It’s just amazing to me that you could read this chapter and miss so much of Sansa’s nature. The raw innocence in which she approaches the failed Godswood is so indicative of her character, and its a shame antis can’t see it. 

Alessandro de’ Medici Alessandro de’ Medici, called “Il Moro” (“The Moor”), was born in the Italian city of Urbino in 1510. His mother was an African slave named Simonetta who had been freed. Alessandro’s paternity is uncertain. Most sources name Lorenzo de’ Medici, ruler of Urbino. But Alessandro might also have been the son of Pope Clement VII, the brother of Lorenzo II who became the head of the Medici family after Lorenzo’s death. Clement VII chose the nineteen-year-old Alessandro to become the first Duke of Florence in 1529. Pope Clement at that time was at odds not only with the Florentines who had driven out the Medici family in 1497, but also with the emperor Charles V. To solidify the allegiance that the papacy owed to the Holy Roman Empire, Alessandro was named Duke of Florence and promised the emperor’s daughter Margaret. With the help of Charles V, Clement could restore the rule of the Medici family in Florence in 1530 and make Alessandro the first reigning Duke. Supported initially by the best families, Alessandro became an absolute prince, overthrowing the city’s’ republican government. According to most historians the young duke’s reign did not begin very well. His arrogant personality, the bad behavior of his entourage, and his licentiousness – with both women and feasting – soon gave Alessandro an unsavory reputation. In addition, he made some highly unpopular political decisions including limiting the number of remunerative positions in his government. This decision alone forced many patrician families to go into exile and become enemies of his rule.  Alessandro’s situation grew worse when his protector and benefactor Clement VII died in 1534. In response he took more repressive measures against his enemies, probably due to his growing fear of them and uncertainty of his support. Meanwhile, resistance against Alessandro’s reign grew among the exiles and even his cousin Ippolito plotted against the Duke. When Ippolito died unexpectedly in 1535, speculations arose that Alessandro had poisoned him. In June 1536, however, Charles V visited Florence and married his daughter to Alessandro, consolidating the Duke’s position. Nonetheless one year later, Alessandro was murdered by his own cousin Lorenzino, who fled to Venice and was hailed among the exiles as the “New Brutus.” Sources: T.F. Earle and K.J. Lowe, Black Africans in Renaissance Europe (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005); J.A. Rogers, World’s Greatest Men of Color, Volume II (New York: Macmillan, 1972).

As much fun as his character is, his ending is fan service. Good thing Bran can see the past and has maybe some inkling about the future. Maybe he can figure out how to get money in his spare time. Or he can write to Arya for help. In the books Arya is good at math and keeping figures. 

Who wants to bet that within the span of one year, Bronn’s going to make Petyr Baelish look like the best master of coin in history?

hi, sorry to be a bother, but i was wondering if u knew any alternatives to Philippa Gregory?? I really want to get into Tudor history and I love historical fiction but I've heard so much criticism of her work xx

Unfortunately a lot of period books are going to be steeped in a certain level of creative license which sacrifices historical details to the ideal or romanticised effect. Most major Tudor writers – Weir, Plaidy, Gregory - are guilty of this. Personally I can look past this and enjoy the content for its historical setting and loose interpretation, but if that is a deal breaker for you there are a slim number of authors who will likely appeal to you. If you are disinterested in Gregory, I would recommend Alison Weir and Jean Plaidy. Their novels are chock full in historical references and are of a similar style to Gregory.  As I understand it their’s are more credible, the exception being Weir tends to take a biased standpoint, and Plaidy is more of a story-writer than she is a historian.

You’ve probably already heard of Hillary Mantel’s Wolf Hall series. I read its entirety and enjoyed it, but there are errors strewn through it. On the opposite end, Adrienne Dillard’s works tend to be more true to history and from what I’ve gathered the author herself is an all-around good person. I highly enjoyed The Raven’s Widow as opposed to Gregory’s interpretation to Jane Boleyn.  Olivia Longueville is also a recommended author. Sharon Kay Penman, Ken Follett, Katharine Longshore, Diane Haeger, and Margaret George all have interesting and well-researched reads. I loved the Autobiography of Henry VIII by George. It reads fantastically.

I hope this helps! Enjoy your summer reading. 

Life beyond Henry VIII

Christina of Denmark, most famous for sassily rebuffing Henry VIII’s proposal of marriage by saying she’d only marry him if she had TWO heads, lived as interesting a life as any of the Tudors.

Her father Christian II of Denmark was so hated in that country that history now calls him “Christian the Tyrant”. He was overthrown by his own uncle and exiled to the Netherlands, then ruled by his brother-in-law, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.  

Christina grew up an exiled princess without a kingdom, the daughter of a black mark on European royalty. 

She married young and was widowed soon after.

Her cousin was Philip II, who later married Mary Tudor...then Elisabeth de Valois (the French princess)...then his niece Anna of Austria...

Christina actually met Mary Tudor, who was jealous of Christina’s closeness to Philip, a closeness her own marriage to the Spanish prince and future king was lacking.

After refusing to marry Henry VIII, Christina married the Duke of Lorraine and had several children with him, including Charles III. Her husband died after four years of marriage, leaving Christina to fight with the other nobles over the regency for young Charles. Christina won the regency...and then lost it. But she wasn’t going to give up without a fight, not even when France invaded the duchy of Lorraine and demanded that Christina hand young Charles over to the French king, Henri II, to raise in France. 

She went to King Henri in person to beg him not to separate her from her son, but he wouldn’t relent and took her son anyway. Charles would later marry Henri’s daughter Claude in one of the few happy and loving marriages in the Valois family history. Charles and Claude later named one of their daughters after Christina.

Also, Henry VIII wasn’t the only person Christina turned down. She also turned down one of Mary Queen of Scot’s uncles, a member of the Guise clan. She blamed the Guise for Henri’s invasion of Lorraine. 

Funnily enough, Charles wasn’t the only member of his family to marry into the Valois family. Charles’s cousin Louise married Henri de Valois, known in history as King Henri III...aka, the possibly gay French king...(who history buffs on Tumblr should embrace as their bisexual goth problematic fave, just saying). 

According to writer Brantome, Christina also met Mary Queen of Scots after the young queen was widowed by her beloved, the young King Francis II. Mary’s uncle warned her ahead of time about Christina’s theatrical antics and her need to be the center of attention, behavior the Guise party found both annoying and amusing. I wonder what Christina would have thought of the Scottish queen, daughter of ANOTHER woman who turned down Henry VIII with a sick burn. 

Christina may not have attended her son Charles’ wedding to the Princess Claude, but she did attend the coronation of the new king of France, ten-year-old Charles IX...who could barely keep his large crown still on his little head. Brantome wrote that Christina showed up in her finest velvet gown with a carriage drawn by Turkish horses (her favorite type of horses). When she arrived in this pomp and splendor, even Catherine de Medici remarked: “There’s a proud woman!” 

Christina tried to offer every piece of advice to her son Charles while he was Duke of Lorraine, while her daughter-in-law Claude listened to her mother’s every advice on what to do with Lorraine. The poor couple probably never caught a break from two very nosy and very opinionated mothers and mothers-in-law. 

It’s a pity that Reign never mentioned Lorraine, or Christina, her son, and tons of other colorful personalities from France during the 1550s and 1560s. I feel like the writers would have had so much fun featuring a sassy smack down between Catherine de Medici and Christina of Denmark. 

Reign really failed to show how important the Guise family was to Mary. There’s a whole goldmine of storylines from history that the show sadly skipped over.