#de facto maternal figure | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

yurimother · 4 years ago

Text

How 'She-Ra' Delivered on Queer Promises and Helped Revolutionized LGBTQ Representation

DreamWorks's She-Ra and the Princesses of Power has already cemented its place among the short but rapidly growing list of children’s animated shows with impactful LGBTQ representation. Showrunner Noelle Stevenson made it a point to push and fight for more diverse characters in every aspect from race, to personality, to sexual and gender identity. However, the finale of the GLADD Award-nominated program delivered on a revolutionary promise built up throughout all five seasons and completed one of the greatest queer narratives ever seen in children’s media.

As She-Ra progressed, Stevenson became more encouraged and inspired to pressure executives to allow more and more explicit LGBTQ characters and relationships. While ever-present in the series, season one only featured a background couple, Spinnerella (Noelle Stevenson) and Netossa (Krystal Joy Brown), and of course, the famous dance sequence between Catra (AJ Michalka) and Adora (Aimee Carrero). While this amount of representation is comfortably leagues ahead of the vast majority of cartoons, the show only upped the ante and the amount of representation from there. Season 2 introduced viewers to George (Chris Jai Alex) and Lance (Regi Davis), Bow's fathers. The series presents them in a normalized fashion as a happy gay couple in love that built a family together. Jacob Tobia's non-binary Double Trouble featured heavily in season four, making them one of the first non-binary characters in children's animation and one of the first to holding an integral role in the show, a major step in representing such identities.

The many achievements and strides She-Ra in LGBTQ representation featured in She-Ra will doubtlessly affect other projects in the industry and help further programs walk a similar path. However, the greatest queer story inShe-Ra is the spectacular series-long arc exploring the relationship and dynamics between de facto antagonist Catra and protagonist Adora. The former friends, who grew up together in the ranks of the Horde, turn enemies at the start of the series after Adora gains the power of She-Ra and betrays Catra, joining the Rebellion.

Fans quickly began speculating on the nature of Adora and Catra's relationship during season one, mainly because of the Princess Prom dance scene. After the young women shared a charged and sinister dance, fans quickly began supporting and analyzing "Catradora." The next three seasons would gradually and gracefully define both characters' complicated feelings for each other. Initially, Catra attempts to rationalize Adora's leaving as a relief or else forces herself to appear apathetic towards it. She continuously uses the excuse that she is no longer living under Adora's shadow to gradually build up more power, rising through the ranks of the Horde while stepping on those who helped her.

While Catra's motivations are appropriately layered and complex, it becomes clear that she is attempting to win approval, to be less alone than she has felt since Adora abandoned her. She seeks others' approval, including her abusive maternal figure, Shadow Weaver (Lorraine Toussaint), and the cruel Hordak (Keston John). However, Catra does not realize until confronted by Double Trouble's gut-wrenching and emotionally resonating analysis of her psyche. They inform Catra that the reason she is alone and abandoned, she pushes others away. The realization that her problems and loneliness are by her own doing combine with her guilt for betraying her allies Scorpia (Lauren Ash) and Entrapta (Christine Woods), leads Catra to an emotional breakdown.

Thee fifth and final season of She-Ra opens with Catra still plagued by loneliness and self-doubt. She starts to form a bond with Prime's captor Glimmer (Karen Fukuhara), seeing her guilt reflected by Glimmer's regret for trying to use the Heart of Etheria's power. Eventually, Catra learns about Adora's impending rescue attempt and the villainous Prime's plants to capture her once she arrives. Ultimately, all the feelings and circumstances surrounding Catra clash together as she remembers a childhood promise that she and Adora would always be friends. The revelation that she loves Adora finally causes Catra to turn and do "one good thing," protect Adora. She frees Glimmer to prevent Adora from walking into Prime's trap; thus, Catra becomes the Horde's prisoner.

Adora's character arch is much less tragic than Catra. The "frenemies" clash multiple times throughout the early seasons with an ever-shifting dynamic that hints at their intricate relationship and confused romantic feelings. But, at the end of season three, Catra's reckless plan against Adora almost leads to Eternia's destruction. As Catra taunts and blames Adora for her suffering, Adora seemingly ends their conflicted relationship, noting that Catra's misdeeds are all her own, "You made your choice, now live with it."

In the final season, Adora has lost the powers of She-Ra. But, she continues to charge into battle headfirst, exposing herself and her tendencies to put other's wellbeing before her own. This tactic mirrors why Adora left Catra's side in the first place all the way back in the first season. She places more importance on duty and service to others than herself and her friend. Later, while Adora, Bow (Marcus Scribner), and Entrapta are traveling towards Horde Prime, Catra sends a signal to their ship, apologizing for everything she has done while teleporting Glimmer to them. Adora decides that she cannot leave Catra behind, and the Best-Friend Squad hurries to rescue Catra from the Horde. Adora saves Catra not only from Prime's vile clutches but her loneliness too. Adora's exclamation "You matter to me" is a powerful and victorious moment, as the two friends turned enemies unite, and acknowledge their connection.

Unfortunately, even after the Adora and Catra are together again, conflict continues to rise between them and with themselves. Catra feels unlovable because of her past and so convinces herself that Adora will not accept her feelings. She continues to struggle with abandonment, especially when Adora willingly takes the responsibility of a suicide mission to destroy the Heart of Etheria, yelling, "It doesn't always have to be you." Sadly, Adora again abandons her, putting the good of everyone else above herself and Catra. Acknowledging that Adora, "Always sacrifices everything for everyone else," Catra runs away. However, upon realizing that Prime is moments away from taking control of the Heart and killing Adora, Shadow Weaver and her run to rescue the girl she loves.

As Adora journeys to the Heart, she sees and an illusion of Catra, envisioning that her friend meets her to approach the suicide mission together. Soon, Adora faces a vision of Mara (Zehra Fazal), the previous She-Ra, who tells her that she does not always need to sacrifice herself and is deserving of love too. She becomes trapped without her powers by a first-ones' guardian until Catra and Shadow Weaver save her. Telling Adora to go on, Catra stays to fight the beast in vain. Moments before destroying the Heart and herself, Adora finally chooses to return to Catra, to put Catra and her own happiness over her sense of duty.

As Adora and Catra approach the Heart, the former almost succumbs to Prime's power and has one final vision. Adora dreams of living a life in peace in Brightmoon alongside her friends, Glimmer and Bow, and with her loving, playful partner Catra by her side. In the apparent final moments before her death, Catra reaches out to Adora. At last, the two confess their love for each other and embrace in a momentous kiss, restoring She-Ra's power to Adora. Renewed in strength and standing beside her beloved, Adora finally destroys Horde Prime. The series ends as Adora and Catra plan to travel together and restore magic to the universe and fades to black as the couple prepares to take their next journey together.

as Adora and Catra plan to travel together and restore magic to the universe and fades to black as the couple prepares to take their next journey together.

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power has always been a powerhouse of LGBTQ representation, especially the final season. For example, it heavily features former background characters and married couple Spinnerella and Netossa in leading roles, as Netossa attempts to recover her wife’s mind from Prime. However, the relationship between Catra and Adora is not only the series highlight but a revolutionary in LGBTQ representation in children's television.

LGBTQ history in children's media and cartoons is disappointingly brief and, at times, unpleasant. Early examples mostly featured coded queer characters with harmful and stereotypical traits, such as the Silver Spooner from Dexter's Laboratory. Some works were able to include less harmful depictions. Networks allowed characters like Richie from Static Shock, who is gay, to exist as long as their identity was kept extremely subtextual.

Slowly some more limited progress was made, and a few less offensive or hidden characters were permitted to appear in one-off and minor roles. Nelvana's Canadian animated sitcom, 6teen included many vague but most neutral references to homosexuality and eventually a one-off character Jean, who says that she is "gay" and has a girlfriend. Notably, this 2009-episode marks not only one of the first moments of a character confirming their sexuality but also using the word "gay." This feat is so rarely replicated even in LGBTQ family media that even giants like Steven Universe do not include it. Outside of pedantic educational programs on minor networks, it may be the only time someone said "the-G-word" in such media until 2019's Kippo and the Age of Wonderbeasts (live-action sitcom Andi Mack on Disney Channel also used the term that year). Sadly, American showings cut 6Teen's references to homosexuality, and the episode featuring Jean never aired at all outside Canada.

When most people look back to the beginning of the recent small boom in cartoon LGBTQ representation, they point to The Legend of Korra. In 2014, the series finally ended with female leads Korra and Asami taking hands and going on a private vacation in the spirit world. The Korra moment set the LGBTQ fandom on fire. Even so, the show faced incredible resistance and backlash. After the final episode aired, creator Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino had to go online to confirm that the somewhat ambiguous finale indeed depicted a same-sex romance. They then began to face backlash from a section of the fandom who believed bringing this badass bisexual moment to television was only for fanservice or to forward an agenda.

The Legend of Korra was a revolution in modern children's television, putting cracks in the oppressive dam that kept such dynamics out of the limelight and slowly pushed back against the status quo, allowing for more LGBTQ representation. Now, over five years after Korra, numerous children's programs feature queer characters in minor and supporting roles, often more explicitly than Korra was able to do. The Loud House includes a main bisexual character, and there are queer characters and couples in multiple works, including but not limited to Gravity Falls, Adventure Time, and Craig of the Creek.

The most notable LGBTQ representation in a children's cartoon comes from Rebeca Sugar's incredible creation, Steven Universe. As with She-Ra, LGBTQ characters make up a large portion of the cast and it features several groundbreaking LGBTQ scenes, including the iconic wedding of Ruby and Sapphire.

Sadly, many of these works had to fight tooth and nail or suffer through horrific backlash because of their dedication to diversity. Alabama banned an episode of Arthur that featured a gay wedding, and the depiction of lesbian mothers in Clifford the Bid Red Dog caused some parents and organizations to speak out against it. Perhaps most famous of all, Rebecca Sugar had to struggle to put LGBTQ representation on the small screen. Ultimately, to make the wedding scene happen, Sugar had to lay everything on the table and was willing to see themselves separated from the show and have it end to bring their vision to life. Unfortunately, many other countries censor the show to remove LGBTQ content. Still, Sugar's tireless work has pushed the boundaries of LGBTQ representation in children's media so incredibly far, allowing shows like She-Ra to exist.

The recent rapid progress of LGBTQ representation becomes apparent when comparing She-Ra to the "originator," Korra. The series share similar themes and mutually place importance on diversity in its main cast. At the climax of both programs, two female main characters became romantic partners for the other. However, the differences are what truly sets them apart and highlights the progress representation has made. Back in 2014, holding hands and staring into each other's eyes was the most action Korra could feature.

However, a myriad of queer characters and identities perforate She-Ra, all of which are more apparent and obvious thanks to actions including kisses, confessions, and other actions. This difference is especially true in season five, where even the title cards feature Netossa and Spinnerella engaged in a passionate kiss. Of course, the main couple was permitted a full on-screen confession and kiss, as Catra and Adora locked lips in the final episode. Finally, many "critics" complained that Korra and Asami's relationship came out of nowhere, despite it progressing the show’s last two seasons. If one were to assert the same claim about She-Ra, they need to completely ignore how Stevenson built Adora and Catra's romantic relationship as a fundamental aspect of the show from the very start.

She-Ra's depiction of queer characters was deliberate, explicit, and incredible. Not only did LGBTQ side characters express their identities in a variety of ways, but the main couple also got to show their love with both words and a kiss. Furthermore, and perhaps even more importantly, the main couple in She-Ra got a happen ending and a future for them and the viewers to imagine and look towards with excitement. Sadly, many LGBTQ characters and couples do not get to experience such conclusions. For decades, queer relationships ended in tragedy, often with the death of one or more queer characters killed off as part of the "bury your gays" trope. Even if the characters live, narratives rarely provided a happy future for those with queer identities. Sadly, this trend is alive and well. Recent examples include Adam from Voltron: Legendary Defender and Annika and Neha from The Dragon Prince.

Stevenson actively set out to avoid this trope in She-Ra, telling the Los Angeles Times, "I can't see another gay character die on TV for the moment." Not only did she not kill Adora and Catra, or any of the show's other queer characters, she gave Adora and Catra, the two lesbian leads in love, a happy ending. The show even offers viewers and Adora a glimpse of one possible future for the couple in the final vision of domestic bliss in Brightmoon. Both Adora and Catra struggle and suffered greatly, but they were allowed a happy ending and the opportunity to look forward to a life together. For the two main characters of a children's cartoon to achieve such a fantastic ending in such an explicit way is a genuinely revolutionary moment of representation, proudly standing alongside defining scenes like and Ruby and Sapphire’s wedding in Steven Universe. Importantly, both shows are made by queer creators, showing young viewers that people like them can achieve and create great things and that there are those out there fighting for them. For these reasons, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is one of the single most significant works of LGBTQ representation in children's media.

Queer representation in children's media matters so much, likely more than it does in any other medium. It normalizes LGBTQ identities for families and sends a powerful message to all LGBTQ children who may be feeling sad or alone or sacred: 'You are not alone, you matter, and you are accepted.' These words, implied with every positive depiction of queer identities, save so many children and young adults from unnecessary suffering and sometimes even saves lives. Noelle Stevenson and She-Ra will likely create giant waves in the medium just as Steven Universe did before it, and generations of queer people, myself included, wait with bated breath to see what results from it.

8K notes · View notes

jiminrings · 4 years ago

Note

what happened to mc after that?? JUNGKOOK I WILL WHOOP YO FUCKING ASS

cold senior!y/n x stem major!koo masterlist :D

the aftermath of stem koo breaking senior!y/n's heart

"do you need anything from us?"

yoongi asks you for the fifth time in the twenty minutes you've been home, heart breaking from the inside out when you haven't moved a single inch

he is begging that the thing you need from him and jin is to go beat j*ngkook up

HE CAN'T EVEN SAY HIS NAME WITHOUT BEING ANGRY AT HIM!!!!!!!

anything. anything to atleast make you sleep in peace tonight.

or them honestly,, either way

your body's facing the backrest of the couch and maybe that's for the better, because that way, seokjin won't feel the need to cry looking at the coldest person he's known to be openly vulnerable

you're still wearing your jersey!!! your stained dirty jersey that you've been in for the past three hours and the reason that it's still wet was that you've been using it to wipe your tears all the way to the dorm

"no. i'll be alright."

you mumble for the fifth time out of the five times you've been asked, and yoongi just has to grapple at his fist because he knows that being frustrated wouldn't help

you are the fURTHEST thing from okay

to be honest, it was only a miracle that you told the two of them what happened in the first place

it was in between sobs that you asked them why they were friends with you and they couldn't be anymore dumbfounded

it was in between violent tears that you mentioned hyeji that seokjin looked for a box of tissues because you've been intentionally rubbing your eyes raw

it was in between heaving that you said that no one wants to go the extra mile for me that yoongi started holding your cheeks and trying to get you to breathe with him in his panic too

it was in between hiccups that you uttered that no one wants to walk me home and that's when both of yoongi's and seokjin's throats started tightening, the dots hazy yet aligning nonetheless

it was in silence when you told that jungkook said that no one likes me, and that's when out of the three of you in the room – you're the one who's the calmest.

"okay. i'll bring you a blanket."

yoongi leaves it at that, standing from his spot on the floor to walk over to the kitchen where the blankets cLEARLY aren't there

no one really prepared yoongs for this

no one really is

there isn't a manual on how to act when the dearest friend that you have is crying their guts out for the first time

he can't explain his close bond with you and he's always seen you as his platonic girlfriend!!! his platonic girlfriend who has a bond with him that's closer than a sister's, more understanding than a mother's, and the utter admiration more than a friend's

you r literally yoongi's (platonic) soulmate and he would die on that hill

he would rather subject himself to torture via having to stay in a freshman's dorm equipped with the de facto led strip lights everyday!!! every single day, than to see you like this :(((

"what do you have on the bitch?" yoongi doesn't spare his words when he sits on the kitchen stool next to jin's figure

the dude is sTANDING and that means business

jin doesn't feel a single ounce of regret fetching his work laptop and scrolling through the files and tabs he has on every single student on campus, eyes only looking for one lee hyeji that's contributed to your anguish rn

jungkook is atleast 3/4 in this equation and seokjin will get to him of course

no one makes his emotional support best friend cry and nOT pay the consequences for it!!!!

in another life, vincenzo cassano's character is based on seokjin and the events in his life that definitely happened >:(

"she's daddy's money. can't fucking believe that sHE'S representing the school," he sighs in genuine annoyance, but not loud enough to pique your attention as he turns the screen so yoongi could clearly see her headshots, "must be a diversity hire. every university needs a fucking bimbo, apparently."

you see,,, yoongi would've SNORTED at that but now is not the time!!! he is still planning discreet retribution to avenge you!!!!

jin lets yoongi look at hyeji's entire file, wanting to get even the smallest bits even if the information he's taking in is against his will

he'll immediately delete whatever he learns about her right after it's served its purpose

"just messaged the faculty groupchat," seokjin himself didn't imagine the words coming out from his lips determinedly, but he knows that he's willing to do anything for the sake of this, "been crushing on jeon ever since the start of last semester. philosophy professor thinks it's because he once saw jungkook lending her a pen when they were in the topic of soulmates."

jesus christ

now THAT'S just annoying ://

this

whatever this is

seokjin and yoongi don't know what they're digging all this information for

they don't know what this unspoken plan is for, or if they even have a plan in the first place

if jin were to tell the faculty gc about this???

absolute mayhem

but he knows for a fact that they'd hate star student jungkook easily within a tap of a finger

the philosophy prof would lose all sense of rationality and reasoning and INSTANTLY point to jungkook as an asshole!!! no questions asked!!!! no elaborations!!!!

"i could get jeon eliminated from all the academic listings he's in."

jin pipes in at the silence that he and yoongi share, both listless in this situation that they never expected to encounter with you

"i could always spread a rumor and make him unlikeable."

yoongi toys with the rings that he wears, a heavy exhale tearing away from him

they could think of a thousand other ways to get back at jungkook!!! they literally can

seokjin knows a contract guy who leaves shredded paper with his contract's initials written on red ink (for a base fee of three dollars, he can switch up the ink for you!!!) right next to their side on the bed

yoongi knows a guy whose modus operandi is to discreetly follow people, have subliminals playing in the background (for an extra fee of ten dollars, he'll use wireless bass-boosted speakers), and continue doing so until the desired message is achieved!!!!

none of the people they have connections to could employ the same amount of pain he's caused on you

there's literally nothing that could hit home with jungkook besides you.

but there's no way to do that and even in your state of anger and sadness tHEN utter vulnerability, you can't even really think of hurting jungkook in the way he did

because you know and yoongi knows and seokjin knows and everyone knows that you aren't the type to wish ill

you admit that sometimes you're unavailable but you don't want that to be an asshole-reason to make everyone else around you suffer in the same way you do

the people around you aren't your shock absorbers!!!! that's why you hang out a teddy bear on your doorknob when you're mad so that neither yoongi or jin would have the possibility to be caught in your rage

that's why you call for a break when your soccer team is out of their game and make everyone drink their electrolytes before they speak to you!!!!

that's why you have the old heart of your even older build-a-bear stuffie in your pocket, one of the only reminders that your childhood even happened, one that you'd squeeze between your fingers in any remotely anxious instances that you find yourself in

jungkook's words hit home and it put you into a spiral if you even had one in the first place

your parents divorced when you were young and it's just that,,, no one from the two of them wanted you because you were the reminder of the other parent

you're a place marker for when a commitment started and ended and god did it make you grow up quickly

your aunt raised you!!!! she's an angel and she's the maternal figure in your life that you'd always be grateful for

you love her all the same and as much as you didn't wanna relate yourself to your parents in the same way that they don't, the feelings of being unliked hit you ever so often

lol it's quite a dashing mindset you have but you can't see any other interpretation you should employ

you leave before they could leave you.

it's not really as dramatic as it sounds

BUT IT COULD BE

there's always obligatory groupchats for projects and you're the first one to leave it instead of awkwardly waiting out for the conversation to dwindle and then leave one by one

when you and yoongi argue, you leave before he attempts to get the last word in

when jin is about to ask if you want to split the bill, you're already putting more than half of your share on the table

it's a nagging feeling of not wanting be unwanted in every situation you're in, but you aren't all that sure of wHAT you'd do to be liked

the only thing you could think of are lunchboxes, and even that gets taken away from you.

does no one really like you??

you're shifting in your position before you know it and the lone sound makes jin and yoongs come to your side immediately, looking at you in concern

you're looking up and you could just fEEL your eyes are puffy and even the light's hurting them

"i need to sleep."

"o-oh! m'kay, sure. i'll carry you to bed, let's go," seokjin wastes no time in responding, about to hook his arms underneath you when you repeat yourself again

you only chuckle but it's the driest and most painful they've ever heard, wincing when they can hear how breathless it was

"no. i mean i need to sleep."

jin blinks once

yoongi blinks twice

right

they get it now

you don't want to sleep, and you really can't, but you need it

"i'll get it!!" jin volunteers to grab what you need, leaving yoongi with you

oh god you could fEEL that he's going to cry

what a big baby ://

seokjin comes bearing the joint :D

he's about to light it for you because he knows that three specific short hits would lull you to slumber then knock you out cold for like a day lmao

he minored in chemistry actually but he cAN'T explain shit on why that's your body's reaction

you're all-good for literally anything besides three short hits lmao

yoongi was about to scold jin because he lights it and tHEN he's the one who takes the first drag, but there's an assuring wave of his hand

how romantic

jin just blew you a heart

they can't get anything from you besides the slight crinkling from your eyes but they don't mind at all — your eyes are atleast one degree less sad

you take your turn and even pass it to yoongi but he rEFUSES,,,,, not the least bit dejected that he decided not to because he wants to watch over you instead and not see every inanimate object with cartoon eyes on them while watching over you

"bake her a cookie if in case she suddenly gets hungry in the middle of her sleep. sneak a carrot in it or something," jin reminds yoongi and he's sERIOUS about the recipe, holding you in tow as he makes the way to your room

yoongi's about to break out the bowls, freezing in his steps when he hears the doorbell frantically ring

oh god

the ONE time that they didn't plug the door with a wet towel and now it's probably the hall manager outside about to do an inspection

that is not..... the hall monitor

that is a fucking asshole

jungkook's been pacing on his heels, his knocking loud enough to wake up the entire hallway at this point

he's SWEATING and he's not even wearing his hoodie

the door finally opens and the words start tumbling out of his mouth

"good evening. i-i wanna explain myself and-..."

that is not,,,,, you

it's his senior that he's disrespected probably too many times

yoongi leans to the door, a sickeningly sweet smile on his face that the junior's never seen before

"you ever had a sandwich before, jungkook?"

"w-what?"

the younger boy stammers, his eyes following yoongi's actions of looking behind him out of worry and then going outside to join him by closing the door softly without noise

yoongi only snorts, not even sure if he's up for conversation

"hyeji's never packed you a sandwich before?"

jungkook pales at the mention, mouth drying when he sees yoongi bring up the soft smile that doesn't comfort him at all

"the one that's all knuckle?"

#WHAT DO WE THINK BESTIES :D WHAT'S HAPPENING NEXT #stem koo #jungkook imagine #jungkook imagines #jungkook oneshot #jungkook oneshots #jungkook drabbles #jungkook x reader #jungkook x y/n #jungkook au #jungkook angst #jungkook angst imagine

513 notes · View notes

whispsofwind · 3 years ago

Text

Oh boy I reached the Ds9 episode where they try to pair up Garak and Ziyal and.

Oh boy I have thoughts

Mostly that I would have adored this particular interaction if it was familial/platonic. It would have made sense from a character point of view, because Ziyal has de facto lost her father and would look for a father figure (and in this she could have great interactions with Kira, who also has a historical tendency to gravitate towards paternal or maternal figures), and Garak has already been shown as sympathetic towards orphans of war and Cardassian children in general.

It would have made sense from a world building point of view, because Cardassians are shown as very social and family oriented, and both Ziyal and Garak are cut from any other Cardassians and would naturally gravitate towards each other.

And finally it would make sense from a thematic point of view, since a theme of Ds9 is fatherhood - bad fathers and good fathers come up often in these first 4 seasons, Sisko's character being so much about being a father (and let's face it he is kinda the main character).

Also the sheer comedic potential of Kira and Garak accidentally co-parenting.

Basically Garak being unwillingly pushed into a fatherly role towards the daughter of a man he hates would've been great on every possible level.

But no, it's going to be Romantic(TM) because we gotta show the 90ties pearl clutchers that Garak is 100% heterosexual (ah!), and I am Not Going to Like It. Sigh.

(However kudos to Quark for annoying a notorious assassin while said assassin has lots and lots of needles very close to Quark's very vulnerable person).

#star trek #star trek ds9 #ds9 #i also have thoughts about the Maquis #but that's for another day #technically that was the main plot of the ep but eh

33 notes · View notes

nanshe-of-nina · 3 years ago

Photo

Wizarding Russian Empire and USSR || Valery Vsevolodovich Medvednikov (22 April 1890 – 20 March 1940)

Early Life Medvednikov's mother was a madam, innkeeper, fence, witch, and con artist, Frina Vsevolodovna Medvednikova, who was an ethnic Russian who lived in Lithuania. His biological father was a Lithuanian zemlyanin named Vilhelmas Vilkas, with him his mother had a one night stand, though he used the patronymic of his maternal grandfather. When he was four, his mother became involved with the Latvian squib, Pērkons Udritis, who served as his father figure, even though Udritis and Frina never actually married. Family lore held that one of his great-great-grandfather had angered a Hag who put on a curse on the family that would cause them to never live past the age of 50.

He had no formal education, as his family could not afford Koldovstortez’s fees and instead found menial work as a teenager as a tailor and in a cauldron factory. He only joined the BK in the spring of 1917. During the Civil War, he worked as a clerk in the Auror’s office, but moved into other work after the end of the war. His superior in the 1920s was Yakov Naumovich Yablochkov (brother of the Zhnets, Yeva Naumovna Yablochkova), who regarded Medvednikov as kind-hearted, a hard worker, and an ideal comrade.

During this period, he became drinking buddies with Svarozhich Svarogovich Kuznetsov and Vera Sergeyevna Podgornova after apparently them both at a gay bar. He had been married to Maria Aleksandrovna Shveikina since 1917, but the marriage was one of convenience. He divorced her in 1929 after meeting journalist, Srebrenka Veselinovna Sorokina, who was from a wealthy Pureblood Jewish family from Odessa, and happened to be the cousin of Zlata Bogdanovna Sorokina and the former sister-in-law of Olivera Lazarevna Kargina. They had no children of their own, but they adopted Srebrenka's two orphaned sororal nieces, Milica and Anastasia. Their home was also shared with Medvednikov’s adult niece and nephews, Olimpiya, Vyacheslav, Vladimir, and Vsevolod.

Medvednikov first came to Afanasiy Kostov’s attention around 1930, likely after they were introduced by Miroslava Vseslavevna Volkova. Things shifted abruptly, however, in the spring of 1934 with the deaths of both Marena Volosovna Kulchytskaya and Dariy Kserksovich Mironov. Though not a member of the Zhnetsy, Medvednikov became one of the lead investigators into the matter and seems to have fully believed that both were the result of a conspiracy by followers of the former Vedma of Ledenets, Zaria Kresnikovna Krasavkina. He repeatedly clashed with the head of the Zhnetsy, Lyudmila Vyacheslavna Vishnevskaya, who was far more skeptical of the idea of a mass conspiracy.

To satiate his claims of a mass conspiracy, she and Milica Bogdanovna Malinina decided in the summer of 1936 to link their own former agent, Alisa Genrikhovna Zakite, with a suppressed Lutsenkoist dissident group centered around Germes Afinodorovich Golubtsov. Despite their attempts to limit it, the followers of Krasavkina and Yefrem Iosifovich Levandovsky also got added to this supposed terrorist group, as did Oksana Lutsenko and three of her four sons. Despite this, Vishnevskaya was sacked shortly after this show trial anyway.

Zhnetsy Chief There were several reasons why Kostov appointed Medvednikov as the new Zhnetsy head, but chief among them was that he regarded Medvednikov as his protegee. Another reason was that Kostov thought a man might be able to better control the still-heavily female dominated Zhnetsy, whose organization by the 1930s, was a hotbed intrigue and backstabbing on account of the growing infirmity of Kulchytskaya and Devana Zalischenko and the general unpopularity and perceived incompetence of their de-facto leader, Vishnevskaya. His main partners in his reform of the Zhnetsy were the North Caucasus group, once led by Alsu Andreyevna Zherebtsova. He had first met Zherebtsova and her then first deputy, Melanippa Ippolitovna Chernyshova, in the mid-1920s and had remained on good terms with them since them.

A stranger to the Zhnetsy, Medvednikov had little respect for tendency toward its insular protectiveness and happily ordered the arrests of hundreds of current former and members, as well as masses of other members of the BK and ordinary people. He underwent a sudden personality charge in this period, becoming known as cruel, sadistic, brutal, and paranoid. Among his most notorious deeds are keeping a wig from the hair of the half-veela Krasavkina in his office and personally assisting in the torture Vishnevskaya; her partner, Mircha Perunovich Zelenko; and the Auror, Merkuriy Ilyich Znamenshchikov. He also gloried in having ordered the arrests of former members of the SK, Sidabraite, Korovchenko, Ledus, Lisitsyna, and Mrozhek, and the three remaining so-called Black Crones, Kalnietyte, Krukovskaya, and Liepa, and having the latter three executed together. This period of time is now known as the Great Harvest, after a poem composed by Kalliopa Zinovyevna Chernenko.

Disgrace The fall of Medvednikov and his group is often reckoned to have began in the spring of 1938. Zherebtsova was terminated from her position as the Vedma of the North Caucasus and transferred to Lysaya Gora. By this point, Medvednikov was exhausted and sinking deeper in alcoholism and what order there is Nawia was being imposed by Zherebstova and Chernyshova, both of whom perceived that they were losing their grip on power and Kostov’s favor and blamed Medvednikov personally for it. The defections of his personal friend, Grigori Lukyanovich Alatyrtsev, and his wife’s cousin, Zlata Sorokina, only added to the growing suspicions around him. What was more, most of the other members of the Sovet Koldunov were growing very tired of the ongoing purge and wanting to end it. In particular, Medvednikov gained the ire of both the powerful Svarog Zhelezov and Miroslava Volkova by threatening them with arrest. Both were not amused and intrigued to crush him like a bug, which they found easy to do, as they were both more intelligent and subtle than he. He also made another powerful and intelligent enemy by building a case against the Vedma of the Transcaucasus, Nane Aslanyan. Instead of following his superior’s orders, the head of the Transcaucasian Zhnetsy, Sanasar Barsamian, tipped off his long-time patroness, who immediately traveled to Lysaya Gora to plead her case with Kostov himself.

At the suggestion of Volkova, Kostov transferred Chernyshova to the Commissariat of Magical Sports and Games and transferred Nane Aslanyan from the South Caucasus to take her place as Deputy. After arriving in Lysaya Gora with most of her people (known as the Caucasian Mafia), Aslanyan began ordering arrests of Medvednikov’s people. In response, Melinoye Zinovyevna Saparenko attempted to flee, Syvne Morozkovna Snegova committed suicide, and Olivera Kargina attempted suicide by cutting her own throat. Sorokina and his niece, Olimpiya, both killed themselves on 1 December 1938, one day after he was officially replaced as the head of the Zhnetsy, and sent him an owl advising him to the do the same. He, however, ignored this advice and turned to drink for comfort.

Medvednikov was himself arrested 30 April 1939, on the same day as Chernyshova. He was at first defiant, but instead chose to confess when confronted with the notorious “breakers”, Boris Pytorovich Vovchenko and Natalia Valeryevna Voronova. His confession, stored in the Zhnetsy’s archives, was bitter and angry and instead blamed his former associates for everything that happened and complained about how they were probably mostly traitors and spies all along. He, Zherebstova, and Chernyshova were all excused of having framed and executed innocent people (which was very much true) and plotting to get Chernyshova’s brother-in-law, Gavril Saulovich Leichenberg to assassinate Kostov and most of the SK (which was not). He was executed 20 March 1940, though this was not publicly announced. He was 49-years-old.

His three nephews were all executed after his death, as was his older stepsister, Mara Perunovna Vydrina, while his young stepsister, Diana, was arrested and sent to Vyraj. His mother and half-sisters were already deceased, but the Sorokin and Kargin families were decimated, though Srebrenka’s nieces, age 14 and 12, were both sent to an orphanage. As adults in the 1960s, they both lobbied for their adopted father/uncle's rehabilitation, but were denied.

#wizarding russia #harry potter worldbuilding #hpedit #harry potter #zhnetsy #valery medvednikov #tw: discussion of suicide #tw: blood

4 notes · View notes

lucemferto · 4 years ago

Note

First impressions on characters who are just now becoming important to the lore? :D (specifically Hannah and Foolish, but also Puffy and Sam, although they've been doing lore for a little longer than the other two)

Hannah and Foolish, I like well enough. There isn’t a lot there right now for me to examine, so it’s a little hard to express an opinion. I still have to catch up with their inclusion in the Crimson-storyline, but the stuff I heard seems like a fine starting point for some good character stuff.

Now, Puffy and Sam, I have more to say about.

I like them both a lot. They really carved out a niche for themselves, especially in S3. It’s super interesting that they are the only two characters that take the mostly metatextual issue of Tommy’s, Tubbo’s and Ranboo’s age and make that an explicit part of their character motivation.

Like, I know this is a hot button-issue in the fandom, but textually speaking, Tommy’s, Tubbo’s and Ranboo’s age didn’t matter in S1 and S2. Like, they were part of the intertextual/metatextual readings for these characters by the fandom, but like with Wilbur’s and Tommy’s drug business for example it’s - if ever - just brought up as a joke.

Like, there’s no narrative or thematic emphasis placed on the fact that Tommy and Tubbo are technically child soldiers - not to disregard what they have gone through! But it’s never actively examined through that angle.

But that changes with Puffy and Awesamdude - and I think that is mostly due to the fandom making it such a point of discussion. And, honestly, good for them - I do hope they consulted Tommy, Tubbo and Ranboo on this, if they want to make that a thematic component of their character - but just on itself, I think it works well enough.

Now, outside of these factors, Puffy has positioned herself as a de-facto hero of the Crimson-arc - especially seeing how Tommy’s current metastory is about him denouncing that “responsibility”. That gives her a lot of moments to shine and fills a niche in a narrative that oftentimes deals with a more morally dubious characters.

I also think it’s interesting, because we rarely see maternal figures explored as active characters of their own story, so that is something that I appreciate Puffy bringing to the table.

Puffy and Sam have also developed into fine dramatic actors - Sam especially knows how to carry pathos. Like, he is so good at delivering angst.

I also really love Sam Nook - it’s quite brilliant. It’s introduced as a comedic element and helps lighten the mood after the heavy ... entirety of S2. Sam uses this tonal relaxation to really make the viewers attached to Sam Nook - but then, when the tone of Season shifts, so does his utilisation - and without having to recharacterize Sam Nook at all. Like, Sam very effortlessly in Ranboo’s stream turns this once comedic element into a moment of tragedy. It’s like the opposite of what Tubbo did in response to Tommy’s death.

One ... problem I see maybe arising is with Sam’s role as Warden of the prison - because depending on how the prison is further utilised in and examined by the narrative, that could turn out spicy. Like, the fact that he kept Tommy in there for as long as he has, is a pretty big ask for the viewers to just accept as “justified”. It really challenges - at least my - suspension of disbelief.

I have spoken about the prison’s morality and how I view it in relation to real-life prisons here and here - but with Tommy’s incarceration, it becomes harder to “ignore” the inherent immorality of how Pandora’s Vault is run.

If you want to read some insightful takes that look at how the “reality” of Pandora’s Vault is/would be highly immoral, I’d suggest @blockgamepirate‘s posts on the subject.

It simply reflects badly on Sam‘s character. Now, he has taken some steps to include these metatextual problems into his character arc - but I’d still wait to see how that ultimately shakes out.

#dream smp #dreamsmp #dsmp #dsmpblr #dsmp analysis #dream smp analysis #foolish #dsmp foolish #hannahxxrose #dsmp hannah #captain puffy #dsmp puffy #awesamdude #dsmp awesamdude #sam nook #pandora's vault #the eggpire #dsmp eggpire #dsmp crimson

52 notes · View notes

gaal-dornick · 3 years ago

Note

that TTT page your reblogged w/ the Mom Andy tags makes me so weirdly emotional like, I know a lot of people in their fics and discourse refer to andy as the older sister/aunt/etc of the group which I def also see but also thinking about her as almost a maternal figure (especially since she’s soooooo much older!!) and a de facto mom makes me really soft more mom andy in stuff please

The legit mom Andy content made me so happy! She's got so many aspects to her personality, and they're never shown to be a contradiction to each other. She's a mother and a killer and a warrior and a nurturer and a leader and a friend and a lover and and and!!!! The responsibility she feels towards her family, so much love she has to share with them and I love her so much!

#*ask #*anon #andy! is! so! soft!

5 notes · View notes

thanksfirefly · 4 years ago

Text

It sounds like Cheerilee was originally going to be a major mentor for the CMCs, which could've been something they sorely needed. Having an adult in their lives that respected them and supported them, but also reigned them in and protected them when necessary, could've been so great.

I'm honestly really bummed we missed out on this. Cheerilee in the show is practically a non-entity, and I love the idea of following a working class maternal figure on her journey to support three kids who don't always have the best support systems in their lives.

The dynamic between Cheerilee and the CMCs’ guardians could've been extremely interesting, and made for some super compelling conflict and fun character moments.

Maybe she doesn’t always agree with Rarity, Applejack, or Rainbow on what the best thing is for the Crusaders. And maybe she’s right sometimes and wrong other times.

She almost could’ve been a de facto Mane Seventh, since her relationship with the Crusaders would’ve given her a close dynamic with their three guardians, her relationship with Twilight is lined out in the bible, and her personality just naturally gels with Pinkie and Fluttershy.

The more I think about it, the more I’m SO bummed out that we missed out on the amazing potential that Cheerilee had.

Also?? It KILLS ME that we missed out on her "close friendship"(tm) with Twilight.

ARRRGH MY GAY HEART NEEDED MORE OF THIS

#welcome to bible school #lesbian activity #if u thought there wasn't gonna be any lesbian activity in the bible ur a fool

6 notes · View notes

ademocrat · 5 years ago

Text

Susan B. Anthony was a lesbian hero but they don’t teach you that in history class

Susan B. Anthony was born 200 years ago in a country where few women or people of color dared to give political speeches on public platforms and that had no national voting rights for women. Both straight and queer women were often pressured into marriage when it was against their wishes. Women who did manage to remain single – or who formed partnerships with other women – were typically pitied or scorned.

She worked tirelessly for most of her long life to demand racial and gender equality and her lesbian attractions only fueled her struggle against the patriarchal system she abhorred.

Related: How lesbianism was turned into a problem a century ago

Anthony was the mastermind – more than a hundred years before ACT UP – of a protest that had women storming polling places during the 1872 presidential election to insist they be allowed to vote. After the Civil War, African-American men had been granted the national right to vote to the exclusion of women.

Anthony never married or had a serious relationship with a man. As a teenager, she prophetically confessed to her diary, in 1838, “I think any female would rather live and die an old maid.”

She continued to make pronouncements that coyly hinted at her lesbian orientation. In an 1896 interview, she told the reporter, “I was very well as I was…I’m sure no man could have made me any happier than I have been.”

When pressed by journalists, throughout her long life in the media spotlight, she stagecrafted a role for herself of not being able to find the right man. But the real reason she remained “single” was that her amorous desires and emotional needs were only fulfilled by women.

The youthful lesbian orator Anna Dickinson, hailed as “America’s Joan of Arc” during the Civil War for rallying the war-weary Union forces to victory with her fiery speeches, became the target of Anthony’s affections in the 1860s. Dickinson was catapulted to national fame as the first woman to give a full-length political speech before Congress and her motto, which appeared on some of her publicity photos, was “The World belongs to those who take it.”

Dickinson’s trailblazing achievements, acerbic wit, youthful queer energy and “handsome beauty” enraptured Anthony.

Dickinson saved personal letters from Anthony that candidly indicate physical desire. Anthony flirtatiously describes her longing to spend time with the “naughty tease” Anna.

”I invite you to come to me here and sleep with me in my fourth story bed room at Mrs. Stanton’s ever so many nights,” she wrote.” To snuggle you darling closer than ever.”

Anthony’s feelings of sensual anticipation reveal a woman who is very much flesh and blood. “Dear Dicky Darling…I have plain quarters…double bed – and big enough & good enough to take you in. I do so long for the scolding & pinched ears & every thing I know awaits me.”

The relationship cooled off by the early 1870s. Dickinson would go on to have a series of girlfriends over the years and finally settled into a 30+ year relationship with a married woman, Sallie Ackley. The rather bemused Mr. Ackley didn’t seem to mind the living arrangement.

But Anthony retained a maternal or sisterly affection for the younger Dickinson and kept mentioning her in interviews, as the decades passed. Anthony even volunteered to help solicit funds for Dickinson when she fell on hard times.

In a touching 1895 letter, Anthony wrote, “My Darling Anna…I’m awfully glad to know you still live…[no one] ever has or ever will fill the niche in my heart that you did–my dear.”

The theme of wistful reminiscence characterizes another striking comment Susan B. Anthony made later in life when discussing her lesbian niece, Lucy Anthony. Lucy’s life-partner was the brilliant orator and activist Rev. Anna Howard Shaw, who eventually took over the presidency of the suffrage movement and expanded public support for it.

In a touching 1895 letter, Anthony wrote, “My Darling Anna…I’m awfully glad to know you still live…[no one] ever has or ever will fill the niche in my heart that you did–my dear.”

Susan wrote, ”I wanted what I feared I shouldn’t find, that is a young woman who would be to me–every way–what she [Lucy] is to the Rev. Anna Shaw.” Clearly, Susan B. Anthony was happy for her queer-blended extended family.

It was “niece-in-law” Shaw who was Susan Anthony’s appointed spiritual heir, in one of the most moving and significant deathbed vigils of American “herstory.” Anthony drifted in and out of consciousness as the end drew near. Shaw tried her best to comfort the dying activist with a solemn promise to do everything in her power to get the vote. The scene was an emotional “last-rites” passing of the suffrage leadership torch, from one lesbian to another.

Anthony’s only regret was that she hadn’t been able to sustain an enduring lesbian union like that of Lucy Anthony and Shaw. The two life-partners created homes together and lived together and were devoted to one another till Shaw’s death in 1919, as the country stood on the cusp of national woman suffrage. Anna Shaw kept her promise.

Anthony did develop a passionate queer relationship, however, in her last years with Emily Gross, a married woman who lived in Chicago. They visited each other and traveled together. Anthony referred to Gross as her “lover.”

Why have most historians straightwashed Anthony? Why has popular culture not fully acknowledged the de facto queer-straight alliance of women who worked in “open secrecy” in the gender revolution that was the suffrage movement?

Many generally acknowledge the toxic dishonesty of white supremacy and male supremacy in historical writing. But straight supremacy, especially the erasure of queer human beings in pre-World War II historical commentary, is still prevalent.

My husband and I visited Anthony’s house in Rochester, New York, last summer. I vigorously protested the dreary straightwashed tour of her life being presented, but was made to feel like a troublemaking queer in Anthony’s own home for challenging the guide and asking questions.

“What difference does that make?!,” the tour guide snapped as she told me that the feminist icon was straight. I persevered and attempted to talk to the staff members who were there, all of whom seemed resistant and condescending. We left disheartened and triggered to recall sad memories of our own “closeted” educations.

I later had a long phone conversation with the president of the museum. She reached out to me after the unfortunate incident and seemed sympathetic.

She patiently listened and said she wanted to hear everything I had to say, restoring my hope that the museum might evolve to forthrightly embrace the many queer figures of Anthony’s coterie.

It’s troubling that our cultural institutions don’t do enough to take the initiative without being prodded to educate their staff to present queer history willingly and to respond without bigotry to questions about it. The “straight-supremacist flinch” is a homophobic kneejerk reaction that needs to be discarded.

Where are the scholars and documentarians who will tell the truth and convey it compellingly to a mass audience? Why do some modern academics continue to render lesbians invisible and refuse to use the word lesbian to describe women of earlier eras, not realizing how absurd these ivory-tower practices are?

If lesbians and gays are defined as predominantly romantically attracted to their own sex, then they’ve existed in various cultural settings throughout history and Anthony was obviously a lesbian.

If I had learned the truth about the many magnificent contributions of queer folks like Anthony, Dickinson and Shaw, to US history – if I had known that LGBTQ history is an integral part of global history – my childhood would have been different.

If we collectively continue to erase Anthony’s queerness and only vaguely say things like “she never married a man,” then what we’ll continue to churn out is the same old dishonest straight-supremacist crap. History – what people did and how they’re remembered – is power. And LGBTQ people have had the power of history taken from them for far too long.

Celebrate Susan B. Anthony as the queer, multi-dimensional, intersectional equality goddess she was. She worked with other progressives to sow and fertilize the seeds of a national and global gender revolution. She wanted queer and straight women to have the unfettered liberty to develop their own genuine ways of being and to make their own choices.I

7 notes · View notes

space--wrecked · 5 years ago

Photo

Well now that the hiatus has officially begun let the shitposting commence!

I figured with fathers being a focal point in Final Space to give the mothers some notice. Credit for Crystal Ergon and Katelyn Hubble goes to @space-finally

So we’ve got Gary’s mother: Sheryl Goodspeed- Pretty self explanatory given she’s the only canon mother we’ve gotten thus far. I imagine her having been a charismatic James Bond type figure back in her hey-days before settling with John.

Katelyn Hubble- KVN’s creator but I guess you could count her as KVN’s mom by de facto. She’s essentially KVN in human form and was the KVN to John and his crew.

Crystal Ergon- Quinn’s mother- While I have my own interpretation of Quinn’s parents I have yet to settle on a design for them and I more or less see her parents the way @space-finally does (plus Stevi’s a pro at character design). No doubt Quinn has the only stable family in the entire crew and the same goes for her mother. Has been described as loving and warm if a bit overbearing. Crystal works as an art appreciation professor.

Catonia- Lil Cato’s mother- Due to Ventrexia’s warrior culture, breeding camps were set in place with the goal of producing future Ventrexain warriors. Started off as maternity homes but eventually downgraded from constant war and the economic strife that came with it. Many of the women were of lower social status and took on the task of being a breeder for the welfare provided to produce children to be adopted by high ranking officials.Based upon what Invictus was whispering to Avocato during his possession it would seem Lil Cato is the last child she would bear.

The Zetatian Queen- Lord Commander/ Jack’s mother- I headcanon Jack’s race as being a highly evolved, social insectisoid race with pseudo-mammalian traits that they picked up over time. They mostly take after termites and their ancestors roaches. As such the Queen is the mother of the entire race. Could probably give Sheryl a run for her money in child neglect as she largely views her children as expendable since more can be made easily especially with the advancements made in genetic engineering. Since she is deemed to be the most genetically superior what with her being a full fledged upper crust xenomorph, her DNA has been stored, extracted, and blended with past dead Kings DNA, to produce sufficient workers and soldiers to serve the Colony.

#fancharacters #Stevi I'm sorry to have mixed you up with my insanity #Sheryl Goodspeed #Katelyn Hubble #Crystal Ergon #Catonia #The Zetanian Queen #space-finally's OCs #Final Space #my art

22 notes · View notes

lukeskywaker4ever · 5 years ago

Text

27th King of Portugal (7th of the Bragança Dynasty): King João VI of Portugal, “The Clement”

Reign: 20 March 1816 – 10 March 1826 Predecessor: Maria I

João VI (13 May 1767 in Lisbon – 10 March 1826 in Lisbon), nicknamed "the Clement", was King of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves from 1816 to 1825. Although the United Kingdom over which he ruled ceased to exist de facto beginning in 1822, he remained its monarch de jure between 1822 and 1825. After the recognition of the independence of Brazil under the Treaty of Rio de Janeiro of 1825, he continued as King of Portugal until his death in 1826. Under the same treaty, he also became titular Emperor of Brazil for life, while his son, Pedro I of Brazil, was both de facto and de jure the monarch of the newly-independent country.

Born in Lisbon in 1767, the son of Maria I and Pedro III of Portugal, he was originally an infante (prince, but not heir to the throne) of Portugal. He only became heir to the throne when his older brother José, Prince of Brazil, died of smallpox in 1788 at the age of 27.

Before his accession to the Portuguese throne, João VI bore the titles Duke of Bragança and Duke of Beja, as well as Prince of Brazil. From 1799, he served as prince regent of Portugal (and later, from 1815, as prince regent of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves), due to the mental illness of his mother, Queen Maria I. In 1816, he succeeded his mother as monarch of the Portuguese Empire, with no real change in his authority, since he already possessed absolute powers as regent.

One of the last representatives of absolute monarchy in Europe, he lived during a turbulent period; his reign never saw a lasting peace. Throughout his period of rule, major powers, such as Spain, France and Great Britain, continually intervened in Portuguese affairs. Forced to flee to South America across the Atlantic Ocean into Brazil when troops of the Emperor Napoleon I invaded Portugal, he found himself faced there with liberal revolts; he was compelled to return to Europe amid new conflicts. His marriage was no less conflictual, as his wife, Carlota Joaquina of Spain, repeatedly conspired against her husband in favor of personal interests or those of her native Spain. He lost Brazil when his son Pedro declared independence, and his other son Miguel led a rebellion that sought to depose him. According to recent scholarly research, his death may well have been caused by arsenic poisoning.

Notwithstanding these tribulations he left a lasting mark, especially in Brazil, where he helped to create numerous institutions and services that laid a foundation for national autonomy, and he is considered by many historians to be a true mastermind of the modern Brazilian state. Still, he has been widely (if unjustly) viewed as a cartoonish figure in Portuguese-Brazilian history, accused of laziness, lack of political acumen and constant indecision, and is often portrayed as physically grotesque.

João Maria José Francisco Xavier de Paula Luís António Domingos Rafael was born 13 May 1767, during the reign of his maternal grandfather and paternal uncle José I of Portugal. He was the second son, paternal cousin, and nephew by marriage of the future Queen Maria I, José's daughter (also his sister in law), and her husband (also her paternal uncle), the future King Pedro III. At the time of João's birth they were, respectively, Princess of Brazil and Infante of Portugal.

He was ten years old when his grandfather died and his mother ascended to the throne. His childhood and youth were lived quietly, as he was a mere infante in the shadow of his elder brother José, Prince of Brazil and 14th Duke of Bragança, the heir-apparent to the throne. Folklore has João as a rather uncultured youth, but according to Jorge Pedreira e Costa, he received as rigorous an education as José did. Still, a French ambassador of the time painted him in unfavorable colors, seeing him as hesitant and dim. The record of this period of his life is too vague for historians to form any definitive picture. Little is known of the substance of his education. He surely received instruction in religion, law, French, and etiquette, and would presumably have learned history through reading the works of Duarte Nunes de Leão and João de Barros.

In 1785, Henrique de Meneses, 3rd Marquis of Louriçal,

arranged a marriage between João and the Infanta Carlota Joaquina of Spain, daughter of King Charles IV of Spain and Queen Maria Luisa of Parma. Like her betrothed, Carlota was a junior member of a royal family. Fearing a new Iberian Union, some in the Portuguese court viewed the marriage to a Spanish infanta unfavorably. She endured four days of testing by the Portuguese ambassadors before the marriage pact was confirmed. Because João and Carlota were related, and because of the bride's youth (she was only 10 years old at the time), the marriage required a papal dispensation. After being confirmed, the marriage capitulation was signed in the throne room of the Spanish court with great pomp and with the participation of both kingdoms. It was followed immediately by a proxy marriage. The marriage was consummated five years later.

The infanta was received at the Ducal Palace of Vila Viçosa at the beginning of May 1785, and on 9 June, the couple received a nuptial benediction at the palace chapel. At the same time, João's sister, the Infanta Mariana Victoria, was married to the Infante Gabriel, also of the Spanish royal family. An assiduous correspondence between João and Mariana at that time reveals that the absence of his sister weighed upon him and, comparing her to his young wife, he wrote, "She is very smart and has a lot of judgment, whereas you have rather little, and I like her a lot, but for all that I cannot love her equally." João's young bride was little given to docility, requiring at times the correction of Queen Maria herself. Furthermore, the difference in their ages (João being 17 years old) made him uncomfortable and anxious. Because Carlota was so young, the marriage had not been consummated, and João wrote, "Here's to the arrival of the time when I shall play a lot with the Infanta. The way these things go, I think six years from now. Better that she be a bit more grown up than when she came." The consummation waited until 1790. In 1793, Carlota gave birth to the first of nine children: Teresa, Princess of Beira.

By that time, João's hitherto relatively quiet life had been turned upside down by the death of his older brother Dom José on 11 September 1788, which left João as the heir apparent to the throne, with the titles of Prince of Brazil and 15th Duke of Bragança. Great things had been hoped for from Dom José, who associated himself with the progressive ideas of the Enlightenment. Criticized by the clergy, he appeared to have been inclined toward the anti-clerical policies of the Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquis of Pombal.

João, in contrast, was well known for his religiosity and his attachment to absolutism. The crisis of succession was aggravated with the death soon after of Ignacio de São Caetano, Archbishop of Thessalonica, the queen's confessor and a powerful political figure, who had influenced a controversial choice of Maria's ministers that favored João, but not without encountering strong opposition from important fidalgos who had ambitions for those posts. Furthermore, the year after these deaths, João became so ill that his own survival was uncertain. He recovered, but in 1791, he again fell ill "bleeding from the mouth and intestines", according to notes left by the chaplain of the Marquis of Marialva, who added that his spirit was always depressed. This created a tense climate and uncertainty about his future reign.

Meanwhile, the queen showed increasing signs of mental instability. On 10 February 1792, seventeen doctors signed a document declaring her unable to manage the kingdom, with no prospect for her condition to improve. João was reluctant to take the reins of power, rejecting the idea of a formal regency. This opened the way for elements of the nobility to form a de facto government via a Council. Rumors circulated that João exhibited symptoms of the same insanity, and that he might be prevented from ruling. According to longstanding laws that guided the institution of regency, were the regent to die or become incapable for any reason, and having children of less than fourteen years (which was João's situation at the time), government would be exercised by the guardians of those children or, if guardians had not been formally named, by the wife of the regent. In João's case, that would have been a Spanish infanta. Fear, suspicion and intrigue engulfed the entire institutional framework of the nation.

At the same time, the French Revolution perplexed and horrified the reigning houses of Europe. The execution of the French former king Louis XVI

on 21 January 1793 by the revolutionaries precipitated an international response. On 15 July, Portugal signed a treaty with Spain, and on 26 September allied itself with Great Britain. Both treaties pledged mutual aid against revolutionary France and brought six thousand Portuguese soldiers into the War of the Pyrenees (1793–1795), a campaign that began with an advance to Roussillon in France and ended in defeat with the French conquest of northeastern Spain. This created a delicate diplomatic problem, as Portugal could not make peace with France without damaging an alliance with England that involved several overseas interests. The Portuguese thus sought a neutrality that proved fragile and tense.

After the defeat, Spain abandoned its alliance with Portugal and allied with France under the Peace of Basel. With Britain too powerful for France to attack directly, France set its sights on Portugal. In 1799, João officially assumed the reins of government as prince regent in the name of his widowed mother; that same year, Napoleon Bonaparte staged his coup d'état of 18 Brumaire in France and coerced Spain into issuing an ultimatum to force the Portuguese to break with Great Britain and submit the country to the interests of Napoleon. With João's refusal, neutrality became enviable. Spain and France invaded in 1801, setting off the War of the Oranges; a defeated Portugal signed the Treaty of Badajoz and the subsequent Treaty of Madrid, under which it ceded territory to Spain, in particular Olivença, and made concessions to the French over certain colonial territories. With conflicting interests among all the countries involved, the war was marked by ambiguous movements and secret agreements. Portugal, as the weakest player, could not avoid continued struggle. At the same time, João had to face an enemy at home. His wife, Carlota Joaquina, loyal to Spanish interests, initiated an intrigue with the objective of deposing her husband and taking power herself, an attempt that failed in 1805. This resulted in the Princess's exile from court; she resided at Queluz Palace, while the regent took up residency at Mafra Palace.

The prince regent played a desperate game with France for time. For as long as he could, he pretended an apparent submission to France, to the point of suggesting to King George III of the United Kingdom the declaration of a fictitious state of war between their countries, but he did not obey the dictates of Napoleon's Continental System (a blockade against Great Britain). A new secret treaty with the British guaranteed him help in case of an eventual flight of the royal family. The accord greatly favored the British and preserved their influence over the country, as the United Kingdom continued to make vast profits in trade with the Portuguese intercontinental empire. It fell to Portugal only to choose between obedience to France or to England, and the hesitancy to decide firmly placed Portugal at risk of war with not merely one of these powers, but with both. In October 1807, news arrived that a French army was approaching, and on 16 November, a British squadron arrived in the port of Lisbon with a force of seven thousand men with orders either to escort the royal family to Brazil or, if the government surrendered to France, to attack and conquer the Portuguese capital. The court was divided between Francophiles and Anglophiles, and after anguished consideration under pressure from both sides, João decided to accept British protection and leave for Brazil.

The invading army led by Jean-Andoche Junot advanced with some difficulty, arriving at the gates of Lisbon only on 30 November 1807. By this time, the prince regent, accompanied by the entire royal family and a large following of nobles, state functionaries and servants, had already embarked, leaving the government under a regency with the recommendation that the army not engage in hostilities with the invader. The hasty departure during a rainstorm caused havoc in Lisbon as an astonished population could not believe that their prince had abandoned them. According to the account of José Acúrsio das Neves, the departure brought forth deep emotion on the part of the prince regent:

“He wanted to speak and could not; he wanted to move and, convulsed, did not succeed in taking a step; he walked over an abyss, and envisioned a future dark and as uncertain as the ocean to which he was about to deliver himself. Country, capital, kingdom, vassals, he was about to leave all of these suddenly, with little hope of setting eyes on them again, and all were thorns that pierced his heart.”

To explain himself to the people, João ordered that posters be put up along the streets stating that his departure was unavoidable despite all efforts made to assure the integrity and peace of the kingdom. The posters recommended that everyone remain calm, orderly and not resist the invaders, so that blood not be shed in vain. Because of the rush to depart, the Prince Regent João, Queen Maria, Prince Pedro, Prince of Beira (later Pedro I of Brazil and Pedro IV of Portugal), and the Infante Miguel were all in a single ship. This was an imprudent decision given the dangers of a transatlantic voyage in that era, since it placed at risk the succession of the crown in case of shipwreck. Carlota Joaquina and the infantas were on two other ships. The number of people who embarked with João remains a matter of controversy; in the 19th century there was talk of up to 30 thousand emigrants; more recent estimates vary between five hundred and fifteen thousand, the latter being close to the maximum capacity of the squadron of fifteen ships, including their crews. Still, the ships were overcrowded. According to Pedreira e Costa, taking into account all of the variables, the most likely numbers fall between four and seven thousand passengers plus the crews. Many families were separated, and even high officials failed to secure a place on the ships and were left behind. The voyage was not a tranquil one. Several ships were in precarious condition, and overcrowding created humiliating conditions for the nobility, the majority of whom had to sleep huddled in the open in the poops. Hygienic conditions were bad, including an epidemic of head lice. Many had failed to bring changes of clothing. Several people fell ill. Supplies were scarce, causing rationing. Furthermore, the flotilla spent ten days nearly becalmed in the equatorial zone under a scorching heat that caused moods to turn quite sour. The flotilla also faced two storms and was eventually dispersed near Madeira. In the middle of the voyage, Prince João changed his plans and decided to head for Salvador, Bahia, probably for political reasons. He wanted to please the inhabitants of the colony's first capital, which had given many signs of discontent with the loss of its old status. The ships carrying his wife and the infantas held to the original destination of Rio de Janeiro.

On 22 January 1808, the ship of the prince regent and two others arrived in Baía de Todos os Santos, Brazil.

The streets of Salvador were deserted, because the governor, the Count of Ponte, preferred to await the prince's orders before permitting the people to receive him. Finding this attitude odd, João ordered that all could come as they wished. However, to allow the nobility to compose themselves after such an arduous journey, the landing was postponed until the next day, when they were received joyfully amidst a procession, the ringing of bells and a celebration of a Te Deum at the Cathedral of Salvador.

In the following days, the prince received all who wished to give homage, granting the ceremony of the beija-mão (the kissing of the monarch's hand) and conceding various mercies.

Among the latter, he decreed the creation of a public lecture series on economics and a school of surgery, but his most decisive action at this moment was the Decree of Opening the Ports to Friendly Nations (Decreto de Abertura dos Portos às Nações Amigas),

a measure of vast political and economic importance and the first of many that went to improve conditions in the colony. Britain, however, whose economy depended in great part on maritime commerce, and for whom the Portuguese and Brazilian monarchy was now something of a protectorate, was the most direct beneficiary.

Salvador spent a month in commemorations of the presence of the court and tried to seduce the court into making it the new seat of the kingdom. The residents offered to construct a luxurious palace as a home for the royal family, but João declined and continued his voyage, having already announced to various nations his intention to make his capital at Rio de Janeiro. His ship entered Guanabara Bay on 7 March, where he met the infantas and other members of his entourage whose ships had arrived earlier. On the 8th, the whole court finally disembarked to encounter a city adorned to receive them with nine days of uninterrupted celebrations. A well-known chronicler of the era, Father Perereca, eyewitness to the arrival, while lamenting the news of the invasion of metropolitan Portugal, also intuited the significance of the arrival of the court on Brazilian soil:

If so great were the motives of sorrow and distress, no less were the causes of comfort and pleasure: a new order of things was going to begin this part of the southern hemisphere. The design of the Empire of Brazil could already be considered in place, and eagerly wished the powerful hand of our lord the Prince Regent to cast the first stone of future greatness, prosperity and power of the new empire.

With a court, the essential apparatus of a sovereign state became inevitable: the senior civil, religious, and military officials, aristocrats and liberal professionals, skilled artisans, and public servants. For many scholars, the transfer of the court to Rio began the establishment of the modern Brazilian state and constituted Brazil's first step toward true independence. While Brazil at this time remained formally and juridically a Portuguese colony, in the words of Caio Prado, Jr.

"Establishing in Brazil the seat of a monarchy, the regent ipso facto abolished the colonial regime under which the country had lived until then. All the characteristics of that [colonial] regime disappeared, the only remaining part of the colonial situation was to be under a foreign government. One after another, the old workings of colonial administration were abolished and replaced by those of a sovereign nation. Economic restrictions fell and thoughts of the country's interests moved to the front of government policy."

But first it was necessary to provide accommodations for the newcomers, a difficult problem to resolve given the cramped proportions of the city of Rio at that time. In particular, there were few homes suitable for the nobility, especially in the case of the royal family, who were installed in the viceregal palace, known today as the Paço Imperial (Imperial Palace).

Though large, it was comfortless and nothing like Portuguese palaces. As large as it was, it was not enough to accommodate everyone, so neighboring buildings were also requisitioned, such as the Carmelite Convent, the town hall, and even the jail. To meet the needs of other nobles, and to install new government offices, innumerable small residences were hastily expropriated, their proprietors arbitrarily ejected, at times violently in the face of resistance. Despite the efforts of Viceroy Marcos de Noronha e Brito and of Joaquim José de Azevedo, the regent was still poorly accommodated. Merchant Elias Antônio Lopes offered his country house, the Quinta da Boa Vista,

a sumptuous villa in excellent location that immediately met with the prince's satisfaction. Renovations and expansion transformed this into the Paço de São Cristóvão ("Palace of Saint Christopher"). Carlota Joaquina, for her part, preferred to settle on a farm near the beach of Botafogo, continuing her habit of living apart from her husband.

The city, which at that time had about 70,000 inhabitants, saw itself transformed overnight. The additional populace, full of new requirements, imposed a new organization in the supply of food and other consumer goods, including luxury items. It took years for the Portuguese to settle in, causing years of chaos in the daily life of Rio; rents doubled, taxes rose, and food was in short supply, requisitioned by the imported nobility. This soon dispelled popular enthusiasm over the prince regent's arrival. The very shape of the city began to change, with the construction of innumerable new residences, villas and other buildings, and various improvements to services and infrastructure. Likewise, the presence of the court introduced new standards of etiquette, new fashions and new customs, including a new social stratification.

Among the customs, João continued in Brazil the ancient Portuguese ceremony of the beija-mão, which he esteemed greatly and which fascinated the Brazilians and became part of their folklore. He received his subjects daily, except for Sundays and holidays. The long lines waiting to pay their respects and receive favors were a mix of nobles and commoners.

According to painter Henry L’Evêque, "the Prince, accompanied by a Secretary of State, a Chamberlain and some household officials, received all the petitions that were presented to him; listened attentively to all the complaints, all the requests of the applicants; consoled one, encouraged others.... The vulgarity of the manners, the familiarity of speech, the insistence of some, the prolixity of others, none of this bored him. He seemed to forget that he was their master, and remember only that he was their father." Oliveira Lim wrote that he "never confused the faces or the pleas, and the applicants marveled at how well he know their lives, their families, even small incidents that had occurred in the past and which they could not believe had risen to the notice of the king."

Throughout his stay in Brazil, João formalized the creation of a huge number of institutions and public services and boosted the economy, culture and other areas of national life. All these measures were taken principally because of the practical needs of administering a large empire in a territory previously lacking of these resources, because the predominant idea continued to be that Brazil would remain a colony, given that it was expected that the court would return to its old metropolis once the European political situation returned to normal. However, these advances became the basis for Brazil's future autonomy. This is not to say that all was amenities and progress. A series of political crises began shortly after his arrival with the invasion of Cayenne in French Guiana in 1809 in retaliation for the French invasion of Portugal, serious economic problems, and a painful trade agreement imposed in 1810 by the British, which in practice flooded the small internal market with useless trinkets and disadvantaged exports and the creation of new national industries. The national debt multiplied by twenty and corruption was rife at large institutions, including the first Bank of Brazil, which ended up bankrupt. Also, the court was extravagant and wasteful, accumulated privileges on privileges and maintained a legion of sycophants and adventurers. British consul James Henderson observed that few European courts were as large as that of Portugal. Laurentino Gomes writes that John granted more hereditary titles in his first eight years in Brazil than had been granted in the previous three hundred years of the Portuguese monarchy, not even counting more than five thousand insignia and commendations of the honorific orders of Portugal.

When Napoleon was defeated in 1815, the European powers held the Congress of Vienna to reorganize the political map of the continent. Portugal participated in these negotiations, but given British machinations contrary to the interests of the House of Braganza, Portugal's ambassador to the Congress, the Count of Palmela, counseled the regent to remain in Brazil, as did the powerful Prince Talleyrand,

in order to strengthen the ties between metropolis and colony, including the suggestion to elevate Brazil to the condition of a kingdom united to Portugal. The representative of the United Kingdom also ended up supporting the idea, which resulted in the effective foundation of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves on 16 December 1815, a juridical institution rapidly recognized by other nations.

João's mother Queen Maria died 20 March 1816, opening the road for the regent to assume the throne. Though he began to govern as king on that date, he was not immediately consecrated as king; he was acclaimed only on 6 February 1818, with grand festivities.

Meanwhile, several political matters came to the fore. The ambitious Queen Carlota Joaquina had begun to conspire against Portuguese interests while still in Europe, and shortly after her arrival in Brazil, she established understandings with both Spaniards and with nationalists of the Río de la Plata region (now Argentina and Uruguay) to try to secure a monarchy of her own, perhaps as a regent of Spain, perhaps as queen of a new monarchy created from Spanish colonies in South America, perhaps by deposing her husband. This made any meaningful marriage to João impossible, despite his show of patience, and only the force of convention had them appear together in public. While Dona Carlota gained many sympathizers, her plots uniformly failed. Despite that, she managed to influence her husband to involve himself more directly in Spanish colonial politics. These efforts led to the capture of Montevideo in 1817 and the annexation of Cisplatina Province in 1821.

During the same period, problems arose in finding a wife for João's heir apparent, the future Pedro I of Brazil. Europe at the time considered Brazil distant, backward and unsafe, so it was not a simple task to find suitable candidates. After a year of seeking, the ambassador Pedro José Joaquim Vito de Meneses Coutinho, 6th Marquis of Marialva, finally secured an alliance with one of Europe's most powerful royal houses, the Habsburgs, emperors of Austria, after seducing the Austrian court with numerous lies, a display of pomp, and the distribution of gold bars and diamonds among the nobility. Dom Pedro married archduchess Maria Leopoldina of Austria, daughter of emperor Francis I, in 1817.The emperor and his minister Metternich considered the alliance "an advantageous pact between Europe and the New World," strengthening the monarchical regime in both hemispheres and granting Austria a new sphere of influence.

Meanwhile, the situation in Portugal was by no means tranquil. Absent its monarch and devastated by the Peninsular War and the consequent mass hunger and enormous exodus of emigrants, the country in practice had become a British protectorate upon the final expulsion of the French. It was administered by Marshall William Carr Beresford,

who governed with an iron fist. From the time João ascended the throne, the Portuguese pressed for his return, initiated liberal rebellions, and formed secret societies with the objective of bringing into session the Portuguese Cortes, which had not met since 1698. Similar liberal agitation occurred in Brazil. In 1817, the Pernambucan Revolt broke out in Recife, a republican movement that established a provisional government in Pernambuco and spread into other Brazilian states; it was put down severely. Back in Portugal, the Liberal Revolution of 1820 broke out in Porto on 24 August 1820. A governing junta was set up, with repercussions in Lisbon. It met as the General Extraordinary and Constituent Cortes (Cortes Gerais Extraordinárias e Constituintes), formed a government and convened elections for deputies without bothering to consult King João. The movement gained support from the Island of Madeira, the Azores and reached the captaincy of Grão-Pará and Bahia in Brazil. It led even to an uprising by the military garrison of Rio de Janeiro itself.

On 30 January 1821, the Cortes met in Lisbon and decreed the formation of a Council of Regency to exercise power in the name of King João. It freed many political prisoners and demanded the king's immediate return. On 20 April, King João convoked a meeting in Rio to choose deputies to the Constituent Cortes, but the following day, protests in the plaza were put down violently. In Brazil, the general opinion was that the king's return to Portugal could mean loss of the autonomy Brazil had gained and a return to its prior colonial status. Under pressure, João tried to find a middle way by sending his son Prince Pedro to Lisbon to grant a constitution and establish the basis of a new government. The prince, however, already leaning toward liberal ideas, refused. The crisis had gone too far and there was no turning back. João named Pedro regent for Brazil in his name and left for Lisbon on 25 April 1821 after a stay of thirteen years in Brazil, a country he would always miss.

The ships bringing João and his court arrived in Lisbon on 3 July.

His return was orchestrated in such a manner as not to imply that the king had been coerced, but in fact a new political environment had already been established. A constitution had been drafted, and the king was required to swear loyalty to it on 1 October 1822. It called for him to surrender various prerogatives. Dona Carlota refused to follow her husband in agreeing to this, and thus was dispossessed of her political rights and deposed of her title as queen. Meanwhile, the king lost out in Brazil as well. His son Pedro, opting to stay in that country, led a revolt that proclaimed Brazilian independence on 1822-09-07; as part of this action, he assumed the title of emperor of Brazil. Tradition says that before journeying to Portugal, João had anticipated future events and had said to his son: "Pedro, Brazil will soon be separated from Portugal: if so, put the crown on your head before some adventurer grabs it." According to the memoirs of the Count of Palmela, Brazilian independence had come about through common accord between the king and the prince. In any event, later correspondence between the two shows the prince's concern not to disturb his father. However, Portugal did not officially recognize Brazilian independence at this time.

The liberal constitution to which the king had sworn loyalty was in effect only for a few months. Not everyone in Portugal supported liberalism, and an absolutist movement arose. On 23 February 1823, in Trás-os-Montes, Francisco Silveira, Count of Amarante, proclaimed an absolute monarchy; this did not immediately have an effect, and new agitations followed. On 27 May, the infante Dom Miguel, instigated by his mother Dona Carlota, led another revolt known as the Vilafrancada, with the intent of restoring absolutism. João changed the game by supporting his son to avoid his own deposition (which was desired by the party of the queen) and appeared in public on his birthday alongside his son, who wore a uniform of the National Guard, a military corps that had been disbanded by the liberals, receiving the applause of the militia. The king personally went to Vila Franca to better administer the uprising, ultimately returning to Lisbon in triumph. The political climate was undecided, and even the staunchest defenders of liberalism feared to take a strong stand on its behalf. Before its dissolution, the Cortes protested against any change in the recently approved constitution, but the absolute regime was restored, the queen's rights re-established, and the king acclaimed for a second time on 5 June. João repressed demonstrations against this restoration, deported some of the liberals and arrested others, ordered the restoration of judiciary and institutions more in line with the new political orientation and created a commission to draft a basis for a new charter to replace the constitution.

The alliance with the infante Miguel did not bear fruit. Influenced as always by his mother, Miguel led the April Revolt or Abrilada by the Lisbon military garrison on 29 April 1824. The revolt started on the pretext of crushing the Freemasons and defending the king from threats of death that the Masons has supposedly made against him, but João was taken into custody at the Bemposta Palace, while several of Miguel's political enemies of Miguel's were also imprisoned elsewhere. The infante's intent was to force his father to abdicate. Alerted to the situation, the diplomatic corps managed to enter Bemposta Palace. Those who held the king could not resist such authorities and restored a measure of freedom to the king. On 9 May, on the advice of friendly ambassadors, João pretended to travel to Caxias but, in fact, sought refuge with a British fleet anchored in the port. From aboard the ship HMS Windsor Castle, he reprimanded his son, deposed him from command of the army, and ordered him to release his political prisoners. Miguel was exiled. With the defeat of the rebellion, both liberals and absolutists came out into the streets to celebrate the survival of the legitimate government. On 14 May, the king returned to Bemposta, reconstituted the council of ministers and showed generosity to the others who had rebelled. Still, this did not dissuade the queen from further conspiracies. The police discovered another rebellion planned for 26 October, on the basis of which João placed his wife under house arrest in Queluz Palace.

At the end of his reign, King João ordered the creation of a free port in Lisbon, but the measure was not implemented. He ordered further inquiry into the death of his former friend the Marquis of Loulé, but final judgment was never rendered. On 5 June he granted amnesty to those involved in the Porto uprising, except for nine officers who were exiled. On the same day, the old constitution of the kingdom came back into force, and the Cortes reconvened to prepare a new text. The change of constitution faced several obstacles, mainly from Spain and from supporters of the queen.

Portugal's biggest problems at this time, however, related to the independence of Brazil, which had been the country's largest source of wealth. The loss of Brazil had a great negative impact on the Portuguese economy. An expedition to reconquer the former colony was even considered, but the idea was soon abandoned. Difficult negotiations and consultations undertaken in Europe in Rio de Janeiro with British mediation and pressure resulted in the final recognition of the independence on 29 August 1825. At the same time, the king freed all the Brazilians who were prisoners and authorized trade between both nations. It was agreed that Pedro govern Brazil as a sovereign with the title of Emperor, while João kept for himself the honor of Titular Emperor of Brazil; from this time, he signed official documents as "His Majesty the Emperor and King John VI" ("Sua Majestade o Imperador e Rei Dom João VI"). Brazil was required to pay certain funds that it had borrowed from Portugal. Nothing in the treaty spoke of the succession of the two crowns, but Pedro, still acting as the Prince Royal of Portugal and Algarve, implicitly remained heir to the Portuguese throne.

On 4 March 1826, João returned from the Hieronymites Monastery

where he had lunched and retired to Bemposta Palace feeling poorly. He was racked for several days by symptoms including vomiting and convulsions. He appeared to be getting better, but by way of prudence designated his daughter, the infanta Isabel Maria, as regent. On the night of 9 March, he took a turn for the worse and died at approximately 5 a.m. on 10 March. The infanta immediately assumed the internal government of Portugal, and Pedro was recognized as the legitimate heir as Dom Pedro IV of Portugal. Doctors could not definitively determine a cause of death, but it was suspected that he had been poisoned. His body was embalmed and buried in the mausoleum of the kings of Portugal, the Royal Pantheon of the House of Braganza, in the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora.

In the 1990′s, a team of investigators exhumed the Chinese ceramic pot that contained his bowels. Fragments of his heart were rehydrated and submitted to an analysis that detected enough arsenic to kill two people, confirming longstanding suspicions of assassination by poison.

As a youth, João was a retiring figure, heavily influenced by the clergy, and lived surrounded by priests and attending daily Mass in the church. Nonetheless, Oliveira Lima affirms that rather than being an expression of personal piety, this merely reflected Portuguese culture at that time, and that the king...

"...understood that the Church, with its body of traditions and its moral discipline, could only be useful for a good government in his manner, paternal and exclusive, of populations whose dominion was inherited with the scepter. Because of this, he was repeatedly the guest of monks and patron to composers of sacred music, but none of these Epicurean or artistic demonstrations compromised his free thought or denatured his skeptical tolerance. ... He made more use of the refectory of the monastery than of its chapel, because [the latter] was about observance and in [the former] one thought of gastronomy, and in terms of observance the pragmatic one was enough for him. In the Royal Chapel he more took pleasure with the senses than he prayed with the spirit: andantes took the place of meditations."

He had a great appreciation of sacred music and was a great reader of works about art, but he detested physical activity. He appeared to have suffered periodic crises of depression. An aversion to changes in his routine extended to his clothing: he wore the same coat until it tore, forcing his chamberlains to sew it on his body while he slept in it. He suffered from panic attacks when he heard thunder, staying in his rooms with the windows shut and receiving no one.

João's marriage was never a happy one. Rumors circulated that at the age of 25 he fell in love with Eugênia José de Menezes, his wife's chaperone. She became pregnant, and João was suspected of being the father. The case was hushed up, and the young woman was sent to Spain to bear the child. She gave birth to a daughter, whose name is unknown. The mother lived the rest of her life in nunneries and João supported her economically.

In the precarious and spare environment of Rio, the king's personal habits were simple. In contrast to his relative isolation in Portugal, he became more personally dynamic and interested in nature. He moved frequently between the Paço de São Cristóvão and the viceregal palace in the city, staying also at times at Paquetá Island, Governador Island, at Praia Grande (the beach at Niterói), and at the House of Santa Cruz. He went hunting and happily slept in a tent or under a tree. He liked the countryside, despite the swarms of mosquitoes and other pests and the scorching heat of the tropics that were detested by the majority of the Portuguese and other foreigners.

In the course of his few years living in Brazil, João ordered the creation of a series of institutions, projects and services that brought the country immense economic, administrative, juridical, scientific, cultural, artistic and other benefits, although not all went successfully, and some were downright dysfunctional or unnecessary, as Hipólito José da Costa mordantly observed. Among these, he was responsible for establishing the Imprensa Régia (the country's first publishing house), the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden the Arsenal de Marinha, the Fábrica de Pólvora (gunpowder factory), Rio's fire department, Brazil's merchant marine, and the charity hospital known as the Casa dos Expostos. He also established various educational programs in Rio, Pernambuco, Bahia and other places, teaching such subjects as dogmatic and moral theology, integral calculus, mechanics, hydrodynamics, chemistry, arithmetic, geometry, French, English, botany and agriculture, among others. He instigated the foundation of various societies and academies for scientific, literary and artistic studies, such as the Junta Vacínica (administering the smallpox vaccine), the Royal Bahiense Society of Men of Letters, the Academic Institute of Sciences and Fine Arts, the Fluminense Academy of Sciences and Arts, the Escola Anatômica, Cirúrgica e Médica do Rio de Janeiro,the Royal Academy of Artillery, Fortification and Design, the Academia dos Guardas-Marinhas, the Academia Militar, the National Library of Brazil,

the Royal Museum (now National Museum of Brazil), the Teatro Real de São João (now Teatro João Caetano), as well as recruiting internationally famous soloists and patronizing other musicians of the Royal Chapel, including Father José Maurício,

the leading Brazilian composer of his time, supporting also the coming of the Missão Artística Francesa, which resulted in the establishment of the Escola Real de Ciências, Artes e Ofícios, predecessor of the present-day Escola Nacional de Belas Artes of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, of fundamental importance the renewal of teaching and art production in Brazil.

João's policies led to far-reaching economic changes, beginning with the opening of the ports and the abolition of the Portuguese commercial monopolies, with the United Kingdom being the great beneficiary. On the one hand, traders based in Brazil had to face strong foreign competition; on the other, it encouraged the creation of new manufacturing and other economic activities that were previously banned, poor or nonexistent in Brazil. At the same time, he created such high-level administrative bodies as the War Ministry, the Foreign Ministry, and the Ministry of Marine and Overseas; the Councils of State and of Finance, the Supreme Military Council, the Military Archive, the Bureaus of Justice and of Conscience and Orders, the Casa de Suplicação (Supreme Court), the Intendency General of Police, the first Bank of Brazil the Royal Board of Commerce, Agriculture, Factories and Navigation, and the General Postal Administration, as well as bringing Brazilians into administrative and staff positions, which helped diminish tensions between the natives and the Portuguese. He also encouraged agricultural production, especially cotton, rice and sugar cane, opened roads and encouraged the development of inland waterways, stimulating the movement of people, goods and products between regions.

According to Pedreira and Costa, few Portuguese monarchs have as large a place in the popular imagination as Dom João VI. That image is very varied, "but rarely for good reason. ... It is not strange that the tribulations of his marriage and family life and the references to his personality and personal customs, inviting easy caricature and circulation of an unflattering, if not comic, tradition." The king is popularly shown as indolent, silly and clumsy, subjugated by a shrewish wife, a disgusting glutton who always had baked chicken in his coat pockets to eat them at any time with greasy hands, a version typified by the Brazilian film Carlota Joaquina – Princesa do Brasil (1995), a parody mixed with sharp social criticism. That work had enormous repercussions, but, according to the critical commentary of Ronaldo Vainfas, "it is a story full of errors of all types, misrepresentations, imprecisions, inventions"; for historian Luiz Carlos Villalta, "it constitutes a broad attack on historical knowledge", in contrast to director Carla Camurati's stated intent "to produce a cinematic narrative that would constitute a type of historical novel with pedagogic function and, at the same time, would offer the viewer knowledge of the past and would help, as a people, to think about the present. It does not offer new historical knowledge to the viewer, even if one were to treat history as a novel: it reinforces, in truth, the ideas that the viewers bring, being zero in terms of increased knowledge... In this way, it leads the viewer more to debauchery than to critical reflection on the history of Brazil".

Diverse visual representations of John range from an overweight, oversized, sloppy appearance to a dignified and elegant character. As for historians' portrayals, researcher Ismênia de Lima Martins writes, "If there is agreement among all authors who relied on the testimony of those who knew him closely for his kindness and affability, all the rest is controversy. While some pointed to his countenance of a statesman, others considered him a coward and completely unprepared to govern. In any event, Dom João VI left his indelible mark on Portuguese-Brazilian history, a fact that resonates to the present, through a historiography that insists on judging the king, despite the transformations that discipline experienced over the course of the twentieth century".

In governing, João always depended on strong auxiliaries. Prominent among these were Rodrigo de Sousa Coutinho, 1st Count of Linhares,

António de Araújo e Azevedo, 1st Count of Barca,

and Tomás Antônio de Vila Nova Portugal, who may be considered the mentors of many of John's most important undertakings, but according to João Luccock: "The prince regent has been various times accused of apathy; to me, he seemed to have greater sensitivity and strength of character than was generally attributed to him by both friends and opponents. He was placed in new circumstances by which he was tested, bowing before them with patience; if incited, he acted with vigor and promptness". He also praised the character of the king, reaffirming his kindness and attention. Oliveira Lima, with his classic Dom João VI no Brasil (1908), was one of the major figures responsible for the beginning of João's large-scale rehabilitation. He researched innumerable documents of the era without finding unfavorable descriptions of the king by Brazilians or by ambassadors and other diplomats accredited to the court. On the contrary, he found many accounts that painted him in favorable colors, such as the testimonies left by the British consul Henderson and the U.S. minister Sumter, who "greatly preferred to address himself directly to the monarch, always willing to do justice, than to confer with his ministers.... deeming him in this matter much more advanced than his courtiers". Diplomatic documents also confirm the breadth of his political vision, aiming to give Brazil an importance in the Americas comparable to the United States, adopting a discourse similar the U.S. doctrine of Manifest Destiny. He asserted his authority without violence, more in a persuasive and affable manner; his conduct of international affairs, although sometimes unsuccessful and somewhat given to imperialist ambitions, in many other ways was far-seeing and harmonious,as indicated by the many actions described above that improved the living conditions of the Brazilian colony.

Nonetheless, the French general Jean-Andoche Junot described him as "a weak man, suspicious of everyone and everything, jealous of his authority but incapable of making it respected. He is dominated by the fathers [that is, priests] and can act only under the duress of fear", and several Brazilian historians such as João Pandiá Calógeras, Tobias Monteiro and Luiz Norton draw him in comparably dark colors. Among the Portuguese, such as Oliveira Martins and Raul Brandão, he was invariably portrayed as a burlesque figure until the conservative resurgence of 1926, when he began to find defenders, such as Fortunato de Almeida, Alfredo Pimenta and Valentim Alexandre. It is also certain that many were disaffected with him, that he raised taxes and aggravated the debt, multiplied titles and hereditary privilege, that he could not allay the vast array of internal dissensions or eliminate entrenched administrative corruption, and that he left Brazil on the brink of bankruptcy when he emptied the treasury to return to Portugal.

Whatever the king's character may have been, the importance of his reign for a remarkable spurt of development for Brazil and, indeed, for the very unity of that nation is incontestable. Gilberto Freyre affirms that "Dom João VI was one of the personalities who had the greatest influence over the formation of the nation.... he was an ideal mediator.... between tradition – which he incarnated – and innovation – which he welcomed and promoted – during that decisive period for the Brazilian future". As Laurentino Gomes puts it, "no other period of Brazilian history testifies to such profound decisive and rapid changes as the thirteen years in which the Portuguese court lived in Rio de Janeiro". Scholars such as Oliveira Lima, Maria Odila da Silva Dias, Roderick Barman and the aforementioned Laurentino believe that had João not come to the Americas and installed a strong central government, probably the large territory of Brazil, with important regional differences, would have fragmented into several distinct nations, as occurred with the vast neighboring Spanish colony. This opinion was shared by the British admiral Sir Sidney Smith, commander of the squadron that escorted the Portuguese ships as the fled to Brazil.

Recent biographies try to separate fact from legend and counter the folklore of ridicule that had formed around King João and which lacks documentary basis. Lúcia Bastos warns that even today we need to be careful to place certain matters in their historical context, such as the question of corruption, noting that although there were enormous costs and clear abuses, at that time there was no clear separation between the public treasury and the monarch's private accounts, and in the logic of the Old Regime "the king is the owner of the state... of which the distribution of spoils forms part: the king is the dispenser of justice and spoils". In the words of Leandro Loyola, "from the new research a ruler emerges who had his limitations, but who encountered a totally adverse situation and survived it, despite governing a small, poor, decadent country such as Portugal at the beginning of the 19th century." Before dying on Saint Helena, his most powerful enemy, Napoleon, said of him: "He was the only one who deceived me." José Joaquim Carneiro de Campos, Marquis of Caravelas, praised him in the Brazilian Senate on the occasion of João's death, saying, "All of us who are here have many reasons to praise the memory of King João VI, we all ought to be grateful, for the benefits he gave us: he raised Brazil to a kingdom, provided well for all of us, treated us always with great affection, and all Brazilians are obligated to him."

João married Carlota Joaquina of Spain (25 April 1775 – 7 December 1830) in 1785 and had several children:

Maria Teresa, Princess of Beira (29 April 1793 - 17 January 1874) Married first her cousin Pedro Carlos de Borbón y Bragança, Infante of Spain and Portugal and second to Carlos, Infante of Spain, widower of her sister Maria Francisca.

Francisco António, Prince of Beira (21 March 1795 - 11 June 1801) Died at the age of 6, making his younger brother, Pedro, the heir-apparent to the throne of Portugal.

Infanta Maria Isabel (19 May 1797 - 26 December 1818) Married Fernando VII, King of Spain.

Pedro IV of Portugal & I of Brazil (12 October 1798 - 24 September 1834) Stayed in Brazil after the Peninsular War in Portugal. Proclaimed the Independence of Brazil in 1822 and became its first monarch as Emperor Pedro I. He was also King of Portugal as Pedro IV in 1826.

Infanta Maria Francisca (22 April 1800 - 4 September 1834) Married Carlos, Infante of Spain (his first marriage).

Infanta Isabel Maria (4 July 1801 - 22 April 1876) Served as regent of Portugal from 1826 to 1828; died unmarried

Miguel of Portugal (26 October 1802 - 14 November 1866) Known by the Liberals as the Usurper.

Infanta Maria da Assunção (25 June 1805 - 7 January 1834) Died unmarried

Infanta Ana de Jesus Maria (23 October 1806 - 22 June 1857) Married Nuno José Severo de Mendoça Rolim de Moura Barreto, Marquis of Loulé and Count of Vale de Reis. After her death, his uncle King Luis I of Portugal elevated him as first Duke of Loulé. He served as Prime Minister of Portugal. They had issue.

#king joao vi of portugal #kings of portugal #bragança dynasty #portugal histor

5 notes · View notes