#historian: stephanie downes

[une-sanz-pluis]

Creton also describes a ritual farewell managed by the queen: with her heart “enlightened by goodness,” Isabelle brought the English ladies with her to the French tents, where they dined together and “made sore lamentation.” After the meal, she distributed gifts to both the English ladies and the lords, “who wept mightily for sorrow” while Isabelle “bad them be of good cheer.” Creton shows how Isabelle, at thirteen, understood the ritual processes of ceremony and the emotional performances in which she was expected to participate — enough to direct them herself. Hayward frames Isabelle’s political maturity in a different way: reiterating Isabelle’s hatred of Henry and his supporters, he argues that she deliberately manipulated her performance of the gift-giving ritual in order to distribute her rewards “upon the ladies for favour, but upon the lordes only for fashion, for shee was not ether soe yong as not to perceive, nor yet soe careless as not to regard the treacheries threat they had used against King Richard.” According to Hayward, Isabelle scowled and frowned openly to make her displeasure clear to all those present. At the same time, he regards her agency in these scenes with suspicion. He imagines the various contemporary reports of Isabelle’s intelligence (“sharpe conceit”) as the effects of pity for her condition (“pittie did raise everie thing [in her] to the highest”); and concludes that she must have “receaved instructions” about her formal behaviour on the day. Usk interprets Isabelle’s inability to conceal her anger in public as a sign of her youth. The critical tone of both Usk’s and Hayward’s accounts is not surprising, given that they each wrote with the intent to discredit Richard’s kingship retrospectively. If the primary objection to Isabelle’s marriage to Richard had been her youth, then evidence of her childishness in her unconcealed distaste for Henry and his supporters tended to confirm Richard’s error in choosing such a young queen.

Stephanie Downes and Stephanie Trigg, "“she shal bryngen us the pees on every syde”: The Ceremonial Restoration of Women in Late Medieval Culture", Literature, Emotions and Pre-Modern War: Conflict In Medieval and Early Modern Europe (ARC Humanities Press 2021)

[dazii-kons]

reverse dc au but its not robins

You read that right! Let me introduce you to the most random, nonsensical swap AU,Despite the title, the Robins are in it, but they aren't the main focus.

.....Well, I guess Damian is a pretty big part of it, BUT here he was never a Robin, so I stand by my point.

Shadow Damian and Hopeflare Jon, partners in "crime" since they were Veil and Superboy, are on a mission to take down the last CADMUS base that’s left. Surprisingly, it actually is the only existing one (sorry, Match fans—he's not going to show up for a loooooong while).

They arrive to find a bloody mess and a broken environment. There’s no heartbeat, no sound of breathing, nothing any living person would make...except the sound of dripping blood.

Checking all the rooms, Damian finds the one where all the bodies seemed to have been escaping from, and inside, he finds... a mini version of his best friend???except he has curly hair styled in an undercut,his skin is tan and he's wearing a bloody hospital gown.

Thus comes Subject 13, aka Project Cm.Kh/S>sb(a metaphor for a CADMUS-made Kryptonian hybrid of Superman’s son beta), a clone of well ,Superman’s son made with the DNA of Hopeflare, Lex Luthor (who has a bit of techno-meta DNA from his mother), and an unknown human donor (Lois Lane), whose aging process has been stopped by an explosion. He’s stuck in the body of an 11-year-old, a skinny and fragile little boy with knowledge many historians could never dream of. And as a bonus, he comes with a stack of new, unknown powers—so fun!

Short story long, he gets out very quickly with no trouble,as if he wasnt fighting two jl leveled heros and uses the weird pink telekinesis like power (ttk) to make the building collapse. Oh, and also, he hates Jon and somehow knows Shadow's secret identity by just looking at him-not even his face ,that's masked, so it would still be weird, but not as much—but at his chest, more specifically the dark little “s” crossed by an “h” (which is Shadow's symbol).

The mini Jon, as they decided to call him, vanishes from existence for almost six months, making Damian almost convince his partner to stop looking because he’s ruining himself.

In this time, Kon—still choosing a last name—is having the nicest time of his life in the house of Tim Drake-Wayne (age 11) and two of his friends: Stephanie Brown (age 17) and Bernard Dowd (age 10).

Stephanie was kicked out for her addiction by her hero father. Still struggling with it, she was in a situationship with a villain whose name is unknown, but she has moved on from that, Currently, she is two months pregnant, and after a long talk with Tim (who's shockingly smart for a kid), she decided to keep the baby because, screw it, she /Tim/ has the money and enough time to give them a good life. She moved in with Tim because his parents wouldn’t notice anyway, considering they let an 11-year-old have an apartment and live alone. (Jack and Janet are neglectful, but they do love Tim and aren’t fanon.)

Bernard, who was found by Stephanie beaten to a bloody pulp and about to be sacrificed to some vultures, was practically forced to come live with them after Stephanie had one conversation with his parents and her 'soon-to-be-mom''fuck you bitch'' instincts kicked in.

They decided on the name Kon purely because Tim found footage of OG Superman calling that his cousin, Supergirl. That, and since it was the only Kryptonian word that sounded somewhat decent that was found in media, they went with it.

Tim is the protégé of Batman, the second Veil, and rarely goes out on missions since the big bat thinks he’s too young (as if Damian wasn’t 7 when he became Veil),But he still does, sometimes Catwoman and her own kitten, stray, join him

Stephanie is Lilac Arrow (currently looking for a new name, feeling like it’s too close to her father's, and she doesn’t admit it to him—not anymore) and is an ex-Speedy, an active vigilante since she plans to take a longer break of six months until the baby is at least two.

So Kon is finding himself with his friends, learning how to be a person with rights and a life to live.

The whole fic is just consumed by these three being besties as they get older, maybe with a sprinkle of TimBert childhood sweethearts, nonbinary Kon, Stephanie getting to raise her son, and Jon going batshitt about finding his little something that’s for sure related to him while Damian is just done.

Flaline is also there as Damian's emotional support, promising to kick Jon’s ass to take care of himself when he can’t. i prob make more of this au with other characters or of this exact scenario but idk,tell me what you think

[brokehorrorfan]

Death Machine will be released on Blu-ray on May 21 via Kino Lorber. Celebrating its 30th anniversary, the 1994 cyberpunk horror film features new cover art by Jean-Baptiste Chuat & Ronan-Wolf Chuat with the original poster on the reverse side.

Stephen Norrington (Blade, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) makes his feature directorial debut from his own script. Brad Dourif, Ely Pouget, William Hootkins, John Sharian, Martin McDougall, Andreas Wisniewski, and Richard Brake star. A young Rachel Weisz appears in a small role.

The two-disc set includes three cuts of the film: the 100-minute U.S. version, the 122-minute international version, and a newly created 106-minute director's cut. Special features are listed below.

Disc 1:

US cut (100 minutes) newly mastered in 2K from an interpositive

Audio commentary by Horror-Fix.com's James G. Chandler and Ash Hamilton (new)

US theatrical trailer

Newly created director's cut (106 minutes)

Audio commentary by writer/director Stephen Norrington and film historian Michael Felsher (new)

Technical audio commentary by writer/director Stephen Norrington (new)

Audio conversation with writer/director Stephen Norrington and creature creator Alec Gillis (new)

Isolated score

7.1 Surround and Lossless 2.0 Audio

Disc 2:

International cut (122 minutes)

Interview with composer Crispin Merrell

Interview with editor Paul Endacott

Interview with costume designer Stephanie Collier

Interview with producer Ray Burdis

Interview with co-producer Stuart St Paul

Artwork & design gallery

Behind-the-scenes still gallery

German theatrical trailer

Japanese theatrical trailer

Japanese behind-the-scenes promo

The year is 2003. Chaank Industries, ruthless world leaders in future weapons technology, hires a new Chief Executive, Hayden Cale. Cale soon uncovers a secret and unethical weapons project the company is involved in. Her first order of business is to shut it down. Her troubles just begin as she also tries to fire the company technological mastermind, Jack Dante—a childlike psychotic with a dark genius for exotic weapons design. Dante retaliates by unleashing into the corporate headquarters the Death Machine—the ultimate killing unit. A weapon that tracks its target by sensing fear and has the power to rip through walls with its hard steel strength and razor teeth. Cale must wage a desperate bloody battle with the terrifying force that has no mercy, no pity and no fear.

Pre-order Death Machine.

[fitzrove]

So... what really would've gone down if Mayerling 1889 didn't happen?

Under the cut for speculation & surface-level research... I may write a better post about this someday later. Tysm @baldandersss for inspiring this hehehe

This is a favourite topic for many a "historian" (lol) online, people love to think about what would have happened if Rudolf hadn't died in 1889. Setting aside other things that could've killed Rudolf (we don't know for sure if he had syphilis, Brigitte Hamann sometimes says no - gonorrhea only, but he believed it was syphilis and therefore progressive and uncurable - but in later interviews she switches to yes, it was syphilis; also, maybe stephanie would've eventually gotten tired enough and murdered him (JOKING)), let's pretend for a moment that he actually managed to survive until the 20th century and beyond lol

Now, it's late and I'm not going to google all the stuff that happened between 1889 and 1914 LOL rip, but the thing with 1914 is:

I'm not altogether sure it would've made a difference in the grand scheme of history, ie. Rudolf could not have prevented WW1 from occurring

unless a bunch of people got cool about a bunch of stuff really quickly

according to wikipedia The Bosnian Serb students who planned out the attack mostly cited larger anti-imperial motivations (= the attentat was conceptualised as a heroic bid to free the homeland from decades of tyranny and forced organisational/governmental/political assimilation - omg fun fact this also happened in Finland in 1904 for similar reasons but nobody cared so there was no war xD), but there was also a slight personal aspect to it, because Franz Ferdinand had advocated for even further imperial consolidation, and the assassin actually stated that one of his motivations was to prevent further developments in that vein from occurring by removing FF from the playing board.

-> would a "fairer" archduke - or crown prince - have made a difference? More importantly, could we assume that Rudolf would've actually held substantially different views (in terms of political thought Rudolf was "fairer" to the Slavic peoples of the empire than many others at court, but he was still an imperialist at heart, he didn't want A-H to break apart into independent nation-states - which is the opposite of what radical nationalists all across Europe wanted), AND even if he did, could we assume that evidence of his views would've been widespread enough to make the nationalists hope that once he became emperor, things would get better?

There's simply too many questions, I don't know if it could've worked out... Of course, maybe the overall political line of the court would've been different if Rudolf lived, but that would've necessitated actual power and influence for Rudolf... and idk if any was forthcoming especially once he started to be viewed as mentally unstable and/or morally repugnant by family members, members of the court and the general public (in the late 1880s). So in general I would assume that Mayerling as an event actually isn't historically as momentous as people sometimes say - it's a symptom, not a cause. Really, the real tragedy is the build-up of a political system that's so hostile to idealist liberalism that people in power (or adjacent to power!) who go/think against the system don't have a chance to affect change AND find their very existence unsustainable

(of course there was a level of personal tragedy too, not being able to cope with everything AND having limitations to how you could solve your problems because status made many things impossible for Rudolf, but...)

Also, @baldandersss pointed out that this version of events would've made Rudolf alive at the time of Elisabeth's death - surely a tough blow, especially given the circumstances...

[calciumcryptid]

Batman Issekai AU

Premise: After Gotham War, Bruce Wayne is sent back through time into his body the night of his first patrol as Batman. Realizing he has been given a second chance, he hunkers down on his 'work alone' policy as he vows to not allow the people he loves into his lifestyle.

The Canon Divergences (So Far)

Bruce rebukes the advances of Talia and Selina. One day Talia asks for his help to steal something, but Bruce ends her Selina's way instead. Talia and Selina fall in love and get married.

Bruce ensures Dick's parents won't die, so the circus passes through without issue. Unknown to Bruce, this leads Dick open wide to become Talon which inevitably puts them at odds.

Bruce prevents millionaire Anton Knight (Night-Slayer) from getting into burglary and introduces him to astronomer Natalie Metternich (Nocturna). Anton and Natalie fall in love and get married, and Bruce convinces them to adopt Jason Todd. Jason Knight is whisked away to another city and grows up to be an archeologist and historian with a love for literature.

Since he prevented the existence of Robin, Tim Drake has no drive to help Batman and serves as the heir to Drake Industries. As the new owner, he sponsors Young Justice. He marries his college sweetheart Bernard, and if they flirt with Superboy that is no one's business but the tabloids.

Stephanie becomes Spoiler, but instead of gaining the attention of Robin and Batman, she gains the attention of the Riddler. She becomes the Riddler's sidekick, and they take down her father together. Her mother may be in a poly relationship with Riddler, Query, and Echo, but Crystal Brown deserves it.

Bruce prevents the existence of the Joker, so Duke is raised by his parents. He becomes a daylight vigilante inspired by Batman, taking on the name Signal as he discovers his metahuman powers. The We Are Robin gang are other daylight vigilantes.

Damian is Talia and Selina's son, not Talia and Bruce's.

Harleen Quinzel works under Leslie Thompson, and Pamala Isley is hired by Talia. The two meet and form a romance without either of them being driven into villainy.

Barbara Gordon still becomes a vigilante but takes on the name Chiroptera instead as she works independently from Batman. She gets paralyzed on a case and becomes Oracle as she directs her successor and becomes the first Gotham vigilante in contact with the Justice League and helps found the Birds of Prey.

Cassandra Cain saves Commissioner Gordon, but gains the approval of Barbara instead of Bruce and becomes Batgirl and eventually Chiroptera after Barbara gets paralyzed while on a case.

Harper Row does not leave Bruce alone, and Bruce ends up breaking and adopting Harper and Cullen. Harper becomes his first sidekick under the name Bluebird.

Naturally, Bruce is going to have to be confronted by his changed children, allies, and villains. Anyone not mentioned I am still working on the alternate history and everything is subject to change.

@insomniac-jay

[shitpostingkats]

8 and 18 for the YGO ask meme? P.S. Helloooooo ^.^

8. Favorite antagonist/villain

You know? Shoutouts to Brron! He doesn't get enough love. I really love his design and they way he's animated in the show, this sort of creaky dusty mummy that doesn't have any bones and joints in all the Wrong places.

18. A random headcanon

Ooh I can't narrow it down to just one so I'll do some for each series I've seen.

DM: Atem is stupid nearsighted and this is why he does the squinty squinty whenever he takes over. This is really impressive because he's the one who actually passed the drivers test for Yugi (Yugi's a fine driver, he just couldn't get through the exam without having a panic attack) and to this day no one knows how he did it because the man is coke-bottle-glasses-blind and needs help crossing the street most days. Yes, this means Yugi has technically driving illegally his entire life. No, he doesn't feel one bit bad about it.

GX: Listen to me. I am looking directly in your face. Tyranno Hassleberry would be an amazing principal/chancellor of duel academy. He's a friendly leader type who loves learning and being in charge of rowdy hooligans. He effortlessly takes command of the student body like three times in the series. He's weird and fun and would be utterly beloved by his students because yeah he talks like a retired army colonel but he also goes off on hours long tangents on the cretaceous period and lets any student who wants avoid going home over the holidays tag along on his archeology digs and/or camping trips. He seems to be friends with the entire work force of pro duelists and duel historians and duel physicists and regularly invites them to the island to give presentations. I know Shepard set the bar low but Tyranno Hassleberry is going to raise it.

5Ds: I haven't posted any art of it, but I like to draw Yusei with tattoos! He gets a new one for every person that's important to him, so he has a full sleeve on his right arm (though his tattoo for Martha is right over the scar on his stomach) and even gets the dragon head inked back on after the end of the series. Also as stated previously I fully believe in my heart of hearts that Carly Carmine is a lesbian. And I believe with certainty that she should go on a date with Stephanie (the server from blue eyes coffee). Stephanie opens up her own little queer coffee shop called "Les Bean" or smth and Carly becomes a full on investigative reporter who keeps getting in trouble with the cops because she and her six foot tall emotional support himbo investigate leads by picking fights with violent criminals and there's really nothing anyone can do about it.

Zexal: I haven't finished with the series yet but I am full to bursting with headcanons for what astral world is like and if the show wants to contradict me it is welcome to try. I think astral world is completely underwater and filled with bioluminescence and weird deep sea creatures. Everything is floaty and sways in the currents and an astral's hair is like the fronds of a sea anemone and it is customary/fashionable to have schools of fish swimming around in it. Some astrals decorate their bodies with coral and plants and are floating ecosystems. There's a good deal of Societal Value attached to how many creatures you are in symbiosis with. Astral himself doesn't know exactly why he feels so grief stricken when he sees Yuma fiddle with the beads in his hair, or feels so lonely when he looks in an aquarium, but he's working on it, and as far as he's got Yuma, then he's not alone at all :)

[thegrapeandthefig]

What brought you to focus on Thasos?

It really took this question to realize I never addressed this, even though I thought I did. In short, it all came down to one inscription found on the island.

The inscription itself has long been considered “unpublished”, which in this case meant it had been translated once, in French, in the 1960s, by the archaeologists and historians who were working on excavating Thasos at the time. In the 90s, Swiss historian Anne-Francoise Jaccottet wrote a thesis on Dionysiac associations in the Greco-Roman world, and that’s where I found it first. Getting my hands on the thesis alone was a strike of luck, since when I began looking for it (because I saw it often cited in papers I’d read) it was only available on command from the university for a price in the 100s of euros. Until, in 2020, the author herself put the whole thing on academia.edu for free. Happenstance and all that.

Anyway, the reason why this particular inscription caught my attention out of the whole corpus of documents in the thesis was that it described vividly something linked to a UPG I had months prior. At the time I took note of the inscription as something to come back to later because I wasn’t sure what to do with the info. Confirmation was nice, but truly had no idea what to do with it.

A year or so later, I noticed that the same author had written and - again - put online for free, an article from 2018 on that specific inscription in collaboration with Stephanie Wyler (whose line of work tends to revolve around Dionysus in the roman context) and on the same element that resonated with my UPG. That is, the idea of a canopy of greenery/vines as an important ephemeral setup for worship, which is something that we can also catch glimpses of in literature:

“The flame, dividing, dimly outlines a cave for Dionysus more charming than any in Assyria and Lydia; for sprays of ivy grow luxuriantly about it and clusters of ivy berries and now grape-vines and stalks of thyrsus which spring up from the willing earth, so that some grow in the very fire.” - Philostratus the Elder, Imagines 1.13 (or 1.14 on theoi.com), 3rd century AD

The Thasian inscription, however, dates back from the 1st century AD and is a private dedication of a sanctuary to Dionysus from a man named Timokleides. He is described as being a doctor from Thasos and as being at the head of the dionysiac association (thiasos) that would be using this sanctuary. I could do a whole post about this alone, but the point is that it’s from there that I got the hutch to look at where the inscription came from in the first place.

That research led me to the realization that it was a very documented island, in big part because it has been excavated for decades but also because the ancient city/island used to be renowned for its wine, its marble and its gold, thanks to nearby mines on the Thracian coast. It led me to see that the calendar was in a workable state, that we had a decent list of attested festival and a very fair number of smaller sacrifial rules and miscellaneous inscriptions.

Another, more personal, reason why Thasos was a good fit was the geographical proximity with Lampsakos, Thrace and Moesia Inferior where I have (limited) elements concerning the presence of Priapus. Thasos is also known for having important examples of thysia, that is sacrifices for heroes in which the sacrifices were eaten by the worshippers, which goes against what is typically described as the norm in ancient Greek religion on a larger scale, but which also line up more closely with my personal experience.

All of these factors combined made Thasos a particularly good match for me. It felt a lot like finally putting together mismatched pieces of information into something that made sense.

[batbigbang]

Bat Big Bang: And suffer not man to tell that he hath looked upon them

Author: @carabesh Artist(s): @whizradio

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences Ao3 Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply Relationship(s): Batfamily Members & Tim Drake, Jack Drake & Janet Drake & Tim Drake Key Characters: Tim Drake, Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Barbara Gordon, Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain, Damian Wayne, Duke Thomas, Jack Drake, Janet Drake Summary: O wheel of wisdom, what is thy knowledge today? – When in doubt, use Lovecraftian themes The Drake bloodline is an old family bloodline. Not old by Gotham City standards—but old in blood and rituals. Historian Jack and archeologist Janet Drake started to dig their fingers into these old roots, filled with rites and ancient knowledge—some of which are better left to the lost annals of history. It is Tim who pays the price. Word Count: 89,509

Author’s Notes: This fanfiction was started in summer 2021 and finished in summer 2023, thanks to the BatBigBang. It started with the very simple question "What if Tim had to deal with his parents' mistakes, but make it Lovecraft?" Originally, I planned this fic to be 15.000 words at maximum, but it just kept growing and growing. I wanted to have more cross-references to works of H.P. Lovecraft and Stephen King, but at some parts got cut in the planning stage. There were many ups and downs while writing the fic, since it is the first time I wrote something so large. Ultimately, it was a fun experience and I'm happy that I can add it to the BigBang Challenge!

Whizradio Artist’s Notes: This was so, so much fun to draw! I love spooky stories, and the fic makes an amazing job at creating a creepy atmosphere, not to mention it has pretty cool scenes; I struggled picking just two! Seriously spooky and amazing!

READ ON AO3

[xcziel]

tuesday new release for november 7:

i spent half the evening monitoring the line at the midnight release for iron flame AND trying to sneak in snippets of jungkook on jimmy fallon (lol) since i had my phone bc i was also taking photos for the party

sooooo yeah. but there's LOTS of stuff out today

iron flame, book 2 of the empyrean saga by rebecca yarros is out! as is the holiday edition of fourth wing (red! very pretty! also: sprayed edges!)

latest installment in christopher paolini's eragon series, murtagh, plus the large hardcover illustrated eragon to pair with it

my name is barbra, a brick of a memoir ($47 list!) by la streisand

remembrance a collection of the correspondence of ray bradbury

resurrection walk new mickey haller AND harry bosch law thriller from michael connelly

novel the future, by naomi alderman

new naturals by gabriel bump

so late in the day: stories of women and men by claire keegan

the olympian affair, a new cinder spires novel by jim butcher

"clive cussler" released the corsican shadow

ben mezrich - the bringing down the house poker story guy- release breaking twitter, possibly one of the most topically relevant books today

teddy and booker t. about roosevelt and washington "blazing a path for racial equality" from bestselling historian brian kilmeade

h.w. brands new book on the history of american politics founding partisans

love redesigned by lauren asher, first in new lakewood billionaires series

chestnut springs series book four reckless by elsie silver

katee roberts' first in a new series hunt on dark waters

in YA we have:

the second book in the lightspark series by alex aster, nightbane

sequel to the way i used to be by amber smith, the way i am now

powerless by lauren roberts

and a paperback teen romance from ali hazelwood, check mate

same as ever: a guide to what never changes from psychology of money author morgan housel

the fund, about ray dalio, bridgewater associates, and wall street shenanigans by rob copeland

class, a story of single motherhood and higher education, by stephanie land

lyrics by paul mccartney is out in paperback

world within a song from jeff tweedy

living the beatles legend: the untold story of mal evans, longtime beatles roadie and personal assistant, by kenneth womack

and new d&d heroes' feast: flavors of the multiverse cookbook

and finally: SYSTEM COLLAPSE is here!!!! the new murderbot story from martha wells!!!!

to paraphrase: un-follow me now, this is gonna be the only thing i talk about for the next week. ive been waiting forever it feels like. fuck.

(a tiny exaggeration bc i know i will also be obsessed with jk and standing next to you for the next little while but you get the idea)

[thequibblah]

pwp anon here and im always down to hear your thoughts about arranged marriages in the the regency time period

sure, i pontificated abt this in the DMs of no less than two people so we may as well air it out for everyone's reading pleasure/displeasure, no?

i am by no means a historian, i am simply a reader of things, and regrettably many of the things centre around english/british history. i also recently read a truly fascinating account of marriage through the ages recommended by bestie @clare-with-no-i, called marriage, a history by stephanie coontz, and i will hopefully not absolutely fuck up what i have just learned from there.

but the concept of arranged marriage with jily specifically seems to me like a misunderstanding both of what an arranged marriage means (x1000 for the regency) AND of jily's dynamic — which i've come to realise i have quite strong and dare i say particular, sticklery, text-faithful views about which i know not everyone really cares about.

so with that out of the way,

i've said this a lot of times ik. but part of the thing with AUs for me is that i feel like i have to keep some elements of jily's canonical backgrounds/dynamic. otherwise i'm not really adapting these characters to another setting, am i? and to me one of the fairly significant things is james's privilege.

in AUs i want him to either be directly confronting it (if it's that kind of story) or suggest that he has already begun to confront it, or will have to confront it eventually. this is of course not because i, like, get off on putting them on an unequal social footing — on the contrary, one of my favourite things as a jily shipper is exploring how both characters grow out of immaturity, learn not to misunderstand each other, and come to love each other.

truthfully i don't like not making james rich to preemptively smooth over any discomfort in their relationship. for one it feels tied to his ignorance and his generosity, his confidence and his insensitivity; for another discomfort is part of life and part of love. feels disingenuous to write that out tbh

you could argue that this stuff really shouldn't matter for fluff that's meant to be escapist and easy reading, to which i say yeah, fair enough, to each their own. it's not like i close out of any modern uni au fic i come across where james isn't immediately established as baby warbucks, shouting "this isn't canon-aligned!"

BUT! when we're talking period marriage, or especially "arranged" marriage, it's pretty clear that discomfort is part of the premise. like, the point is watching them get comfortable with each other over time, and it feels a bit like cheating to me to minimise the uphill battle to begin with. pretty sure everyone here is here for the lizzie-darcy, not the lily-of-means à la emma woodhouse who could really have her pick of gentlemen!

now, on to "arranged" marriage. i put this in scare quotes because really, it seems like a weird qualifier to make for certain periods of history and certain social situations, and i sometimes wonder if people know what they mean when they say arranged!

like, i'm indian. an arranged marriage doesn't mean you're trussed up in a wedding outfit and shown to your future spouse on the day of the event (...though it can, unfortunately) — that is not the chief characteristic here. what it means is your families know one another, the match is advantageous for whatever reason (you share a community, a religious subdivision, said families really get along, they think you two are suited) so the families are like "let's make this happen." love is not necessarily a factor, but then for the vast majority of human history, to our knowledge, it really hasn't been, for most marriages across rungs of society. like, my guy the farmer's son might have been fond of his neighbour's daughter, but he's still thinking about how she'll help on the farm, if she can support his trade, what she brings to this economic partnership.

because that's what it was. an economic partnership.

our notion of arranged marriage is a closer analogue for royal marriages, i think pretty much across cultures and time periods. so you are a prince and you're set up with this princess because you need her uncle's support, or her father's money, or some such.

e.g. you are henry fitzempress and you want to keep england and normandy and anjou, and to do so you have to watch out for louis, king of france. so you very smoothly marry his ex-wife, eleanor of aquitaine, because aquitaine is an immensely powerful territory and eleanor brings you that in her dowry as well as every other sort of support you might need against louis — men, arms, money, the works. done deal!

or, let's look for an example with less ~choice~: you are the future henry viii (shocking beginning given "less choice", i know) and your brother's just died, but your lowkey cheapskate dad henry vii is not keen on giving back catherine of aragon's dowry, and like, he's taken all this trouble to bring her here and make an alliance with her parents, what the fuck's the point if she's now free to go marry someone else???? and possibly build a different alliance that weakens england??? no! henry my son you will marry her now.

but notice that both people are bringing immense value to matches like this. it's the perks, not the person. it is ruinously stupid to try and arrange a match with someone (a woman, really, this goes one way) who doesn't bring you a valuable dowry, whether that's actual income, income via land (see aquitaine), or at the very least nice noble connections (see gregory cromwell, son of thomas cromwell of advisor to henry viii fame, marrying bess seymour, the sister of then-queen jane seymour. for the cromwells, a family of commoners, to connect themselves with the old aristocratic seymours and become the king's in-laws was a nice little arrangement, and of course it's good for the seymours to solidify an alliance with the up-and-up cromwells too).

a dowry, for those unfamiliar, is an inheritance kept aside for a woman that becomes an attractive incentive for her future husband, as he will eventually get that inheritance when he marries her. a dowry is not a bride price — it goes from the woman (from her father or another male relative, usually), to her husband upon marriage.

talk of dowries is all over pride and prejudice. the Big One is georgiana's dowry, which wickham has his eye on when he tries to seduce her. but note that even mrs bennet, who if i'm not wrong is the daughter of a tradesman (i.e. not gentry/nobility), has a dowry of her own settled upon her by her father at the time of her marriage, which can only be inherited by her daughters after her death. if i recall right lydia's (nonexistent) dowry is handled by darcy. this is bog-standard stuff — leaving aside implied misogyny women-are-a-burden things, the idea is that a bachelor's household is of course going to grow when he gains a wife and a family, so he's gonna need some means to settle down

or let me pick a whole 'nother example — in downton abbey, mary, the eldest daughter, basically knows she's going to marry the man who inherits her father's estate, because it's a nice way to keep it in the family (rather like the bennets wanting one of their daughters to marry mr collins). they have, in a word, an "understanding." i don't think i need to explain here, though, why mary, an heiress in her own right even if she can't inherit her father's actual property, is hardly a cinderella in need of a prince

and i think you can already see where i'm going with this + the jily socioeconomic dynamic — i just don't see a world in which james's (presumably better off) parents are like, yeah, this is the girl for you, we've set it all up, not to worry, enjoy the wedding night. put crudely, what the hell kind of leverage does lily's family have over them?

like okay, i am hard-pressed to call this "arranged" because he asked her, and she consented (given ofc the caveat that she didn't have a great deal of choice), but mr collins and charlotte is a decent example where he's kind of (cringes) "doing her a favour" by marrying her, because she's really not very eligible — her parents are gentry but not well-off, and she's a spinster. but he needs a wife and doesn't really mind those things because he has a decent income and doesn't need (and, really, couldn't get) an heiress. and even then is it really arranged? it's arranged by mr collins, which to me is just "man decides who he'll marry"

so it seems to me that when people say "arranged marriage" what they really mean is reluctant/forced, which, again, i'm not sure i see that happening between people of different stations (one condition applies and i'll get to that) unless james is royalty, and even then lily had better be something, or james is about to piss off eeeeeeveryone at his court.

to be regency-specific, i think too people underestimate the amount of free choice the average gentleman would have had in making his own marriage. no matter how overbearing his parents, he could probably get away even with not honouring an "informal agreement" arranged by them when he and his intended were younger. and that's not even touching upon the fact that this is james specifically, and these are his parents specifically. fleamont and euphemia are canonically indulgent, and i can't fathom a world in which they insist on marrying james off against his will, to a girl equally reluctant.

(and this may be controversial, but nor can i see james consenting to such a match, even if he already has feelings for lily. it icks me out to think of him roping her into marrying him for like a billion reasons, but especially because this is something jily antis say all the time about canon, that he somehow compelled her to marry him. given a time period where a man of means probably could get away with that, it strikes me as skeezy to have the romantic lead — and, again, james specifically!!! — do it. imagine, basically, james as the mr collins to her lizzie — not exactly arranged either, but her mother sees the benefit of the match and encourages it, and it's a hard thing to say no to. it is shocking enough that lizzie says no to mr collins, and he even points out that she probably won't receive another offer. i find this not very romantic idk about you lol)

finally, courtship in the regency was a ritual. your parents don't just sit down with her parents and decide for you (and again, certainly not indulgent parents like james's). you'd still want to dance with her, formally express interest in her, ask her guardian's permission, and ask for her hand — and hopefully you're doing something in all that time that constitutes getting to know her, or at least seeing if you'd like to be married to each other. if you rushed into a marriage (i'm trying to spitball scenarios in which jily wouldn't know each other and therefore wouldn't be in love yet at the time of their marriage), people would talk — and the #1 thing they'd say is probably that she accidentally got pregnant somewhere along the way so the families are trying to save face rq.

in fact this is the one exception i could see with this whole arranged marriage shtick. if they were somehow caught in a compromising position, they would have to go on and get married asap, and you could argue that this might turn out to be reluctant depending on the circumstances. for instance in the bed-sharing fic i just wrote, two's a crowd, they are certainly not courting or in love, and lily's well aware that if word of this behaviour gets out it won't look good for her — and james knows too what he'd be honour-bound to do.

but honestly i find this to be such a depressing premise! it's sad and awful and reminds me uncomfortably of lydia bennet, who's really stuck in a shit situation to any modern reader imo. even lydia fancies herself in love with wickham before they elope, and needless to say he's probably not exactly in it because he has tender, poetic feelings for her.

that's not to say that love couldn't come out of something like this, but it's not a premise i feel like tackling in the regency era specifically, when you can get the yearning and the drama and all that without curtailing choice in such a specific, embarrassing way. (like, to have to write that social shame... eurgh. my own stomach would turn going on about women ruined and whatnot. there is a julia quinn book that features this and i won't say which one, but frankly i found the way it was executed downright ridiculous and very much un-james anyway)

i just think that a premise more realistic to the characters would be where they like what little they know of each other and then learn to love each other once they're married — less dramatic, i know, but also less contrived. sometimes romance is in the smaller things.

as an aside, my royal au, which is set several centuries before the regency, is probably the only fic i'll write with an arranged marriage, though it's more of a marriage of convenience — which is really a more apt, specific descriptor, i think, for those kinds of marriages. like, both parties are getting something out of this, and neither is under illusions as to whether or not they are in love. they wouldn't really expect to be.

[une-sanz-pluis]

In the majority of French accounts, English tears dominate the scene of Isabelle’s departure. Creton describes how, after Percy’s speech, and “before the two parties separated[,] they wept most piteously.” The English wept again as Isabelle left with her French escorts: “when she was forced to part with them [the English], they renewed their lamentation.” French witnesses and chroniclers perceived displays of weeping among the English participants as the most appropriate emotional response to the occasion. Juvenal des Ursins writes of Isabelle’s own tears (“la bonne dame ausi pleuroit”), as well as those of the English men and women, who wept copiously (“pleurans a grosse larmes”), as they took their leave of her. Isabelle’s tears call to mind those of Criseyde, as she was returned to her father. But if ritual weeping was appropriate for Isabelle and her English retinue, it was not, it seems, appropriate for the French in general. There are no records of French participants in the ceremony weeping: des Ursins attributes the public display of weeping to the English alone, while Fabyan goes on to observe that Isabelle “was ioyously receyued of the Frenshemen” in Calais. In Paris, the French king and queen similarly met Isabelle with great joy— though they did so in stark contrast to their daughter, who continued to weep loudly (“le roy son pere, et la reyne sa mere, … la recurrent a grande joye, combien que la bonne dame pleuroit fort”).

Stephanie Downes and Stephanie Trigg, "“she shal bryngen us the pees on every syde”: The Ceremonial Restoration of Women in Late Medieval Culture", Literature, Emotions and Pre-Modern War: Conflict In Medieval and Early Modern Europe (ARC Humanities Press 2021)

[royalpain16]

Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee Commemorative Coin Unveiled — and It Features Her Favorite Pastime!

A new coin commemorates the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, marking her 70 years on the throne

STEPHANIE PETIT 

January 06, 2022 03:39 PM

A new coin depicts Queen Elizabeth on her trusty steed!

On Thursday, the Royal Mint unveiled a new 50p coin commemorating the Queen's Platinum Jubilee on Feb. 6, marking 70 years on the throne. In addition to featuring her insignia and the years of her reign, one coin features the monarch on horseback.

The 95-year-old monarch is known for her love of horses, however, it was revealed that the Queen has not ridden since early September.

"She was in quite a bit of discomfort," a source told The Sun. "She adores riding and it has been part of her ritual for most of her life. She has been extremely disappointed not to go riding since the beginning of September."

Insiders added that the Queen hasn't hung up the sport for good, and she's determined to get back in the saddle after some rest.

"Designed by esteemed artists and made with original craftsmanship, Her Majesty's Platinum Jubilee coins are enduring pieces of art that will be collected, cherished and passed down for generations," Clare Maclennan, divisional director of The Royal Mint in Llantrisant, said according to the BBC.

"The Queen's legacy on coins stretches the length of her momentous reign," said Royal Mint Museum historian Chris Barker. "Today's launch marks another significant milestone, and the Royal Mint plays a proud part in the nationwide celebrations."

The Queen was given her first horse (a Shetland pony) when she was just 4 years old. In addition to riding for fun, she would often be on horseback for events like Trooping the Colour — the public celebration of the monarch's birthday. The coin appears to depict the Queen on such an occasion, given the hat with a feather that can be seen.

Queen Elizabeth's love of horseback riding has also been passed on to the next generations of royals as well. The Queen's daughter, Princess Anne, became the first royal to compete in the Olympics when she rode in the equestrian three-day event at the 1976 Games in Montreal. Following in her footsteps, Anne's daughter, Zara Tindall, competed in the 2012 Olympics and won a silver medal as a member of the Great Britain Eventing Team.

The Queen canceled her annual trip to Sandringham in December to celebrate Christmas with fellow members of the royal family amid the spike in coronavirus cases in the U.K. She was joined by her son Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall for the holiday at Windsor Castle.

Beginning on June 2, the Queen will mark her 70 years of her service to the throne with celebrations across the United Kingdom. Events will include Trooping the Colour (the annual public festivities for the Queen's birthday), the lighting of Platinum Jubilee beacons, a service of Thanksgiving at St. Paul's Cathedral, the Derby at Epsom Downs, a live concert called "Platinum Party at the Palace," the Big Jubilee Lunch and the Platinum Jubilee Pageant.

[spacerangersam]

I have a lot of thoughts about my ghost swap au and nothing to do with them, so here:

• The Butchers are cryptids to the people living in the town near Button House. Like, they appear out of nowhere claiming ownership of this giant abandoned manor, one fucking dies, is revived, decides to keep living at the place where he died, is known to stare blankly into space or wave and laugh at nothing, and the other has a mysterious past he never talks about and no one can even figure out what his name is

• Pat thinks it's hilarious. Ted claims to find it annoying, but also still refuses to give his name...

• Outside of the scouts, Pat is a host at the local radio station, and also has his own podcast, Conversations wih a Ghost where he records him and Kitty (talking through a spirit box) just chatting about random things. No one knows if this is just a gimmick, if he's being serious or if it's a narrative podcast. Pat refuses to say

• Ted is a ww2 historian and works from home, writing books/textbooks about the period, making the occasional guest appearance on tv or in unis for a talk

• Every V-Day they throw a themed party/event in the manor and invite all the towns people. Same with Pride

• The ghosts only cause slight chaos every time. Regardless, they're still known for being amazing events

• Before their first pride at the house, Pat made the ghosts a presentation explaining it/all the sexualities and genders. There were a lot of realisations that day

• They have a cat called Cadet and she seems to see the ghosts, though no one's entirely sure

• Every time Daley comes over, he insists on having a sleepover with Jemima where they watch musical movies and sing along together. It's very cute (unless you're Ted, watching your step-son sing Let It Go while a disembodied voice of a dead child sings along. Then it's a little unsettling)

• Pat tries to make a habit of visiting the plague ghosts at least once a week to chat (ie gossip about everyone upstairs). He does have to wear sunglasses to somewhat hide the body horror, but no one takes it personally

• After some time Daley starts calling all the ghosts uncles/aunts. It happens to Julian first after he helps Daley something, and he has a crisis for the rest of the day

• No one is allowed to bring up the ghosts to Carol or Morris. No one.

• Pat told his sister and her family though. Bill claims he can also see ghosts, so immediately believes him, and the others follow suit

• Pat loves Britney Spears.

• When Pat and Ted first met they didn't get on. Ted confused his initial attraction to Pat for hatred so acted out, and Pat followed accordingly. It took them getting into a massive fight and Pat actually punching Ted so hard that he fell to the ground for Ted to realise Oh! I like him don't I?

• Ted immediately blurted out that he loved Pat, who was, understandably, very confused

• But after a coffee and a chat they sorted themselves out and went on a date, and the rest is history

• To this day Pat still doesn't understand how a punch was what made Ted realise the truth though

• Ted adores the Sherlock Holmes stories and is on a constant quest to find a gay version of it (it hasn't been going well)

• He's actually very good at poetry and likes writing little poems for Pat

• Speaking of poetry, Pat writes down and posts Thomas' poetry on a blog Pat made for him.

• Ted gives feedback on evey poem and Thomas hates it (though he does usually take on the advice, albeit very reluctantly)

• They throw an unofficial wedding for Mike and Alison a year after they move in. It's very strange, but the Coopers insist it's the best night of their deaths

• Ted hosts a weekly soldiers support group

• Pat paints (or hires someone to paint, either works) a massive painting of everyone living in the house, dead and alive, and hangs it where the portrait of Mr Button used to be

• Stephanie frequently helps them with any money problems, and Daley with his maths homework

• Ted is very quiet at parties, unless you bring up his husband, son, or a wrong historical fact. Then he will not shut

• Pat makes the mistake of introducing Thomas to Mitski. The word nobody is banned two days in

• Thomas and Alison did actually go on a date once, about a week after Alison died. It was very awkward. They've agreed to never talk about it

• Pat figures out very quickly that Julian was the one to push him and absolutely holds it over his head when Julian's getting too cocky

• After discovering that Kitty can use the spirit box, Ted makes a habit of keeping it turned on and in his pocket so that Kitty can come up and talk to him whenever she likes

• Pat gets along best with Alison and Humphrey, though if you ask he'd of course say he doesn't have favourites

• If Pat finds a ghost while out and about, he tries to stop long enough to at least say hi, and has been known to accidentally help a few pass on just by answering a question or two

• Kitty loves playing Just Dance with them, and whoever's not playing makes up her scores. She always wins when Ted's in charge of that, funnily enough

• Pat starts wearing the brightest/weirdest socks he can find just so Humphrey has something interesting to look at on days he's stuck on the floor

• Pat is strong enough to pick Ted up, at least for a few moments.

• Ted is the one who usually goes a bit overboard during anniversaries and valentine's Day, but it always turns out well in the end

• Date nights with the Butchers, Coopers, and Kitty and Mary!

• Daley is big into space so he and Robyn watch a lot of documentaries/movies together about it.

• Daley caries a small string of battery-powered fairy lights around the house that Robin (after a lesson from Pat) can use to talk through Morse code

• He also occasionally does it with the big lights in the house when he wants Ted's attention

[im-sad-lets-kiss]

au where the losers forget nothing and stick together forever and there’s no return of pennywhore

* richie and eddie get married and adopt twin daughters

* they name them violet and stephanie

* richie calls them vi and steph

* violet likes inappropriate humor and cusses like a sailor

* she’s top of the class tho

* stephanie dresses well, is a skater, and the nicest person you’ve ever met

* basically like ben but if he had the money to dress well and skated

* eddie takes richie’s last name cause fuck mrs k and he’s famous

* the twins have black hair, brown eyes, and faces are covered in freckles

* they end up almost the same height as eddie

* richie talks about eddie and his daughters all the time in stage

* eddie never becomes a risk analyst and instead becomes an artist

* he’s always loved drawing but mrs k said it was impractical

* mike met a girl named rachel in highschool (she was on the basketball team) and she became a member of the losers club

* they got married first out of all of them

* they had a daughter named cora

* cora’s the smartest child ever and her favorite uncle is eddie

* mike is a librarian/historian and rachel is a psychologist

* they stay in derry

* dev and ben don’t get married until they’ve settled in their careers

* ben is an architect

* beverly has a talk show because why tf would she be a fashion designer

* they get married in their mid thirties

* they don’t have kids cause bev doesn’t like them but ben’s okay with that

* they just focus on being the best aunt and uncle ever

* bill and stan end up together

* bill is still a writer

* bill inspired stan to not be an accountant and instead works at a bird hospital

* technically it’s a rehabilitation center for birds

* they have two sons

* they’re five years apart, their names are georgie and zach (short for zacharia)

* they’re just like bill and og georgie

* georgie loves to draw and is more of a leader type

* zach is quiet and reads a lot

* he’s funny but most people wouldn’t know

* yes they’re jewish (emphasis on the ish)

* richie, eddie, bev, and bill live in new york

* stan and bill live in vermont (they travel a lot tho)

* mike and rachel live in maine

* mike and rachel got married first

* then eddie and richie

* then bill and stan

* then bev and ben

* they hang out at least once a month

* often more cause they’re rich enough to travel

* they usually meet up in derry but not for birthdays (unless it’s mike and rachel and cora’s)

* their kids are best friends

* stephanie and georgie eventually get together oop.

* cora is the oldest

* she’s two years older than violet and steph

* the twins are one year older than georgie (so cora is three years older than him)

* georgie is four years older than zach (so the twins are five years older, cora is seven years older)

* cora acts like a mother to zach

* it’s cute and he likes it

* oh yeah cora is like hella tall like her parents, super dark skin, hair is down to her butt and curly

* bev was the surrogate for georgie and zach

* georgie has bev and stan’s dna (the name was a last minute decision shh)

* he has curly light brown hair and green eyes and tall

* zach is bill and bev’s dna

* he has floppy red hair and brown eyes and will always be a head shorter than georgie

* they all get together for halloween at richie and eddie’s place cause it’s their favorite holiday and go all out

* for christmas/hannukah they go to bill and stan’s from december 17- 26 so they call celebrate some of hannukah and christmas (it’s an ordeal)

* they have friendsgiving at mike and rachel’s and they can go see their parents too (the non-shitty ones)

* and when all the kids have spring break they go to bev and ben’s and they go to some place with a beach

* but all of them do see eachother all the time

* also bev and ben become the marsh-hanscom fam

* stan takes bill’s last name

* doesn’t eddie tozier and stanley denbrough have a ring to it?

[mitsususu]

I’m so sick of running as fast as I can, wondering if I’d get there quicker if I was a man. They’d say I hustled, put in the work. They wouldn’t shake their heads and question how much this I deserve. Genderbend and sexism! Below are My Top 5 Favorite stories:

*Misogyny Level refers to how much the women have to put up with

“Fully Formed, in Armor” (M, 50k) by bythedamned

Captain Stella Rogers is remembered as a symbol of American victory and the founder of modern-day feminism. That leaves big shoes to fill when she's pulled from the ice alone, ill at ease in her own skin, and missing a love she can’t tell anyone about.

Becky Barnes has gone through too much of her own shit to have any time for Stella’s. But she knows how hard it is to rebuild a life in New York City and, besides, she’s got a type.

+ Shrunkyclunks. Captain Stella and modern Becky get off on the wrong foot but eventually become best friends/lovers as Stella navigates life, missions, and PR in the 21st century. Misogyny Level: Low.

-☆-

“Christmas in Connecticut” (T, 12k) by waldorph

“I have a farm in Connecticut,” Howard announced into the melancholy silence. “And nothing to do this Christmas but play the white knight. Darling, marry me? Mr. Stone will get his Christmas, you’ll get your article, the soldier will get his all-American holiday, and Ms. Carbonell will keep her job, for whatever that’s worth.”

+ WW2 AU. Female Steve fake marries Howard to keep her fake-housewife columnist job, and then regrets everything when she meets dashing Bucky. Based on the movie, very crack. (You may have read the Modern AU) Misogyny Level: Low

-☆-

“Gold to Airy Thinness Beat” (T, 178k) by ISeeFire

The list of reasons Stephanie Rogers couldn't enlist were long.

She was small.

She was frail.

She was in poor health.

She was female.

The list of reasons for why she fully intended to ignore all that and do her best to enlist anyway was short.

Bucky was going.

Her best friend.

Her only friend.

The friend who'd been there her entire life, every time she'd needed him, every time she'd called.

Always.

And she'd be dammned if anyone was going to stop her from returning the favor.

+ Alt Canon. Steph gets the serum but Brandt smears her reputation and never stops. Despite everything, she saves her husband, falls off the train, gets a Hydra arm, crashes the Valkyrie, and wakes up in the 21st century with Bucky. History got her all wrong, but Bucky loves her and that’s all that matters. Misogyny Level: Extreme

-☆-

“back in line for love again” (G, 3k) by defcontwo

But in the end, what matters is this: Stella Rogers walked out of that camp in Azzano a chorus girl and walked back into it a war hero.

+ Defrosting to Post WS. Historians haven’t been too thrilled with Stella and female Bucky leading the Howling Commandos, let alone with how the winter soldier events play out. Comes with a honeymoon sequel. Misogyny Level: Medium

-☆-

“it's been a long, long time” (G, 3k) by junko (orphan_account)

Stephanie Rogers realizes that she doesn't want to die.

Stephanie Rogers kicks to the surface, and she was never a good swimmer, but she pulls herself up onto a slab of ice, scrabbling for land, spitting out water anyway.

(Or, in which Stephanie doesn't die in the plane crash, and she and Private Lorraine rescue Bucky Barnes, take down HYDRA from the inside, and have Friday Girl's Nights.)

+ Alt WW2. Exactly as the summary says. A fix-it where Zola dies and Hydra gets destroyed. Misogyny Level: Medium 

-☆-

-☆- And a freebie incomplete work -☆-

“Reconstruction” (E, 95k, incomplete) by rageprufrock

In which Stephanie Rogers is the complicating element in the sweeping romance of Bucky Barnes and Lady Liberty.

+ Alt Canon. Stephanie became Lady Liberty, saved her husband, froze in the sea, and woke up in the 21st century. No one knew her identity, history thinks Bucky cheated on his wife the entire war. Currently stops right after her defrosting when she doesn’t know Bucky’s still alive. Misogyny Level: High

 -☆-

+ More Stucky stories here

[historicity-was-already-taken]

Guest Post: On Japanese Internment Camps

Since I am currently very 

I’d like to post a piece of writing from one of this blog’s fave guests (and humans in general), Dr. Stephanie Hinnershitz; please note that this was originally posted to her personal facebook page, and is shared here with her permission: There's a reason why historians are moving away from using "internment" when discussing the forced removal of close to 120,000 Japanese Americans during WWII. I also realize that I recently used "internment" in an article I wrote. This was a stylistic choice on behalf of the editors and I should have pushed back more, but it made sense for context and readership. Incarceration is the appropriate term. Here's why: I received a few private messages and emails from friends and strangers asking if I knew that German Americans and Italian Americans were also interned during WWII. Yes. I am aware of this. Many times, people bring this up in a "gotcha!" way to try and prove the point that the incarceration of Japanese Americans was not racially-motivated or had no racial angle to it at all because if it did, why did close to 15,000 "white" people end up interned? In a more charitable way, people bring up the internment of German and Italian Americans because they did not know about it until well into their adult years and assume that I might not know about it. But let's return to the internment issue. I study the removal and incarceration of those--foreign and American-born--of Japanese descent. The internment of "enemy aliens" is not my area of specialty. Under American policy, internment during WWII was a specific term for the detention of immigrants who were nationals of enemy nations (Italy and Germany, for example). Now, there were certainly Japanese enemy aliens, but the majority of them were held with other German and Italian enemy aliens in detention centers overseen by the Department of Justice. Internment fell under the DOJ.

The word "internment" doesn't apply to Japanese Americans who were removed from their homes by the Army and then transferred first to "assembly" (detention) centers and later to the "relocation centers" or "camps" (or concentration camps--yes, this phrase was used by many officials in memos and correspondence--prisons, prison camps, etc.). The reason why internment is not the correct term is because the majority of those Japanese Americans who wound up in one of ten prison camps were American citizens, not "aliens." They were not "enemy aliens" because a) they were from America and America was not at war with America and b) they were citizens. Even the planners of incarceration and a lot of the military officials I researched were careful to avoid the term "internment" when discussing the removal and imprisonment of Japanese Americans after Executive Order 9066 because it was basically incorrect. (Side note: Many government and military officials knew that incarcerating American citizens was constitutionally a bad idea and tried to persuade FDR to avoid including Japanese American citizens in enemy alien roundups.)

Because internment was not really applicable to the majority of ethnically Japanese American citizens, the government created a new agency--the War Relocation Authority (WRA)--to oversee the ten prison camps. The Army was supposed to be free of any responsibility once Japanese Americans were transferred to the camps, but--if you read my article--this didn't work out. The WRA a bureaucratic nightmare, a massive waste of taxpayer money, and just a poorly-managed civilian agency tasked with running an unconstitutional program.

Internment of Germans and Italians WAS NOT the same as incarceration of Japanese Americans. Two different programs overseen by different agencies. So, really, there are responsible and interesting ways to place incarceration and internment in conversation, but you can't really responsibly do it if you're trying to say that there were not racial elements to Japanese American incarceration.

BUT--if you want to try and make that argument, here are some other reasons why you're wrong:

1) When you make a decision or policy based on the belief that an entire group of people behave a certain way because of racial characteristics, that's racism. And that's exactly what happened with Japanese American incarceration.

2) Did General John DeWitt (in charge of the military zones along the West Coast where most Japanese Americans lived) believe that ALL enemy aliens should be removed from vulnerable areas regardless of race? Yes. BUT this starts to break down once we get into citizenship...

3) German and Italian Americans (whether foreign or American-born) made up a HUGE portion of the American population, particularly on the East Coast. Initially, government officials thought that even American-born citizens of German and Italian descent should also be removed and incarcerated like Japanese American citizens, BUT Italians and German Americans should be given an opportunity to explain themselves--due process--before a committee. Japanese Americans did not receive this consideration at any point AND the idea of removing and incarcerating German American and Italian American citizens was eventually dropped. Officials argued that it would be impossible to do this because there were so many Italian Americans and German Americans. Also, because many of Italian and German descent were American citizens, they were obviously loyal to the U.S. and we shouldn't really be concerned

....

Wait--what?

I hope after reading that you were able to stop and think, "But I thought you just said the majority of Japanese Americans who ended up in the prison camps were American citizens?"

Yes! I did say that! Please continue reading.

4) Officials determined that Japanese American citizens were less trustworthy than Germans and Italian American citizens because even if ethnically Japanese individuals were born in the United States (and many of those incarcerated were members of the second generation--never been to Japan, went to public schools, had plenty of American-born friends), their parents (immigrants from Japan) were unable to naturalize or become American citizens...BECAUSE RACIST LAWS SAID ASIAN IMMIGRANTS WERE UNABLE TO NATURALIZE. See what's going on here?

5) Okay, so the next "whatboutisms" that usually pop up include planned attacks by Japan coordinated with Japanese Americans in the U.S. and the dual-citizenship of those born in America to Japanese parents. Were there attempts at or completed attacks of the West Coast by Japan? Yes, the "Bombardment of Ellwood" for example. Is there any proof that these were coordinated with the help of Japanese American citizens or even "enemy aliens?" No. Were there Japanese enemy aliens who did suspicious things or expressed anti-American attitudes? Yes--just as there were with German and Italian enemy aliens. But the fact remains that it was predominantly Japanese American CITIZENS with no connections to any subversive plans who ended up in the camps--a significant difference compared to German and Italian Americans.

As for dual citizenship, if you use this argument to justify the incarceration of Japanese Americans, congratulations! You're a bona fide 1920s racist! This is the exact argument used by 1920s racists and there's a grain of truth in there: Because of citizenship laws and negotiations in Japan and the United States, Japanese Americans born to Japanese parents in the United States before 1924 were automatically both citizens of Japan and--because of birthright citizenship under the Fourteenth Amendment--were also U.S. citizens. Officials used this to argue that with dual citizenship, even Japanese Americans born in the U.S. had loyalties to Japan and deserved to be locked up. What this argument did (and does not) take into consideration is the fact that between 1924 and 1940, Nisei (second-generation Japanese Americans) began to renounce their Japanese citizenship--approximately 70% (according to records kept by the WRA and other data). And after 1924, this dual-citizenship situation no longer existed.

6) The end result of this was that the government and the military determined that even Japanese American citizens were less trustworthy simply because they were of Japanese descent. Discrimination and segregation laws along the West Coast made sure that Japanese Americans had a difficult time fully integrating into American society...and then this was used against Japanese Americans to argue that because they remained unintegrated, this meant they were disloyal to the United States! Anti-Japanese sentiment had been building for a long time along the West Coast, and enterprising and racist politicians and farmers who wanted access to Japanese farmland (Japanese were incredibly successful farmers because they took risks and developed different crops in California especially) took advantage of wartime hysteria and lobbied for removal. And it worked.

So what does this all mean? You can't compare Japanese American incarceration to German and Italian enemy alien detention if you're trying to make the argument that there was no racism in incarceration. Some 11,000 German Americans (most enemy aliens) were interned in enemy alien detention camps. As for Italian Americans interned, you'll see the misleading figure of 600,000 Italian Americans interned. This is not true. The government classified 600,000 non-citizen Italian Americans as enemy aliens and they were placed under curfews and other restrictive actions that violated their civil liberties--but 600,000 Italian Americans were not interned. About 10,000 were removed from the West Coast and ultimately under a thousand interned--all enemy aliens, not citizens. Additionally, on Columbus Day in 1942, FDR officially declared Italian Americans no longer enemy aliens (he got a lot of pressure from Italian American Democrats in NY who basically said, "If you want our support for the New Deal, don't even think about it, clown."). Japanese American citizens were removed from their homes, placed in prison camps in terrible areas, and denied due process. People also like to say incarceration was not that bad because Japanese Americans had places to live, the camps provided games and entertainment, and they got to leave to go work by 1943. All true. But many of you can't even wear a goddamn mask without griping, so to say that "it's not a big deal" to have the government remove you from your homes and place you in a desert somewhere is a little disingenuous, no?

And if you're still going to say it's not a big deal--Japanese American citizens also had their guns confiscated. So there's that.

AND here's the best part: About 15 years ago, some members of Congress tried to issue pass legislation to issue a public apology to German Americans interned during WWII and create some required programming in school curriculum to be sure kids learned about this. But you know what? Republicans refused to have anything to do with it because it was "un-American" and unpatriotic.