@iincantatriix asked: 30 & 39
30. is there a hobby or interest that she was discouraged from pursuing because of her gender? did she continue anyway?
yes of course! when calanthe turned fifteen she started participating in tournaments. she was heavily discouraged from it by her nobles, but never did step back. between the years 1233 - 1251 she won a total of seven titles, and of course did not participate every year, taking breaks when pregnant and after her first husband’s death.
39. are they particularly attached to their womanhood? or do they feel more indifferent to it. have they ever struggled to relate to women around them?
calanthe’s womanhood had always been a complicated thing. she went from trying to break every possible expectation that was put on her as a young girl, refusing to marry, acting in a very un-ladylike manner on purpose... to meeting bienvenu, learning that her womanhood can be owned by her, can be used as a weapon against men and doesn't have to define her, or mean that she is weaker.
then there were the miscarriages, the womanhood that she came to embrace becoming a reason for her to be ashamed, because that one duty that was expected of her her whole life, even though she came above and beyond and showed she can do so much more than birth an heir, this is the BASIC THING a woman should do and she can't do it...
as for herlationship with other women, she subscribes to the old truth, that queens should fix each other’s crowns. she has many young girls under her wings (not that she never takes care of any boys, she’s just closer with the girls) and she strves to be to them what bienvenu had once been to her.
