#history reseach

[ellas-journey]

Ah the Red light- I mean “entertainment” district 💄

It is true that there are three figures that we associate with Japan: Naruto, Luffy and Goku - I mean the ancient samurai, the modern salary man, and the eternal Geisha. Especially during the Edo Period, there was a rise in the so-called red-light districts, stage of the mesmerizing ukiyo-e, that the common mortal would happily purchase, in special, the shunga, that could picture the most obscene acts. But things aren’t always like the art portrait am I right? Sex trade in early modern Japan was so important that its history can also be read as the history of the society. But even though the prostitution relationship with the government changed, one thing they always had in common: it was the exchange of sexual services for a payment [most of the times in cash]. Before all, let's say something: male prostitution did exist. But it was just not considered the same business than the woman’s prostitution. Male sex trade became more associated with the theatre world and the teahouses. It was never recognised or regulated and had never the same punishments that woman did. This could be linked to the function of the man and woman in the households. Since a man could only be a brother, but the woman could start turmoil and try to substitute the wife in the family and give the male heirs. (Ah yes, always the baby problem. So be gay do crime I guess) During the 17th century prostitution was flued by the demographic movements of man opening cities, by the 18th the power shifted to the small provinces. And to where the man goes, the sex trade goes. In the 19th century the sex trade spread to all the territory. In the beginning of the Edo period, the rule of the "wife" and the "prostitute" could be confused. After all the women could be said to only have those two paths, and it wasn't for her to choose, but her male guardian. Since the woman was viewed as an object of the man's property, he could sell her as he wished. Yes, even wives and daughters from "good" families were sold as a way to pay a debt. “There was no question that the Tokugawa authorities’ vision of status order had been confining for woman: it subordinated them to male household heads and emphasized the values of obedience and submission. Indeed, some must have welcomed the opportunity to step outside their narrowly defines roles as wives and daughters. (…) But for the vast majority of woman who worked in the sex trade, the crises of the gendered order, and the disintegration of the limited protection it offered, was hardly a form of liberation.” - Stanley,2012;

In 1612 a man called Jin'emon tried to ask the Shogunate to recognise his business. He said that unregulated sex trade could cause a lot of problems like young girls being kidnapped, samurais plotting rebellions in the courtesans' beds, man splurging their wages on woman (and babies a lot of unwanted babies coming back for their illegitimate families let’s not forget that). The shogunate (finally) agreed and gave him a plot of land in the outskirts of town with (a lot of) conditions: they would regulate the sex trade, they would record the comings and goings, report anything suspicious, and the woman - yujo - could not leave the "pleasure quarters" and thus the Red Light district was born, at the time called Yoshiwara or "Reed Plain". The Shogunate soon started to forbid the selling and buying of humans, believe it or not this also included woman. But, as always, with exceptions. Woman could enter the “pleasure quarters” if the hitonushi [the woman’s legal guardian] allowed and if she consented. The same would apply if a family was in extreme poverty, the man could only sell is wife as a last resort. Also, eternal servitude was now illegal, the limit was now 10 years, but obviously the Yoshiwara’s pleasure houses lords would manipulate the contracts to go around this rule. The Shogunate tried to regulate the clandestine prostitutes that the common people called baita [whores]. But these women, that normally worked in the side of the streets, were paid very little and were the wives and daughter of marginal men. There was also the problem of the “bathhouses”, where pretty woman would scrub the backs and rinse their hair of men. Yoshiwara brothels complained that these bathhouses were hurting their business since it was at the time that bordels were forbidden from working during the night, so this bathhouses would do drinking parties with shamisen music and everything. And the yuna [bathing girls] were cheaper than the yujo. Bit after the big fire of Meireki at 1657 these bathhouses choose to relocate to Yoshiwara. But there was a problem is this tentative of politicised the sex trade: the woman that only sold sex as a secondary option. She shogunate realised this problem and declared that all the waitresses, dancers and entertainers that agreed with patrons to sell sex would be considered clandestine prostitutes. But there was a risen of a type of artistic woman, that was skilled in entertainment, that started to imitate the male way entertainment - the Geisha. “Originally, both men and women professionally living on light accomplishments inseparably went under the name of “geisha”, although men were called “otoko geisha” or male geisha, and women “onna geisha” or female geisha. Subsequently the term “onna” was dropped, so that the onna geisha came to be called simply geisha, and the otoko geisha or male geisha changed simultaneously their name into “hokan” or jester.” – Longstreet; Mansfield; Longstreet, 2020; The word geisha can be split into "art" and "person", meaning that the geisha were the perfect mix between the performance and prostitution. They were supposed to have many artistic talents like singing, reciting poetry, performing the tea ceremony, playing the shamisen, arranging flowers, telling the best jokes, whispering obscene things, in short entertaining men. Selling sex was a last thing. They were sexually available, but they had a price, and with a higher price came its social value.

These Geisha usually had their hair up in the traditional maga style [which was mostly made of wigs], wore colourful makeup, kimonos, and obi. Normally they had various apprentices called maiko or hangyoku. (Yes I'm sorry to break your heart but the little girls at House Tokito (Tanjiro infiltration), that help the Koinatsu Oiran were either sold or daughters of courtesans at that house, being trained to be the next Oiran) Obviously, they also had lovers, but outside their job. In the workplace they would smile and bow to entertain their patrons. Sometimes they could choose a wealthier patron that would sponsor their lifestyle. Sometimes they had another lover that was their true love, but that was not the best option since time was money. Unlike the courtesans the geisha could choose their patrons, but sooner or later their professions would start to be confused. Many of the trends of the Edo period continued after the Meiji restoration. Until the Taisho Era [1912-1926] the number of prostitutes registered in brothels doubled. The number of Geisha alone as circa 79.348. It was estimated that 1 out of 31 Japanese young women were employed in the sex trade (that excluding the comfort woman cause non-Japanese did not count, cause ah the imperialism) The funny part was, the money that these women made was income that would be invested in important modernizing infrastructures like elementary schools. With the westernization government started to being pressure to liberate this woman, but soon these women realized that they did not have were to go. So, in technical terms nothing really changed. But the Japanese started to be see this woman as impure, in part because of the sexual deceases that were starting to be aware of. Now we understand why one of the Demon Slayer arcs takes us to the pleasure district, because during a lot of time it was the center of a lot of what we now call the japanese culture.

Linfamy. 2023 - Two Oh-So-Happy Destinies Forced Upon Daughters in Edo Japan. [Consulted on the 27th June 2023] Available on: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wcewuw0sMOo>; LONGSTREET, Stephen. LONGSTREET, Ethel. MANSFIELD, Stephen. 2020 - Geishas and the Floating World: Inside Tokyo’s Yoshiwara Pleasure District. Clarendon: Tuttle Publishing. [Ebook]; STANLEY, Amy. 2012 - Selling Women: Prostitution, Markets, and the Household in Early Modern Japan. California: University of California Press. [Ebook];

[airenyah]

9 People I Would Like to Get To Know Better

i was just tagged by @recentadultburnout and am using this as an excuse to procrasatinate studying. whoops.

last song: เพลงที่เพิ่งเขียนจบ (our song) from the bbs ost. it happened to come on earlier this afternoon when i was listening to music while doing the dishes and i stopped the playlist after this song bc i was done with the dishes and went to do some uni stuff

favorite color: i really like blue, especially navy blue. and i also like darker shades of red, like crimson (German speakers: think karminrot)

last movie/tv show: i watched wednesday club last night before going to sleep

sweet/spicy/savory: i like all of them, it really depends on my mood and the dish. i've got quite a sweet tooth but for example when it comes to strudels i much prefer the savory ones (my austrian hot take is that spinatstrudel >>>>> apfelstrudel). as a half-italian i also like to add peperoncino (chili) to my food a lot. for example, i haven't ordered my kebab "ohne scharf" (non-spicy) since my late teens

relationship status: single but lowkey trying to woo someone. maybe. i don't know. pretend i didn't say this. ok bye.

current obsession: i'm a bad buddy blog in its joongdunk era

last thing I googled: technically "navy blue" bc i wanted to make sure the colour i'm answering with for this tag game is the right colour that i like. but the last thing i googled before filling in this tag game was "sicilia trinacria" bc i wanted to show/explain to someone what it is

tagging: @newyearknwwme @killiru @visualtaehyun @moonkhao @lurkingteapot

[gayandvibin]

I'M NOT DEAD I PROMISE!

I'm just going into my final semester at uni and we haven't had wifi at our flat since we moved in (nor does it look like we'll be getting it any time soon) BUT I figured I can at least share some uni stuff over here.

These were some tests I did looking at telegraphy instruments for the last project - I actually don't know where I've put the finals but these are fun to look at 💀

[cyndaquillt]

What if.....I write well researched essays.....on South Asian political movements especially geared towards a western diaspora audience to break the perception that South Asian or 'desi' identity is a political and ideological monolith ..... Hahaha jk......unlessss.......

[k00299141]

Research done on Nevada, its landscape and the history of the state and its deserts.

Nevada is the the most mountainous state in America, and also the driest. It homes the huge city, Los Vegas, which gets millions of tourists each year.

The Mojave Desert is it’s biggest desert and it has many species uniquely evolved for that area.

Area 51 is hidden in the desert there, but many alien enthusiasts come every year to try and discover “The truth” about what’s out there.

Area 51 has almost extensively only been used for military uses, such as new technology and testing grounds for weaponry.

The desert around Area 51 covers a broad territory and in some parts, if you are seen entering restricted areas, you could get shot on sight.

Area 51 only really was established in the 1950s, to prepare the USA from attack of the Russians, during the time of the Cold War.

There has also been nuclear bomb tests in the area, and experiments on what radiation does to living creatures and the area it is exposed to.

The mountain range in Nevada keeps the rain away from it’s desert, as the mountains block the clouds like a shield, with plenty of rain on the opposite side, while leaving the desert dry.

The houses in the area have mostly flat roofs, as snow in Nevada is very unlikely. A lot of the houses in the 50s in Nevada were also bungalow, as that helped to keep the homes cool, without losing too much excessive heat.

The sky is usually bright blue with a hot sun, as clouds are rarely around the desert areas.

Nevada is actually one of the least populated areas in the USA, even in the 50s when it began to get noticed for its interesting “activities” in it’s military bases.

There’s also an abundant of cacti in the Mojave Desert, and many giant red stoned rocks spread around the sandy desert as well.

There also is a lot of shrubbery here, adapted to suit the dry weather that surrounds the area.

[myjaydeefashionglam]

Fashion Photographer: Ty Bello

[proth-blog]

Drawing 035 in cunty xmen poses you know the ones professor x makes lol

Why does 035 do this? To fuck with his reseachers of course like this mask is the first troll in history!!

[unmask-strange-aeons]

Honestly,

the best thing about reseaching Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons fandom is that i get to see 2010s tumblr, like 2011 to 2013 Fandom tumblr and as someone who wasnt on tumblr during the time... I love it, i want to life during that time. Seeing stuff like... the 500 swan queen edit, People talking about how great the avengers movies are and how the MCU is a rising star... that now has fallen. Seeing people going crazy about game of thrones and how good it is and how it will never end badly... Seeing the hopes that sherlock and John get toghether. Seeing the Destiel edits saying how they will be the first gay couple in cw history and how they will come toghether any episode now and how they will do so many sweet things togheter...

Honestly... i know that all of this turns out badly but still i wish that i was on tumblr during that time, to have that hope, to really belive in that because nowadays? I dont trust any media to be good today and still be good tomorrow.

I want to go back there...

[shukraastro]

Oh thank god i finally found someone who also concluded the Middle East/Persia as a possible place of origin for jungkook’s spouse i felt like i was doubting my abilities because absolutely no one was even alluding to that region in all the readings i found i kept redoing my readings over and over again but i get the same results every time… so curious 👀

He has heavy Saturn-Venus aspect in D1 and D9. If we take a look into his Astrocartography map, we see his Venus AC and Saturn DC line moving very close side by side through the ancient Persian region.

Both lines enter the region at Turkey, passing through all the cities which are visible on the map. For Venus after crossing through the sea it enters Egypt and moves back into the sea. While the Saturn line also passes Turkey and continues through Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and a small part of Saudi Arabia.

Now another point is: he has a Magha Venus in the D9 and also a Magha Venus and Descendant in his D60 chart. Magha being a ketuvian Nakshatra it holds strong Nodal energy. And if we take a closer look his Nodal sextile MC line also lies in between both lines, which in the context of the Venus AC and Saturn DC lines can signify that his public image is meant to be influenced by a marriage with a spouse who could potentially originate from those regions.

Does not neccessarily mean she lives there or that they're gonna meet there, no. But culturally she could be from there, because Magha is a Nakshatra which is about ancestors and family lineage, the roots (Ketu).

Other additional clues we can get is from his prominent Magha placements alone. Magha is connected to ancient history, ancient civilazations, cultures connected to ancient mystisizm, cats, gold, and royalty, anything under the ground, ancient treasures. And especially Turkey and Egyp are strongly connected to cats. Turkey is know for its very high population of cats and the ancient Egyptian culture is known for its cat statues. These two places could hold more significance. But it needs further deep research.

Also I noticed that in Turkey his Venus line passes through a city named Tarsus. In Tarsus 2km further west is an archeological excavation (Magha hotspot). When I reseached about this city I found out that it indeed has a special history which is linked with Cleopatra and Macus Antonius. So this place is also very rich in its Magha energy.

For now this is all I could research so far.

And don't forget: This is for educational purpose only.

Even I learned a lot of new stuff from all this. I hope this was helpful.

Have a nice day.🌺

[woodsfae]

Character/arc predictions made after watching s03e17 War Without End Part One. First time watcher, please don't spoil me. :) Putting these down for posterity before I watch War Without End Part Two!

Garibaldi: He's been the reseach guy, and has been learning Narnuan and studying the Book of G'Quan so I think he's going to be vital to tracking down Sheridan unmoored in time, likely while Sheridan is in the past liberating Narn from the Shadows. I don't think Garibaldi going to die. I think they're setting up the narrative to make the viewers think he's going to die on B5, so when he does his final stand, or heroic staying behind the cut the wire or whatever it'll really tug everyone's heartstrings and he'll be "dead" for awhile. But then he'll be back with...

Stephen Franklin: Dr Franklin, while trying quit space cocaine and recover from the stressful life of a space station CMO is going to thrive in the more laidback environment which is Space Doctors Without Borders slash working with the human psi escape network. He, the psi underground, and Garibaldi (somehow...Garibaldi has had a lot of screen time researching PsiCorps) are going to come in clutch against the Shadows. He's also going to bring Sheridan back to life on Zha'dum with his medical knowledge and primitive/no medical tech/supplies. 

Susan Ivanova: will also be involved in the Psi plots. Obviously, she is a telepath. Her mother taught her good enough shielding/repressing that she has been able to slip beneath PsiCorps' notice all this time. But she's going to have to accept that she's a telepath (if she hasn't already...she plays her cards close to the vest) and learn to use it. She will also be an ace against the Shadows. I think she's going to be put into a situation where she is being pressured into letting other telepaths into her mind. Bester is my first guess. Then another PsiCorps telepath. She hates and fears PsiCorps and so that would be high stakes. But it might also be any telepath/s from any species. Maybe she'll be involved with an alien, league, and/or narn telepath/s. They've been teasing her being in danger on Babylon 5 and I don't have any firm predictions about how she moves from Babylon 5 but it might have something to do with Talia.

Talia Winters: I don't know if Talia is actually dead or not. Or if her body lived along with the personality construct PsiCorps trapped her with. Or if her personality will be assumed to be dead but resurface at some point. Or if they're gonna do an endgame of Bury Your Gays. My heart says sadly that I think Talia is either dead, or will end the series dead. But I HOPE something like this (or better!) happens for her. I hope she comes back to Babylon 5 in the nick of time. Her real personality or not. She and Susan escape the Shadows' attack. This will probably be after Garibaldi is assumed dead. Babylon 5 is lost, probably destroyed. Susan and Talia work together, have sparks. If Talia has been the construct, she gets sparks of memory back. But I think she dies, maybe saving Susan. Amd leaving Susan brokenhearted having never been public about their affection. Secret love and secret loss. Worst case scenario she lives, gets her memories back, survives, and then goes back to her ex, Matt Stoner and moves into his mom's basement to support his burgeoning career as a holostreamer.

John Sheridan: He is going to walk across time, learning and fighting the war across the universe. He's going to be perhaps the most famous warrior ever, with his legend echoing from a hundred points across thousands of years of history. He saved the Babylon 4 crew from Babylon 4. He traveled forward in time to save Babylon 5. I think he's going to make more stops before/after the war against the Shadows in the far past. I think he helped drive the Shadows off Narn, when they were there something like 500 years ago. Garibaldi might discover he was mentioned in G'Kar's book of G'Quan or something like that. Then, after all his timewalking, there's going to be a final showdown at Zha'dum in the main Babylon 5 timeline. And he's going to win. And die. And Stephen Franklin, bereft of his modern medical devices is going to keep him alive with 23rd century field medicine and possibly good old fashioned CPR. So Sheridan will die at Zha'dum and also live. And I'm certain Kosh is dead-but-not-gone, and will be either haunting Sheridan in specific, or Sheridan will have a packet of his memories or instincts or something like that. 

Delenn: She's gonna live. She's got to settle down with her all-american, corn-fed, iowan side of beef. She better have a crazy legend, too. I think she's going to have to steal Babylon 4 without Sheridan, because Sheridan is time walking uncontrollably. But she's gonna catch him with Babylon 4 somewhere or when. It's going to be very romantic. And she'd better get a legend of her own on the goddess level. I think that as she has yet to really explore the humanity in herself, she may have to dig deep into humanity's best and worst to think like the kind of human (Sheridan) that can out-tactics the Shadow, sacrificing her Minbari identity even more in order to become who she needs to be to succeed in catching Sheridan out of time and defeating the Shadows in past/present/future.

Lennier: He is the archetype of chivalry, specifically platonic ideals of a knight serving a lady. He's Lancelot from the older stories where he and Guinevere don't fuck. I think he will follow that archetype quietly, firmly, joyfully, to the end. I think he is going to die with the pure heart and diamond convictions he has demonstrated throughout the show. But that's as his eventual fate, which I hope doesn't end with season three. They may explore him creating his own legend and walking away from Delenn for a bit, but if they do, I think he will return to being her loyal aide until death do them part. Platonically. 

The show has made a point of saying that Narns aren't telepaths and having G'Kar imply that his telepathy was only temporarily induced by the drugs, but I'm not sure that's going to end up to be true. They've (imho) treated the Narns shamefully, and thematically the Narns OUGHT to be the ultimate aces in the hole. The alliance and rangers which have kept the Narns out of the loop, because of prejudice and pity, ought to realize that they cannot succeed without the Narns and they were wrong to assume the Narns didn't have necessary skills and information to allow them to succeed against the Shadows. And G'Kar ought to be recognized as a great leader of his people, a legendary ambassador working against impossible odds, and a hero. But idk if they're going to give the G'Kar and the Narns the props they deserve. I hope so, though. 

Londo Mollari: Aftering choosing the grasping, short-sighting path to power and influence every single time, and deeply regretting his youthful forays into the unCentauri vices of empathy and equity, Londo steers Centaur into falling into the Shadows' hands as Emperor. He blames everyone else around him till the bitter end. He might do something redemptive, like voluntarily clear the way for Vir the Reformer or something. But I expect him to choose miserably poorly for the rest of his life.

Vir Cotto: Emperor Vir the Reformer! He's definitely going to be legendary! And known for his reforms! I expect he'll spend his time till then being browbeaten by Londo by day, and helping Narns fake their deaths and escape the murder regime by night. No idea if his murderer wife is going to turn up again. I imagine...so...? But I can't imagine it ending well for either of them. 

Zack Allen: If he survives, he better be conscious for the rest of his life about his tendencies to fall in line with fascist elements and work to instead choose liberation. He seriously failed every moral checkpoint and then only chose the B5 alliance because it was getting pretty uncomfortable being one of the regime's bootlickers and enforcers. I've got my eye on him. 

Bester: My best guy is going to survive, do some very morally black shit, be my special, ominous little fellow, and trot off at the end to go found a psi-only colony/future superpower in an undisclosed location.

Sheridan's Dead Wife: Isn't actually dead now, but might be actually dead by the end of the show. 

My prediction for Sinclair is a separate post - see here.

[ellas-journey]

[ace-and-the-rpg-horrors]

err err err errr

i dropped history like 3 years ago i don't know any of those ooopsiessss

i'm so sorry (well.) but Olly and its variants is like one of the most British names ever. as one myself i curse i mean grant you with. honorary Bri'ishness hhehehe so i will not be the only one bullied by mututualasssss

unfortunately, years of practice against things like this has shown me that i cannot be phased by the british. a gray area between british and american would be not only colorless, but strip me of my honor. god bless america.

[unknownhomosapien]

For the dragonborn ask game : 1,3,7,14 and 18? 👉👈

1.What is their background and backstory, summarised into a paragraph?

Resdayn Hyr was born in Solstheim in 4E 53 in a family of ex-Telvanni and Redoran soldier. His ancestors were either battlemages or dual-wielded swordsman, but he only unherited the last one and already demonstrated himself as skilled fighter in Redoran trainings, despite the fact that he had some actual disabilities (he born with only one eye).

His (Toliani) sister wasn't so lucky (he was born blind and deaf) and went very sick, so he decided to travel to Skyrim to find a proper cure for her. But he was mistaken for a criminal and nearly died in Helgen. Being stucked in Skyrim, he settled in Windhelm for some time to find a cure and the way to went back, so he joined the Stormcloaks to earn some money, but got dissapointed quickly.

Unfortunately, he happened to be a dragonborn. He eventually took side of Empire. After killing Alduin and finishing civil war, he decided to came back, but it was too late for saving his sister. It was tough decision for him, but he refused to join Redoran guards, and choose to work and travel as museum of dragonborn' reseacher and guild master, only coming back to deal with Miraak. In that time got closer with Teldryn.

3.How do they feel about being Dragonborn- does they identity feel right for them and did they embrace it immediately? Do they consider themselves a true dragon?

He....wasn't excited much? Resdayn knows history of his lineage very well, and news about being dragonborn didn't suprise much. Fact that there were psijic and actual dwemer in Hyr' bloodline seems more impressive. Still, he is pretty much serious about his dovakin' duties. Dunmer is "doing duties, not thinking" type of guy, so he embraced it almost immediately.

7.How much do they utilise the power of Thu'um? Do they actively try to expand their inborn abilities through research and exploration? Or are they less invested?

Actually, he has pretty destructive Thu'um, so he trying to use only in critical situation. His voice always was very loud and sharp voice even before events, and now he lowering it and making as calm as possible.

Still, he is dyslexic and reading anything kinda tough work. It took more time to learn basic, but even one Fus is enough to make cracks on walls. He didn't stop learning them though, mastered Fus'Ro'Dah and Yol'Toor'Shul to perfection.

14.What is their personal favourite place in Skyrim- a town, hold, home, dungeon, or just a natural spot they happen to have a fondness for?

Eastmarch, especially central part with hot springs, geysers. Maybe it reminds him of south Solstheim with their volcanic areas.

18.Your Dragonborn is now an actual dragon- what do they look like? Do they possess any unique features or abilities?

Probably very colourful, with following vitiligo spots on skin and hair, also missing one eye. I'm sure he gonna use claws and tail to attack more than thu'um.

[nyoheadcannonsaph]

Axis Powers [expanded] Human Names ( + my reasons for them)

Here we go with the Axis countries' human names! I did some reseach, but again, as before, I believe we can agree to disagree, if you don't like my takes. Also, I'm using the last names from their male counterparts for the sake of integrity (like, if we had two Italies and the male had not-so-Italian last name that Hima invented for him, and then a female version with a more appropriate name, it would get a bit confusing, right?). I don't see them as family, but hey, they are one and the same country, we can't go too crazy with that.

Still, feel free to use any names you prefer. In this particular post there will be a lot of defense of Hima's choices, so brace yourselves. I really think he worked over the Axis characters long and thoroughly enough to make up his mind and some of his impressions were more correct than you could see it at face value.

So let's look at the names, shall we?

May the united powers of pasta, sake and wurst be with you!

Germany (West) - Nyoitsu/Doiko

Monika Beilschmidt

I don't think it's a perfect name, but it's not bad either. I originally thought of leaving Nyo!Germany as Louise/Luise, but since I don't like copying male names for female characters, even in genderbend, I opted for Monika and found some good grounds for it. It is after all a name of the mother of St Augustine, a woman mostly known for patience and determination in her prayers, which are somewhat related to Nyo!Germany's character. Furthermore, the actual meaning of the name is lost to history, but it was associated with Latin word "moneo", which translates to "advisor; I advise" and Greek "monos", meaning "one". "One advise", is kind of reflective of a line in "I am German-made" about reading each word of the manual (yes, songs are part of canon too, and I will take it as such). So ethymology-wise, it makes sense for Nyo!Germany. Weird fun fact: in 1937 there was a premiere in Stuttgart of an operetta under the title "Monika", composed by an Austrian composer. Not sure if that is related to Hima's choice, but I thought it's worth mentioning.

I also believe that in her youth (*cough* as HRE *cough*) she used other names, probably "Luise", or "Greta/Gretchen" in order not to clash with Nyo!Prussia at the time. She certainly used different aliases, as she's usually seen with her earpiece on, suggesting she works in intelligence during wartime. I can imagine her as a spy, but more of a communicator than actual secret agent. They still use aliases, don't they?

Italy (North) - Veneziano - Itako

Alice Vargas

I can hear some Italian purists coming over to say this is by no means Italian name, only italianised one. Well, yes, but let me tell you what: North Italy shares more culturally with Switzerland and Austria than it does with Southern Italy. If you happened to watch Hetafacts, you probably know some theory behind it, but if you don't, then let me put it like this: Northern Italian kingdoms were much mostly founded by barbarians "from the North"... Yeah, kind of like Papa Germania got busy with supposedly Grandpa Rome's daughter and "dot dot dot" (forgive that "Mamma mia" reference, I just had to). I mean, North Italy is still very Italian, she interited Grandpa's (or Grandma's?) Rome talent for arts and most of his (hers?) architectural wonders. But it would make sense to have a more Germanic name by origins.

Ethymology: it comes from Proto-Germanic roots, "aþala-", meaning "noble" and "haidu-", meaning "appearance; kind", and it was originally "Adeleide" - a name that young Nyo!Italy could be using, especially when living with Nyo!Austria and Nyo!HRE (I mean, you know who that actually was, but shh). Likely, during the renaissance and later times, she used different names, as I imagine she was very involved with the trade of antique sculptures and so she needed to use various aliases; she also was known to meddle in political affairs, much more than her male counterpart (especially between Turkey and Venice matters), so she used names like "Caterina", "Felicità" or "Margherita", among others. Still, around the end of 19th century, she came back to her original name, using the italianised, shorter version of it, as "Alice" ("Ah-lee-che", for all English natives, who read it as "Ah-lys"; I see you in your sleep and I'm not even Italian myself).

Italy (South) - Romana/Lovina

Chiara Vargas

First of all, that's the name Hima gave and for one of the few times I can wholeheartedly agree with his choices here. Secondly, it's the Italian form of the name "Clara", which derives from "clarus" in Latin, which in turn means "clear, bright", but also "famous, well-known". Well, that's ironic, if that's the name of Southern Italy and not the Northern one, isn't it? After all, South Italy often complains about being in the shade of her Northern sister - I think she would choose a wishful name, honestly, hoping to highlight her individuality even more. Finally, she's described by Hima as having a "strong image", which can be interpreted as "appearing to have a strong personality" - a very clear one, if I may say so.

I just love everything about this name, it suits her character and makes sense. If she ever used any other name than this one, I believe it could be "Marìa", "Giuvanna" or "Càrmina", all of which are Sicilian-Neapolitan forms of other popular Italian names (the last one is from Spanish one, "Carmen", obviously). By the way, "Ciara" is also correct spelling in the South, as far as I know, but correct me if I'm wrong.

Japan - Nichiko/Nihoko

Honda Sakura --- 本田 桜

Here I must say I can imagine "Sakura" being Nyo!Japan's human name since forever. The fact that the country takes pride in everything related to cherry blossom and the Hanami season pretty much kicks off the school year over there speaks for itself. Interestingly, Himaruya was thinking of names like "Mameko" (豆子) , meaning something like "bean" and "child" combined together, and "Ponko" (I'm not sure, how to write it in kanji, I only know a bit katakana and hiragana, so there goes what I came up with: ぽん子), which common feature is that they are both ending with "-ko" syllable, which in Japanese is associated with more feminine names (and I put the Japanese names for Nyo!Country names here, you can see the pattern there too.) So I suppose the only thing he thought about Nyo!Japan is that she's like regular Japan, but a girl. I can't come up with anything more Japanese and more iconic feminine name in this language than Sakura, so I stick with that.

If I were to comd with other names, I would go for something like "Akira" (明), which means "bright", or "Haruka" (遥), meaning "remote, distant", anything that describes more of Nyo!Japan's character.

Prussia - Germany (East) - Puroiko (?)

Maria/Luisa/Julia Beilschmidt

Okay, I know some people like to use "Maria" for 2p!Nyo!Prussia, and some of you will be confused why I didn't put "Julchen" instead of "Julia". Well, there's a good reason for both. "Maria" would likely be the name Nyo!Prussia would use as part of the Teutonic Order, and while 2p!Nyo!Prussia seems to embody that peried of Prussian history, I think it is more likely that during that time, Nyo!Prussia was acting more "feminine", you know, emobodying the more diplomatic side of the order compared to her male counterpart. Also, one of the names the Teutonic Knights used was "Marienritter", meaning literally "(St) Mary's Knights".

Upon the conversion of the order's Grand Master, Albert of Brandenburg, to Luteranism in 1525, Maria changed name to "Luisa", which was a common name in Northern and Central Germany at the time. There's a famous character she shared that name, Queen Luise of Prussia, of whom Napoleon spoke in high regards ever since meeting her in person (just so you know, she was pretty smart and badass). Finally, as she was separated from her sister, Nyo!Germany, she started to use "Julia", with the diminutive of "Julchen" ("-chen" is a form of endearment, like "small Julia" in this context) to differentiate it from more typically Slavic-sounding "Julia". It's still very popular name in Germany now, so I imagine it being the final version as for now (not like Prussia exists XD Sorry, I had to, I got Polish-Prussian heritage, so I can make that joke).

[that-one-kiddo-in-the-back]

How can you admit to agreeing with Lily on something and still not realize that maybe that means your take could be bad. No one is going to take you seriously when you make it clear that your understanding of LGBTQ+ culture and history is on par with Lilys.

Sai agrees, too, lol. Believe it or not, Lily can make good points. it's like a blue moon rare, and when it happens, it's fascinating, and to be honest, that's the only thing I agree with her about.

I have a lot more hot takes about the lgbtq community.

My understanding of the culture comes from my own and my friend's experiences and reseach. I'm not a Lily fan who can't think for myself.

[panumbalik]

why our filipino senators actually insane/negative

like

here's the wiki of cynthia villar, second highest votes in senate election history, wife of the second richest guy in the country

crying we were former best agri country no wonder we degraded sm "ur so obsessed with reseach im a smart person and i dont get ur reseach" baka kasi...tanga ka lang (trans: maybe...you dont get it bcs u are stupid)

HELLO??? like oh thats not. not only is it stupid wrong, why would you say it like that?!?!?

like oh. this isnt even the controversy part anymore of her wiki its just CAREER.

sorry to be a kid discovering filipino corruption on the main but. yeah ok. i get why our country sucks now. we get exploited by foreigners and then we get governed by callous and cruel moneysniffers.

like NO WONDER she's against the arrest of one of the countries richest human traffickers, apollo carreon quiboloy. she a duterte stan and she just sucks (again: money faced bitch).