#vankeppel

[defensivelee]

bwahhh i'm a little late to it but who cares, here is john burgoyne as sabrina carpenter at the brits for @vankeppel

gave my design a glow-up heheh

[acrossthewavesoftime]

could we hear some about Fanny Howe for the ask?

So basically, this started out as a little thing for @vankeppel, loosely based on the life of Frances Howe, née Connolly, wife of Sir William Howe, whom those of you who're into later 18th century history, and the Ameriican Revolutionary War, will recognise.

While there surprisingly was a recent book on the Howes, and the women in their family in particular, Frances "Fanny" Howe, especially when compared to her formidable sister-in-law Caroline, who wielded a very real political influence, playing chess with Benjamin Franklin and attempting to avert the war her brothers later fought in, remains always remains a tad elusive. Unjustly so, if you ask me.

While we enjoy tales of the heroic, for some people, to love, and to be love, was the height of their ambition in life-- to live quietly, happily. Frances and William Howe certainly aspired to that-- however, a grand family name, a need for income, and a war got in the way.

Here's a little snippet of their courtship in Ireland, where Frances and William first met:

“Perhaps we need not meet in secrecy much longer,” he began, and took his hand in hers. “Fanny dear, no, Frances, Frances Conolly, there is a question— something important that I should like to ask you— Fanny, I—”

She leapt from her vantage point, which was not quite so high, and into the surprised William’s arms, so that, when her feet touched firm ground again, they stood in a close embrace.

“Is your tongue tied, William? There: let me pose the question for you, for is not that what one does for the one to whom one has pledged one’s heart and soul, to complete him? William Howe, will you have me for your wife?”

His eyes widened in shock at her boldness, yet there was also some measure of relief in his bewildered expression, that soon melted into one of greatest joy: “O Fanny! Fanny, I— nothing I would like so much as that, yes, yes— though you must take me for a coward now—”

“What a pack of nonsense,” she chided him, and put a finger to his lip to end his speech.

In truth, she was surprised at her own forwardness, yet joy and love had made her bolder than she should ever have supposed she could be. “My William is brave, and I will hear no slander of his character, from any man, including himself.”

“You are too generous in your judgement of his character,” he added lowly, his voice quite moved, and atremble with the tears that stood in his eyes. “I have a ring also.”

And from his pocket, he drew a little box lined in green velvet, in which sat a ring of a ruby flanked by diamonds. He had thought it exceeding pretty, and very well suited to adorn Fanny’s hand, for it matched well the gown in which he had first seen her, so he told her, his talk clearly meant to hide the shaking of his own fingers when he slipped the ring onto hers; her hands were trembling also.

“It is very beautiful,” she whispered, and observed the stones sparkle, her breath taken away by his generosity; that he should wish to gift her something so precious, he should not have—.

“William, how could I ever thank you for it?”

“I am thanked every day by knowing of your existence, the privilege of being allowed to love you.”

“And you cannot know how ardently I love you,” she replied, and put her forehead against his. “And I have nothing to give to you in return—”

“It is the custom that the gentleman should proffer a token of his affection to the lady, not vice versa,” added he to assuage her conscience.

“No, that shall not do, William: If I have something of yours, you must have something of mine.” She reached into her hair, but little coiffured, and found a ribbon which she took, and put in a bow around William’s wrist.

“Now we are even, and you are as much mine as I am yours.”

“I shall be ever yours, Fanny. Yours only.”

[thee-joan-of-arc]

https://www.tumblr.com/vankeppel/741762026901307392?source=share

Neurodivergent? *thinks for a moment* Is that- *points to own chest, raising eyebrow* is that me?

[defensivelee]

a gift for... @vankeppel !! oh wow bestie i couldnt even TELL he was ur fav

anyway ilyyy silly you make me so happy <33

[thenordroom]

Scandinavian apartment | styling by Vankeppel & photos by Ono

THENORDROOM.COM - INSTAGRAM - PINTEREST - FACEBOOK

[acrossthewavesoftime]

Comic Sans Valentines: Stuart Edition

Imagine you have travelled back through time, and find yourself in the middle of some splendid court festivities... The gentlemen wear their finest embroidered suits, the ladies their most choice jewels and you marvel at the spectacle you are allowed to partake in. As you retire to a balcony to take some fresh air with your glass of syllabub, you feel a hand brushing your shoulder. As you turn, a calm, albeit laboured voice breathes into your ear: "My cannon hasn't seen action since the Siege of Derry." *wink* You recoil and screaming-- and wake up sitting upright in your bed.

Upon suggestion from @vankeppel, have some terrible pick-up lines from terrible dead people!

There are two options for Bonnie Prince Charlie; a fairly obvious one alluding to Mo Ghile Mear, and a second one for fans of the 1925 musical Dearest Enemy (...are there any?) who'll know there was more than one 18th century "Betsy Burke" who had a few (tender) brushes with gentlemen in red coats.

[rarelyseencephalopod]

Main for

- @vankeppel (history side blog and history related communications)

[defensivelee]

random Mina doodles (some AU variations included) because the world is hers straight up I would die for this girl

(Mina belongs to @acrossthewavesoftime and @vankeppel)

[cleoselene]

suicide rates among women who carry to term and give children up for adoption are also ASTRONOMICALLY higher than women who have abortions. Pregnancy is a traumatic experience to the body, hormonal bonds are formed, women spend their life wondering if they did the right thing or if the people they gave their child to were decent people

The pressure upon these mothers was one they could not stop. Sixty-nine percent of 334 birthmothers surveyed felt they were pressured into surrendering (Deykin). Another study reports forty-four percent of 350 birthmothers surveyed surrendered against their will. The study revealed the reasons for surrender centered around being single, poverty, young age, and parental pressure (VanKeppel). Some birthmothers told me they were shipped off to a home for unwed mothers, and told not to come home until they rid of the problem. For them there was no choice; they had no where to go. The adoption experience for most birthmothers leaves a large emotional scar. According to the authors of "The Adoption Triangle: The Effects of Sealed Records on Adoptees, Birthparents and Adoptive Parents," most birthmothers expressed feelings of loss, pain and mourning that remained undimmed with time (Sorosky). A University of California, at Los Angeles, psychiatrist and author, Arthur Sorosky, M.D., likened the emotional scarring from surrendering a child to a psychological amputation (Sorosky). The pain of the experience was hard to bear. As time went by the pain did not diminish, it increased. Robin Winkler, Ph.D. of the Institute for Family Studies, Melbourne, Victoria, reports that ninety percent of birthmothers surveyed felt deeply harmed by the adoption and the pain increased with time (BIRCO-Winkler). Drs. Harriet Ganson and Judith Cook found, "Birthmothers expressed deep anguish over adoption" (BIRCO-Ganson). Phyllis Silverman, Ph.D., who has studied birthmothers for twenty years, on behalf of Mary Beth Whitehead testified that ninety-five percent of the women she has studied found their loss shattering and worse than they imagined (Chesler). source

Compare this with abortion:

I'll never forget an article I read several years ago written by a former rabid pro-lifer who got pregnant in college, decided to do "the right thing," called up the Christian adoption agency she always told women going into Planned Parenthood to seek out instead, and the process was going smoothly.

until she mentioned the father of her child was Black.

and then suddenly, she was being told maybe a different adoption agency would be a better choice. It was her epiphany moment: this movement had no compassion, only hatred. For women, for minorities. She got an abortion.

The people who consider abortion to be murder would be so upset to learn that throughout most of human history, the alternative to abortion and birth control was actually infanticide and not just having the baby and raising it. Especially in times of immense stress and reduced resources. Murdering babies was a thing humans and our ancestors did for thousands of years to ensure the survival of the species. Abortion and birth control has enabled us to live in a much gentler society.

[succulentis-blog]

Echeveria van keppel #vankeppel #succulentis #succulent #danieli (presso Cactus & Succulents Ontano Danieli)

[spinnin-burnice]

@defensivelee @vankeppel A little doodle of your favorite Stuart king James II 💕

(Credit: Andrea De Santis on Unsplash)

[defensivelee]

@vankeppel @acrossthewavesoftime im the mina fandom

You think your fandom is niche, try being obsessed with your besties oc

[acrossthewavesoftime]

First Lines Game

Rules: share the first lines of ten of your most  recent fanfics and tag ten people. If you have written less than ten, don’t be shy and share anyway.

Thank you for thinking of me, @sanguinarysanguinity! It's been a while, but I haven't forgotten you! :-) I had previously experienced some technical difficulties, but here we are at last! What I write is a bold mix of historical fiction interspersed with some fics in the classical sense, so there:

It had begun to snow again. He watched sleepily the flakes, silver and dark, falling obliquely against the lamplight. A James Joyce-inspired beginning to my project on Mary Baddeley and Henry Clinton.

The bells of Dresden tolled in mourning for the loss of the Elector; they had not tolled a fortnight before, when his mistress had predeceased him. I haven't written much of it yet, but I am transfixed by the life of Wilhelmina Maria Frederica von Rochlitz, the illegitimate daughter of Johann Georg IV, elector of Saxony. She was named after her godparents William III and Mary II of England, and would lose her mother, father and godmother within the same year to the same illness, and be raised at the court of her uncle Augustus the Strong.

Die Schwüle eines beginnenden Sommertages hing schwer über der Mark, dem Wald, und dem Dorfe und angrenzenden Gut B--. This is a little project for a friend that I won't quite disclose yet. ;-)

In all Lochaber— perhaps in all the Western Highlands— there was no more bored or disgusted man this sixteenth of August than Mr. Keith Windham of St. George’s School for Boys, as he led a group of year elevens; and no more nervous or unhappy men than the students themselves. Probably the only real fic on the list; a modern re-telling of the first meeting between Keith and Ewen from The Flight of the Heron!

Grey, grey was the garden, and grey the meadow and woods behind it, all glazed in dull hoarfrost. He shivered in spite of the warming flames in the fireplace, and pulled his banyan tighter about him, but it was no use, the cold still would not leave him. This is the beginning of my Margaret and Samuel Graves-centric project revolving around British naval operations in North America in 1774- early 1776.

She examined her face in the mirror: the brightness of the candle knew no clemency in revealing her age to her; they had once said of her that she had her mother's eyes, but the rest were her father's features: how long were they dead, how long since the last time someone had told her so, that remark the young girl had loathed, and yet the old woman longed for? The beginning of a little experiment in the way of alternative history that was developed together with @vankeppel- what if there was a Stuart heir to the throne, and the Hannovarians did not end up ruling from 1714 on? Lots of family secrets, guilt, and political hijinks ensue.

Als er ein Kind gewesen war, hatte seine Mutter ihm oft vorgelesen oder Geschichten erzählt: er erinnerte sich, als sei es gestern gewesen, wie er auf seiner Mutter schoß sitzend um eine letzte Geschichte vor dem Zubettgehen gefleht hatte; sie wusste manch toll-dreistes Abendteuer zu erzählen, und nicht selten waren ihre Helden edle Prinzen-- und das war auch äußerst zutreffend, bedachte man, wie sein Vater erst am Vortage ihn fauchend seiner vermeintlich weibisch-verweichlichten, losen Sitten gescholten hatte. This sort of ties in with its predecessor and is a present for @nordleuchten; what if George IV was never the prince regent, but a measly German prince who suffers from a colourful bouquet of first world problems (lace cravat not ironed correctly! Gasp!) and, out of boredom, quits to go to sea-- with unforeseen consequences.

If there's anything you'd like to hear more about, feel free to ask! I'm tagging any and all writers who wish to participate!

[defensivelee]

so fun fact MENHERAMEN wasn't supposed to be so fucking awful it was actually a crack AU at first that I created with @vankeppel

I think it started from some kind of inside joke about James being a trashy ratchet white boy or something and tbh I do really love what it used to be just bc it was so fucking FUNNY

one of the first fics especially it was absolutely OBSCENE but it was fucking hilarious (I'm not gonna go into detail about the contents but. i still go back to it)

the Bentinck and Keppel romance was much more lighthearted, still fucked with Bentinck but y'know. at least everyone lives. and William was actually included!!

James and Marly were supposed to have this funny little arc which again, kinda intense but NOBODY DIED. technically I kept it in but bc the story is mostly from Bentinck's POV.....we don't see it. I really like it tho maybe I'll write it one day

Mary was the intense one if anything, just had interests that rubbed people the wrong way sometimes

but then yandere Bentinck came along and slammed the narrative over the head which like COOL. i genuinely like how the whole thing ended up and i will always go back and reread it for funsies

I do gotta admit tho. the early fics/ideas really are so fucking hysterical

[spinnin-burnice]

@defensivelee @vankeppel @secundus-cinaedus Y'all are amazing I love you guyssssss 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

[acrossthewavesoftime]

Please recommend me some more accounts like yours :)

Eſsteem'd Anon,

Thank you for the compliment! I am happy you like my account, and are looking for more content like mine.

Which raises the question, what is my account? Perhaps you could clarify which type of content in particular you're interested in, because I feel that, rather than coordinated, my blog is all over the place. Are you here for my occasional pictures from pretty places? My posts about a certain naval gentleman of the 18th century? Stuart memes? The Flight of the Heron, or the novels of Marjorie Bowen? The odd talk about my fiction writing?

Given I am but a magpie who just adds whatever shiny thing (mostly tinfoil, I fear) she has found to her humble online-nest, I feel my blog is not coordinated enough to give a clear reply.

If it's predominantly European and/or North American history of roughly the 17th to early 19th century you're looking for, here are my recs, ascending by era:

@nellgwynn (lots of humourous Stuart-centric content) @vankeppel (the Stuarts, the British generals and loyalists of the American Revolutionary War, Arctic exploration) @nordleuchten (American Revolutionary War and French history of the early 19th century, an authority on the Marquis de La Fayette and George IV; also the host of @pitt-able, concerning William Pitt the Younger) @pentecostwaite and @benjhawkins (local maritime history of Maine, and working at a local history museum/historic house) @anarchist-mariner (commentary on the Rebellion of 1798, political history in the British Isles in the late 18th/early 19th century) @clove-pinks/ @marryat92: (War of 1812, various aspects of 19th century life, and the novels of Captain Frederick Marryat)

I hope this helps!

I am, &c. -R.