Isobel Barlow

Beware the witch of the woods. OC blog for Isobel Barlow, witchfolk to the core of her. // Penned by Rowan. They/them, Scandinavian, queer, 30+. // Minors DNI. 25+ players please. // Follows from rowan-revelry

[rowan-juniperwreath]

INDIE OC // FANTASY // HORROR // ROYALCORE // MEDIEVAL // RENNAISANCE

Rules // Memes // Open starters // Starter calls

ISOBEL BARLOW. Wicked witch of the woods. Femme fatale. Harlot of harlots, whore of whores - but very amusing company, no doubt about that.

Pinterest // Aesthetics // Appearance // Text // Tunes // Wardrobe

[ Written by Rowan. Queer, Scandinavian, white, 30+, they/them. Follows from @rowan-revelry ]

~ Bio under cut ~

30+ y/o // She/Her // Cis // Bi // Anglo-Saxon coded

SOUNDS like a smooth alto, well-spoken and nearly hypnotically verbose. SCENTED with lavender, juniper and a waft of spearmint. MOVES with disdainful regard of etiquette, an odd mix of straight-backed pride and leisurely stroll. Always seems on the verge of lounging somewhere she shouldn't. NOTORIOUS for being the daughter of the terrible witch Moira Barlow, burnt at the stake on Isobel's twentieth birthday. LOOKS like the deathly pale, raven-haired, stormy eyed sorceress the rumors paint her as. She's a curvacious, soft-bodied woman with a tangle of wild, dark locks that comes down to her knees - a few premature streaks of white and grey mingling with the black. Her face has strong, dark brows, a sharp straight nose and a surprisingly soft, supple mouth. Often carries around dark circles under her eyes. Prefers to walk barefoot and keeps pulling out her hair pins to be rid of her updo.

Wild // Shameless // Loyal // Fiery // Buoyant // Spirited // Verbose // Unhinged // Vengeful // Blood-thirsty // Unforgiving // Feral // Brutal

COMES IN VERSES SUCH AS: The vengeful sorceress and ousted Mary Queen of Scots, the Yennefer to your Geralt, the Morgana le Fay of our slightly more queer Arthurian Tale, the Wicked Witch of the West to your Glinda, the bitterly misunderstood Snow Queen of the dark fairy tale - and many more yet to be written.

[loveridden1999]

[rosieandthemoon]

via

[liivn]

Three Barn Owls at a quatrefoil church window. Photographer: Richard Brooks. Date: July 2009. Shot at a local church in North Norfolk, England.

[rosieandthemoon]

Robert Leinweber, for a 1912 edition of Grimm's Fairytales

[mythshire]

°✧*: 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐒 ··· a collection of arranged marriages, political betrothals, duty over desire & reluctant unions roleplay sentence starters. genre: arranged marriage, political intrigue, enemies to lovers, forced proximity.

✦ 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 / 𝐂𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐘

• We meet at last. I confess, the rumors did not prepare me for the reality.   • The contracts bear both our seals. We are bound now, in the eyes of gods and men.   • I would ask that you refrain from such familiarity. This union may be lawful, but it is not affectionate.  

✦ 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 / 𝐔𝐍𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐆𝐀𝐙𝐄𝐒

• You did not meet my eyes once during the ceremony. Not once.   • I am not unaware that your heart belongs to another. I have eyes.   • You may take whichever chambers suit you. Save mine.  

✦ 𝐃𝐔𝐓𝐘 / 𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

• The council anticipates an heir before year's end. We must discuss the practicalities of such an expectation.   • In public, I would appreciate the courtesy of civility, at minimum.   • I did not desire this match any more than you did. Let us not pretend otherwise.  

✦ 𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐒 / 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄

• Your realm secures our wealth. Mine ensures your protection. We both inherit disappointment.   • The court is watching. Kindly smile as though my presence does not revolt you.   • I could hear you in your chambers throughout the night. The walls are thinner than one might hope.  

✦ 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 / 𝐀𝐋𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐒

• If the ring offends you so deeply, you need not wear it.   • I was to wed your elder sibling. Until fate intervened and the alliance fell into our hands instead.   • Take my arm, if you would. We are expected to present a united aspect.  

✦ 𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐄 / 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐄𝐓 𝐇𝐔𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒

• I fulfilled my duty to my house. I shall not apologize for that.   • You withdrew when I extended my hand. The servants took note.   • We are not adversaries by choice. Our families made us so. We are merely the consequence.  

✦ 𝐍𝐎 𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐏𝐄 / 𝐁𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐒

• An annulment would ignite war across three kingdoms. We are bound to one another, like it or not.   • I discovered your correspondence with your former beloved. Hidden in your writing desk.   • I do not ask for affection. I do not even ask for friendship. But mutual respect would suffice.  

✦ 𝐒𝐄𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 / 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍

• We maintain separate chambers for excellent reason. I suggest you retire to yours.   • The alliance grows more tenuous by the day. Without issue, the treaty collapses entirely. • You have taken wine again. To excess. The foreign dignitaries are beginning to whisper.  

✦ 𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐒

• This was not my choosing, any more than it was yours.   • I would thank you to cease referring to me as your "treaty obligation" when at court.   • Your house slaughtered mine in the last campaign. Now I am meant to bear your name?  

✦ 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐆𝐄

• We have been wed nigh on three months. I still know nothing of you.   • A letter arrived today. From the one I was to marry before you. Inquiring after my happiness.   • The physicians grow suspicious as to why I have not yet summoned them. Why has there been no... consummation.  

✦ 𝐏𝐔𝐁𝐋𝐈𝐂 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘 / 𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐘𝐀𝐋

• You need not love me. But you must dance with me. It is our wedding celebration.   • I witnessed how you regarded them this evening. You make no effort at discretion anymore.   • This arrangement serves every interest save those of the two souls who spoke the vows.  

✦ 𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄

• Your kingdom required a consort. Mine required access to your ports. Thus, we arrive at this.   • Had I been granted choice in the matter, I would have chosen otherwise.   • The marriage bed serves as political theater. Let us discharge our duty and be done with it.  

✦ 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐓 / 𝐇𝐔𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

• You carry the scent of another's perfume. Have the decency to bathe before appearing at table.   • I do not ask for your love. I ask that you cease making a fool of me before the entire court.   • Your father threatened invasion. This marriage was offered as terms of peace.  

✦ 𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍

• We must sit in proximity. Touch hands. Convince them this alliance holds firm.   • I came upon your private writings. You described wedding me as akin to attending your own execution.   • The treaty contains a consummation clause. We cannot defer this indefinitely.  

✦ 𝐏𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄

• You bestowed upon me a crown and a title. Everything save the one thing that cannot be commanded.   • I am with child. Do not feign such shock—we both knew this was a possibility.   • I find this as unbearable as you do. The difference is that I am attempting to honor it.  

✦  𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐄 / 𝐅𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄

• Your council presses you to dissolve this union. I heard them counseling you through the door.   • We are required to appear as one. Whatever your true feelings, I must ask you to conceal them for the duration.   • I did not choose you. But I am choosing to make something of this. The question is whether you shall do the same.

[mythshire]

°✧*:·゚  𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐍𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐄𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐒 ··· a collection of political marriages, throne betrayals, crown versus heart & forbidden alliances sentence starters. genre: royal drama, angst, power struggles, forbidden love.

• The treaty has been signed.  • You wear my crown well.  • I care not for desire. You're marrying the heir to secure the alliance. • The council has voted. Your claim to the throne has been invalidated. • Take off the crown when you speak to me. I want to see the person, not the monarch. • I found the poison in your chambers. Were you planning to use it on my father or me? • Our kingdoms have been at war for three generations. A wedding won't change that. • You're asking me to choose between you and my birthright. That's not fair. • I saw you in the gardens with [insert name]. Does your betrothed know? • I don't want the throne. I never wanted it, not truly.  • The marriage was never consummated. We can still get an annulment before anyone knows. • You're a hostage here. Stop pretending otherwise. • I loved you before you were king/queen. I'm not sure I can love what you've become. • The lords are calling for your head. I can't protect you anymore. • Your signature on this document means war. You know that, don't you? • I'm carrying your child. Your legitimate heir is going to have a bastard sibling. • They found your letters to the enemy court. They're calling it treason. • You promised me a crown. Instead, I'm locked in a tower. • The alliance is broken. Your family killed mine under a banner of peace. • I don't trust you. But I need your army.  • You've been on the throne for six turns of the moon, and already there are three coup attempts. • We were meant to rule together. When did you decide you wanted to rule alone? • The royal bloodline ends with me. I cannot give you an heir. • I would burn this kingdom to the ground for you. Is that what you wish to hear? • You're not fit to rule. The council is preparing to name a regent. • I loved you when we were just children in the garden. Before any of this mattered. • The succession is unclear. If you die without an heir, the kingdom falls to chaos. • They're starving in the streets while we feast in the palace.  • Your exile is permanent. If you return, it's death. • I never agreed to be a political pawn. I had dreams before I had a crown. • You killed the rightful heir. Every day you sit on that throne is built on murder. • The marriage contract has a clause. If I fail to produce an heir, you can set me aside. • Your father's debts are now yours.  • I am a queen, not a broodmare. I will rule, not just provide heirs. • The small council is calling for your execution. I'm running out of reasons to deny them. • Your claim is older than mine, but my army is larger. Choose your next words carefully. • I didn't realize loving you would be considered an act of treason. • The regent is poisoning the young king/queen. I have proof, but no one will believe me. • You renounced your titles for me. I never asked you to destroy yourself. • The consort's chambers are on the opposite side of the palace. There's a reason for that. • The lords are circulating a petition to have our marriage dissolved for barrenness. • I watched them behead my entire family. You expect me to swear fealty? • The alliance needs consummation witnesses. I know it's barbaric, but it's tradition. • I didn't flee my own kingdom just to become a prisoner in yours.

[mythshire]

✧˖°˖✧  𝐃𝐔𝐓𝐘 𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐀𝐂𝐑𝐈𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐄 ··· a collection of court politics, family loyalty, righteous claim roleplay sentence starters for those who never asked for the crown but wear it anyway. genre: political intrigue, duty vs desire, power & consequence.

• The realm requires stability, not affection. You would do well to remember as much. • They shall name us usurpers regardless of our actions. We may as well prove effective. • Do you think I desired this burden? That I find rest easily in my chambers? • History is penned by victors. We need only ensure our triumph. • The smallfolk care nothing for legitimacy. They desire full bellies and protected hearths. • I do what our father ought to have done years hence. • Sentiment is a luxury ill-afforded in times such as these. • Every choice I make serves this house. Every single one. • They were given opportunity to bend the knee. They chose steel instead. • I know well what is spoken of me in the streets. Let them speak. • The council is peopled by old men playing at loyalty. We require true allies. • Do you name me cruel? I am practical. There lies the difference. • The throne was sworn to me. I shall not beg forgiveness for claiming what is mine by right. • You desire mercy from me? Mercy delivered us to this precipice. • I protect what belongs to our bloodline. Why can you not see the necessity? • The gods may pass judgment upon me, but the realm shall remember me as its salvation. • This crown bears a weight you cannot fathom. • I shoulder this burden so you need not. Show proper gratitude. • We stand as the final bulwark against chaos. Conduct yourself accordingly. • Your conscience holds less import than our house's survival. • I shall not permit sentiment to unmake all we have built. • They desire a monster? I shall give them a sovereign. • The histories shall vindicate our cause. They always do. • I hold this realm intact with bloodied hands and you dare question my methods? • Do not mistake my resolve for wanton cruelty. I do what must be done. • The Faith stands beside us. The commons shall follow in turn. • You think them honorable? They would gladly see us put to the sword. • I did not desire this war. But I shall see it concluded. • Each day I choose duty above my own yearnings. Each and every day. • We are the rightful heirs. The law itself speaks for our claim. • I have sacrificed all for this family's future. • I know what I have become. Do you know what you are? • The hand that wields the sword commands the realm. Do not forget it. • They forced our hand in this matter. We merely respond in kind. • You seek peace? Peace demands victory first. • I stand as shield between our house and annihilation. • The crown cares nothing for your uncertainties. Bear it or step aside. • Righteousness does not win wars. Strategy does. • I undertake what you prove too craven to attempt. • This matter extends beyond any single one of us. Can you not comprehend as much? • The realm shall offer thanks when the dust has settled.

[rowan-juniperwreath]

OOC. Hello hello. I am back from my month of online abstinence. I need to get a good grip on how many threads people are still invested in, and which ones I need to drop. Please like this if you want us to keep our stuff going. (And feel free to leave a comment if we've got a few threads going, but you're liking one in particular a little more.)

[spyder-on-the-wall]

[rowan-revelry]

Happy international women’s day 💐 Today the ladies get some attention. Like this for a starter OR headcanon from

Isobel ( @rowan-juniperwreath )

Tara ( @rowan-rosegarden )

Grey ( @rowan-stormbrew )

Sasha ( @rowan-jasminesnow )

Farah ( @rowan-bouquetofviolets )

Specify muse and if you’d like a hc or starter in the comments, please 💋

[blanchebees]

I NEED A HERO, the bloodied knight returning to his lady.

Tip jar

[rosieandthemoon]

By Herman Hendrich

[haageer]

[goddessdiary]

[rowan-juniperwreath]

"Oh, please! What manner of well-behaved mare did you expect me to be? Yes, my bed has had visitors - surely so have yours?"

Flushed with anger and amusement in equal parts, partly lit by the dying embers of her bed chamber's hearth, Isobel sat before her vanity. Long locks spilled between her fingers as she withdrew every pin and needle that had held it in place - her grey, fierce eyes meeting the other's gaze through the looking glass.

Isobel and Y/M are in an arranged marriage, and Y/M has found out that Isobel has taken lovers outside of wedlock. Y/M comes into her bedchamber late at night, demanding answers, and is visibly upset. Fantasy or period verse. Open to mutuals and non-mutuals. 25+ players please.

[rowan-juniperwreath]

A faint smile tickled the corner of Isobel's mouth. She cocked her head to the side, and heaved herself up sitting on the vanity; wrapped her legs around her wife's waist, and lazily draped her arms around the other woman's neck.

"Then I must train you," she whispered - deciding, in this moment, to take what was in front of her instead of pursuing some meaningless victory in their argument.

[rowan-juniperwreath]

"Oh, please! What manner of well-behaved mare did you expect me to be? Yes, my bed has had visitors - surely so have yours?"

Flushed with anger and amusement in equal parts, partly lit by the dying embers of her bed chamber's hearth, Isobel sat before her vanity. Long locks spilled between her fingers as she withdrew every pin and needle that had held it in place - her grey, fierce eyes meeting the other's gaze through the looking glass.

Isobel and Y/M are in an arranged marriage, and Y/M has found out that Isobel has taken lovers outside of wedlock. Y/M comes into her bedchamber late at night, demanding answers, and is visibly upset. Fantasy or period verse. Open to mutuals and non-mutuals. 25+ players please.

[rowan-juniperwreath]

"When have I lied, you vainglorious little crusader?" Isobel's eyes were dark and stormy; but her voice kept an icy edge of steel, now. With one, hard movement, she tore herself free. "I have not hidden a thing from you; which, as it turns out, was my mistake. I should have kept you in the dark - then, you could at least carry on the charade you keep in your heart in order to shy away from the fact that your family is embarassed by you and you by them; that you are stuck in an unhappy union; that you are not a husband, but a wife, and that this makes us bear others' ill will."

Isobel massaged her wrist with her other hand, but didn't let go of Ferruchia with her eyes.

"Has no one taught you that all wise women must be treated with respect, or else you find toads in your soup and severed heads in your closet?" She smiled without humor. "I will do as I please. Forever. You can hit me, if you like - and I will still do as I please. You can try to end my life - and I will still do as I please. Because you have not asked nicely, and nothing in this life will I give when I have a blade to my throat."

[ferr-the-feared]

"Crusader???" Ferr spat back out, lost by the accusation; what had she crusaded about? Having a loyal partner?

Those eyes stabbed into her but she would not be frightened off; when Isobel broke free, she scowled and stepped back, not intimidated but knowing this confrontation was not going in her favor. It never did. Not when dealing with an intelligent woman. "I'm not embarrassed by my family, and I wasn't embarrassed with you until I found out your truth. Your ill will is something I was never prepared to bear," she grumbled, like she hadn't expected the worst in terms of partners - Isobel wasn't that.

But she was very close.

"Did I find you making me a soup or tidying our closets, I think I would die of shock before your poison could reach me." Ferr replied with absolute disrespect. "Would you give more if I was kind? If I served you only? Do I need to be your slave to gain any respect as your wife?" She asked.

[rowan-juniperwreath]

"And what truth is that? That I prefer to not pretend? That I do not adhere to the roles we have been offered; that I refuse their stifling little lives, because living my life on stage is not living at all? Your hurt is a posture, Ferruchia," this last part was less scatching and more - almost pained, as she abruptly turned away, erratically moving her brush and then suddenly shoving all - everything - off the vanity altogether. Brush, hair pins, it all came tumbling down onto the floor. She gripped onto the sides of the furniture piece, and hunched over, staring at her own reflection.

"No," she said. "No. You need only be honest. Why do you not want me in another's bed? Hm? Because if it is truly rumors - then we are doomed, you and I."

[ferr-the-feared]

These words were becoming suffocating. Each one that Ferr spoke, she felt being used against her, getting entangled in them till she couldn't fight free. Isobel's openness with multiple partners was one matter, and her lack of discrimination was another, but Ferr couldn't stand receiving nothing but contempt - even as she put out nothing except disdain.

She didn't bother replying before Isobel wrecked her vanity, and while the violent display didn't frighten the woman, it was still a mess.

And a feeling remained that it would only get worse.

"I do not want you in another's bed because we belong to each other, Isobel, we were meant to be partners - wives. I serve my purpose, I know what the world expects of me ... I think you know what others expect of you and that's why you act this way." Ferr moved closer. "Heartless."

[rowan-juniperwreath]

Heartless child. She remembered those words; it wasn't the first time she heard time. Heartless, willful child.

She squeezed her eyes together, and forced her breath into a more even pace. Not because she was afraid of a little scuffle - more because she could sense, physically feel, reason slip away from her. She was nearing the edge where she wasn't arguing, she was only ensnaring; only infecting; only hurting.

Despite everything - Ferruchia hadn't quite deserved that. Not yet.

For once, the witch was silent. She leaned forward until her forehead was against the mirror. It was cool. It felt solid, and real.

[ferr-the-feared]

She said nothing. Ferr didn't expect silence, frankly, and the reality of it set her back. Her wife must be furious, planning another verbal assault, and the chance of that, it was as nauseating as if it'd already happened. More arguing, more screaming, more throwing things around ... Ferr had begun this bout but she was regretting this confrontation by miles.

There must be a way to calm it ... to prove herself to Isobel. "I," mumbles followed, then a deep inhale, before Ferr came closer. "Would have you. Not tonight, if you need rest, but ... I am as good as any man. That is my truth," she finally admitted. Isobel was allowed to laugh.

This was a situation worth mocking.

[rowan-juniperwreath]

Long ringlets of hair was pooling on the vanity; creating a cascade, a snare of hair, as Isobel rested against the mirror. There was a reprieve between them, for but a moment. Isobel breathed deeply - burrowed her bare feet into the carpet, feelings its thick wool, smelling the wood smoke of the hearth simmering a few paces away. She was still here. She was still here.

The shift of muscle, a step forward, Ferruchia spoke again. Isobel cracked one grey eye open, watched her in the mirror, as she drew closer. I would have you, the other said, as if confessing something.

She turned, slowly. Something a little haggard about Isobel Barlow now, a little sapped of strength. It was a confession that did nothing to eradicate everything else they had spoke of; all the ways in which they differed, and would hardly find common ground.

But it was a holy sliver of peace, and Isobel had been honest: She demanded truth, and she rewarded it.

"Men are all half-witted and eager like stallions smashing through the gate to get where they want," Isobel said - and wordlessly opened up her arms.