De Cape, de Robe et d'Épée - Xian Moriarty

Archibald would be a former british officer turned infamous pirate captain and looking for revenge (Did you see Black Sails ? Well, he's basically Flint.). His crew would try to capture a mermaid (to help them tame the sea or something), but it woudn't turn as planned... Siv would be curious of them and travelling with the strange hoomans, and be more adopted by them than captive in the end.

I don't have more art for the moment (save something I'm going to post for paying members for REASONS) but I'd love to try to design more characters for this AU at some point.

The mermay sketches that initiated this :

La fameuse anecdote que dans laquelle se lance Dubois ici a sans doute été inventée de toutes pièces pour le discréditer, mais elle est rigolote alors tant pis, je pouvais pas m’empêcher d’y faire allusion quand même! On raconte que lorsqu’il était tout jeune élève, il aurait volé dans la boutique de son père une fiole d’antimoine, un laxatif, et aurait versé le tout dans le chaudron de soupe servi au repas… On retrouve dans l’anecdote l’opportunité de se moquer (encore une fois!) dans la fameuse boutique d’apothicaire. Cela dit, il faut avouer que c’est marrant même si c’est inventé de toutes pièces 😅

Et donc voilà!! J’aimais bien cette petite histoire sur ce prieuré dans lequel Dubois ne remit jamais les pieds, mais auquel il semblait vraiment être attaché. Sa relation avec Brive était… compliquée: à lire ses écrits il semble qu’il ait vraiment gardé une certaine affection pour l’endroit, mais ses ambitions personnelles ont fait qu’il a plutôt passé la majeure partie de sa vie à s’en éloigner. Quoiqu’il en soit, les succès de Dubois furent chaleureusement célébrés dans sa patrie: il existe des archives racontant de grandes fêtes lorsqu’il fut nommé cardinal!

Aside from this bad italian accent thing, I wanted to depict one of the ways they were known to entertain themselves with: comedy, mockery and mimickry. Mazarin not being very well liked, and Philippe having had a complex relationship with him, it felt fitting.

This comic is set very early in Philippe and Henriette's marriage, which took place three weeks after Mazarin passed away. For the anecdote, they couldn't make a big ceremony and had to get married in grieving outfits which I'm sure they were DELIGHTED about...........

That is to say, it also explains why they still get along quite well at this point. It's likely before anything began between Henriette and Louis, and during these times Philippe also kept his relationship with Armand quite secret (mind you, a lot of people knew, Henriette included, most likely).

Mazarin deserves his own article one day, for those who aren't familiar with him, so I won't get into the details of why he was so loathed, but one of the reasons was that he was italian. However, his relationship with Louis was excellent; he was his godfather, but Louis pretty much saw him as a father figure. The same cannot be said of Philippe, who's been pretty much ignored by Mazarin most of his life. While some historians have been particularly vicious about it, more moderate ones still acknowledge that Mazarin didn't pay him much mind and, like Anne of Austria, was far more focused on Louis than on Philippe. As a result, Philippe didn't like him, and was reported to be quite impolite towards him during his teens (not greeting him when he entered a room or not showing the appropriate marks of respect expected from him).

For both Anne of Austria and Mazarin, Philippe's behavior during Louis' illness in 1658 resulted in a growth of their respect and appreciation for him. While Anne of Austria apologized to Philippe about having taken so long to properly see him, I don't know if Mazarin ever said the same, and I feel like it's not much of a reach to imagine that Philippe never truly got over the way Mazarin never saw him as a son the way he did Louis -- which is also why I believe he'd be capable of spoofing him as such.

Two additional notes on the content of the dialogues:

Philippe as Mazarin says that he and Armand share "not a vice, but a grand refinement"; this refers to the italian vice, a euphemism for homosexuality, which Mazarin was """accused""" of by the people and which Anne of Austria also alleged.

Henriette speaks of "Monseigneur's lights seeming a little far apart"; this is précieuse slang for being confused.

Hope you enjoyed!

FR:

Je remets ici les petites notes concernant les dialogues:

Philippe en Mazarin dit que lui et Armand partagent "non pas un vice mais un grand raffinement"; il fait bien sûr référence au vice italien, euphémisme pour homosexualité, dont Mazarin était """accusé""" et qu'Anne d'Autriche a elle-même affirmé.

Lors des échanges de lettres concernant ce fameux prieuré, on voit Dubois essayer de convaincre et de justifier sa demande le plus possible. L’argument sentimental n’ayant pas tellement de valeur aux yeux de ses interlocuteurs (et éventuellement au yeux du roi!), il se concentre sur l’aspect monétaire et n’hésite pas à offrir de se départir de certains bénéfices qu’il a déjà pour acquérir celui-ci, avançant que le prieuré est de valeur égale ou moindre au canonicat qu’il propose de céder à quelqu’un d’autre.

La lettre ci-dessous est adressée au père La Chaise, confesseur de Louis XIV, à qui Fénelon avait aussi suggéré d’écrire pour un coup de main. Dubois ouvre avec le côté monétaire, et ensuite on enchaîne avec l'aspect plus personnel de la chose: