It‘s Davout time!
Happy 253th birthday, dear iron marshal! ☺️🇫🇷🥖✨
Louis-Nicolas Davout is known for the devotion and love he had for his wife, Aimée Davout (born Louise-Aimée-Julie Leclerc), so I was interested about their correspondence. To cut a long story short, I started reading their letters (specifically the ones around the Russian campaign because I also wondered how Davout had dealt with this mess of a campaign).
Let‘s say it was simply heartwarming and I was melting away most of the time so how about I share one of my favourite little moments? Shall we? :D
Davout‘s desire to have a second son and how he throws all of it away as long as Aimée‘s health is fine:
Ce 12 décembre
Je profite, ma chère Aimée, de l‘estafette pour te rassurer sur la santé de ton Louis; elle est, malgré la rigueur de la saison, très bonne. Tu trouveras mon écriture tremblée. Je te jure par toi que la seule raison en est au froid qu‘il faut, et que je sens d‘autant plus que je t‘écris en plein air pour ne pas masquer cette estafette. Desessart part demain pour Paris, il va bien. Beaupré, malgré son âge, s‘en tire assez bien. Beaumont et les deux Fayet ne sont que fatigués. J‘envoie mille baisers à mon excellente Aimée, qui est peut-être, - à l‘heure où je lui écris, - dans les douleurs: puisse mon Aimée me donner un second fils! Cependant, si c‘est und filled, elle sera bien accueillie.
J‘envoie mille caresses à l‘enfant chéri qui es Louis et à nos deux petites. Assure ta bonne mère de ma tendresse.
Tout à toi. L.
German translation:
Der 12. Dezember
Ich profitiere, meine liebe Aimée, von dem Kurier, um dich über die Gesundheit deines Louis zu beruhigen; sie ist trotz der Strenge der Jahreszeit sehr gut. Du wirst meine Handschrift zitternd finden. Ich schwöre dir, dass der einzige Grund dafür die Kälte ist und ich fühle mich dementsprechend mehr dazu, dir im Freien zu schreiben, um den Kurier nicht zu verpassen. Desessart bricht morgen auf für Paris, ihm geht es gut. Beaupré hält sich trotz seines Alters gut. Beaumont und die zwei/beiden Fayets sind nur müde. Ich schicke 1000 Küsse an meine exzellente Aimée, die vielleicht in der Stunde, wo ich ihr schreibe, in Schmerzen ist: Möge meine Aimée mir einen zweiten Sohn geben! Jedoch, wenn es ein Mädchen ist, wird sie auch willkommen sein.
Ich schicke 1000 Streicheleinheiten an die lieben Kinder, die Louis und unsere zwei Kleinen sind. Versichere deine Mutter meiner innigen Liebe.
Alles an dich. L.
English translation:
The 12th of December
I benefit, my dear Aimée, from the courier/messenger to reassure you about the health of your Louis; she is very good despite the harshness of the season. You will find my handwriting shaking. I swear to you the only reason for that is the cold and I feel more like writing in the fresh air to not miss out the courier/messenger. Desessart leaves for Paris tomorrow, he is fine. Beaupré, despite his age, is going well. Beaumont and both Fayets are just tired. I send a thousand kisses to my excellent Aimée, who is perhaps in pain in the hour I write her: May my Aimée give me a second son! However, if it’s a girl, she is going to be welcomed.
I send a thousand caresses to the dear children, who are Louis and our two little ones. Assure your mother about my tenderness.
All for you. L.
Just like Napoleon, Davout had a desire to sire sons and - as far as I am concerned - it‘s clear that his enthusiasm for the possibility of having another son is strong. We might say it’s even stronger than for the possibility of having another daughter although he wrote that a daughter would be welcomed.
Now, let’s read the next letter he wrote to his wife where he threw all of that away, shall we? :D
Gumbinnen, ce 17 décembre
Je suis bien tourmenté, ma chère Aimée, du long silence auquel les ciconstances m’ont forcé et de toutes les inquiétudes qu’il t’aura données, à toi si ingénieuse à te tourmenter sans motifs. L’état où tu te trouvais, à la veille de faire tes couches, ajoute à mes tourments: jamais je n’ai plus éprouvé le besoin de recevoir de tes nouvelles, et j’ignore quand j’aurai ce bonheur, malgré les estafettes qui arrivent régulièrement; mais le comte Daru, sous le couvert de qui tes lettres me parvenaient, étant parti pour Koenisgsberg, me prive absolument de tes nouvelles. […]
Ta santé, dans ce moment, est tout ce qui occasionne mes inquiétudes; lorsque je serai rassuré sur ce point, je désirerai connaître de tes couches: fille ou garçon, l’enfant sera le bienvenu si la santé de mon Aimée est telle que je la souhaite. […]
German translation:
Gumbinnen, der 17. Dezember
Ich bin sehr gequält, meine liebe Aimée, von dem langen Schweigen, zu dem mich die Umstände gezwungen haben und von den ganzen Sorgen, die es dir bereitet hat, so geistreich von dir, dich ohne Anlass so zu quälen. Der Zustand, in dem du dich am Vorabend mit der Geburt befandest, fügt mir Plagen zu: Nie habe ich mehr den Bedarf verspürt, deine Neuigkeiten zu erhalten und ich weiss nicht, wann ich diese Freude haben werde, trotz der Kurier, die regelmässig eintreffen; aber der Graf Daru, unter dessen Deckmantel deine Briefe mich erreichten, hat mich, nach Königsberg aufbrechend, von deinen Neuigkeiten beraubt. […]
Deine Gesundheit ist in dem Moment alles, was mir Sorgen bereitet; wenn ich darüber beruhigt bin, wünsche ich mir, über das Wochenbett zu erfahren: Mädchen oder Junge, das Kind wird willkommen sein, wenn die Gesundheit von meiner Aimée so ist, wie ich es wünsche. […]
English translation:
Gumbinnen, the 17th of December
I am quite troubled, my dear Aimée, of the long silence to which my circumstances forced me to and of all the worries it caused you, so ingenious of you, to torment yourself without reason. The state you were in on the eve with the birth caused me torment: Never have I felt more the desire to receive your news and I don‘t know when I am going to have the happiness despite the couriers who regularly arrive; but the count Daru, under whose cover your letters came to me, having left for Koenisgsberg, deprives me absolutely of your news. […]
In the moment, your health is everything what causes me concern; when I am reassured, I desire to find out about your postpartum period: girl or boy, the child will be welcomed if the health of my Aimée is how I wish. […]
MY HEAAAAART, GAHWD, THEY ARE ADORABLE.
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I think there's no greater indication that disco elysium is sympathetic towards communism when it literally says "communism is failure" and then the literal gameplay itself rewards trying and failing. The most obvious one being the Shivers check at the FELD mural, which is an Impossible 20 check BUT opens itself up again and again the longer you spend in the world doing things, but even just looking at sheer probabilities, for any given white check, rolling first and THEN putting a point into that skill upon failure is more likely to grant you success than putting a point first and then rolling, but that would require failing first.
Other things too: Precarious world saying you'll 100% fail red checks no matter what (not necessarily a bad thing, btw!! throwing the boule into the sea is a success but like. in some other ways one would want a perfect petanque throw instead. but people wouldn't typically assume that failure is desirable sometimes from the start) persuading you to accept that you'll fail some things that is irrevocable, for a world where everything is just a tiny bit easier.
The faux game over screen when you faint after reading Dora's letter— emulating a sense of failure on the scale of the entire game. When it rolls up most people go "What?? Game over?? No way, what did I do wrong!!" and waking up after that, with no huge or lasting impact on Harry's health or morale really tells the player, "Sometimes things will seem so bad that it all seems like it's coming to an end, but it's not the end, it's really not the end, go drink so water, you can still go on despite this failure"
I'm sure there are other things as well that are eluding me but like. The literal gameplay rewards failing and succeeding far more so than simply succeeding every single time, and I think you get a fuller experience of Elysium that way too
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The Bat-Adoption Papers are literal Magic Contracts
So! In the Deified Batman AU (the AU where the Belief of the peoples of Gotham accidentally Ascended Batman to minor godhood), the Bat Adoption Papers would be a fun concept.
Batman is a God of The Night, Fear, and Protection. Specifically, the protection of Children, which is one of his biggest motivators. Meaning, it's a big part of his Divine Domain.
So when he, a God of Protection and Children, adopts his own Child? It's kind of a big deal.
His Adoption Papers basically become Magical Contracts that claim Dick to him as his own Son, basically turning Dick into a Demigod by the fact that he is the Son of a God.
Then each time Batman adopts a kid, they become a Demigod as well. Maybe after enough time, and after they forge their own Identities, they could become Minor Gods of their own? Idk, fun idea
Why do I bring this up?
Well, when Danny eventually joins the JLA, and runs into Batman, all he sees in a God of the Night, who takes one look at him, and then pulls out a Magical Binding Contract from his Belt.
Needless to say, he books it.
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I started a new remote job last week, and I'm the only genderqueer person at the company (and the first person who uses neo pronouns that anyone on my team has ever met, apparently).
So far:
Manager carefully wrote down spelling and pronunciation of my pronouns and told everyone on the team to respect them.
Coworker apologized privately for misgendering me (I hadn't told her yet) and said she will practice.
Guy on another team valiantly tried to use my pronouns and ended up saying something like zirzs-zhizz (I DM'd him and thanked him for trying and linked him to a practice site).
Teammate told me he has written out my pronouns and how to use them in a sentence and literally taped it to his monitor so he can practice.
Teammate also referred to me as compañere after I linked to a comic about gender-neutral endings in Spanish (whole team except me + 1 other person speaks Spanish as first language and they held all meetings in Spanish before the two of us started).
I am so stoked that people are actually trying. 💜🤍💚
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