#non daily Tudors

[audreydoeskaren]

Note about periodization

I am going to start describing time periods in Chinese history with European historical terms like medieval, Renaissance, early modern, Georgian and Victorian and so on, alongside the standard dynastic terms like Song, Ming and Qing I usually use. So like something about the Ming Dynasty I will tag Ming Dynasty and Renaissance. I already do it sometimes but not consistently. Here’s why.

A common criticism levied against this practice is that periodization is geographically specific and that it’s wrong and eurocentric to refer to, say, late Ming China as Renaissance China. It is a valid criticism, but in my experience the result of not using European periodization is that people default to ‘ancient’ when describing any period in Chinese history before the 20th century, which does conjure up specific images of European antiquity that do not align temporally with the Chinese period in question. I have talked about my issue with ‘ancient China’ before but I want to elaborate. People already consciously or subconsciously consider European periodizations of history to be universal, because of the legacy of colonialism and how eurocentric modern human culture generally is. By not using European historical terms for non-European places, people will simply think those places exist outside of history altogether, or at least exist within an early, primitive stage of European history. It’s a recipe for the denial of coevalness. I think there is a certain dangerous naivete among scholars who believe that if they refrain from using European periodization for non-European places, people will switch to the periodization appropriate for those places in question and challenge eurocentric history writing; in practice I’ve never seen it happen. The general public is not literate enough about history to do these conversions in situ. I have accumulated a fairly large pool of examples just from the number of people spamming ‘ancient China’ in my askbox despite repeatedly specifying the time periods I’m interested in (not antiquity!). If I say ‘Ming China’ instead of ‘Renaissance China’ people will take it as something on the same temporal plane as classical Greece instead of Tudor England. How many people would be surprised if I say that Emperor Qianlong of the Qing was a contemporary of George Washington and Frederick the Great? I’ve seen people talk about him as if he was some tribal leader in the time of Tacitus. European periodization is something I want to embrace ‘under erasure’ so to say, using something strategically for certain advantages while acknowledging its problems. Now there is a history of how the idea of ‘ancient China’ became so entrenched in popular media and I think it goes a bit deeper than just Orientalism, but that’s topic for another post. Right now I’m only concerned with my decision to add European periodization terms.

In order to compensate for the use of eurocentric periodization, I have carried out some experiments in the reverse direction in my daily life, by using Chinese reign years to describe European history. The responses are entertaining. I live in a Georgian tenement in the UK but I like to confuse friends and family by calling it a ‘Jiaqing era flat’. A friend of mine (Chinese) lives in an 1880s flat and she burst out in laughter when I called it ‘Guangxu era’, claiming that it sounded like something from court. But why is it funny? The temporal description is correct, the 1880s were indeed in the Guangxu era. And ‘Guangxu’ shouldn’t invoke royal imagery anymore than ‘Victorian’ (though said friend does indulge in more Qing court dramas than is probably healthy). It is because Chinese (and I’m sure many other non-white peoples) have been trained to believe that our histories are particular and distant, confined to a geographical location, and that they somehow cannot be mapped onto European history, which unfolded parallel to the history of the rest of the world, until we had been colonized. We have been taught that European history is history, but our history is ethnography.

It should also be noted that periodization for European history is not something essentialist and intrinsic either, period terms are created by historians and arbitrarily imposed onto the past to begin with. I was reading a book about medievalism studies and it talked about how the entire concept of the Middle Ages was manufactured in the Renaissance to create a temporal other for Europeans at the time to project undesired traits onto, to distance themselves from a supposedly ‘dark’ past. People living in the European Middle Ages likely did not think of themselves as living in a ‘middle’ age between something and something, so there is absolutely no natural basis for calling the period roughly between the 6th and 16th centuries ‘medieval’. Despite questionable origins, periodization of European history has become more or less standard in history writing throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, whereas around the same time colonial anthropological narratives framed non-European and non-white societies, including China, as existing outside of history altogether. Periodization of European history was geographically specific partially because it was conceived with Europe in mind and Europe only, since any other place may as well be in some primordial time.

Perhaps in the future there will develop global periodizations that consider how interconnected human history is. There probably are already attempts but they’re just not prominent enough to reach me yet. Until that point, I feel absolutely no moral baggage in describing, say, the Song Dynasty as ‘medieval’ because people in 12th century Europe did not think of themselves as ‘medieval’ either. I am the historian, I do whatever I want, basically.

[fideidefenswhore]

I have been having a very difficult time finding actual historical non fiction books written by credible authors at my local library. It seems Alison Weir and Linda Porter have taken over, with the occasional David Stark thrown in, and I was curious if you had any recommendations for any credible biographers?

I mean… I have my issues with Linda Porter and David Starkey asw, but they are both historians and specialists in their subjects, so I would argue they are both ‘credible’ biographers in that sense …

But I definitely have my own preferences as far as historians go, so if you’re looking for personal recommendations, you can check out my pinned post (to see what quotes from which biographers interest you), and more specifically, in no particular order, I would recommend :

Susan Wabuda, Julia Fox, Catherine Fletcher, Glenn Richardson, Judith Richards, Elizabeth Norton, Suzannah Lipscomb, Eric Ives, Lucy Wooding, Diarmaid MacCulloch, Susan Brigden, Melita Thomas, Lisa Hilton, Nicola Tallis, Estelle Paranque, John Guy, Pamela Gross (her one Tudor biography is difficult to find , however, although you might meet with luck if your library has an ILL program, as I did as a student) and Owen Emmerson.

As for books not strictly academic biographies, I prefer Susan Bordo’s book on Anne Boleyn in pop culture / popular memory over Russo’s, tbh, and I love all of Natalie Grueniger’s. If you’re looking for academic Tudor books, non-biographical, more focused on politics, daily (court) life, architecture > personalities , I can rec there too… since you mentioned Alison Weir, it’s worth mentioning Simon Thurley’s books on daily court life and palace architecture, most of her passages on those matters are cribbed from his books, anyways. Might as well go straight to the source > the summaries 👀

[animatedhh-shenanigans]

| INSUFFERABLE INTRODUCTION

Good day to anyone who has stumbled upon this blog, for this blog holds a little niche interest of mine: Animated/Illustrated Horrible History characters !

This blog will all be about the little historical cartoon characters that would appear in the middle of your daily dose of 2009 CBBC Horrible Histories, or perhaps on the book cover of the Horrible Histories book your reading ! (The characters that no one really thought nor cared about)

If the the topics I’ve mentioned above engrosses you, then hop along and check out the FASCINATING FUNFACTS, SILLY STORIES, CRUEL CHARACTERS, AND PLENTY MORE TO COME !

| TERRIBLE TOPICS

Topics and ideas that I will (most likely) talk about often are …

ANIMATED (2009 CBBC) HORRIBLE HISTORY CHARACTERS

HORRIBLE HISTORIES BOOK COVER CHARACTERS

CRABBY CLASH (My Horrible Histories AU)

Martin Brown (Illustrator of Horrible Histories)

Horrible Histories art

Horrible Histories (in general)

This blog will also be a little roleplay blog, you can ask any animated Horrible History character anything in the inbox ! (Well not ANY thing, just don’t be weird.)

| THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

I will be addressing the characters by their fanon/canon names time to time, and so if you ever get confused which character I’m referencing to, you can check out the CHARACTER NAME LIST !

When I post my HH art, most of the time it’ll be in Martin Brown’s Art style/Horrible Histories Art style; I do NOT “own” the art style nor do I profit/make money off of it. I really love Martin Brown’s art and I enjoy drawing in his style BUT I do not claim it as my own art style.

HHAC = Horrible History Animated Characters

This blog is ran by a MINOR ! Don’t be weirdo >:-(

| CRABBY CLASH

“What is it anyways ?”

Crabby Clash is a Horrible Histories AU that centers around the historical eras/periods going to war against each other, it focuses more on the cartoon HH characters rather than the non-animated ones like Bob Hale, Sam, Cliff Whiteley, etc … BUT they are in fact canon in the AU !

It’ll be mentioned here on this blog at times, just not that often (because I am shy and I don’t come up with ideas often) !!

In the Crabby Clash (also known as the “Era War”), there are 6 sides composed of different historical eras that have formed an alliance.

IN ALLIANCE:

“United Steam Front” (Frightful WWI, Woeful WWII, Blitzed Brits, Troublesome 20th century, Vile Victorians)

“Primordial Pact” (Angry Aztecs, Incredible Incas, Savage Stone Age)

“Floral Fortress” (Awesome Egyptians/Awful Egyptians, Groovy Greeks, Smashing Saxons)

“British Isles Compact” (Slimy Stuarts, Gorgeous Georgians)

“Crusader Coalition” (Stormin’ Normans, Measly Middle Ages)

“Imperial Triumph” (Terrible/Terrifying Tudors, Radical Renaissance, Rotten Romans)

NOT IN AN ALLIANCE:

Vicious Vikings

Fabulous French

(Awesome USA) Cowboys (Part of it have alliances with “United Steam Front”)

Putrid Pirates

Cut-Throat Celts

You’ll learn more about this AU in future posts !

| EPILOGUE

I ran out of things to mention but thanks for reading and I hope you’re willing to see more animated HH posts and content from me ! :-D (I will update this introduction time to time)

[dragoneyes618]

'Give us this day our daily bread' was a plea of the most literal kind for people of the Tudor age. Bread was the staple foodstuff. It is easy for us now to underestimate the centrality of bread within people's lives. Imagine for a moment every meal that you have eaten this week. It probably contains a number of bready elements, toast and sandwiches being the most common. But now remember every meal that consisted of pasta or rice and mentally replace that carbohydrate with a couple of slices of bread. Now do the same for every potato in every form, from mashed and boiled to chips and crisps. The imaginary pile of bread is mounting up. Your next task is to think how many of the remaining non-bread parts of your diet this week could actually be grown in Tudor England - so that's a yes to turnips and peas, and a no to bananas and sweetcorn. Which of these remaining things are in season right now? Wherever there is a gap, fill it with bread. You are beginning to get a feel for how much bread people ate.

- How To Be A Tudor, Ruth Goodman, pages 124-125

[thesecrettimes]

Jim Cramer Says Avoid Crypto, Stick With Gold for ‘Real Hedge’ Against Inflation and Economic Chaos

The host of Mad Money, Jim Cramer, has advised investors to avoid crypto and stick with gold if they “seriously want a real hedge against inflation or economic chaos.” He added that bitcoin is too volatile to use as a currency. “Imagine business owners trying to conduct transactions with shares of Facebook or Google … it’s ridiculous,” he stressed.

Jim Cramer Prefers Gold to Crypto

The host of CNBC’s Mad Money show, Jim Cramer, gave some investment advice regarding gold and cryptocurrencies on Monday. Cramer is a former hedge fund manager who co-founded Thestreet.com, a financial news and literacy website. He believes that investors should stay away from cryptocurrencies despite bitcoin’s recent gains. Referencing charts interpreted by Decarley Trading’s senior commodity strategist and options broker, Carley Garner, Cramer emphasized that investors “need to ignore the crypto cheerleaders now that bitcoin’s bouncing.” He proceeded to advise: If you seriously want a real hedge against inflation or economic chaos, she says you should stick with gold. And I agree. Citing Garner, the Mad Money host explained that the correlation between bitcoin futures and the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 is very high, as shown in their daily charts going back to March 2021. This indicates that bitcoin behaves more like a risky asset rather than a stable store of value or currency, Cramer claimed, elaborating: Imagine business owners trying to conduct transactions with shares of Facebook or Google … it’s ridiculous, they’re too volatile. Bitcoin is no different. Unlike Cramer, some people believe that bitcoin is a better hedge against inflation than gold, including venture capitalist Tim Draper and billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones. Cramer also cautioned about “counterparty risk,” the potential for the other party in a transaction or investment to not fulfill their obligations. “Of course, you can just own bitcoin directly in a decentralized wallet — that protects you from counterparty risk,” he opined. “But if you ever want to use it for anything, the risk is back on the table. And as FTX’s customers learned, it can be devastating.” The Mad Money host used to invest in bitcoin, ether, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) but he sold all his crypto holdings last year. He used to recommend bitcoin alongside gold. In March 2021, he said: “I have, for years, said that you should have gold … but gold let me down. Gold is subject to too many vicissitudes. It’s subject to mining issues. It’s frankly subject to failing in many cases.” He has also repeatedly warned about the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) doing a “roundup” of uncompliant crypto firms, advising investors to get out of crypto now. “I wouldn’t touch crypto in a million years,” he stressed. Cramer often cited John Reed Stark, SEC’s former head of internet enforcement, who recently said a “regulatory onslaught is just beginning.” What do you think about Jim Cramer’s advice? Let us know in the comments section below. Read the full article

[snackerdoodle]

Books Read in 2022

I almost lost my list of all the books I’ve read this year when my phone died in November, so I’m putting it here for safe keeping. I’ve read more books this year than I have since I started reliably keeping track, thanks in large part to all the audiobooks I’ve been listening to on my monster of a commute. Almost everything on this list is from the library because 💖 for the library always. If you’re nosy like I am, enjoy!

1/13 The Unspoken Name, AK Larkwood

1/17 The Last Graduate, Naomi Novik

1/27 The Secret Lives of Color, Kassia St Clair

2/2 A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking, T. Kingfisher��

2/10 Recovering from Emotionally Immature Parents, Lindsay C Gibson (this is her second book on this topic. If this piques your interest, I strongly recommend reading her more thorough first book “Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents” instead.)

3/4 American Indian Stories, Zitkala-Sa

3/23 The Thousand Eyes, AK Larkwood

3/24 The Traitor Baru Cormorant, Seth Dickinson

4/11 Where the Drowned Girls Go, Seanan McGuire

5/3 Rhythm of War, Brandon Sanderson

5/6 Caring for American Indian Objects: A Practical and Cultural Guide, Sherelyn Ogden (ed.)—skimmed parts not relevant to research for work.

5/9 The Unbroken, CL Clark

5/18 The Monster Baru Cormorant, Seth Dickinson

5/21 Le Petit Prince, Antoine de St. Exupéry

5/21 Fantômes, Raina Telgemeier

5/23 Barbe Bleue, Perrault (short story, audio in French)

5/27 Dark Tales, Shirley Jackson

5/30 La Peste, Albert Camus —audio, did NOT follow the plot at all. Required way more focus than I could do but I did listen to the whole thing. Understood the words etc in parts I could pay more attention to. 

6/6 German Word Booster, Vocabulearn

6/6 The Animals at Lockwood Manor, Jane Healey

6/9 Black Tudors, Miranda Kaufman

6/15 Mexican Gothic, Silvia Moreno-Garcia

6/21 Vol de Nuit, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry —also couldn’t follow the audiobook well. Same as Camus. I think same narrator too—he whispers and projects in turns so can’t hear half the time, and if anything happens while driving I completely stop paying attention then check back in. Will get non audio version sometime. 

6/27 The Heiress: The Revelations of Anne de Bourgh, Molly Greeley

7/6 Harry Potter à l’école des sorciers, JK Rowling (Don’t judge me too harshly—I’m at the mercy of what’s available in French at the library.)

7/14 The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee, David Treuer

7/25 Le Cerveau et la Musique, Michel Rochon (French Canadian audiobook—he spoke slower and because it is nonfiction didn’t whisper half the time so I could understand this one really well, yay!)

8/9 Gideon the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir

8/13 Nona the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir (ARC)

8/17 Harrow the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir

8/19 Crocodile on the Sandbank, Elizabeth Peters (I’m rereading this series for pure nostalgia. I do not recommend it if you haven’t already read it. There’s a lot of colonialism and period-accurate (Victorian) racism that isn’t interrogated as much as it could be, along with a kind of 1980s feminism that doesn’t read well now, imo. I would not like these if I had not read them in middle school, but as it stands, I have an unshakable if critical fondness for them.)

8/20 The Mummy Case, Elizabeth Peters

8/22 Lion in the Valley, Elizabeth Peters

9/2 Deeds of the Disturber, Elizabeth Peters

9/15 The Snake, the Crocodile, and the Dog, Elizabeth Peters

9/16 The Last Camel Died at Noon, Elizabeth Peters

10/4 Sacrées Sorcieres, Roald Dahl (translated into French)

10/8 The Hippopotamus Pool, Elizabeth Peters

10/14 The Ape Who Guards the Balance, Elizabeth Peters

10/20 The Guardian of the Horizon, Elizabeth Peters

10/26 Seeing a Large Cat, Elizabeth Peters

11/1 A River in the Sky, Elizabeth Peters

11/7 Dracula, Bram Stoker (through Dracula Daily)

11/8 The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt, Toby Wilkinson 

11/10 Awakenings, Oliver Sacks 11/15 The Curse of the Pharaohs, Elizabeth Peters 

11/19 Treasured: How Tutankhamen Shaped a Century, Christina Riggs

11/21 Germany Travel Guide, Lonely Planet

11/29 Witch Hat Atelier 1, Kamome Shirahama 

11/30 Egypt Travel Guide, Lonely Planet

12/2 Witch Hat Atelier 2, Kamome Shirahama

12/2 Witch Hat Atelier 3, Kamome Shirahama 

12/7 Legends and Lattes, Travis Baldree

12/19 The Story of Egypt, Joann Fletcher

12/22 The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison

12/23 The Book of Hygge, Louisa Thomsen Brits

12/23 The Tea Dragon Society, Katie O’Neill

12/23 Witch Hat Atelier 4, Kamome Shirahama

Gave up on:

The Jasmine Throne, Tasha Suri (Disappointing—I wanted to like this one)

Tsumiko and the Enslaved Fox, Forthright (Simply awful—not for me at all. Recommended by the library because of the audiobook narrator and I could not get through it.)

[minervacasterly]

3 October 1568: Elizabeth of Valois, Queen Consort of Spain died.

Her daughters Catalina Michaela and Isabel Eugenia were her husband's favorite offspring and his letters to them still survives. Why is she important? She was best friends with Mary, Queen of Scots. The two grew up together, her brother Francois married Mary, uniting both crowns of France and Scotland until his early death which prompted the Scottish Queen to return to her homeland in 1561.

*And* she was first betrothed to Edward VI, King of England, Henry VIII's only surviving son. Dudley and co. favored a French alliance over an Imperial one and the marriage treaty was sealed in 1550, however the King's untimely death three years later undermined it.

[dailytudors]

Flashback to fictional portrayals of Henry V + Katherine Valois marriage from film and TV based of Shakespeare’s play “Henry V”.

[beyondthecosmicvoid]

Dune & The Tudors

The Beginning is a delicate time and to get to the heart of a story, one must know when a story truly begins ...

The Tudors first season began the opening with JRM (Henry VIII) telling the audience that you don't know the heart of the story until you get to the beginning. He's basically the Irulan of the series. Yet, The Tudors started the story way too late. While this worked for Irulan when immortalizing Muad'Dib, the same can't be said for Henry VIII.

In spite of the major historical inaccuracies in the adaptations of Philippa Gregory's novels set during the wars of the roses and the early Tudor period, the series work as a better landscape to understand the Tudors since it's, as many historians have noted (including Tudor contemporaries), the wars of the roses that truly marks the beginning of the Tudor Dynasty.

I also recommend the old BBC miniseries from 1972, the Shadow of the Tower, that does a good job showing the beginning of the Tudors as the ruling House of England. However, it is a little farther back (a period that wasn't covered in TWP since the major focus was on the titular character, Elizabeth Woodville), when a thirteen year old expectant mother sought to seek refuge in her brother-in-law's lands. Her husband, Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond and the King's half brother, had perished. Previously, he had been held captive by Yorkist armies. At the time he was let go, he was so weak, he succumbed to the plague. Scared that the Duke of York's men would come for her, his pre-teen wife, Margaret Beaufort, now Countess Dowager, ran to Pembrokeshirw, Wales where Edmund's brother, Jasper Tudor, allocated her in Pembroke Castle. There, she gave birth to the boy whose dynasty and descendants changed the face of the Western Europe. She named her son Henry after his uncle, (who also happened to be Margaret's cousin) the Lancastrian King, Henry VI.

Margaret's journey was similar to Jessica but filled with more perils. At thirteen, she couldn't stay a widow forever. She married two more times. Her second marriage was perhaps the happiest and the one which helped her and her son ingratiate themselves to the Yorkist regime. But following the restoration of Henry VI and his immediate fall and murder, Margaret once again found herself stuck between a wall and a hard place. With her second husband dead and Henry Tudor and his uncle Jasper forced into exile, Margaret decided to take the reins of their destinies. Henry would have to fend for himself with his uncle's guidance. She on the other hand, would have to negotiate her survival a new union that would be beneficial for all parties involved. Margaret Beaufort played her cards and once again, she dealt a winning blow.

To understand the Muad'Dib, Princess Irulan intelligently points out that no student of history can truly understand his reign until he or she looks at his arrival at Arrakis. It is in Arrakis, otherwise known as Dune, where his journey began which would result in his fateful meeting with the Fremen Chani, the Jihad he unleashed on the Known Universe, culminating with his son, the God Emperor Leto II. It's his rebirth as the hopping mouse of the deser and as Chani's Usul that also sees the introduction of other powerful and complicated beings like his sister, St Alia of the Knife.

Likewise, without going back to that moment in time when Margaret was wed to a man more than half her age and her subsequent pregnancy, one will never fully be able to understand the Tudors.

[edwardslovelyelizabeth]

Tudor Week - Day 6: Favourite Tudor Non Fiction Media/s (Documentary, Biography, Podcast etc)

The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses and the Rise of the Tudors by Dan Jones

The fifteenth century experienced the longest and bloodiest series of civil wars in British history. The crown of England changed hands violently seven times as the great families of England fought to the death for power, majesty and the right to rule. Dan Jones completes his epic history of medieval England with a new book about the the Wars of the Roses - and describes how the Plantagenets, tore themselves apart and were finally replaced by the Tudors.

Uncrowned Queen: The Fateful Life of Margaret Beaufort, Tudor Matriarch by Nicola Tallis

The first comprehensive biography in three decades of Margaret Beaufort, the mother of the Tudor Dynasty.  Nicola Tallis’s gripping account of Margaret’s life, one that saw the final passing of the Middle Ages, is a true thriller, revealing the life of an extraordinarily ambitious and devoted woman who risked everything to ultimately found the Tudor dynasty. 

Winter King: Henry VII and the Dawn of Tudor England by Thomas Penn

In this remarkable book, Thomas Penn re-creates the story of the tragic, magnetic Henry VII.  Rich with drama and insight, Winter King is an astonishing story of pageantry, treachery, intrigue and incident--and the fraught, dangerous birth of Tudor England.

Elizabeth of York (Queenship and Power) by Arlene Naylor Okerlund

This book tells the story of the queen whose marriage to King Henry VII ended England’s Wars of the Roses and inaugurated the 118-year Tudor dynasty. Best known as the mother of Henry VIII and grandmother of Elizabeth I, this Queen Elizabeth contributed far beyond the act of giving birth to future monarchs. Her marriage to Henry VII unified the feuding houses of Lancaster and York, and her popularity with the people helped her husband survive rebellions that plagued his first decade of rule. Queen Elizabeth’s gracious manners and large family created a warm, convivial Court marked by a rather exceptional fondness between the royal couple. Her love for music, literature, and architecture also helped inspire England’s Renaissance.

Tudor: The Family Story by Leanda de Lisle

The Tudors are England’s most notorious royal family. But, as Leanda de Lisle’s gripping new history reveals, they are a family still more extraordinary than the one we thought we knew.Throughout the Tudor story, Leanda de Lisle emphasizes the supreme importance of achieving peace and stability in a violent and uncertain world, and of protecting and securing the bloodline.Tudor is bristling with religious and political intrigue but at heart is a thrilling story of one family’s determined and flamboyant ambition.

Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII by David Starkey

Six Wives is a masterful work of history that intimately examines the rituals of diplomacy, marriage, pregnancy, and religion that were part of daily life for women at the Tudor Court 

[malkaleh]

for the writers' would you ever...hmmm...would you ever write the Triad as a modern AU? it'd be so interesting to see those dynamics and issues etc etc with a 20th/21st century monarchy!

I actually have written a bit of this! (I also have a not completed modern non royal AU that was kind of meant to be a in universe (Tudors OT3 Cinematic Universe) romance novel which one day I might even rework/change the names to make it more obviously in universe) The unofficial name is ‘fuck the daily mail’ and it’s if modern royal Henry was dating Thomas and Anne in our world, told in multimedia (tweets, article extracts, tv interview transcripts, instagram etc) and in little bits of fic.

(I made Thomas and Anne biracial and jewish. Thomas isn’t the modern equivalent of his position which would be…actually it probably would be Prime Minister which is a whole other AU. Anne is a human rights lawyer though).

It’s so much fun because I uh, have some royal feelings (especially some Meghan Markle feelings (I love her)).

ETA: the fic (inspired by @quillington in part)

ask me would you ever write?

[beardofkamenev]

4,7,9, and 29 for the history ask game

Thanks for the ask!

4. Favourite historical era?

Obviously the Wars of the Roses! I personally don’t think they ended in 1485 either so I also count Henry VII’s reign as part of that era, which is Very Convenient for me. It literally has everything: dynastic conflict, epic battles, intrigue, romance, exile, usurpation, murder, foreign wars, and of course, the beginnings of the English renaissance. Basic Tudor bitches DNI.

7. Historical dressing, uniform, or costume?

I actually have no idea what this question is even asking (not your fault though), so I’ll just assume that it’s asking what my favourite historical fashion period is. In terms of pure aesthetics, my favourite fashion period is the Early 15th Century Europe hands-down. IT’S SO FUCKING EXTRA. GAZE UPON THIS INSANITY:

We are constantly robbed by medieval dramas which never bother to show the deliciously OTT fashion back then, and instead subject the audience to various shades of grey and brown — all covered in shit, of course. I should say though that this all these houppelandes, escoffions, hennins and poulaines look very burdensome, so I wouldn’t want to wear them on the daily. Factoring in wearability, I am quite partial to the 14th Century (think Isabella of France, Philippa of Hainault) and the Edwardian era, which isn’t even medieval.

9. Favourite historical film?

You might be shocked that my favourite historical film isn’t set in the Middle Ages, but I love love love Amadeus. It’s not even remotely historically accurate, but I can overlook that if the acting and script and music and visuals are on point and BOY ARE THEY ON POINT. In terms of film adaptations of historical works, I really enjoyed The Little Hours (based off Boccaccio’s Decameron) and Justin Kurzel’s Macbeth. There are probably a lot more films I’m missing but those are the only ones I can remember right now.

29. Are there any great historical mysteries that you are interested in?

Am I contractually obliged as a WOTR blogger to say the Princes in the Tower? Technically it’s still a mystery because no one can say for sure who killed them (or if they were indeed killed), but imho the responsibility for their fate lies solely with Richard III. He was the one who bastardised them, imprisoned them, ‘disappeared’ them and immediately benefited from their deaths. I know his defenders like to cite the Not Guilty verdict from that Starkey ‘trial’ as proof of Richard’s innocence, but I think it’s pointless to apply 21st century evidentiary standards to 15th century murder mysteries. A fake-jury would have to turn over a Not Guilty verdict in every fake-case lol, not to mention that “Not Guilty” doesn’t even mean “innocent”, only that there’s not enough evidence to fake-convict. Anyway, I’m getting sidetracked. The Princes in the Tower non-mystery is the one I am most interested in.

(The history ask meme is still open!)

[aion-rsa]

Industry Review: HBO Finance Drama is Softer-Hearted Than You’d Expect

https://ift.tt/2U9dMmo

In 2020, it’s hard to imagine a workplace that engenders less sympathy than the trading floor of a City bank. A puppy-kicking farm, perhaps? The Trump Campaign? Being asked to experience fellow-feeling for the people who choose to work in the gurgling bastard tank of corporate finance is a tall order. We all recognise City traders as the bad guys – to a one, rapacious, conscience-free, Patrick Bateman-alike monsters who’d sell their grandmother a bundle of toxic assets if it turned them a profit.

A viewer could be forgiven then, for approaching a drama about a cohort of graduate interns at a top London investment bank in a spirit of mean-hearted glee. What knobbers has the show lined up for us to loathe? Will it be all burning £50 notes in front of homeless people, doing bumps off the face of a Philippe Patek and high-fiving over sex workers’ backs, or just mostly that? We’ve seen The Apprentice. We know what enjoyable rage a pocket square and an Etonian accent can inspire. 

Well, forget about using Industry as fuel for your daily Two Minutes Hate. This show is no  Succession-like zoo of the morally corrupt. The ambitious young people killing themselves to land these coveted positions, it turns out, are human beings like the rest of us. Clever. Driven. Vulnerable. And – against your every instinct – easy to root for. 

That’s down to power, or a lack thereof. These kids (some Oxbridge graduates and Old Etonians, some bright sparks from elsewhere on the the class and geographical map) may have been on top of the pile at university, but at fictional setting Pierpoint Bank, they’re on the bottom rung. That makes them the comparative underdogs – a bundle of fresh-faced young potential you start off wanting to see running for the hills, and then quickly shift to wanting to see absolutely bossing it.

Quite how they absolutely boss it is a total mystery. Unless you’re already versed in the ways of the trading desk, none of Industry’s work scenes will make the slimmest slice of sense. Precisely no allowances are made to get the finance-thick viewer up to speed, which could be considered intellectually flattering, but is more likely down to the fact that it’s simply impossible to explain to civilians. You’ll have to watch the trading scenes like a dog watching a human conversation: Gibberish gibberish STRESSED VOICE gibberish gibberish HAPPY VOICE gibberish gibberish WALK?

Luckily for the financially challenged among us, there’s loads of sex and drug-taking in between the misbooked non-farm payroll errors, and that’s all very easy to understand.

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The Undoing Review (Spoiler-Free): Classy Thriller With An All-Star Cast

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Episode one is directed by Lena Dunham – whose Girls was clearly an influence on the tone. There’s mild satire amid the life-or-death trade deals and hedonist shagging, all built on a foundation of non-judgement at these young people who’ve chosen a career with rich financial reward but that places them under geological pressure. 

One reason for this show’s empathetic, if not quite apologist, approach to high finance and the young people who want to work there, is its autobiographical inspiration. Screenwriters Konrad Kay and Mickey Down met at Oxford University and worked in London investment banking after graduation. Down lasted a year and Kay lasted over three, but both emerged with a particular perspective on the rarefied environment and the stories it could tell. 

It’s an environment with striking and – as the writers tell it – natural diversity in ethnicity, nationality, sexuality, class and gender. Investment banks like to call themselves meritocracies. Be the best and earn your place. Industry prods usefully at that idea, exploring how far it does and doesn’t apply. It’s a naturalistic portrayal of the modern, competitive workplace with convincing texture. Even if you’ve never stepped foot on a trading floor, you’ve probably shared a Tube carriage or a pub smoking area with these people. They feel real.

Much of that is down to the cast of mostly newcomers, led capably by Myha’la Herrold as new American recruit Harper. Our main PoV character, she’s an outsider with some intrigue in her past, and an engaging, revealing relationship with her older mentor Eric (Ken Leung), the immigrant Roger Sterling of the piece.

Marisa Abela does terrific work as Yasmin, who lives rent-free in Notting Hill in her one of her non-dom parents’ London properties and therefore has a great deal of ground to make up in the goodwill stakes. Yasmin is precisely the kind of character whose ‘How I Spend It’ money diary would inspire rage on Twitter, but after four episodes, I like her and – thanks to the writers and Abela – might even understand her. 

Harry Lawtey plays Robert, “a whole snack” according to Harper and Yasmin. Even he, the Prince of Canary Wharf, has vulnerabilities in the form of his cheap suits and estuary vowels. David Jonsson plays Gus, who’s written his life plan on the inside cover of a copy of Thackeray’s Vanity Fair. Informer’s Nabhaan Rizwan plays Hari, who’s desperate to seem keen and buys in to the whole 24-hr desk, sleep is for wimps toxicity. Rounding out the cast in supporting roles are Humans’ Will Tudor and Skins’ Freya Mavor. It’s a good ensemble, think Skins meets This Life.

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Get past the technical language in the first episode (engage your dog-brain), and what’s left is an appealing character drama about timeless themes – youth, ambition, sex, relationships and status. It wins you over. By the end of episode four, you might even start thinking that… greed is good?

Industry starts on HBO on Monday the 9th and on BBC Two on Tuesday the 10th of November.

The post Industry Review: HBO Finance Drama is Softer-Hearted Than You’d Expect appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[trantran46-blog]

Apple Watch Straps

Apple Watch Leather Band Unlike the stack-em-high, sell-em-low mantra of the high street, you do not purchase a watch on impulse. Whether it's Swiss-made or integrated in Stoke, anything handmade, from minuscule cogs, is going to strike your bank balance hard. Which means that, unlike your T-shirt rotation, it's unlikely you change watches every day. But precisely like your T-shirt rotation, one style will not work all over. You're not James Dean. Nor did you inherit his royalty cheques. So you need an affordable method to switch up what's strapped to your wrist. Or, even better, what straps it to your wrist. Simply swapping out a watch strap can transform its appearance, breathing new life into a piece you've had for years or dialling up or down the rule of a brand-new purchase. "Today, much of the cost of having a sports, a daily and a gown watch can be avoided by simply switching out the watch band", says states Tracey Llewellyn, editor-in-chief of watch bible Revolution UK. "Even the big watch brands are getting on the gravy train of 'brand-new strap, new look' with the likes of Tudor providing alternative straps as basic, while Hublot, Baume & Mercier, Jaeger-LeCoultre and scores of others have developed quick release systems for easy changing without the requirement for tools."

When pocket enjoys moved onto men's wrists, leather was the apparent way to hold them on. It was soft, supple, and kept the look luxurious. As then, so today. Just now, cowhide is joined by exotic skins like alligator and ostrich, coruscating colours and big range in texture and pattern. Alligator leather (the preferred option of your Swiss huge hitters) is hard-wearing, however takes a bite out of bank balance and conscience. Calfskin is generally more affordable, with a softer look. Tuscan, nappa and even non-allergenic camel-grain leathers offer different textures to experiment with. When thinking about which works where, the strap's design can have an effect too. "A leather band can make any watch more 'everyday' depending, of course, on the option of style-- cuffs and rally-style being more casual than easy leather or exotic skins", says Llewellyn. And typically, when it concerns colour, the darker it is the more formal it is. One thing to think about is matching your watch strap's leather to other leather items on your person-- shoes or a belt, perhaps. Black is an apparent, easy to wear alternative but try dark browns, oxblood or navy for something discreetly different. Hirsch offers a massive series of leather straps that are both well made and inexpensive, so you can blend and match (and experiment with more left-field choices) to your wrist's material.

[schacktange31-blog]

Apple Watch Straps

Galaxy Watch Bands Unlike the stack-em-high, sell-em-low mantra of the high street, you don't purchase a watch on impulse. Whether it's Swiss-made or integrated in Stoke, anything handcrafted, from tiny cogs, is going to strike your bank balance hard. Which suggests that, unlike your T-shirt rotation, it's not likely you switch watches every day. But specifically like your T-shirt rotation, one style won't work all over. You're not James Dean. Nor did you acquire his royalty cheques. So you require a budget-friendly method to change up what's strapped to your wrist. Or, even better, what straps it to your wrist. Simply switching out a watch strap can transform its appearance, reviving a piece you've had for years or dialling up or down the procedure of a new purchase. "Today, much of the expense of having a sports, a daily and a gown watch can be prevented by simply switching out the watch band", states states Tracey Llewellyn, editor-in-chief of watch bible Revolution UK. "Even the huge watch brand names are getting on the gravy train of 'brand-new strap, makeover' with the likes of Tudor providing alternative straps as standard, while Hublot, Baume & Mercier, Jaeger-LeCoultre and ratings of others have developed fast release mechanisms for simple changing without the requirement for tools."

When pocket views moved onto guys's wrists, leather was the apparent method to hold them on. It was soft, flexible, and kept the look glamorous. As then, so today. Only now, cowhide is signed up with by unique skins like alligator and ostrich, coruscating colours and huge range in texture and pattern. Alligator leather (the preferred choice of your Swiss big hitters) is hard-wearing, however takes a bite out of bank balance and conscience. Calfskin is typically more affordable, with a softer look. Tuscan, nappa and even non-allergenic camel-grain leathers offer different textures to explore. When considering which works where, the strap's style can have a result too. "A leather band can make any watch more 'everyday' depending, obviously, on the choice of style-- cuffs and rally-style being more casual than simple leather or unique skins", states Llewellyn. And generally, when it pertains to colour, the darker it is the more formal it is. Something to consider is matching your watch strap's leather to other leather items on your individual-- shoes or a belt, perhaps. Black is an apparent, easy to use choice however attempt dark browns, oxblood or navy for something subtly various. Hirsch uses an enormous series of leather straps that are both well made and inexpensive, so you can blend and match (and experiment with more left-field options) to your wrist's material.

[minervacasterly]

The birth of an Empress & Powerful Regent.

24 October 1503: The birth of Isabelle of Portugal. She was the daughter of King Manuel I & María of Aragon. She married Charles V, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and King of Spain in 1526. The two had three children that reached adulthood including King Philip II of Spain and I of Portugal.

Both she and her husband shared the same maternal grandparents: the Catholic Kings, Fernando II of Aragon and Isabel I of Castilla.

It's not a popular or mainstream fact that Empress Isabella was among the most learned, headstrong women of the sixteenth century. While her husband was away from Spain, she was left in charge of ruling Spain in his name. While this was not unheard of, Isabella's skills and diplomacy set her apart from other female regents and royal consorts of her era. Not donning armor or heading into battle, she was actively involved in domestic and international affairs. She oversaw all aspects of Spanish government and her children's education and upbringing. Perfectly knowing what was expected of her, she balanced her public persona with her private one. Filial love, loyalty and other feminine royal virtues were balanced perfectly with her ambition, intelligence and fierce determination.

Her tact and sharp wit made her appear like an indomitable figure in politics, overseeing all of her husband domains without usurping his authority or overshadowing him. The end result was of a power couple that had mutual affection and respect for one another.

Additionally, Isabella also brought a much needed stability to Charles V in his Spanish domains. Due to her being a Portuguese Infanta, she was more in tune with the customs of her adoptive land than her husband.* She also ensured that their future monarch, her son Prince Philip of Asturias, would be raised in Spain, thus being culturally Spanish and Portuguese in every form his future subjects expected from their rulers.

Carlos, Rey Emperador, the series sequel to the Spanish hit TV series Isabel, explored their relationship in the first half of the series.

*Charles was a teenager when he and a select few of his bones arrived on Spain in 1517 after his maternal grandfather, Fernando II of Aragon, passed away. Although technically his mother Juana I of Castilla was the lawful ruler, her alleged mental state remained a topic of concern. As a result, the crown was in dispute between the Spanish born and raised younger brother of Charles, Ferdinand and Charles himself. Charles didn't know one word of Spanish, wasn't familiar with Iberian culture and Spanish customs. His step-grandmother and soon turned lover, Germaine de Fox, helped him with his transition but it wasn't enough. Revolts and discontent quickly brewed. To his credit, Charles did come to learn the language and customs and introduced Castiglione's manual for courtiers and refined manners found in Charles' homeland to Spain which became as much a part of their culture as anything else preceding it. His marriage to Isabella was more than a political match. He needed someone they could accept and not see as foreign in order to appease them. This turned a wise move, not just for his reign but for the two as well. Isabella and Charles came to have genuine affection for one another and many speculate, also came to love each other. When she died in 1539, Charles mourned her deeply.