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bullfinch-lover · 7 months

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For you, I will lose control

I just had a sudden urge to write down this angsty scene that's been in my head for several weeks now. What if Odin had came all the way from the future to save Donald from the evronians trying to eliminate him, but he would be so badly injured that Odin thinks he came too late and in his grief he let's the part of him that's Two take control of his body and begins to destroy everything and everyone around him.

English is not my first language so there might be some errors, but I tried my best and that's enough:

He had spent countless nights with no sleep; years on end building the chronosail for just this exact moment: to save his dearest friend. He hoped from the bottom of his mechanical heart that he would arrive there just in time. He had seen the documents of the Duck Avenger's death by the hands of the evronians multiple times shown on the holoscreens in the darkness of his own room where no one could see him cry for his best friend's death, that he could have done nothing to prevent. For centuries he had mourned him and grown resentment towards the creatures responsible for his fate, but now he finally had one chance to save him and he was willing to do anything to make it right. He stood tall within his battle armor, the golden light illuminating from its shiny surface, laserpistols loaded in the bucklebelt on his hips, waiting for the timejump to be over so he could meet Donald after all those painful years spent being separated from him.

The first thing he saw when the timejump was complete and the dust had settled around him, was people running around looking for cover and screaming in panic, which could only mean that the evronians' attack had already started and now it would only be a matter of time until they found Donald before he did. He ran around the streets, scanning the area around him until his eyes came across a familar looking car with yellow, red and blue paint and the numbers "313" on its license plate, that was lying upside down on the pavement, wrecked and on fire. There was no mistaking it. It was Donald's car. Few meters away from the burning vehicle were two evronian warriors surrounding a small figure lying on the ground and Odin stretched his artifical vision further to identify the person who had fallen victim to the cruel extraterrestrials. When he realized who the person lying on the ground was, he wished his eyes were malfunctioning, but the sight before him was terribly real. It was......Donald, battered and bruised lying there silently and unmoving.

"Such fragile creatures these lowly Earth people are, don't you think Grrodon?" One of the evronians said smirking while kicking Donald's limp body over as if he was nothing, but a little pebble on his way, lying on the sidewalk.

"You're right, poor suckers can't even handle a little beating." The other evronian, Grrodon, snarkily chimed in while sounding awfully lot like he was enjoying too much about inflicting pain on Donald.

Seeing Donald, his dear friend, like that; hurt and helpless at the unexistent mercy of the evronians, was all that was needed to drive Odin into a fit of raw and unfiltered rage. He took a step forward, stomping his foot on the pavement so hard it cracked under his foot and made his presence known.

"You! How dare you hurt my friend! Step away from him right now and I might even consider sparing your miserable lives a little, alien scums!" He roared in anger, pointing at the two evronian soldiers, his other hand ready to grab the lazerpistol on the side of his hip and shoot them right where they were standing.

Both evronians quickly turned around their heads upon hearing Odin's furious words, looking a bit surprised, like they hadn't expected any retaliation from the earthlings at all. Upon seeing Odin, the other one, Grrodon, narrowed his eyes seemingly looking disgusted by the daring leader of the Earth's resistance group and raised his weapon, pointing straight at Odin's forehead.

"You dare threaten the glory of Evron you foolish earthling? I will suck out all your thoughts and there will be nothing left of you!" Grrodon said and cackled maniacally, thinking that taking Odin down would be as easy as crushing an ant under his thumb.

"I'd like to see you try!" Odin said and before Grrodon would have had the chance to shoot him, not that it would have even affected him in any way, he had already moved away from the weapon's way, running towards the evronians with great speed, ready to take them out with his bare hands.

Grrodon tried repeatedly shooting in the direction where Odin was heading towards them, confident that he would hit him this time, but before he could, Odin had already grabbed him by the wrist, twisting his arm back painfully and snapped the bone in his hand in half. Grrodon didn't even get to finish screaming in agony when Odin had already punched him in the side of his face with all his might, sending the poor alien flying in the air and into the wall of the nearest building with a loud thud. Grrodon didn't get up and the other alien finally realized the seriousness of his situation and the fact that Odin wasn't just a common earthling and dropped his weapon in fear, trying to make a run for it. He didn't get far, because Odin had grabbed the lazerpistol from the bucklebelt on the side of his hip and shot him, making the alien fall to the ground.

After the short battle came a deafening silence. Donald was still lying on the ground where the evrons had left him, still silent and not moving. Odin was almost too afraid to approach him, but he forced his trembling legs to walk to him. "D...Donald...?" He reached his hand to him, the trembling in his body getting stronger and he tried to swallow the fear stuck in his throat that was slowly choking him. He kneeled beside his friend, putting his hand very carefully under his head like Donald would crumble to dust from the slightest wrong move. He tried to gently shake him awake, but to no avail. Donald stayed silent and limp against his touch, eyes shut and beak slightly open. He had a nasty looking wound on his forehead that was slowly staining the white feathers in red and Odin could hardly hear him breathe.

"Donald, please wake up! You have to wake up!" He shouted his friend's name, but no answer came. The fear weighing him down in his chest turned into heartbreak and sorrow and Odin could no longer hold the tears back from running down his cheeks. He cradled his friend in his arms, sobbing inconsolably, rocking Donald back and forth like he was singing him to his final sleep with his tears. He had come too late and all those years of dreaming and planning to save him had shattered into millions of pieces. He would never be able to tell him how much he meant to him, how Donald was so much more to him than just his dearest friend. Donald would be dead and the future of the Earth would be succumbed into darkness forever.

At that exact moment Odin heard a silent voice in the back of his mind that he hadn't heard in a long, long time. The eerie voice inside his head called to him silently from the distance, at first sounding like a faint whisper, but started getting louder second by second until Odin could hear them....him... as clearly as if he was speaking right next to his ear. He recognized the voice immediately. The harrowing voice belonged to his long lost twinbrother, Two, or what was left of him.

"What a pity. Looks like you really cared about that duck. Tell me, brother, would you rather lie here crying for your lost friend or would you let go of your peace for once and let your anger finally burst? I can help you avenge him. Just let me take control. It will only be for a short while and then you can go back to lamenting his death again."

It only took a single, silent nod from Odin to accept his brother's offer. He didn't even hesitate. He was so very tired and overcome with grief that he couldn't even care less if Two was going to tear the whole city to pieces while having control of his body. He just wanted Donald to be alright, but if granting that wish wasn't possible then destroying everything and everyone around him fueled by the rage of his broken heart had to do. He let out a long, weary sigh and closed his eyes. When he opened them again they had turned bright red all the way from the irises to the whites and glowed ominously. He lowered Donald gently on the ground, and carefully, altought coldly, stepped over his body, since Two didn't really care about the duck, but didn't really want to hurt him, lest he'd upset his brother.

At this point other evronian warriors had showed up, -most likely because one of the previous two had called for backup,- before Odin had eventually taken them down. As the aliens surrounding him from all sides readied their weapons, Odin with Two controlling him, let out a wicked grin and cracked his knuckles.

"You better give it all you've got, pathetic organics, because I won't be holding back one bit!"

Donald woke up with a groan, doubled vision and a splitting headache. When his vision was slowly beginning to get clearer he tried to get up, but his body was weighing him down, feeling like each of his limbs were made of heavy lead and he tumbled uselessly on his back. He clenched his hands into fists and tried getting up again, this time managing to rise up into a sitting position. The pounding headache on the side of his head made him dizzy and as he tried to rub the pain away he accidentally touched the wound and flinched, hissing in pain. He pulled his hand back, inspecting his blood stained fingertips.

After sitting there for a while and trying to will the pain away he finally decided to take a good look around him and as he did he saw numerous bodies of unconscious evronian soldiers lying around on the pavement. He saw Grrodon lying on the side of the nearest building, unconscious as well. Something or rather someone incredibly powerful must have taken them all out, he wondered, starting to guestion whoever that person might be. His guestions were quickly answered when he suddenly heard a loud crashing sound and he turned his head towards where the noice was coming from. 30 meters away from him on the street was Odin Eidolon himself in his golden armour, fighting off a big, bulky evronian. Donald almost couldn't believe his eyes. His friend, Odin, was here. Had he really come from all the way from his own timeline in the future to the past to defend him? Donald imagined it must have been very difficult, if nearly an impossible task, to travel back in time and Odin had done all of that for him. For a moment he was quite touched by how far his friend had been willing to go just for him, but then he noticed that something about Odin was wrong. His eyes were all red and were glowing ominously, something he had never seen his friend's eyes look like before and it made the feeling of fear rise up in his belly. And to make the matter even more terrifying, Donald watched as Odin lifted a random car from the ground like it weighed nothing to him and threw it against the bulky evronian, crushing him under it. The car's alarm went off from the impact and begun to beep loudly.

There was something terribly wrong with his friend and Donald knew he had to do something to stop it. He forced himself to stand with gritted teeth, his legs wobbling until his injured knee gave out under him and he tumbled down. He got back up again, cursing and doing his best to ignore the pain in his knee and started limping towards his friend with determination.

"Odin!!!" He yelled from the top of his lungs to get his friend's attention on him and it seemed that Odin had heard his cries, because he quickly turned his head to Donald's direction, his red eyes widening at first from confusion and then from shock.

"Donald?!" Odin's voice cracked. He felt a sudden wave of dizziness hit him the very moment he closed his eyes as his brother's influence begun to leave him. He caught himself by dropping on one knee before he could have tumbled on the ground, holding his hand on his forehead and trying to steady himself. When he opened his eyes again, they were that same familiar red and green color greeting Donald's own blue eyes. For a short moment Donald stopped limping towards his friend when their eyes met. He seemed to hesitate for a moment after seeing Odin act so frighteningly before, but he shook that fear out of his thoughts and continued his broken walk towards him. Donald knew that no matter how furious Odin might sometimes get, which happened very rarely, he would never hurt him.

"Odin are you alright? What is the matter of this?" He said now sounding more conserned for his friend's well-being rather than being afraid of him. And of course just at the worst time when he had almost reached walking up to him, Donald felt his knee give out under him again and this time he was too tired to catch himself from falling beak first into the ground.

Luckily, Odin had now recovered from his dizzy spell and when he noticed Donald falling, he ran up to him and caught him in his arms, before Donald's beak would actually hit the concrete under him. He gazed Donald into his ocean blue eyes, smiling like a fool, the feeling of relief washing over him like a tidal wave. Then he squeezed Donald into a tight hug, being careful to not squeeze too tight, since Donald was still an organic unlike him and very much injured. It was the most heartfelt, soft and warm embrace Donald had ever received in his life despite Odin's armour being cold, hard metal. Odin let out a relieved chuckle that turned into a sob and let his tears now flow freely down his cheeks.

"Oh, Donald. I thought I had lost you."

#paperinik #paperinik new adventures #pkna #duck avenger #donald duck #odin eidolon #donodin #duno #my writings #i'm using meters instead of feet in this because i'm european and feet are stupid #the title kind of sucks because i'm always so bad at coming up with titles for my texts

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forcedhesitation · 6 months

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that one bozo who made the gender swapped dame aylin mod: it's unrealistic for minorities to exist in this game because it's supposed to take place in medieval europe!!!!

aasimar, vampires, devils, and dragons aside....

bg3:

#bg3 #thoughts about media #where's the outrage over the existence of a 1950s québécois dish in a medieval european setting? hm??#canada...canada doesn't exist in the forgotten realms. the land which this country occupies does- but the concept of the nation does not.#also! in the forgotten realms- bisexuality is the canonical norm and gender is much more complicated than just a clear cut binary.#several races have words in their languages specifically for transgender people.#and it's not viewed as strange in any way for someone to be transgender. transition is also super easy- as magic exists.#in fact. it's very probable that dame aylin CHOSE the form of a woman. based on what I've read- the divine can easily change their form.#and devils are all varying flavours of non-binary. primarily genderfluid it seems. it's totally normal for them to change form and pronouns #the majority of elven societies practice total gender equality- they do not see one gender as better/worse than the other in any way.#and bg3 actually does reflect the forgotten realms canon. pretty strongly. in this respect.#the illithid are genderless and referred to as such. your elven companions are all bisexual & polyamorous...#...duke stelmane has this title because it's a canonically genderless title. there is no use of sorceress/wizardess for the same reason.#and of course- your player character can swap gender & pronouns midway through the game and no one will care. at all.#like. for all the terrible problems with the forgotten realms- it's become FAR more aware of the fact that it's ridiculous for...#...a fantasy world to restrict gender and sexuality in the all-encompassing & discriminatory way that bigots demand.#also this isn't ammunition for anyone to pick on people who have lesbian/gay or straight tavs or durges.#my own main tav is a gay man.

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justewil · 29 days

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is the our shared past and our lost future line Different in the other version .... it probably is right

#our unwound future doesnt sound good im sorry #another win for the european game titles !!!!#like its Fine as the title but . i dont like it otherwise .i Am biased though #im crying right now that fucking cutscene #wil replays lf

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randomnameless · 2 months

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Hello! I hope that you are doing well!

I just wanted to send you a question regarding the amount of power Rhea has in Fódlan since something came to my mind. You know how during Edelgard's coronation, she said to her father that, "The Archbishop of the Church of Seiros would normally act as witness, but my professor will fill that role instead"?

Unless I missed something [or am overthinking], do you believe that Rhea was even there to witness Ionius' coronation?

We were told in the game that it had been ages since a member of House Hresvelg enrolled into the Officers Academy as well as that there had recently been a rift between the Adrestian Empire and the Church of Seiros.

Therefore, to me at least, that implied that said rift had been going on for a while. And I do not see why they would allow her there if such a thing was going on. Yet, Rhea does not retaliate against this as far as I know. Then there is the fact that Edelgard is allowed to be coronated without Byleth's presence. The Southern Church was dismantled, too, so…I think it is safe to say that there was not an official to witness her from there as well. lol

To put it simply, it feels very contradictory to me and adds a crack into the "Rhea controls Fódlan" perspective.

Hi!

I agree, that NPC going all "the empire and hthe church cut ties eons agao that's why supreme leader is the first imperial heir to attend since ages" suggests Rhea wasn't very welcomed in Enbarr.

FWIW the Nopes book about the Southern Church incident reveals the Emperor of that time already wanted to cut ties with the Central Church - and used this rebellion (which was more or less a Varley daughter wanting to have a role instead of letting her bother inherit everything?) as an excuse to finally give them the boot.

In a nutshell, I heavily doubt Rhea was around when Ionius was coronated, if her Church was already "not welcomed" by the time the Southern Church was disbanded.

The Archbishop acting as witness might be just some sort of old ceremonial thing, just like the "covenant of the red blood and the white sword", maybe all coronations try to renact the "oath" Wilhelm took/swore to Seiros when she presumably made him Emperor of Adrestia? And the Archbishop acts as a stand in for Seiros (even if we know better!) when the oath is sworn again by Willy's descendants?

As you pointed out, the Archbishop being present or not is merely decorum, since nowhere the game suggests that in the non-CF routes, Supreme Leader's coup coronation isn't regular or anything.

Rhea controlling Fodlan isn't backed up by canon, Adrestia has been doing its own thing for several centuries, the CoS only provides help (the game doesn't tell us what it is!) to Faerghus : Dimitri becomes King not because Rhea crowns or splashes oil on him, but because he is the Crown Prince and the last heir of the previous King. As for the Alliance, it does its own thing without her input!

#dovehearts-blog #replies #FE16 #Rhea/the CoS controls Fodlan is a take sponsorised by NoA and Treehouse #even in the european websites we didn't get that shit to describe Fodlan #on that regard we're closer to the jp description of the continent than to the US one for once #I'd say Rhea has a complicated relationship with Adrestian Emperors #she can't help but be disappointed because they're not Wilhelm and will never equal him #only he has the 'great' title lol #and they don't follow the CoS and its principles like remember when they tried to invade Brigid/Dagda? Or fed northeners to beasts for fun?#and yet they're the scions of Wilhelm so maybe she can call them her allies? If she needs help they will provide? (we know how it ends lol)#in the half lizard lycaon AU she has even more conflicted feelings bcs #those people aren't willy nor lycaon when it was him who was supposed to be there #everytime she witnesses a new coronation she remembers this coronation happens #because her kid was torn apart by the very people she's crowning #children aren't their parents she knows it and yet there's still that small heartache #bcs Ionius 1 to Ionius 9 aren't Lycaon #back to canon i guess the CoS's presence in Adrestia is mostly ceremonial #to replay the willy'n'seiros alliance #but nothing as important as if Rhea says tut-tut the Emperor cannot be crowned #rhea stuff

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globalhappenings · 2 years

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Basketball: Milan announces Thomas, here to help win

(ANSA) – MILAN, JUL 29 – EA7 Milan formalizes the agreement with Deshaun Thomas, 30, from Bayern Munich. Now to complete the roster of Ettore Messina who will go on the assault of the third star and of the Euroleague Final Four, Johannes Voigtmann, who has not yet freed himself from the link with CSKA Moscow, is missing. “I am happy and grateful – the first words of the American winger – to…

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nerosdayinanime · 6 months

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"Im worried what people would think of you then, that you're just a personal whore or something- i don't want to ruin your reputation.."

"Are you kidding? 'My dick was so good i got promoted-' Thats the biggest flex i can think of!"

"Well, you're certaintly enthusiastic about this."

#ive been thinking of the au from @planethoneybee's tags in that writing prompts post #on the topic of giyuu wanting sabito to have political power in case something happens or someone tries to pull shit-#him & shinobu debating the pros and cons of giving him title of concubine before giyuu brings up the social aspect #so shino calls sab in to get his thoughts on the matter directly and it made me laugh #another bit w sanemi- theyre at a meeting talking abt finances and theyre talking of cutting sanemi's beetle funding-#G: i can pay for it /Sane: what? /G: keep as much funding to the project as possible- i'll finance the rest of it out of my #own allowance. that works doesnt it? /Shino: i suppose. ..but you'd do that for beetles? /G: i see importance in it. /Shino: very well-#sanemi doesnt thank him or even mention it but he definitly looks at giyuu differently after that- he used his own shit to keep #the project going full blast? damn. he did that for sanemi's beetles. man.#somethn somethn giyuu bringing up the idea for shinobu to have a personal guard(/helper) as well #shinobu 'i know what you are' @ giyuu before he hurriedly explains he doesnt mean get a side hoe hes genuinely just #offering to find her a trusted guard/helper whos sole purpose is to do errands n shit specifically for her 'oh! that sounds nice actually'#'sab has someone in mind for you- says shes one of the best in the forces and a pleasant personality' 'ill see that for myself first'#'okay [thumbs up]'#im imaginging a mix between european kingdoms & east asian/chinese/japanese empires except i dont know shit about either #only thing i vaguely know is theres advisors & like sub-royalty & in traditional japanese more (/complex) layers of clothing = rich/royal #the 'sub royalty' has a name im p sure. i forgor. fuckiinnn.#nope its just not there. oh well. giyuu w the fingerless sleeve-gloves my FUCKING beloved #also vague thought of sabito & mitsuri wearing helmets that utilize their pink hair as fuckin. yk the european knights #w the stupid ponytail thing/romans w the gold helm/red mohawk thing. somethn like that #they wouldnt wear like full Heavy Armor like knights do their fighting styles & w the close-quarters they wouldnt need it #but like for Show at Fancy Pantsy Time theyd dress up similarly #loserboy giyuu posting #loverboy sabito posting #sabigiyuu #of all the shit i have for this au THATS the scene that gets front page. dick joke funniee #(in case its not clear text goes Giyuu-Sabito-Shinobu talking)

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isfjmel-phleg · 1 month

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I'm seeing a theme here, Baum...

The President [of France] touched a bell and gave an order to his servant. Then he turned to Rob and said, wonderingly: "You are a boy!" "That's true, Mr. President," was the answer; "but an American boy, you must remember. That makes a big difference, I assure you."

The Master Key, 1901

The Princess looked at her more closely. "Tell me," she resumed, "are you of royal blood?" "Better than that, ma'am," said Dorothy. "I came from Kansas."

Ozma of Oz, 1907

"Our father, the Revered and Resplendent Royal Ruler of the Blues, has made you our slave," asserted Indigo, with a yawn. "But he can't," objected [Trot]. "I'm some Royal an' Rapturous an' Ridic'lous myself, an' I won't allow any cheap Boolooroo to order me 'round." "Are you of royal birth?" asked Azure, seeming surprised. "Royal! Why, I'm an American, Snubnoses, and if there's anything royaler than an American I'd like to know what it is."

Sky Island, 1912

#period-typical rhetoric of course #but the self-confidence and indifference to rank or title of his young protagonists is a distinctive feature of his fantasy #his stories are VERY American in a genre that was at the time dominated by European writers #which made these books pretty innovative in their day

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batsplat · 1 month

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2013: Valentino Rossi calls for Marc Marquez (+ Jorge Lorenzo) to be DISQUALIFIED (not clickbait)

Time stamps: Laguna Seca (0:00, 1:27); Aragon (1:55); Sepang (2:45); Phillip Island (3:37)

Context:

Laguna Seca: Marquez copied Rossi's corkscrew overtake on Casey Stoner in 2008. Rossi addresses Livio Suppo, who had been working alongside Stoner at Ducati at the time, but had since switched to Honda. See also here for Rossi again joking about wanting Marquez disqualified in the same press conference.

Aragon: Marquez's attempted overtake on Dani Pedrosa resulted in contact, with the rear wheel speed sensor cable on Pedrosa's bike breaking and causing a highside moments later. While Pedrosa criticised Marquez for being too aggressive, Marquez was awarded only a single penalty point for the incident - leaving him one below the threshold for a back-of-the-grid penalty. Sepang was the next race on the calendar and the riders were asked again for their opinions.

Phillip Island: Due to track resurfacing, Bridgestone could not guarantee safe running on the track for more than ten laps. The race was shortened from 27 to 19 laps and riders had to make a mandatory bike/tyre swap, with no rider allowed to use the same set of tyres for more than ten laps. Marquez ran for eleven laps due to a set of miscommunications within his team and was black-flagged as a result.

#rosquez #jorge lorenzo #//#4693 #jl99 #i have a sneaking suspicion that ive missed something out #but my notes are failing me and i dont exactly have time to rewatch every 2013 presser lol #i'll say if i'm dani i'm not best pleased to hear two blokes cutesy joking about the nasty crash that was the death knell to my title bid #aragon bit of a hotbed of interesting races for the dani/vale dynamic #but anyway #the european mind cannot comprehend the legal drinking age being set at 21

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nordleuchten · 3 months

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The Bicentennial: The Invitation or The Tour that almost never was

As some of you surely are aware, the Bicentennial of La Fayette’s Tour through America in 1824/25 is fast approaching and many organizations/institutes, especially in America, have already made some form of content regarding this event.

Let us have a look at one document that stands at the start of this event – the invitation La Fayette received from the then President James Monroe on February 7, 1824.

‘Monroe and Lafayette’ (no date) Highland. Available at: https://highland.org/teacher-resources/monroe-and-lafayette/ (02/21/2024).

Everybody who has ever worked with Monroe’s papers will tell you, that his handwriting was often not, well, legible. This is completely off-topic, but one of my favourite quotes about Monroe is this statement by Edmund Bacon, one of Thomas Jeffersons overseer’s. He wrote that:

Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Madison both wrote a plain, beautiful hand, but you could write better with your toes than Mr. Monroe wrote.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: A Look at Penmanship (2012) Monticello. Available at: https://www.monticello.org/research-education/blog/the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-a-look-at-penmanship/ (02/21/2024).

(And let us not forget that Andrea Gray wrote in the same blog post, concerning Monroe’s penmanship: “Any idea who penned that abomination?”)

I think it is not quite that bad, but Monroes handwriting is also not the subject at hand, so back to the letter. Luckily, there is a transcript by Hampton Kennedy for James Monroe’s Highland:

[Transcription Page 1] Washington Feby [February]. 7th. 1824 My dear sir I wrote you about a fortnight since, a letter which I forwarded to New York to the care of Mr Brown, in which I intimated my desire in at liberty case you felt yourself ^ to visit the Ustates [United States], to send a frigate to some port of France, to receive and bring you over. Since then Congrefs [Congress] have pafsed [passed] a re- -solution, to that effect, expression of the affectionate attachment of the whole nation to you, and of their de- -sire to see you again among us. The period at which you may deem it proper, to accept this invitation, is life to yourself, but you may be afsured [assured], that when- -ever it may comport with your views, of which you will have the goodnefs [goodness] to advise me, a public ship shall be immediately orderd [ordered] to the port which you may designate, to carry you to the country of your adoption in early life, + [and] which has always che- -rished the most grateful recollection of your im- -portant services. I send you here with a copy of the resolution, and have only to add, the [Transcription Page 2] afsurance [assurance] of my high consideration and affectionate regard. James Monro

‘Monroe and Lafayette’ (no date) Highland. Available at: https://highland.org/teacher-resources/monroe-and-lafayette/ (02/21/2024).

And as easy as inviting La Fayette in the end was for Monroe, writing a short and simple letter, the process leading up to Monroe writing this letter was somewhat debated. Allow me to take you back to the House of Representatives on January 12, 1824, when the notion to invite La Fayette was first introduced.

Annals of Congress, 18th Congress, 1st session, I, p. 988.

The bill took its usual route from there and on the next day, the resolution was read again and was voted on – and I know what you are all thinking. Of course the resolution passed! We all know that the Tour took place and America and Americans had such high esteem for La Fayette. They had already supported and honoured him in so many ways, most notable during the French Revolution, his imprisonment and the financial struggles following his release. Well, no. The resolution was negatived by 80 to 74 – a small margin granted, but a defeat, nonetheless.

Annals of Congress, 18th Congress, 1st session, I, p. 1004-1005

Around the same time La Fayette lost his reelection for his seat in the Chambre des Députés – and now even America did not want him? Well, it was not quite that dramatic for our Marquis.

First of all, the wording of the notion was not all it could be, and a committee was there for formed to change the way the bill was phrased. Furthermore, and in contrast to his earlier visits to America, La Fayette had long outgrown “his charming, rich boy-general”-image. He had become a serious politician and a household name in Europe and European politics. His values and agendas were well known. Revolutions were spreading all throughout the western world and at that time the Greek War of Independence (1821-1829) was raging and in South America many regions declared independence and formed Republics. More generally speaking, the 1820s were a time of Revolution and La Fayette, as a general rule of thumb, always sided with the revolutionaries, the ones that fought for freedom (however you want to define the term) and independence. He loudly advocated for Greek and South America, he gave money to Italian and Spanish exiles. In short, he was advocating for Revolution and not everyone liked that. In 1815, after Napoléon Bonaparte’s final defeated the so-called Holly Alliance (Austrian Empire and the Kingdoms of Russia and Prussia) was formed with the expressed aim to keep liberalism in check. In America itself there were varying opinions on how to respond to what was happening and these subjects became even more prominent with Monroe’s presidency and his Monroe-Doctrine. Add to this La Fayette’s dislike for the principles of slavery. Slavery was in the 1820’s not quite such a hot topic as it would later be, but it was still a touchy subject and La Fayette’s opinions, as with everything else, were well known. And, as Mr. William of North Carolina remarked, was the Congress sure that La Fayette even wanted to come?

With all that in mind, the resolution was amended and reintroduced on January 20, 1824:

Annals of Congress, 18th Congress, 1st session, I, p. 1101-1104.

After the new text and a letter by La Fayette expressing his desire to return to America once more before his death were read, the resolution was unanimously agreed upon. There is no hard evidence, but some contextual evidence suggesting that Monroe really urged Congress to pass the resolution.

The problem therefor was not with La Fayette as a person. There still was the deep connection between a man and a people who both owned each other a great deal. The visit was a personal affair that had also a strong political connection, both on a national and an international level. It was a “yes” from America to La Fayette and his believes and it also was a “yes” from La Fayette to America and American politics. And while everything went down just fine, there was still the question regarding the implications this invitation and visit had. Monroe, a personal friend of the La Fayette’s, who had helped Adrienne a great deal during the French Revolution and who supposedly had urged Congress to pass said resolution, wrote, somewhat anxiously, to Thomas Jefferson on October 18, 1824:

His mov’ment, since his arrival in the UStates, has been well directed. Had he visited this city in the first instance, the compromitment of the govt, with the holy alliance, would have been much greater, than by going directly to our fellow citizens, & from them to the govt. By this course, the nation has the credit. The holy alliance, & all the govts of Europe, must therefore look to us, as an united people, devoted to the principles of our revolution & of free republican government.

“To Thomas Jefferson from James Monroe, 18 October 1824,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/98-01-02-4634. [This is an Early Access document from The Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series. It is not an authoritative final version.] (02/21/2024).

And that is, in summary, how La Fayette’s visit to America in 1824/1825 came to be.

#to be fair the title is a tad dramatic #marquis de lafayette #la fayette #french history #american history #history #european history #thomas jefferson #james monroe #letters #founders online #1824 #politics #lafayette #the bicentannial #the tour of 1824/1825

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