#did MODERN historians really say they were just friends? or did modern historians not use precisely the labels you're accustomed to

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

omg I want to know, how were the Napoleon Queer Wars of 2014 like?? 😬

oh lord lol

It's been almost ten years and I still get weird YIKES reaction in my skin when I think about it, or when people in the current Napoleonic corner act a bit like the people from back then. Which is a me issue, and not anyone else's problem. But it is why I don't really engage with anyone from the Napoleonic side of tumblr anymore - too many bad memories and bad taste in my mouth.

Essentially, someone posted the (in)famous Cronin quote re: Napoleon telling Coulaincourt about the Feelings He Gets When Looking At Someone Handsome Friend Shaped. They speculated about queer* implications of this.

--

*necessary disclaimer about modern concepts of sexuality not being applicable to the past yadda yadda yadda. I'm using short hand here, folks. No one needs to jump down my throat.

--

A bunch of the Very Serious History Blogs(tm) came down hard on them being like "you're a fool, absolutely not, Napoleon was Straight(tm)". Someone else replied being like "Well what about That Letter from N to Josie concerning a Certain Tsar of Russia?"

I forget how That Letter was explained away, but it was.

Some name calling nonsense and really aggresive replies where bandied back and forth. People were passive aggresive and mean. People ignored each other then wrote vagueing posts about it. The usual damned foolishness you would expect.

Then someone else referenced that one book whose whole thesis is basically Napoleon was Probably Bi. The book, I will say, isn't great. I'd never recommend it. But it was floating around in the 2014/15 world of Napoleonic Tumblr.

And oh man was the person who suggested it torn to shreds. Eviscerated. It was like watching a train wreck and the by standers decided to lock the doors of the train and not let the passengers off while everything burned.

There were weird spin-off dramas from this nonsense where people got into whether or not being interested in Napoleon made you a war crime sympathizer. (Some things never change on this webbed site.) Messy, messy. Also, utterly dumb.

Anyway - it ended up weirdly boiling down to two sides: Are You A Serious Historian/Take History Seriously(tm) Therefore Anti-Napoleon Possibly Being Something Like Queer Even If Never Acted On versus People Having Fun(tm) on the Internet Who Now Have Their Backs Up and Are Responding Perhaps Unwisely.

There was a third party, which I was part of at that time** (no longer, since I left academia), which was the "We Do Real History As A Day Job, Because We Are In Academia, but Lol Like Hell Would I Think to do Serious History on the Blue Hell Site. I'm Present for Shits and Giggles and Idle Speculation and Chats. Nothing Here is Serious. Everyone Needs To Calm Down and Take Themselves Way Less Seriously." We were a small contingent, to say the least.

--

**this is not to say I didn't walk away with egg on my face. Because I did. My comportment wasn't great and it's something I've been trying to be better about ever since.

It's not a time I think anyone save like four Napoleonic-interested blogs can look back on without blame.

--

But yeah - it was a real bad time on here. People were called names and cruel, cruel messages were sent to various and sundry by various and sundry. People deactivated over it. Friendships were literally torched because of it. There was a lot of issues with: "What Is Tone When Jumping On Someone's Post?? We don't know how to gauge it! Are you being mean? Are you being helpful? Who knows!! But you sounded aggresive in your add on and so I had better respond aggressively as well."

All because some people took themselves too seriously and because other people were stupidly mean about something dumb.

If I sometimes come in really strong with five million disclaimers in my napoleon asks/responses, even just the silly, purely speculative ones that no one sensible expects Real Serious History to result from - questions that clearly fall into the camp of shit a friend would ask you at the bar after four pints - things like: "was he queer? do you think he had add/adhd? what do you speculate were mental health issues he may have had?" etc. it's because of this year/year-and-a-half shit show. (And my disclaimers don't always serve their purpose because this is, after all, the Piss on the Poor website and people lack attention to detail when reading. [That said, I'm just as guilty of it as well, so can't point too many fingers.])

anyway, the long and short is that MAN people were very anti-any idea that there might have been an iota of what we would term queerness in Napoleon. And MAN no one can be normal on this site about anything so of course there was unnecessary drama and hurt feelings and bitterness.

May we never repeat this stupid time.

#it's why blocking liberally is your friend!! #No one did that back then and it would have saved a lot of heart ache #napoleon #napoleon bonaparte #napoleonic #ask #reply #anon #the Great Napoleon Queer War of 2014

[jeannereames]

I found your blog recently and I can't stop reading it! it's amazing really :) also sorry if i have any mistake, english is not my first language.

I wanted to ask something: Were Alexander's generals jealous of Hephaestion because of his relationship with Alexander? I imagine that in some way they did feel something like that, but is there any conclusive evidence that says how they feel about it?

Macedonian officers were a bunch of sharks, with Alexander as the Great White

My header is the tl;dr version.

We know at least Krateros was jealous of Hephaistion; the sources tell us as much. Alexander even invented a cute little way of dealing with it, calling Hephaistion Philalexandros (Alexander loving or friend-of-Alexander) while Krateros was Philobasileus (king loving or friend-of-the-king). Hephaistion also appears to have tangled with Eumenes, although Eumenes tangled with a lot of people, from what I can tell. And, at least earlier in the campaign, Hephaistion and Krateros might have been, if not friends, at least friendly. But once Hephaistion rose in importance, he was in Krateros’s way.

Basically, all the fellows in Alexander’s orbit were in competition for Alexander’s affection, just as they’d later be in competition for Alexander’s empire after he died (the Era of the Successors or Diadochi).

Remember, in the ancient (pre-Christian) world, humility was not a virtue, and a GOOD person helped his friends and hurt his enemies. None of this “turn the other cheek” business, or “When they go low, we go high.” When they went low, you were expected to cut their throat as they bent.

That said, Curtius (Rufus) at least paints a picture of Hephaistion as someone careful in how he exercised his influence. In Curtius’s introduction of him in his history, he says Hephaistion had more freedom to upbraid the king than anybody else, but exercised it as if given by Alexander, not taken by himself. Elsewhere, Curtius calls him charming. In contrast, Plutarch (or at least Plutarch’s sources) paint a less flattering picture. I think which view modern historians accept depends on which primary source we trust more (or read first). 😉

Only in Plutarch do we find the episode of him pulling swords with Krateros. Curtius doesn’t mention it, nor does Diodoros or Arrian (Justin is too brief). But Diodoros does give the Philalexandros/Philobasileus line (when he recounts H.’s death). Diodoros also records a probably spurious letter Hephaistion supposedly wrote to Olympias, telling her to stop quarreling with him in her correspondence with Alexander. This is not a real letter and may owe to another incident where Alexander was reading a letter from her while sitting next to Hephaistion—who apparently leaned in to read with him. Alexander didn’t stop him but put his seal ring on his lips. I suspect Hephaistion regularly read his mail, but this time people happened to be watching.

Most of the quarrels related about Hephaistion appear to occur later—once his importance at the court had risen. And whatever you read in other historians (Green, Heckel, Anson, Cartledge, Worthington), he doesn’t appear to have been any more quarrelsome than anybody else—and maybe less, if Curtius can be trusted.

But basically, yes, sure, the person loved best by Alexander would be the natural target of others’ envy.

#asks #hephaistion #hephaestion #krateros #craterus #eumenes #alexander the great #alexander of macedon #olympias #curtius #plutarch #Classics #ancient Macedonia #ancient Greece #tagamemnon

[streaminn]

My brain is bored and my mind is thinking

Say, we all know that Wednesday is lowkey spoilt right? She always expected things to go her way, you can see it in the way she barges into Weems office or how lil care she has whenever she shoves orders at the sheriff's face

So imagine what happens when someone ghosts her

It'd strike her pride because well, Wednesday is the best and she knows this. There would be no reason for why someone wouldn't listen to her nor would there be a reason for someone to... Ignore her like this either

Now that we got that, lemme set the scene

They're adults, no supernatural, just a completely modern au

Enid is an accountant. It's boring, not at all what she expects from when she was younger but all she has to do is calculate money and it's monotonous enough that she can go through days absolutely no thoughts head empty

It's not the future she wants but it's the future she got

Yoko, her lovely coworker notices how not so firey her seatmate is and offers a new chat app because nothing is as fun as deciding to troll random people

Enid squints at the name. "are you seriously telling me to E date right now?"

"pshhhh, ofcourse not!" yoko says unconvincingly. "just get on and play around with some people, maybe talking to someone other than boss and me could liven you up :D"

Enid stares, wondering how tf did yoko do that before sighing and downloading the app. "if I get doxxed, you're helping me move to a new house."

Yoko waves a hand before twirling back to her cubicle. "thank me if you find a sugar daddy!"

Enid flushes. "you know I don't swing that way!"

Yoko laughs.

The blond grumbles before tapping at the recently downloaded app. It's literally like tinder and Enid knows that this is a dating app trying to hide as something else

So in payback, Enid starting basing her profile of yoko. She wasn't petty enough to snap a Pic of her best friend so she went to Google and kind of try harded in making her profile look like an emo girl's aesthetic board

Huh, maybe yoko has a point, this is pretty fun

Oh for the days where Enid could make things, maybe she should pick up crocheting again. Tempting, she'll do that when she gets home

As soon as she was done, Enid began randomly swiping right with absolutely no care at all.

Enid still places her name as enid because.. Why not. By the time she finished her bio, she got too lazy to create a new name so actual name it is!

It takes a bit because apparently no one in this app likes edgy girls who enjoy dark walks, cadaver dogs and wine so dark red it looks like blood. Enid only liked one thing in that list and she wonders how did she become friends with someone with such concerning interests.

Honestly, now that Enid is think about it, her profile kind of sounds like a serial killer's. If they were dumb and was way too open about their interest, so it was no wonder no one was swiping on her

But as she was about to put the phone down and have some faith in people's taste in women, a match was made

Okay, concerning

Time to have some fun.

Immediately, Enid knew this must be some satire account because really? Wednesday A? Very interesting because she too didn't have pictures of herself, instead it was pretty good shots of a Gothic looking house, a lion?? A graveyard and a typewriter

Clearly they were trying to be all Dracula up in this place.

In the bio, it simply said

> author

Enid nods, she can respect sticking to the bit. She lowkey expected a historian but vampires being authors felt fitting aswell

Well, no time like the present! Why not do some classic rp for the shits and giggles

So they start talking

Wednesday types like she doesn't know how to use simply words and well, Enid would've loved to reciprocate because damn the amount of immersion is impressive but after the fifth typo, Enid gave up

And oh, she's a woman

Enid kind of expected a dude to be trolling but when she went "hello good sir, what are you doing this fine day?"

She kind of chokes on her water when Wednesday replies with a "Its ma'am and the day is going quite horridly, the weather where I am at has the temper and I can not wait to experience it first hand."

Who in the nine hells says horridly??

But hey, Wednesday is rping a vampire, Enid can't be all pissy when she's good at it

So they text and they text for days. Maybe it's been a month and Wednesday is just as weird as always, no breaking of character at all and Enid can respect the dedication. Call it escapism but enid has fun acting like she totally would not grimace at the sight of a dead body when Wednesday talked in detail about her novel. From what she's sees, Wednesday sounds like she probably didn't have much friends due to her interests and Enid gets that, so there's no harm in indulging

Until one day, she gets invited out to hang with yoko for the weekend and since she was in such a hurry, she kind of left her phone in her house

Wednesday, old money and living in seclusion, Addams isn't taking that so well. Finally after decades, someone takes her being wholly herself and doesn't seem disgusted. Normally she didn't care, she joined this app simply because her parents insisted for some sort of social interaction outside of family

But enid was different, she didn't try to change the subject, instead she oohs and aaahs at any info Wednesday gives. It's.. Intoxicating when Enid points out how smart she must be to know these type of things. Actually! She wondered more about her family history and didn't sound at all surprised when Wednesday mentions their odd background.

"it's fitting," Enid types. "that you would come from such a strong family, I'm sure they're proud to have someone like you."

It makes a part of Wednesday soar so mayhaps she was going through something when Enid doesn't reply one day.

It goes like this

- Enid - Enid answer me, I know you never go about without your phone - Enid did someone kidnap you? I've gone through channels and none of them match your description - Have I done something wrong? Perhaps a slight that I did not know was a thing? -

"pugsley," Wednesday says, pushing open be door to his room. Her hand is tight on her phone before she slides it over with a tense jaw. "I need you to do find the location of this woman."

Pugsley peers at the screen, raising a brow at the rather nondescript pfp. In bold letters is the username: Enid

the brother agrees and just like that, Enid fate was sealed. The blond was absolutely unaware of what she just got herself into, far too busy spending time with yoko

#Au Thoughts #Wenclair #Or I wanted to type in more dark Wednesday #Wednesday addams #Enid Sinclair

[alltimefail-sims]

LORE TIDBIT TIME WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Did you know Vlad was apart of the settler colony who mysterious disappeared? This is obviously a nod to the Roanoke colony which I think is sooo cool. What do you think happened to Vlad's colony? I like to think Vlad was turned or became a vampire and whipped them out.

HELL YEAH LORE TIDBIT ABOUT VLADDY DADDY!!! 😏

I'm going to treat this as a "deep dive" into Vlad and Forgotten Hollow, so I'll be adding it to my Deep Dive Series tag. Unsurprising to literally everyone, but this is gonna be a long one.

So… let’s get into it! ↓

Going into this I will admit that I actually did know this about Vlad!! I've been wanting to talk about it for forever but have never gotten around to it haha. 🤭 I'm a bit of a history nerd and I love a good spooky story/conspiracy, so naturally the Roanoke Colony was one of my obsessions when I was around 11 or 12 years old.

I think it's an interesting tie in from the sims team, I'd even say it's a bit meta because I feel like the game normally sticks to making references toward itself and its own canon characters/events while generally staying away from anything that would be too direct of a reference to "our world." Personally though I wish they broke the fourth wall more! I like easter eggs or hidden details that make it easier to imagine the characters existing not in their isolated, imaginary worlds, but in ours instead.

It's interesting to think about why the sims team might have made this connection - was it just a cheeky, unserious little wink to a well-known unsolved mystery, or was it done for the purposes of creating implications and expanded lore regarding Vlad and Forgotten Hollow (a case of them showing us instead of telling us). There are so many theories archaeologists and historians alike have had about the lost colony of Roanoke over the years: some believe the Roanoke colonists could have all died by disease or famine, some believe they could have been victims of a deadly storm, some believe they were attacked by neighboring tribes or by Spanish soldiers. Nowadays there are scholars who will argue that no tragedy befell the settlers at all and that they simply relocated (that would be why they left "Croatoan" behind - there was a nearby location referred to as Croatoan Island, now modern-day Hatters Island).

With that in mind, along with Vlad's own refusal to recall the details of this event, it's safe to assume that the sims team isn't referring to the happier Roanoke theories...the 25 colonists of Forgotten Hollow likely faced an unfortunate end.

Your theory of Vlad being turned and thus wiping out the colony (I'm guessing due to new-turn bloodlust) is sooooo compelling, the implications of that scenario are delicious and I personally never thought of it from that angle! My theory is only a little different: I agree that Vlad was turned on the day that the colonists "disappeared" (whatever that implies), but I have always played Vlad's story not as if he was turned and then killed everyone after, but rather that the thing that turned him successfully killed the other colonists but accidentally turned Vlad. It's a really long story that I play around with for fun in my brain but the short-ish version is: Vlad awoke outside - cold, alert, sweaty, dirty and covered in his own blood - but somehow alive, which he was thankful for. His new immortal condition is still unbeknownst to him at this point, but he felt an ache like never before, so deep in his bones it was excruciatingly painful, but his senses were heightened tenfold. He didn't remember much, just that the colony had been under attack the night before. His relief to be alive rapidly melted into abject horror as he found everyone else (friends, neighbors, family, children) dead. He realized soon enough what had happened to him and stayed in Forgotten Hollow where he would be memorialized as its "founder." He spent his days hellbent on retaliation and retribution, but was also steadfast in continuing the work that was began there before the attack. Eventually he does get to face off with the vampire who attacked him and his people, killing it and rising to power in the vampire world. He keeps the events close to his chest because they were traumatizing and cause him sadness, and he's worked diligently to remove himself from his humanity/human memories and from emotions in general (thus how he has become the person we see today). I always thought if he killed the colonists himself the other vampires in his circle - at least his closest confidantes - would know (as he's got quite the massive ego), but they don't seem to have knowledge of this event and they never mention it. I've thought that it could be possible that sharing the memories of this event would make Vlad feel weak, and he's not one to boast in his weakness. He'd much rather rewrite history in a way that is beneficial to his image; dragging up emotions about dead people would not bring them back to life, and by burying this history of a massacre in Forgotten Hollow he is also creating some mystery around himself and making it easier to play the role of a great-great-great-great grandson (or whatever he's pretending to be, relationship-wise) to the original founder.

But that's just how I play with Vlad! 🤷 I could be way off-base lmao!

Regardless of what happened, we know Vlad is the sole survivor of this event and he is scarred by it, impacted so deeply that he only ever vaguely alludes to it with no clear explanation. Whether he killed the colonists himself or just witnessed their death, the sims team will probably never give us concrete answers (and frankly, that's probably for the best considering their track record). But the clever connection of the LOST colony and FORGOTTEN Hollow are clear as day and I just think that is freaking cool! The occult lore in TS4, especially regarding Vlad and Forgotten Hollow, make interesting framework for storytellers and lore-lovers alike! Vlad is one of those characters who has sooooo many interpretations, and I eat up each and every one!

Okay, I think that's all I've got for now! Sorry about my word vomit! Somewhat related: here's an article I recently read on Roanoke that talks about the archaeological finds which have changed some of the discussions surrounding whether the colonists survived or not! I found it pretty interesting and you might as well!

#Oh my god this took me 14 yrs to type idk why!!! I'm sorry I'm just responding ily <3 <3 #Now I want to share my makeover of Vlad skjsdkfjkfsda #Also unrelated... but this man's name is a fuckin dyslexic person's nightmare RIP I had to type it 3 times before getting it right #vlad straud #vladislaus straud #simblr #sims lore #ts4 lore #forgotten hollow #the sims 4 #sims 4 #lore anon #heavenwhims #ddseries

[kimyoonmiauthor]

Cultural Notes for Matchmakers Episode 1

This was well timed in terms of humor. And the camera angles were well-thought through. It was worth spending my time watching this.

I'm here to get hated yet again for typing up notes on the drama mostly from fetishist Koreaboos who don't want Koreans like me to be humanized and Korean supernationalists who hate my comments for showing the downsides of Korea in an honest fashion along side the upsides.

BTW, I do have historical sources in English and Korean for these assertions. Not that the Korean super nationalists care. And you could just skip it over instead of being mad that I'm sharing.

Cultural Notes:

I'm really hoping from the cues this is mid-Joseon, or early Joseon. ~~ We've mostly gotten late Joseon or really late Joseon in dramas lately. (What historians call after the Imjin War, since Joseon is generally split into two parts.) You can tell by the jeogori (hanbok Jacket, I'm specifically referring to the female jeogori) or the sleeves. The rules on Joseon widows in the mid-Joseon and before the Imjin war were more loose than in later Joseon. (If you need references about this from Korean scholars, I can give them.) After mid-Joseon, the rules on widows got really, really harsh.

^^;; I have to say as someone who makes hanbok for myself and occasionally for friends, etc, both modernized and traditional, I'm an absolute nightmare nerd about hanbok. If you want an essay on Three Kingdom Hanbok differences between the various Kingdoms, say between dramas and what historical museums say, I have that memorized. I also have memorized the differences between hanbok and hanfu, and of course kimono, and yes from different eras. Total geek on the subject. Also, I can super geek on kimchi too…

Rowoon's intonation, and inflection on Joseon speak is really good. ^^ I'm saying aesthetically, and technically it's beautiful. This is one of the times if you don't know Korean and the cadence you should wish you did. Some actors really struggle with the words so much that their emotional inflections flatten and their sense of timing goes off, but he's really smooth about it.

Some people may know that hangeul was invented in early Joseon by King Sejong the great, 세종대왕, but despite this, and hangeul being easy to read (which it is, you really can learn it fast). It didn't become more commonly used by the upper class since most of the classics were preserved in mostly hanja (Chinese characters… which isn't exactly the same as hanzi, but that's another whole lecture and a half). So the majority of the signs and texts were still in Chinese characters in mid-Joseon. And South Korea still uses hanja on occasion to clarify words in texts. The first text to extensively use hangeul is said to be Hong Gil Dong, written by Heo Gyun, who lived 1569 – 12 October 1618. In order to make it understandable to the lower classes. Hangeul became more widespread after the Korean War, with the amount of characters dying down from the 1950's onwards, but it's still taught in schools in South Korea. North Korea got rid of hanja, officially (from reports and from my University Korean History teacher doing a project there.)

The countryside matchmaker is using dialect (saturi). ^^;; It's not very stable though in terms of acting, but I'm pickier than most Koreans.

It is absolutely true that they thought too many women in the palace caused a drought, so occasionally, they would release women from palace service in order to balance it.

The last note is to listen for the word "Nunchi" It's literally eye measure, but it's a kind of perception/intuition which is a core part of Korean socialization. You notice things about the environment, parts of people and the world, in order to try to create better harmony between people.

#Korean Dramas #Kdramas #matchmaker 2023

[carewyncromwell]

”Halfway between where I've been and where I'm going -- In between wondering why and finally knowing...”

x~x~x~x

HPHM Cardverse developed by @ariparri // student showcase idea by @dat-silvers-girl 

The “duet” written for the fictional opera Judith e Charles is partially inspired by both Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and the songs “I Believe My Heart” from The Woman in White and “All That Matters” from Finding Neverland, with a rather Shakespearean early modern English tilt to the writing style. ❤️

x~x~x~x

Every spring, the university of Hearts was host to a student exhibition, which was meant to showcase the talents of those enrolled. Although yes, the vast majority of this exhibition would focus around those with performative talents -- namely, singing, dancing, and such -- there was also a gallery for budding artists, a salon for up-and-coming political thinkers, a marketplace for young merchants and craftsmen, and a dueling field for those seeking to join the military. Also new this year, at the urging of the student chosen to organize the exhibition, was a fair showcasing the work of aspiring inventors, historians, professors, doctors, and other more scholarly and/or scientific minds. Fortunately the university’s Dean, Albus Dumbledore, was charmed by the idea, when he first learned of it. 

“Your passion for this is admirable, Carewyn,” Dumbledore said with a dewy smile. “May I presume there’s a personal reason behind it?”

Carewyn glanced away, but she kept her shoulders straight and her voice polite. “The university may highly esteem the arts, but there’s more to its student body than those with artistic leanings. I know people with talents that don’t fit inside the current boxes...they deserve to shine just as much.”

Dumbledore smiled. “Well said. And I’m sure her Majesty the Queen would agree.”

Carewyn frowned slightly. “...Yes. She did say she was planning to attend the exhibition, this year.”

The Dean nodded. “Yes, indeed. I invited his Majesty the King earlier in the year, and he said that they would both be present for it. It is a great honor...one I knew I’d have to take into account, when I chose an organizer for the event.”

His light blue eyes twinkled over his half-moon spectacles at Carewyn. 

“Fortunately,” he said amusedly, “it seems that your high standards have made it so that I don’t need to instill in you the importance of our event in order to ensure its success. I would say if you merely continue on the path you’ve mapped out, everything will be well in-hand.”

Despite this reassurance, Carewyn threw herself all the more into preparations for the event. If the King and Queen were going to be present, then the students at the exhibition would have all the more opportunities to garner personal success, so she had to make sure those students were shown at their best. And so Carewyn personally supervised the construction of every stage and the decoration of every hall, as well as all formal dress rehearsals, just to make sure that any tiny little issue one of the performers or back-stage volunteers might’ve had would be properly addressed. 

When Carewyn first started at the university, most of her classmates saw her as stuck-up, because she dressed so austerely and never attended any parties. By the time the exhibition arrived, however, that perception largely changed. Her talent for organization and for inspiring others really were put in the spotlight for the first time, and she put in so much care and so much of her own time to ensure that everyone was comfortable and prepared for the event. Even those girls who used to mock Carewyn’s ugly black spinster dresses found themselves a bit chagrined, seeing how diligently she mended their costumes and how expertly she dealt with disputes. 

This didn’t mean, of course, that Carewyn’s friends didn’t sometimes need to intervene. Carewyn was such a perfectionist that she put in so much work at the expense of her own health, which prompted Diego, Barnaby, and especially Chiara to call “time-out” every-so-often so that Carewyn could take a proper lunch break. 

“Thank you,” Carewyn said awkwardly one day when Chiara delivered a whole tea service in the middle of rehearsal. “It’s just...King Declan and Queen Rosalie are planning to attend the exhibition this year. It’s a big opportunity for everyone involved...and with the Queen’s health the way it is...”

“...It’s remarkable that she’ll be able to come at all,” finished Chiara with a knowing nod. 

The young nursing major had accompanied Madam Pomfrey to the palace a lot more often as of late -- the Queen’s age and underlying risk factors had been affecting her health, which meant her chronic gout had been acting up even more in response and she’d been restricted to her bed for extended periods. She’d even been unable to attend any of the Kingdom’s usual new year’s festivities, due to her condition. 

Carewyn nodded, her face growing more solemn. 

“The Queen really enjoys large social events,” she said softly. “I gather the Passion Ball is her favorite time of year. So I know she must be looking forward to this, even with how her health has been...if she is able to come, I want to make sure she has as good of a time as she can.”

Chiara smiled as she took Carewyn’s hand. “I’m sure Queen Rosalie will appreciate all the work you’ve put in, Carewyn.”

x~x~x~x

The day of the event, Carewyn arrived at the exhibition dressed more nicely than anyone had ever seen her. She’d saved up coin by coin over the course of a year, and finally she’d managed to collect enough to buy a new, Kingdom-of-Hearts-produced dress. The light pink linen fabric and the off-the-shoulder puff sleeves gave Carewyn a sweet, delicate glow that prompted many stares from the student body. Even Diego -- looking dashing as ever in light blue and gold -- couldn’t stop himself from striding right up to his friend, throwing his arms around her, and flooding her with compliments. 

“Carewyn Cromwell!” he greeted amiably. “Look at you! You look marvelous! Like a cherub dressed in clouds! A pink rose, in the flesh!” 

Carewyn couldn’t hold in her amusement. When she’d seen Diego’s over-the-top compliments as insincere, she’d only be able to hear them as condescending -- but now that she knew how ridiculously and almost innocently sincere they were, she couldn’t help but laugh, whenever he gushed so profusely. 

“Diego!” she tried to scold him through her giggles. “For goodness’ sake -- it’s just a new dress...”

Diego pulled away, holding her at arm’s length as he grinned brightly. “A new dress? Hardly! We all stand up that bit straighter, when we’re wearing something that makes us happy!”

He smiled a bit more warmly.

“Trust me, Carewyn -- it’s you that’s glowing, not the dress.”

Carewyn’s eyes softened a bit as she smiled, clearly touched. 

“...Thank you, Diego.”

x~x~x~x

The student exhibition that year was a great success. The science and historical research fair, in particular, was extremely popular -- Carewyn’s heart was practically bursting at the seams with pride when she overheard several doctors discussing Chiara’s medical research. 

Oh, Jacob -- Mum...if only your discoveries were here too, she couldn’t help but think, those men would be celebrating you just as much...everyone would...

Barnaby himself excelled on the dueling field, beating nearly all of his opponents in various forms of combat. His only loss that entire day ended up being to Diego in sword combat, but it was well-known among the student body that Diego was an expert swordsman. His footwork on the dueling field was as precise as it was on the dance floor, allowing him to dodge attacks and weave around his opponent with ease.

Carewyn also participated in the political salon, so as to showcase her knowledge of international law. While there, she got into a heated debate with a fellow student regarding the acceptance of refugees into the Kingdom of Hearts, when he insinuated that there wasn’t enough housing and financial resources set aside to support them.

“As a refugee from Spades myself, I can testify that we require no further ‘support’ than any other citizen of Hearts,” Carewyn said very sharply. “And even if financial resources were so limited, they would not be for long, once those refugees contribute to our Kingdom the same way they did in the Country of Spades. Welcoming those who need a home is a humanitarian effort, and international law already ordains that they should not be treated cruelly...but bringing new minds and voices into our fold is also an investment in our future. More labor means more production, and fresh ideas means innovation. Diversity means both personal and national growth. Any short-term cost in money is one we should be able to stomach, when the rewards we will reap as a society are so great.”

It was as the salon came to an end that Carewyn realized they’d had an audience. Waiting just outside the salon, she found Queen Rosalie waiting for her.

“Your Excellency!” Carewyn said, startled but also smiling.

The Queen of Hearts immediately held out her arms wide, encircling Carewyn in them once she got close enough. 

“My dear Carewyn,” she said indulgently. “I’d recognize your passionate voice anywhere.”

The Queen took both of Carewyn’s hands and brought them around her arm pointedly.

“Come! Walk with me.”

Carewyn did so. At several points as they walked, Queen Rosalie gave a wince, which she tried to cover up with her usual lady-like smile. 

“Queen Rosalie,” Carewyn said concernedly, “are you all right?”

But Rosalie merely patted her hand. “Oh yes, dear -- simply the gout acting up...”

“You should sit down,” Carewyn said at once.

“Oh, I will, I will,” Rosalie waved this off. “It’s only just starting to flare -- I’ll sit down before it gets worse.”

She smiled warmly at Carewyn, her dark eyes sparkling. 

“Declan and I have been walking around, surveying everything you put together...Carewyn, my dear, I am so impressed.”

Carewyn shook her head modestly. “Thank you, but it wasn’t just me. Everyone came together to do this.”

“True...but you helped bring them together so that they could do it,” said Rosalie. “That kind of leadership is important -- and the humility to accept praise on behalf of all, rather than just yourself, is very endearing,” she added with a slightly wryer smile. 

Carewyn couldn’t bite back a small smile of her own. 

“Where is the King?” she asked curiously. 

“At the dueling field -- I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so focused on something that wasn’t in a book,” laughed Rosalie. “I promised to meet him at the performance showcase, after I found you...you are planning to sing for it, are you not?”

“Yes,” said Carewyn. “I’ll be singing a solo at the beginning of the night, but I’ll also be singing a duet with a friend of mine, later on. I hope you’ll enjoy it,” she added with a smile. 

“I'm certain I will.”

x~x~x~x

Every year, the performance showcase was always the grand finale of the university’s student exhibition, and this time was no exception. There were so many different acts that Carewyn had had to make a very long list and several files to keep track of them all -- singers, bands, dancers, acrobats, magicians, actors, comedians...it was a dizzying array, and yet somehow or another, everything came together.

Carewyn performed her solo right after a cherubic-faced girl dressed in lavender. The song was more hopeful than anything she’d sung in a while, and it made her low First Alto tone echo with a resilient, empowering kind of warmth. 

“Though April showers may come your way, They bring the flowers that bloom in May, So if it's raining, have no regrets, Because it isn't raining rain, you know -- it's raining violets... And where you see clouds upon the hills, You soon will see crowds of daffodils, So keep on looking for a bluebird And list'ning for his song, Whenever April showers come along...”

The entire time Carewyn sang, Lane and Jacob’s faces rippled over her mind, and she couldn’t help but hope that, wherever they were, they could feel how much she wished she could reach them. 

The King and Queen watched the showcase from their own private section, distanced a bit from the rest of the audience the same way the Dean and university faculty’s “box” was on the opposite side. Rosalie herself held Declan’s arm the entire time, resting her face beside his arm -- the gesture made the more reserved King’s face soften around his blush, his eyes resting absently on the crown resting in her hair as he leaned in and whispered,

“Your favorite has a wide array of talents.”

Rosalie beamed. “Doesn’t she?”

“Yes,” said Declan. “I would hardly have believed she could be as studious as you’ve described, with how comfortable she appears on that stage.”

Rosalie looked very proud. 

“I knew she’d be able to manage it,” said the Queen. “Carewyn might not be much one for socializing, and she might avoid the spotlight far too much, even when she’s truly earned it, but she’s so capable. And she stands so tall and proud, in the face of adversity. Rather like someone else I know.”

The Queen lightly toyed with the gold tassels decorating her King’s coat. Declan couldn’t fight back a fond smile even with how proud and stoic his shoulders stayed locked.

“Do you mean to say that you chose her because she reminds you of me?” asked Declan.

Rosalie’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “Mm, not necessarily...but I suppose it would explain why I like her so.” 

The duet that Diego and Carewyn sang toward the very end of the showcase was from Judith e Charles, Queen Rosalie’s favorite opera. It was a stirring and dramatic duet set toward the end of the tragic story, centered on King Charles’s decision to remain by his mad Queen’s side, even as the Knave of Hearts’ men close in around the Palace of Hearts, calling for their deaths. 

“Off with their heads! Pray, off with their heads! Is there aught else? Nay! Still you caterwaul at the sky Time after time and day after day! Where's thy sense? Where's thy head? Has't thee hath lost those folk ages ago? Who art thee anon? Art thee truly thee? I hardly even know... Mine dearest, mine queen, comf'rt me.”

“Off with their heads, I hath said -- Through a needle, a thread I clutch onto with nary a place to start... Who art thee? Who is’t? I? I whisper and cry, With nothing to trust but mine own heart, And mine heart trusts thee... ...Mine heart trusts thee...”

“The night hast become so dark t's as pitch -- I wonder at which hour last we hadst day. We liveth a life here yond's so very rich, And anon for t we might not but pay. The kingdom is rousing like a beast in the night; Those gents've cometh for our hides and our souls Like a Jabberwock; there's no end in sight Naught a way to accomplish thy goals, And yet as we stand, damn'd as can be, All I seeth is thee... This is mine destiny. If 't be true this is mine end, with mine final breath, Mine tend'r hands shalt maketh amends Before I meet sweet Death! If 't be true this is mine end, I shalt give thee peace -- Mine own gentlest spell shalt bless us well, And our fearful reign shall cease.”

“Off with their heads! Off with their heads! I clutch at a needle, through the needle, a thread -- I know not what doth -- I know not what I hath said -- Off with their heads -- prithee, off with their -- ! Wherefore won't those gents come? Prithee, wherefore won't those gents hear? Where is their loyalty? Pray, where is their fear? Wherefore won't they hark? I’m their queen, do they not see? Off with their heads, I bid thee! Wherefore won't thee heed me? ...Off with their heads...off with their heads...”

“’Tis over, mine dearest. ‘Tis over, mine love.   There's no heads to be taken -- Thou hast them all.”

“Not all, husband mine. There is one here still.”

“Mine heart is yours already. Take mine head as well.”

“We art one, you and I, yond's once what thee said -- If I tooketh thy head, I too wouldst be dead.”

The number received a lot of applause from those assembled. Even Dumbledore took a moment to rise to his feet and applaud it, shooting a rather pointed look over at the royal “box” across the audience from where he and the faculty were sitting. The Dean’s expression made Declan fail to fight back a grin. 

Rosalie raised her eyebrows curiously at her more reserved counterpart. 

“What’s that smile for?” she asked. 

Declan turned to her. 

"Forgive me, my dear,” he said amusedly. “I’m merely pleased.”

Seeing the prodding look Rosalie gave him, Declan explained. 

“The other day Professor Dumbledore spoke to me of a student of his who he thought I should consider as a possible favorite.”

Rosalie cocked her eyebrows, smiling wryly. “Albus must’ve felt very confident, to make any such suggestions to you.” 

“He was -- I, however, was not. One’s charm and popularity amongst his peers means nothing, in the face of such great responsibility.”

Declan’s expression softened.

“...But then, as if by fate...Madam Rosmerta arrived with your birthday gift...and she remarked that that very same candidate had also purchased one for a dear friend of his, who was forced to spend the holidays alone.”

The King’s eyes sparkled at Rosalie. 

“And I remembered, when we first took on our roles...how generous you were, in trying to help an uptight, awkward young King feel welcome and appreciated. And sure enough, when I watched this candidate of the Dean’s at the dueling field -- fighting his hardest and yet also helping and instructing those who needed guidance, with the biggest smile on his face...”

He nodded to Diego up on the stage as he took Carewyn’s hand so that they could bow together before departing behind the curtain. 

“...Even now -- up on that stage, loyally supporting his partner as they play their parts before the whole world...all I can see is you.” 

Rosalie took this all in, stunned. Then, as she slowly digested Declan’s words, her eyes slowly lit up. 

“Carewyn,” she whispered in delight. “Carewyn had to spend the holidays alone, without her mother and brother -- Chiara mentioned it, when I asked about her after the Passion Ball...”

This information only seemed to make Declan’s smile grow. 

“So it seems my new favorite,” he said with a soft, wry smile, “is on rather good terms with your favorite.” 

Rosalie’s face shone as bright as a sunbeam. 

“Oh, Declan!” she sighed happily. 

She swept in and placed a chaste kiss to her King’s lips, her delicate hands resting on his scratchy, bearded cheeks and she nuzzled his nose with hers. Declan didn’t return the gesture -- instead he smiled and blushed as he closed his eyes, relishing his Queen’s affection. 

x~x~x~x

The day after the exhibition, Dumbledore bestowed Carewyn with a certificate of merit from the university, commending her excellent organization of the student exhibition. Enclosed with that certificate was a letter from the King and Queen of Hearts, written on formal letterhead parchment and sealed with an official royal seal --

To Carewyn Cromwell, from their Majesties, Declan Conroy, King of Hearts, and Rosalie Emilien, Queen of Hearts;

The Crown sends along its highest regards for your university’s wonderful student exhibition. Your hard work has not gone unnoticed, nor has your skill for organization, knowledge of international law and politics, and gift for public performance. These qualities are not easy to cultivate and, combined with your kind heart, modest nature, and passionate desire to help others, her Majesty the Queen expresses the sincere belief that you could do much good for the Kingdom of Hearts, as her successor. And so it is with this letter that we formally invite you to join the court of Hearts and bestow upon you the title of Princess of Hearts, in the hopes that that crown bestowed upon you will be greater, upon Her Majesty’s retirement. 

On a more personal note, her Majesty is well aware that you may consider yourself ill-prepared to take on the mantle of queenship. We hope that you shall take comfort knowing that you are not the first to feel unworthy of the responsibility offered to you, nor the first to look at the Palace of Hearts as something of a gilded cage. But given the Queen’s health, she has been seeking a replacement for some time, and both she and His Majesty think that you would have both good vision and strong conviction when it comes to providing and caring for the Kingdom of Hearts and its people. And even if you ultimately choose not to accept the honor of queenship, however disappointed her Majesty would be, both of us sincerely hope you will still accept a place at our court, for your voice would be strongly valued there. Her Majesty would also like to invite you into her confidence enough to confess that you will find several friendly faces at the court of Hearts, should you choose to join. 

The Crown favors you greatly, Carewyn Cromwell, and we eagerly await your next visit to the Palace of Hearts.

Signed,

Declan of Hearts

Rosalie R

#hphm cardverse #cardverse au #carewyn cromwell #chiara lobosca #barnaby lee #diego caplan #sarahi silvers #my writing #aesthetic #yes rosalie signs her name just the same way carewyn ends up signing it as queen! #the 'r' standing for 'regina' #declan's last name means 'wise advisor' #rosalie's means 'friendly' #which combined with their first names makes their full names translate to #'wise advisor who's full of goodness' and 'friendly rose in a garden' #god declan and rosalie are so cute I love them #they'll be so happy to know that the kingdom of hearts is in such good hands with diego and carewyn <3

[asian-fiction]

Cultural Notes for Matchmakers Episode 1

This was well timed in terms of humor. And the camera angles were well-thought through. It was worth spending my time watching this.

I'm here to get hated yet again for typing up notes on the drama mostly from fetishist Koreaboos who don't want Koreans like me to be humanized and Korean supernationalists who hate my comments for showing the downsides of Korea in an honest fashion along side the upsides.

BTW, I do have historical sources in English and Korean for these assertions. Not that the Korean super nationalists care. And you could just skip it over instead of being mad that I'm sharing.

Cultural Notes:

I'm really hoping from the cues this is mid-Joseon, or early Joseon. ~~ We've mostly gotten late Joseon or really late Joseon in dramas lately. (What historians call after the Imjin War, since Joseon is generally split into two parts.) You can tell by the jeogori (hanbok Jacket, I'm specifically referring to the female jeogori) or the sleeves. The rules on Joseon widows in the mid-Joseon and before the Imjin war were more loose than in later Joseon. (If you need references about this from Korean scholars, I can give them.) After mid-Joseon, the rules on widows got really, really harsh.

^^;; I have to say as someone who makes hanbok for myself and occasionally for friends, etc, both modernized and traditional, I'm an absolute nightmare nerd about hanbok. If you want an essay on Three Kingdom Hanbok differences between the various Kingdoms, say between dramas and what historical museums say, I have that memorized. I also have memorized the differences between hanbok and hanfu, and of course kimono, and yes from different eras. Total geek on the subject. Also, I can super geek on kimchi too…

Rowoon's intonation, and inflection on Joseon speak is really good. ^^ I'm saying aesthetically, and technically it's beautiful. This is one of the times if you don't know Korean and the cadence you should wish you did. Some actors really struggle with the words so much that their emotional inflections flatten and their sense of timing goes off, but he's really smooth about it.

Some people may know that hangeul was invented in early Joseon by King Sejong the great, 세종대왕, but despite this, and hangeul being easy to read (which it is, you really can learn it fast). It didn't become more commonly used by the upper class since most of the classics were preserved in mostly hanja (Chinese characters… which isn't exactly the same as hanzi, but that's another whole lecture and a half). So the majority of the signs and texts were still in Chinese characters in mid-Joseon. And South Korea still uses hanja on occasion to clarify words in texts. The first text to extensively use hangeul is said to be Hong Gil Dong, written by Heo Gyun, who lived 1569 – 12 October 1618. In order to make it understandable to the lower classes. Hangeul became more widespread after the Korean War, with the amount of characters dying down from the 1950's onwards, but it's still taught in schools in South Korea. North Korea got rid of hanja, officially (from reports and from my University Korean History teacher doing a project there.)

The countryside matchmaker is using dialect (saturi). ^^;; It's not very stable though in terms of acting, but I'm pickier than most Koreans.

It is absolutely true that they thought too many women in the palace caused a drought, so occasionally, they would release women from palace service in order to balance it.

The last note is to listen for the word "Nunchi" It's literally eye measure, but it's a kind of perception/intuition which is a core part of Korean socialization. You notice things about the environment, parts of people and the world, in order to try to create better harmony between people.

[marzipanandminutiae]

seriously I had some little TikTok teenybopper burst out laughing on my tour because I said that a historical figure was “most likely what we’d now call gay”

like

listen

you’re free to take a ouija board out to the cemetery and try to explain the dizzying array of current queer terms and get a solid answer as to how he identifies within that framework but 

until then, I’m going to continue NOT definitively assigning someone identity terms they didn’t self-identify with, and might not have even known, when I’m responsible for representing them faithfully and they’re not here to correct me. even more so when they’re part of my own community

I mean, you know, as long as that’s okay with you. Bestie.

#history #queer history #did MODERN historians really say they were just friends? or did modern historians not use precisely the labels you're accustomed to #and you got in a snit about it? #lgbt history

[baeddel]

Please. Please can you tell me what a baeddel is and why people (terfs?) used it in a derogatory manner on this website for a hot minute but now no one ever uses it at all

you asked for it, fucker

[2k words; philology and drama]

baeddel is an Old English word. i have no idea where it actually occurs in the Old English written corpus, but it occurs in a few placenames. its diminuitive form, baedling, is much better documented. it appears in the (untranslated) Canons of Theodore, a penitential handbook, a sort of guidebook for priests offering advice on what penances should be recommended for which sins. in a passage devoted to sexual transgressions it gives the penances suggested for a man who sleeps with a woman, a man who sleeps with another man, and then a man who sleeps with a baedling. so you have this construction of a baedling as something other than a man or a woman. and then it gives the penance for a baedling who sleeps with another baedling (a ludicrous one-year fast). then, by way of an explaination, Theodore delivers us one of the most enigmatic phrases in the Old English corpus: "for she is soft, like an adulturess."

the -ling suffix in baedling is masculine. but Theodore uses feminine pronouns and suffixes to describe baedlings. as we said, it's also used separately from male and female. but it's also used separately from their words for intersex and it never appears in this context. all of this means that you have this word that denotes a subject who is, as Christopher Monk put it, "of problematic gender." interested historians have typically interpreted it as referring to some category of homosexual male, such as Wayne R. Dines in his two-volume Encyclopedia of Homosexuality who discusses it in the context of an Old English glossary which works a bit like an Old English-Latin dictionary, giving Old English words and their Latin counterparts. the Latin words the Anglo-Saxon lexicographer chose to correspond with baedling were effeminatus and mollis, and Lang concludes that it refers to an "effeminate homosexual" (pg 60, Anglo Saxon). this same glossary gives as an Old English synonym the word waepenwifstere which literally means "woman with a penis," and which Dines gives the approximate translation (hold on tight) male wife.

R. D. Fulk, a philologist and medievalist, made a separate analysis of the term in his study on the Canons of Theodore 'Male Homoeroticism in the Old English Canons of Theodore', collected in Sex and Sexuality in Medieval England, 2004. he analysed it as a 'sexual category' (sexual as in sexuality), owing to the context of sexual transgressions in the Canons. he decides that it refers to a man who bottoms in sexual relationships with another man. i don't have the article on hand so i'm not sure what his reasoning was, but this seems obviously inadequate given what we know from the glossary described by Dines. Latin has a word for bottom, pathica, and the lexicographer did not use this in their translation, preferring words that emphasized the baedling's femininity like effeminatus, and doesn't address the sexual context at all. Dines, however, only reading this glossary, seems to decide that it refers to a type of male homosexual too hastily, considering the Canons explicitly treat them separately. both Dines and Fulk immediately reduce the baedling to a subcategory of homosexual when neither of the sources to hand actually do so themselves.

by now it should be obvious why, seven or so years ago, we interpreted it as an equivalent to trans woman. I mean come on - a woman with a penis! these days I tend to add a bit of a caution to this understanding, which is that trans woman is the translation of baedling which seems most adequate to us, just as baedling was the translation of effeminatus that seemed most adequate to our lexicographer. but the term cannot translate perfectly; its sense was derived from some minimal context; a legal context, a doctrinal context, and so forth... the way Anglo-Saxons understood sex/gender is complicated but it has been argued that they had a 'one sex model' and didn't regard men and women as biologically separate types, which is obviously quite different from the sexual model accepted today; in any case they didn't have access to the karyotype and so on. the basic categories they used to understand gender and sexuality were different from ours. in particular, Hirschfield et al. should be understood as a particularly revolutionary moment in the genealogy of transsexuality; the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft essentially invented the concept of the 'sex change', the 'transition', conceived as a biological passage from one sex to the other. even in other contexts where (forgive me) #girlslikeus changed their bodies in some way, like the castration of the priestesses of Cybele, or those belonging to the various historical societies which we believe used premarin for feminization [disputed; see this post], there is no record that they were ever considered men at any stage or had some kind of male biology that preceded their 'gender identity.' the concept of the trans woman requires the minimal context of the coercive assignment at birth and its subsequent (civil and bio-technological) rejection. i have never encountered evidence that this has ever been true in any previous society. nonetheless, these societies still had gendered relations, and essentially wherever we find these gendered relations we also find some subject which is omitted or for whom it has been necessary to note exceptions. what is of chief interest to us is not so much that there was such a subject here or there in history (and whatever propagandistic uses this fact might have), but understanding why these regularities exist.

a very parsimonious explanation is that gender is a biological reality, and there is some particular biological subject which a whole host of words have been conjured to denote. if this were the case then we would expect that, no matter what gender/sexual system we encounter in a given society, it will inevitably find some linguistic expression. if, like me, you find this idea revolting, then you should busy yourself trying to come up with an alternative explanation which is not just plausible, but more plausible. my best guesses are outside the scope of this answer...

anyway, all of this must be very interesting to the five or six people invested in the confluence of philology and gender studies. but why on earth did it become so widely used, in so many strange and unusual contexts, in the 2010s? we're very sorry, but yes, it's our fault. you see apart from all of this, there is also a little piece of information which goes along with the word baeddel, which is that it's the root of the Modern English word bad. by way of, no less, the word baedan, 'to defile'. how this defiled historical subject came to bear responsibility for everything bad to English-speakers doesn't seem to be known from linguistic evidence. however, it makes for a very pithy little remark on transmisogyny. my dear friend [REDACTED] made a playful little post making this point and, good Lord, had we only known...

it went like this. its such a funny little idea that we all start changing our urls to include the word baeddel. in those days it was common to make puns with your url (we always did halloween and christmas ones); i was baeddelaire, a play on the French poet Baudelaire. while we all still had these urls a series of events which everyone would like to forget happened, and we became Enemies of Everyone in the Whole World. because of the url thing people started to call us "the baeddels." then there was "a cult" called "the baeddels" and so forth. this cult had various infamies attatched to it and a constellation of indefensible political positions. ultimately we faced a metric fucking shit ton of harassment, including, for some of my friends, really serious and bad irl harassment that had long-term bad awful consequences relating to stable housing and physical safety and i basically never want to talk about that part of my life ever again. and i never have to, because i've come to realize that for most people, when they use the word baeddel, they don't know about that stuff. it doesn't mean that anymore.

so what does it mean? you'll see it in a few contexts. TERFs do use it, as you guessed. i am not quite sure what they really mean by it and how it differs from other TERF barbs. i think being a baeddel invovles being politically active or at least having a political consciousness, but in a way thats distinct from just any 'TRA' or trans activist. so perhaps 'militant' trans women, but perhaps also just any trans woman with any opinions at all. how this was transmitted from tumblr/west coast tranny drama to TERF vocabulary i have no idea. but you will also find - or, could have found a few years ago - i would say 'copycat' groups who didn't know us or what we believed but heard the rumours, and established their own (generously) organizations (usually facebook groups) dedicated to putting those principles into practice. they considered themselves trans lesbian separatists and did things like doxx and harass trans women who dated cafabs. if you don't know about this, yes, there really were such groups. they mostly collapsed and disappeared because they were evildoers who based their ideology on a caricature. i knew a black trans woman who was treated very badly by one of these groups, for predictable reasons. so long-time readers: if you see people talking about their bad experiences with 'baeddels', you can't necessarily relate it to the 2014 context and assume they're carrying around old baggage. there are other dreams in the nightmare.

the most common way you'll see it today, in my experience, is in this form: people will say that it was a "slur" for trans women. they might bring up that it's the root of the word bad, and they might even think that you shouldn't use the word bad because of it, or that you shouldn't use the word baeddel because it's a slur. all of this is a silly game of internet telephone and not worth addressing. except to say that it's by no means clear that baeddel, or baedling, were slurs, or even insulting at all. while Theodore doesn't provide us with a description of how we can have sex with a baedling without sinning, and it may be the case that any sexual relations with a baedling was considered sinful, sexuality-based transgressions were not taken all that seriously in those days. there was a period where homosexuality within the Church was almost sanctioned, and it wasn't until much later that homosexuality became so harshly proscribed, to the extent that it was thought to represent a threat to society, etc. and as i mentioned, there are places in England named after baedlings. there is a little parish near Kent which is called Badlesmere, Baeddel's Lake, which was recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Domesday Book (as having a lord, a handful of villagers and a few slaves; perhaps only one or two households). it's not unheard of, but i just don't know very many places called Faggot Town or some such. it's possible that baedlings had some role in Anglo-Saxon society which we are not aware of; it could even have been a prestigious one, as it was in other societies. there is just no evidence other than a couple of passing references in the literature and we'll probably never have a complete picture.

[jeannereames]

If you could change or insert one aspect of the common pop culture picture most people have in their heads when they think about ATG what would it be?

I'm going to jump this in the queue because I can answer it swiftly, but also because I have TWO things that are personal pet peeves.

FIRST: That "historians" keep insisting Alexander and Hephaistion were "just good friends" in the face of obvious evidence to the contrary.

SECOND: Alexander called Hephaistion his Patroklos (to his own Achilles), and they used this comparison frequently throughout their lives.

So, let’s take on the “Fake News,” shall we?

The notion that "historians" keep insisting Alexander and Hephaistion were "just good friends" in the face of what would seem clear evidence to the contrary is over 50 fucking years out of date.

Are there “historians” out there who say that? Sure. But they tend to come in two flavors: 1) people who aren’t specialists, Hellenists, or even historians,⸸ or 2) Greeks.* Since Badian, Green, Hamilton, and Schachermeyer (et al.) took over Macedonian/Alexander studies mid-century, few specialists claimed Alexander and Hephaistion couldn’t have been lovers, or Alexander couldn’t have been attracted to men. Even Hammond cagily acknowledged it.

Yet—TBH—I don't think those who repost that meme really care. They just want a convenient strawman/whipping horse to make them sound "smarter than the experts."

You don't. You sound as if you haven't read much about Alexander since about 1975. Historians who have died of old age by now said Alexander and Hephaistion were probably lovers.

But that raises another problem: the implication that anybody who might argue they aren't lovers must be an old, white homophobic dude. Again, this is wrong.

The current discussion centers more on source problems, and separates Alexander having male lovers from Alexander and Hephaistion being lovers themselves (not the same thing, actually). Those making the best argument for caution are young, very much not homophobic (but absolutely brilliant) women (e.g., Sabine Müller). Follow the link to see a picture of Sabine, if you don’t believe me. I don't agree with her, but you can't shoot down her argument by screaming "Homophobe!" at the top of your lungs. The points she raises are all good ones and any responsible (and smart) historian will take them seriously.

As for the Alexander-Achilles/Hephaistion-Patroklos pastiche… yeah, sorry, no.

I realize this torques off folks, as it’s become a mainstay of queer culture surrounding Alexander as a gay icon and owes more than a little to Miller’s The Song of Achilles.

Busting it probably makes me sound like a Grinch.

BUT…the facts just don't support it. Yes, Alexander compared himself to Achilles--but not as much as to Herakles and Dionysos. Not even close.

How do I know? I COUNTED THEM. Facts ... not impressions.

After all, looking closely at what the sources (not impressions) actually say about Hephaistion is how I came to the conclusion the man was a lot more important than heretofore recognized. 😉

Again, as I’ve said elsewhere, Alexander did compare himself to Achilles. That’s not in dispute … it just wasn’t as frequent or common as modern fans like to pretend. And Hephaistion was compared to Patroklos only twice. There’s also a problem with WHO made those comparisons: chiefly Arrian. Again, I’ve talked about this elsewhere, so won’t go over it again.

Yes, I made the comparison myself in Dancing with the Lion: Becoming. But it concerned one circumstance near that book’s end (not giving spoilers), and isn’t something they harped on otherwise. That mirrors how it appears in our sources: it’s limited, and situational.

“Patroklos” was not Hephaistion’s nickname. Wish folks would stop claiming it was.

—————

⸸ Just because somebody is tagged “historian” on a History Channel special—or his own private blog—doesn’t mean they actually have a PhD, or even a Master’s, much less one in ancient history, Classics, Classical archaeology, or ancient art history. The number of idiots on Tik-tok yapping about how Alexander thought this or did that—and clearly know jack shit—routinely stuns me…even while it doesn’t. Dunning-Kruger Effect all over the damn place.

* Greeks must often work within the confines of official narratives in order to secure jobs and funding, which can limit what they say on certain topics, from who’s buried in “Philip’s Tomb,” to the Greekness of the ancient Macedonians, to any possible homosexual “taint” staining Alexander’s greatness. This may swim against the current of academic discourse outside Greece, even by other Greeks. The Greek Ministry of Culture and Sport has softened on some of these topics in recent years, especially as LGBTQIA rights have gained better traction in Greece.

#asks #Alexander the Great #Alexander memes #Alexander in pop culture #Myths about Alexander in pop culture #Hephaistion #Hephaestion #Classics #what “real” historians actually say #ancient history #ancient Macedonia #ancient Greece

[gendercensus]

On fae/faer pronouns and cultural appropriation

HOW IT STARTED

I had a handful, a very small handful but more than two, responses in the Gender Census feedback box telling me that fae/faer pronouns are appropriative. The reasons didn’t always agree, and the culture that was being appropriated wasn’t always the same, but here’s a selection of quotes:

“Fae pronouns are cultural appropriation and are harmful to use“ - UK, age 11-15

“I’m not a person who practices pagan holidays but, my understanding is that pronouns like fae/faeself are harmful because the fae are real to pagans and is like using Jesus/jesuself as pronouns“ - UK, age 11-15

“I know you've probably heard this a million times, so has everyone on the internet, but the ''mere existence''of the fae pronoun feels really uncomfortable for some of us. I'm personally not against neopronouns like xe/xim, er/em and the like, I am a pagan but apart from the, imo most important, reasoning of that pronoun being immensely disrespectful, I worry as an nb about people who banalize the usage of pronouns ''for fun'', and I'm quoting what some people have told me.“ - Spain, 16-20

“I don't agree with fae/deity pronouns just from a pagan perspective it's very disrespectful to the cultures they come from. Like Fae are a legit thing in many cultures and they hate with a fiery passion mortal humans calling themselves Fae to the point of harming/cursing the people who do it“ - USA, age 16-20

“only celtic people can use far/ faers otherwise it’s cultural appropriation, many celts have said this and told me this“ - USA, age 16-20

So that’s:

❓ Someone who doesn’t say whether they’re pagan or Celtic.

❌ Someone who definitely isn’t pagan.

✅ Someone who is pagan.

❓ Someone who doesn’t say whether they’re pagan or Celtic.

❓ Someone who doesn’t say whether they’re pagan or Celtic.

So, just to disclose some bias up-front, I am English so I’m not Celtic, but I do live in Wales so I am surrounded by Celts. The bit of Wales that I live in is so beautiful in such a way that when my French friend came to visit me she described it as féerique - like an enchanting, magical land, literally “fairylike” or thereabouts. Coincidentally I have also considered myself mostly pagan for over half of my life, and I can’t definitively claim whether or not the Fae are “part of paganism” because paganism is so diverse and pick’n’mix that it just doesn’t work that way.

To me the idea that fae/faer pronouns would be offensive or culturally appropriative sounds absurd. But also, I am powered by curiosity, and have been wrong enough times in my life that I wanted to approach this in a neutral way with an open mind. Perhaps what I find out can be helpful to some people.

So since we only have information from one person who is definitely directly affected by any cultural appropriation that may be happening, the first thing I wanted to do was get some information from ideally a large number of people who are in the cultures being appropriated, and see what they think.

~

WHAT I DID

First of all I put some polls up on Twitter and Mastodon. [Edit: Note that this post has been updated with results from closed polls.]

I specified that I wanted to hear from nonbinary Celts and pagans, just so that the voters would be familiar with fae/faer pronouns. I asked the questions in a neutral way, i.e. “How do you feel about...” with “good/neutral/bad” answer options, instead of something more leading like “Is this a load of rubbish?” or “are you super offended?” with “yes/no” options. I provided a “see results” option, so that the poll results wouldn’t be skewed as much by random people clicking any old answer to see the results. And I invited voters to express their opinions in replies.

Question #1: Nonbinary people of Celtic descent (Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, the Isle of Man, and Brittany), how do you feel about non-Celtic people using the neopronoun set fae/faer? [ It's good / No strong feelings/other / It's bad ]

Question #2: Nonbinary pagans, how do you feel about non-pagans using the neopronoun set fae/faer? [ It's good / No strong feelings/other / It's bad ]

The Twitter polls got over 1,100 responses each, and the Mastodon polls got over 140 responses each. With a little bit of spreadsheetery I removed the “N/A” responses to reverse engineer the number of people voting for each option, combined those numbers, and recalculated percentages.

Obviously this approach is not in the least scientific, but thankfully the results were unambiguous enough and the samples were big enough that I feel comfortable drawing conclusions.

Celts on fae/faer pronouns being used by non-Celts (561 voters):

It's good - 42.5%

No strong feelings/other - 44.0%

It's bad - 13.5%

Pagans on fae/faer pronouns being used by non-pagans (468 voters):

It's good - 47.2%

No strong feelings/other - 39.5%

It's bad - 13.3%

Here’s how that looks as a graph:

The limitations of polls on these platforms means that we have no way to distinguish between people who have more complicated views (”other”) and people who have “no strong feelings”, so we can’t really draw conclusions there. If we stick to just the pure positive and pure negative:

Celts were over three times as likely to feel positive about non-Celts using fae/faer pronouns than they were to feel negative.

Pagans were over three and a half times as likely to feel positive about non-pagans using fae/faer pronouns than they were to feel negative.

So Celts and pagans are way more likely to feel actively good about someone’s fae/faer pronouns, even when that person is not a Celt/pagan. That’s some strong evidence against the idea that fae/faer pronouns are appropriative, right there.

~

CORRECTIONS

To be clear, I haven’t done any research about the roots of fae/faer or the origins of the Fae and related beings, but my goal here was to get a sense of what Celts and pagans think and feel, rather than what an historian or anthropologist would say.

On the anti side, here were the replies that suggested fae/faer either is or might be inappropriate:

“I only worry that not everyone understands the origin of the word outside of modernized ideas of fairies.“ - pagan

“As a vaguely spiritual Whatever (Ireland), I think a mortal using "fae" as a pronoun/to refer to themselves is asking for a malicious and inventive fairy curse (on them, their families and possibly anyone in their vicinity, going by the traditions). I have not heard of this term before, so this is an immediate reaction from no background bar my cultural knowledge of sidhe/fae/term as culturally appropriate. My general approach is people can identify themselves as they want.“ - Celtic

So we’ve got a pagan who’s wary that people who use fae/faer (and people in general) might not have a fully fleshed out idea of the Fae. And we’ve got a Celt who doesn’t mind people using fae/faer personally, but based on what they know of the Fae they wouldn’t be surprised if the Fae got mad about it. No outright opposition, but a little concern.

There were not a lot of replies on the pro side, but not because people weren’t into it, judging by the votes. There were a lot of “it’s more complicated than that” replies, many of which repeated others, so quotes won’t really work. Here’s a summary of the Celtic bits:

“Fae” is not a Celtic word, and Celts don’t use it. It is French, or Anglo-French.

“Fae” can refer to any number of stories/legends from a wide variety of cultures in Europe, not one cohesive concept.

There are many legends about fairy-like beings in Celtic mythologies, and there are many, many different names for them.

The Celts are not a monolith, they’re a broad selection of cultures with various languages and various mythologies.

And the pagan bits:

Paganism is not closed or exclusive in any way. It might actually be more open than anything else, as “pagan” is a sort of umbrella term for non-mainstream religions in some contexts. A closed culture would be a prerequisite for something to be considered “appropriated” from paganism.

From my own experience, pagans may or may not believe in the Fae, and within that group believers may or may not consider the Fae to be sacred and/or worthy of great respect. (I’ve certainly never met a pagan who worshipped the Fae, though I don’t doubt that some do.)

And then we get into the accusations. 🍿

“this issue wasn’t started by Celtic groups or by people who know much about Celtic fae. It was started primarily by anti-neopronoun exclusionist pagans on TikTok.“

“[I’m] literally Scottish [...] and it’s not appropriative in the least and honestly to suggest as such is massively invalidating towards actual acts of cultural appropriation and is therefore racist. Feel like if this was actually brought up it was either by some people who seriously got their wires crossed or people who are just concern trolling and trying to make fun of both neo-pronouns and of the concept of cultural appropriation and stir the pot in the process.“

“It wouldn't be the first time bigots falsly claim “it's appropriative from X marginalized group" to harass people they don't like, like they did with aspec people when they claimed "aspec" was stolen from autistic language (which was false, as many autistics said)“

“It's been a discussion in pagan circles recently ... People were very quick to use the discussion as an excuse to shit on nonbinary people.“

“I think it would be apropos to note that the word "faerie/fairy" has been a synonym for various queer identities for decades, too. The Radical Faeries are a good example.“ (So if anyone has the right to [re]claim it...)

A little healthy skepticism is often wise in online LGBTQ+ “discourse”, and some of these people are making some very strong claims, for which I’d love to see some evidence/sources/context. Some of it certainly sounds plausible.

~

HOW DID IT START?

I had a look on Twitter and the earliest claim I can find that fae/faer pronouns are cultural appropriation is from 18th February 2020, almost exactly one year ago today. Again, tweets are not the best medium for this, there was very little in the way of nuance or context. If anyone can find an older claim from Twitter or Tumblr or anywhere else online, please do send it my way.

I have no idea how to navigate TikTok because I’m a nonbinosaur. (I’m 34.) I did find some videos of teens and young adults apparently earnestly asserting that they were Celtic or pagan and the use of fae/faer pronouns was offensive, but the videos were very brief and provided nothing in the way of nuance or context. For example:

This one from October 2020 with 29k ❤️s, by someone who I assume is USian based on the word “mom”?

This one from December 2020, that says “I am pagan and i find it rather disrespectful. It’s like using god/godr or jesus/jesusr.” That’s probably what inspired the feedback box comment above that refers to hypothetical jesus/jesusr pronouns.

If anyone is able to find a particularly old or influential TikTok video about fae/faer pronouns being appropriative I’d really appreciate it, especially if it’s from a different age group or from not-the-USA, to give us a feel for how universal this is.

For context, fae pronouns were mentioned in the very first Gender Census back in May 2013, though you’ll have to take my word for it as the individual responses are not currently public. The word “fae” was mentioned in the pronoun question’s “other” textbox, and no other forms in the set were entered so we have no way of knowing for sure what that person’s full pronoun set actually is. This means the set may have been around for longer. The Nonbinary Wiki says that the pronoun set was created in October 2013, as “fae/vaer”, later than the first entry in the Gender Census, so I’ll be editing that wiki page later! If anyone has any examples of fae/faer pronouns in use before 2013 I would also be very interested to see that.

~

IN SUMMARY

Obviously I can’t speak for everyone, as the Twitter polls are not super scientific and they only surveyed a selection of Celts and pagans within a few degrees of separation of the Gender Census Twitter and Mastodon accounts, but I can certainly report on what I found.

For a more conclusive result, we’d need to take into account various demographics such as age, culture, location, religion, race/heritage, etc.

As far as I can tell based on fairly small samples of over 400 people per group, a minority of about 13% of Celtic and/or pagan people felt that use of fae/faer pronouns is appropriative.

A much higher number of people per group felt positive about people who are not Celts or pagans using fae/faer pronouns. The predominant view was:

It can’t be cultural appropriation from Celtic cultures because fairy-like beings are not unique to Celtic cultures and Celtic cultures don’t call them Fae.

It can’t be cultural appropriation from pagan cultures because paganism is not “closed” or exclusive in any way, it’s too broad and open.

~

If your experience of your gender(s) or lack thereof isn’t described or encompassed by the gender binary of “male OR female”, please do click here to take the Gender Census 2021 - it’s international and it closes no earlier than 10th March 2021!

#fae/faer #pronouns #neopronouns #cultural appropriation

[hoodoobarbie]

The mythology of the Siren, Mermaid, Water Spirits & Mami Wata and it’s origins within black feminity.

Today I had to listen to other another black woman rant about how mermaids/sirens/mami wata are evil low key. So this educational post was born in response. 

Did you really think the divine essence of the black feminine wouldn’t protect itself ? That energy exists for a reason.  Suddenly it’s evil, to have teeth and protect yourself from predators. Water is a precious resource. You will be tested to see if you are deserving of it or not. Also these spirits will defend natural resources so they don’t get fucked up by human greed. 

It’s common for some places in Africa for people to offer the Sirens/Mami Wata/Water spirits or make an offerings/contracts with them in order to use the resources on their land. It also keeps the white ppl away too because they cause so much trouble.

Sirens are also associated with being the killers of children and men, but often this is completely misrepresented intentionally.

Men fear the power of the siren because she can override the patriarchy at core and can completely unravel them. The orgins of many water spirits lie in matriachal societies, temples divine feminine and motherhood. This is why temples and sacred magikal knowledge was intentionally destroyed and stolen, especially to empower the white patriarch.

Sirens are also described as thiefs of children and child killers. Sirens have been known to kidnap kids who were being abused or have were murdered near water and take them to their kingdom to restore them.

Sometimes the child returns, sometimes they are not. However in general they are big on kidnapping people, mostly women and giving them powers, if they decide to return. The idea of them eating and killing children, was a lie perpetuated by Greeks to cover up some truly horrific acts. Unfortunate these false accusations have been allowed to continue to perpetuate.

If a siren is acting in a predatory way, there is a reason why as their energy as been disturbed. Sirens are natural guardians. 

So the real question is . . . what did you do ? Did you destroy their habitat ? Abuse a child or a person ? Commit an egregious act against a woman ie rape/murder etc ? Disrespect a sacred place, the land, the seas or rivers ? Steal precious resources that weren’t yours to take ?

These sacred traditions are more than just deities, spirits and our ancestors. All forms of ATR are access to our spiritual mind state as an entire community. When you move in Vodou, you can sense the whole of black consciousness and all of our problem spots, specifically  areas that need healing. 

Oxum-Oshun, Olokun, Yemaya, the Mami Wata, La Baliene, La Siren, Met Agwe, The Simbi - these are all spirits with a connection to waters. Water is life and has always been inherently associated feminine energy. I’m not going into detail about all these cross connections but let’s chat about La Sirene, specifically.

La Sirene, Queen of all Mermaids is more than just a powerful sorceress and queen of song/music and dreams, she is also a keeper of secrets an a guardian of sacred memories & knowledge.

Many of the souls of slaves, from the Transatlantic slave trade that were thrown off the boats into the ocean are her children, citizens and warriors now. She comforts them eternally & they live in paradise. That doesn’t mean all of these souls are at rest, plenty continuously ask their mother if they will be avenged, especially the young children. She also has a close connection with the Indigenous Taino. The isle of Hispaniola also known as Haiti (Ayiti) & the Dominican Republic is her most known domain. 

Let’s not act like slavery and colonization was a cake walk. Rape was common place and mermaids, water spirits offered African and Indigenous women protection and power over men. They became demonized overtime for their hypnotic powers and killing men, who often overstepped their boundaries. Women could leave offerings to these spirits, work or commune with them and be quickly avenged or gain great power and wealth. All of this was threatening to the white patriarchal standard.

La Sirene’s presence in Haiti and other merfolk tales that float around the Caribbean/West Indies, is not without purpose. She has ties to many people and many different cultures. Her sacred symbols are global. This is why I speculate she is much older than people think. La Sirene, is a fairly young evolution. She clearly has ties to much older things. Her older names might have been lost but she has evolved, to save her self and also document other forgotten elements of history in the process. There are those who speculate that La Sirene is the embodiment of a cross mixed culture, the evolution of Indigenous & African water spirits combined, due to the excess trauma of colonization and so the Mermaid Queen was born. Others will argue that she is the Orisha Yemaya but a newer avatar of her.  I hate to argue semantics but I will say this, she exists and her presence is felt to this day, all around the world. 

La Sirene is often depicted as a mulatto woman with eyes like the sea but if you have been blessed to see her in dream state, she does appear sometimes as a brown or dark skinned skinned woman of possibly mixed Indigenous/African ancestry with glowing hypnotic eyes.  Alot of her older depictions, deal with colorism and slavery, but as things have grown in the modern world this imagery has begun to change. However mermaids, are known for their shapeshifting powers - to truly behold her true form, is a gift reserved for the rare few. 

As a keeper of the mysteries, La Sirene also access to many forgotten things in the black subconscious. The element of water is an intensely psychic sign.  Water is her domain, and what is the human body 80% of? WATER! The truth does not hide from her hypnotic eyes. This sacred connection to water and her essence, also means you can  track forgotten elements black history and connect to other deities/cultures who’ve had contact with her & her whole court or other black water spirits as a whole. So let’s take a short historical trip down memory lane.

The Greeks & Black women. Sirens, Aphrodite, Sibyls and other Children of Water 🧜🏾‍♀️

The deity Aphrodite/Venus is of Grecian and Roman legend.  

A little known magikal fact is that Aphrodite/Venus is half siren. She is a child of the water, she was literally birthed this way after Uranus got his balls cut off & thrown into the sea. Much of her Venusian influence and powers of love and beauty come from this element. Now my Mambo doesn’t like mentioning it but Aphrodite, is tolerated by the oceanic court of sirens/mermaids. Any child of water, falls under the domain of the queen. La Sirene has a sort of strange fondness for her and so does Aphrodite for her. However this doesn’t mean they are best friends.  It’s tentative friendship at best and comes with some perks. Aphrodite works quickly for children of water sirens and often will send mermaids to her devotees who misbehave. She has deliberately placed me around her people have pissed her off, to cause mischief. She’s quite petty but also  very generous. I won’t go as far to dare and say she is in the queen’s court, but she does curry favor with the queen. Being born of water, her half siren/mermaid influence has definitely attributed to legends of her beauty in myth but also her treachery with men 🧜🏾‍♀️😂. She clearly also has some sort of homesickness for the world underneath the water, because many of her offerings are gifts of pearls, kisses, sea shells, beauty products etc. Anyone who serves the Mermaid Queen knows the meaning behind those gifts. If you’re a black gyal with water or siren energy and decide to work with Aphrodite, do it!  If you ever irritate her, the least she’ll do is give you pimples and fuck up your skin, she won’t have the full power to completely fuck up your love life like she does with the white girls.  And let me tell you, she has completely ruined some white girls lives by giving them terrible lovers or men.  

The trident 🔱 is known for its connection in Greek and Hindu cultures.  However La Sirene or other African water spirits are depicted carrying it, which is largely ignored in the occult world.

You can track the trident in Hinduism, with the serpent spirits, the nagas or Lord Shiva but let’s focus on it’s Grecian connection. The usage of the trident and Poseidon, even in mainstream society today is associated with him.  This lets us know there is a connection between the mermaids, merfolk and La Sirene/African water spirits. Poseidon’s trident was rumored to made in Athens by the Cyclops - this is the city of Athena. So now we can track an element of black history all the way to Poseidon & Athena. Keep that in your thoughts we’ll come back to that later.

Tridents were also used ceremonially in Africa & India as well, as scepters, tribal weapons and religious symbols.

They were also associated with the sea faring people and fishing. It’s highly likely the origins of the trident are cross mixed between these two societies. Indo-African relations, go back to the Bronze age and the Indus Valley civilization. Which means traveling over by sea to reach each other was necessary. There is historical evidence of African millet being found in a Indian city Chanhudaro, including a cemetary or burial ground for African women.  Maritime relations between these two groups existed before Grecian & the Egyptian Ptolemaic dynasties.

Now of course there are some deranged historians that will try to whitewash history and say the trident has its origins from the labyrs but the Ancient Greeks & Africans/Indians interacted regularly. The trident also looks nothing like a labyrs, which is quite literally a double sided axe.  This is one of the more painful obvious pieces of white washing and historical revisionism. 

Regardless, the trident is associated with water, ceremonial/religious purposes, fishing, battling in the coliseum and the symbol of power for a few African,  Black diasporian an Hindu deities.

🧜🏾‍♀️ Oracles & Sibyls

Some sibyls/oracles were known to be African prophetesses/Mamissi to the Mami Wata/Sirens in Africa, some were stolen or captured by Greeks or Romans, sold into slavery and made to be oracles, some of whom became quite famous in legend. Their connection to these water spirits, is what gave them their gift of prophecy. Not every sibyl or oracle was African but SOME were.  This lead to the sharing and theft of sacred knowledge. It’s likely these women shared this sacred information, with their colleagues, some whom may or may not have been enslaved or kept in these temple and likely this information was traded, for their freedom, power or money etc. This gave way to the usage of sacred spirits and magick being used by men. A great example of this is the snake spirits of the genii, genius spirits (not to be mistaken with genies) and which then evolved into a diluted lesser energy in Greek society being known as daemons (not to be confused with goetic demons) Instead of a woman commanding these specific energies/spirits, the patriarchs decided that these specifics powers were only worthy of being used by men. These spirits were whitewashed, adopted into their religious practices and said to only be given to men at birth. No woman was allowed to possess them anymore.

🧜🏾‍♀️ The whitewashing of Medusa & Lamia. 

In mainstream society these two women stories have been white washed but also to hide a very shameful history and narrative. These two were beautiful women, in older stories of black black mythology were known to be black and they were children of water & daughters of the powerful water spirit/snake/siren divine mother/feminine goddess. 

Medusa was raped by the GREECIAN GOD OF THE SEA, POSEIDON  and Athena covered it up, refused to avenge her and punished her by making her ugly to everyone. It’s speculated in several magikal circles that the snakes in her hair were actually dreads, due to their lack of understanding of black hair and also allegorically might have been a reference to her devotion to the fish or water snake, great mother goddess. A child of the divine feminine, mother goddess was assaulted in a temple by a man and a woman covered it up & celebrated it.

Let’s start there ... cuz this story says a lot! It’s one of the first historical cases  in myth that really documents the issues that surround the black feminine specifically and it was intentionally whitewashed. Then to add insult to injury, Athena made her hideous to all men and her chopped off her head and used as a symbol of protection but also a subtle sign of disrespect to the fullest. This still goes on to this day.

In fact ALGOL, the demon star, which is considered to be strongest protective magick talisman in the occult world today is the HEAD OF MEDUSA. The child of water! BITCH! This energy is invoked constantly and the spirit of medusa is never allowed to rest.

However these egregious acts did not come without a price. Athena at time was a goddess of fertility. However desecrating a child of water or the sirens, is seen as an attack by the divine feminine and can will cause people to be afflicted with fertility and other mental health issues as well. This is speculative but it’s also likely that after this they were constantly visited by droughts, floods or repeating issues with water sanitation & purity after this. Lowered fertility rates and miscarriages might be more prominent, for Athenians and Athena devotees & likely continues to this day.

Devotees of Athena may also develop severe issues when it to their mental health because of this connection. They completely lose touch with their feminine energy and become extremely misogynistic after continued work with her.

Not only did Athena, cause Medusa to be seen as hideous throughout the land but she celebrated when she was murdered and proudly wore Medusa’s decapitated head on her shield. From the feminist eye this virgin deity/woman was extremely male identified and adhered to the patriarchal standard. She was tested by the divine feminine and failed.

Even more strange, Athena’s birth allegorically proclaims her essential character: her wisdom is drawn from the head of a male god; the bond of affection between father and daughter; her championship of heroes and male causes, born as she was from the male, and not from a mother’s womb. A dreaded goddess of war, she remained a virgin and a servant of the patriarchal society and remains so to this day. She is the misogynistic cool girl and very asexual at the core. In fact if you explore more of her mythos, it becomes very clear she hates women. I’m bewildered at how she has become associated with lesbians and the feminine at large, when it’s been very clear that she was intent on transcending her gender from the very beginning, but never managed to escape it.  

To top it off, I’ll leave you with this quote from Aeschylus’ Oresteia by Athena:

“There is no mother anywhere who gave me birth, and, but for marriage, I am always for the male with all my heart, and strongly on my father’s side. So, in a case where the wife has killed her husband, lord of the house, her death shall not mean most to me.”

Queen Lamia was a said to incredible beauty who seduced Zeus, (a literal man whore) which as made Hera jealous. Hera cursed Lamia with infertility and insomnia. She went insane and is said to have killed her own children and ate them. Zeus is said to be the one who gifted her prophecy and gave her the ability to take out her eyes, so she would not be irritated at the site of other happy mothers.

She became associated with a child eating monster who was half woman and half snake, which ties into the Libyan snake cults. She was associated with phantoms, the shapshifting laimai or empusai and the daemon spirits.

Medusa and Lamia were Libyan by heritage and came from a place in Africa where temples to the water snake mother goddess & divine feminine were common before they were destroyed by invaders intentionally. These women likely had extreme gifts of seduction, mind control and other abilities etc. It’s highly likely that Queen Lamia used her powers of seduction, at the behest of her people to save them from colonization and was demonized for it. Zeus’s temple was in Cyrene in Lybia, so this is far more than an allegorical story. This may be a real life story that was disguised in mythos. Unfortunately deeper research into this subject has turned up many dead ends for me. It’s highly likely Medusa was a priestess of the the matriarchal Mami Watas or water goddess/snake spirits and was likely raped intentionally in Athena’s temple, as a show loyalty to the rising patriarchy by descrating the symbolism of the great mother and the divine feminine. This was likely an attempt to lessen power and status of the matriachal societies that existed at the time. Rape was common war tactic amongst colonizers and news of such disgrace would likely spread like wildfire. This also solidified Athena’s place amongst the male gods and gaining her their respect. Athena and her devotees went a step further to show their allegiance to the patriarchy, by stripping Medusa of her beauty supposedly and exiling her, then parading her decapitated head on shields, when going into battle likely with Libyan enemies.

This is just a brief explanation of a few horrific acts in history, which were whitewashed & explain why the essence of the black feminine has evolved to become more protective, predatory and fierce. She learned to defend herself. Now she kills those who threaten her. 

Fun history tip: Usually anytime you see a snake in Grecian mythology, just know something got whitewashed, because the truth was really fucked up, made them look really bad & a black woman was there.

🧜🏾‍♀️ The black feminine is capable of more than you know.

Yes, mermaids/sirens/snakes & the mami watas can be scary at times but that’s what stepping into mysticism of deep waters is like. Water is capable of many things, it is one of the most powerful elements on earth. It can nourish you and kill you, and that’s the beauty of it really.

We should all be grateful the black feminine is so beautiful, fierce & scares the living daylights out of everyone.

You would be dead if it wasn’t.

#merwitch #black girl magic #mermaid #hoodoo #medusa #mami wata #libya #yemaya #la sirene #blackbloggers #Libya #trident #Poseidon #Athena #aphrodite #Venus #vodou #haitian vodou #olokun #orisha #african traditional religions #atr #dogon #greek mythology #black femininity #black women #black lesbian #matrichary #patriarchy #intersectional feminism

[fedonciadale]

I'm sorry for this, I'm just so MAD right now and I want vent to fellow historian. I hate this whole ooh historians are all homophobes, omg, today I got foolishly into argument with guy that claimed over and over that I have to be anti-homo (his words) because in my work I didn't say that X was in sexual relationship with Y. Aand when I got to tumblr, what I saw on my dash? "Another historian proves himself homophobic by not agreeing with bunch of random tumblr that Z wasn't gay" FFS, I'm mad.

Hi there!

I think the main reason for this is that people always think that historians know how it "really was" when we just don't.

Historians who do research often will answer something along the lines of "we can't really say" or "we don't really know" or "it is more complicated than that".

Historians also demand that you allow for the circumstances and the thought patterns of the past and that often means that our modern ascriptions simply do not work.

I actually think that categories like homosexuality and transgender are something that evolved with the strict binary system of the European 19th century, a system that people rant against today forgetting all the time that there were many times and places in history where human thoughts did no align to that rigid system.

Attributing something to historical persons is also often influenced by the time frame of the historian.

Richard the Lionheart is a good example: When academic history evolved people would keep silent about the fact that some sources tell us that he visited Philippe August in Paris and "shared his bed". Because they clearly understood it in a sexual way and wanted to keep the reputation of their hero king "clean". Times changed and in the 70s it was accepted that Richard was "clearly homosexual". His "affair" with Philippe became common knowledge and you can see echoes of this in the film "The Lion in Winter."

Recent research on rituals in the Middle Ages found out that "sharing a bed" was quite common. Like kisses it was meant to signal the determination to keep the peace. The king showed everyone that he trusted the other to such a degree that he would even share a bed with him, being at his most vulnerable in the presence of a friend. And speaking of friendship: this was often expressed in terms that were a reminiscence of Ancient Rome and therefore are often quite "romantic", but we honestly cannot say what is literary artistic and what is real emotion.

So, nowadays when asked about the homosexuality of Richard the Lionheart, most historians would answer honestly: We do not know. We know he had a bastard and that he had a wife. We know that he had deep friendships. It is possible that he slept with men? Yes. But do we have proof? No.

There are others where we do have proof. We know for sure that Earl Robert of Gloucester, illegitimate son of Henry I, had a male lover.

As so often, it is about nuance. And honestly, some people are out of their depth when it comes to nuance.

Thanks for the ask!

#anon ask #historians #history #nitpickings of a nerdy historian

[beatricethecat2]

"Another day or two?" Helena gruffs.

"Yeah, um, sorry," Myka replies.

"That storm postponing your flight was one thing, but this? You are aware our rental is expiring eminently."

"Maybe we can extend?"

"I already inquired."

"And?"

Helena grimaces, nose wrinkling.

"I-I'll find us a new one."

"No, I shall, since I've clearly been left to my own devices."

"I'm coming soon, I promise!" Myka yelps. "I'll stay wherever you want. Extend the car rental, too."

"If I must swap it at the airport, I shall be cross."

"More cross than now? How is that even possible?" Myka jabs.

"I believe you know the answer," Helena says, deadpan. "What exactly is keeping you there?"

"I'm figuring something out but it's more complicated than I thought."

"And this 'something,' how long am I to remain in the dark?"

"Not long, but..." Myka's shoulders sag. "I might as well tell you."

"If it's such a burden—"

"No! I wanted to iron out the details first." Myka heaves a heavy sigh. "Ok, here it goes...I'm figuring out how to work remotely. Mostly."

Helena perks up. "This is something you truly wish to do?"

"I..." Myka pushes a hand through her hair, stopping halfway, looking off to the side. "I've been thinking about what you said, that the Warehouse needs to evolve, that it's stuck in the nineteenth century."

"Such a travesty; agents sequestered in a boarding house with modern communication and travel as they are."

"It's not so bad, having your friends there when you need them." Myka's hand drops to her side. "I do love my family here, but if I'm honest, it hasn't felt the same since Leena died." 

"May I say again how truly sorry I am for your loss. She was an extraordinary woman."

"She really was." Myka blinks back a tear and looks down. "But it's more than that. What you said about only traveling for work, of never really visiting a place, that stuck with me, too. How you want to take advantage of all this new world has to offer, things I take for granted, because you've been given a second chance." 

"I can be quite persuasive when I wish to," Helena says, lips turning up at the ends.

"And I love you for it." Myka's smile matches Helena's.

"But those are my wishes. What are your own?" Helena asks.

"I think it's worth fighting for change, even if making up rules as we go scares me."

"You are fond of protocol."

"And you're not. So we complement each other. Or cancel each other out," Myka says, lips lifting into a crooked grin.

Helena huffs a short laugh. "And Pete? How is he faring?"

"He's super bummed, but I think he understands." Myka shifts in her seat, sitting up straighter. "You might hear from him. He said he wants to have a chat."

"What about?"

"A 'big brother' kind of thing."

"I'm surprised he's waited this long."

"Me too."

The air quiets, each waiting for the other to continue.

"There is one other thing. An, um, 'condition," Myka says.

"Just the one?"

"Hey..."

"I'd expect nothing less. Go on."

"I can't go on missions alone."

"Nor would I allow you to."

"Do you see where I'm going with this?"

"While you're working, someone will join you."

"Yeah, you."

"But I'm no longer an—"

"They want to reinstate you."

"Myka..."

"I know, I know," Myka says, waving her hands in surrender. "It'd be on your terms. I'll make sure of that. And I'll keep you in check."

"That's a tall order."

"Believe me, I know."

Helena grasps at her locket and works a thumb over its smooth metal case.

"We'd have our autonomy, mostly. Be working part-time. We're already doing it unofficially anyway. And I think we work well together." Myka flashes a smug smile.

"And the distance from the Warehouse? How will you manage?"

"Abigail agreed to be our eyes in the archive. And we already have access to the database."

Helena stares at Myka for a long moment, fingers clutching her locket. "Can this truly be?"

"I think so. I'm hashing out details with Jane, but we need a few more days," Myka says, smiling. "Find us a place to stay for a couple of weeks. We can figure out what happens next from there."

"With pleasure," Helena says.

"So...can I tell them you're Agent Wells again?"

"I've further terms to discuss."

"Send them over. I'll make sure you get what you want."

Smiles grow wider as they hold each other's gazes.

"So...what'd you get up to yesterday?" Myka asks.

"I traveled by cable car up Hyde Street. The views were breathtaking."

"You did that without me?"

"I was tired of waiting."

"Do not go to Twin Peaks or Coit Tower. We're doing those together."

"I shant. Perhaps I'll peruse City Light Books again and linger in Jackson Square."

"That's where those buildings from the 1800's survived the earthquake."

"Indeed."

"Are you feeling a sense of closure, being there?"

"I believe we could have had quite a pleasant life here in my day. But closure, that may only truly begin upon your arrival."

"I can't wait," Myka says, grinning wildly.

-END SCENE-

------------------

Bering and Wells: New Horizons ("Warehouse 13" Season 5 replacement) Season 1: Episode 8 Title: San Francisco: The 415 Blues Summary: A freak storm delays Myka's flight to San Francisco. Helena learns Myka's taken on more while home than just dropping off an artifact. New paths are revealed while working through a difficult retrieval, as well as an ask that may take them to foreign shores.

Previously: Episodes 1-7 (look in my archive as adding links broke my post last time)

------------------

After assessing the scene of a retrieval, Myka and Helena duck into a coffee shop.

"That facade's massive! How would we know which one?" Myka asks.

"'It'll be obvious,' Artie said. Far from it," Helena snips.

"Maybe spray it with neutralizer and see what sparks?"

"It's a landmarked structure, too high-key."

"True," Myka says, frowning. "Artie said it was a chain reaction. One brick radiating into the others. Remove the source and the rest will calm down."

"Once one pinpoints the source."

"At least we know it's in arms reach," Myka says, sipping of her coffee. 

"Do we?"

"Someone almost burned their hand on it."

"Nothing felt even remotely hot to the touch today." Helena screws the cap onto her water bottle. "The brick responsible could be beaming down from the loftiest of places. We'd need scaffolding to check properly."

"And that hill is..." Myka motions with her hand at a forty-five-degree angle.

"Is it truly a risk if it's merely hot to the touch?" Helena says, leaning back in her chair.

"Artie's not sure. He thinks wildfire smoke is 'activating' the bricks, making them think they're in the fires after the 1906 earthquake. So it depends on which way the wind's blowing. Prolonged smoke contact equals hotter bricks, and hotter bricks mean the building might catch fire."

"Because these melted 'clicker bricks' were used in rebuilding after the earthquake?"

"Uh-huh. And Artie thinks they caused a previous fire."

"The one where those girls died trapped in the basement."

"So sad," Myka says, shaking her head. 

"I'd read it was arson, meant to discourage the Mission House staff from rescuing those poor immigrant girls from servitude."

"It probably was. But it might not have spread as fast without the clinkers."

"I see." Helena's hand tightens around her water bottle. "We cannot allow it burn again."

"We won't," Myka says, touching Helena's hand to reassure her. "Maybe we can monitor it with heat sensors. I bet Claudia has a gadget."

"I'm certain she shall," Helena says, looking as if she's combing through a catalog in her mind. "We must set up surveillance in the buildings across the street."

"Maybe we can pose as historians studying Julia Morgan, the architect," Myka says, perking up.

"What a blessing it shall be we're here for an indeterminate amount of time."

"Ooh! Maybe this can be our thing, traveling places and staying awhile, snagging difficult artifacts."

"I adore your ingenuity." Helena leans across the table, planting a kiss on Myka's lips.

"Mmm...thanks," Myka hums as Helena pulls back. She lifts her phone off the table, fingers working the keyboard, texting Claudia. "Maybe this is a good time to, um...tell you, there's a...a, um...something else the Warehouse's asked us to do."

"I knew they wouldn't release you that easily," Helena says, narrowing her eyes.

"This one's about you."

"Aren't they all, somehow?"

"Kinda?"

"Well, out with it then," Helena says, sitting back, crossing her arms over her chest.

"The artifacts you hid, the Warehouse wants them."

"They believe there are more?"

"Oh, come on."

"They've shelved the Trident and Corsican Vest."

"And the Imperceptor."

"That was not an artifact."

"Fine. Artifacts and inventions," Myka snaps. "And they want us to follow up on cold cases you left behind."

Helena shifts in her chair and looks towards the bridge in the distance. "This is punishment for my unwillingness to interact with the Warehouse. You told them of my issues surrounding Christina."

"No. I said separating your body from your mind then sending it out as a lure for Sykes really pissed you off."

"This is not untrue."

"Pisses me off, too," Myka mumbles.

"They may threaten such a thing again should I not bow to their demands."

"We."

"Pardon?"

"Should we not bow. I'm part of this, too."

"Yes, as my 'handler.'"

"Maybe. But our definition of 'handling' can be kind of fun." Myka skims a finger down Helena's forearm, prying her fisted hand apart and threading their fingers together.

Helena lets out a heavy sigh. "I may not recall everything. I'll need my diaries."

"Do you know where they are?"

"At the Warehouse, of course."

"I meant the real ones."

Helena raises a brow.

"You know they know you hid them before you were bronzed."

Helena grimaces. "I once knew where they were. There's no guarantee they're still there."

"You've already looked."

"I may have, briefly."

"And?"

Helena shakes her head in the negative.

"Then let's start with what you remember."

"Or, start with the items I've hidden since?"

"Helena!"

"Punish me later, darling. We've a smoldering building to extinguish." Helena squeezes Myka's hand and brushes a thumb under her jacket cuff. "Did Claudia get back to you?"

"No," says, checking her phone. "Maybe we should get back to the apartment and do some research?"

"'Research' is our best course of action."

Both women smile in agreement, then rise and hastily take their leave.

-END SEASON ONE-

NOTES: NOTES: And this wraps up Season 1! As you can see, it's set up to transition to a second season, one fairly independent from the Warehouse. Who knows if that will ever materialize (but I do have a few ideas). Links broke my post last time, but look up Cameron House (formerly the Mission House) in San Francisco and Donaldina Cameron for more on that organization and the deadly fire. Clinker bricks are regarded as junk bricks - warped from being fired at too high a temperature, or in this case, mangled by building fires after the 1906 earthquake. Many older buildings in Chinatown contain them as the neighborhood scrambled to rebuild after the earthquake, because white real estate developers were poised to swoop in steal their land. In the Cameron House design, clinkers were also used decoratively in an Arts and Crafts style (there are other buildings in SF like this, like 45 Upper Terrace, also designed by a female architect, Ida McCain). I dedicate this episode to @blackfoxreddog !!

#BERING AND WELLS #Warehouse 13 #fanfiction #fan art #Myka Bering #Helena HG Wells #roadtrip!AU #canon divergent au #there is probably no cafe #with a view of the bridge like that #but it's a screenshot from the show #maybe next time around I'll simplify my format #because it's a doozy #but I loved making these manips! #and figuring out stories to go with them was fun #thanks again to deathtodickens for the B&W Show prompt all those months ago

[zephycluster]

Precolonial HWS SEA Rant Post, feel free to ignore

If you're still reading, then you're probably looking for evidence or some juicy tidbits to throw back at me or to try and find dirt to cancel me, like typical Tumblr/Twitter. Go ahead, I don't really care.

First off, let me just say that If you like Precolonial South-East Asia AUs, feel free to keep enjoying them. I will respectfully support your passions from afar. This post is just to explain why I don't like it, especially the way they keep insisting/portraying PH in it.

Still here? Then let me begin.

Since the recent confirmation that the ASEAN Six Majors (Can't really say ASEAN 10 atm since it's still missing some people) Were completed and the Ma-Phil-Indo Trio was included, there has been a large surge in 'Precolonial' fanarts and portrayals of South East Asians, those three especially.

Even long, long before, circa 2010's ish, a rather well-known fan universe known as 'Maaf' dealt with their story and how their Author thought their intertwined histories went. Written by (my best guesstimate) an Indonesian writer who wants to explore the old, SEA bond.

When I first stumbled across Maaf (I was in Highschool at the time, around age 16-ish), I took a casual interest in it and tried to read it through. But, I will wholeheartedly admit that at the time, Pre-Colonial cultures of South-East Asia in general, let alone Philippine, did not really interest me that much. The focus (I think) was mostly on Indonesia, a country I didn't really know back then, and the liberal use of 'ancient' names and artwork just made it feel like an entirely Original Work (that needed a degree in History to really appreciate) and not something from Hetalia. I also completely disagreed with what I could gather was the story's portrayal of PH but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Do I hate 'Maaf'? No, I don't hate it. Do I wish I never came across it or that it didn't exist? Of course not. Just because I didn't enjoy it or appreciate it that well doesn't mean I wish any ill toward it, its fans, or its creator.

Fast forward to April 2021, the long awaited inclusion of South East Asia to the canon Hetalia verse. I was happy, the other fans were happy, all was good.

Then started the questionable fanarts, fan theories and fan pairings.

Especially the expansion of Precolonial! PH.

Let's go back to Maaf for one moment. From what I understood of Maaf, PH there was a character who once was like all the other South East Asian cultures, trading with them, all around being a nice family.

But all that changed when the Spaniards attacked, so cry the precolonial buffs. They destroyed everything, ransacked and marginalized the tribes, erased everything that PH was!

Did that happen? ABSOLUTELY. The Spaniards had this vision in mind that they must spread Christianity to all of the 'savage, unchristian heathens' of their realm. :V /s

But back up a second, back to PH's portrayal in Maaf. The way she (yeah, she) was portrayed there was that she was slowly losing her memories of being a 'true' South East Asian and grew more and more westernized in the process, like some sort of Culture-specific Alzheimer's or something.

Firstly, that is seriously depressing, and secondly, I just really don't see that happening.

Here's why.

Point 1: Even before Colonial Masters, Filipinos as a people cannot agree on anything.

I'll just begin this segment with a Philippine proverb that outlines what Filipinos call 'Crab Mentality' or 'Crab Bucket Mentality'.

"You don't need a lid for a container when you're keeping multiple crabs. If you keep at least two crabs together, they will just pull each other down instead of helping each other up."

I don't know how it goes with Indonesian or Malaysian history class, but what I know of my homeland, both pre- and post-colonial history, we were never really 'united' or 'together' in the sense that Indonesia and Malaysia were (from what I assume).

Let me pull up a somewhat related question on r/AskHistorians.

The reason I brought this up as it shows the reasons why, in my opinion, a single entity that is 'Precolonial Philippines-tan' is an impossibility.

The answers are long and would extend this already long post to stupid proportions, so I'll just quote relevant sentences. The link is here for those that wanna deep-dive into the answer.

"All this to say that there wasn't a name used for the entire Philippine islands before the Philippines that people now would agree to. An interesting comparison would be the Holy Roman Empire, which might also be characterized as disparate politico-geographic groups of relatively small size that had a history of relations between each other, but one thing they had that the Philippines did not was a common language, or at least a family of mostly mutually intelligible languages, so that the name Deutschland or Germany isn't terribly offensive to anyone. If you called the Philippines the 'Lupang-Tagalog' or even 'Lupang-Tao' the other ethnic groups would protest."

For those in need of translation, 'Lupang Tagalog' means 'Land of the Tagalogs' and 'Lupang Tao' means 'Land of People', specifically. The first one is already exclusive and offensive, as the Tagalog peoples are but one of many ethnicities here.

And for the 'Lupang Tagalog' suggestion specifically, it's even more offensive as they are the majority ethnicity (not by much, just around 28%) From this chart from Geography Now! It would basically be alienating everyone else in the 72% remainder that isn't 'Tagalog'.

And even 'Lupang Tao', the most generic name in a local language you can think of, would be met with contempt because the name itself is in the Tagalog language.

Just travelling between two individual island groups today would sometimes require a translator because the words can change very rapidly and very drastically. Here's a sample of some differences coming from a friend living in Visayas (in Red) vs. the words I know living in Luzon (In blue).

Ate vs. Manang = Older Sister

Ibon vs. Pispis = Bird

Tumawa vs. Kadlaw = To laugh

Takot vs. Hadlok = Fear

Kain vs. Kaon = To eat

Ngayon vs. Subong = Now, at this point in time

Iyak vs. Hibi/Gibi = to cry

Talampakan vs. Tiil = Foot (in Tagalog, the word retains its 'body part AND unit of measurement' meaning)

Tulog vs. Tuyo = to sleep (Tuyo in Tagalog is either a dried salted fish or 'to dry')

The kicker is that just like Tagalog is just one of many languages here, so too is the language my friend speaks. Ask an entirely new person, like someone from Mindanao, they'll probably have an entirely new set of words.

It's not just Luzon vs. Visayas vs. Mindanao, either. Here's a map listing some of the ethnic groups here.

Even the way they're written differs from location to location.

While we're on the subject of Island divisions, a casual skim across Twitter and Tumblr has shown that their Precolonial PH has been one of the following ancient civilizations: Tondo, Butuan, Sugbu, Namayan. There may have been others but that was what I have found.

Notice how even today, the posters of Precolonial PH can't seem to agree on what he's supposed to be? With Indonesia it's either Majapahit or Srivijaya and Malaysia it's usually Malacca iirc.

What is the big deal? Well, let's go back to the Ask Historians post. "Why didn't the Philippines ever change its name to remove the colonial mark that being named after a Spanish King has?" The answer: "If you suggested something dating to precolonial times, the other ethnic groups would protest."

Since we're on a roll with maps, let me bring this up.

As you can see, the precolonial PH posts have a reason to not be able to agree on one thing, as there is a LOT of options. Do you also see how THAT list is also split up?

It's split up into those aligned with China (Sinified), aligned with India (Indianized), aligned with the Middle East (Islamicized), and no alignment (Animist). Now, let's go back to the main suggestions for which Kingdom/Polity/Civilization/whatever Modern Philippines used to be.

If the Filipino peoples' couldn't agree on something as simple as WHAT TO CALL THE LAND THEY'RE LIVING ON, what more a living, breathing, walking, talking entity that is supposed to be a beacon of all of their 'unified' culture? ESPECIALLY if that entity used to be a currently existing Kingdom/Polity/Rajahnate/Sultanate/whatever.

Tondo? "Of course, always the damn Tagalogs. Tagalog this, Tagalog that. First the capital city, then the language,* THE REST OF US EXIST, YOU KNOW! What about us in Visayas? Mindanao?"

*The national language known as 'Filipino' is just standardized Tagalog*

Butuan? "Wait, you want Butuan to represent us? They're they only Indian-aligned city in the Islam-majority Mindanao! They're not even that many of them! I'm not gonna change my religion!"

Sugbu, the other name for the Rajahnate of Cebu on the map? Lemme bring back my Visayan friend again. According to her, she hails from the Hiligaynon part of Visayas.

"Sure :v and the other islands are what?

Chopped liver?

Not to mention the language and writing barrier helloooo"

And Namayan? Well. I'll let this pic speak for itself.

To summarize, no matter who you pick as Modern PH's previous identity, it will not end well nor be accepted by the other Kingdoms at the time.

"So where does that leave Modern PH, he had to have been ONE of them, right?"

Well, not really. He doesn't HAVE to be one of the Ancient Kingdoms that lasted till the modern day. I mean, predecessor representatives exist in Hetalia canon, after all. Like Modern Greece is a different character from Ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt and Modern Egypt, heck even England and his brothers have a canon mother that was the rep before them.

Or you could even use the same logic that Germany does, in that each specific region has/had its own representative and that Modern!PH is just the 'mediator' between them (cause gawd does PH need one). There could be a Tondo, a Namayan, a Butuan, and a Sugbu, all arguing and this Proto-PH is just trying to make headway in making them all satisfied.

But, even after all this, there is another reason why I personally don't subscribe to the 'Precolonial PH' idea, and by tangential extension, the Indo x Phil pairing.

Point 2: Even without intending to, Precolonial Indo x Phil just comes off as patronizing

This second point is just ENTIRELY personal preference and barely has any facts to back it up.

Again, if you like the pairing and disagree with me, You do you. I will respectfully support you and your passions from a distance.

But for me, Indo being Phil's seme/bae/boyfriend and consistently bringing up precolonial times just comes off as patronizing.

Just one more time, I'd like to point out that I am NOT bashing Indonesia, its people or the subscribers of Indo x Phil. This is just how the pairing feels to ME specifically.

The way I see it, Indo x Phil as a pairing, especially if it extends back into precolonial times, reads the same way as a long-since married couple where the husband/wife CONSTANTLY brings up that ONE outing you had together, or that ONE prom night where you kissed while dancing, even it happened like 30 some-odd years ago and so much more happened since then.

Even in a platonic sense, It reads like two besties where one ALWAYS mentions stuff like 'Yeah but you looked so much cooler back in High School' or 'Back in Grade School you would've known that', or 'Remember back in Pre-school we did X? How could you forget that?'

How does one respond to the notion that no matter what you do now, it will never compare to a past you've already forgotten or barely remember? That the best version of 'you' is already long gone?

"That's because the westerners made you forget your culture! You gotta take it back!"

While it is true, yes, as a collective we barely remember the Kingdom that commissioned the Laguna Copperplate, or created the Banaue Rice Terraces, or created the millennia old bonds that we still share with Indonesia and Malaysia.

But to keep pushing the precolonial identity would be to neglect and cast aside the one REAL binding belief and culture that spans the entirety of these islands we call the Philippines.

We take on all the bad stuff that happens to us, conquer it, and make it our own. Be it natural disasters, foreign powers, or negative stereotypical mentalities.

Yes, we've forgotten the ancient kingdoms of old and are just now digging through the closet for those remnants of the past. Yes, the colonizers imposed that on us, and made us forget. But in the process we've also taken everything that they left behind, everything that they threw at us, and created something that can only come from us.

The lanterns that the Spaniards used to light the way to the morning masses they made us attend became our globally known symbol of Christmas. The junked vehicles that the Americans left behind in World War 2 are now rolling works of art that announce themselves loud and proud on the streets (for better or for worse). The iced dessert recipe that the Japanese forced us to learn while they were occupying the country is now so distinct and famous it is synonymous with us, and is so delicious even Italy has taken notice.

Even after all this? Even after all the 425-ish years total we have been under a foreign power, with all the progress we've made as a country, a people, and a nation, you would still imply our fragmented, jigsaw puzzle state of being in the past was better just because it was pure 'South East Asian' like everyone else?

We might not be as well put-together as Indonesia or Malaysia, but we made this melting pot of angry, leg-pulling, dogpiling, Native, Mestizo, Chinoy, and Fil-Am crabs OURS, damnit!

It's now 4:30 AM and I have work in 5 or so hours. I'll be going to sleep now.

#hws #hws philippines #precolonial philippines #hws theory #hetalia #hetalia world stars #hetalia world series #hetalia headcanons #aph #axis powers hetalia #aph philippines #hetalia philippines #aph hetalia

[theravenclawrevolutionary]

i'm not a frev expert. and you seem to be approchable enough and to have read enough. i had a question, or kind of a question. i just. i think that if robespierre wasn't against all the deaths by guillotine, he wouldn't have written that quote about virtue and terror. maybe i'm getting you wrong, or i'm not understanding the sense of that quote. could you explain?

Oh dang. I'm kinda surprised that people think I have any real authority on the subject of the Frev since I'm not an actual historian or anything and I'm surprised people find me approachable but of course I'll try my best for you Anon! And if anyone else has a better interpretation or anything else to add please, go ahead. I'll also try my best to keep it in as simple language as I can. But I digress.

⚠ This post is quite long so be prepared for that ⚠

First of all, Robespierre has more than one quote talking about terror and virtue. I'm assuming that you're thinking of the one that goes, "Terror is only justice: prompt, severe and inflexible; it is then an emanation of virtue; it is less a distinct principle than a natural consequence of the general principle of democracy, applied to the most pressing wants of the country." since that is the most common one. However, if you're talking about the one that goes "Terror is only justice: prompt, severe and inflexible; it is then an emanation of virtue; it is less a distinct principle than a natural consequence of the general principle of democracy, applied to the most pressing wants of the country." Let me know and I'll write about that one. The former is definitely a quote that, in my experience studying the Frev, gets misinterpreted from what it was originally meant to say fairly often.

To start with, it's very important to know what connotation and definition the words 'virtue' and 'terror' had in revolution-era France. Modern-day definitions may not be the same ones that were used in the past. According to my research, which of course isn't infallible, virtue was used to refer to someone's disposition and the way it would lead them to choose good over evil whereas where terror was seen simply as great fear. At the time there was no connotation of our modern-day terrorism to associate with the word. Nowadays we associate terror with terrorism which brings to mind murder, mindless destruction, oppression, and unchecked authority in which someone's ideals are forced upon large groups of people. Because of this many people assume that this is what Robespierre had in mind when he referenced terror when really he meant to describe the use of intimidation tactics to seize power from those who oppressed the lower class people and the general fear that was felt by the commoners.

Essentially the Reign of Terror meant 'a time period where everyone felt a sh*t load of Fear over all the bad stuff happening at once while the regular people try to overthrow the oppressive ruling class with intimidation tactics.' It does not mean 'a time period where loads of people were purposely committing widespread acts of terrorism to push their agendas'. And really, it was the only way to give everyone the chance to get rid of the old government, the monarchy, and allow a fair democracy that would be beneficial to the future of France to be built.

Next, it's important to know the context in which this quote was originally said. The speech where Robespierre said it took place on Feb 5th (?) of 1794. By this point, the revolution has been well underway for several long years and, as I said, a lot of sucky things are happening at the same time. The republic was in a war with a massive part of Europe and they're kinda getting curb-stomped. The country is in a state of civil war between the people that still supported the monarchy and all the different groups that had different views of how the country should be run. France's economy was complete sh*t too, so all this really radicalized the people and made the whole revolution situation so much worse than it already was.

At the time there were two factions, so to say, in the National Convention that were hella pissed at each other and really at odds. the Hébertists (who, to make things easy, wanted to escalate the Terror, go on the offensive with the military, and the overthrow and replace some of the existing government structures at the time) and the Dantonists (who wanted to sorta get rid of the revolutionary government, negotiate for peace in the war, and chill out on the whole Terror thing). And remember that these groups of people were very loose and like people in today's politic didn't agree with every stance their 'faction' took.

By the time Max made this speech, which was addressing these two groups, the situation between them was escalated big time. The Hébertists, with their views of 'more terror all over! That'll help us win everything,' or 'terror without virtue,' were pushing for a system that would quickly prove fatal. By contrast, the Dantonists with their, 'we just need to kinda chill and things will work out,' way of thinking or 'virtue without terror', would only lead to them (and the rest of the country) getting walked over by everyone else.

Throughout the entire speech, a speech I haven't recently read all the way through, Max comes back to the idea of terror and virtue, stressing that both are necessary. What I think he meant to do was talk about how the revolution couldn't survive without both terror (fear and the aggression that causes it) and virtue (the choice of good over evil) being applied. He's trying to explain to both groups that a little bit of both ideals is the most beneficial way to go about things. In reality, it has nothing to do with whether he personally believed in or advocated the death penalty/ the use of the guillotine. Instead, Robespierre is emphasizing that at that particular moment in time doing what is right and good (virtue) will most likely end up causing some bad things that will make people afraid for a while (terror).

What Robespierre is not saying is that terror, and by extension the violence that is causing the terror is virtuous. There are several easy-to-find sources that prove his personal disapproval of the death penalty from a moral standpoint. As a young lawyer in his hometown in Arras, he became physically ill at the idea of having one of his clients sentenced to death, even though he was found guilty of the crime he was on trial for. He made a speech agreeing with the abolition of the death penalty on May 30th of 1791 (?) arguing that there is no place for the death penalty in a civilized society because the law needs to be a model of what is good. He attempted to save the lives of Georges Danton and Camille Desmoulins, two friends/coworkers that he is commonly charged with sending to their deaths when the opposite is actually true. Additionally, he did the same with other more controversial people including the king's sister of all people, Madame Elisabeth. Even when voting for the death of the king he reiterates his own opinion on the death penalty saying, "For myself, I abhor the penalty of death that your law so liberally imposes, and I have neither love nor hatred for the King; it is only the crimes that I hate…. It is with regret that I utter this baneful truth…Louis must die in order that our country may live." Though it conflicts with his personal views, Robespierre makes the decision based on the needs of France as a country, something that many politicians need to relearn how to do today.

Long story short, he was not supporting the use of the guillotine with that quote, but rather trying to get two opposing factions to realize that both intimidation/fear and making sound, beneficial decisions would keep France on the right track to building a successful democracy for the people. Hopefully this helped and I explained it in a way that was easy for you to understand. If you ever have any more Frev related questions feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer or I'll send you in the direction of someone else more knowledgeable if I don't know.

Also, can someone tell me if I did a good job of explaining this? I can never tell if things I write about the Frev make sense to me because I actually know exactly what I mean to say so everyone else kinda goes along with it or if I actually say helpful things of substance. Thanks guys! And if anyone else knows more about the subject or if I've made a mistake please help me out.

~Dara

#french revolution #robespierre #frev #maximilien robespierre #history #history facts #historical quotes #politics #my idiot explanations #idk if i worded this right #or if i even explained it right #i hope i helped though