#it was unusual (the model for this seemed to be second sons with daughters — like henry was )

[fideidefenswhore]

thinking… thoughts … about how fitzroy & mary had a similar age difference to edvi & elizabeth and thereforrre… how the former might have had a similar dynamic to the latter (if, that, is fitzroy was instead her ‘whole’ sibling, rather than half-sibling… bcus i think in actuality they were always in separate households and didn’t interact much)

[keanureevesisbae]

Coach Cavill - Chapter 4

Summary: The Jung family are at a pumpkin patch and invite coach Cavill to join them. 

Coach!Henry Cavill x Amelia Jung (Asian ofc)

Wordcount: 3.6k

Warnings: None

A/N: Since I’m not sure if the taglists work, I’m posting them in a reblog hopefully that works 🤷🏽‍♀️Also, I’m going to delete the Tumblr app on my phone and log out on my laptop for a few days, since I have some school stuff to do and Tumblr has proven itself to be very very very distracting. However, please continue to leave comments on my fics, questions or tag me in stuff, I’ll come back to it later! It’s just that I need to take a quick break from it, to focus on my schoolwork. I hope you understand and remember, I love you all 😘

Masterlist // Previous chapter // Next chapter

After the match yesterday, multiple parents kept looking at me, as if I was the bad one, but when all in all it was Dean who ruined it all. Maybe that sounds childish, but it’s true. Since I really needed to forget about yesterday, I wanted to do something fun with the kids. That’s why I came up with the fantastic idea to go to the pumpkin patch with Benji and Isabella. We do that every year, but this is the first time after the divorce. It’s weird how activities we always did, suddenly seem like a first time ever since their dad and I split up.

We walk around the field, hoping to each find a pumpkin we want to carve out. ‘Mom, mom, mom,’ Isabella says. ‘I want that one.’ She jumps over the other pumpkins, but she can’t seem to lift her pick up. She pushes out her bottom lip, looking over her shoulder.

That’s all Benji needs to see. ‘I got it,’ he says, already walking to his little sister, lifting the pumpkin with ease. ‘How about you look for a spot?’ he suggests.

‘Okay.’

She skips to a table, her skirt dancing around her legs and when Benji walks by, I brush some hairs out of his eyes. ‘You’re a sweetheart, Benji,’ I tell him.

He smiles, a bright one even after what happened yesterday. After Dean left, he bounced right back and when we were at Eve’s place to celebrate his second place, he was fine. We didn’t bring up the elephant in the room—an elephant named his idiot father—but I felt like we shouldn’t do that in the first place. He ruined a lovely moment already at location, no need to bring that home with us. It’s just surprising that Benji isn’t taking this to heart. I wondered what changed, but I don’t need to wonder that long. I have a feeling that his new coach has everything to do with the change in behavior. After he got his silver medal, he walked up to Henry, showing his silver medal off, the biggest smile his face. It’s nice to see Benji happy, because since the moment I kicked their dad out of the house, his already shy personality, only intensified to a point where I was really worried about him.

‘I already saw one I want,’ Benji says, ‘so I’m bringing this one to Isabella and I’m picking mine, okay?’

‘Of course, sweetheart. I’m going to look for one too.’

I step over a few pumpkins, but I look over my shoulder to see Benji placing the pumpkin in front of Isabella, pinching her cheek. Isabella sees that as an invitation to jump up, right in his arms, causing her big brother to laugh.

I remember when I told him I was pregnant and he was going to have a little sister or brother. He was six at the time and he looked at me dead in the eye and said: ‘I hope I have a little sister.’

‘Why is that, sweetheart?’ I asked him.

He simply shrugged. ‘Because I feel I can teach a sister more than I can teach a brother.’ I had no clue what this kid was going on about, so when I asked him to explain, he simply smiled and said: ‘I can show her how her future husband should treat her.’

While I felt that he could teach a brother how he should treat a woman just fine, I felt my heart explode. Seeing their bond, always makes me so grateful that I have these wonderful kids. Their dad might be the biggest lowlife walking around on the planet earth, but they are the best that ever happened to me and I would do it all over again.

Even if that meant being with their dad again.

Benji grabs the pumpkin he wanted, before sitting down next to Isabella. They don’t start right away, but I know they want to, so I make a quick decision and grab a pumpkin. ‘You kids ready?’ I ask, when I sit across from them.

‘Yes, mom, we are!’ Isabella exclaims.

Benji stares in the distance and I snap my fingers in front of his eyes. ‘You’re here with us, Benji?’ I ask.

‘Coach Cavill!’ Benji jumps up and rushes passed me. I turn around, to see Benji running towards Henry, who has a huge dog standing next to him. Benji is pretty reserved when it comes to strangers. His former coach and he liked each other, sure, but it was never like this. This instant connection between my son and a coach, it’s unusual.

I feel like Benji is even closer to Henry than he is to his own father and what does that tell you? That Dean was a dick? That Henry is the male role model I always wanted to have for my kids? Or both?

My eyes nearly roll out of their sockets, when I see the most unexpected event happening right in front of me: Benji wraps his arms around Henry’s waist and I can’t exactly hear what he is saying, but Benji isn’t shutting up.

Henry smiles, patting Benji on his back, before pulling him in a headlock. He holds up his hand when he notices me gawking at the sight and I raise my hand to wave back at him. ‘Mom, is that Benji’s new coach?’ Isabella asks.

‘He is, sweetheart.’

‘You like him, don’t you?’

What a way to get exposed… ‘What?’ I ask her. ‘I mean, he is nice, of course.’

‘Well, you made him not one, but two sandwiches,’ Isabella says, before giggling. ‘You never make sandwiches for people you don’t like. When you and daddy were fighting, you’d never make him a sandwich the next morning.’

‘You should become a detective,’ I smile. ‘Sharp as a knife.’

Benji ushers Henry with him and he asks when he is close again: ‘Mom, can coach carve pumpkins with us?’

‘I really don’t want to intrude,’ Henry adds, but I shake my head and say: ‘No, no, you can join us. I think Isabella really wants to pet your dog and your presence is well appreciated.’

‘I do want to pet your dog,’ Isabella says. ‘He is cute.’

‘He sure is,’ Henry agrees. ‘His name is Kal.’

Isabella stands up from her seat and carefully pets the big furry dog. ‘Kal is soft. He kinda looks like a bear, don’t you think?’

‘I do think so too,’ he says.

‘Coach,’ Benji says and I barely recognize my own son, ‘you should grab a pumpkin.’

Henry looks at me, non verbally asking if I’m really okay with this and I give him a little nod, encouraging him to join us. I mean, I like this man a lot, I’ve been having pretty vivid dreams about him, so spending time with him is absolutely something I don’t mind.

He quickly grabs a pumpkin and places it on the table. ‘I’ve never carved a pumpkin before,’ he admits.

‘You haven’t?’ Isabella asks. ‘You are such a weirdo.’

‘Isabella,’ I say, using my stern teacher/mother voice. ‘You can’t just go around and call people weirdo’s.’

‘But you always call dad an idiot.’

Oh great… I’m setting a terrible example for my kids and now Henry is a witness of my wrong doings as a parent. Exactly the type of impression I want to make. ‘But that is different.’

‘How is that different?’ Isabella asks, cocking her eyebrow and now she is really testing me.

‘Well,’ Henry says, ‘your mom knows your dad. You barely know me. I think there is a difference in who you can call bad names.’

Isabella stares at the man sitting beside me, studying his face, before she nods. ‘Yeah, you’re right,’ she says. This girl agrees to someone outside own her family? What the hell is this man’s secret that my kids just simply accept him and like him? ‘Sorry, I called you weirdo, coach.’

‘That’s okay.’ The beautiful man who is sitting beside me, has a friendly smile on his face. ‘But, Jung family, show me how this is supposed to be done.’

✰ ✰ ✰

‘Mom, the skin is too thick,’ Isabella whines.

‘Let me help you, Isabella,’ Henry says, wiping his hands clean on the cloth, before standing up and walking around the table. He sits next to Isabella and saws out the part she was having trouble with. ‘You’re right,’ he admits, ‘the skin is pretty thick. You sure did pick out a good one.’

‘I have x-ray eyes.’ Isabella stands on the bench and she is approximately the same height as Henry is. Though she is eight, she is a pretty tiny girl, always has been and probably always will be. She wraps her arm around his neck, placing her cheek against the top of his head. ‘Coach,’ she says, ‘do you think my mommy is pretty?’

‘Don’t answer that,’ I tell him. ‘And Isabella, remember what I told you at least a dozen times already? Don’t go around and ask that to people. You’ve done that multiple times now and every time it’s harder and harder to talk myself out of it, okay?’

‘Okay,’ Isabella says with a shrug, ‘but you are really pretty and I think coach agrees with me.’

This girl… I don’t know who she’s got this attitude from, but sometimes I wish that she would just zip it from time to time.

‘Isabella is right,’ Benji decides to butt in. ‘You are really pretty, mom.’

This really isn’t the time to be blushing this hard right now.

‘See?’ Isabella has a smug smile on her face and whispers loudly in Henry’s ear so I can hear it too: ‘Do you agree with us? Just nod or shake your head.’

Henry chuckles, before nodding nearly shyly. If my face wasn’t fiery red already, it sure is now. ‘Anyways,’—Henry awkwardly clears his throat—‘I think yours is done, miss Isabella.’

‘Thank you very much.’ Isabella sits down on the bench again, while Henry helps out Benji with one thing on his pumpkin.

Henry is such an easy guy to be around with, that not only I feel comfortable with him, but my shy son and my sassy daughter feel so too. He sits down next to me again. ‘Need some help, Amelia?’

‘I’m okay,’ I say, but I can’t seem to move the knife anymore.

‘Let me help you,’ Henry offers.

‘You know,’ I say, pushing the pumpkin to him, ‘for someone who has never carved a pumpkin before, you sure are a pro at it.’

He actually gets the knife to move, but it pleases me to see that even he has some issues with it. Through his sweater, I can see how thick his arms are and my oh my, does this man look strong as hell. Am I hallucinating or is he flexing a little extra?

‘Excuse me,’ I hear a shy voice say and when I look up, I see it’s Hattie Fisher, the sixteen year old sweetheart who lives in the same street as us. ‘Miss Amelia?’

‘Hi Hattie,’ I say with a smile, ‘how are you?’

‘Good, thanks.’ She runs her fingers through her light blonde hair and I always thought that in combination with those doll like eyes, she’d have potential to become a very successful model. ‘I just have a question. Is this a right time or do you want me to come by tonight?’

‘Please, go ahead.’

‘For school we have to do this thing, where we check out a few professions and I wanted to try and work at a school. I was wondering whether or not I could go to your class.’

I nod. ‘Of course you can, honey. I would love to. When is this starting?’

‘Not until three weeks, but can I drop by tomorrow. Bring some paper work, if that’s okay with you.’

‘Yes, yes, of course,’ I say. ‘I would love for you to help me out a bit. They can be quite a bunch, so an extra pair of hands would be lovely.’

‘Thanks, miss Amelia, you’re the best. I feel like I could actually learn something when I’m with you. My dad wanted me to help him out, but that meant serving the old men at his office coffee the entire day and I feel like I’d die out of boredom.’

‘Oh honey,’ I say with a chuckle, ‘I had to do the exact same thing when I was still in high school and I went to work with my mom at the retirement home and after the third round of bingo, I was ready to to murder at least one elderly.’

Henry, Isabella and Benji start to laugh along with Hattie. ‘Kinda want to avoid that,’ Hattie says.  ‘I’ve seen the men that my dad works with. Some just ask to be murdered.’

I wholeheartedly agree, because I have been to mister Fishers office a few times, since mister Fisher himself was my lawyer to get me through the divorce and while he is a lovely man, his colleagues are terrible.

‘Hattie, what’s with the camera?’ Isabella asks.

‘Oh, my mom wants to have some new pictures for the towns Instagram, so you know how she is: sending me out there to document everything, while she takes takes the credits.’ Hattie nearly rolls her eyes. ‘Oh, Bella, this one actually looks really good.’

‘Why do you sound so surprised?’ Isabella asks, as the teen is taking a few pictures of our pumpkins.

Hattie curls her lips inside. ‘Well, when I was your age, I could barely draw something decent on a pumpkin, let alone carve it out, like you did. It’s quite impressive really. Since I’m here, you guys mind if I take a picture of you?’

‘Sure,’ I say, ‘if you don’t mind…?’ I carefully look to the side, to Henry, who simply shakes his head and says: ‘I absolutely don’t.’

‘Okay, say pumpkin,’ Hattie chuckles, before snapping a picture of us. ‘Looks really good. You mind if I post these on Instagram later?’

‘I don’t,’ I say.

Henry shakes his head. ‘Of course not, Hattie.’

The blonde teen smiles brightly. ‘Good. I’ll see you tomorrow then, miss Amelia. Thanks again for helping me out.’

‘Not a problem, Hattie. I’ll sign off on all sorts of paperwork, but we’ll discuss that tomorrow.’

✰ ✰ ✰

While I’m making tea, I hear Isabella and Benji talking Henry’s ear off, as his dog Kal is joining me in the kitchen. It lightens up my mood to see them so at ease with someone else outside of their familiar circle. I’m not surprised that Isabella is instantly fond of him, but Benji keeps on surprising me. He is seeking approval from Henry, something he never did with his father. He asked us if we both liked his pumpkin and I could see the worried look in his eyes when Henry was pretending he had to think about it.

Maybe this is way too premature, but seeing him in my house, it just fits. I never had a dog, because Dean was allergic and we’ve been together since I was nineteen. My parents never wanted a dog, until I moved out at age fifteen. All of the sudden they were experiencing empty nest syndrome and got themselves a tiny little toy poodle.

But this enormous dog in my house, it just matches perfectly.

‘Is this your mom?’ Henry asks, pointing at a picture on the wall.

‘Mhm,’ Isabella says, ‘she used to be in a K-Pop group.’

‘No way.’

‘Tea is ready,’ I say.

Benji walks in and sits on the kitchen island. ‘Mom was the main vocalist and visual of the group.’

Henry leans against the counter, thanking me for the tea. ‘Really? I can imagine what a vocalist is, but what exactly is the visual of the group?’

‘The prettiest,’ Isabella explains. ‘She is obviously the prettiest.’ She sits next to me on a stool and gives me a kiss on my cheek. ‘She was really good. Mom, you should sing something.’

‘No, not today.’

‘She was in the group ‘Forever Hope’, so you should check it out on YouTube,’ Isabella says. ‘I want to become a K-Pop idol too one day.’

I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her closer to me. ‘But I continue to tell her that it’s hard work and this little girl is as lazy as they get.’

‘That’s not true!’

‘It’s true,’ Benji agrees with a chuckle.

Henry takes a sip of his tea, his eyes not leaving me once. ‘Well, your mom is full surprises.’

‘Did you know she used to do judo too?’ Benji asks. ‘I’ve got it from her.’

‘I did not know that,’ Henry says, the smile on his face a bit bigger than before.

Despite living in the public eye for two years, I don’t want all the attention to be focused on me. ‘Not to be a party pooper,’ I say, ‘but I’m gonna be one, because it’s my job as your mother. Benji, Isabella, did you finished your homework?’

‘No,’ he whispers, while Isabella shakes her head.

‘You know what to do,’ I chuckle.

Isabella nods, takes a cookie and jumps off the stool. ‘Bye coach,’ she says, ‘thank you for carrying the pumpkins back home.’

‘No problem, kid,’ he says, giving her a high five as she passes.

‘Thanks coach,’ Benji says and they have this cool handshake I wasn’t aware of and I hide my smile when Benji chases Isabella up the stairs.

‘Your kids are lovely,’ Henry says.

‘There sure are. Listen, Henry, thank you for today.’ I scratch the big dog behind his ear. ‘I know I keep saying this, but… It’s good for them to have a male role model that is there for them.’

‘My pleasure.’

‘So, what brought you to Luna Meadows?’ I ask him, not wanting to talk about my divorce or anything related again.

‘I was in a desperate need of a change a scenery.’

‘Why?’ I ask.

‘I just needed to get out of there, before I totally lost my mind.’

‘Where are you from then?’

‘Jersey,’ he answers. ‘It was just… Too much at one point.’

My mom and teacher instincts kick in, because I can sense he doesn’t want to talk about it anymore. ‘Well, we’re very lucky to have you here. It’s good every now and then to shake things up a bit.’

‘It sure is.’ He wraps his hand around the mug and while it’s the biggest one in our house, it looks like an espresso cup in his hands. ‘Back at the game you told me you were not here from your fifteenth till eighteenth. Had that something to do with you being a K-Pop idol?’

I nod. ‘Yeah, that was my change of scenery.’

He smiles. ‘Must’ve been hard.’

I can’t do anything but to agree. ‘Yeah, especially since I wasn’t planning on becoming an idol. I was just an exchange student, but I was approached by a company when I was at a fan sign with a friend.’

‘And you became a main vocalist, that must’ve been pretty important.’

‘It is, you kinda have to carry the entire song. Not that I sang all the time, but the chorus, mainly me, just like the high notes, adlibs, stuff like that.’

Henry nods. ‘And being a visual, must’ve been hard too.’

‘That too. It’s an insane amount of pressure, always having to be picture perfect,’ I say. ‘I mean, I don’t want to complain. It was such a great time in my life, an amazing opportunity. And every time Isabella says she wants to do this too, I just hope that one day she comes to terms that it’s hard work and… That it was terrible from time to time.’

Henry leans with his underarms on the counter. ‘How was it terrible?’

‘The days were so long, filled with training, singing and dancing and performing,’ I say, ‘I had to maintain my figure and… I don’t want to complain, because it was amazing. I had eight girls around me, who were going through the same thing. I was never alone.’

‘You still speak to them?’

‘Occasionally,’ I say. ‘Most of them are still in the industry. They barely have time.’ I feel warm tears running over my cheeks. ‘Oh shit, sorry, there I go again. I’m sorry, you must think I’m an emotional wreck, a terrible example for her kids.’

Henry chuckles. ‘Amelia, that’s not true. You’re not an emotional wreck, you’re just in touch with your emotions. You’re an amazing example for your kids. Yesterday…’ he starts, clearing his throat. ‘You did what any mother would’ve done. You stood up for your son and that is more than admirable.’ He looks at the clock. ‘Ah, shoot, I’ve gotta go.’

‘Oh yes, of course.’

‘I really had fun today. The Jung family is a fun one to hang out with.’

A chuckle leaves my lips. ‘We sure are.’

‘Can you hold onto Kal for me, then I’ll go and say goodbye to Benji and Isabella.’

I nod. ‘Sure, yes. Their names are on the doors and please don’t look into the bathroom. I collect the laundry there and I might have forgotten to do it since Thursday.’

‘Copy that,’ Henry chuckles and he rushes up the stairs, taking two steps at the time. I hear faint voices in the back, some laughter, while I give Kal some scratches and kisses. Henry comes back down and says: ‘Well, I really wish I could stay, but I’ve gotta go. I’m sorry.’

‘Save your apologizes for when it’s really needed,’ I say.

He smiles. ‘Right, I’ll work on that. I’ll see you tomorrow at practice, Amelia.’

‘Want me to bring you a sandwich?’ I ask.

‘I’m never saying no to a sandwich made by the fantastic Amelia Jung.’

[prancing-uboot]

Satsuma Dads Timeline

You know how Golden Kamuy is an awesome manga full of amazing (and super-hot) characters and a great main storyline? So what do I do with it? Naturally I obsess over those two old gremlins: Koito Heiji and Hanazawa Koujirou the fathers of Second Lieutenant Koito and Ogata.

It's probably the most niche pairing ever, and I thought it was just me fixating on that one panel where Tsurumi mentioned they were close friends from Satsuma. But the more I read about the history of Satsuma and the times they lived in, the more I’m becoming convinced that there’s so much of their story written between the lines and that their relationship and tumultuous past is what actually caused and keeps together most of the GK plot. But nobody else seems to see it!

So what do I do with that? I spent my nights in front of my crazywall of historical research, trying to recreate an entire universe of events 50-years before the gold plot starts, just to be able to present to you:

The Satsuma Dads Timeline 

or

Why you Should Care for Heiji and Koujirou

~1850

Koujirou and Heiji* were born around 1850** in Kagoshima.

Heiji might have been older then Koujirou, but not more then 5 years. They were both sons of high ranking samurai (noble bloodline), serving the Shimazu clan.

* Most likely they went by other names in their youth and then changed them a bazillion times to make stuff confusing, but let's skip that.

** That would make them around the same age as Tougou Heihachiro and Nogi Maresuke ** - the chief players in the Russo-Japanese war for the navy and army. Both share a lot of biographical motives with Koujirou and Heiji and Noda might have modeled them a bit after them so I'll include the parallels where possible. I'm not sure Nogi even exists in the GK universe or was he replaced by Koujirou completely. Tougou was recently confirmed to exist. He was also a Kagoshima-boy, and grew up in the same circles so it's impossible that he and Heiji didn't know each other from childhood. 

1856-65

Koujirou and Heiji train in the same gochu in Kajiya-cho*. Gochu was a Satsuma-specific education system, relying on small neighborhood study groups in which the older samurai spent a part of their time teaching the younger everything they knew. Starting from penmanship and Confucian doctrines and ending with swordsmanship, and the unstoppable Jigen-ryu.

Teenage Heiji develops a Koito-crush*. on Saigo Takamori (20 years his senior) and follows him around like a lost puppy. Koujirou makes fun of him, but in reality he feels a bit jealous.

* Kajya-cho was a Kagoshima district known now as "Home town of Revitalization" as most of the influential Satsuma leaders of the Meiji Revolution came from there. That also meant that they directly taught the younger generations as part of the gochu. For example Tougou also came from that area. I'm not that sure Heiji and Koujirou were actually from Kajiya-cho, but it being 3km downhill from the Nanshu Cemetary would fit in nicely to the place where Tsurumi and Otonoshin first met so it's likely.

** Gochu was a completely male oriented environment, so homoerotic relations bloomed and were even encouraged (think ancient Greece), hence the term "Satsuma habit" was later used as the synonym of homosexuality in Japan. But for them then it was just a natural thing they sometimes did, and not really an orientation. Koito Otonoshin crushing on Tsurumi might be a bit old fashioned but it's just a Satsuma thing, so of course his dad is cool with that.

1866-67

Both go to Kyoto to serve Hisamitsu Shimazu and there they experience the tension of the Bakumatsu period first hand. They soak up the patriotic moods of the Sonno-Joi fraction, they hear of the the assassinations by the Shinsengumi, they feel a revolution brewing. Being a hot-headed youth in those times made keeping out of trouble very difficult.

1868-69

The Boshin War breaks out. Satsuma, Choshu and Tosa fight to abolish the Tokugawa shogunate. Heiji and Koujirou join up and dispite their young age are given officer commissions*. Coming from a long line of Satsuma’s military commanders it is what they were raised up to do. This war however is nothing like the stories they grew up on. Instead of swords it relies more on modern weapons guns and artillery. What was supposed to be a short battle with the Shogun's forces, turns into a lengthy nationwide campaign of crashing shogunate loyalists long after the Shogun himself resigned. Koujiro and Heiji fight side by side and survive all the way to see the end of it in Hakodate. 

* Only the oficers wore the super cool Satsuma black koguma wigs and I definitely do need fanart of that.

1870

Heiji and Koujiro come out of the war victorious. Most of the positions in the new government are taken by Satsuma and Choshu men, so practically any career path is open to them. Koujiro stays with the Imperial Guard while Heiji joins the Imperial Naval Academy in Tsukiji, Tokyo. They compete for the most ridiculous facial hair* and spend their off nights “drinking green liqueurs under red lanterns”

Ogata's grandfather fought** on the other side for the Mito clan (the last shogun was from the Mito-Tokugawa branch). After the defeat his family falls into poverty. They sell their daughter to an okiya because they cannot support her ***.

* The Haitourei edict from 1871 allowed samurai to cut of their chonmage and encouraged them to experiment with western haircuts.

** I’m guessing he was active in the Boshin by the fact that he had an old gun lying around.

*** This "Ogata's mom comes from a fallen samurai family" theory has been going around but I'm not super sure about the time frame here. Usually maiko get promoted to geisha when they're 20-21. That means to already be a geisha when she gave birth to Hyakunosuke she must have been at least 12 when she was sold. That's quite late for a geisha to start her education. Or I might be wrong about Hyakunosuke's birth date, but I'd really like it to be 1879, so I'm in a pickle here.

1873

Heiji finally finds the guts to propose to Yuki, his Kagoshima sweetheart. They marry and a son is born to them - Heinojou *.

Koujirou's family chooses a wife for him **. She's from a good family, likely Choshu to have some useful connections. Heiji comes to their wedding in his fancy navy uniform to congratulate them and say goodbye. He'll be going to study abroad in the France ***. Koujirou feels like it's his funeral wake.

* Heinojou's birthdate is the first solid date we have for them from the canon, so I'm basing the whole “born in the 1850s” on the fact that the expected age of a man to marry was their early 20s.

** Arranged marriage was the most commonplace in Japan then. The families picked the brides because they were most likely to spend more time with her then the husband, taking care of the house and such. 

*** In 1871 Tougou went to study abroad with 14 other cadets to Greenwich Naval Collage and that would fit so nicely. The problem is that they went 1871-1878 and Heinojou was born in 1873 *shakes fist*. There were also individual exchange programs though and since in canon Heiji is mentioned to have some french friends I figured he was sent to France.

~1876

Koujirou is stationed in Tokyo, while his wife stays in Kagoshima, taking care of the family home. He begins an affair* with Tome**, a geisha from Asaskusa. With Heiji gone she's the only person he can open his heart to.

After abolisment of the clan system and privileges of the samurai, the dissatisfied Satsuma samurai quit the Imperial Guard en-masse and go back to Kagoshima to gather around Saigo Takamori and brew a rebelion. Koujiro - by then a major - is faced with a choice: to go back with his childhood friends, or to stay loyal to the government. He chooses his career.  

* I'm guessing he must have been married already when the thing started, because marrying a geisha wasn't that unheard of and wouldn't really cause a scandal or hinder his career. All three of the Meiji prime ministers Hirobumi Ito, Taro Katsura and Yamagata Aritomo ended up marrying geisha. So Tome being a geisha was not a problem - Koujiro already having a wife was.

** Tome is a random name that Ogata used in his Sugimoto self insert fic. I love the headcanon that it's his mom's name. Because of course he makes everything personal.

1877

In January the Seinan War breaks out. Koujirou fights against his clansmen and his former war comrades *. By September most of them are dead. He is there at Shiroyama where Saigo makes his last stand. Heiji is never going to forgive him that.

When he comes back to Tokyo, Tome doesn't ask, she understands and prepares him angler nabe while he sulks.

* Koujirou's situation is by no means an unusual one. Many of the Satsuma samurai landed lucrative jobs under the new administration and didn't share the dissatisfaction of their disenfranchised clansmen. Even Saigo's own younger brother Judo stayed as a lieutenant-general in the Imperial Guard.

1878

In May, Okubou Toshimichi, the lord of home affairs, who took personal command of surpressing  Saigo's rebelion is assasinated, branded in Satsuma as traitor.

Koujiro is not welcome in Kagoshima anymore*. His wife moves to Tokyo to avoid harassment. Keeping his affair with Tome is becoming more difficult. Especially when he learns that Tome is pregnant **

In December Heiji comes back to pick up the pieces.

* Both Okubo and Saigo Judo moved their families to Tokyo because of this situation, so I'm guessing that was a thing. They received some backlash from their compatriots but eventually things normalized (for Judo at least, because Okubo was, you know, slashed up dead in an alley). By 1898 Saigo was acknowledged by the government as a tragic hero and bygones were bygones. Yet Heiji still talks with the Satsuma dialect, while Koujiro doesn’t even have a trace of it left.I wonder if he still used it when talking to Heiji.

** Geisha were not supposed to have sex with their patrons. The fact that she chose to give birth to Koujirou's son tells that she dared to hope that he'll at least acknowledge him.

1879

In January Hyakunosuke is born*

* Ogata's birthdate is a shot in the dark. He could be anywhere between 1878 and 1883. I just really like the idea that he was born right into the middle of such a chaos.

EDIT: GoldenKamuyHunting pointed out that Ogata had to be born after 1881, since Noda placed him as Older than Usami. This ruins the timeline a bit, and I’ll have to think of the way to reorder it to fit. For now, treat the 1879 as canon-defying :(

~1881

After pressure from his parents and from Heiji, Koujirou comes clean and learns to make his official family work. Koujirou's legitimate son, Yuusaku is born*. 

From now on he effectively ghosts Tome. Her mental health** begins to waver. Tome quits being a geisha and moves back to her parents in Ibaraki ***. 

* Also a shot in the dark. This would make him 23 when he died and 2 years younger than Ogata.

** Before the 20th century the white makeup geisha wore was made out of lead, making them more likely to develop lead poisoning, the first symptom of which is the decline of intelectual ability. Fun fact: lead gets passed down in breastmilk in quantities super-harmful for the baby, so if we go with the theory "Tome went crazy because of lead poisoning" than that would explain so much about Ogata...

*** This is likely due to her health, not due to giving birth. She could have just sent Hyakunosuke to her parents and kept working. God knows how they made ends meet after that. Before they were be so poor that they had to sell their daughter. Now they were much older, she was sick and unable to work, and her child was another mouth to feed. Not to mention the cost geisha education was worse then US collage loans so she most likely had a large debt she barely started to repay. Was Koujiro at least decent enough to pay child-support? Oh god *realises* it was Heiji who was paying them, wasn’t it? *heart breaks*

1886

Heiji and Yuki's second son, Otonoshin is born, 13 years after the first. What's up with that, Heiji?

1887

Koujirou goes to Germany* to study military tactics.

Hyakunosuke (8) feeds his mother rat poison. Koujirou doesn't come to the funeral.

As a result Hyakunosuke is brought up by his grandparents alone. He likes his grandma. They might instill in him the same kind of dislike for the new government as in the case of Kadokura. They definitely install a dislike for his deadbeat dad.

* Japan sent most of the promising officers abroad to soak up the knowledge how to run a modern nation. The army was mostly modeled after Germany (the Japanese were impressed by their recent victory against France) so it's the safest bet that Koujirou went to study there sometime in his life. In 1887-88 Nogi and Soroku Kawakami were sent to Germany. So it still depends if Nogi exists in GK universe and Koujirou just tagged along with them, or are they completely interchangeable.

1888

A new division is formed in Hokkaido. Tasked with guarding the north and developing the land.

1889

Heinojou (16) passes the Naval Academy entry exams with highest marks, determined to follow the footsteps of his father.

1894-95

The first Sino-Japanese war breaks out.

Heiji and Heinojou take part in the Battle of Yalu River. Heinojou is stationed on the flagship Matsushima under admiral Ito Sukeyuki. Matsushima gets badly damaged. 57 men die (including three officers) and 54 more are wounded.

Heiji silently watches his son burning from his ship. Comes back a wreck of a man. Gets awarded a title of Baron under the kazoku system *.

No clue what Koujirou could have been doing then. It’s likely that he was part of the army that conquered Port Arthur (back than still called Lushunkou) the first time around in only 3 days **.

* I need to double-check that with the raws since I'm not sure Tsurumi calling him "lord" is meant to imply he had a noble title, or if it's just a honorific. Many of admirals had titles so it would be highly likely someone with a lineage and a service record like Heiji also got one.

** this experiance would make him a pefect choice for later leading the operation in 1904 so this would make a lot of sense, but it would also be a pretty heavy take, since that would mean he was present during the Port Arthur masacre. And as a senior officer too, so it’s hard to find any excuses for him if that was the case. Did witnessing the atrocities there influence his later opposition to the Japanese expansion into Manchuria? Was his instruction for Yuusaku not to kill anyone motivated by trying to protect his son from sharing his guilt?

1895

Tsurumi comes back from the war and joins the 7th (actually more like he’s demoted out of the 2nd). By then Koujirou is the head of the division *

* I’m guessing Tsurumi had to have enough time to work on him, to be able to learn all about the Koito family troubles and come up with the plan how to use them. Did he get into Koujirou’s confidence? Or was he just reading his private letters?

1900

Heiji stays in Kagoshima and spoils/neglects his second son. Tsurumi "accidentally" meets Otonoshin and they visit Saigo's and Heinojou's graves.

Later that year the whole Koito family moves to Hakodate and Heiji takes control of the Ominato torpedo division *.

* The Ikazuki was a new class of light destroyers specifically made not to repeat the tragedy of too large and too slow Matsushima. No wonder Heiji was willing to move across the country for that.There were 6 of them made in total. Cool factoid: One of those destroyers sunk after a crash with a civilian steamship off the coast of Hokkaido in 1909.

1902

Ogata (24) joins the army and specifically volunteers for the 7th division planning god-knows-what. By conscription he would have landed in the 2nd (Kantou region). 

Koujirou doesn't acknowledge him. Tsurumi does.

The Great Hakodate kidnapping takes place. Koujiro sends his best intelligence officer from Tsukisappu to help his friend and keep things discreet. Afterwards Heiji learns to appreciate the son he has left.

Later that year Otonoshin passes the exam to join the Army acedemy.

Fresh out of the academy Yuusaku (21) joins the 7th division. His father, plagued with guilt and bad life choices instructs him not to kill people and not to sleep around.

Yuusaku meets Hyakunosuke. Hyakunosuke tries to get him to kill people and sleep around.

1904-05

The Russo-Japanese war.

In February the war starts with Japan launching night torpedo attacks on the Russian fleet stationed inside Port Arthur. Heiji leads the third destroyer squadron aboard the Sazanami*. They continue the attacks over the next months trying to impose a blockade. After the Battle of the Yellow Sea, the victorious Japanese Combined Fleet effectively traps the remaining Russian warships inside Port Arthur. The Russians can't get out, the Japanese can't get in. Heiji can only wait and watch as the Japanese Army struggles to capture Port Arthur by land.

Koujirou leaves the 7th division behind when he is promoted to a member of staff of General Nogi’s 3rd Army. They land in Incheon in April and reach Port Arthur in August to start the siege. It is a drawn out blood bath. After wasting tons of lives in pointless assaults, the Japanese realize quite late that the key to victory lies in capturing the 203 Hill overlooking the harbor. Koujirou is made chief of staff for this operation.

In October they get the news that the Russian Baltic Fleet has left Tallinn and is on its way to reinforce the besieged Pacific Fleet. The race starts. If Koujirou fails to capture the hill before the Baltic Fleet arrives, the Japanese Fleet will be annihilated, and Heiji along with it.

In November the 7th division arrives in Port Arthur. They don’t get special treatment from their former commander and they’re sent head first to the 203 Hill. They capture it on 5th December, only after the artillery stopped caring weather they hit their own or not**. From their new position they destroy the whole Pacific fleet.

The death toll is 80 000 soldiers. More than half of the 7th is gone. Among the fallen are second lieutenants Hanazawa Yuusaku and Nogi Yasusuke - general Nogi's only remaining son (the first one died earlier in the same war).***

Hyakunosuke thinks that the losses wouldn't have to be this high if they just had more snipers like him. But nobody listened.

*  All of the Ikazuki-class destroyers were quite active during the war. I placed Heiji on the Sazanami just because there’s the most info about what she did and when.

** The winning strategy was implemented by Kodama Gentarou. He was sent to Port Arthur with the authority to replace Nogi. He had enough guts to sacrifice soldiers falling to friendly fire in one coordinated assault instead of bleeding them out by continuous suicidal frontal assaults. He didn't officially replace Nogi though, and he let him take the credit for the victory, because they were friends. It's a really cool story.

*** Interesingly enough Yasusuke, was also shot in the back of his head. His father when he saw his body asked only “Was it after he had completed his task, or was it before?”

1905

The 7th move on to Mukden. Koujirou and Nogi along with them. 

In May the Baltic Fleet arrives. Without Port Arthur, they try to get to Vladivostok to resupply. Tougou's fleet intercepts them in the Tsushima strait and despite their smaller number, crushes them decisively. Heiji's destroyer Sazanami, captures the destroyer Buyini with the wounded admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky **. 

In September the Treaty of Portsmouth is signed. The Trans-Manchurian Railway gets handed off to the Japanese. Later Koujirou strongly opposes the plan to develop it ***.

** Heiji's torpedo division was also responsible to delivering the finishing blow to the flagship Knyaz Suarov. Later this was written on Knyaz Suarov's last moments "While she had a gun above water she fired, and not a man survived her of all that crew, to whose stubborn gallantry no words can do justice. If there is immortality in naval memory it is hers and theirs". Gives me the chills.

*** Did he see that it would lead to more war? Mantetsu was the reason behind the Manchurian Incident in 1931 and later for the breakout of the second Sino-Japanese war, where a really ugly face of Japanese imperialism saw the light of day. So, was Koujirou a good guy all along? This I hope will be explained in the manga.

1906

In January Nogi returns to give a victory report to the Emperor *.

Koujirou "commits seppuku" by his son's hand. "Writes" a sappy goodbye letter to Heiji (probably also by Ogata's hand).

Heiji gets seduced by his son's dashing young commander and does some stupid-treasonous things for him, convinced that Central Command was to blame for pushing Koujirou to suicide.

In November Mantetsu is established.

* Nogi breaks down while making the report and asks to be allowed to commit seppuku for allowing such high casualties. The Emperor forbids him. Nogi waits 7 years until the Emperor dies and commits seppuku on the day of his funeral.

Disclaimers

I would say half of this consists of what already is in GK canon (even if it’s written between the lines) or history. The other half are my free guesses for what I personally think would make a better story ;)

I tried and tried to do thorough research, but in the end I’m just a humble fangirl, and not a historian, so if there’s something I got wrong, missed or misinterpreted please correct me - learning history is a never-ending story.

Sorry for linking directly to the scanlations. Support the manga by buying the volumes if you can.

This list will most likely be growing since I will eventually figure out what Koujirou did during the Sino-Japanese war, and I’m only starting digging in to the details of the Boshin War, so I’m sure I’ll expand upon that.

If anyone ever wants to use this information for a fic, please do. Copy it all if you want to. I don’t mind the slightest. I’ll love you to pieces for writing anything for them at all!

[miracul0us-multishipper]

Welcome to the Back (Part 11)

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Lila knew the situation was getting out of hand, even before she heard Ladybug reveal that they weren’t friends. At this point, she had already escaped the school and hidden outside, where she was in no danger to be seen by Sentiquill. 

“Stupid Ladybug!”, she muttered as she walked home, not bothering to check up on the others or return to school. Even after she saw the Miraculous Cure flash through the sky, her pace didn’t slow. She needed time to think of a fitting lie, and the fallout of today’s akuma would be enough to deal with tomorrow. Ugh, she hated Paris! You could never know what happened next, never plan ahead!

She groaned.

To be fair, the akuma attack was actually kind of convenient this time. It gave her a chance to check up on her looks at home, prepare for the meeting this afternoon. There was no second chance for the first impression, after all!

So when she entered the TV1 tower and flashed the employee ID she’d stolen from Mireille, she looked as professional as she could get.

René Bordeaux’s office was easy to find. His name was written on the door in bright, red letters and the voice that yelled into a phone on the other side was iconic. With a confident smile, she knocked on the door. The voice fell silent, then yelled into the phone once more before hanging up. Angry footsteps advanced and the door was flung open. 

“What is it?!”, a middle-aged man shouted. Lila scanned him quickly. Carefully styled, blond-dyed hair. There was a hint of grey in his roots, something he obviously meant to hide. Scared of aging probably.

His suit looked brand new, but was a little too short on the ankles, she noticed and drew her conclusions: He valued luxury and tried to intimidate with pricy clothes, but didn’t actually know a lot about fashion and likely bought whatever looked the most expensive. He had sideburns, for God’s sake. 60’s nostalgia? Probably wanted to go back to “the good old days” his dad had talked about wistfully when he was young. She wondered if he was right-wing. A Control freak, judging by the meticulously organized room behind him, and he was single given the lacking photos of a girlfriend on his desk. Or photos of anything other than himself in general. There was a wedding ring on his finger, even though Lila’s research had brought up his disastrous divorce of Evelyn Leanne, and that he hadn’t married since. His lack of reminders of Leanne in the office - reference to the photos - made her doubt he harbored any romantic sentiment for her. He was only bitter about being shunned, and about losing a perfect trophy family. Likely hadn’t accepted the divorce. 

All these deductions only took her seconds to complete, René Bordeaux was an open book.

Her smile widened. So much potential!

“Oh, my apologies.”, she said sweetly. “I was looking for René Bordeaux, but if he’s not here yet-“

“I’m René Bordeaux! Why do you think would I be in this office, otherwise?!”

She gasped in false shock.

“You? But you look so young!”

The man blinked, thrown off his rhythm. His anger deflated and his raised hand dropped to his side.

“I... I guess!”

He caught himself and crossed his arms.

“Well, you have a point. But I hear that a lot, young Lady, so what do you want?”

Perfect.

“I am Lila Rossi.”, she introduced herself. “I called you yesterday, about the Journalism Junior contest you produce. A great idea, by the way.”

“Ah, yes, of course. What was that about again?”

Time to get bolder.

“May I come inside?”, she crooned. “This shouldn’t be discussed so out in the open. Wouldn’t want the public to hear of it.”

Now she had his attention. Bordeaux had made his money as a populist and paparazzi, a reporter known for his scandalous articles. He’d lost his job after the lawsuits last year, but his new position as chief editor of TV1 didn’t mean he had lost his lurid hunger for sensations - especially if he was the first one to know.

He huffed, but stepped back to let her in. The view out of the window front was fantastic, but she wasn’t here to marvel at the city. So she came straight to the point.

“I am a great fan of you work!”, she lied. “Especially your article after the Leanne-Agreste Show Disaster. Your concern about your son’s well being was very inspiring for me. I wish I had a father like that.”

She was glad she didn’t have a father like that, but Bordeaux didn’t need to know that. His brows furrowed in confusion.

“Am I supposed to be flattered?”, he grumbled, but his chest visibly swoll with pride. “What does this have to do with the contest?”

Her shoulders dropped in concern. 

“Monsieur Bordeaux, I don’t know how to tell you this, but... See, Felix is in my class, and I am very concerned about him. I wanted to do my report on him, but what I found during my research worries me.”

He’s a control freak, she remembered, and he has no real sentiment towards his family. He only cares about reputations.

“He’s surrounding himself with all the wrong people, and when I - as the class representative - wanted to warn his mother, she brushed me off as if she didn’t care at all.”

Bordeaux tried to hide his interest, but there was a spark of hunger in his eyes. He was sensing a chance.

“Is that so?”

“Yes. See, our class is very... diverse.” 

If he leaned to right side of politics, the word would repulse him.

“There’s people like Felix, Adrien Agreste, the mayor’s daughter or me in our class, who are well educated and come from the right families. But there are also... less fortunate people. Like Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng for example, who has great influence over your son.”

He flinched at the foreign last name, just as expected. His face had turned sour.

“What are you saying?”

“I say, Felix needs you.”, she catered to his ego. “He has no father figure, no role model. His mother lets him do whatever he wants, not caring about his future or who might take advantage of him. He has an unhealthy amount of freedoms, and just this morning, he fell victim to Hawkmoth!”

Bordeaux’s hands twitched and his eyes widened.

“An akuma was after my heir?! Who was it? I need names!”

“Oh no, he was akumatized himself.”, she informed him smugly. He muttered something about bad publicity, then looked up again.

“What was the reason? His mother? He’s ridiculously devoted to her.”

“I’m afraid I don’t know.”, she lied. “He was alone with Dupain-Cheng when it happened.”

She sighed, then put enough urgency in her voice to make even herself cringe.

“He really needs someone who knows what’s best for him, who can look out for him and will set him limits. He needs you!”

Bordeaux scoffed and paced through his office.

“Do you think I didn’t try to save this family?! Evelyn won’t let me near them anymore, and Felix would rather live like a pauper before going against her.”

Lila smiled.

“I know.”

Her schemes were finally going somewhere.

“But I might have a solution for you.”

-

When Adrien came to school the next day, he felt numb. There was no Plagg at his side, no ring on his finger, no sense of freedom in his chest as he walked up to the entrance. Everything felt hollow. How could everyone be this carefree when his entire world had been uprooted yesterday? Didn’t they feel the shift in the air, the tension in the room? Chat Noir had vanished, yet nobody seemed to mind.

“Dude, there you are!”, Nino greeted him from a bench at side, surrounded by his classmates. “We were worried sick about you, yesterday! Did you see the Akuma Attack? We were all working with Ladybug, it was so cool!”

Adrien flinched, before stomping over to them.

“Really?”, he asked, trying to suppress his fury. “That sounds awesome! I was busy looking for Chat Noir, in case you wanted to know! So he could get back to protecting Ladybug.”

If Nino noticed how passive-aggressive he sounded, he only shrugged.

“Man, didn’t you hear? It was all over the news last night.”

Adrien frowned in confusion.

“Huh?”

“Yeah!”, Alix chimed in. “Chat Noir is cancelled!”

His blood ran cold. Did they... did they know he had lost his ring?!

“Look at this.”, Alya demanded and showed him her phone, playing a video on the Ladyblog. “Nino filmed this, since I was taken out.”

His eyes widened when he recognized the scenery. It was filmed from under the stairs, but Sentiquill and Ladybug were perfectly clear to see. His Lady held the Akuma in place with her yo-yo, ordering Chat to help. Alya was snorting with anger when the hero refused, leaving Rose at Sentiquill’s mercy.

“Can you believe it?!”, she seethed when the camera panned to Ladybug’s pained face, who apologized for rejecting him before asking for his help again. “He made her beg! He let Rose be drained for ink, just so he could force her into his stupid power play! And her apology?”

She scoffed.

“I can’t believe he would ask that of her! As if she owed him anything for rejecting him!”

“Don’t forget the part where he almost killed Ladybug!”, Chloé spoke up. “If I ever see his ugly ass face again, I won’t need a Miraculous to rip him apart.”

“But,” Adrien stammered, “We don’t know the whole story! Maybe he had a valid reason to-“

Chloé laughed and pinched his cheek.

“Oh, silly Adrikins. I always forget how little experience you have with people.”

Kim nodded.

“Yeah, if you get rejected, no matter how, you gotta accept it. Doesn’t mean you gotta take any shit” - he glared at Chloé, who had the decency to look ashamed - “But you sure have no right to pressure her into anything. And demanding an apology for saying no?”

He clicked his tongue.

“That guy definitely wasn’t present for Mendeleiev‘s lesson on consent.”

“He abandoned Rose.”, Juleka murmured from the background, holding her unusually quiet girlfriend’s hand. “I’ll never forgive him for that.”

Adrien gulped.

“Well, Miraculous Ladybug always undoes every harm, right?”

“Cut it, Adrien!”, Alya snarled at him all of a sudden. Everyone fell silent. The reporter blinked, then leaned back a little to regain control of herself.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about.”, she mumbled, staring at nothing. “What it felt like. Just because Ladybug can cure everyone doesn’t mean she can undo what happened to us.”

Nino put his arm around her and she relaxed a little. When she looked at Adrien again, she was as composed as always.

“I’ve never been more terrified than yesterday.”, she stated firmly. “And it was even worse for Rose, judging by how much ink Sentiquill got out of her. Chat could have spared her that, but he chose not to. To him, each of us was less important than getting back at Ladybug. Just for not catering to his whims.”

She shook her head.

“If Ladybug doesn’t kick his ass, Rena Rouge will.”

“Uh, I literally said it first.”, Chloé complained. “Tell Fox girl to stand in line, Queen Bee is the one that’s going to kick that mangy cat into orbit!”

As the others broke out in a fight of who would have the best chance to beat up Chat Noir - Sabrina stood eerily still in the corner, saying something about a knife and Chat’s eyes - Adrien slipped out of the yard. It felt like the entire universe was against him! Everything came crashing down around him, no one took his side anymore-

“Adrien?”, a voice behind him asked and he turned around to see Lila. “Are you alright?”

He swallowed down his feelings.

“Yeah”, he croaked. “Just worried. Ladybug told everyone about you, classes are going to be... tense.”

He sighed. He might not be Chat Noir right now, but he was still Adrien Agreste, Bustier’s sunshine boy. He had to keep the peace as far as possible.

“You need to come clean.”, he suggested. “Apologize and tell them the truth about everything, then maybe, this will blow over soon.”

And maybe Marinette would be his friend again. This whole Lila-mess had only harmed them all, it was time to set things right.

Lila nodded.

“Of course, you are so right.”

She smiled weakly.

“I know I never told you this, but you are a great friend. Thank you for protecting me as long as you could. I really wish people would listen to you more, you’re so thoughtful!”

He looked up.

“You think so?”

She nodded, patting his shoulders.

“They can’t see it, but I do.”, she assured him. “You do so much for your friends. You prevent them from harming themselves, from destroying the harmonic atmosphere. They can be grateful to call you their friend.”

He blushed a bit, flattered. And relieved. Finally someone that appreciated all his hard work!

Lila sighed and walked towards the yard.

“I’m really sorry you’ll be dragged into this mess, Adrien.”

He stiffened. Wait, what?

“What do you mean?”

She stopped to look at him, surprised.

“Well, if I tell them the truth about everything, I’ll have to tell them you knew everything from the start. You and I know it was only for their own good that you didn’t expose me, but they... You’ll be pulled into this inevitably. Things will likely be horrible for you for a while, maybe you’ll even lose some friends. Nino, Alya, Chloé... I don’t think they’ll understand you were doing the right thing.”

His mind was running wild. No! He already had them badmouthing Chat Noir in front of him, he wouldn’t be able to bear it if they hated him as Adrien too!

“Lila, wait!”, he called when she moved to walk on. “Maybe... Maybe there’s another way. To keep everyone calm. We can think of something, I’ll help you!”

She smiled.

“You would do that for me? You’re so sweet.”

Her eyes glistened eagerly.

“I think I already have an idea.”

-

“How are you feeling?”, Felix asked her. They stood in front of the classroom, hesitating to go inside. But Marinette had enough of fearing confrontation. Chat, Adrien, Lila, all of them were people she didn’t want to run from anymore. It was time to walk her way and hope that her friends would have her back. But she was through with waiting for problems to resolve on their own. 

“Well enough.”, she replied. “And you?”

He shrugged.

“I don’t remember much of what happened, and I generally don’t care what others think of me. But...”

He sighed.

“I did hurt people. Not consciously, but it still happened because of me.”

Marinette couldn’t say anything against that, so she simply took his hand. Whether for his comfort or her own, she didn’t know.

“Come on.”, she said. “I’m sure they’ll understand, and... It’s not like Lila will be a problem anymore, at least! So let’s get this over with.”

With that, she opened the door and walked inside. Only to see Lila surrounded by their classmates.

“Marinette!”, she called. “Just in time. I was just telling everyone how Ladybug saved me again, yesterday.”

Marinette felt her eyes twitch.

“Ladybug- You- I-“, she pressed out, wanting to throttle her. How was it possible that she just sat here as if nothing happened?! Things were supposed to be different now!

Felix nudged her hand and she looked up to him. He nodded at the rest of the class with his chin, and her eyes followed his gesture. They weren’t hanging on her every word as she had feared. No, Chloé wasn’t even listening, filing her nails with an occasional roll of her eyes. Alya sat next to an angry Nino, arms crossed. Juleka’s eyes were shooting daggers at Lila.

All in all, the class looked suspicious. Not enthralled and excited, but almost annoyed. An improvement!

“Ya better hurry to give us a damn good explanation, girl!”, Alya growled. “Because I have Lb’s statement on video, and I won’t hesitate to post it online!”

Lila gave her a surprised glance.

“What are you talking about? Did I do something wrong?”

Nino glowered at her.

“That’s a damn bold question, Lie-la! Ladybug told us everything.”

His girlfriend raised her phone, playing Ladybug’s fight against Sentiquill. 

“But fine!”, Marinette heard her alter ego shout. “If it makes you happy!” Then she started to rant about Lila, who looked suspiciously calm.

“Well”, she shrugged when the sequence was over, “she really went all out, didn’t she?”

“What do you mean?”

Lila chuckled.

“I mean, just look at her face! So disdainful, so authentic! A great actress, really!”

Alya faltered a bit.

“Actress?”

“Of course!”, she laughed. “Ladybug was obviously trying to placate Sentiquill, as we all know Felix doesn’t like me since our little misunderstanding. A bummer it didn’t work, but I guess she isn’t perfect either.”

She sighed and straightened herself.

“Ladybug told me to flee, since the Akuma was after me specifically. I would have stayed with you otherwise, and helped to defend you against Sentiquill. But she knew if I was nearby, he’d go after me and then Ladybug would be distracted. She cares so much about me, her worry for my wellbeing would have interfered with her ability to think straight.”

Alya frowned. 

“How do we know this isn’t another lie? It’s your word against Ladybug’s, and you haven’t proven anything!”

Pondering, Lila tapped her finger against her chin.

“Hm, let’s see... Adrien! You saw us; you can be my witness, right?”

Everybody turned around and Marinette’s eyes widened. Adrien stood at the window, looking weary but determined. Surely he wouldn’t... He had covered for Lila before, true, but to lie on her behalf...

Her hopes sunk when he avoided eye contact with her.

“It’s true.”, he stated flatly. “I saw them talk after the battle. Ladybug...” He gulped. “Ladybug apologized for saying all these things, but it was only to protect her.”

“That’s not true!”, Marinette howled furiously. “What are you even saying, Adrien?!”

He looked away, pouting.

“Stop shouting at me. It’s the truth! I saw them when I was on my way... on my way-“

“-to accompany me to Jagged Stone!”, Lila finished for him, a smug look on her face. “I invited him along because he was so rattled after the akuma attack. To cheer him up! Jagged is the best when it comes to lighten the mood, right, Adrien?”

“Uh... yeah!”, the blond agreed hesitantly, obviously confused. “Totally! I, er, can confirm.”

Marinette’s eyes burned into his spineless figure, seething with rage. This had been his chance. For someone that preferred inactivity when it came to his friends, he was all too quick to stand up for a liar. 

“So... it was all true?”, Alya dared to hope. “You really are Ladybug’s friend, and you know Jagged Stone?”

“Don’t forget Prince Ali, but yes. I’d never lie to you, Alya!”, Lila reassured. “Everything I said is true.”

Felix took a step forward, opening his mouth to protest, but Marinette put her hand on his chest to stop him. 

“Don’t.”, she whispered, forcibly cooling down her anger to a simmering hatred. “They win this round.”

Everything Felix could say now would only further Lila’s victim role, and they had no proof right now. It would be a waste of time.

Felix clenched his teeth, but nodded. To their surprise, the others weren’t done yet.

“I don’t believe you.”, Juleka mumbled and Lila’s face fell. 

“What did you just say?”

“I said, I don’t believe you!”, the goth shouted, startling everyone. Rose was clutching her hand like a lifeline as her girlfriend looked up, tears in her eyes. “When Sentiquill went after Rose, Ladybug didn’t hesitate to do the logical thing and save me first, even if that meant making herself vulnerable. I know she cares about Rose, but when push came to shove, she was still able to think tactical. God knows I didn’t like her decision, but it was what saved both of us.”

Lila narrowed her eyes.

“Juleka, you sound like you wanted her to sacrifice Rose! Do you really care so little about-“

“Shut up!”, Rose cried out. Marinette wasn’t sure she had ever seen her this upset. “That’s not what she meant, and you know it!”

“Are you two calling me a liar?”

Juleka shot her a glare.

“I’m saying that I trust Ladybug. She’s able to do her job, no matter the circumstances and who might be at stake. She cares about all of us and doesn’t play favorites. If your word’s against hers, we know where we’ll stand.”

She nudged Rose, who nodded. Together they walked towards the door, but stopped when they passed Marinette and Felix.

“I don’t blame you for anything.”, Rose murmured to him so that only they could hear it. “I know what it feels like to be controlled like that. To be forced to hurt people you care about. We’re all used to it by now, you’re not alone.”

Then they walked out.

The class only recovered slowly. Many regarded Lila with distrust, most were unsure. Even Alya, who was only too desperate to believe Lila, had her doubts.

Felix gave her an encouraging smile.

“Looks like things are in motion.”

Marinette nodded, tearing her gaze from Adrien.

“I think it’s time to move on as well.”, she confessed. “To leave old burdens behind.”

She thought of Chat Noir.

“To make a clear cut.”

-

Marinette was busy this afternoon. 

Doing homework. 

Changing her computer’s background. 

Putting the finishing touch on the cravat she designed for Felix. 

Feeding Tikki a macaron she’d made for Adrien. 

Preparing an outline for her report. 

Ripping Adrien’s pictures off her wall. 

Playing video games with her parents. 

Taking the chest with her gifts for Adrien to Prince Ali’s charity for sick children. 

Calling Felix. 

Clearing her calendar of Adrien’s appointments. 

Crying a bit. 

Calling Felix again. 

Feeling better.

When it was evening, she finally ran out of things to do. And that meant, she had nothing to distract her from her own thoughts. That wouldn’t do.

“I’m going out for a walk!”, she told her parents as she bounced down the stairs, nearly tripping over her own feet.

“Be careful!”, her mother replied and waved. “And be back before dinner!”

“Don’t you want to take something to eat with you? Or a jacket? Or-“

“Tom.”

“Oh, right. Uh, have fun!”

Marinette chuckled at her parents difference. She’d always wanted to be in a relationship like theirs: one of mutual respect, but with room for silliness and fun. To have someone that was so different from her, but shared enough of her passions and values to match. A partnership of equals, that wouldn’t waver or fade when things got difficult. Someone who inspired her to grow. Someone who wasn’t afraid to learn from her as well.

She had thought that was Adrien. Part of her might even have considered Chat Noir - the yin yang symbolic hadn’t gone unnoticed by her. But her mother had explained her for what the Taijitu truly stood: not an eternal battle of opposites, but the harmonic completion of two contrasts, the ever changing nature of the world. Chat Noir wasn’t someone who completed her, and neither was Adrien. They had only brought her misery when they should have supported her.

She sighed as she walked through the park, the half moon rising above her. Black and white.

Her mother had often used the Taiji symbol to comfort her when she’d had one of her streaks of bad luck. It’s natural to have a hard time once in a while, she’d said. But see? The darkness recedes eventually and makes room for the light. It’s a circuit, and soon things will get better for you as well. Until then? Just search for the tiny white dot. The beacon in the darkness, it’s there!

Marinette leaned her head back, watching the darkening sky.

The light in her darkness? That was Felix. The only constant support she had these days. The one whose mere presence cheered her up, gave her the strength to keep going. It was so weird, now that she thought about it. He was so... harsh. Like a bright fire that could blind and burn mercilessly, but somehow drew her in like a moth to his flame. Like the sun, that could bring people’s worst flaws to daylight, or illuminate strengths she hadn’t even known she had. He had been both demanding and eager to give, from the very beginning. Forcing her to put her self-imposed limits aside and stand up for herself, but supporting her when he knew she needed it. In return, he had opened himself to her, learned to trust and bond with others. She’d never been more proud than when he had befriended Aurore, despite their rocky start. Or when he tried to dial his bluntness down around Marc, because he knew the boy was sensitive.

He had impressed her. Everything about him was challenging and inspiring and soothing at once. She’d never liked herself more than when she was around him. And when she wasn’t, she found herself thinking about him constantly. 

Even now, musing over their influence on each other brought a smile to her lips and lightened her steps until she all but floated through the park. Now that she thought about it, she liked the feeling a lot. More than a lot. If she didn’t know any better, she’d almost say she lo-

“Marinette”, Tikki called her from her purse. “I sense someone. Wayzz is nearby!”

She looked up, searching the park for the familiar hawaiian shirt. Indeed, it was the guardian himself that stood in front of the fountain, hands clasped in front of him. Curious, she walked up beside him.

“Good evening, Master Fu!”, she greeted. “Haven’t seen you in a while. How’s the stomach?”

The elder man gave her a sullen side glance. 

“I thought we had agreed to never talk of that again.”

She chuckled and followed his gaze to the fountain.

“Did we? I don’t recall!”

He didn’t smile, but his wrinkled forehead relaxed a bit. Weird. Usually, he was a lot more eager to joke around, given he had so little company to do that with.

“Is something the matter? You look upset.”

Fu sighed.

“Sharp as always. I am concerned for you, for Ladybug’s safety.”

Her face grew serious.

“That’s a concern I can understand.”, she muttered. “I nearly died yesterday. It was that close!”

Fu nodded.

“I saw.”

“Then why didn’t you do anything?”, she snapped, forgetting herself. “I needed help, and you could have given that to me!”

Her master lowered his head, eyes fixed on the water.

“Because I am weak.”, he admitted. “And a coward. And not the guardian you deserve.”

He looked so old when he rubbed his forehead, almost ancient.

“In my defense, if I had known the situation was this terrible, I would have taken the miracle box with me. Or at least the Turtle, Fox or Bee. Alas, I was only aware of Chat Noir’s miraculous turning dark, and thought that we would be enough to handle him. I didn’t expect the akuma.”

“Wait...”, she slowed him down. “Chat’s Miraculous was abused? Like... Like the butterfly is?”

Fu didn’t answer. Instead, he raised his hand to reveal what he held inside. A black ring, complete with a familiar green paw print.

“His miraculous!”, she whispered in awe, then turned towards the guardian. “What did you do?! When did you do that?”

“Immediately after you purified Sentiquill’s akuma.”, he stated wearily. “And that was already far too late. I should have taken it after Syren, Frozer maybe. I hope you can forgive me for that.”

She felt a pang in her chest that she had lost her partner of almost a year, but it was overshadowed by an euphoric sense of relieve. She hadn’t noticed how much Chat had troubled her until she didn’t have to worry about him anymore. No more fear to hurt his feelings, no more dancing around the truth to avoid upsetting him. No more tantrums and reckless sacrifices. No more pressure to feel something she just... didn’t.

“I want you to have it.”, Fu continued and raised his hands when she wanted to protest. “Not for yourself, of course! Marinette, I have chosen solitude as the safest way to protect the miraculous, and for a while, it worked. But times changed.”

He breathed out, his posture slouching in shame.

“Times changed, and I didn’t. Chat Noir is the proof that I am no longer fit to distribute powers like his. But you? You have proven time and again that your trust in others is well deserved, that your choices are wise.”

His voice was full of warmth and trust.

“You have to be the one to choose a new partner, Ladybug.”, he announced firmly. “Someone you can trust not to disappoint you. It’s about time you get a say in this, don’t you think?”

She stared at the ring, so caught up in an electrifying kind of awe that she couldn’t really process his words. This was the Miraculous of destruction, the other half to her powers. If she took it, she would hold more power in her hands than should be humanly possible. What if something happened to her? What if she lost it, what if Hawkmoth got his hands on it? As long as it had no wielder, it would remain in this state and show its true colors. Everyone would be able to recognize it!

“A-are you sure you want me to have this?”, she asked with a trembling voice. Master Fu smiled.

“I have made a lot of reckless decisions. This is not one of them.”

He held the ring out to her.

“I trust you, Marinette. And I know Ladybug will chose better than I did.”

Hesitantly, carefully as if it might burn her, she took the Miraculous from his hands. It was warm in her hands, as if it were alive.

“I won’t disappoint you.”, she promised Fu, her eyes blazing with determination. She wouldn’t take this lightly, wouldn’t fail him. This time, her Chat Noir would be a hero.

- - - 

Phew, done. I don't know much about Daoism, and only just started to research the philosophy behind yin and yang (or the Taijitu), but I really wanted Marinette to be more in touch with her heritage. Mama Cheng spilled her wisdom, and little Marinette sucked it up like a sponge.

[aion-rsa]

How The Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street Earned Its Rep

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Apple TV+’s docuseries 1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything makes it seem like The Rolling Stones’ Exile On Main Street album was more fun to record than listen to, and that sets a high standard. The record distills the band’s sounds, from acoustic world music political ballads, through deep heartfelt blues, to honky tonk so funky you have to shake your ass. The group plays country, Southern blues, R&B, and the almost-punk-before-punk “Rip This Joint.” “Tumbling Dice,” is a radio staple. Keith Richards even took the lead vocals on a track to keep you happy. There was so much material, it came out as a double album. What could be more fun than that?

Richards’ Nellcôte mansion, on the Côte d’Azur in the South of France, was the hardest rocking musical getaway paradise in 1971. It was a Rock and Roll Main Street, and even the most mainstream players mainlined the exile vibe. Guitar god Eric Clapton and underground country legend Gram Parsons mixed drinks and drugs with movie stars like James Caan and Faye Dunaway, while playwright Terry Southern stopped taking note, according to Robert Greenfield’s book Exile on Main Street: A Season In Hell With The Rolling Stones. 

William S. Burroughs inspired Mick Jagger to cut and paste a word collage together to form the lyrics to “Casino Boogie.” Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr dropped by the almost-week-long afterparty for Jagger’s wedding to Nicaraguan-born model Bianca Pérez Morena de Macias in Saint-Tropez. John Lennon, who was on methadone treatment, reputedly threw up at the foot of the grand staircase and passed out in it.

“The sunshine bores the daylights out of me,” Jagger sings on “Rocks Off,” the album’s opening song. The Rolling Stones strolled through their recent past darkly. The murder of Meredith Hunter at the Altamont speedway concert in late 1969 signaled, to many, the death of decade’s peace-and-love counterculture. But the band’s troubles went all the way back to the Redlands drug bust of 1967, and the death of Brian Jones. Adversity worked well, creatively, for the Stones, and they continued to pump out classics like “Gimme Shelter” in 1969, and controversy like “Brown Sugar” in 1971. Sticky Fingers, their ninth album, hung nicely at the top of the charts on both sides of the Atlantic.

The songs, and Allen Klein’s aggressive managerial money-making maneuvers, put the band in the 93% tax bracket for Britain’s highest earners. The Stones owed more than they could pay. To avoid penalties, they moved to France. Mick went to Paris. Mick Taylor, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts bought or rented places along the French Riviera. Richards and his girlfriend, German-Italian actress and model Anita Pallenberg, moved into Nellcôte, a villa in Villefranche-sur-Mer, near Nice. During the Nazi occupation of France during World War II, the seaside mansion was the headquarters of the local Gestapo. Swastikas were carved into floor vents, staircases and ventilator grates.

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As pointed out in 1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything, the Stones had recently signed with Atlantic Records, and the label wanted an album. The band scoured the Riviera for a suitable recording studio, but wound up parking their mobile studio next to Keith’s house. Richards transformed the basement into a recording studio, and the band stole electricity from the railway tracks across the street to power amplifiers and the mobile recording truck. 

The layout wasn’t the best. Bill Wyman, who is only credited for eight of the album’s songs on bass, plugged into an amp which was mic’d up in the hallway. Producer Jimmy Miller ended each take by running from the truck into the basement to check sound. The humidity caused the guitars to go out of tune. This gave the album its working title: “Tropical Disease.” The song “Ventilator Blues” was inspired by the conditions.

The band also had to deal with Keith’s erratic schedule. “I never plan anything,” Richards says in the documentary Stones in Exile. “Mick needs to know what he’s going to do tomorrow. Whereas I’m just happy to wake up and see who’s hanging around. Mick’s rock; I’m roll.” Richards, Taylor, Watts, pianist Nicky Hopkins, saxophonist Bobby Keys, drummer Jimmy Miller, and horn player Jim Price would jam all night while engineer Andy Johns ran the reels. Sessions would start when the guitarist rolled out of bed, or before he slipped off to put his son Marlon to sleep. After that Keith might pull a disappearing act, playing guitar in the un-mic’d second floor bathroom, or passing out. Richards was open about pot and alcohol, sharing liberally, but quiet about his heroin use.

Richards got clean in the spring of 1971, but hurt his back in a go-kart accident, according to Greenfield’s book. His vehicle flipped while racing his friend Tommy Weber at a track in Cannes. Richards took morphine for the pain, and within a few months, was using again. For sessions, he’d down a Mandrax, which is like a Quaalude, with whiskey. Charlie Watts was drinking brandy until he was past sloppy, and Jagger was taking speed to keep up with the hours Keith set. It was Richards’ place, and Mick was almost a hostage. When he left, it seemed nothing got done. Richards, left alone, could be downright dangerous. He almost burned himself, Anita and the entire house down when he fell asleep with a lit cigarette.

Richards was buying pure, uncut heroin from Castilian dealers. He was getting it by the kilo, and it became part of the social regimen of the villa. He shared so regularly with Gram Parsons that Mick got jealous, professionally. Parsons wanted Richards to produce his next album and join him on tour, which would have left the Stones without their guitarist for two years. Parsons was quietly asked to leave. Drugs split the Stones into two camps: Jagger, Wyman and Watts stuck to pills, booze and softer drugs. Richards, Taylor, producer Jimmy Miller, sax player Bobby Keys and engineer Andy Johns shot dope.

It cost them their gear. Wyman’s bass, Keys’ saxophone and nine of Richards’ guitars were stolen by dealers from Marseille who were owed money, while the entourage was watching television during the day. The Stones’ lawyers bribed local police to keep the party going, but even the most corrupt French cops, like Captain Louis Renault in Casablanca, have their limits. Besides, the Stones were welcomed in France because they were rich rock stars who were going to spend lots of money. If all their cash went to illegal and nontaxable drugs, the French government didn’t have much use for them.

The tipping point seems to have come with Anita Pallenberg. She maintained a steadily rocky relationship with the Stones. Richards stole, or saved, her from a paranoid and abusive Brian Jones, and there were rumors Jagger had an affair with her while filming Nic Roeg’s Performance in 1968. According to Greenfield’s book, Mick also slept with her while Richards was on the nod during the Exile sessions. Police came knocking to ask about a claim that Pallenberg had given heroin to the 14-year-old daughter of the villa’s chef. 

The French police left without validating the charge, but said they’d be back to have a better look around the mansion. Richards and Pallenberg took off on his speedboat, fittingly named Mandrax II. The rest of the band slipped out soon after with the tapes. Pallenberg and Richards were charged with possession of heroin with intent to traffic in 1973. They were then exiled from France for the next two years.

The party continued when the Rolling Stones reconvened in Sunset Sound studios in Los Angeles. The band tossed TVs off the balconies of hotel rooms with Marc Bolan and Neil Young. The tapes for the album stretched from 1969 to 1972. The band edited hours of jams into song structure. Jagger scatted melodic placeholders for unfinished lyrics, and recruited session players like Billy Preston and Doctor John to fill in any sonic emptiness. The words to “Tumbling Dice,” for instance, were written last minute. The song has an unusual structure, as the verses become shorter, the choruses get longer. It may have Watts’ best drum performance.

Exile on Main Street contains some of Richards’ best guitar work. The album really belongs to Keith. “Happy” is almost entirely his. He’s on vocals, guitar and bass, with Miller on drums, Keys on maracas, overdubs from Taylor, and backing vocals from Jagger. “Sweet Black Angel” is a political love letter to civil rights activist Angela Davis. “Shake Your Hips” put the hair on ZZ Top’s lips. The album cover set the visual tone for punk. Some people claim it’s the Rolling Stones’ best work. It is a classic which catches them at their hedonistic peak. Its dirty, loosely played backing created an identifiable sound. The Stones’ first double LP, it is best heard in its entirety, and earned its street cred.

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1971: The Year Music Changed Everything is available to stream on Apple TV+ now.

The post How The Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street Earned Its Rep appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[ottomanladies]

Love your blog, so much info. Secondly what were the reasons that turned Suleman the Magnificent against his own son Mustafa??Was really Hurrem and Rustem behind that or these are just spotty stories filmed in shows like MY?? What was a real character of Mahedevran and Hurrem (what were they: kind and religious or intelligent or hungry for power or jealous or dishonest) and how serious was their rivalry??What was role of Ayşe Hafsa Sultan in stopping these harem disputes.

Thank you.

I'm not going to talk about this anymore. I have countless times but now I have found a very well-written essay about this that I recommend reading: Zahit Atçıl, Why Did Süleyman the Magnificent Execute His Son Şehzade Mustafa in 1553?

I also recommend going through my Mustafa tag: here.

Now, to the rest of your questions:

descriptions of Mahidevran vary based on the year and period of her life:

The sultan has two highly cherished women, one a Circassian, the mother of Mustafa the firstborn, the other… a Russian, so loved by his majesty that there has never been in the Ottoman house a woman who has enjoyed greater authority. [...] The Circassian, naturally proud and beautiful, and who already had a son, Mustafa... — Peirce, Leslie. Empress of the East: How a European Slave Girl Became Queen of the Ottoman Empire

Navagero, Venetian ambassador, described her proud right away. The episode he relates - Mahidevran beating Hürrem up - also denotes that she was jealous or that she had a high opinion of her social standing anyway:

The angry sultan sent for the Circassian and asked her if what the other woman had said was true. She responded that it was, and that she had done no less to her than she deserved. She believed that all the women should yield to her and recognize her as mistress since she had been in the service of his majesty first. — Peirce, Leslie. Empress of the East: How a European Slave Girl Became Queen of the Ottoman Empire

We are not certain that this episode actually happened. It seems quite movie-like but it's the only mention of Mahidevran that we have until Mustafa takes up his post in Manisa.

Tension between the two royal consorts was not unexpected, although the story of the brawl had perhaps been embroidered over time. Whether Mahidevran had an irascible personality or was prone to violence is hard to say; all other references to her in Venetian reports are exemplary. But the tale is not preposterous, and her self-defense to the sultan—the assault on her rank as senior concubine—is wholly plausible. — Peirce, Leslie. Empress of the East: How a European Slave Girl Became Queen of the Ottoman Empire

After Mustafa grew up and they both left Istanbul, ambassadors described Mahidevran as a wise counsellor to her son.

Mahidevran too came in for praise from Bassano as the model female parent to a prince: “his mother, who is with him, instructs him in how to make himself loved by the people.” — Peirce, Leslie. Empress of the East: How a European Slave Girl Became Queen of the Ottoman Empire

Bernardo Navagero, Venetian ambassador from 1550 through 1552, had previously reported that the prince’s mother “exercises great diligence to guard him from poisoning and reminds him every day that he has nothing else but this to avoid.” — Peirce, Leslie. Empress of the East: How a European Slave Girl Became Queen of the Ottoman Empire

Mustafa must have been Mahidevran’s first (and only) child, for she appears to have had no daughters. “Her whole pleasure is this [child],” commented Bragadin in his brief mention of her. When Mustafa, having come of age, took up his apprenticeship in the provinces in 1533, Mahidevran would continue to win praise, now as a wise counselor to her son. — Peirce, Leslie. Empress of the East: How a European Slave Girl Became Queen of the Ottoman Empire

As for Hürrem, she is usually described as astute and very intelligent, especially in her relationship with Süleyman. In telling the episode above, Navagero says that she had turned this situation to her advantage:

It happened that a few days later the sultan had this Russian summoned for his pleasure. She did not let this opportunity pass, and angrily told the eunuch agha who had come to fetch her that she was not worthy to come into the presence of the sultan because, being sold meat and having her face completely spoiled and being almost bald, she recognized that she would offend the majesty of such a sultan by coming before him. — Peirce, Leslie. Empress of the East: How a European Slave Girl Became Queen of the Ottoman Empire

About the marriage, some say that she was bold enough to ask for marriage. I don't know how true that is but she was certainly a bold woman.

As Peirce says, we cannot be sure that Ayşe Hafsa Sultan was immediately against Hürrem, taking Mahidevran's side. First of all, her reaction to the beating incident was not recorded. We have, though, her reaction to the incident of the two Russian concubines:

As Bragadin reported, "The sultan was given two beautiful Russian maidens by a provincial governor, one for his mother and one for him. When they arrived in the palace, his second wife [sic], whom he esteems at present, became extremely unhappy and flung herself to the ground weeping.” The ambassador then noted the reactions of Hafsa, Suleyman’s mother, and the sultan himself, as they attempted to mollify the distraught Roxelana. “The mother, who had given her maiden to the sultan, was sorry about what she had done, took her back, and sent her to one of the governors as wife, and the sultan agreed to send his to another governor, because his wife would have perished from sorrow if these maidens, or even one of them, had remained in the palace.” [...] The most remarkable feature of Bragadin’s account, however, was Suleyman and Hafsa’s willingness to accommodate Roxelana’s sentiments. It seems the concubine’s bold presumption of rank did not offend the sultan and queen mother. Indeed, Hafsa appears to have been remorseful. — Peirce, Leslie. Empress of the East: How a European Slave Girl Became Queen of the Ottoman Empire

It is definitely interesting that Hafsa relented and seemed sorry about what had happened. This is completely different from what happened in MC, in which Hafsa is determinedly against any kind of rule-bending... which I totally get, she's supposed to maintain harmony and rule in an harem full of women. It seems, though, that the actual Hafsa was more worried about the absence of heirs (Süleyman I had lost all his sons but Mustafa in 1521). Maybe this is why she went along with Hürrem's unusual outburst of jealousy.

That Hafsa was a member of the Mahidevran - Ibrahim (and Hatice) - Mustafa political faction is something that has not been proven so far. It seems even less likely now that we know that Ibrahim's mother-in-law was called Hafsa as well (though she wasn't the valide sultan) so the letters in which he mentioned a Hafsa were not about the valide sultan at all. He probably had no relationship with her.

For more about Ibrahim’s marriage, I recommend this essay: The Marriage of Ibrahim Pasha by Ebru Turan

[obsidianossuary]

HPHM Profile: Alex Aurelius

Identity

Name: Alex Livia Aurelius

Gender: Female

Age: 11 (Debut--start of first year); 16 (Current--start of sixth year)

Birth Date: August 31, 1973

Species: Human

Blood Status: Half-Blood

Sexuality: Straight

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Ethnicity: Caucasion 

Nationality: British

Residence: Oxford, England

Myer Briggs Personality Type: INTP--the Logician

The Mage

1st Wand: Blackthorn Wood; Unicorn Hair Core; 11 3/4 Inches

“Blackthorn wands, which is a very unusual wand wood, has the reputation, in Garrick Ollivander's well-merited opinion, of being best suited to a warrior. These wands appear to need to pass through danger or hardship with their owners to become truly bonded. Given this condition, the blackthorn wand will become as loyal and faithful a servant as one could wish.” 

2nd Wand: Ebony Wood; Dragon Heart String Core; 11 1/4 Inches

“Ebony wands have an impressive appearance and reputation, being highly suited to all manner of combative magic, and to Transfiguration. Ebony is happiest in the hand of those with the courage to be themselves. Frequently non-conformist, highly individual or comfortable with the status of outsider. In the experience of Garrick Ollivander, the ebony wand’s perfect match is one who will hold fast to his or her beliefs, no matter what the external pressure, and will not be swayed lightly from their purpose.”

Animagus: N/A

Misc. Magical Abilities: 

Legilimency--Alex, like most of her family, was born a legilimens. She is horrendously talented--she subconsciously reads the thoughts of those around her without meaning to, unable to control her ability. 

Occlumency--She was taught how to use occlumency and hone her control over legilimency by Professor Snape in her fifth year. 

Spell Invention--Her fluency in Latin gives her an innate ability to create spells. 

Boggart Form: Jacob as a Death Eater

Riddikulus Form: Jacob dressed-up in a clown costume, make-up included.

Amortentia 

(What does she smell like?): Vanilla and coconut

(What does she smell?): Grass and honeysuckle (Charlie Weasley); new books; earth right after rain; peppermint toads

Patronus: Crow

“The crow is a very well-known bird that some believe is an omen of dark magic. But if this is your Patronus, don’t fret! The crow is very resourceful, ambitious, and cunning. Once they set a goal, they always seem to get what they’re after. Crows are also fearless. Regardless of what sort of creature they find in the way of their goal, they will do anything they can to overpower it. They are also very smart and have been observed using tools to achieve their means. This is a Patronus anyone should be proud of having!”

Patronus Memory: Jacob coming home for the summer after completing his first year at Hogwarts; Charlie Weasley kissing her for the first time. 

Mirror of Erised: Her and Jacob reunited; she is a successful curse-breaker working at Gringotts along side Bill; she is married and has a family with Charlie. 

Specialized/Favourite Spells:

Expecto Patronum

Incendio 

Evanesco

Revelio

Stupify

Appearance

Faceclaim: Alexandra Daddario

Game Appearance:

Height: 5ft 3in 

Weight: 100 lbs

Physique: Petite

Eye Colour: Icy Blue

Hair Color: Dark Brown

Hair Style: Long, messy, and curly

Skin Tone: Light Brown

Body Modifications: Pierced Ears (x2)

Small silver hoop earring with small opal balls attached to the center--a gift from her family for her tenth birthday. 

Opal studs--pierced by Tulip and Badeea in her fifth year. 

Scarring:

A large slash mark on her right forearm from the Ice Knight (Year 2)

Small cut on her left eyebrow from Rakepick in the portrait vault (Year 5)

Fashion: 

Skirts, sweaters, and jeans; overall very modest dress (because she’s insecure about her small frame); starts to wear a lot of make-up in her sixth year to compensate for her insecurity; generally keeps her look natural and comfy when Andre isn’t there to interfere.

Jewelry:  

Wrist watch (gift from McGonagall in her second year)

Dragon necklace (made and given to her by Charlie Weasley for Christmas in her fourth year)

Inventory: 

Jacob’s journal (which she now also uses to document her search for the cursed vaults and as a personal diary)

The key to Jacob’s room (one of a pair that she shares with Tulip)

Her father’s initialed fountain pen (enchanted with infinite ink)

A Tale of Two Cities by Charlie Dickens

Photographs of her friends and family 

Garroting Gas (from Snape in Year 4).

Miniature hairbrush (from Andre)

Make-up compact (Year 6)

Invisibility Cloak (Year 6)

Allegiances

Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw

Ilvermorny House: N/A

Affiliations/Organizations: 

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Gringotts Bank

Order of the Phoenix 

Professions: 

Curse-Breaker

Order of the Phoenix Leader

Hogwarts Information

Class Proficiencies: 

Astronomy ★★★★★★★☆☆☆(E)

Charms: ★★★★★★★★★☆ (O)

DADA: ★★★★★★★★★★(O)

Flying: ★★★★★★★★★★

Herbology: ★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ (A)

History of Magic: ★★★★★★★★★☆ (O)

Potions: ★★★★★★★★★☆(O)

Transfiguration: ★★★★★★★★★★(O)

Electives:

Arithmancy ★★★★★★★☆☆☆(E)

Care of Magical Creatures ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆(E)

Divination ★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆(A)

Study of Ancient Runes ★★★★★★★★☆☆(O)

Favorite Class: Transfiguration--Alex is extremely gifted at transfiguration. It’s her favorite subject because she finds it both fascinating and practical and because it it taught be her favorite professor

Least Favorite Class: Herbology--Alex can't take care of a plant to save her soul

Quidditch: Chaser (Starting in year 2) 

Extra Curricular:

Duelling Club--She’s not a full-time member, but she often joins Bill and Diego at the dueling club when they ask her to come

Frog Choir--Her mother used to sing to her as a child; she loves singing to herself in the halls or when she’s bored. 

Favorite Professors:

Professor McGonagall--Basically her role model. She admires McGonagall’s intelligence, strong morals, and no nonsense attitude. 

Professor Snape--She doesn't actually like him as a teacher, but she enjoys messing with him. 

Professor Kettleburn--She loves that he’s an absolute wack-job and that will let the class get away with pretty much anything. 

Least Favorite Professors:

Professor Trelawney--She’s a wack-job, but not in a fun way like Kettleburn. Because of her involvement with the cursed vaults, Alex became that one kid in every year that Trelawney foresaw would die a heinous death by the end of the year (but she never does, so the cycle repeats at the beginning of each year, much to Alex’s displeasure). 

Family

Marcus Tiberius Aurelius: 

Born: August 12, 1945

Hogwarts House: Slytherin

Pureblood

The Aurelius family is an ancient and noble pure-blood family that was said to be descended from Roman wizards who migrated to Britain in the first century BC.

Strangely, every male born into the family is gifted with legilimency. Every male... and Marcus’s daughter, Alex.

The Aurelius’ weren’t originally blood prejudiced, often marrying half-bloods and muggle-borns. But after they were excluded from the Sacred Twenty-Eight, that all changed. The Aurelius family began to arrange marriages to traditionally pure-blooded families in hopes of restoring their reputation as a noble and prestigious pureblood family.

Marcus Aurelius, Alex and Jacob’s father, was the oldest of three boys and grew up to be extremely prejudiced against muggles and muggle-borns.

When Marcus was twelve, his youngest brother, Jacob, died in an accident involving a muggle motor vehicle which only reaffirmed Marcus’s prejudice against muggles.

Marcus’ middle brother, William, married a muggle-born witch in 1968. This would put a huge strain on the relationship between the two brothers to the point where they would become estranged. William, his wife, and his children would be killed by Death Eaters during the first wizarding war in 1980.

Marcus was the very definition of “tall, dark, and handsome.” He had shaggy dark hair and deep set brown eyes. He is described as ambitious, handsome, and charismatic.

At Hogwarts, he was a member of the Slug Club and was a chaser and captain of the Slytherin quidditch team.

There he met his future wife, Helena Blackthorn, the only daughter of a prestigious pureblood family from America.

Marcus was the strongest and most talented legilimens to be born into the Aurelius family in centuries.

This gift got him a job at the Ministry of Magic working as an interrogator. It was during his work at the ministry that Marcus developed his ultimate technique.

Marcus was an extremely gifted legilimens--proabably the greatest behind only You-Know-Who himself. He could not only see into a person’s mind without the use of a wand, but he could sense the thoughts of all those around him up to a one-mile radius. Marcus subconsciously sees into the minds of those around him without even trying. His legilimency is so strong that he often finds it harder to NOT use his ability. He is extremely proud of his power and used his job as a way to further develop his abilities beyond the average legilimens.

“Yeah, but you were so preoccupied with whether or not you could, you didn't stop to think if you should.”

While working as an interrogator, Marcus discovered that he could use his legilimency to send his own thoughts or visions into another person’s mind, driving them insane. From there, Marcus was able to deduce that if he was able to create and relay his thoughts into another person’s mind, he could force his will onto another person and control their body.

Marcus kept his technique a secret from the world. Any one who ever had the misfortune of being controlled by Marcus Aurelius never lived to tell the tale.

During the war, Marcus used his new abilities to not only interrogate Death Eaters, but to kill them as well. He developed a reputation as “The Inquisitor” for his ruthlessness.

When his son Jacob turned six, Jacob showed signs of being a legilimens. This made Marcus incredibly happy that he would have an heir to continue not only the Aurelius name, but his work as a legilimens as well. 

When his daughter Alex turned three, she also showed signs of being a legilimens. This was a great shock to Marcus not only because up until that point, only the men of his family were born legilimens, but that she was able to use legilimency even earlier (and better) then his son.

Marcus started to train her along side Jacob. Marcus, overall, favored his son as his one true heir and secretly hoped that his power as a legilimens would continue to grow, but found that it was actually his daughter who had a true talent for legilimency, easily outclassing her older brother even at her young age.

However, after a certain incident when Alex was four and Jacob was eleven, Marcus stopped teaching his kids, fearing that they were growing more powerful then him. 

Towards the end of the war, Claudius Aurelius, Marcus’s father and a known Death Eater, tried to recruit his son for Voldemort’s army.

Marcus idealized his father, but he refused to join on account that his wife was secretly a muggle-born and his own children were half-bloods.

Enraged, Claudius attacked Marcus. Marcus, using his mind control technique, killed his own father in self-defense.

After his son was expelled and went missing, he became extremely over protective and controlling over Alex because she the only remaining heir to the Aurelius family name. 

Helena Rose Aurelius (née Blackthorn)--Mother

Born: April 2, 1947

Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw

Muggle-Born.

The Blackthorn family is prestigious pureblood family from the United States of America.

Helena Blackthorn was orphaned as an infant after both of her biological parents died from pneumonia. She was adopted by the Blackthorns when she was six years old after she accidentally used magic to defend herself against the abusive matron of the orphanage.

Helena has thin blonde hair and bright, icy blue eyes. Helena is very smart and compassionate and carries a strong love of muggle literature which she then passed on to her own children. However, she is also very insecure and needy--mostly due to her abusive experience at the muggle orphanage.

She met Marcus Aurelius (a seventh year) in her fifth year at Hogwarts and fell madly in love with him. However, when she discovered that Marcus was blood prejudiced, she couldn’t bring herself to tell him the truth about her blood status in fear of losing him. She continued to let Marcus believe that she was a pureblood and the two of them got married after Helena graduated from Hogwarts in 1965.

Jacob, their first child, was born a year later in 1966.

Alex was born in 1973, seven years after her older brother Jacob.

Ten years into their marriage, Marcus discovered that Helena was adopted and a muggle-born, not a pureblood as he had originally thought.

Marcus was furious with Helena for lying to him, but Britain was in the midst of the first wizarding war and Marcus feared that if word got out that his wife was actually a muggle-born and not a pureblood, she not only would be killed by Death Eaters (not that he would care, knowing the truth of her heritage), but their children as well.

Marcus couldn’t afford to lose his children. After the death of his brother and his children, Alex and Jacob were the last of Aurelius family line. The discovery that both Jacob and Alex were legilimens only made Marcus even more protective of his two children, and so he kept quiet about his wife’s blood statues and joined the Order of the Phoenix to fight against You-Know-Who in order to ensure the survival of his children.

Helena’s relationship with her husband deteriorated, but they were both horrendously protective of their children (especially during the war).

After the the truth came out, she fell into a deep depression and became very distant from her children.

When Jacob disappeared, that seemed to be the breaking point in her sanity. 

Jacob Julius Aurelius--Brother

Born: September 30, 1966

Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw

Half-blood

Jacob was a boisterous child but often preferred to keep his own company rather then socialize with others, often adventuring on his own around town.

He is described as clever, mischievous, charming, and rebellious. His fatal character flaws are his narcissism and selfishness.

When Jacob turned six years old, he began to show signs of being a legilimens like his father. Jacob trained relentlessly with his father every day to hone his skills and practice his father’s special mind-control technique. By the age of seven, Jacob could successfully control and create realistic visions in another person’s mind.

While learning to control people, he found that the process was horredously painful on the recieving end (they often practiced on muggles and then obliviated them afterwards). Jacob found that he didn’t really care about the pain he inflicted on his victims and even took pleasure in knowing it was he who had the power to create such pain.

This was only one the earlier signs of Jacob’s sociopathic tendencies.

After his sister was born, he had no intention at first of becoming the “big brother” type. But as Alex got older and started to idealize him as her hero, he had a change of heart.

Alex became the most important person in his life... and the only person in the world he could truly love.

Between his parents tense relationship and his mother’s growing depression, Jacob took it upon himself to be Alex’s protector, mentor, and role-model.

When Alex turned three, she started to train along side him in legilimency. 

Right before Jacob went off to Hogwarts (when he was eleven and Alex was three), during one of their training sessions, Marcus forced his children to use their legilimency to control one another.

Jacob went first. He stopped once Alex started to scream.

Marcus then ordered Alex to do the same to Jacob but she refused because she didn’t want to hurt Jacob.

Angered by his daughter’s insolence, Marcus attempted to hit Alex as punishment. But before he could, Jacob steps up to his sister’s defense and uses mind-control to stop his father from hurting Alex. 

Jacob then threatens his father that if he ever tried to hit Alex again, he would use the training his father gave him to drive Marcus insane. 

Jacob left for Hogwarts one tense month later. 

Jacob, similarly to his father, became fascinated with furthering his magical abilities which led to his search for the cursed vaults and his involvement with R. 

Claudius Nero Aurelius--Paternal Grandfather

Born: November 12, 1921

Died: October 1, 1981

Hogwarts House: Slytherin

Pureblood

Legilimens

Claudius was a beater for the Slytherin quidditch team.

Claudius was apart of an arranged marriage with the respected Carrow family. He married Elizabeth Carrow in 1944.

Claudius became a Death Eater at the beginning of the first wizarding war in 1970.

He disowned his second son, Antoninus, when he married a muggle-born. In 1980, Claudius ordered Death Eaters to murder Antoninus and is family.

Claudius attempted to recruit his eldest son to Voldemort’s army, but when Tiberius refused and told his father the truth about his wife’s wizarding heritage, Claudius tried to kill his own son and threaded to do the same to his “filthy half-breed” children.

Claudius was killed by his own son.

Elizabeth Mary Aurelius (née Carrow)--Paternal Grandmother

Born: June 6, 1926

Died: September 15, 1950

Hogwarts House: Slytherin

Pureblood--Member of the Sacred Twenty-Eight

Died giving childbirth to her third son.

Antoninus Octavian Aurelius--Paternal Uncle

Born: October 30, 1947

Died: December 24, 1980

Hogwarts House: Slytherin

Pureblood

Legilimens

At Hogwarts he met and fell in love with Catherine Smith, a muggle-born witch.

They married right after they graduated and started a family.

Antoninus and his family were murdered by Death Eaters on Christmas Eve, 1980.

 Maximinius Gaius Aurelius--Paternal Uncle

Born: September 15, 1950

Died: July 3, 1963

Hogwarts House: Slytherin

Pureblood

Legilimens

Run over and killed by a muggle motor vehicle at age twelve.

Jonathon Henry Blackthorn--Maternal Grandfather

Born: July 4, 1924

Ilvermorny House: Horned Serpent

Pureblood

Jonathon was born into a wealthy and prestigious pure blood family in New York City. He became the sole heir to his family’s fortune when his older brother died from Dragon Pox.

Jonathon met his wife Catherine at Ilvermorny and married her shortly after they both graduated from school.

Unable to have children of there own, the two of them decided to adopt a child.

After hearing rumors about an incident at an orphanage where a little girl miraculously flung the head matron across the room, the couple suspected that the little girl in question was actually a muggle-born witch.

They met and adopted Helena in 1953.

A few months later, Jonathon is offered an editor’s position at the Daily Prophet and they moved to London.

Inadvertently tells his son-in-law that Helena was actually adopted.

After the end of the first wizarding war, he and his wife move back to New York and retire.

Catherine Marie Blackthorn (née Solomon)--Maternal Grandmother  

Born: March 5, 1923

Ilvermorny House: Pukwudgie

Pureblood

After she adopted Helena, she encouraged her daughter to embrace her muggle culture. This sparked the entire family’s love for muggle literature and Catherine’s love of muggle music.

Relationships

Love Interest:

Charlie Weasley

Best Friends (Canon):

Bill Weasley (Alex’s best friend period)

Penny Haywood

Nymphadora Tonks

Tulip Karasu

Friends: 

Rowan Khanna (Best Friend for Years 1-2)

Ben Copper

Barnaby Lee

Andre Egwu

Jae Kim

Badeea Ali

Liz Tuttle

Diego Caplan

Tablott Winger

Chiara Lobosca

Rival(s):

Merula Snyde

Ismelda Murk

Enemy:

R

Patrica Rakepick

Dormmates: 

Rowan Khanna

Tulip Karasu

Skye Parkin

Badeea Ali

Quidditch Teammates: 

Skye Parkin

Orion Amari

Murphy McNully (kind of)

Andre Egwu

Talbott Winger 

Pets:

Commodus--Jacob’s eagle owl; Alex inherited him after Jacob went missing

George--Orange tabby cat; Hagrid gave George to Alex as a kitten as a Christmas gift in her first year

Closest MC Friends:

 None yet ;)

Background/History

Alex was born on August 31st, 1973. 

Her parents were very distant for most of her childhood so grew a strong attachment to her older brother, Jacob. 

When she was three years old, she used legilimency for the first time to read her brothers mind to see where he hid her stuffed toy. 

She began to train with her brother and father to hone her abilities. At the time, she thought of it as more or a game then training. 

After the incident where her father tried to make her use mind-control on her brother, her father stops her lessons, fearing that one day she could grow even more powerful then Jacob, and forbids her from ever using legilimency again. 

Alex tries to obey her father’s wishes, but finds that she can’t suppress her ability no matter how hard she tries. 

She kept her ability a secret from everyone until her fifth year when Dumbledore figured out what she was and arranged for Professor Snape to teach her how to control her ability. 

When her brother goes missing, she was devastated. Jacob was her hero. And because of that, she always tries to make sure that he portrayed in the best light, often ignoring the parts of him that are less then ideal. Alex’s mind is very fixed when it comes to Jacob. She often refuses to believe or talk about anything that doesn’t correspond to the hero image she has of her big brother. 

Her relationship only got more tense with her parents after Jacob’s disappearance. Her father became extremely controlling and over protective of her. 

Her parents became very concerned when she started searching for the cursed-vaults (they even try to keep her from returning to Hogwarts in her third year) but secretly hope that her search will find answers about Jacob. 

After graduating from Hogwarts, Alex joins Bill at Gringotts as a curse-breaker. With her experience with the cursed vaults, she easily becomes the best in her field and rises quickly among the ranks. 

When the second wizarding war breaks out, Alex joins the Order of the Phoenix. She becomes one of the order’s top leaders, leading the rebellion along side other leaders such as Kingsley Shacklebolt and Aberforth Dumbledore. 

After the war, she finally marries Charlie Weasley after dating since their fifth year and moves to Romania. 

Personality

Intelligent, witty, and clever. Alex prefers using her brain rather then her wand to solve her problems. She’s very cool headed for the most part, but if she’s pushed beyond a breaking point, her emotions will get the better of her. Witty comebacks and sarcastic remarks are a must with this girl. 

Compassionate. She loves her friends and family deeply and will do anything to help and protect them. She’s very empathetic so she's often the person her friends come to when they need advice or comfort. 

Ambitious. Nothing will stand in her way once she sets her mind to something. That being said, she has a tendency to become self-absorbed and obsessed with her task, often neglecting herself and others. 

Mischievous and cunning. Alex enjoys messing with people (especially one certain potions master) and gets a huge kick out of all the trouble she can get up to with Tulip and Tonks. 

Brave. Alex is especially courageous and brave in the face of danger. She never backs down from a fight and will always stand up for what she believes is right. 

Guarded. Alex guards her hearts like a Dragon guards its egg: ferociously. She fears letting anyone get too close her after her brother disappeared. However, if you can get through her defense mechanisms (usually some snarky comment), she is a true friend till the bitter end. 

Misc

Her favorite book is a Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Alex and Jacob used to read together before bed time. Their favorite bed time stories included Dickens, Dumas, and the Bronte Sisters. 

She and her brother learned how to read and write Latin from their father. 

Special thanks to @hogwartsmysterystory​ for the template and for inspiring me to do my own Hogwarts Mystery re-write. I used to think that doing a re-write would be stupid, but after seeing so many people having fun writing for their amazing MCs, I decided that I might as well join in on the fun. 

I already have a draft done for year one, but I have some editing and minor planning to do before I move on. Hopefully I’ll be able to post the first chapter soon. 

[my-arya-underfoot]

Titles in Westeros

I know D&D are Just Don’t Care but the shitfest of the Stark’s titles in s7-8 makes my head hurt. I.e.

Jon = King in the North? But not legitimized as a Stark?

Sansa = Lady Stark? Even though Bran is technically Lord of Winterfell? 

Bran and Arya = Siblings of a King, still nobles, but hey no titles for you guys?

Lord/Lady of Winterfell = Separate from Kingship? Who the fucks knows.

According to GRRM, he roughly modelled titles off the English style of peerage and they are used consistently in the books – and hell even in the show for a while.  But the whole treatment of the Starks at the end, totally upends that because hey, what’s one more piece of crap in this monstrosity. 

Because D&D apparently need it and for any fans who want to be accurate, here’s a crash course in how titles in Westeros (apart from Dorne) work:

For Women

Born title for women = Lady + first name.

E.g. Lady Arya, Lady Sansa, Lady Catelyn before she was married, as the daughters of lords.

Married title for women = Lady + surname.

E.g. Lady Stark after Cat is married; Lady Arryn after Lysa married; Lady Baratheon after Selyse married Stannis.

If ladies marry an untitled guy, they still get to be Lady + first-name.

To compare to the system they’re based on, see how these titles operate in Downton Abbey – Cora is addressed as Lady Grantham because she’s married to the Earl of Grantham. Her daughters are Lady Mary, Lady Edith, Lady Sybil etc. not Lady Grantham – in the same way Arya and Sansa were never called Lady Stark as children. When Sybil married common old Tom Branson, she was still Lady Sybil even if she didn’t want to use it.

So overall: If Arya never married, she’d still get to keep Lady Arya for the rest of her life; if she married a titled Gendry, she’d become Lady Baratheon; if she married an untitled Gendry, she’d be Lady Arya.

For Men

Interestingly male nobles don’t automatically get called Lord + first-name, if they’re the sons of lords. If they’re a first-born, they’ll inherit the title lord when their father dies. If they’re a second, third born etc., they don’t technically get anything. However, they may become knights and get Ser.

Title of ruling lord = Lord + First-name and Surname

E.g. Lord Ned Stark, Renly Baratheon, Leyton Hightower and Wyman Manderly as lords of the North, Stormlands, Hightower and White Harbour respectively.

First-born sons of ruling lords = Lord + First name and Surname after their father’s death

E.g. Robert became Lord Robert Baratheon, after Steffon Baratheon died; Robb would have become Lord Robert Stark had he not become King. Edmure became Lord Edmure Tully but he got hella told off by Catelyn for referring to himself as Lord before his father died

Not first-born sons of ruling lords = technically no Lord title

E.g. Bryden Tully is never referred to as a Lord.

Knights = Ser + First-name Last-name

E.g. Ser Bryden Tully, Ser Loras Tyrell, Ser Barristan Selmy.

UNUSUAL CASE: Daughters as heirs = Lady + First name and Surname (and pass through matrilineal line)

 E.g. Lady Lyanna Mormont in the show; Lady Wynafryd Manderly (once her father dies)

Seats

Titles are attached to seats.

Seats: E.g. Hightower, Casterly Rock, Hornwood. The titles and seats come with lands to rule over and in some cases vassal houses.

E.g. Garlan Tyrell initially wasn’t Lord of anything and became Lord of Brightwater Keep and all its lands, thus getting to be Lord Garlan Tyrell

Great houses ruling over entire areas of Westeros = Lord Paramounts

It seems to be the Great houses get Lord Paramount, though that’s a bit hazier.

E.g. Ned is Lord Paramount of the North and Lord of Winterfell (his seat); Jon Arryn is Lord Paramount of the Vale and Lord of the Eyrie.

There’s also Wardens of the North, East, West etc. but that’s another thing.

Interestingly GRRM said his one regret around titles was not giving the ‘Great’ Houses a separate title from Lord and Lady to make it clear they were a step up from normal nobles.

When the North seceded from the Seven Kingdoms Robb became King in the North instead of Lord Paramount but was still Lord of Winterfell.

It’s very unusual for seats to get separated from their lands - who becomes Lord Paramount of the Riverlands and who gets Riverrun as a seat is a massive headache for the Lannisters to sort out in the books. And in that case the separation is forced.  

Generally

Complicating things further is all nobles are generally referred to as my lord or my lady or some version thereof, by commoners. Because, your average Westerosi peasant sees a highborn and uses their common sense. Whether their current Lord, or first-born Lord-to-be, or second-born Lordless; first-name Lady or last-name Lady sure as hell doesn’t matter to them, they just want to get on with life.  

 Back to whatever the hell happened to the Starks in s7 and s8

So, following the established laws of the universe. After the Starks defeat the Boltons, their titles should be as follows:

Lord Brandon Stark of Winterfell/Lord Paramount of the North  

Lady Arya

Jon would still be titleless

Sansa is a weird case – she’d be Lady Sansa as she was born to the title; but she was technically Lady Bolton so could still hold that title. (And that’s not even getting into her marriage with Tyrion – her legally not being allowed to marry Ramsay is a whole other thing).

Instead, as said at the beginning we have King Jon Snow; Lady Stark and titleless Arya and Bran. *face palm* *deep breath*

Let’s break this down: 

The Northern lords making Jon, King in the North means two options:

Option A: By making Jon King in the North, he also becomes Lord of Winterfell so –

He could legitimize himself as a Stark – then arguably Bran, Arya and Sansa all become Princes/Princesses as younger siblings of a King, as with Robb. (Tbh, this seems like the most logical option, as he was made King on the basis of being Ned Stark’s son, as King could legitimise himself and having a Snow as a King would set a lot of teeth on edge. This also makes sense to keep Lord of Winterfell and King in the North linked, due to the above mentioned importance of ancestral seats. But whatever). 

House Stark is officially off the table and House Snow is now ruling the North and Winterfell. (In this case, his half siblings have lost their ancestral home and have zero titles).

Option B: Jon is King in the North but has…no seat, no land, men or vassal houses and it’s effectively a meaningless title. The Starks are still Lords of Winterfell and hold their lands, while he’s King Snow of Nothing except fickle lords.  What’s he meant to do? Go pick some land and build his own castle I guess.

But anyway, logic aside (ha), the show seems to suggest it’s Option B?

But in this case, Bran would be Lord Brandon Stark of Winterfell. However, we get Sansa being referred to as Lady Stark even when Bran is alive, instead of Lady Sansa.

Even with Bran turning the title down, there would need to be some sticky, legal means of that happening – Sansa wouldn’t just be called Lady Stark on whim. There aren’t many examples of titles being given away while the person is still living – they’re either forcibly stripped of them or go into an order than removes them from succession (become a Maester or member of the Nights Watch).

Plus, given the sexism of the Northern lords and their deafening rejection of Sansa as leader at the end of s6, it seems unlikely they’d be fine with her stealing her brother’s birthright once he turned up. (Especially as Bran would be seen as an easily controllable puppet). The most likely thing is Sansa would be acting Lady of Winterfell – but she’d still referred to as Lady Sansa, just as her sister is Lady Arya. (No matter how much Arya complains about the title).

 Then again, when has logic come in to anything? 

No wonder Arya was hella confused when she turned up at the door and they said Lady Stark was ruling.

[dwindledglow]

001. MEET JORDAN

FULL NAME: jordan kade thompson. PREFERRED NAME: jordan. NICKNAME/S: jord and jordie. DATE OF BIRTH: december 17th, 1993. GENDER & PRONOUNS: cis male & he/his. ORIENTATION: hetero. RELIGION: atheist. RELATIONSHIP STATUS: married to alice thompson. OCCUPATION: music producer, songwriter and entrepreneur. RESIDENCE: in between soho, new york city and sag harbor, suffolk county.

002. CHECK JORDAN’S BACKGROUND

HOMETOWN: tallahassee, florida. NATIONALITY: american. ETHNIC BACKGROUND: afro-american. LINGUISTICS: english which is his native language and spanish and french in a fluent level. EDUCATION: he has graduated from high-school and attended cuny's john jay college of criminal justice where he did two years of criminology and criminal justice before having to drop out due to financial difficulties. CRIMINAL RECORD: clean. BIRTH ORDER: third. FATHER: tyler dajan brown, born on april 30th, 1965 in baltimore, maryland. his whereabouts, as well as living situation, are unknown to jordan but last he heard, he worked as a record store clerk in atlantic city, new jersey. MOTHER: nora jada thompson, born on august 4th, 1968 in st. petersburg, florida, currently residing in sagaponack, suffolk county. she is the owner of four restaurants - wabi-sabi, a japanese cuisine place in soho, new york city, 1946 house, a contemporary french-american cuisine place in miami beach, florida, magari, an italian cuisine place in dumbo, brooklyn and scusi, an italian cuisine restaurant in miami, florida. SISTER/S: alexandra kalla thompson, born on january 7th, 1999 in philadelphia, pennsylvania, currently residing in new york and working as a model and professional dancer. BROTHER/S: william bakari thompson, born on july 1st, 1987 in tallahassee, florida, currently residing in new york city and working as a personal trainer. carter kaluuya thompson, born on may 21st, 1991 in tallahassee, florida, currently residing in new york city and working as a publicist. SIGNIFICANT OTHER: alice thompson, née cooper. CHILDREN: maya anne thompson, born on october 19th, 2018 in southampton, new york. ivy ayana thompson, born on november 8th, 2019 in southampton, new york. OTHER RELEVANT FAMILY: amani robins thompson, née white, william’s wife thus sister-in-law. monique byers-thompson, carter’s wife thus sister-in-law. jada niaara thompson, carter & monique’s daughter, niece. bryson alexander hill, alexandra’s fiancé thus brother-in-law. apollo kade hill, alexandra & bryson’s son, nephew. EX/ES: isobel powell and jessica loyle. PETS: kovu and kopa, two pomskys and cookie, a pug.

003. GET UP CLOSE & PERSONAL

HEIGHT: 6′3″ or 192 cm. WEIGHT: between 177 lbs or 80 kg and 181 lbs or 82 kg. BODY BUILD: jordan has what's considered the ideal weight for his height. he has a fast metabolism so albeit not upkeeping any kind of strict diet or following a specific eating plan, it's hard for him to put on much weight. up until a few years ago — five or six — and following how he stopped regularly exercising / playing basketball, he had a, somewhat, thin figure but ever since he started working out again, he has managed to get some lean muscle. overall, he has a toned body with defined abs and muscular arms. EYE COLOR: dark, earthy brown. EYESIGHT: his eyesight has no problems. HAIR COLOR & STYLE: when the topic in question regards personal style, it's hard to describe jordan's seeing as it is ever-changing. he has dreads and, most of the time, that's the extent he'll go to with his hairstyle. every so often, he'll get tired of having his hair down and he'll go for pigtails — which is one of his favorites hair styles — or a ponytail. when he wants his hair completely out of his way, he'll section his hair and part it in two cornrows and on the rare, he wears half of his hair up and the other half down. DOMINANT HAND: right. NOTABLE PHYSICAL TRAITS: the most notable physical trait is, without a doubt, the unusual birthmark on his cheek. besides it, and despite not doing it nearly as often ( unless he's around people he loves ), his smile / laugh are another thing that distinguishes him. there's also his towering frame, his ever-changing hair styles and his chiselled features on top of it. SCARS AND MARKS: asides from your every day, average scars here and there, jordan has a two larger and notable ones : the first on the underside of his right arm courtesy of breaking his arm when he was a kid and the second on his left knee, the result of a surgery he had to be submitted to due to an injury he made when he used to play basketball. he has a distinguishing birthmark on his cheek but, other than that, and sans a few moles here and there, jordan has no other relevant marks. TATTOOS: he has the quote on your own and for yourself in morse code tattooed around his right wrist — reference —, a reminder to keep going, no matter what might happen in his life; on his left wrist, he has a W — reference — which is the initial of his older brother's name; he has the outline of new york's skyline, in white ink, tattooed on the inside of his right arm — reference. on the back of his left arm, he has the geographic coordinates to alexandra's — his younger sister — and jada's — his niece — birth places — reference. on his left ankle, he has excelsior tattooed in bold font, new york city's motto. on his ribcage, a little below his left pectoral, he has the sound wave of his mother saying i love you tattooed. there's the word saudara — meaning brother in indonesian and which he got along with his brother carter — on the right side of his ribcage. he has the quote to new memories tattooed on the inside of his left arm — reference — something he got shortly after he moved to bali. he has the word clarity on small, uppercase font on the right side his neck. on the back of his right upper arm, he has two hands — reference. he has the word power on the back of his left hand. there's the quote self consciousness is heavy along his right hip. on his left collarbone, he has the quote dum spiro spero which translates into while i breathe, i hope and on his right collarbone, he has the quote esse quam videri which translates into to be, rather than to seem. he has the quote and still i rise in bold, uppercase and small font on the back of his neck. on the back of his left ankle he has the word tallahassee in uppercase and bold font, representing the city he was born, and on the back of his right ankle, also in bold font, he has 1993, the year he was born in. for his and ally’s daughters, on the inside of his upper right arm, he has maya shaped to form a heart and, likewise, ivy on the inside of his upper left arm. additionally, he has the sentence ten planes in cursive, recalling when alice and him first started dating and he mentioned how he’d fly ten planes for her.  PIERCINGS: he has two piercings on his left regular lobe. VOICECLAIM: daniel caesar. ACCENT & INTENSITY: jordan's accent is somewhat of a hybrid thing — it's not a strong and prominent new york accent but it's also not the closest to a philadelphia accent. growing up and just as he moved to new york, it was easy to place how there was a philly accent to his way of speaking... slowly but surely, it started to fade away and nowadays, he has more of a faint new york accent. ALLERGIES: none that he knows of. PHOBIAS & FEARS: trypophobia. MENTAL & PHYSICAL ILLNESSES: none so far. ALCOHOL USE: sometimes, mostly on social situations. SMOKING: yes, he’s been trying to reduce it but he still does smoke. NARCOTICS USE: if he's in the studio, completely stressed out and needing a way to get creativity flowing, he does smoke weed. INDULGENT FOOD: not very often. SPLURGE SPENDING: yes, sometimes. GAMBLING: no, never.

004. DIG DEEPER

CAN THEY DRIVE? yes, he can drive. CAN THEY COOK & BAKE? yes and yes. CAN THEY CHANGE A FLAT TIRE? yes. CAN THEY TIE A TIE? yes. CAN THEY SWIM? yes. CAN THEY RIDE A BICYCLE? yes. CAN THEY JUMP START A CAR? yes. CAN THEY BRAID HAIR? yes. CAN THEY PICK A LOCK? yes. EXTROVERTED OR INTROVERTED? extroverted. DISORGANIZED OR ORGANIZED? organized. CLOSE OR OPEN MINDED? open minded. CALM OR ANXIOUS? calm. PATIENT OR IMPATIENT? patient. OUTSPOKEN OR RESERVED? outspoken. LEADER OR FOLLOWER? leader, but willing to listen to others and compromise. OPTIMISTIC OR PESSIMISTIC? in-between. TRADITIONAL OR MODERN? modern. HARD-WORKING OR LAZY? hard-working. CULTURED OR UNCULTURED? cultured. LOYAL OR DISLOYAL? loyal. FAITHFUL OR UNFAITHFUL? faithful. NIGHT OWL OR EARLY BIRD? a mixture of both depending on the days. HEAVY OR LIGHT SLEEPER? not heavy, nor light. an in-between. COFFEE OR TEA? coffee. DAY OR NIGHT? night. TAKING BATHS OR SHOWERS? showers. COCA COLA OR PEPSI? coca-cola. CATS OR DOGS? dogs. NETFLIX OR CINEMA? cinema. SHOWS OR MOVIES? movies. LAPTOP OR GAMING CONSOLE? laptop. HEALTHY OR JUNK FOOD? healthy food. ICE CREAM OR FROZEN YOGURT? ice cream. PIZZA OR HAMBURGER? hamburger. LOLLIPOPS OR GUMMY WORMS? gummy worms. BEACH OR POOL? beach. SNOWBALLS FIGHTING OR ICESKATING? both. LITERATURE OR SCIENCE? literature. HISTORY OR ART? art. CHOCOLATE BARS OR COTTON CANDY? cotton candy. XBOX OR PLAYSTATION? playstation. FACE-TO-FACE OR PHONE INTERACTIONS? face-to-face interactions. DRAMA OR SCI-FI? drama. HORROR OR COMEDY? both.

005. JORDAN’S FAVORITES

FAVORITE ACTIVITY: songwriting. FAVORITE ANIMAL: panther. FAVORITE BOOK: he has no favorite book so far. FAVORITE COLOR/S: orange and blue. FAVORITE CUISINE: thai. FAVORITE DISH/ES: jollof rice, khao soi, nasi goreng and yum woon sen. FAVORITE DRINK/S: coffee, limeade and thai tea, patron and hennessy. FAVORITE FLOWER/S: chocolate cosmos. FAVORITE GEM: topaz. FAVORITE MOVIE: fences by denzel washington. FAVORITE SONG: like really by oddisee. FAVORITE SCENT/S: coffee, cinnamon, mint and citrus. FAVORITE SHOW/S: how to get away with murder is the only show he really follows and his all time favorite show is the fresh prince of bel air. FAVORITE SPORT/S & TEAM THEY SUPPORT: basketball, he supports philadelphia 76rs and miami heat, baseball, he supports new york yankees, american football, he supports philadelphia eagles, hockey, he supports philadelphia flyers and tampa bay lightning, soccer, he supports tottenham hotspur fc, barcelona fc and juventus fc, formula 1, he supports mercedes amg petronas, and the list continues — he loves sports. FAVORITE SEASON OF THE YEAR: fall. VACATION DESTINATION: sidi bou said, tunisia and bali, indonesia.

[shishidoryofan]

Stardust

I am extremely late with this entry, but I figured I should still post them :)

--

RobStar Day 2

In a town called Gotham, there once lived a teenage boy.

He was the adopted son of the richest man to ever set foot in Gotham, but despite that, the boy was never really popular. The girls would admits he was good looking, but his personality was a real turn off for them.

Instead of showing off his riches, this young man would rather spend his time with the less fortunate kids. The young man also had a weird obsession of doing cart-wheels, climbing things, and jumping down the highest structures in Gotham. In fact, he was so jumpy, that the people of Gotham nicknamed him “Robin” despite his name being Richard.

What made Robin unusual is that no one really knows where he came from. His insanely rich adopted father one day showed up with a body in his arms, but refused to say where he had acquired the baby. The kids Robin’s age all assumed that he was just the illegitimate son and the “adopted” story was just a ruse so that the rich bachelor could save face with his people.

Anyways, the adopted son Robin set out one of his young teenage years trying to confess his love to his crush. She was a girl who also lived in Gotham and though her family was no as rich as him, they were still considered to be in similar circles.

Robin was ready. He knocked on her door with flowers and baked goods already in hand. His hair was combed and clothes were ironed and fresh. Robin totally had the appearance of an awkward model at a photo shoot. Girls were totally taking pictures behind the bushes.

“I’m pretty sure in this time period, there are no such times as photo shoots...or cameras.”

“I doubt your daughter can comprehend when technically was invented. Plus, my story. My stroke of genius.”

But the girl, called the young maiden, was strangely enough, not interested in our dear Robin. She saw him only as her annoying jumpy brother. Plus, she was actually in love with the son of the guy who worked alongside Robin’s father.

The minute the young maiden opened the door and held the path open for Robin to come in, he shoved the flowers and baked goods in her face.

“I loved you since we were little kids, please go out with me with marriage in consideration!”

“Um...Oh….”The young maiden did not know what to say. She was read bad at social interactions (computers were her thing) in general, but she could not just ignore his love confession like she does a friend’s text to go somewhere when you really just to stay home and relax-

So the young maiden did the next best thing. She took Robin for a walk in the park so that they could talk in private, away from the picture snapping girls.

Also, did I mention it was night time? Because it was nighty-night time.

As they sat on a bench at the park, they suddenly found themselves at lost on what to say to each other. Robin kept blushing and his focus kept switching from the young maiden’s face to his flowers still being carried in his hand. The young maiden was at lost as to how she could easily reject him, convince him that they simply worked better as friends.

That was when suddenly up in the night sky appeared a shooting star. What they did not realize at that moment, however, was that shooting ball of gas was no ordinary star, but the young maiden did not know that when ideas started forming in her head.

Suddenly Robin felt his attention running slowly towards the shooting star. It was like a premonition that he should be following that celestial force.

“Can we stop using big words?! She does not know what celestial means!”

“Stop interrupting my stroke of genius! Besides, your daughter is a quick learner.”

Anyways, Robin wanted to follow the direction of the star and the young maiden could sense it. While Robin never said it out loud, people in the town always had a feeling that Robin was not the type to like staying in one place long. There were a lot of times the young maiden would find him looking at the town’s limit wall. He wanted to travel outside of Gotham, but something prevented him from doing so.

“Robin, I’ll think about marrying you, but on one condition.” The young maiden pointed towards the direction of the star. “I want you to leave Gotham and retrieve me a piece of that shooting star.”

“But-”

The young maiden was already standing up tidying her clothes from the wrinkles that sitting caused. “No buts! I want you to leave Gotham and explore the world a little.

“…Okay.”

“Doesn’t she sound too eager for me to leave my hometown? Am I getting bullied in the story by my peers and my character doesn’t realize it?”

Ignoring that, Robin went back home, feeling half excited, half anxious. He did always want to leave Gotham, but he never had that push up until now. Would his rich bachelor adopted father approve of him just abruptly leaving? Would he forgive him for leaving?

Robin’s mind pondered as he packed his small carry on bag. As he was in the motion of bested the bad over his shoulders, he heard a knock on his door.

“So how did the love thing go?” His father asked.

“She said she will think about marrying me only if I can retrieve a piece of a shooting star.”

“That’s a little,,,distant ways to go.”

Robin shook his head. “I always wanted to leave, explore places that aren’t constantly Gotham.”

Instead of looking happy or mad, his father’s face was full of an expression of contemplation.

“Big word.”

“I’m telling my story!”

“Follow me.” His father said as he turned around. Robin followed him to the attic underneath the house. The attic was artificially lit with torches that looked like it was from a dungeon. I don’t really know how the Wayne’s attic really looks, but I believe your gramps place is probably scarier than a medieval dungeon.

So here Robin was, sitting in his attic with his adopted father across from his rang of view. “Is everything alright?” He asks almost like a whisper.

His father sighed. “As you know the story, I adopted you as a toddler. Even though we aren’t blood related, I love you as though you are my own.”

“i feel the same way.”

His father reached out into his pockets and pulled out a candle. “This was given to me by the same man who handled you to me. He said his name was Haley.”

Robin blinked “Haley?” That name had a warm feeling in his heart for some reason.

“You come from a family of acrobats in what was once Haley’s circus.”

“That makes sense. It actually explains a lot about me. What happened?”

“They passed away.”

Robin found himself looking at the ground. This was not what he wanted to hear before he left. Was his father trying to say that the outside would was dangerous?

“Richard,” the outside world is dangerous, but not bad.” There it goes. “This planet is home to many dangerous beings.” He handed Robin the candle. “This will instantly transport you to anywhere, but it only works three times.”

“Why are you giving this to me now?”

“If you want to get to any place in less than a minute, hold on to the candle and imagine the place or person you want to see.”

Robin looked down at the candle when suddenly his body started to shine. In an instant he was out of Wayne’s Manor. He had teleport out of Gotham.

“That is a very convenient that there is a candle that can just bring you to where you want to go.”

“My story. My major candle with powers.”

♣♣♣

Now let us here about the shooting star.

Like I said earlier, this shooting star was no ordinary star. In fact, to her people, they were not stars at all, but a group of species that absorbed the power of the to survive. They all were very beautiful and shines as bright as any light you have ever seen.

“Look, she clapping her hands together. I guess my story is really good to hear.”

“She is getting excited because she knows who you are talking about.”

This shooting star landed on a the ground in a beautiful white dress and perfect long hair that if you didn’t know any better, would say is impossible to mange and look that good.

Anyways, this star was very confused and scared as she searched her surroundings. She was just peacefully enjoying time with her family until something knocked her out of the sky. Stupid Earth beings.

As she slowly got up from her spot. She was suddenly pressed back down by the presence of a guy falling on top of her.

Her head hurt and she wanted to go home. The extra weight on top of her did not help the situation any. Especially cause she could not understand what the person on top of her was saying.

The guy made weird faces and hand gestures as he stared down at her. He looked worried, so maybe he was apologizing for already making her bad day worse.

But he did not seem like a bad guy. Also, he was very cute for earth being.

So the Star did what any reasonable girl would of done in her situation: she kissed him by leaning forward and capturing his lips.

That seemed to shut the guy up and left him stunned for a good few seconds. The shooting Star than used that time to dust the dust off of her dress and slowly will herself to stand up again.

“You…you…You kissed me!” Robin muttered as he touched his lips.

“If you wish not to be harmed, you will stay down.” She starred down at the boy who was now out of his trance and getting up himself.

Robin held his hand out to the shooting star. Despite the rough beginning, he still needed to take this present back home so that the love of his life will date and marry him. But that star sure was pretty. Very pretty. Did all shooting stars turn into beautiful women when they reached earth? He just figured he would be carrying pieces of a rock or shiny stardust back home. Robin cheeks turned red just at the though.

“Now you are blushing. I thought you did like fairy tales?”

“I-I’m not blushing!”

“See my faithful listener. Your daddy always blushes whenever your mommy’s involved.”

Despite thinking that the young man was equally cute, the star was hesitate to take his hand. Was he the reason she got knocked out of space? If she took his hand, was that technically her being kidnapped? Before the stat could mentally answer the question, the young man grabbed her right hand himself and started dragging her away.

Now I will not go into too much detail about their adventures together because that seem like totally awesome stores to tell you for another day, but it was a challenge for Robin and Star to get back to Gotham.

The first mishap was when Star ran away and was captured by this scary witch named kitten and her spider boyfriend. And no, when I say spider, I don’t mean Spider-Man, but an actual spider for a head. It took Robin, with the help of fellow hero Red Star, a lot of work to get Star out of kitten’s clutches. The only way they were able to safely get out was by using the candle.

The second mishap is when using that very same candle landed them on a pirate ship. However, this pirate ship was run by an amazing captain nicknamed Cyborg Stone. He was feared all throughout the world for his merciless defeats.

“Now you are just praising yourself!”

This captain was so awesome that he made Robin look like a stud. I mean, he was already good looking, but now he did not have the hair and clothing of a sheltered rich boy. Star was also given tones of purple dresses, but there was not much the captain could do to her already beautiful appearance.

While Robin was already agile with his acrobatics and martial arts, Captain Cyborg taught him more about the outside world. How to be “street” smart if that is easier to understand.

Star was the one who was slowly changing Robin the most. After his first disaster with Kitten, Robin had told her the main reason he was venturing out of Gotham was to impress a young maiden back at home.

“If you have to go on this huge unnecessary mission just to prove your love, than she does not really love you.” Star’s face soften as she wrapped her arms around him. “At least, she does not love you the same way you love her.”

Robin actually took that very nicely. He did not dare tell Star, but this whole two weeks he has been away from Gotham has lifted his crush on the young maiden back home. In fact, Robin felt himself falling for Star. Her smiled, her fearlessness, the way she went out to always make sure he was okay was really getting to him.

But Robin had originally only got her as a present, for a girl whom he did not love anymore.

When the captain dropped them off to a safe point near Gotham, it was not Robin who was dragging his feet. Starfire was now eager to meet the young maiden and see Gotham, but Robin was unsure what would happen next.

Would the young maiden want to keep Starfire as some kind of roommate? Would they simply meet and Starfire would try to go back home?

No! He did not want her to go back home. Robin wanted her to stay with him.

So Robin, being the lovesick troubled young man he was, did his best to try to bring some harsh distance between him and Star. He started ignoring Star and would only speak to her to usher out directions. In return, Starfire would try to start up a conversation that he would not reply to.

It was especially heartbreaking for Starfire because she did not understand simple human cues. She was also in love with Robin, but she feared her existence as someone “from the sky” meant the he would never be actually interested in her.

“Da Bah.” A yawn. “Bah.”

“Yeah! Bad Robin!”

Robin, now wanted to get back to Gotham to watch the train-wreck that was his love life, decided to trust a random lady and on a carriage as a ride back home.

That was the third mishap.

The lady, named Jinx, had offered a kind gesture to bring them to the outskirts of the wall and they would just have to walk the rest of the way. The lady also had with her a lady with what appeared to be a tape over her mouth and green monkey sitting next to her.

Strange, but Robin had seen worst being here over the walls.

That was when suddenly the lady named Jinx lifted up her hands and aim some kind of magical lightning at Robin. Once the smoke cleared, everyone turned to see not to see the young man we have grown to love, but a fragile small bird.

An actual Robin.

You are probably wondering how our dear Star reacted to seeing the love of her life turned to- okay, you are asleep, so maybe we can save the rest of the story for another day.

The toddler who Vic was telling the story to held tightly to her blanket as she made soft breathing noises.

Her father reached down to pick her up. It was time for her usual afternoon nap. Plus, her mother was probably already missing their baby and would want to see her when she gets back.

[chthonicdivinebard]

The hymn [Fifth Homeric Hymn] begins with a description of the power of Aphrodite over the world of animals, mortals, and the Gods. Only the three virgins, Artemis, Athena, and Hestia, are immune to Her. She even causes Zeus to mingle in love with mortal women. To counter Her power to do this (and to mock Her victim after the fact), Zeus casts a "sweet desire" into Aphrodite to make Her join with a mortal, the "Godlike Anchises," of whom She then becomes terribly enamored. But first She repairs to Her sanctuary in Cyprus to be washed and anointed with oil and perfumed with ambrosia and dressed and decorated with gold by the Graces. She then flies to Mount Ida, near Troy, a great center for the worship of Aphrodite; there were many shrines on its rocky slopes. Animals fawn on Her, but She casts a love spell and they go off, playing in pairs (this scene seems to echo the scene with Circe in the "Odyssey".) She finds Anchises alone, playing thrillingly on his lyre. (The shepherd's hut and the rest are part of the liminal or marginal locale, outside the usual realm of houses and fields, where unusual events can be expected.) Aphrodite stands before him "in the form and size of a young virgin" in a robe that was "brighter than a fire-flash, and She had on spiral ringlets, and bright ornaments, and necklaces around Her delicate neck that were very beautiful and lovely and golden and finely wrought, shining like the moon on Her delicate breasts, and astonishing." Love gripped Anchises, who said that She must must be a Goddess or one of the Graces or a mountain nymph, that he would build Her a temple, and that She should in turn make his progeny flourish and his age great. (His response clearly parallels that of Odysseus when he meets Nausicaa- whom he surely did not regard as a Goddess- and both responses would seem to illustrate the code of courtship and amatory flattery.) Aphrodite answers that She is the daughter of the king of nearby Phrygia, speaks Trojan because of Her Trojan nurse, and has been caught up from Her dancing round and whisked away to Mount Ida by Hermes, who has told Her She would be Anchises' lawful wife, bearing him "splendid babies." She begs to be presented to his family "as a virgin (unbroken) and unexperienced in love," and that Her own family be informed, so that the proper dowry of gold and garments can be provided, as well as a desirable wedding feast. She throws "sweet desire" into Anchises. (Note that the idom here is the same one used of Zeus, with its implication of acting on an object, as contrasted with the usual Aphrodite action of entering into someone and so arousing passion within them.) Anchises is seized by love and declares that nothing can stop them from making love now, even if they have to go to Hades as a result. Aphrodite follows, Her eyes lowered, to Anchises' couch of bear and lion skins, and "first he took the bright ornaments from Her body, brooches and spiral ringlets and flower-like necklaces. He loosened Her beautiful clothes and Her girdle and put them on a silver chair...and slept, a mortal, with an immortal Goddess, not knowing what he did." He eventually falls asleep. Awakened in the late afternoon by Aphrodite, he finds Her before him in undisguised and divine beauty, "and Her head touched the well-hewn rooftree. Beauty shone from Her cheeks." Anchises is terrified and, turning away, asks that he not be made impotent. She reassures him and tells the story of Ganymede, who was granted immortality because of His beauty; but She tells also of Dawn, who forgot to request youth for Her lover, Tithonus, along with eternal life..."I would not want you to be among the immortals like that, and live forever." Yet there is no suggestion- as there would be if another Queen of Heaven were involved- of Her slaying Anchises for having slept with Her, or of having him slain, or of his being slain through the jealousy of another divinity. Her main concern is for their child, whom She promises to have brought up well by the ambrosia-eating nymphs. (The model of being raised by the nymphs may be of Phrygian origin.) This son of theirs, the future Aeneas, will be returned in his fifth year and will rule among the Trojans. But Her second and almost equal concern is about having slept with a mortal; She fears mockery from Her fellow Olympians. Thus She enjoins Anchises to declare to all that the child's mother was a "flower-like nymph," for otherwise he will be struck down by one of Zeus' thunderbolts. (There is a special irony here, since it was Zeus who got Her involved with Anchises in the first place and would thus be well aware of Her visit and its outcome.)

“The Meaning of Aphrodite” by Paul Friedrich (p 66-8)

[bountyofbeads]

Elizabeth Warren Is Completely Serious https://nyti.ms/2KlW3oV

PLEASE READ and SHARE this FASCINATING, IN-DEPTH expose on Elizabeth Warren's life, her DEEPLY HELD BELIEFS and excellent POLICY prescriptions to ADDRESS INCOME INEQUALITY, CORPORATE POWER and CORRUPTION in policies. She is an AMAZINGLY INTELLIGENT strong woman.

#2020PresidentalCandidates

#2020Vision #VoteBlue2020 #2020PresidentialElection

Elizabeth Warren Is Completely Serious

About income inequality. About corporate power. About corrupt politics. And about being America’s next president.

By Emily Bazelon | Published June 17, 2019 | New York Times | Posted June 17, 2019 |

The first time I met Elizabeth Warren, she had just come home from a walk with her husband and her dog at Fresh Pond, the reservoir near her house in Cambridge, Mass. It was a sunny day in February, a couple of weeks after Warren announced her candidacy for president, and she was wearing a navy North Face jacket and black sneakers with, as usual, rimless glasses and small gold earrings. Her hair had drifted a bit out of place.

The dog, Bailey, is a golden retriever who had already been deployed by her presidential campaign in a tweet a week earlier, a pink-tongued snapshot with the caption “Bailey will be your Valentine.” Warren started toweling off his paws and fur, which were coated in mud and ice from the reservoir, when she seemed to realize that it made more sense to hand this task over to her husband, Bruce Mann.

In the kitchen, Warren opened a cupboard to reveal an array of boxes and canisters of tea. She drinks many cups a day (her favorite morning blend is English breakfast). Pouring us each a mug, she said, “This is a fantasy.” She was talking about the enormous platform she has, now that she’s running for president, to propagate policy proposals that she has been thinking about for decades. “It’s this moment of being able to talk about these ideas, and everybody says, ‘Oh, wait, I better pay attention to this.’” She went on: “It’s not about me; it’s about those ideas. We’ve moved the Overton window” — the range of ideas deemed to merit serious consideration — “on how we think about taxes. And I think, I think we’re about to move it on child care.”

Her plan, announced in January, would raise $2.75 trillion in revenue over 10 years through a 2 percent tax on assets over $50 million and a higher rate for billionaires. Warren wants to use some of that money to pay for universal child care on a sliding scale. As she talked, she shifted around in her chair — her hands, her arms, her whole body leaning forward and moving back. Onstage, including at TV town halls, she prefers to stand and pace rather than sit (she tries to record six miles a day on her Fitbit), and sometimes she comes across as a little frenetic, like a darting bird. One on one, though, she seemed relaxed, intent.

Warren moved to Cambridge in 1995 when she took a tenured job at Harvard Law School, and 11 years later, Mann, who is a legal historian, got a job there, too. By then they had bought their house; Warren’s two children from a previous marriage, her daughter, Amelia, and son, Alexander, were already grown. The first floor is impeccable, with a formal living room — elegant decorative boxes arranged on a handsome coffee table — a cozy sunroom and a gleaming kitchen with green tile countertops. When Warren taught classes at Harvard, she would invite her students over for barbecue and peach cobbler during the semester. Some of them marveled at the polish and order, which tends not to be the norm in faculty homes. Warren says she scoops up dog toys before people come over.

For her entire career, Warren’s singular focus has been the growing fragility of America’s middle class. She made the unusual choice as a law professor to concentrate relentlessly on data, and the data that alarms her shows corporate profits creeping up over the last 40 years while employees’ share of the pie shrinks. This shift occurred, Warren argues, because in the 1980s, politicians began reworking the rules for the market to the specifications of corporations that effectively owned the politicians. In Warren’s view of history, “The constant tension in a democracy is that those with money will try to capture the government to turn it to their own purposes.” Over the last four decades, people with money have been winning, in a million ways, many cleverly hidden from view. That’s why economists have estimated that the wealthiest top 0.1 percent of Americans now own nearly as much as the bottom 90 percent.

As a presidential candidate, Warren has rolled out proposal after proposal to rewrite the rules again, this time on behalf of a majority of American families. On the trail, she says “I have a plan for that” so often that it has turned into a T-shirt slogan. Warren has plans (about 20 so far, detailed and multipart) for making housing and child care affordable, forgiving college-loan debt, tackling the opioid crisis, protecting public lands, manufacturing green products, cracking down on lobbying in Washington and giving workers a voice in selecting corporate board members. Her grand overarching ambition is to end America’s second Gilded Age.

[Elizabeth Warren has lots of plans.Together, they would remake the economy.]

“Ask me who my favorite president is,” Warren said. When I paused, she said, “Teddy Roosevelt.” Warren admires Roosevelt for his efforts to break up the giant corporations of his day — Standard Oil and railroad holding companies — in the name of increasing competition. She thinks that today that model would increase hiring and productivity. Warren, who has called herself “a capitalist to my bones,” appreciated Roosevelt’s argument that trustbusting was helpful, not hostile, to the functioning of the market and the government. She brought up his warning that monopolies can use their wealth and power to strangle democracy. “If you go back and read his stuff, it’s not only about the economic dominance; it’s the political influence,” she said.

What’s crucial, Roosevelt believed, is to make the market serve “the public good.” Warren puts it like this: “It’s structural change that interests me. And when I say structural, the point is to say if you get the structures right, then the markets start to work to produce value across the board, not just sucking it all up to the top.”

But will people respond? Warren has been a politician for only seven years, since she announced her run for the Senate in 2011 at age 62. She’s still thinking through how she communicates her ideas with voters. “The only thing that worries me is I won’t describe it in a way that — ” she trailed off. “It’s like teaching class. ‘Is everybody in here getting this?’ And that’s what I just struggle with all the time. How do I get better at this? How do I do more of this in a way that lets people see it, hear it and say, ‘Oh, yeah.’”

In the months after Donald Trump’s stunning victory in 2016, Warren staked out territory as a fierce opponent of the president’s who saw larger forces at play in her party’s defeat. While many Democratic leaders focused on Trump himself as the problem, Warren gave a series of look-in-the-mirror speeches. In the first, to the executive council of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. on Nov. 10, she said that although there could be “no compromise” on standing up to Trump’s bigotry, millions of Americans had voted for him “despite the hate” — out of their deep frustration with “an economy and a government that doesn’t work for them.” Later that month, she gave a second speech behind closed doors to a group that included wealthy liberal donors and went hard at her fellow Democrats for bailing out banks rather than homeowners after the 2008 financial crisis. In another speech, in February 2017, to her ideological allies in the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Warren said: “No matter how extreme Republicans in Washington became, Democrats might grumble or whine, but when it came time for action, our party hesitated and pushed back only with great reluctance. Far too often, Democrats have been unwilling to get out there and fight.”

Warren fought in those early months by showing up at the Women’s March and at Logan Airport in Boston to protest Trump’s travel ban. On the Senate floor, opposing the nomination of Jeff Sessions to be Trump’s first attorney general, she read a letter by Coretta Scott King criticizing Sessions for his record of suppressing the black vote in Alabama, and Republican leaders rebuked her and ordered her to stop. The moment became a symbol of the resistance, with the feminist meme “Nevertheless, She Persisted,” a quote from the majority leader, Mitch McConnell, defending the move to silence her. Warren helped take down Trump’s first choice for labor secretary, the fast-food magnate Andy Puzder (he called his own employees the “bottom of the pool”), and she called for an investigation of the Trump administration’s botched recovery efforts in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.

But somewhere along the way to announcing her candidacy, Warren’s influence faded. She was no longer the kingmaker or queenmaker whose endorsement Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders avidly sought during their 2016 primary battle. When Warren failed to endorse Sanders, the left saw her decision as an act of betrayal, accusing her of propping up the Democratic establishment instead of trying to take it down. (When I asked Warren if she had regrets, she said she wasn’t going to revisit 2016.) Sanders emerged as the standard-bearer of the emboldened progressive movement.

Trump, meanwhile, was going after Warren by using the slur “Pocahontas” to deride her self-identification in the 1980s and ’90s as part Native American. In the summer of 2018, he said that if she agreed to take a DNA test in the middle of a televised debate, he would donate $1 million to her favorite charity. Warren shot back on Twitter by condemning Trump’s practice of separating immigrant children from their parents at the border (“While you obsess over my genes, your Admin is conducting DNA tests on little kids because you ripped them from their mamas”). But a few months later, she released a videosaying she had done the DNA analysis, and it showed that she had distant Native American ancestry. The announcement backfired, prompting gleeful mockery from Trump (“I have more Indian blood than she has!”) and sharp criticism from the Cherokee Nation, who faulted her for confusing the issue of tribal membership with blood lines. Warren apologized, but she seemed weaker for having taken Trump’s bait.

Sanders is still the Democratic candidate with a guru’s following and a magic touch for small-donor fund-raising, the one who can inspire some 4,500 house parties in a single weekend. And he has used his big policy idea, Medicare for All, to great effect, setting the terms of debate on the future of health care in his party.

With four more years of Trump on the line, though, it’s Joe Biden — the party’s most known quantity — who is far out in front in the polls. Challenging Biden from the left, Warren and Sanders are not calling wealthy donors or participating in big-money fund-raisers. Sanders has been leading Warren in the polls, but his support remains flat, while her numbers have been rising, even besting his in a few polls in mid-June. Warren and Sanders are old friends, which makes it awkward when her gain is assumed to be his loss. Early in June, an unnamed Sanders adviser ridiculed Warren’s electability by calling her DNA announcement a “debacle” that “killed her,” according to U.S. News & World Report. A couple of weeks before the first Democratic primary debates, on June 26 and 27, I asked her what it was like to run against a friend. “You know, I don’t think of this as competing,” she responded. It was the least plausible thing she said to me.

In March, Warren demonstrated her appetite for challenging the economic and political dominance of corporate titans by going directly at America’s biggest tech companies. In a speech in Long Island City, Queens — where local protesters demanded that Amazon drop its plan to build a big new campus — Warren connected the companies’ success at smothering start-up rivals to their influence in Washington. She remarked dryly that the large amounts that businesses like Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple spend on lobbying is a “good return on investment if they can keep Washington from enforcing the antitrust laws.” She wants to use those laws to break up the companies instead — a move that no other major American politician had proposed.

After Warren started talking about the four tech giants, along with other critics, the Trump administration let it be known that it was scrutinizing them for potential antitrust violations. Conservatives have suspected social media platforms of bias against them for years, and with concerns about privacy violations escalating, big tech was suddenly a bipartisan target. Warren has specifics about how to reduce their influence; she wants to undo the mergers that allowed Facebook, for example, to snap up WhatsApp, rather than compete with it for users. Warren could unleash the power to bring major antitrust prosecutions without Congress — an answer to gridlock in Washington that’s crucially woven into some of her other plans too. (Warren also favors ending the filibuster in the Senate.) Warren wants to prevent companies that offer an online marketplace and have annual revenue of $25 billion or more from owning other companies that sell products on that platform. In other words, Amazon could no longer sell shoes and diapers and promote them over everyone else’s shoes and diapers — giving a small business a fair chance to break in.

“There’s a concerted effort to equate Warren with Bernie, to make her seem more radical,” says Luigi Zingales, a University of Chicago economist and co-host of the podcast Capitalisn’t. But Wall Street and its allies “are more afraid of her than Bernie,” Zingales continued, “because when she says she’ll change the rules, she’s the one who knows how to do it.”

Warren’s theory of American capitalism rests on two turning points in the 20th century. The first came in the wake of the Great Depression, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt seized the chance to protect workers and consumers from future economic collapse. While the New Deal is mostly remembered for creating much of the nation’s social safety net, Warren also emphasizes the significance of the legislation (like the Glass-Steagall Act) that Democrats passed to rein in bankers and lenders and the agencies (the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) that they put in place to enforce those limits. Warren credits this new regulatory regime, along with labor unions, with producing a golden era for many workers over the next four and a half decades. Income rose along with union membership, and 70 percent of the increase went to the bottom 90 percent. That shared prosperity built, in Warren’s telling, “the greatest middle class the world had ever known.”

Then came Warren’s second turning point: President Ronald Reagan’s assault on government. Warren argues that Reagan’s skill in the 1980s at selling the country on deregulation allowed the safeguards erected in the 1930s to erode. Republicans seized on the opening Reagan created, and Democrats at times aided them. (Bill Clinton signed the repeal of Glass-Steagall in 1999.) That’s how the country arrived at its current stark level of inequality. “The system is as rigged as we think,” Warren wrote in her 2017 book “This Fight Is Our Fight”— in a riposte to Barack Obama, who insisted it was not, even as he recognized the influence of money in politics. This, Warren believes, is what Trump, who also blasted a rigged system, got right and what the Democratic establishment — Obama, both Clintons, Biden — gets wrong.

The challenge for Warren, going up against Trump, is that his slogan “drain the swamp” furthers the longstanding Republican goal of discrediting government, whereas Warren criticizes government as “a tool for the wealthy and well connected,” while asking voters to believe that she can remake it to help solve their problems. Hers is the trickier, paradoxical sell.

Warren faces a similar challenge when she tries to address the fear some white voters have that their economic and social status is in decline. Trump directs his supporters to blame the people they see every day on TV if they’re watching Fox News: immigrants and condescending liberal elites. Warren takes aim at corporate executives while pressing for class solidarity among workers across race and immigration status. Trump’s brand of right-wing populism is on the rise around the world. As more people from the global south move north, it’s harder than ever to make the case to all workers that they should unite.

It’s a classic problem for liberals like Warren: Workers often turn on other workers rather than their bosses and the shadowy forces behind them. “Populism is such a slippery concept,” Michael Kazin, a historian at Georgetown University and author of “The Populist Persuasion: An American History,” told me. “The only real test is whether you can be the person who convinces people you understand their resentment against the elites. Trump did enough of that to win. Bernie Sanders has shown he can do it among young people. Can Elizabeth Warren pull it off? I’m not sure.”

It’s an inconvenient political fact for Warren that she’s far more associated with Harvard and Massachusetts, where she has lived for the last 25 years, than with Oklahoma, the childhood home that shaped her and where her three brothers still live and her family’s roots are multigenerational. If you include Texas, where Warren lived in her early 20s and for most of her 30s, she spent three formative decades far from the Northeast.

When she was growing up, Warren’s father worked as a salesman at Montgomery Ward and later as a janitor; neither of her parents went to college. (White women in this group broke for Trump by 61 percent in 2016, and white men supported him by 71 percent.) In the early 1960s, when Warren was 12, her father had a heart attack and lost his job in Oklahoma City. One day, after the family’s station wagon was repossessed, her mother put on the one formal dress she owned, walked to an interview at Sears and got a job answering phones for minimum wage. This has become the story that Warren tells in every stump speech. She uses it to identify with people who feel squeezed.

There’s another story that Warren tells in her book about the implications, for her own life, of her family’s brush with financial ruin. Warren was going to George Washington University on a scholarship — “I loved college,” she told me. “I was having a great time” — when an old high school boyfriend, Jim Warren, reappeared in her life.

He asked her to marry him and go to Texas, where he had a job at IBM. Warren knew her mother wanted her to say yes. “It was the whole future, come on,” she told me. “I had lived in a family for years that was behind on the mortgage. And a secure future was a good man — not what you might be able to do on your own.”

Warren dropped out of college to move to Houston with her new husband. “It was either-or,” she said. Many women who make this choice never go back to school. But Warren was determined to become a teacher, so she persuaded Jim to let her finish college as a commuter student at the University of Houston for $50 a semester. After her graduation, they moved to New Jersey for Jim’s next IBM posting, and she started working as a speech therapist for special-needs children.

Warren was laid off when she became pregnant, and after her daughter was born, she talked Jim into letting her go to law school at Rutgers University in Newark (this time the cost was $450 a semester). After she had her son, she came to terms with the fact that she wasn’t cut out to stay home. “I wanted to be good at it, but I just wasn’t,” she told me.

In the late 1970s, she got a job at the University of Houston law school. She and her husband moved back to Texas. A couple of years later, when their daughter was in elementary school and their son was a toddler, the Warrens divorced. In her book, Warren writes about this from Jim’s perspective: “He had married a 19-year-old girl, and she hadn’t grown into the woman we both expected.” (Jim Warren died in 2003.)

Two years later, Warren asked Mann, whom she had met at a conference, to marry her. He gave up his job at the University of Connecticut to join her in Houston. At the university, Warren decided to teach practical classes, finance and business. In 1981, she added a bankruptcy class and discovered a question that she wanted to answer empirically: Why were personal bankruptcy rates rising even when the economy was on the upswing?

At first, Warren accepted the assumption that people were causing their own financial ruin. Too much “Tommy, Ralph, Gucci and Prada,” a story in Newsweek called “Maxed Out”later declared. Along with two other scholars, Jay Westbrook and Teresa Sullivan, Warren flew around the country and collected thousands of bankruptcy-court filings in several states. “I was going to expose these people who were taking advantage of the rest of us by hauling off to bankruptcy and just charging debts that they really could repay,” she said in a 2007 interview with Harry Kreisler, a historian at the University of California, Berkeley. But Warren, Westbrook and Sullivan found that 90 percent of consumer bankruptcies were due to a job loss, a medical problem or the breakup of a family through divorce or the death of a spouse. “I did the research, and the data just took me to a totally different place,” Warren said.

That research led to a job at the University of Texas at Austin, despite the doubts some faculty members had about her nonselective university degrees. (Mann worked at Washington University in St. Louis.) They finally managed to get joint appointments at the University of Pennsylvania in 1987, and she stayed there until 1995.

During this period, Warren was registered as a Republican. (Earlier, in Texas, she was an independent.) Her political affiliation shifted around the time she began working on bankruptcy in Washington. More than one million families a year were going bankrupt in the mid-’90s, and Congress established the National Bankruptcy Review Commission to suggest how to change the bankruptcy code. The commission’s chairman, former Representative Mike Synar of Oklahoma, asked Warren, now at Harvard Law School, to be his chief policy adviser. “I said, ‘No, not a chance, that’s political,’” Warren said in her interview with Kreisler. “I want to be pure. I want to be pristine. I don’t want to muddy what I do with political implications.”

But Synar persuaded Warren to join his team. It was a critical juncture. Big banks and credit-card companies were pushing Congress to raise the barriers for consumers to file for bankruptcy and harder for families to write off debt. Bill Clinton was president. He had run — much as Warren is running now — as a champion of the middle class, but early in his first term he began courting Wall Street. He didn’t want to fight the banks.

Warren flew back and forth from Boston to Washington and to cities where the commission held hearings. It was her political education, and the imbalance of influence she saw disturbed her. The banks and lenders paid people to go to the hearings, wrote campaign checks and employed an army of lobbyists. People who went bankrupt often didn’t want to draw attention to themselves, and by definition, they had no money to fight back.

By 1997, Warren had become a Democrat, but she was battling within the party as well as outside it. In particular, she clashed with Joe Biden, then a senator from Delaware. Biden’s tiny state, which allowed credit-card companies to charge any interest rate they chose beginning in 1981, would become home to half the national market. One giant lender, MBNA, contributed more than $200,000 to Biden’s campaigns over the years, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Biden strongly supported a bill, a version of which was first introduced in 1998, to make it more expensive to file for bankruptcy and more difficult to leave behind debt. He was unpersuaded by Warren’s charts and graphs showing how the change would increase the financial burden on families. “I am so sick of this self-righteous sheen put on anybody who wants to tighten up bankruptcy,” Biden said during a Senate hearing in 2001.

The bankruptcy battles continued, and when Warren testified against the proposed changes to the bankruptcy code before the Senate in 2005, Biden called her argument “very compelling and mildly demagogic,” suggesting that her problem was really with the high interest rates that credit-card companies were allowed to charge. “But senator,” Warren answered, “if you are not going to fix that problem” — by capping interest rates — “you can’t take away the last shred of protection from these families” that access to bankruptcy offers. The bill passed two months later.

Biden’s team now argues that he stepped in to win “important concessions for middle-class families,” like prioritizing payments for child support and alimony ahead of other debt. When I asked Warren in June about Biden’s claim, she pursed her lips, looked out the window, paused for a long beat and said, “You may want to check the record on that.” The record shows that Warren’s focus throughout was on the plight of families who were going bankrupt and that Biden’s was on getting a bill through. He supported tweaking it to make it a little less harmful to those facing bankruptcy, and the changes allowed it to pass.

In the years since it became law, the bankruptcy bill has allowed credit-card companies to recover more money from families than they did before. That shift had two effects, Matthew Yglesias argued recently in Vox. As Biden hoped, borrowers over all benefited when the credit-card companies offered slightly lowered interest rates. But as Warren feared, the new law hit people reeling from medical emergencies and other unexpected setbacks. Blocked from filing for bankruptcy, they have remained worse off for years. And a major effort to narrow the path to bankruptcy may have an unintended effect, according to a 2019 working paper released by the National Bureau of Economic Research, by making it harder for the country to recover from a financial crisis.

In 2001, a Harvard student named Jessica Pishko, an editor of The Harvard Women’s Law Journal, approached Warren about contributing to a special issue. She didn’t expect Warren to say yes. Students saw Warren as an example of female achievement but not as a professional feminist. “She didn’t write about anything that could seem girlie,” Pishko remembers. “She wasn’t your go-to for feminist issues, and she was from that era when you didn’t put pictures of your kids on your desk” to show that you were serious about your work. But Warren wanted to contribute. “She said: ‘I’m doing all this research on bankruptcy, and I want to talk about why that’s a women’s issue. Can I do that?’”

The paper Warren produced, “What Is a Women’s Issue?” was aggressive and heterodox. In it, she criticized the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund for singling out Biden for praise in its annual report because he championed the Violence Against Women Act, which made it easier to prosecute domestic abusers. Warren thought his support for that law did not compensate for his role in pushing through the bankruptcy legislation, which she believed hurt women far more. “Why isn’t Senator Biden in trouble with grass-roots women’s groups all over the country and with the millions of women whose lives will be directly affected by the legislation he sponsors?” she asked. The answer raised “a troubling specter of women exercising powerful political influence within a limited scope, such as rape laws or equal educational opportunity statutes.

Warren wanted feminism to be wider in scope and centered on economic injustice. She urged students to take business-law classes. “If few students interested in women’s issues train themselves in commercial areas, the effects of the commercial laws will not be diminished, but there will be few effective advocates around to influence those policy outcomes,” she wrote. “If women are to achieve true economic equality, a far more inclusive definition of a women’s issue must emerge.”

She challenged standard feminist thinking again when she published her first book for a lay audience (written with her daughter), “The Two-Income Trap,” in 2003. Warren argued that in the wake of the women’s movement of the 1970s, millions of mothers streamed into the workplace without increasing the financial security of their families. Her main point was that a family’s additional income, when a second parent went to work, was eaten up by the cost of housing, and by child care, education and health insurance.

Conservatives embraced her critique more enthusiastically than liberals. Warren even opposed universal day care for fear of “increasing the pressure” to send both parents to work. She has shifted on that point. The child-care proposal she announced this February puts funds into creating high-quality child care but doesn’t offer equivalent subsidies to parents who stay home with their children. Warren says she’s responding to the biggest needs she now sees. More and more families are squeezed by the cost of child care; not enough of it is high quality; the pay for providers is too low. Warren is framing child care as a collective good, like public schools or roads and bridges.

“The Two-Income Trap” got Warren onto “Dr. Phil,” giving her a taste of minor stardom and the appeal of a larger platform. When the financial crisis hit, she moved to Washington’s main stage. At the invitation of Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader at the time, Warren led the congressional oversight panel tasked with overseeing the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program that Congress created to save the financial system. In public hearings, Warren called out Timothy Geithner, Obama’s Treasury secretary, for focusing on bailing out banks rather than small businesses and homeowners. Through a spokeswoman, Geithner declined to comment for this article. In his memoir, he called the oversight hearings “more like made-for-YouTube inquisitions than serious inquiries.”

But Warren could see the value of the viral video clip. In 2009, Jon Stewart invited her on “The Daily Show.” After throwing up from nerves backstage, she went on air and got a little lost in the weeds — repeating the abbreviation P.P.I.P. (the Public-Private Investment Program) and at first forgetting what it stood for. She felt as though she blew her opportunity to speak to millions of viewers. Stewart brought her back after the break for five more minutes, and she performed well, clearly explaining how the country forgot the lessons of the Great Depression and the dangers of deregulation. “We start pulling the threads out of the regulatory fabric,” Warren said. She listed the upheavals that followed — the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s and 1990s, the collapse of the giant hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management in 1998 and the Enron scandal a few years later. “And what is our repeated response?” Warren said. “We just keep pulling the threads.” Now that the government was trying to save the whole economy from falling off the cliff, there were two choices: “We’re going to decide, basically: Hey, we don’t need regulation. You know, it’s fine, boom and bust, boom and bust, boom and bust, and good luck with your 401(k). Or alternatively, we’re going to say, You know, we’re going to put in some smart regulations ... and what we’re going to have, going forward, is we’re going to have stability and some real prosperity for ordinary folks.”

Stewart leaned forward and told Warren she had made him feel better than he had in months. “I don’t know what it is that you just did right there, but for a second that was like financial chicken soup for me,” he said.

“That moment changed my life,” Warren later said. Stewart kept inviting her back. In 2010, Congress overhauled and tightened financial regulation with the Dodd-Frank Act. In the push for its passage, Warren found that she had the leverage to persuade Democratic leaders to create a new agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Its job is to safeguard people from malfunctioning financial products (like predatory loans), much as the government protects them from — to borrow Warren’s favorite analogy — toasters that burst into flames. Warren spent a year setting up the C.F.P.B. When Obama chose Richard Cordray over her as the first director because he had an easier path to Senate confirmation, progressives were furious.

Warren was an unusual political phenomenon by then: a policy wonk who was also a force and a symbol. In 2012, she was the natural choice for Democrats recruiting a candidate to run against Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts, a Republican who had slipped into office, after Ted Kennedy’s death, against a weak opponent. Warren had another viral moment when a supporter released a homemade video of her speaking to a group in Andover. “You built a factory out there?” Warren said, defending raising taxes on the wealthy. “Good for you. But I want to be clear: You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for; you hired workers the rest of us paid to educate; you were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for. You didn’t have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory, and hire someone to protect against this, because of the work the rest of us did.” Brown called Warren “anti-free enterprise,” and Obama, running for re-election,  distanced himself in an ad shot from the White House (“Of course Americans build their own businesses,” he said). But Warren’s pitch succeeded. She came from behind in the race against Brown and won with nearly 54 percent of the vote.

Voters of color could determine the results of the 2020 presidential election. In the primaries, African-Americans constitute a large share of Democrats in the early-voting state of South Carolina and on Super Tuesday, when many other states vote. In the general election, the path to the presidency for a Democrat will depend in part on turning out large numbers of people of color in Southern states (North Carolina, Virginia, possibly Florida) and also in the Rust Belt, where the post-Obama dip in turnout among African-Americans contributed to Hillary Clinton’s squeaker losses in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

Warren has work to do to persuade people of color to support her. In the last couple of Democratic primaries, these voters started out favoring candidates who they thought would be most likely to win, not those who were the most liberal. Black voters backed Hillary Clinton in 2008 until they were sure Barack Obama had enough support to beat her, and in 2016 they stuck with her over Bernie Sanders. This time, they have black candidates — Kamala Harris, Cory Booker and Wayne Messam — to choose from. And voters of color may be skeptical of Warren’s vision of class solidarity transcending racial division. As it turned out, Warren’s case that most white people voted for Trump because of economic distress, and “despite the hate,” as she said right after the election, didn’t really hold up. A study published last year found that among white voters, perceived racial or global threats explained their shift toward Trump better than financial concerns did. What does that say about the chances of winning as a liberal who tries to take the racism out of populism?

When Warren makes the case about what needs to change in America by leaning on the period from 1935 to 1980, she’s talking about a time of greater economic equality — but also a period when people of color were excluded from the benefits of government policies that buoyed the white middle class. In a video announcing that she was exploring a presidential bid, Warren acknowledged that history by saying that families of color today face “a path made even harder by generations of discrimination.” For example, the federal agency created during the New Deal drew red lines around mostly black neighborhoods on maps to deny mortgage loans to people who lived in them.

Warren spoke about this problem years before she went into politics. Redlining contributed to the racial wealth gap, and that had consequences Warren saw in her bankruptcy studies — black families were more vulnerable to financial collapse. Their vulnerability was further heightened by subprime and predatory lending. In “The Two-Income Trap,” Warren called these kinds of loans “legally sanctioned corporate plans to steal from minorities.”

In March, Warren took a three-day trip to the South. She started on a Sunday afternoon, with a town hall — one of 101 she has done across the country — at a high school in a mostly black neighborhood in Memphis. It’s her format of choice; the questions she fields help sharpen her message. The local politicians who showed up that day were African-American, but most of the crowd was white.

The next morning, Warren drove to the Mississippi Delta. Her husband, Mann, was on spring break from teaching and along for the trip. Warren’s staff welcomes his presence because Warren loves having him with her and because he’s willing to chat up voters (who often call him “Mr. Warren”). In the small town of Cleveland, Miss., Warren sprang out of her black minivan in the parking lot of a church to shake the hand of an African-American state senator, Willie Simmons. They were meeting for the first time: He had agreed to take her on a walking tour after her campaign got in touch and said she wanted to learn about housing in the Delta.

Simmons and Warren set off down a block of modest ranch houses, some freshly painted, others peeling, preceded by TV crews and trailed by the rest of the press as her aides darted in to keep us out of the shot. The scrum made conversation stagy, but Simmons gradually eased into answering Warren’s questions. He pointed out cracks in the foundations of some houses; the lack of money to repair old buildings was a problem in the Delta. They stopped at a vacant lot. The neighbors wanted to turn it into a playground, but there was no money for that either.

Warren nodded and then took a stab at communicating her ideas to the local viewers who might catch a few of her words that night. She hit the highlights of the affordable housing bill she released in the Senate months earlier — 3.2 million new homes over 10 years, an increase in supply that Moody’s estimated would reduce projected rents by 10 percent. When the tour ended, Simmons told the assembled reporters that he didn’t know whom he would support for president, but Warren got points for showing up and being easy to talk to — “touchable,” he said.

That night, Warren did a CNN town hall at Jackson State University, the third historically black college she has visited this year. Warren moved toward the audience at the first opportunity, walking past the chair placed for her onstage. She laid out the basics of her housing bill, stressing that it addressed the effects of discrimination. “Not just a passive discrimination,” Warren said. “Realize that into the 1960s in America, the federal government was subsidizing the purchase of homes for white families and discriminating against black families.” Her bill included funds to help people from redlined areas, or who had been harmed by subprime loans, buy houses. The audience applauded.

Warren also said that night that she supported a “national full-blown conversation” about reparations for slavery and Jim Crow. She saw this as a necessary response to the stark wealth gap between black and white families. “Today in America — because of housing discrimination, because of employment discrimination — we live in a world where the average white family has $100 and the average black family has about $5.” Several Democratic candidates have said they support a commission to study reparations. Ta-Nehisi Coates, author of the influential 2014 Atlantic article “The Case for Reparations,” said in a recent interview with The New Yorker that Warren was the candidate whose commitment seemed real because she had asked him to talk with her about his article when it came out years ago. “She was deeply serious,” Coates said.

Warren is often serious and doesn’t hesitate to convey her moral outrage. “I’ll own it,” she told me about her anger. She talked about women expressing to her their distress about sexual harassment and assault. “Well, yeah,” Warren said. “No kidding that a woman might be angry about that. Women have a right to be angry about being treated badly.”

Trump gets angry all the time; whether a woman can do the same and win remains a question. Warren’s campaign is simultaneously working in another register. On Twitter, it has been posting videos of Warren calling donors who have given as little as $3. They can’t believe it’s her. When the comedian and actress Ashley Nicole Black tweeted, “Do you think Elizabeth Warren has a plan to fix my love life?” Warren tweeted back and then called Black, who finished the exchange with a fan-girl note: “Guess who’s crying and shaking and just talked to Elizabeth Warren on the phone?!?!? We have a plan to get my mom grandkids, it’s very comprehensive, and it does involve raising taxes on billionaires.”

After Trump’s election, Warren and Sanders said that if Trump followed through on his promise to rebuild the economy for workers and their families, they would help. If Trump had championed labor over corporations, he could have scrambled American politics by creating new alliances. But that version of his presidency didn’t come to pass. Instead, by waging trade wars that hurt farm states and manufacturing regions more than the rest of the country, Trump has punished his base economically (even if they take satisfaction in his irreverence and his judicial appointments).

Warren has been speaking to those voters. In June, she put out an “economic patriotism” plan filled with ideas about helping American industries. By stepping into the vacuum for economic populism the president has left, Warren forced a reckoning on Fox News, Trump’s safe space on TV, from the host Tucker Carlson. Usually a Trump loyalist, he has recently styled himself a voice for the white working class.

Carlson opened his show by using more than two minutes of airtime to quote Warren’s analysis of how giant American companies are abandoning American workers. Carlson has warned that immigrants make the country “poorer and dirtier” and laced his show with racism, but now he told his mostly Republican viewers: “Ask yourself, what part of the statement you just heard did you disagree with?” He continued, “Here’s the depressing part: Nobody you voted for said that or would ever say it.” The next day, a new conservative Never Trump website called The Bulwark ran a long and respectful essay called “Why Elizabeth Warren Matters.”

A month earlier in Mingo County, W.Va., where more than 80 percent of voters cast a ballot for Trump, Warren went to a local fire station to talk about her plan for addressing the opioid crisis. It’s big: She wants to spend $100 billion over 10 years, including $50 million annually for West Virginia, the state with the highest rate of deaths from drug overdoses. In Trump’s latest budget, he has requested an increase of $1.5 billion to respond directly to the epidemic. Against a backdrop of firefighters’ coats hanging in cinder-block cubbies, Warren moved among a crowd of about 150. Many hands went up when she asked who knew someone struggling with opioids. She brought up the role of “corporations that made big money off getting people addicted and keeping them addicted.” People with “Make America Great Again” stickers nodded and clapped, according to Politico.

If Warren competes for rural voters in the general election (if not to win a red state then to peel off enough of them to make a difference in a purple one), her strong support for abortion rights and gun control will stand in her way. Lately, she has framed her argument for keeping abortion clinics open in economic terms, too. “Women of means will still have access to abortions,” she said at a town hall on MSNBC hosted by Chris Hayes of the effects of new state laws aimed at closing clinics. “Who won’t will be poor women, will be working women, will be women who can’t afford to take off three days from work, will be very young women.” She finished by saying, “We do not pass laws that take away that freedom from the women who are most vulnerable.”

Biden and Sanders have been polling better with non-college-educated white voters than Warren has. David Axelrod, the former Obama strategist and political commentator, thinks that even if her ideas resonate, she has yet to master the challenge of communicating with this group. “She’s lecturing,” he said. “There’s a lot of resistance, because people feel like she’s talking down to them.”

Warren didn’t sound to me like a law professor on the trail, but she did sound like a teacher. Trying to educate people isn’t the easiest way to connect with them. “Maybe she could bring it down a level,” Lola Sewell, a community organizer in Selma, Ala., suggested. “A lot of us aren’t involved with Wall Street and those places.”

Warren may also confront a double bind for professional women: To command respect, they have to prove that they’re experts, but once they do, they’re often seen as less likable. At one point, I asked Warren whether there was anything good about running for president as a woman. “It is what it is,” she said.

When I first talked with Warren in February, when her poll numbers were low, I wondered whether she was content with simply forcing Democratic candidates to engage with her ideas. During the 2016 primaries, when Warren did not endorse Sanders, she wanted influence over Hillary Clinton’s economic appointments should she win the presidency. Cleaving the Democratic administration from Wall Street — that was enough at the time. She could make a similar decision in 2020 or try to get her own appointment. If Warren became Treasury secretary, she could resuscitate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which Trump has worked to declaw, and tip all kinds of decisions away from banks and toward the families who come to her town halls and tell her about the loans they can’t pay.

By mid-June, however, when I went to Washington to talk to Warren for the last time, she was very much in the race. New polls showed her in second place in California and Nevada. She had more to lose, and perhaps as a result, her answers were more scripted, more like her speeches.

Warren, like everyone in the race, has yet to prove that she has the political skills and broad-enough support to become president. But a parallel from another country suggests that perhaps bearing down on policy is the best strategy against right-wing populism. Luigi Zingales, the University of Chicago economist, comes from Italy, and he feared Trump’s rise back in 2011, having watched the ascension of Silvio Berlusconi, the corrupt billionaire tycoon who was elected prime minister of Italy in the 2000s as a right-wing populist. After Trump’s victory in 2016, Zingales pointed out in a New York Times Op-Ed that the two candidates who defeated Berlusconi treated him as “an ordinary opponent,” focusing on policy issues rather than his character. “The Democratic Party should learn this lesson,” Zingales wrote. He now thinks that Warren is positioned to mount that kind of challenge. “I think so,” he said, “if she does not fall for his provocations.”

Warren and I met in her Washington apartment. The floor at the entrance had been damaged by a leak in the building, and the vacuum cleaner was standing next to the kitchen counter. I said I was a bit relieved by the slight disarray because her house in Cambridge was so supremely uncluttered, and she burst out laughing. She sat on the couch as we spoke about the indignities to come, the way in which her opponents — Biden, Trump, who knew who else — would try to make her unrecognizable to herself. What would she do about that? Warren leaned back and stretched her feet out, comfortable in gray wool socks. “The answer is, we’ve got time,” she said. “I’ll just keep talking to people — I like talking to people.”

Emily Bazelon is a staff writer for the magazine and the author of “Charged: The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution and End Mass Incarceration.”

[randomrichards]

THE BEST MOVIE MOMENTS OF 2018:

HONORABLE MENTION:

The Opening/Closing Credits from BUDDIES

I’m putting this as honorable mention because this is an older movie recently rereleased.

The first film about the AIDS Crisis, Buddies strikes at the heart with its opening credits with a typed list of AIDS victim up to 1985. Set to a mournful score by Jeffrey Olmstead, the never ending list of lives cut short puts you in tears.

Alex Honnold faces Boulder Problem in FREE SOLO

Most thrillers can only wish they could be as gripping as in the moment when Alex Honnold maneuver’s his way through the most challenging section of El Capitan Wall without rope in this Documentary.

Ray Offers Wisdom from Mid90s

“If you looked in anybody else’s closet, you wouldn’t trade your shit for their shit.”

Ray (Na-kel Smith) and his friends may not be the best role models for the impressionable Stevie (Sunny Suljic), but in this moment, Ray teaches him a lesson in perspective.

Glenn Close’s performance in THE WIFE

I’m not referring to any moment. Just Glenn Close’s acting. She speaks more volumes with her face than most actresses could with dialogue.

10)        The Beach Scene from ROMA

Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio) is an extraordinary woman. Sure, her life hanging towels and cleaning dog poo doesn’t seem like anything special. But like many lower working-class people, she endures. Boy does she endure a lot of shit in this movie. Not only does her deadbeat boyfriend ditch her to practice martial arts, but her baby is born dead. Despite all this, she not only continues her work, but she shares a close bond with the family. She showcases this bond and her strength when a fun day at the beach goes horribly wrong.

When Paco (Carlos Peralta) and Sofi (Daniela Demesa) swim too far out, Cleo walks into the ocean to save them despite not knowing how to swim. We watch in dread as she faces severe waves to find the kids, the camera always close to her.

This scene also contains a beautiful scene of the family hugging Cleo when she tears up over losing her baby. Seeing them all huddled together in front of a bright white sun captures the heart.

9)         “A Place Called Slaughter Race” from RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET

Admit it, it’s fun to take pot shots at Disney Tropes. Hell, even Disney gets in on the fun. And boy do they seize on every moment to mock Princess tropes when Vanellope Von Shweetz (voiced by Sarah Silverman) encounters the Disney Princesses. Of course, it helps that Director Rich Moore and Head of Story Jim Reardon creates some of the best episodes of the Simpsons. Though there are many hilarious moments[1], none can hold the candle to Vanellope’s “I Want” song.

As she reflects over a puddle, Vanellope sings about her longing to be in the gritty game “Slaughter Race.” Seeing this little girl perform this lighthearted musical number over a background of riots and dumpster fires is comedy gold. Nearly every element of this number elevates the comedy, from singing shark (with cats and dogs in its mouth) to the creative lyrics (“Am I a baby pigeon spreading wings to soar?/ Is that a metaphor?/Hey, there’s a dollar store”). And the number still finds time to emphasize Vanellope’s fear of hurting Ralph (John. C Reilly).

Kudos to Alan Menken for mocking the trope he (and the late Howard Ashman) introduced to Disney. Just as deserving of Kudos is Silverman, who faced to task of singing in Vanellope’s high pitched voice.

8)         Charlie Loses Her Head from HEREDITARY

With her unusual hobbies, connection to her late grandmother and that clicking sound, you’d assume Annie’s (Toni Collette) daughter Charlie (Milly Shapiro) would be the centre of the whole film.[2] Boy, were we in for a surprise.

Spoilers!

When Charlie suffers a peanut allergy reaction, Peter (Alex Wolfe) races her home. On his drive, he sees a mysterious figure in the middle of the dark road. In his attempt to dodge it, he doesn’t see Charlie hanging out the window. Seeing her head slam right into a pole leaves us as traumatized as Peter is. To see them kill off a main character so early in the film is downright shocking. With this death, predictability goes right out the window and we are left uncertain of what direction this film will go.

7)         Neil Armstrong Soars in the X-15 Rocket Plane in FIRST MAN

It’s funny how the most exciting scene in this film isn’t the moon landing. Don’t get me wrong, the scene’s still breathtaking in its realism, but it’s surprising how thrilling the opening scene.

Damien Chazelle hits the ground running with Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling) soaring the atmosphere in an X-15 Rocket Plane. He soars higher and higher into the skies until he flies out of earth’s surface and gets stuck in space

Albeit, you know he will be back on earth in time for the moon landing. And yet, I found myself on the edge of my seat, wondering how he’s going to get back to earth. Most of it is thanks to the visual effects, which contains some of the most believable since 2001: A Space Odyssey. The effects leave CGI in the dust with practical effects that look so real, you’d think Gosling was actually flying into space.

6)         The Ferris Wheel Scene from LOVE, SIMON

High School Movies are home to many unforgettable romantic scenes. There’s Samantha (Molly Ringwald) and Jake (Michael Schoeffling) standing over a birthday cake in Sixteen Candles. There’s Patrick (Heath Ledger) singing to Katarina (Julia Stiles) on the bleachers in 10 Things I hate About You. And who can forget Lloyd Dobler (John Cusack) blaring Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” outside Diane Court’s (Ione Skye) in Say Anything. Be ready to include the closing scene of Simon (Nick Robinson) waiting on the Ferris wheel for online pen pal Blue from Love, Simon.

After being outed by a student, infuriating his friends for deceiving them in his attempt to stay closeted and abandoned by Blue, Simon makes a plea to meet with Blue face to face on the Ferris Wheel at a carnival. As he rides on the Ferris Wheel, he, fellow classmates and the audience wait in anticipation for Simon’s happy ending.

5)         The Book Heist from AMERICAN ANIMALS

When Spencer Reinhard (Barry Keoghan) and Warren Lipka (Evan Peters) plotted to steal extremely valuable books from the Transylvania University library in Kentucky, they thought they had the perfect heist. With the help of their friends Erick Borsuk (Jared Abrahamson) and Chas Allen (Blake Jenner), they thought they pull off a heist as smooth as Oceans 11.[3]

But reality hits them like a sledge hammer when they try to pull off the heist. Unlike their dreams, Librarian Betty Jean Gooch (Ann Dowd) doesn’t get knocked out with one taser jolt. It also isn’t easy to lug a six-foot book down a flight of stairs. Then there’s the fact the basement has no exit. That’s just a few of many problems they never consider. From then on, we witness them pay a huge price for their hubris and lack of real-world understanding.

Only youths as smart as they are to come up with such a stupid plan.

4)         The Mutant Bear from ANNIHILATION

Biologist Lena (Natalie Portman) and her team find themselves in a quite a bind. After entering the Shimmer, physicist Josie Radek (Tessa Thompson) has barely survived an attack from a mutant alligator and Anthropologist Cassie Sheppard (Tuva Novotny) has been attacked by a bear. Now paramedic Anya Thorensen (Gina Rodriguez) has gone mad and has tied up Lena, Radek and Dr. Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh). But when they hear Sheppard’s cries for help, they will soon find Anya is the least of their worries.

Their journey delivers many grotesque, nightmare inducing visuals (especially the slithering intestines.) But the most memorable moment in this film was the image of the helpless crew trapped in a cabin with a mutant bear. Bears are scary enough on their own, but a faceless one is pants spitting meeting. And then you hear it imitate Sheppard’s screams and suddenly you need a new pair of pants.

3)         The Great Snap from AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR

The whole Marvel Cinematic Universe had been leading up to this moment. The fact that nearly every character had a moment to shine in this one movie demonstrates the astounding direction of the Russo Brothers. But despite all the epic fight scenes, everyone agrees that this film’s greatest scene is the heroes moment of defeat.

Despite every effort made to stop in, despite outnumbering Thanos and despite Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) sacrificing Vision (Paul Bettany) to destroy the mind stone, Thanos still got all the infinity stones. And with a single snap, Thanos succeeds in wiping out half the universe’s population. One by one, we watch many of our heroes vanish into dust while others watch in helpless horror. But none are more heartbreaking that the moment when Spider-Man (Tom Holland) falls into Tony Stark’s (Robert Downey Jr.) arms, crying “I don’t want to go.” All because some characters couldn’t make the sacrifice needed

Yes, we knew he was going to succeed in the end.[4] And yes, you know most of the heroes won’t stay gone.[5] And yes, their return will likely involve the surviving heroes sacrificing themselves.[6] But the ending still feels powerful despite this knowledge.

It all concludes with Thanos sitting near a cottage, content in his triumph. If the MCU ended here, it would have been a perfect ending. But I’m still curious to see how this will go.

2)         The Closing Close-Up in CAPERNAUM

The closing image of Zain’s (Zain Al Rafeea) face will haunt you beyond the closing credits. Throughout the film, we’ve seen this kid struggle through hell on the streets of Lebanon, trying to protect his sister from their resentful parents and helping an Ethiopian Migrant Worker take care of her son. But when he’s sent to prison for assaulting a pimp who bought his sister, he decides to sue his parents for the crime of bringing him into this miserable world. Writer/director Nadine Labaki never looks away for a second to the brutality of Zain’s world and how it brings out the worst in Zain.

When the film freezes to the image of Zain smiling for a Passport photo, your heart breaks for him as Khaled Mouzanar’s haunting score plays out.

1)         Tish and Fonny’s Walk Through the Park in IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK

No other opening scene has done a better job of putting its audience under its spell than when loving couple Tish (Kiki Layne) and Alfonzo “Fonny” Hunt (Stephan James) stroll through a park holding hands.

There’s beauty in every element of this scene, from Nicholas Britell’s romantic score to the warm looks in the character’s eyes. But what really sells it is James Laxton’s lush cinematography. The colours pop through the yellows and blues on the couple’s clothes and the green of the grass. You are as in love with this couple as they are for each other.

Then the film cuts to Tish visiting Fonny in prison, this time the yellow is the prison, the blue is Fonny’s jumpsuit and the green is on Tish’ outfit. From then one, we know why their love is worth fighting for.

[1] Mostly at the expense of Ariel (Jodi Benson)

[2] Especially when she appears so prominently in the advertisements.

[3] As indicated by a fantasy sequence.

[4] Since we know this was going to be a two parter.

[5] Especially when there are already planned sequels to Black Panther, Spider-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy. After all the money Marvel’s got from Black Panther? They’re not going to give up that meal ticket.

[6] What with Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans retiring their characters.

[theliberaltony]

via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

Welcome to FiveThirtyEight’s weekly politics chat. The transcript below has been lightly edited.

sarahf (Sarah Frostenson, politics editor): After a midterm election, it’s not unusual for a president to reassess strategy and approach and make appeals to the “middle” or to “reach across the aisle.” But we’re talking about President Trump, who currently doesn’t have a good track record of working with Democrats. So, what evidence do we have that he will try a different approach? And is trying a more bipartisan approach even a good idea?

geoffrey.skelley (Geoffrey Skelley, elections analyst): We’ve been waiting for the fabled “Trump pivot” for, what, two years now? I’m not counting on it happening next year.

sarahf: But his polling numbers aren’t good. It really seems as though he’s only popular in rural parts of the country.

What does that mean for 2020? Doesn’t he have to start to appeal to more groups than his base?

clare.malone (Clare Malone, senior political writer): Well, the short answer is “yes”!

I’m not sure how Trump’s efforts to appeal to more groups will go. He told a group of reporters on Tuesday during a meeting with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer that he will shut down the government if he doesn’t get funding for his border wall. People don’t generally like it when the government shuts down.

sarahf: But on playing hardball on the border wall as a strategy — isn’t it to some extent more important that Trump deliver on that campaign promise to his supporters, regardless of the political fallout?

geoffrey.skelley: Problem is, the border wall idea is unpopular.

So this is a complete play to the base, which Trump arguably already has locked up. If he’s looking to improve his fortunes, pursuing a government shutdown for something that the majority of Americans oppose doesn’t seem wise.

clare.malone: Yeah … I mean not to sound like a joke here, but, man, they really should have taken infrastructure week seriously!

Imagine how popular a bill funding infrastructure projects would actually be. And I’m sure to appease Trump, you could have stuck in some border wall provisions.

perry (Perry Bacon Jr., senior writer): I don’t think announcing you are excited about a government shutdown is smart.

sarahf: If Trump’s meeting with Schumer and Pelosi is any indication of what is in store, it seems like Trump won’t be trying a new strategy of appealing to the middle anytime soon.

So … to play devil’s advocate for a moment, is not appealing to a common ground a smart move? President Obama tried to compromise with Republicans, but, arguably, that didn’t work out too well for him and the Democratic Party.

clare.malone: I don’t really see the administration making real moves to open up other avenues of policy discussion. It just seems so hammered by other things — staffing issues and deflecting potential campaign finance law violations by the president.

perry: Obama had this vision for working with Republicans in 2011 (after the Democrats lost the House in 2010), and that fell apart. Trump seems to get the polarized nature of our politics better than most people. I think fighting with Pelosi and Schumer is not the worst idea. Just don’t force a government shutdown over the wall.

sarahf: So if Trump shouldn’t be fighting quite so aggressively for the wall, what would be a smarter move for him?

clare.malone: I’m not sure, Sarah, what the right issue for him is. The trade war stuff is fraught, obviously, and there are murmurs from the financial world about a possible financial crisis on the horizon.

perry: The Democrats are saying they want to investigate Trump aggressively. I think he can make that into a pretty compelling argument about Democrats trying to reverse the will of those who voted for him.

clare.malone: He doesn’t have a lot of places to go right now that aren’t divisive. And the White House doesn’t seem to have a lot of will right now to talk about these non-divisive issues.

geoffrey.skelley: Early on in Trump’s administration, Gallup found strong bipartisan support for proposals requiring companies to provide paid family leave for employees after the birth of a child and a plan to spend over $1 trillion on infrastructure. So perhaps those are places to start.

clare.malone: That’s two votes for infrastructure!

An Ivanka Trump resurgence with family leave??

geoffrey.skelley: Yes, that’s my thought too. You could have the first daughter out there pushing a new family leave proposal.

perry: I just don’t think either of those ideas will be accepted by Republicans in the Senate.

That’s part of Trump’s challenge: Any policy ideas he has must be adopted by the GOP-controlled Senate, too. So it’s not just him dealing and finding compromise with the Democrats.

He can’t really move to the left in any meaningful way.

clare.malone: Perry, why do you think infrastructure would be perceived as moving to the left?

perry: Any infrastructure bill that Pelosi would support would also include billions of federal dollars in spending that the House Freedom Caucus and many Senate Republicans won’t be interested in.

clare.malone: But what if you slipped in something for the border wall? Isn’t that a possible scenario?

I guess it’s also the old GOP priorities vs. the new Trump GOP priorities playing out vis-à-vis spending and financing a marquee campaign promise.

geoffrey.skelley: Having the Senate pass an infrastructure bill with money for a border wall would put pressure on Democrats in the House. Trump could then claim that House Democrats were holding up money that would rebuild the country — dare I say, “make America great again”?

But it is definitely tough to see conservative Republicans in the Senate going for it.

perry: I think Trump has two broad choices: On the one hand, he could tone down his rhetoric, hire a very experienced chief of staff, remove his son-in-law and daughter from top administration jobs, and try to become a less divisive figure. He could, say, model himself after Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who is very popular. On the other hand, he could amplify the country’s current political divisions and make the 2020 election a debate over which party is hated the most.

clare.malone: I feel like I know the answer to this …

sarahf: Same …

perry: I think the second path is easier for him and potentially a political winner.

geoffrey.skelley: Yeah …

clare.malone: So we’ve decided! Compromise is dead!

geoffrey.skelley: It’s the path that Trump is familiar with and therefore more comfortable with.

sarahf: OK, so does that mean any hopes for bipartisan legislation in this Congress are misplaced? I’m thinking of the criminal justice reform bill that a bipartisan group of senators has pushed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to bring up for a vote — an effort that the president has supported.

clare.malone: That bill has had some longer-term bipartisan support, so there’s still some hope, perhaps.

perry: I think small bills like that can pass, but that won’t define Trump and his presidency.

geoffrey.skelley: Yeah, it’s difficult to come off as bipartisan when, theoretically, you sign that into law and then the next minute you’re saying that you are proud to shut down the government.

sarahf: OK, I think it’s safe to say that we all think Trump’s strategy moving forward appears to be more of the same: Democrats are toxic to his agenda. But with special counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, is that really the best strategy to deflect attention?

According to a recent poll, the share of Americans who approve of how Trump is handling the investigation has dropped. (Granted, Mueller’s numbers are down, too).

geoffrey.skelley: If the Mueller investigation really is an existential threat to the president, it makes sense that he would pursue a course to make it as partisan as possible. The House’s new Democratic majority could also help Trump — it gives him a partisan opponent to play off of, rather than just trying to undermine Mueller.

perry: Mueller’s numbers are not great in that poll. Trump has successfully poisoned that probe in the minds of Republicans. As a citizen, I think Trump’s attacks on the news media, law enforcement and other institutions are deeply problematic. But as a person who studies elections, I think attacking these institutions has been very smart politically. Barring Mueller finding some very clear evidence of, say, Trump encouraging the hacking of the Democratic National Committee, I don’t think Republican voters will take Mueller’s findings that seriously.

geoffrey.skelley: Of course, the scandal is not only affecting the president’s strategy, it’s also affecting his ability to hire staff, I’m sure. Want to be the president’s new chief of staff? Prepare to lawyer up.

sarahf: Right, and while appointing different chiefs of staff isn’t unusual (although Trump has moved at a faster pace than his predecessors), it does seem as if the coalition that Trump brought with him to the White House is now gone?

perry: To me, Trump’s biggest threat is not Mueller, but losing in 2020. To win re-election, he needs to get back some suburban voters or increase his margin even more among white people without college degrees — and that should be his sole focus moving forward.

It’s not clear how much Trump cares about policy or has specific goals for the next two years. I could imagine him picking an establishment Republican-type like Mitt Romney as chief of staff. If that person became a major force in the administration and Trump listened to him or her, that would help him win suburban voters.

But Trump could also go the more conservative route and pick Rep. Mark Meadows, one of the leaders of the House Freedom Caucus. It looks as if Meadows even wants the job. And then, of course, Trump could try to win every white voter without a college degree.

clare.malone: Or you could easily imagine him picking a non-entity as chief of staff, someone who bends to Trump’s whims.

perry: And that would be a mistake.

clare.malone: And not really do much to shore up white suburban voters.

perry: I also assume that is what he will do.

sarahf: At this point, doesn’t Trump’s path to electoral victory depend on winning at least some suburban voters?

geoffrey.skelley: Oh absolutely. Trump probably can’t win Michigan or Pennsylvania if he’s losing the suburbs as badly as Republicans did in the midterms, and that sort of performance could make a state like Arizona a battleground, too. Still, midterms are not good predictors of the next presidential election, so the 2018 results are far from determinative. But they are a warning.

perry: Unless he gets to, say, 85 percent with whites who don’t have degrees. (Trump won 64 percent of that group in 2016.) Then he’s OK.

I just think he should probably have a strategy of some kind. When you are considering Nick Ayers, Chris Christie or Mark Meadows to be your chief of staff, it suggests that you really have no strategy. Those people have little in common beyond being Republicans.

I also think he could go the full Stephen Miller route, and that might be a path to victory. Dial up the immigration policy even more and keep coming back to issues that divide people along racial and cultural lines, like the migrant caravan or kneeling by NFL players.

geoffrey.skelley: Demographics aren’t destiny. But if Republicans don’t recover a bit in the suburbs, Trump could have a tough time winning re-election. And I think that’s the danger of an all-in Stephen Miller strategy. It’s a question of diminishing returns — how much more of the non-college-educated white vote can Trump get?

perry: That’s what I don’t know. I’m not sure he hit his limit in 2016.

Maybe.

geoffrey.skelley: Me neither.

clare.malone: So to return to the original premise: What Trump should do, for starters, to increase his chances of winning in 2020 is to make more establishment GOP decisions when it comes to staffing and rhetoric.

But we also don’t think he’ll actually do either of those things.

sarahf: Yeah, I think this conversation has made me realize that looking at Trump’s approval rating isn’t perhaps as telling as we think.

We think it matters because unpopular presidents don’t necessarily get re-elected (see Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush). But maybe just ensuring your opponent is less popular than you is enough.

perry: That’s what I think.

In 2018, Democrats had 435 different candidates (a different candidate in every House race). In 2020, they have to run a single candidate. And my guess is that Trump will try to demonize that person (and maybe succeed).

geoffrey.skelley: Recall that both Trump and Hillary Clinton were very unpopular, and Trump still won. He will want to discredit his eventual Democratic opponent. And his approval rating may not need to be much above 45 percent to win a close, partisan race.

[heavyarethecrowns]

People that have married in to the Royal Families since 1800 Spam

Sweden 

Louise of the Netherlands (Wilhelmina Frederika Alexandrine Anna Louise; 5 August 1828 – 30 March 1871)

Princess Louise was born on 5 August 1828 in The Hague. Her father was Prince Frederick of the Netherlands, the second child of King William I of the Netherlands and Wilhelmina of Prussia. Her mother Louise was the eighth child of King Frederick William III of Prussia and Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Her education was to large extent entrusted to her Belgian governess Victoire Wauthier, and she studied French, German, English, Russian and piano. In 1849, 

Louise was selected as a suitable spouse for Crown Prince Charles, the son of King Oscar I of Sweden and Norway and Josephine of Leuchtenberg. The marriage was arranged after the negotiations to arrange a marriage between Charles and a Prussian princess had failed. King Oscar I of Sweden wished to secure royal family connections between the new Bernadotte dynasty and the old royal dynasties of Europe, and a Protestant princess was also seen as a necessary queen of the Protestant Sweden-Norway after two Catholic predecessors. Louise fulfilled these credentials, and a great dowry was expected from the rich House of Orange-Nassau. Cabinet secretary L Manderström was sent to inspect her, and diplomatically let it be known in his report that Louise had an excellent education and a good character but that she was not attractive.

In August 1849, a meeting was arranged between Louise and Charles in the Hague. Reportedly, Louise fell in love with Charles and felt an immediate attraction, while Charles in contrast was disappointed in her appearance. Charles, however, was convinced to agree to the marriage by the King.

Louise left Germany by a Swedish boat from Travemünde and arrived to Sweden with her parents and sister Marie, who were present at her wedding. Princess Louise and Crown Prince Charles married at Storkyrkan in Stockholm on 19 June 1850.[2] After the wedding, her father-in-law the King took her on a tour through Sweden to introduce her to the country.

The relationship between Louise and Charles was unhappy. The couple had dissimilar personalities, with Louise being introverted, shy and with a preference for a simple life, and Charles extraverted and with a love for parties and social life. Louise was reportedly unhappily in love with Charles, who found her unattractive and was unfaithful to her, which pained her considerably. From 1852 until 1860, Charles had a relationship with Josephine Sparre, maid of honor to Louise, which caused a scandal. Sparre was described as so dominant that the Crown Princess and her maid of honor was said to have changed places with each other and Louise being the lady-in-waiting to Josephine Sparre rather than the other way around. Fritz von Dardel described Sparre: "The lady in question is a great favorite of the Crown Prince as well as with the Crown Princess, and she governs them both entirely in everything about their daily life. Gifted with an unusual talent to please and make herself indispensable, she has managed to capture the Crown Prince to a strange degree." 

Louise was given sympathy and Charles was considered to be treating her with neglect. A known episode which attracted attention took place at the birthday garden party of Louise at Drottningholm Palace in 1857, when the Crown Prince proposed a toast to his "secret love" with both Louise and Josephine Sparre present. This caused a scene, and his brother, Prince Oscar, reprimanded him indirectly by asking his own spouse, Sofia of Nassau, to toast with him. This scene caused Louise to burst into tears and suffer a nervous attack.

Louise bore two children; Princess Louise in 1851, and Prince Carl Oscar in 1852. Due to complications that arose at the birth of Prince Carl Oscar, Louise was unable to have any more children. In 1854, her 2-year-old son, Carl Oscar, died of pneumonia. As the Salic law prevailed at that time in Sweden (having been affirmed by the constitution of 1809), Louise's daughter was not eligible to ascend the throne. Charles was very chagrined and disappointed because this meant that his progeny would not be the next monarch of Sweden; his heir would be his brother Oscar. Louise offered Charles a divorce so he could remarry and produce the heir he longed for, but he declined the offer.

Crown Princess Louise was not considered a social success, and her timid and shy nature was not appreciated in society because of her official position. Between 1857 and 1859, Crown Prince Charles was named regent during the incapacity of his father, and she took over the representational duties of first lady from her mother-in-law. During her spouse's reign as prince regent, she was described in the well-known court chronicle of Fritz von Dardel: "A more lovable and talented woman would have entirely recreated the atmosphere in this circle and also exerted a good influence upon the Prince, who, of a good nature, easily let himself be led by those he likes, especially women. Although good, dutiful and not one to plot, the crown princess lacks higher qualities. She is a good housewife but thinks only of her husband, herself and those closest to her and she has not the good influence on him which her good character gives her the right to have. Because of her inborn shyness, she lacks the courage to meddle in his affairs, and her only wish is to gain his love. With one word; she seems not mature enough for her great task"

Louise became Queen of Sweden and Norway at the death of her father-in-law on 8 July 1859. She was the first queen of the union of Sweden-Norway to be crowned in both Sweden and Norway, as Norway had refused to crown her two predecessors because they were Catholics. Louise was crowned Queen of Sweden in Stockholm on 3 May 1859 and Queen of Norway in Trondheim on 5 August 1860. She was the first queen to be crowned in Norway since the Middle Ages. Louise was very celebrated in Norway during her stay there.

Louise exerted no influence upon state affairs whatsoever, nor did she show any ambition to do so. The fact that she did not meddle in politics was seen as a good role model and was favorably compared to previous queens who had, such as her predecessor, Queen Josephine, and this view is described in a contemporary encyclopedia from 1864: "At last, the two kingdoms can rejoice in the blessing of again having a Queen, who does not proceed the governmental power with her own thoughts, but calmly observes the natural process through King and legitimate authority. Loved by the Swedish people, she has enough opportunity for her noble wish to occupy herself in charity".She did not lack political views, however: she disliked the parliamentary reform of 1865, and she did not share the anti-German view of Charles.

Louise preferred to use her royal position for philanthropy, which was also expected of a female member of the royalty and upper class. She founded the charity organisations: "Kronprinsessan Lovisas vårdanstalt för sjuka barn" (The Crown Princess Louise's Asylum for Sick Children) in 1854; "Femöreföreningen till inrättande av barnhem i Lappland" (The Five Öre Foundation for Orphanages in Lappland) in 1864; "Lotten Wennbergs fond för hjälpbehövande" (The Lotten Wennberg Foundation for the Needing) in 1864; "Drottning Lovisas understödsförening" (The Queen Louise Charity Foundation) in 1866; "Allmänna institutet för dövstumma och blinda" (The Public Institution of the Deaf and Blind); "Sällskapet för inrättande av småbarnsskolor" (The Society for Elementary Education School's Foundation); "Den fosterländska föreningen till uppmuntran av själverksamhet för framtida oberoende" (The Patriotic Society for the Encouragement of Self Employments for Future Independence); and the "Tysta skolan, eller uppfostrings- och undervisningsanstalten för dövstumma barn" (Silent School, or The Nursing- and Education Institution for Deaf and Mute Children) by Johanna Berglind.

Louise was interested in music and history, and took piano lessons from the Swedish pianist Adolf Fredrik Lindblad. She translated work from English and Dutch into Swedish, which she sold for charitable purposes. Louise and her daughter were students of Nancy Edberg, the pioneer of swimming for women: swimming was initially not regarded as being entirely proper for females, but when the Queen and her daughter Princess Louise supported it by attending the lessons from 1862, swimming quickly became fashionable and accepted for women. Louise employed Sweden's first female dentist, Rosalie Fougelberg, as her official personal dentist in 1867.Among her own personal friends was Aurore von Haxthausen, who was her maid of honor her entire time as queen, as well as Countess Stephanie Hamilton, who served as her Mistress of the Robes in 1859–60: the correspondence of Louise and Stephanie Hamilton is preserved. She also kept in contact with her family and her old governess by correspondence. 

Queen Louise preferred a quiet and anonymous family life and preferred to avoid ceremonial and representational duties whenever she could, some times by pretending to be ill. King Charles, however, did not like to appear without her at formal occasions and occasionally forced her to be present. On one occasion, he is known to have said to her that she would have to attend, otherwise: "The old women might think there is something wrong with you!" In 1866, for example, Charles made her open the General Industrial Exposition of Stockholm (1866) in his place. King Charles XV loved parties and masquerades, and his court life at Ulriksdal Palace was compared that at Versailles and was in some circles considered to shame the name of the monarchy, expressed by the vicar Christoffer Bruun in 1881: "It still causes as shiver that the highest power of the church was placed in the hands of this degenerated King, who has filled the whole nation with talk of his debauched life." Louise was given an important part to play in his court life as the Queen, and upon the death of Queen Dowager Desirée, who had occupied the Queen's wing in the Stockholm Royal Palace until her death in 1860, Charles redecorated it for Louise and had a luxurious Venetian Mirror hall made to her reception room, which was much talked about (it was later removed by his successor). Her court was headed by Wilhelmina Bonde almost her entire tenure as queen. Reportedly, Louise suffered from her spouse's adultery and did her best to compete with her rivals and entertain him, and her mother-in-law advised her to remove and marry away her maids of honor when Charles became attracted to them. Charles had a relationship with Hanna Styrell from 1860 until 1869 and with Wilhelmine Schröder from 1869 until his death, except from his more temporary relationships. Charles was very fond of their daughter; however, Louise was worried that he treated their daughter too much like a son at a time when gender roles were considered extremely important, allowing her more freedom than what was considered to be suitable for a female at that time.

Louise suffered from bad health. On at least one occasion, during a boat trip on Mälaren, she suffered some kind of a fit (possibly an epileptic seizure from contemporary descriptions), which was interpreted to have been a hysterical reaction to her husband's neglect. The court gathered to conceal her from public view, and the King quickly took her below deck. In this issue, it is reported that: "Lovisa could at any time faint and in connection to this, she could have what is called nerve or cramp-attacks". In 1864, during a visit to court by a former lover of Charles, Josephine Sparre, Fritz von Dardel noted: "Initially the Queen is said to have felt worried for this visit; one evening, Her Majesty was about to have convulsions in the billiard hall, but this they attempted to conceal by claiming that it was caused by her chamberlain Liljenkrantz, who was supposed to have pushed her accidentally with his billiard pole..." 

In 1870, Queen Louise visited the Netherlands to be present at the death bed of her mother. Upon her return to Stockholm, Charles XV fell sick and she nursed him. Exhausted, she contracted pneumonia during a walk by carriage. On her death bed, she had long conversations with her family, which have been described as dramatic. Her daughter claimed: "It was as if mother exposed her entire life to us". Louise asked Charles to forgive her everything in which she could have failed him, to which he responded by accusing himself, after which both he and his mother Josephine reportedly fainted because they were so moved. Louise died on 30 March 1871.

[bennguintweets]

One Shot: Growing

Requested by anon: “Will you please write a short story about how Tyler and Jamie are seriously considering adopting another baby or very young kid and decide to talk to Dusty and Riley about it?"

“Dusty, Riley! Come down here for a second!” Jamie called upstairs to his kids from the living room.

“Are we in trouble?” Dusty called back. He wanted to prepare himself just in case. He didn’t think he caused any trouble lately, but you could never be too sure when your name was Dusty Benn-Seguin.

“No, unless there’s something on your conscience you wanna tell me about?”

“Nope! I’m good!” Dusty chuckled and jogged downstairs with Riley following closely behind. When both kids entered the living room, they saw their dads sitting knee-to-knee on the couch. It instantly threw up a red flag in their minds, as this was an unusual sight. The last time they were greeted by something like this was when Jamie announced his retirement from hockey to the kids.

“What’s going on?” Riley asked timidly.

“Have a seat, baby. Nothing’s wrong.” Tyler hummed reassuringly. Riley sat down next to Dusty on the oversized ottoman that was directly in front of their dads. She was terribly confused as to why there was suddenly a family meeting. If it wasn’t bad, and they weren’t in trouble, what could this possibly be about? Were they moving? Were their grandparents moving in? Were they getting another dog? All these possibilities swarmed Riley’s thoughts until Dusty spoke up and took her out of her daze.

“So, what is this about?” Dusty asked. He was just as curious about this meeting as his sister was.

“Well, your dad and I have been talking lately, and we didn’t want to mention anything to you two until it was certain.” Jamie started out, and looked at Tyler for backup. He was nervous about how the kids were going to take the news.

“Until what was certain?” Riley asked, feeling uneasy about them beating around the bush.

“What would you two think about us taking in a child from foster care?” Tyler asked. He was equally as nervous as Jamie, but after wrestling with the idea for a long time, he finally felt he was ready to give this a shot. He wanted so badly to adopt a child, but it was difficult for them when Dusty and Riley were little. He thought now would be the perfect time, but he wasn’t sure if the kids would agree with him.

“Another kid living with us?” Dusty asked.

“Yeah, we would take care of another child who needed us.” Tyler nodded. “It’s like adoption, only the child could potentially go back to their biological families. So it’s not long-term if something just ends up not working out.”

“I’m not really sure how I feel about that to be honest.” Dusty shrugged and looked at his dads sadly. He felt bad, because he knew they were obviously excited about it, and he didn’t want to crush their hope, but that was a lot to take in.

“That’s okay, bub. You don’t have to have an answer right now. I know this was really random for you guys, and we didn’t expect you to be on board with it immediately.” Tyler hummed, giving Dusty’s knee a reassuring pat.

“Can I ask what brought this up? Like why you’re suddenly looking into this?” Dusty asked them. He hoped he wasn’t coming off as rude, he was just curious about the whole thing.

“We’ve actually been talking about it for a couple years now. I really wanted to adopt after we had you and Riley, but it just never happened. So a few years back, I thought we would just apply to see what would happen. We didn’t know if we would be approved or not, and it’s a really long process. So when we got approved, it felt like this was supposed to be happening at this moment in time. We truly think this might be our next calling as a family. If we didn’t believe that, we wouldn’t be bringing this up to you guys.” Tyler looked at his kids to see if he could read their body language. The room had suddenly became very quiet, as both of them seemed to be in deep thought. Jamie finally spoke up to end the dreaded silence.

“Your dad and I love you two more than anything in this world, and nothing will ever change that. Just because we got approved doesn’t mean we’re doing it. This is just as much your decision as it is your dad’s and mine. If you’re not comfortable with it, we won’t do it, simple as that. We just ask that you take your time thinking about it and ask us any questions or concerns you have.”

“Is it going to be a boy or a girl? And how old will they be?” Riley asked.

“It’s a boy, he’s about eighteen months, and his name is Elijah.” Tyler smiled.

“It’s a baby?!” Riley gasped and put her hands over her heart excitedly.

“Yes, it’s a baby.” Jamie chuckled fondly at his daughter.

“Did you want a baby?” Dusty asked his dads. He couldn’t hide the hurt in his voice.

“We didn’t have any sort of preference whatsoever. The agency evaluated us, and then they determined which child they thought would work best with us.” Jamie said. Dusty nodded and kept his eyes downcast.

“Hey.” Tyler frowned and lifted Dusty’s chin so their eyes met. “Don’t bottle anything up. Talk to me, bub.” He said softly. Tyler wanted his kids to know how serious he was about their opinions being heard through all of this. Even though he wanted this to work so badly, he wouldn’t go through with it if one of his kids felt like they were getting kicked to the curb.

“It’s nothing, it’s stupid.” Dusty sighed and shook his head.

“Your feelings are not stupid.” Jamie said seriously. “You can tell us anything, Dust.”

“I just…I don’t know. I guess I feel like I’ll be forgotten when I go off to college next year since you’ll have a baby to take care of.”

“Dusty.” Tyler frowned. It broke his heart that his son felt this way. “You’re my baby too. You and Riley will always be my babies. I don’t care how old you are, you’ll never be too old for me to baby. There is nothing and no one that will ever change that. Do you understand?” Tyler asked. Dusty nodded softly, he could see his dad’s eyes tearing up slightly, so he knew he was being sincere.  

“You do realize that when you go to college, we’re going to visit you more than you want us too, right?” Jamie chuckled, hoping to lighten the mood.

“Yeah, I figured.” Dusty smiled and nodded.

“Come give me a hug.” Tyler hummed and opened his arms. Dusty chuckled and rolled his eyes, but obliged to his dad’s request. Dusty would never admit it, but on the inside, he loved that sort of affection from his dad, especially in a moment like this. He needed to keep his bad boy image going, so he always made sure to act like Tyler’s babying was ridiculous to him.

“See? Never too old.” Jamie chuckled, as Tyler engulfed his son in a warm hug.

“So, when does Elijah get here, Papa?” Riley asked.

“Not until next month. We’ll have the opportunity to visit with him, so he can get acquainted with our family before he comes to stay with us. That will give us a chance to determine if our family is ready for this or not as well. We’re not going to jump into anything. This is something we all need to ease into.” Jamie hummed.

“How are you two feeling about this? Do you think this something you’d be okay giving a shot?” Jamie asked.

“I think so.” Riley smiled and nodded excitedly.

“Yeah, I think we should give it a shot.” Dusty nodded.

“Really? You’re sure?” Tyler smiled. He couldn’t believe this was all coming together. He had hoped for so long it would, and to see it coming so close almost seemed unreal to him.

“Yeah, let’s do it.” Dusty smiled. He was happy that his dads were happy, but he knew this would be good for all of them. Despite his initial worries, he was excited to have a little brother. He wanted to be a good role model for the little guy.

“Alright, bring it in.” Jamie smiled and stood up from the couch before opening his arms. The family came together for a group hug like they always did after emotional family moments.

“Oh, and just so you guys know.” Dusty hummed to break the silence. “I’ll train Elijah to be my mini me, so when I go to college, he’ll be here to give you grey hairs since I can’t.”

“Oh is that so?” Jamie chuckled and rolled his eyes.

“Yup.” Dusty said, popping the ‘P’ at the end.

“We wouldn’t expect anything less.” Tyler smiled.