#Napoleon I: A New Augustus?

[empirearchives]

“What Napoleon criticised in the statue could perhaps be summed up in one thing: his uneasiness at the sight of his own nudity. And it was precisely his nudity that was felt to be problematic, even shocking. But how did Canova come to have the odd idea of representing Napoleon as a nude divinity?”

— Valérie Huet, Napoleon I: A New Augustus?

The nude statue of Napoleon in question:

[centrally-unplanned]

Okay so since we did Chinggis, how about the other Big Conqueror Generals? Alexander of Macedon, Attila, Timur, Napoleon?

(Several asked for some of these in other asks)

Alexander the Pretty Good: So at this point I think everyone knows that his father Phillip was the "state builder", who created the new systems of Macedonian drill and mobilization infrastructure, handing Alexander a strong army he did not build. And Greece really was hitting a nadir of power, the post-Spartan era fragmenting alliances and exhausting the stronger city states. So it is fair to say that Alexander is overvalued, any Macedon king probably could have taken over Greece at that time. Additionally, when you study his "vast" conquests, its actually really just Greece & then Persia like five times, its him beating one opponent and then mopping up, and having the material advantage most of the time once you get rid of the hagiography.

But starting from Alexander the Great's height gives you an extremely long way to fall; he is overvalued, but still incredibly high VOR. He has the irreplaceable synergistic value of ambition & charisma; he decided to conquer the world, and got a huge list of allies, often ones he had himself fought in battle, to help him do it. Most people never conceive of that as actually being possible - in particular Alexander was not provoked or forced into his confrontations with Persia (establishing hegemony over Greece was more of a coincidence, but I think he would have found an excuse). And while his military achievements are exaggerated he obviously was talented, particularly at logistics - projecting power that wide is a nearly unparalleled feat in his time, and not something Macedonia was built to do before him. So I will go with A+

Atilla is discussed here, weak, C-/D+

Timur - never studied him actually! Its my issue being a Europe & East Asia guy, I know Gengis/Temujin because he is tied up with the Jin, but Timur never quite got around to the Ming conquest

Napoleon: Very complicated, provisional opinions. The Napoleonic wars scope is in fact quite contingent; its a constant back and forth of revolutionary ambition from France to spread itself, reactionary forces in the monarchies to fight back, rebellions and opportunities. Napoleon was not someone who engineered the whole thing by any means, he was given a chance to shine and he took it. Revolutionary France, constantly at war, was pretty much always going to arrive at something like a military leadership.

Additionally, he often gets too much credit for civil reforms of things like the Napoleonic Code; the process for formulating the Code started in the first National Assemblies in 1791, and multiple drafts of a new, universal code had been made when Napoleon was in power. He ordered it to stop dillydallying and make it happen, don't get me wrong, that is points. But its also the kind of thing dictators can do, right? So its a bit of a question of how likely a military ruler centralizing authority at all in France was. I think kind of high? I don't view Napoleon as an Augustus figure. So I think his VOR would have had kind of similar power. Napoleon did not have grand insights into what the legal code should, from what I know. On things like these I think he is getting credit for the fact that his name in in the title that maybe he shouldn't.

But there is a reason he became Emperor of France - he is a grade A military genius. His rep here is deserved - of course he was taking advantage of smart officers, existing innovations, etc, dude ain't forging cannons himself. But he put it all together, truly did push the use of artillery forward, and he was tirelessly creative on the battlefield. He was a famous workaholic, memorizing every map and coordinating every part of the battle himself, in ways that just put him ahead of the curve of his opponents. He is a classic OODA loop guy - he is getting information, putting a plan forward, getting new information, and pivoting the plan faster than everyone else, and he keeps winning on the back of it.

And then the rep you get from that string of wins inspired morale, commitment, diligence, and more from his men and officers that compounds. That last part is important - making an army takes time, its about relationships. You couldn't just slot the Duke of Wellington in as commander of the French and expect it to work the same. Due to that, the VOR for having Napoleon leading your armies in 1805 is literally irreplaceable. There is not single other person in existence who can deliver greater value, and I think that is very clear - and at margins that are very rare.

But of course he has his share of mistakes, particularly in naval affairs, over time his enemies internalize his innovations, and his reach exceeds his grasp. In particular he had multiple opportunities to "settle" for gains where France is first amoung equals, and he doesn't take it, and it all comes undone. He could have been S tier if he learned that. But alas, I think it puts him at A.

[sollannaart]

The Battle of Leipzig, October, 1813

By mid-October, Napoleon gathered all his forces near Leipzig, where on the 16th the started a battle that would later be called the Battle of the Nations .

Jan Czesław Moniuszko, Prince Józef at Leipzig

Commanding the Poles incorporated into the Grand Army as the 8th Corps, Prince Joseph defended the village of Markkleeberg south of the city. As he reported to Napoleon, on the 16th

"the enemy did not gain an inch of ground […] the army showed admirable zeal and endurance […] but I lost 1/3 of my men and I have no ammunition."

And on that very day, the 16th of October, the Emperor appointed Prince Poniatowski a Marshal of France, with the official nomination taking place a day later.

Prince Józef Poniatowski being presented the marshals baton, Reville's engraving after Martinet

As diarists recall, prince Józef received both the news about the nomination and the announcement that followed quite calmly, or even indifferently. However, he considered that moment not appropriate to insult the emperor with a refusal. So first Poniatowski asked consent of Frederick Augustus, King of Saxony and Duke of Warsaw, to accept the nomination. Then he hastened assure his subordinates that

"whatever happens he would never replace the Polish uniform with another one."

Also anticipating that the news of his new appointment might not receive support in Warsaw, prince Józef asked Tomasz Ostrowski

"to send to the capital as early as possible, by a known means, an explanation of the circumstances and an assurance everyone that if there is no war for Poland, no one will see him wearing anything but a civilian clothes".

Together with this, however, Poniatowski promised that in any case he would have to escort Napoleon to France. As for the global situation, the 17th of October was a day of rest and re-ranking of troops for both the Frenchmen and the Coalition , thus there was almost no fighting then.

Polish infantry fighting at Connewitz-Probstheida, a drawing by Raffet

On October 18, Prince Joseph was defending Probstheida, a village southeast of Leipzig. But that day the fighting was even more fierce than before. The French troops held their positions, but by the end of the day they were exhausted and depleted as a result of the intensifying attacks of the Allies, who, in addition, had on the previous day received reinforcements in the form of General Bennigsen's Czech Army and the Army of the North commaded by Bernadotte. Considering all this, that evening Napoleon considered the battle a lost cause. So, he then began organizing the retreat. The corps of General Reynier, Marshal Macdonald and Prince Poniatowski were to defense the rear guard of the French. They were to hold the city of Leipzig for 24 hours for the Grande Armée to gain as much time as possible.

Napoleon resigns after the Battle of Leipzig, From a painting by Ludwik Braun

Having arrived in Leipzig at nine o'clock in the evening, Napoleon stayed at the hotel "At the Prussian king", where he asked Prince Józef to come. They then had, according to Baron Agathon Fain's account, the following conversation:

- Prince, you will defend the southern suburbs. – Sire! I have very few men, most of my corps have, following Prince Berthier's orders, crossed the Elsther at night. - How many Poles are there with you? - My usual escort, i.e. two hundred of the Krakuses, the same number of cuirassiers, staff and several cavalry units, in total about eight hundred people. - Well, this will be the way for you to defend the southern suburbs and cover the retreat of the army with the Prince of Tarentum… For 800 Poles are worth 8,000 other soldiers. - Your Majesty can trust us, we will cover the retreat, even if every one of us dies!

These were the last words the prince addressed to the emperor. After saying goodbye he looked "preoccupied and sad". What's more, that meeting was probably the last time Poniatowski and Napoleon seeing each other...

January Suchodolski, Napoleon and Józef Antoni Poniatowski at the Battle of Leipzig

On the morning of the last day of the battle, Polish troops were defending a section of the southern suburbs near the Peters Thor gate. Moreover, that time they had not only to fight the enemy, but also there intensified clashes with the locals, who were shooting at the retreating units from the windows.

Author Unknown, Prince Józef Poniatowski during the Battle of Leipzig

At about 11:00 Prince Józef found it impossible to conduct further defensive operations in this place and ordered a retreat. The Poles moved along the esplanade, where, near the Wasserkunst fountain, they fight the enemy in an organized manner for the last time.

Jan Chełmiński, Prince Józef Poniatowski at the head of the troops at Leipzig

During that skirmish Poniatowski was probably wounded (probably not first time). As Klemens Kołaczkowski recalled:

He received a wound in the hand from a rifle bullet; he ordered it to be treated, got back on the horse and, holding his hand on a scarf, he did not stop fighting.

Then the Poles, having left the city walls, were looking for a crossing. The first on their way was the Pleisse River, deprived of all bridges on Napoleon's orders. Kołaczkowski:

Prince Poniatowski <…> was exposed to the fire of enemy tirailleurs, in dense troops approaching from all sides. General Bronikowski, standing next to the prince, advised him to seek salvation by swimming. But the prince answered him quickly: "One must die bravely!" (Il faut mourir en brave - AS) He ordered the rest of the escort to attack enemy tirailleurs one more time, but that managed to stop their advance only for a moment. There was not a single moment to lose! In this last resort, the prince finally followed the opinion of the officers surrounding him, mounted his horse and jumped into the river with him!

Jan Bogumił Plersch, Prince Poniatowski crossing Pleisse

The water was flooding the banks high up; the horse, carried away by its momentum, could not reach the shore. At this sight, captain Blechamps from the staff rushes after the prince, helps him swim and get to the opposite shore.

But there was one more river to cross – the Elster. Which had also been devoid of all its bridges except one. But even that one was earlier that day blown up by mistake when a significant part of the French were still on the other bank.

Retreat of the French from Leipzig, October 1813, an English engraving

What's more, in German Elster means "magpie". And according to legend, a gypsy woman once told Prince Joseph that he would die because of a magpie. And that's how it happened.

Tadeusz Korpal, Prince Poniatowski at Leipzig

Kołaczkowski:

The prince was walking on foot through the gardens lying between Elster and Pleisse: here, he was shot in the side by a rifle bullet for the second time and fell into the arms of the officers surrounding him. However, he soon regained consciousness and, with the help of his adjutant, mounted his horse with difficulty, swaying in the saddle. The Poles started to appeal to him to take care of himself and, handing over his command to another general, to preserve himself for the homeland. But the prince's courage seemed to increase with danger. "No! no!" he shouted "God has entrusted me with the honor of the Poles, I will only give it to God". The engineer's officer comes running and points to the most convenient place to cross; the prince, walking along the river bank, heads in that direction; but when he notices the enemy unit blocking his path, he shouts loudly: "There they are!" He turns his horse and rushes to Elster. Weakened by his wounds, he can no longer steer his horse, but the beast can only follow the current and cannot climb the high, precipitous shore. All this happened under a hail of bullets. At that final moment, the prince receives his third wound, slips from his horse and, carried away by the rush of the water, begins to sink. The good Blechamps comes to the aid again. In noble zeal, he throws himself into the river and grasps the prince. He was seen holding his arms and trying to lift the prince's head above the water, but the efforts of this noble man were in vain. They both disappeared forever in the currents of the treacherous river! Such was the death of a Polish hero, a beloved leader who preferred death to ignominious captivity.

Prince Poniatowski at Leipzig (enlarged)

According to another legend, at Leipzig prince Józef was to see the notorious White Lady of the Poniatowskis for the last time.

[cinnamonspicewritingroom]

More Than Diamonds

Pairing: Prince Friedrich x Princess! Reader Description:

A hardcore Bridgerton fan, Davika bit the dust in 2021 during a wild protest against Thailand's king on the way home. But instead of the pearly gates, she woke up in the 19th century, suddenly the offspring of Siam's 2nd king and some British lady of mystery descent. Armed with her modern know-how, her main goal is to stack up that cash and upgrade Siam for some chill vibes to avoid being sold off in some arranged marriage mess. But who knew she'd find herself smack in the middle of her beloved Bridgerton drama series? Talk about a plot twist! How's she gonna handle this? Amelia better watch out not to change the story—or is it too late?

Meanwhile, the Brits are buzzing about their new royal guest just in time for the 1813 debutante ball. Princess Amelia of Siam has rolled in as the fresh Ambassador of Siam. With Daphne and Prince Friedrich's courtship hitting the skids, nobody expected him to stick around London, but Friedrich's not one to skedaddle with his tail between his legs. Homeboy's on a mission to snag a wifey and he's not backing down. Friedrich's never been one to back down, but when it comes to Amelia, he's all cold feet. Folks say Amelia's a brainiac, but love? That's a whole different ball game. Those butterflies in her stomach? Yeah, she ain’t got a clue what to do with 'em.

Tags: Slow burn, Coming of age, Time-Travel, Back to the past, Friends to Lovers, Royalties, Oblivious!FLxObvious!ML, Jealous! Friedrich, Slightly Possessive! Friedrich, Black cat gf, Golden retriever bf Timeline: S1&S2

Chapter 2. Princes and a Princess

Calm down, Davika—No, Apsara. Davika is dead; now she is Somdet Chao Fa Apsara Chaiya Kanika, and she fought for her title. Breathe in through your nose, and out through your mouth. You learned this in your overpriced yoga class before you bit the dust and got transported into the middle of the fucking Bridgerton series. 

Focus on the present—right now she is having tea with Golda Rosheuvel—Queen Charlotte, the lineup of princes who are yet to marry, and the current Prince Regent, Prince George IV.

“Lady Amelia, I heard that you are a driving force in the Siamese court,” Prince George IV looked at the Siamese Ambassador. He did not know what he expected, but not a petite-looking teenager; she is not even a woman yet. To believe that she has been advising the Crown Prince and King in the Siamese court was truthfully hard.

“Surely you jest, your highness. I am not much of a driving force as you implied. My achievements are minuscule compared to the King and Crown Prince. I merely stated my opinions on several topics. They are generous enough to listen to my chatter,” Amelia politely responded.

“Starting very young, at the age of 13 years old, I heard you had helped the Crown Prince, Prince Rama III, to establish education for girls by creating a law in which every citizen, man or woman alike, had the fundamental rights to education.” Several of the princes chatted with one another; one of them stated how women's education is useless and how their position is to stay at home with the children. Girl—wait till you hear about the 21st century; women can vote and work.

“And pray tell, why did you think education for women is useless, Prince Frederick?” This put the spotlight on Prince Frederick, who was talking to Prince Augustus. The Queen eyed him sharply; Frederick knew he had to thread this carefully, especially since he was in the presence of the Ambassador of Siam; they could potentially pull all rights for trading and business in their land. They cannot afford that right now, not while they are still at war with Napoleon.

“I think women are gentle creatures who need to be loved. Rather than dealing with harsh politics and boring numbers, they should be surrounded by beautiful things. Music, poetry, paintings. Do you not agree, Lady Amelia?” He looked so proud of his words; Amelia wanted to gag at his face, but instead she chuckled and slightly shook her head.

“May I ask you a question?” Still glowing in pride, he only answered with a gesture, which probably meant ‘go ahead.’ “When you were still a child, which parent did you see more? Your father or your mother?” Several of the princes glanced at their mother, including Prince Frederick. The Queen gestured to him to answer Amelia’s question.

“As my father was busy with work, naturally I saw my mother more than him.” Amelia nodded. “And which parent oversees your education? The one who consulted with the governor, asked you about your progress?” Prince Frederick paused before answering, “My mother, of course. Is it not natural that children will spend more time with their mother? After all, fathers are usually busy and away often.” Amelia smiled subtly.

“Absolutely, mothers are the ones who spend more time with their children compared to their father—” “And as they are at home, why would women burden themselves with education? They should focus on raising the children and make sure they are raised properly.” Amelia stared at the prince for several seconds before she picked up her tea to take a sip.

“Queen Charlotte,” Amelia changed her tactics and turned towards the Queen, who was staring at her with interest. “I heard you were originally from Germany?” The Queen blinked and frowned a bit; she was a bit disappointed that the Siamese Ambassador backed down from the debate against her son. Maybe she is not as brilliant as rumoured.

“Why, yes, I came from the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, located in Northern Germany. You should come visit; it is a very beautiful place.” Smiling, The Queen had a look of longing and pride for her country. Amelia nodded. “I will inform the King; maybe he will consider visiting Northern Germany for his annual honeymoon destination.” The Queen nodded with a smile and proceeded to pick up her tea. She was quite pleased with that answer. 

“Your Majesty, I am quite curious about the subject of education for European noblewomen. If education is limited to males, what subjects are allowed for noblewomen to learn?” So Lady Amelia did not back down; the Queen smiled behind her cup.

“Noblewomen are taught how to read and write; they learn about cultures, music, art, and literature. However, as the Queen of England, I need to understand the history of the country and calculations.” How will the Ambassador answer her son after she gives her ammunition?

“If you don’t mind me asking, how does your education experience help you manoeuvre your children’s education? Such as, have you ever consulted subjects you deemed more necessary for the princesses and princes with their governor and governess?” Out of the corner of her eye, Amelia eyed Prince Frederick. He was still looking as smug as ever with his lukewarm answer.

“Lady Amelia, my children are the future of the country. My job is to make sure they receive the best education possible, so of course I would need to consult with the governor. God knows how many times I consulted them, and even more often for me to help them learn and understand what they were learning about.” The whole time Amelia was looking at Prince Frederick. “And you raised them beautifully, Your Majesty. They could not be like this without you.” Amelia sweetly smiled at the Queen before fully turning around to face Prince Frederick.

“You see, Prince Frederick. We have established that mothers spend more time with their children, more than their father. Mothers are the ones who oversee their children’s education, but more than that, they are also their first educators.” She needed that. The pettiness to emphasise that word.

“If the mother has no solid education, then it is easy for the children’s education to go astray. It was fortunate that you were born royal with a mother who had received proper education in her early years. Your mother was able not only to consult with the governor and governess but also helped with your learning process. Unfortunately, not everyone is lucky enough.” Amelia knows she has won the argument with these facts; she just… wanted him to burn a bit more.

“Prince George.” The said Prince perked up. “From what I remembered during the introduction, you are the Prince Regent, correct?” “Yes, you are right.” He confirmed as Amelia gave him a strained smile.

“I must confess, I am never one to stick my nose where it doesn’t belong. I don’t know how you run your country, but I know the Siam I envision it to be.” Amelia sighed, her thumb tracing the edge of the saucer.

“We want to establish peace in the country, and we want equality for everyone. That is impossible without having the citizens educated. Women included because women count.” Her light brown eyes met Prince George’s dark ones. He can see it now; this is Lady Amelia, who rose in the Siamese court in a mere three years before starting her role as an Ambassador.

“Because women are a part of our people. The law is not only to give them a chance to do what they want but also to protect the women from getting blamed for their children’s education.” Amelia may sound cocky about this matter. She was aware that this could potentially insult the Queen and the Princes, but since they laid the stage themselves, might as well show them why Siam is not a country to be messed with, why they are a progressive country.

“We need to educate the children and citizens; therefore, they have the ability to process and filter liable information in order to create a strong and united Siam. That is my opinion about why it is necessary to establish the law of education.” As she concluded her discussion, Amelia could see the sour faces of the princes.

Queen Charlotte should be angry at the Ambassador for embarrassing her sons, but Lady Amelia was correct. It was an impressive debate; instead of debating Frederick on what-ifs, Lady Amelia used her, his mother, as an example.

“Now that it’s done, come with me, Lady Amelia. I would love to show you my peacock collection.” Queen Charlotte stood up, followed by Amelia as they exited the room. The princes who were left in the room stared at the two retreating figures before the footman closed the doors.

“What a petty woman. She strung mother along in order to win the argument,” Prince Frederick huffed in distaste as he stared at the closed doors.

“Please, Frederick, you are just angry you lost,” Edward chuckled as he picked up a scone. “I think she is interesting,” he continued while spreading jam before taking a bite of the scone.

“She’s far too young for you, Edward. If you try anything, it will cause a strain in our relationship with Siam,” George said as he picked up two sugar cubes, dropping them into his tea.

***

For almost an hour, Queen Charlotte showed Amelia her colourful peacock collection, which is truly fascinating, as Amelia even got the chance to hand-feed one of the birds under the keeper’s watch, despite Queen Charlotte’s hesitation. Queen Charlotte and Amelia discussed many things: their differences in art and cultures, sports played in each country, fashion, even education. The Queen was so fascinated by Amelia’s decree to make it mandatory for girls to also get education that she questioned the education system in Siam. Amelia really likes talking to Queen Charlotte; she is curious and genuinely interested in her opinions and beliefs, which became her drive to make Siam a better country for the people. Yes, the Queen might be a strict person, but she is someone who is.

“Before I leave, can I ask you something, Your Majesty?” Amelia asked as they ventured into the garden. The Queen glanced at the young lady next to her. “Why of course, ask away, my dear.” Amelia braced herself to spit out the question. “Could you please tell me where the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh live currently?” Out of all the questions the Ambassador could have asked, Charlotte never thought it would be that one. “The— Why?” Compared to debating with one of the princes, the Ambassador looked way more scared asking that question.

“I have a letter I need to deliver. It was a personal request from the King.” Queen Charlotte raised a brow. Her brother-in-law and his wife, Abigail of Gloucester nee. Bridgerton, received a letter from the Siamese Royal family? Amelia caught her expression and quickly explained.

“His Majesty, the King… I heard that he was one of the students of the Siam’s Ambassador to London at the time…” Amelia explained slowly. “Perhaps His Majesty has made some sort of relationship with the Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh during his time here…” The Queen nodded, acknowledging the possibility.

“Alright, I will make sure the letter will reach the Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh. Do you have the letter with you?” Amelia's eyes met the Queen in surprise and nodded her head. “I have it with Lynn, my secretary.” Amelia turned towards Lynn and signalled her to come to her.

“Your Majesty, Milady—” Lynn greeted before continuing with her question. “Anything I could possibly help you with?” Amelia nodded. “Do you bring the letter from His Majesty the King to the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh?” Lynn nodded and reached for the handbag she was carrying and took out a leather pouch embossed with the emblem of the Rattanakosin Kingdom.

Amelia grabbed it, and passed it to Queen Charlotte, but was received by her secretary- Brimsley. “Brimsley, quickly send it to Prince William.” Brimsley silently bowed, and exited the room. 

“Your Majesty, I sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart for your generosity to help me.” Amelia sincerely bowed to the Queen for the help she provided. The Queen merely smiles her way, being sincerely appreciated for her generosity is quite rare these days. The last person who often appreciates her, willing to spend lots of time with her, and someone she genuinely enjoys spending her time with, was her nephew, Princess Felicia of Gloucester, only child and daughter to Prince William Henry and Lady Abigail Bridgerton. Sadly she ran away 23 years ago. The Queen sighed, and focused on the present once more. 

“It is alright, dear. However, if you really want to thank me, maybe you can come visit me for tea sometimes.” Amelia gave her a huge smile and nodded. Queen Charlotte was always one of her favourite characters in the Bridgerton series, and despite being a devoted wife and mother, she has quite a tragic background due to the pressure of being a wife, a Queen and a mother.

“Your Majesty, I must thank you for the tour and the delightful afternoon tea. It was refreshingly different from what we have in Siam.” Amelia paused, wondering if she’s allowed to say this. “Queen Charlotte, I must say that I admire you. Not only as a Queen, but also as a mother who is able to raise not only one, but 15 children. I hope your children share the same sentiments.” Amelia gave her a sincere smile and curtsy before walking out.

Words: 2293 words

Edited: 02/04/2024

More Than Diamond's Master List

IMPORTANT NOTES A/N: Hello, how are you guys? I hope you are well. Regarding this story that is following Julia Quinn's hit series, Bridgerton, I would start by saying I read the book first before I watch the Netflix series, thus I apologize if there are some differences with the Netflix version, but I will try to make it as similar as possible. I would also ask the readers to be kind when criticizing this story as this is my first time to actually publishing my work in the open. For the story, as you can see there is a time-travel tag. Our reader was sent back to the past with all the knowledge from the future. If you are also confused with Davika's education, I actually based her using Spencer Reid, a character from Criminal Minds. I also made Friedrich to be a year younger than Benedict when in actuality, he was born in 1794, 2 years younger than Daphne. If you are not interested or felt like those 2 themes ruined a historical romance story, then please do not leave any bad comments as you can just stop reading this story. Thank You Very Much! Much Love, Cinnamon Meilleure's Writing Room

[wawamouse]

Oz Rewatch 3: S3E02: Napoleon’s Boney Parts

Plotlines

With Metzger dead, Murphy arrives as the replacement; McManus proposes Murphy help organize an inmate boxing match

(mini) Cyril is vulnerable to the Aryan’s provocations

Kenny’s new name is Brick; Snake confesses his crime to Augustus; Augustus gathers more info to help turn Snake in

Riot lawsuit; McManus tries to get Said to drop it; After meeting with Patricia Ross, Said wants to fast. When he’s denied, he threatens a hunger strike

Diane and Claire beef; Howell v McManus smackdown

Carlo Ricardo’s family slowly stops visiting; Hughes, just transferred to Em City, fails to control Carlo during a fight

(mini) Shirley loses her lawyer

(mini) Schillinger phone visit with his dad

Keller leaves PC; Toby doesn’t forgive him; someone stabs Keller in the closet

Adebisi transfers to the AIDs ward and infects Nappa with infected blood

Rebadow has diabetes; Gloria is fired by Dr Garvey after their interview; Mukada brings a sandwich to a starving Miguel; Sister Pete starts her inmate-victim counseling program; Mukada wants Miguel to be the first candidate; Miguel attempts suicide

The “Napoleon’s Boney Parts” mystery has been solved: The narrator quotes Napoleon throughout the monologues and Miguel gets guillotined in a monologue at the end (although I don't think Napoleon's time was particularly known for guillotining, it was still being used).

I feel like this season, I've had less of a big takeaway after watching each episode. I don't thin it's so much that I have less thoughts about the episodes compared to before, but after season 1 and to an extent, season 2, I think the themes of each episode aren’t as strong. The plot of things continues to interweave, but I feel like it’s a little more like “things happen”. I can see it more with the way I write out the list of plots, too—they’re harder to summarise.

This episode seemed like another early-season filler episode. Sister noted that it seemed like the boxing thing didn’t go anywhere this episode, which is a funny observation from a first time viewer, considering how much this season revolves around the boxing match. Kind of eeeh this episode. Nothing super terrible happens but I can’t think of anything that stands out. Miguel’s storyline, I guess? I kind of also like Adebisi's revenge storyline. I find it interesting, anyway, but probably more so because I find fresh-out-of-the-psych-ward!Adebisi interesting. In this episode, of course, we see that Adebisi's change isn't as complete as it seemed.

Sister: He looks so evil, like a serial killer… He looks like a doctor who misdiagnoses people… I think he might’ve been in an episode of Law and Order as a misdiagnosing doctor…

Sister: Why don’t you do rodeo then?! Me: I’d watch that.

Hubris

Me: That would noooot motivate me. Sister: Yeah, well, we’re also not in a gang, Wawa. We’d be the little weasels eating popcorn on the sidelines.

Me & Sister: [cackling wildly]

Arif and Khan’s after school special

Sister: Is McManus the Napoleon because he’s short and has two ladies? I don’t get why she’s so desperate for a prison hubby. I mean, they don’t get paid that much and they’re also both high risk so their health insurance premiums are probably really high, and then if they get married, they’re not going to be able to get very good life insurance probably… (silence) Are there any good women in this show? Me: Uuuh Sister Pete? Sister: Yeah, but she’s stupid. When the plot needs her to be, she’s like “Huuuuuuur oK i’M SisTer PetE, i DoN’T tHink AboUt ThiNgs…” Me: Does Gloria not count as a good lady? Sister: No. She’s like “I hate this job but it’s important” and meanwhile she’s completely incompetent. Doesn’t even know about blood types. That guy (Rivera) will do that inmate-victim thing and he’ll tell Miguel, “you know, what you did to me was awful, but what was even worse was that during my time of need, they didn’t send me to a more equipped facility and were only looking for blood types that did not matter”. And then they’ll bond over their shared experience with the failed healthcare system. Me: I guess there's not really anyone, then. There's a secretary character later that I like, but she's just there to support one plot point and then she disappears. Sister: Shannon...

Sister: I have never seen this guy before Me: He was in the show last episode Sister: Oh right, he’s the one who kept asking about his mom. He looks different. He wasn’t wearing a hat last time? Me: He literally never takes off his hat…

Sister: Doesn’t he have a life sentence? Wouldn’t it be interesting if they had like a serial killer guy who worked in that ward and decided to steal stuff to infect other people? (later) Sister: I’m so good at this. They should hire me.

Sister: Why would he bring a big ass peanut butter sandwich? A) DRY, B) you can smell peanut butter from a mile away

Sister: That’s a terrible idea.

Sister: (sneezes three times in a row) My bullshit detector…

Stray Thoughts:

Our dad kept calling us while we were watching this episode to talk about taxes 😭

The narrator stood up in the opening monologue….

Sister suspects that Murphy is evil; she has a conspiracy that Murphy (because he’s evil) will end up with Howell and Tim will end up with Diane again… and Murphy and Howell will be serial killers.

Why do they have so much printer paper in the supply closet at Oz?

Beecher’s facial hair was weird this episode. No mustache??

Sister: We didn’t see the biker dude (Jaz) this episode...

Sister also observed that El Cid was missing this episode. I don't think she gives a shit about Carlo Ricardo which ok yeah, he's sort of a character that blips on and then off my radar. I don't think I have much of an opinion about his arc for some reason. It just happens and then it's like... OK... I guess I'm getting ahead of myself here, but I think the main thing is that Carlo doesn't have a discernible personality so when things happen to him, as a viewer, I feel like "oh that's too bad" but it's not like I feel bad for the character.

[etymology-of-the-emblem]

Xander / マークス and Ryoma / リョウマ

Xander is the crown prince of the kingdom of Nohr and wielder of the sword Siegfried in Fire Emblem Fates. The name Xander is a short form of Alexander, a Greek-based name. Considering he is a major character and face of the Conquest route, he is likely named after Alexander the Great, the famous Macedonian king and general; he widely expanded his kingdom to one of history's largest empires. Much like Nohr, Greece under Alexander's rule looked eastward, invading through India until halted by the Persian Empire. Considering that Xander's mother Katerina (or Yekaterina in Japanese) is named after Russian Empress Catherine the Great, there may be an intentional throughline of powerful rulers carrying the "Great" epithet. There could also take influence from Catherine's grandson Alexander I of Russia, emperor during the Napoleonic Wars. Ironic in a sense, this would make the prince of the invading nation named after an emperor who was unsuccessfully invaded.

In Japanese, Xander's name is マークス (rōmaji: mākusu), romanized as Marks. The name is most likely a corruption of マルクス (rōmaji: marukusu). While this can be used for the name Marx like early fan translations addressed the character by, it also can be used for the Latin name Marcus (also rendered as マーカス; rōmaji: mākasu). This choice is most associated with Roman political figure Marcus Antonius, better-known thanks to Shakespeare as Mark Antony (マーク・アントニー; rōmaji: māk antonī). Mark Antony was a general serving under Gaius Julius Caesar in the Gallic Wars and, after the conquest and rising tensions among the First Triumvirate, during the Civil War. Before war erupted, he went to the Roman Senate in an attempt to peacefully settle the conflict, but his pleas were largely resisted. After Caesar became dictator of Rome, Antony served as his second in command and, after the formation of his cult, the high priest. Following the assassination of Julius Caesar, Mark Antony agreed to be a member of the Second Triumvirate alongside Caesar's heir Octavian and Marcus Lepidus, and divided the Roman Republic amongst them. However, tensions between him and Octavian were high, especially as after his marriage to the young Caesar's sister he maintained an affair with Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt. Eventually, this strain birthed the War of Actium between Rome and Egypt, with Antony declared a traitor. When the couple had their backs against the wall as Rome invaded Egypt, they took their own lives, leaving Octavian as the sole ruler of Rome, which he soon converted into the Roman Empire under his new name Caesar Augustus. Xander seems to take influence from Mark Antony more so as they both were respected military leaders with tense relations to the powers they support - Garon and Julius Caesar - but proudly follow them despite such. Additionally, Shakespeare popularized the image of Mark Antony being a tragic figure in Antony and Cleopatra. Especially in Birthright Xander can be interpreted as a tragic figure, like most following the "Camus-archetype" in the Fire Emblem series. It could also be argued based on some of Xander's lines that his death in Birthright was of his own intention, further relating to Mark Antony.

Ryoma (JP: リョウマ; rōmaji: ryouma) is the high prince of the kingdom of Hoshido and wielder of the blade Raijinto. He is named after Sakamoto Ryouma (坂本龍馬), a master swordsman and political activist following the end of Japan's isolationist policy brought about by the forceful arrival of United States Commodore Matthew Perry. Born to a low-ranking samurai family, Sakamoto dropped out of school at an early age to pursue the blade in Edo, becoming a master kenjutsu instructor come his early twenties. Soon after returning to his home domain of Tosa, he was an early member of the Tosa Loyalist Party, one of many organizations that were dissatisfied with the Tokugawa Shogunate (a military dictatorship) and desired power to lie in the hands of the Imperial Court once more. As the Tosa Loyalists, purely focused on their domain, began plotting the assassination of the local governor - a man largely focused on modernization - Sakamoto, whose interests lay more with the army of Satsuma marching on Edo, left Tosa. The act of leaving one's clan was not acceptable and brought about the death penalty and left one denounced as a rōnin. He traveled back to Edo, where he and a colleague planned to assassinate Katsu Kaishu, a member of the Shogunate and a major influence on Japan's westernization. Upon meeting Katsu, however, Sakamoto was convinced of the need for westernization and the development of Japan's naval force. He became an assistant and mentee of Katsu. When Katsu was dismissed by the shogunate and his naval training center done away with, Sakamoto and other students were taken in by the Satsuma domain. Here he established Kameyama Shachū, a trading and shipping company through which he allied the opposing domains of Satsuma and Chōshū. Together, Satsuma and Chōshū were able to best the Tokugawa Shogunate and brought about the Meiji Restoration. Shortly before the start of the Boshin War, however, Sakamoto Ryouma was assassinated by the Mimawarigumi, a police force established by the shogunate. Fire Emblem's Ryoma obviously takes inspiration from the historical figure as a skilled wielder of katanas, but also in his participation in a revolution, seen in his affiliation with the Chevois Rebellion. A comparison can also be made between Ryoma's sudden disappearance from Hoshido to support the western-based revolt and Sakamoto Ryouma's leaving of Tosa to support the movement against the Tokugawa Shogunate, while growing in understanding of the westernization movement from his superior. Additionally, Sakamoto bringing peace between the feuding Satsuma and Chōshū domains to dismantle the shogunate may have some influence upon Corrin being able to bring peace between Nohr and Hoshido to bring war to Valla.

There are notable parallels between the purported namesakes of Xander and Ryoma. Both Mark Antony and Sakamoto Ryouma were major political figures in times of unrest in their countries during the buildup of a shift from militaristic dictatorships to placing power in the hands of an emperor followed by a period of peace. Both instances feature the subject as a major player in the conflicts leading to an imperial system but dies shortly before such a change is adopted. The endings of both of their lives can be reflected in Xander and Ryoma, who in their respective route opposing Corrin die in battle shortly before peace is found between the warring kingdoms.

[kingdoms-and-empires]

Lol bunking off the artillery ask, so we can be a completely deranged sociopath queen and (assuming we keep our capabilities on the ruling part) still rise to sit cozily on our blood soaked throne? Dang that's rad 😈

I hate it when stories punish the MC for being ruthless or crazy. Like it so obviously makes it so you have a "bad" ending. Ruthlessness is a quality that isn't expressly malicious in intent. People like Remiel don't wake up going "Mhm, it smells like a beautiful morning to go sicko mode and ruin the lives of others!" Its more like "Ah shit, lets see...whats the best way to get what i want and return the best investment for my effort?"

Ruthless characters in history have always existed and have been successful. Julius Caesar (you know him), Cao Cao (one of the warlords of the Three Kingdoms era), Augustus (first Roman Emperor), Qin Shi Huang (First Unifier of China), and Napoleon Bonaparte (Emperor of France and possibly last historical figure to stand with the men above.)

Is this something only linked with men? Fuuuuuck no. Lemme list some women up in here.

Wu Zetian The only Empress in China's 3,000-long history

Her reign was one of the more successful ones that economically benefited the country, militarily expanded the borders, and had an all-male harem for her own pleasure...home girl died at 81 after ruling for more than half a century.

Catherine the Great, Russian monarch who helped modernize her empire and even introduced vaccination to her people by being the first to try it out.

Hatshepsut, a female Pharoah of Egypt who put all the guys in her generation to shame. She launched a successful invasion, went on a building spree that following pharaohs would try to take credit for, and established new trading routes before dying in 1458 B.C. THATS 3,480 YEARS AGO!!!!! Give or take, i suck at math

Olympias, mother of Alexander the Great. Ima be honest. There wouldn't be an Alex if his momma didn't Game of Thrones the shit outta everyone else. She, "insisted she had a dream just before Alexander’s conception where a thunderbolt ignited her womb with an enormous fire." Supernatural street cred, check. She and her husband Philip II were fighting, baaaadly. So Philip married another girl and oh there popped a new baby boy! This of course meant a rival to our Alex since the baby was a full Macedonian. Now, I'm not saying Olympias killed her husband, buuuuut lets say she was quick with the aftermath. She immediately assassinated Alexander's half siblings, including the newborn baby boy, forced their mother to kill herself, destroyed the rival family, and then said, "Fuck it, it was true, I cheated on my husband WITH ZEUS!" Oh god and that's not even all..when her son Alexander finally did die, guess what she did. She marched on macedon with an army. And when an enemy army lined up against hers, she rode out, said "Im Alexander the great's mom, how bout dat?" and they joined her side instead. THEN with this new double army, she finished up killing another rival of hers; the queen famously sent Adea Eurydice a cup of poison, a noose, and a sword…then told her to choose how she would die. Eurydice chose to hang.

And of course Cleopatra, the one who banged Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony...that also spoke no less than nine languages, and possibly upwards of 12, who was also an author. She wrote a medicinal and pharmacological book called Cosmetics which included, amongst other things, remedies for male pattern baldness and dandruff. (I'm looking at Julius and Anthony...) She killed her brother and sister to consolidate her throne, led a fleet, and revitalized an Egypt that was in the down turn until her death.

Hope ive proven that ruthlessness, something all these ladies had to have in order to survive in a world where men traditional held power, is not the shoe in "bad trait" to have that modern writers portray it as.

[nebulacollege]

*runs in a circle like a feral creature* Would Edmund be the type to read Edgar Allen Poe books in class to look smart or is he more of a horrific fairytales type of reader?

+

Anonymous asked:

Do the boys have a favourite book? Which genre do they love reading?

Woah, a question that implies that I read enough books to answer that!! I wish, Anon 😭 But I’ll try to satisfy your curiosity to the best of my abilities.

I combined these questions together since both of them are more or less about the same topic... but for once, I’ll start with Edmund.

I think Edmund would like both of those things unironically. He doesn’t have a need to flex in front of his classmates, he probably doesn’t even think he’s smarter than everyone else (shocking, I know), but it could just be due to the fact that he doesn’t know them very well... yet, the year has just started. Back to books: anything creepy, anything horrific, anything macabre is his go-to, so he’s going to enjoy both of the options you mentioned. He’s not really there for a deep commentary about something, he wants to get spooked, he wants to see some new ideas and thoughts he’s never seen before, and he wants to find something that might actually be true and real despite the bizarre nature of these stories or even fairytales. His edgy side is definitely happy about this, and hence it’s his favourite genre overall, even though a ghost story, an eldritch horror, a detective story with gory descriptions of its murders by a serial killer, or a horrific fairytale are not exactly one genre. Now, if you want him to look smart in class, go with something written by Oscar Wilde, Balzac and such. He feels very smart enjoying the satire. As for his favourite book, no idea lol He probable could name a couple of titles, he has more than one favourite book, but nothing comes to mind as being “Wow, Edmund would’ve been so into it” right away.

Niall is another person who enjoys reading the satire, especially the one which criticises the elite, so he would actually... bother Edmund if he saw him reading something that he’s into as well. Niall especially likes simple, easy to read books, the ones that can entertain him. Things like “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame”, “Fathers and Sons”, “Botchan” and others that have a very clear humorous narration (Niall wouldn’t like “Lord of the Flies”, for example, because it’s too dark and depressing)? He’s drawn to this type of literature, but he doesn’t read it very often. Because there’s something he likes much more, and it’s biographies of famous people :) People like Alexander the Great, Augustus, Caesar, King Arthur, Napoleon, Genghis Khan, Tang Taizong and such. And then I remembered that I wanted to make the Nebula college located not in our universe, so he probably reads something about similar people lmao But you get the drift – the way they rule, conquer, plan and strategise is his jam. He’s so obnoxious... Niall doesn’t read this stuff very often, but he had phases (especially in his childhood) when he really fixated on one of the “cool” political figures and made it his entire personality until he got bored of it. But his passion stayed, and now he has a better and deeper understanding of all those figures and he doesn’t really idolise them as much as he used to, plus he pays much more attention to people who surrounded them and stuff. He also likes historical books in general, I think.

Ned is not exactly known for his reading tastes... he mostly ever reads non-fiction. He reads stuff related to his studies, he tries to read a lot of economy-related books and sometimes gets distracted by things that analyse society more than market. He’s both somewhat interested in it and it’s his genuine desire to understand ~the market~, but at the same time it’s so fucking boring that he falls asleep a lot of the times, so it takes a lot of grinding for him to get to the core idea of those books. Other than that, he only reads textbooks, and the entire world of fiction and art is not something that he considered worth of his attention. Which is a pity, because I think that he’d immensely enjoy grand Bildungsroman novels, which tell an entire life of a character. It’s both like looking at someone’s life and living it at the same time, which Ned would find fascinating on its own, and then it’s peeking into someone’s mind. My guess is that he would enjoy a main character who’s either a lot like him and proven wrong during the course of the story (or when characters from a story throw challenges at his beliefs, he’d like to know how to counter that lol) or who’s depressed, nihilistic, but at the same time very different from Ned’s own rigid views. He doesn’t like infantile or dumb characters, the ones that act irresponsible. Watakushi Shosetsu is also a genre that Ned would like, since it’s very similar to this type of novels, but the line between fiction and reality in Watakushi Shosetsu is very blurry. His favourite book is definitely the one from any of these genres, the first one that shook him to his core.

I asked Ryu about his thoughts on Liam, since Liam obviously reads non-fiction a lot: botany, science, biology, medicine, fashion (esp back in his childhood, so he knows the history of fashion more or less + has an eye for stylish things because he used to stare at pictures a lot), and things about our planet in general, he’s that one encyclopedia child that spent tons of time looking at photos and stuff. So what on Earth would he read as fiction? Detective stories :) It suits him so much it almost hurts. He loves when the author asks him “Can you guess who the killer is?” and he plays this little game in his head every time he’s reading the story. So yeah, he’ll gladly take a whodunnit, howdunnit, and any other mystery he’s offered to solve . He 100% read all of Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie stories (although Niall and Edmund also did). His favourite book would be the one where he failed to solve the mystery and considered the explanation smart enough to provide him with clues on why he failed – his criteria is rather strict, so a lot of times he was disappointed by the author’s slyness and the lack of a writing talent.

[kamreadsandrecs]

Title: The Garden Intrigue (Pink Carnation #9) Author: Lauren Willig Genre: historical, romance, Regency romance Content/Trigger Warnings: period-accurate misogyny, death of a spouse (in the character’s past) Summary (from publisher’s website): Secret agent Augustus Whittlesby has spent a decade undercover in France, posing as an insufferably bad poet. The French surveillance officers can’t bear to read his work closely enough to recognize the information drowned in a sea of verbiage. New York-born Emma Morris Delagardie is a thorn in Augustus’s side. An old school friend of Napoleon’s stepdaughter, she came to France with her uncle, eloped with a Frenchman, and has been rattling around the salons of Paris ever since. Now widowed, she entertains herself by holding a weekly salon, and loudly critiquing Augustus’s poetry. As Napoleon pursues his plans for the invasion of England, Whittlesby hears of a top-secret device to be demonstrated at a house party. The catch? The only way in is with Emma, who has been asked to write a masque for the weekend’s entertainment. In this complicated masque within a masque, nothing goes quite as scripted—especially Augustus’s unexpected feelings for Emma. Buy Here (publisher’s website): https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/306654/the-garden-intrigue-by-lauren-willig/ Spoiler-Free Review: Okay, so when I first read this years ago I remember putting together a fancast for the series, and I distinctly remember fancasting Tom Hiddleston for Augustus Whittlesby at the time. I had--have--an ENORMOUS crush on Hiddleston, and I knew I’d been “saving” him for my favorite male character in the series - and then I made him the face for Augustus. And...I can totally see why. Quite apart from the fact that Augustus DOES share physical traits with Hiddleston (especially the curly blond hair), there’s something about Augustus’s characterization in this novel that just made him one of my absolute favorite male characters in the series, and which moves him to the top spot in this reread (which used to be occupied by Geoffrey). The way his story tackles the concept of constructing illusions, and then having those illusions fall apart, was something that I found wonderful to read about: whether that was his disillusionment in his job as a spy, or his feelings for Jane. That’s also mirrored in Emma’s character development. While it’s easy to assume that her disillusionment already happened (and part of it did), there’s a lot that happens in the “present” of the timeline she and Augustus occupy, especially where it concerns how she deals with conflict. It was lovely rediscovering how she and Augustus deal with their respective crises, and come out the other side with a far better understanding of what love--true love--is actually about. I’ve also noticed how, as of Blood Lily, the background historical events used in the plots tend to be a bit more rooted in history than they were in the first five books. This is an upgrade in my opinion; it makes things all the more interesting--and all the more dangerous--when you can see just how high the stakes are from the perspective of actual history. Rating: five sonnets

[maskyartist]

I thought of the characters for my Psychonauts/Persona 5 AU. The characters are Augustus (Fool), Oleander (Magician), Truman (Chariot), Hollis (Lovers), Sasha (Emperor), Donatella (Priestess), Gloria (Hermit), Milla (Empress), and Gristol (Justice).

oh bestie u shouldnt have brought this to me im about to judge the hell out of ur choices cause these? mmmm dont sit right with me, chief :D

first of all, Hollis and Dona need to be switched. Hollis fills Makoto's role MUCH more accurately as she's already very strict in her work space, as well as being very sold on her own idea of persuing justice n such. She's a rough n tough woman and fills Makoto's role better-

-as does Dona filling Ann's role. She works perfectly for the "exchange student whos so pretty everyone hates her" energy Ann has, along with her playing along with Kamoshida's advances for someone else's sake. we can decide a Shiho later >3>

second, Gloria feels like a very out of place addition given that everyone else here is very prominant in Psychonauts 2 rather then Psychonauts 1 (excluding Sasha, Milla, and Oleander), and Gloria just doesnt mesh well with the rest of this cast. if we ARE choosing from the asylum cast, i'd suggest Fred for Hermit, since he'd fit better with Futaba's struggle of seeing hallucinations brought about by her trauma and overcoming the struggles of having an oppressive parental figure become your new mental image for all the bad shit you say about yourself from guilt

i can see Fred awakening to his Persona and finding a cognitive Napoleon in a war game-esc Palace, totally

Truman as the Chariot is...SO out of left field. If anything, Truman and Oleander should get swapped here. Truman is not shown as outwardly loyal and reckless to get what he thinks is right, nor is he shown being firm on his own sense of justice.

but Oleander definitely is. that's literally his entire character arc :D

the rest of the roles i can see fitting, tho. Sasha and Milla work perfectly for their roles I think (tho i would say Milla as the Lovers and Dona as the Empress especially since we as a collective fandom can agree Dona was DEFINITELY from a rich family before marrying Augustus), and Gristol as Akechi is ungodly funny i REFUSE to change that- (plus honestly it works with my own hc of Augustus n Gristol being friends before the deluge happened)

but yeah, this isnt me trying to judge your work or shove my own ideas into ur stuff, however i am ungodly invested in Persona 5 like this has been my special interest since it came OUT and hasnt stopped sense, so i know...a lot about this cast. And a LOT about their personalities, stories, and internal struggles from my many times of replaying this game.

and then u bring in Psychonauts which is ALSO an interest of mine that i've sunk a lot of time into reading and looking over characters n their interactions n like i have a whole BACKSTORY for Augustus written out, along with an idea that could theoretically be a whole third game-

so basically i can confidently say i was NOT the person to come to for this if u wanted gentle advice cause a lot of these choices just feel kinda paper thin and picked out for no real reason, just because they semi-resemble the character in question or fill that character's role and not because of who they are as characters n such

like i cant see Milla and Truman bickering like Ann and Ryuji do, but i can see Dona and Oleander doing that MUCH more realistically since Dona's a hothead and Oleander just speaks outta his ass all the time

...yeah not too sure how to end this, but those are my opinions on ur picks :D the idea's got somethin but the execution is lacking in my opinion, so this is how i'd do it myself but yknow its ur au! u dont need my permission to do jack, have ur fun n explore the characters however u want :D

[vintageviewmaster]

Brand: View-Master Company: Sawyer's Inc. Packet Title: Holland Packet Subtitle: N/A Packet Type: souvenir pak Packet Number: B 190 Packet Style: S5 Booklet: Included Reel Numbers: B 1901, B 1902, B 1903 Reel Edition: N/A Date: Undated Copyright: Sawyer's Inc.

souvenir pak Descriptions: Wien Neerlandsch Bloed - National Anthem of Holland

the story of Holland The 57½ million square miles of the earth would seem to most people a generous enough gift of nature and they would be content to leave it at that--but not the Dutch. With some ten million people crowded into an area no larger than tiny Massachusetts and Connecticut combined, they have boldly taken over where nature left off. With the aid of dikes and barriers of sand dunes they have added several million more acres of land to their country. More than half of the nation's population lives below sea level.

The earliest history of these people begins in about 55 B.C. when Julius Caesar, during his campaigns, found this area populated with Celtic and Germanic tribes such as the Belgai, Batavi, Frisians and Saxons. In 15 B.C. under Augustus, the territory was brought under Roman rule. During the third century a powerful Frankish tribe conquered many of the earlier tribes and the Frankish language (the official Dutch language now spoken in Holland) was generally adopted. The Franks accepted Christianity, but it remained for Charlemagne (742-814) to subdue the Frisians and Saxons and force them to accept this new religion.

Under feudal rule cities arose and petty disputes among the rulers enabled these cities to establish some measure of home rule. In the 15th century under Burgundian rule The Netherlands (which until 1830 included Belgium and Luxemburg) gained "The Great Privilege," a charter which greatly curtailed the sovereign's power in local matters. Then by marriage the country came under Spanish rule. The people rebelled and the long war which the Dutch waged against Spain (1468-1648) finally brought financial ruin to the Spaniards. Having freed themselves of Spanish restrictions, the Dutch grew rich with trade during the 17th century and acquired colonial holdings. But a century of decay followed and Holland lost much of its trade and some of its colonies.

In 1795 the country was conquered by the French. In 1815, following Napoleon's downfall, The Kingdom of the Netherlands was formed at the Congress of Vienna. The southern provinces, dissatisfied with this union, revolted, and to avoid a general conflict the great powers allowed them to form the separate Kingdom of Belgium. Luxemburg was lost when Queen Wilhelmina came to the throne in 1890 because its law did not then permit female rule.

During World War I the country remained neutral, but in World War II the Germans invaded Holland. Queen Wilhelmina fled to England to carry on the government-in-exile. Dutch resistance lasted only five days, but the German wholesale, systematic destruction of the country left Holland in ruin. The recovery of this country from the war has been remarkable. The government of Holland, now with Queen Juliana as its sovereign, is a constitutional monarchy. Amsterdam is the constitutional capital, but the actual seat of government is in The Hague. The kingdom includes the Netherlands Antilles, Surinam and the western half of New Guinea. Rotterdam, located at the mouths of the two great rivers, the Rhine and the Meuse, is the biggest port in the world next to New York. Amsterdam, the largest city in Holland, rivals Antwerp as diamond-cutting center of the world. A network of 50 canals carves the country into hundreds of tiny islands which are connected by 400 bridges. Bicycles are the major form of transportation and outnumber cars about six to one. This low, flat land has a maritime climate—cool and damp—and strong winds blow steadily from the North Sea. Holland's natural resources are limited and the country imports many raw materials which are processed into finished products for export. Because of its geographical position and excellent harbor, Holland has developed into a great trading, transporting, and brokerage nation.

To foreigners Holland is symbolized by tulips, windmills, picturesque costumes and the quaint story of a boy with his finger in the dike. Tulips they have (and hyacinths) in countless numbers and the sale of bulbs is a serious and thriving business. The windmills are gradually being replaced by steam or electrically driven pumps. There are towns where local costumes are worn, but for the most part the Dutch are as up to date in their dress and ideas as any country on earth. As for the fanciful, fictional tale of the boy who held his finger in the dike all one night and saved his people from the sea, the Dutch--out of politeness to tourists—have erected a statue in his honor. But, as one official puts it, "Polite we are but quaint we ain't."

Population: 11,389,000 Basic Language: Dutch Capital City: The Hague Form of Government: Kingdom Best Known Industry: Raising flower bulbs, manufacture of textiles, clothing, shipbuilding and shoes Comparative Size: Approximately the size of the State of Maryland (13,025 sq. mi.)

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 11.11 (before 1920)

308 – At Carnuntum, Emperor emeritus Diocletian confers with Galerius, Augustus of the East, and Maximianus, the recently returned former Augustus of the West, in an attempt to end the civil wars of the Tetrarchy. 1028 – Constantine VIII dies, ending his uninterrupted reign as emperor or co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire of 66 years. 1100 – Henry I of England marries Matilda of Scotland, the daughter of Malcolm III of Scotland and a direct descendant of the Saxon king Edmund Ironside; Matilda is crowned on the same day. 1215 – The Fourth Council of the Lateran meets, defining the doctrine of transubstantiation, the process by which bread and wine are, by that doctrine, said to transform into the body and blood of Christ. 1500 – Treaty of Granada: Louis XII of France and Ferdinand II of Aragon agree to divide the Kingdom of Naples between them. 1572 – Tycho Brahe observes the supernova SN 1572. 1620 – The Mayflower Compact is signed in what is now Provincetown Harbor near Cape Cod. 1634 – Following pressure from Anglican bishop John Atherton, the Irish House of Commons passes An Act for the Punishment for the Vice of Buggery. 1673 – Second Battle of Khotyn in Ukraine: Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth forces under the command of Jan Sobieski defeat the Ottoman army. In this battle, rockets made by Kazimierz Siemienowicz are successfully used. 1675 – Gottfried Leibniz demonstrates integral calculus for the first time to find the area under the graph of y = ƒ(x). 1724 – Joseph Blake, alias Blueskin, a highwayman known for attacking "Thief-Taker General" (and thief) Jonathan Wild at the Old Bailey, is hanged in London. 1750 – Riots break out in Lhasa after the murder of the Tibetan regent. 1750 – The F.H.C. Society, also known as the Flat Hat Club, is formed at Raleigh Tavern, Williamsburg, Virginia. It is the first college fraternity. 1778 – Cherry Valley massacre: Loyalists and Seneca Indian forces attack a fort and village in eastern New York during the American Revolutionary War, killing more than forty civilians and soldiers. 1805 – Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Dürenstein: Eight thousand French troops attempt to slow the retreat of a vastly superior Russian and Austrian force. 1813 – War of 1812: Battle of Crysler's Farm: British and Canadian forces defeat a larger American force, causing the Americans to abandon their Saint Lawrence campaign. 1831 – In Jerusalem, Virginia, Nat Turner is hanged after inciting a violent slave uprising. 1839 – The Virginia Military Institute is founded in Lexington, Virginia. 1855 – A powerful earthquake occurs in Edo, Japan, causing considerable damage in the Kantō region from the shaking and subsequent fires. It had a death toll of 7,000–10,000 people and destroyed around 14,000 buildings. 1865 – Treaty of Sinchula is signed whereby Bhutan cedes the areas east of the Teesta River to the British East India Company. 1869 – The Victorian Aboriginal Protection Act is enacted in Australia, giving the government control of indigenous people's wages, their terms of employment, where they could live, and of their children, effectively leading to the Stolen Generations. 1880 – Australian bushranger Ned Kelly is hanged at Melbourne Gaol. 1887 – Four convicted anarchists were executed as a result of the Haymarket affair. 1889 – The State of Washington is admitted as the 42nd state of the United States. 1911 – Many cities in the Midwestern United States break their record highs and lows on the same day as a strong cold front rolls through. 1918 – World War I: Germany signs an armistice agreement with the Allies in a railroad car in the forest of Compiègne. 1918 – Józef Piłsudski assumes supreme military power in Poland – symbolic first day of Polish independence. 1918 – Emperor Charles I of Austria relinquishes power. 1919 – The Industrial Workers of the World attack an Armistice Day parade in Centralia, Washington, ultimately resulting in the deaths of five people. 1919 – Latvian forces defeat the West Russian Volunteer Army at Riga in the Latvian War of Independence.

[voluptuarian]

idk not even touching on the interpretation of, and historical inaccuracies in the new Napoleon biopic (and bypassing my infuriation over the de-milf-ication of Josephine and reversal of their real life age differences) the movie just seems... boring?? And the depiction of Napoleon himself also boring?? Like the man succeeded a republican revolution by declaring himself emperor and was successful doing so largely through personal charisma and a robust cult of personality and nothing about Scott/Phoenix Napoleon is giving me even a hint of that. Like occasionally through the glower and saturnine affect I got a glimpse of "crazy!!" but not even the right kind!! I would not be buying prints of this guy dressed up as Augustus to put in my house, you know??

[nyotaliafan-pinkmermaid]

Placing characters in my Cardverse AU

I hope this post won't offend anyone. This is my opinion in which Kingdom should the other characters belong to. If you don't like it , then keep it to yourself.

♦️Diamonds♦️

King: Cyprus

Queen: Genoa

Jack: Spain

Ace: Portugal

Greece

Switzerland

Italy

Romano

Seborga

Egypt

France

Liechtenstein

Netherlands

Belgium

Luxembourg

Monaco

Seychelles

Israel

Tunisia

Algeria

Libya

Saudi Arabia

Oman

Kurdistan

Nagorno-Karabakh

United Arab Emirats

Morocco

Armenia

Ancient Sparta (deceased)

Sudan

South Sudan

Comoros

Iraq

Madagascar

Jordan

Ancient Greece/Byzantine(deceased)

Ancient Egypt(deceased)

Roman Empire(deceased)

Vatican

San Marino

Djibouti

Pontus(deceased)

Palestine

Dutch Antilles

Reuniòn

French Polynesia

Somalia

Central African Republic

Angola

Niger

Gabon

Western Sahara

Qatar

Andorra

Malta

Lebanon

Bahrain

Somalia

Kuwait

Syria

Phoenicea (deceased)

Bahrain

Knights Templar

Carthage(deceased)

Assyria(deceased)

Mauritius (i believe that this is the female nation who talked to Seychelles in a strip)

Ghana

São Tome and Principe

Benin

Chad

Mayotte

(Human characters of Hetalia in Diamonds)

Jeanne d' Arc

Joanna of Castile

Napoleon Bonaparte

Maria Antoinette

Charles Perrault

Spartacus

Agrippa

Anicetus

Seneca

Agrippina

Burrus

Cleopatra

Marcus Antonius

Julius Caesar

Augustus

Tiberius

Caligula

Claudius

Nero

Vespasian(actually exists in Hetalia)

Domitian

Hadrian(actually exists in Hetalia)

Marcus Aurelius(actually exists in Hetalia)

Commodus

Didius Julianus

Heliogabalus

Maximinus Thrax

Gordian the 1rst

Gordian the 2nd

Pupienus

Balbinus

Phillip the Arab

Valerian

Claudius Gothicus

Quintillus

Aurelian

Tacitus

Florianus

Probus

Numerian

Diocletian

Maxentius

Constantine the 2nd

Constantius the 2nd

Constans

♥️Hearts♥️

King: Slovakia

Queen: Czech

Jack: Bulgaria

Ace: Romania

Austria

Germany

Prussia

Kugelmugel

Bavaria

Saxony

Hesse

Germania(deseased)

Holy Roman Empire

Brandenburg

Russia

Ukraine

Belarus

Lithuania

Latvia

Estonia

Poland

Hungary

Croatia

Slovenia

Bosnia

Herzegoniva

FYROM/Vardaska(aka n.Macedonia)

Albania

Montenegro

Georgia(not the U.S. state)

Mayar(deseased)

Zimbabwe

Botswana

Namibia

Ethiopia

Nigeria

Ivory Coast

(Human characters that appeared in Hetalia in Hearts)

Friedrich the Great(aka old Fritz)

Brothers Grimm

Maria Theresa

Władysław II Jagiello of Lithuania

Jadwiga of Poland

♠️Spades♠️

King: Thailand

Queen: Vietnam

Jack: India

Ace: Ecuador

Cuba

Cameroon

Indonesia

Malaysia

Philippines

Singapore

Macau

Hong Kong

Brazil

Zambia

Taiwan

China

S.Korea

Japan

Brunei

Laos

Combodia

Bangladesh

Saint Luchia

Haiti

El Salvador

Dominican Republic

Pakistan

Uganda

Brazil

Peru

Colombia

Bolivia

Guatemala

Saint Kitts and Nevis

South Africa

Panama

Venezuela

Nepal

Tibet

Mongolia

Persia(deseased)

Iran

Turkey

Azerbijian

Mexico

Chile

Argentina

Bhutan

Turkmenistan

Uzbekistan

Kazakhstan

Kyrgyzstan

Sri Lanka

Timor Leste

Hunnic Empire (deseased)

Myanmar

Jamaica

Honduras

Bahamas

Puerto Rico

Jamaica

Costa Rica

Barbados

Osaka

Nikoniko Republic

Eritrea

Liberia

Mauritania

Cape Verde

Gambia

Congo(Republic)

Burkina Faso

Guinea Bissau

Mauritania

Eswatini

(Humans that appeared in Hetalia in Spades)

Shapur the Great of Persia

Chinese explorer Zheng He

Xuande Emperor of China

♣️Clubs♣️

King: Ireland

Queen: Iceland

Jack: Norway

Ace: Denmark

Finland

Sweden

Scotland

Wales

England

Sealand

Canada

America

Mali

Senegal

Kenya

Burundi

Saint Helena

Greenland

Molossia

Åland islands

Faroe islands

Isle of Man

Ladonia

Australia

New Zealand

Hutt River

Wy

U.S. Virgin Islands

Fiji Islands

Sierra Leone

Svalbard

Tonga

Papua New Guinea

Samoa Islands

Solomon Islands

Vanuatu

Lesotho

Congo(Democratic)

Senegal

Rwada

Mozambique

Tanzania

Togo

Sierra Leone

Britannia(deseased)

Celt(deseased)

(Human characters that appeared in Hetalia in Clubs)

Hans Christian Andersen

Christina of Sweden

Davie

Howard the Spy

🃏Jokers🃏

Black Joker: Serbia

Red Joker: Moldova

[sailorgreywolf-german]

Germanic Rarepair - Poland and Saxony

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

Saxony was sitting in camp listening to the flurry of orders in a mix of German and French contemplating his situation. He had a blank piece of paper in front of him and no idea what to put on it. France had said that Napoleon wanted him to write to whatever cousins he thought could be swayed, since he was the sole German state supporting the cause. But, it was not so easy to convince his family of anything. He also was not sure how necessary it was if both Austria and Prussia had been pacified.

He heard the footsteps behind him, but did not turn to look at who was approaching. He thought he recognized the soft footfalls, and waited to hear a familiar voice to confirm his suspicion. Instead hands covered his eyes.

Calloused hands that he knew well, that he had felt on his skin many times before. The person spoke in his ear, “Guess who.”

Saxony knew the answer from the sweet smell of perfume, the brush of long hair against his cheek, and the voice that he could never forget. He answered, “Is it my star-crossed lover?” 
 He got his answer along with a kiss on his cheek, “It is indeed.”

He turned to face Poland with a smile, and was immediately surprised when the other took it as an opportunity to sit in his lap. Poland leaned in close and said, “You could never forget someone as special as me, could you?”

Saxony replied, still someone flustered from suddenly having a beautiful man in his lap, “Of course not.” It nearly took his breath away to be this close again. For years he had only had sketches and portraits from the time when they had been married. It did not compare to the real man. He was so handsome in the flesh that it was impossible to not be in awe.

Poland leaned in even closer and said, “A little birdie told me that you said you’d support Napoleon if he gave me my state back.”

His breath on Saxony’s neck sent a shiver through his body. It had been far too long since they had been allowed to be alone together.

He replied with a smirk, “Did the little birdie have blue eyes and a French accent?”

It would have had to be France that told, since he was the only one who knew the details of the agreement. But Saxony was not going to complain about Poland knowing, especially if it made him amorous. Poland nodded, confirming that France had not kept it secret.

Saxony decided that he would explain his decision, and he said, “I want to undo a wrong. I am certain that Gilbert proposed those partitions as an act of petty vengefulness.” He was certain that it had all been for some imagined slight when Prussia had been a duchy. A proud insecure man was bound to be vengeful.

He added, “And now it is possible to give you back what you deserve. Gilbert is out of the way.” 
 Poland chuckled, “He was humiliated from what I heard. Badly injured and confined to bed. I read that report so many times. It was better than Christmas.”

Saxony could not think of the last time he saw Poland so happy. It was good to see it, even if it had taken a war to get there. Saxony reached up and stroked his cheek and said softly, “If everything goes well, maybe we can get married again if you’ll still have me.” 

He instantly saw all the bravado fall away as Poland showed, for a moment, a flash of real vulnerability. He looked like he was very much pained by the way that their marriage had ended. Poland leaned into the touch on his face like he found it deeply comforting. He said, “I missed you, Christoph. These years alone with Ivan have been hard. ”

Saxony was absolutely certain that he had made the right decision by joining the cause. The look of relief on Poland’s face was worth it. He said, very sincerely, “I have never stopped loving you.”

He could swear that he could almost see tears forming in Poland’s eyes. Poland responded, “I love you too.” Then he leaned in and kissed Saxony on the lips.

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

Historical notes under the cut:

- Augustus II (better known as Augustus the Strong) the elector of Saxony was elected King of Poland-Lithuania for the first time in 1697. He converted from Lutheranism to Catholicism to take the crown.

- The bond between Saxony and Poland was severed a couple years later by the Swedish invasion of both kingdoms during the Great Northern War, which forced Poland to accept a different Swedish-backed monarch.

- After Russia’s defeat of the Swedes at the Battle of Poltava in 1709, Augustus returned to Poland and ruled the Commonwealth until his death.

- He was followed by Augustus III, who also served as both King of Poland-Lithuania and Elector of Saxony. The Saxon connection was again severed by the partition of Poland.

- During the Napoleonic Wars, Saxony changed sides after the defeat of the Prussians at Jena. It then remained a French ally until the defeat of Napoleon.

-Poland was briefly returned to the European map as the Duchy of Warsaw after the Treaty of Tilsit, which stripped Prussia of its gains from the partition. This new Duchy was a personal union with the Kingdom of Saxony, with Friedrich Augustus I as the new Duke of Warsaw.

-The defeat of Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna again erased Poland. Prussia also attempted to completely annex Saxony as punishment for supporting France. This was ultimately unsuccessful because Prussia gaining that much land would imbalance power in Europe too substantially.

[questionthebox]

You wanna know the truth,

Through me,

All empowerment

Would be unleashed,

Through me,

We’d have a Unified Earth Government,

Fundamentally

Communist, in its purest democratic sense,

All

Land spaces on the planet

All it’s wealth,

Would be funneled back to the people,

Not

Private Merchants

Or

A Bureaucratic Caste,

And this wealth

Would lead to an unparalleled

Pax Terra,

As I would rebuild the entire planet,

Eradicating poverty,

Educating the billions,

Thus

Eradicating disease,

Hunger,

All would vanish,

The World would be in harmony

Scientifically our technology would be

Blended with the planet’s biology,

All would wake up to days full of enjoyment

As

They would have access to everything

Within Reason,

I’d build Sex Spaces,

Modeled after Roman Baths,

Where after work,

If people are stressed

They could venture to

Such spaces,

And engage in “Fuck Frenzies”

I’d build Continental high speed rail,

I’d highlight every region of the earths

Unique heritage and history,

Meaning

The Middle East, would be rebuilt

Highlighting the classical Islamic age,

I’d rebuild the hanging gardens,

Through me,

We’d colonize new worlds

Terraform Mars,

Through me

It would be a Golden Age,

Of

Which will never be duplicated

As

I would

Finally destroy “power”

By inhabiting Power,

Thus giving power to everyone

Hence

Being

Prometheus,

I would be

Anthony The First

The Pope would crown me in Rome,

Antonius Caesar Augustus Magnus 

Then I’d be crowned

In

Mecca,

By whomever is the Islamic pope

As

Protector Of The Two Mosques,

Caliph,

And this would repeat elsewhere

In Asia,

And I would do all of this

Through

War,

Through the use of an Empire,

As a Means to an end,

Through

Charisma and ironclad loyalty

It would be said

Anthony’s Armies

We’re as loyal as Napoleons Or Caesars

In

That,

They believed in his grand vision,

And I

Would fight alongside my soldiers,

Enduring every hardship

Going without food,

Or

Plunder,

The Arts would flourish

All decadent vulgar supposed art

Music, television, movies,

Would be eradicated

As a new global educated populace

Would produce

High works of Art

Surpassing the masters of

Antiquity & The Renaissance,

All would have access to Art

All would have access to all the things

That are

Substantive,

All soldiers would be healed,

And receive full pensions from our treasury

Alongside fully paid vacations,

To wherever they need to go,

The Universes Great Mysteries

Would be gradually unraveled

As

Time would pass

And

The collective global populace

Moves into

A higher form of existence,

All trivialities

And

Idiocies would fall to the wayside

And

Humanity

Would exist

In

Pure “Play”

Inquiry

Revelry

Music,