#second war of Scottish Independence | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

auspicioustidings · 7 months

Text

Bannockburn

Summary: Your boyfriend Johnny has come home in a strange mood, and you are about to get your shit rocked at Bannockburn.

Technically, if you squint, a sequel to Savage set just over 700 years later. Like I will perhaps write a proper sequel at some point, but you can blame Bunny for this one.

Words: 3.6k

CW: CNC, smut, implied character death

You were getting nervous. You were getting really nervous. There were two Johnny’s and you never knew what one you were getting when he came home from a mission. Most of the time you got your Johnny, sweet and loving and tackling you to the bed with a laugh while he showed you how much he missed you. But sometimes whatever happened out on mission got his blood up. Whatever he usually did to get himself settled and out of war mode didn’t take. Sometimes you got the Savage Johnny, the one who heard your English accent and became more animal than man. The one who went into such thick Scots that you hardly understood what he was growling into your ear as he took you.

Usually you knew what Johnny you had the moment he walked through the door. Not this time. This time he seemed like he was boiling with energy under the surface, but he kissed you nonetheless and ate dinner with you and held you as you slept. When he got you both up and packed into the car the next morning for a trip you had the sense to at least be a little worried. Now, hand held in his as you listened to the guide, you had some inkling that you might be in for it.

“Now King Edward the second invaded as a result of Bruce’s demand to his people to recognise him as their King. He summoned 25,000 infantry and 2000 horses, the largest ever army to invade Scotland. Bruce only had command of 6000 men.”

You could feel the blood draining from your face as the guide went further into the background of the battle. Around about the time she briefly mentioned how Wallace had been hanged, drawn and quartered, limbs displayed in different cities, just shy of ten years before the Battle of Bannockburn, you absolutely knew what Johnny you had on your hands. And this Johnny? There was nothing you could do to save yourself from this Johnny. This Johnny was taking in every word, ready to punish you for your ancestors' transgressions against his.

You were trying to pay attention, but your eyes were darting around trying to pinpoint any little nooks that might spell danger if he got you in them. Only that was dangerous in itself, because the first time you felt your attention drift from what was being said Johnny had let go of your hand and moved to instead hold you firm by the back of the neck, fingers massaging a little too hard in warning. That got you to pay rapt attention to all of it, to the whole history of the Scottish wars of Independence as it related to Bannockburn.

It was strange sometimes, you and Johnny. There were times like now when you would be learning about the history of your countries and it felt like some long forgotten memory. There were times when you met his Lieutenant and swore you knew him from somewhere. Like there was some ancient part of you that trusted them when they fought together to watch each other's backs. No matter what Johnny you got, you held such a deep love for him that it scared you sometimes. Your heart twisted as they described what the battle would have been like for the soldiers, the sights and sounds and weapons. It must have been awful.

You were stuck on it. Stuck on the image of a Johnny with a sword on the battlefield. That was your mistake, zoning out and just following along when he led you out to the grounds. Only when you had been walking for a while did you realise how far you were getting from the safety of a building full of people.

“Where are we going?”

“Dinae pay any attention at all did ye? Must naw have been interesting tae ye learning about how my people battered yours when they tried tae grind us intae nothing.”

“No, I was paying attention. Of course I was” you said, trying to be meek and quell some of his building fury.

“Couldnae even hunt a bunny without some English noble claiming it wisnae our right. Punishing us” he ranted before turning to you with a feral look in his eye. “Cannae stop me from hunting one right now though can they? Ye going tae run for me wee bunny?”

Fuck. He looked ready to tear into your throat with his teeth. You felt every bit a prey animal, eyes darting around to find a way out of this. The woods. There were woods here. That was where he had been leading you while you had been busy getting stuck on the idea of him as some ancient warrior fighting to the death. Gillies Hill. The guide had told you about it, how the Scottish had made their camp here. It was where they had attacked from.

And it was where you found yourself sprinting through, heart pounding. Your logical mind knew it was a mistake, you running only meant he could chase. You should have just stayed where you were, tried to talk him down. You were stumbling and tripping, trying to get your bearings as the woods became dense around you. Every snap of a twig or sway of a branch sent you darting away in the other direction until you were shaking from exhaustion and no small amount of mounting terror.

You had never been hunted like this. Johnny had been rough with you before in the warmth of your own home, had fucked you into the bed like he was trying to mould you permanently to him. But this was a different creature entirely. This was the monster under the surface that you only caught glimpses of, that you never thought you would meet face to face. The woods were silent of another human, had you managed to escape him?

“Yer naw even trying little bunny, ye want me tae catch ye is that it? Slut.”

His breath was hot on your ear and you choked on any response you had tried to come up with. How had he gotten right behind you without a sound? You were running again, tripping and scraping your knees but clawing your way back to your feet to keep going. The little summer dress was not suited for this, but at least you were wearing boots. At least Johnny had told you to wear boots this morning.

It was with a sickening dread that you realised he had planned this. He knew you would be running from him, knew he wanted you in a dress for easy access but boots for fleeing into the woods. At least you knew that your Johnny was still in there somewhere, enough to care about you not breaking an ankle. Not enough to care about breaking you in other ways.

“Aww wee English princess got her knees all scraped up? All yer kinfolk are going tae ken how ye love getting on them for good Scottish cock when they see the marks. Wee whore down in the dirt fucking gagging on it, crying over how much ye love it.”

You couldn’t properly tell what direction his voice was even coming from. The shame of his words was flooding you with a sickly humiliation that only increased when your body reacted differently to how it should have. When you throbbed with need for him.

“I’m not! That isn’t what’s happening!”

You were flustered and scared and needy and felt like you were yelling at nothing as you kept catching sight of him on your periphery only to turn and find nobody there.

“Naw? Slick is practically running down yer plush fucking thighs princess, bet yer clenching down on nothin’. Dinnae even have tae catch ye dae I? Could just wait until ye come crawling tae me, begging me tae claim ye. Fucking pleading for it right here, right where my army celebrated before decimating yours.”

His words sent a shiver up your spine. Out here felt removed from time, it really did feel like you were betraying something by finding yourself drawn to this savage. By imagining that his prediction would prove true, that you’d beg for him. You couldn’t, it would be too much, too shameful. So you kept stumbling through the woods even when the deep tenor of his voice rang through in a mocking little song.

God he had translated this for you once. Told you that brose and butter was a euphemism, that it was about fucking a girl full of cum. It had made you blush and laugh at the time when he playfully sang it over to you now that you understood the meaning, but now? Fuck now it just scared the hell out of you with how the words were tinged with a promise. This was hardly playful, he really meant to hold you down and shove himself inside you out here in the woods where anyone could walk by.

“We can’t! John please, not here” you pleaded, pausing to try and find where he was. “I… you were gone for months, I’ve not…”

He had made you promise before he left that you’d save yourself for him, wouldn’t even put your own fingers inside yourself while he was gone. And you hadn’t. Fuck you would be so tight now, not ready for him to take you hard. Had he known even then that this was the plan?

“Maiden are ye? Scared it’s going tae hurt, princess? It will, did they naw teach ye that we’re animals? We dinnae treat wee English lassies the way yer own men would. Ye’ll get treated the way ye should, like a fucking whore. And ye’ll take it won’t ye? Ye’ll take it wherever I want tae give it tae ye.”

Fuck, you were starting to slip away to whereever he was. You were starting to feel less like yourself and more like the poor English maiden being hunted by the enemy. The bunny being hunted by the hound. Starting to drift away into pure animal instinct, pure fear and arousal. You could hardly breathe now, feeling tears prick at your eyes.

“Please…” you sobbed quietly, not even sure what you were begging for.

And then he was there, towering over you and wrapping a hand around your throat, thumb beneath your chin to tilt your head and force you to look at him.

“Wonder whit they’d think of ye begging so pretty for the enemy. Cannae help yerself can ye?” he said, as if fascinated by you, slipping his other hand up your dress and under your panties. “Fucking English slut. Y’er dripping.”

Your reaction to those words was violent and unexplainable. It made your legs shake and your pussy clench painfully hard. It was confusing how much it affected you, causing such a flood of wetness that Johnny noticed, his pupils dilating as he squeezed at your throat and laughed when that made you whimper and claw at his hand. He only kept on squeezing until you were starting to see stars.

“Dinnae fucking move princess.”

The pressure of his hands was gone in an instant and the flood of oxygen made you dizzy. There was no time for you to recover before he was on his knees in the dirt, treating your pussy like it was a mouth and sloppily kissing it over your panties. The press of his tongue was insistent and overwhelming, like he was trying to bully it past the fabric. When he ripped at your waistband with his teeth the lace tore.

He continued his attack like he truly was a wolf sinking his teeth into a fresh meal, completely ruining your underwear until the mangled scraps fell to the floor and left you bare. Your hands were woven into his mohawk and you tried to pull him away, earning a growl that reverberated into your bones and a heavy handed smack to your ass before he assaulted your clit with tongue and teeth and spit.

You felt yourself clench so hard that you almost felt nauseous. Fuck. You were trying to keep some sense of self, trying to remember that you were out in public and he was some feral version of the man you loved who was saying horrible things to you and promising he was going to hurt you. But there was a creeping haze taking over, turning you dumb for him.

It wasn’t even something you had been aware was happening when you came on his tongue. It was just sensation, just the desperate need for more. The primal desperation to be fuller even as he pushed his tongue into your over sensitive hole while your walls fluttered through the pleasure of that high.

“Please, need you.”

“Aye, that right? Needy wee slut.”

You were too far gone to notice that while he was rough in getting you onto your back in the dirt, one hand was gentle in cradling your head to make sure it landed softly.

“Use those pretty wee words. Ask me for it the way ye’d ask a good English man.”

Ask me for it the way ye’d ask Simon.

When all you could do was wriggle underneath him and whine he grabbed the neckline of your dress and yanked it down to let your breasts spill out, slapping hard at one and making you howl.

“They naw teach ye how tae talk proper ye wee slut? Ask fucking nicely.”

“Please, please I want you inside me.”

“Aye, can tell that princess. Whit else?”

“Want you to cum inside me.”

“Good fucking girl, wisnae so hard now was it?”

He didn’t take any of his clothes off, just fished his hard cock from his jeans, hooked your knees on his shoulders and pressed into your wet heat in one fluid motion. You both groaned as he bottomed out. It had been so long, you were so fucking tight around him.

“M’so full, thank you thank you ,m’yours, need you. Fuck, ah. Made for you, it’s so much” you rambled, incoherent in your bliss.

“There she is, needed this naw? Needed my cock deep in this tight wee English cunt. Cannae be a person without it, it’s whit ye were made for. Fucking built tae be on yer back with yer legs open for me.”

He stayed like that for what felt like forever, the fullness pushing any coherent thought out of your head. Fuck he was so deep like this, with you nearly folded in half. It felt like you were choking on his dick. You were clawing at the dirt by your sides so hard that you thought your fingers might bleed, but he grabbed your wrists and pinned them above your head before they could.

You were so cock drunk that you were only distantly aware of the look in his eyes now, the almost obsessive adoration as he took in how you looked pressed into the earth like this, dress rucked up from the bottom and pulled down from the top, palm print visible from where he had slapped at you, knees by your ears, hands pinned over your head and yet despite it all so blissed out you were salivating and babbling at him how you needed him.

When he pulled all the way out to the tip and then slammed back home you choked on the wind being knocked right out of you. It only encouraged him as he started to fuck you hard and deep, taking him time to make sure every thrust settled him so incredibly deep inside of you that you were floating.

“Braw wee creature aren’t ye? Feart of me and gagin’ fer it anyway. Dinnae fash bonnie, gettin’ yer hole proper.”

You knew vaguely that he was close because you could hardly understand what he was saying. You were so unable to do anything in this position, no leverage on your arms and legs that you could use to pull him closer.

“Inside, need it inside. Please, please ah!” you cried, no shame left in so as you begged like a bitch in heat for him to cum inside you.

He shifted and sped his pace, nailing that spongy spot inside you that was making your vision black out with every thrust. You’d have marks on you from the buttons and zipper of his jeans. You’d have marks on your throat and your wrists, on your tits. He needed more, he needed anyone to take one look at you and know who you belonged to.

“‘at’s it, take it. Fuck. Good lass” he groaned as he sunk his teeth into your throat and your eyes rolled into the back of your head as you came, clamping down on his cock.

He jackhammered into you, forcing his way in while your pussy tried to force him out. The tight heat of it was too much and he growled and stilled after one more brutal thrust had him cumming deep inside you. He collapsed on top of you, the painful stretch from being folded as you were a delicious burn with the extra pressure forcing you to stretch further.

You stayed like that for a while, both panting. Only when you were slowly coming back to your senses did you feel a sharp pain in your back from what must have been a particularly jagged stone. Ah, you thought you were probably bleeding on it, feeling something sticky.

“Bannockburn” you breathed out softly.

The pressure was off of you almost immediately and he let go of your wrists and kneeled up, pulling out with a soft sigh leaving both of you at the feeling. He was quick to tuck himself in before his hands were back on you, gentle this time, fixing your dress and rubbing at all the spots he had marked.

“C’mere bonnie, ye did so well. Hurting anywhere I need tae look at?”

He looked at your back when you told him, laying soft kisses of apology on you as he cleaned it up. You used to tease Johnny for the little first aid kit he always had strapped to the back of his jeans whenever you went out, but it was coming in incredibly handy. Your panties were toast and he sheepishly tucked the remnants of them into his pocket before getting you to unsteady feet.

“Creeping Jesus, I’ve made a right mess out of ye” he said with a bashful sort of grin, doing his best to try and fix your hair.

“Hmm, s’ok” you replied, still a little hazy.

He kissed you soundly and then gave you an absolute squeeze of a cuddle before scooping you into his arms in a princess carry.

“Let’s get ye all tucked up in the car then we can have a bath and dinner when we’re home eh?”

You nodded and nuzzled into his chest to get comfortable. He would take care of you, he always did.

–

John MacTavish didn’t know how he got so lucky. Not any woman would be softly dozing off in his arms after what he had just put you through. Fuck you were beautiful all of the time, but when you were like this? Fucked out and marked up but achingly soft for him in the afterglow? Jesus, he loved you. He would love you forever, through lifetimes.

He’d explain obviously, he should really have warned you how hard he was going to go, that should have been pre-negotiated. But he had been so wound up. Fucking Simon Riley and his little comments about you, winding him up by putting thoughts in his head about how demure an English man could get you. It should have just made him laugh and shove at him, instead it made his blood boil and his cock hard and he had taken it out on you. You had let him, you always did until either of you thought it wasn’t safe.

He paused on his way out of the woods with you, considering waking you so you could see the little glade he had come upon. It was pretty as anything, almost felt like hallowed ground with a giant stone right in the middle. Something about it called to an ancient longing within him. Fuck. He wanted to marry you out here. Was that ridiculous? Maybe just post orgasm stupidity.

Still as he settled you in the car and took you home so he could love you properly, he thought maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

–

“Fuck, Johnny.”

Simon Riley was an Englishman through and through. Everytime he stepped into battle it was to strike down those who would oppose his King and country. Yet he had left the battlefield. He had tracked into the woods, to where he knew MacTavish had crawled off to die. He found him leant against the stone that sat in the centre of a glade. Of course this is where he would want to die. Not on the battlefield, but here. The place he had married you. The place they both had.

“Ye come tae watch it for yerself Si?” Johnny said with a laugh that turned to a hacking cough.

“Course. Been trying to kill you for years, not about to miss it.”

Simon sat next to him, both of them looking at the sunlight filtering through the trees. It was peaceful here. Maybe in another lifetime they would not have been enemies. Maybe in another lifetime they could have been brothers.

“Ye’ll look after her until I can find her again?”

“Always.”

#mhairiwrites #cod #cod au #fanfic #john soap mactavish x reader #soap x reader #john mactavish x reader #look I am very much implying that Simon is going to get in on this action #I used all my smut braincells on Savage so the smut is not really hitting as good #had to let some of the angst braincells out for a bit or it wasn't going to get written #personally I think having Bannockburn as a safeword was sick and twisted of me <3

298 notes · View notes

spann-stann · 4 months

Text

Setting Blurb: Hoppe City

Nestled snugly in the Hanami Planum, Hoppe City is the largest human settlement on the dwarf planet Ceres, and the de facto capital of free market civilization. Everywhere you go, after stepping off the Rags to Riches interplanetary spaceport (and casino resort) the planet's rich mineral wealth rewards those that were the first to claim it. From the many facilities for mining and refining what lies below Ceres' crust to the luxury estates and skyscrapers of those that made it big (never mind the slums in Refoogietown), Hoppe City and Ceres as a whole would reward those that would work for it.

As the inner solar system was being colonized by the three human powers in the late 2300s, ambitious eyes turned towards the asteroid belt and saw only opportunity. It was only a matter of time before the many construction projects in the inner system created a demand for resources that only the Belt could supply. The first ones to seize the Belt would reap the rewards. CorpEmp and the W.C.O.F. would dispatch a few expeditions to the Belt, and a swarm of independent miners would stake their claim in the untapped riches floating between Mars and Jupiter. The largest contributor to the Belt Rush would be the United Markets, and the largest of the U.M. settlers came from the Hoppean subculture.

The U.M. back on Earth was growing too corpocratic and libertine for the more socially conservative Hoppeans, and what available real estate there was was either too crowded for their tastes or would become so at an uncomfortable taste. Several thousand Hoppeans began to pool resources and capital together in the 2350s to settle, mine, and develop a plot of the Cerean surface, with the first families given stewardship over plots purchased by a secondary wave of Hoppeans staying behind to continue financing the colony back on Earth. Each family would be responsible for either mining their plot, providing a service for the other settlers, or develop for future use. Everyone also had to pitch in to buy military equipment for security. No freeloaders, no market failures, and definitely no Imps or Commies. Reserves could join the settlement proper, or pay triple to hitch a ride and disappear into the icy crevices to stead all their lonesome. C.P.C. gangsters were shot on sight.

The 2,500 families of the first and second waves (also known as the First Steaders) ratified the Covenant Charter on September 2nd 2355 in a rented Las Vegas convention center, affirming all families' adherence to the Non-Aggression Principle and describing in great detail what is and isn't Aggression. To help retain a united sense of identity, the founding families would model their colony's culture and memetics after the New England Puritans and the Scottish Covenanters of the 16th and 17th centuries, mixed with the stylings of their own brand of anarcho-capitalism. Three years later the first transport craft would land on the site of what would become Hoppe City.

For the next 500 years, the denizens of Hoppe City laid low mining and developing their part of Ceres and keeping an eye on newcomers to their neck of the Belt. The Hoppeans' large volunteer militia kept their colony and the rest of Ceres out of the Belt Wars in the 2600s. Likeminded groups from the U.M. would arrive and establish communities of their own, eventually adopting the Covenanter model of anarchist society. The rest of the U.M.'s subfactions would arrive to stake their own claims of the dwarf planet, with the Hoppeans giving them a wide berth, and wildly divergent Marketeers (NEVER bring up the incident with the Church of Randian Satanism) were treated like they didn't exist. Most individual miners would try their luck in the mines of Hoppe City, tripling the population just in time for the Human-Crystalline War (2801-2885).

As the Crystalline Aliens had a nasty habit of attacking any significant human presence, Ceres' population evacuated to the many underground mining complexes and rode out the war. Hoppe City's private militias remained on-planet in the event of an attack, but a few volunteered to join the rest of U.M. security forces to drive the aliens out of the Solar System. The aliens never touched Ceres, and because of that refugees would flock to the dwarf planet, tripling the population yet again. Most of the refugee population would be moved to the aforementioned mining complexes, they could either wait until it was safe to be relocated (especially CorpEmp and W.C.O.F. populations, and especially after fighting between the two groups), or try their hand at joining the planet's population. This refugee problem, and the threat of alien invasion, would lead to the expansion of the private security industry on Ceres. Many famous firms today had their beginnings in many volunteers that fought the Human-Crystalline War (against alien or refugee gang). The one group the Hoppeans were really wary of were the execs of the megacorps (MicroBucks, Morgan Industries, etc.) from the U.M. core.

Although they were sequestered in their own territories on Ceres, the Hoppeans didn't want the megacorps to start thinking they could run the dwarf planet like the rest of their assets. The descendants of the Founding Steaders (and a few Founding Steaders themselves who used life extension technologies) met with the megacorp execs, and stated that on no certain terms would Ceres be run like the old FVMEs on Earth. Pre-emptive strikes against acts of aggression were perfectly legal according to Covenant Charter, and it would be a shame if the execs did anything that would be considered aggressive. A few execs got the memo and drank the Hoppean kool-aid, or quickly relocated. Sympathetic megacorp employees would also subvert their employers' memetics with that of the Covenanters, bringing them more in line ideologically with the Hoppeans. By the beginning of the 2900s, Ceres and especially Hoppe City, would become the industrial and economic capital of the United Markets.

With the alien threat removed and their competition suborned, the Hoppeans and Ceres did what they did best: minding their own business and mining. As human settlement expanded into the outer solar system, a few expert miners from Hoppe City went to try their hand at establishing daughter colonies in the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn. An even smaller few went out to stake their claims in the Extrasolar Territories. The Transhuman Wars were the only conflicts of the 31st century that the Hoppeans would get involved due to --DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES BRING UP THE TRANSHUMAN WARS OR THE ACTIONS OF HOPPE HEDONICS IN HOPPE CITY - NEVER BRING UP THE TRANSHUMAN WARS - THERE WERE NO CATGIRLS - HOPPE HEDONICS NEVER PRODUCED CATGIRLS - UNDER THE REVISED COVENANT CHARTER OF 3106 ANY MENTION OF CATGIRLS CONSTITUTES AN ACT OF AGGRESSION-- in what would become know as Refoogie Town in the first layer of exhausted mining complexes below the city proper.

By the rise of CorpEmp's 5th ruling Dynasty, Hoppe City is an icy jewel that seems to only shine brighter. Most of Ceres by this point is "governed" (a dirty word in the U.M.) in covenants similar to Hoppe City, and Hoppean Scots has become the lingua franca of the myriad communites in the Asteroid Belt. Ceres has also emerged as the Mecca for developments in brine mining technology. Thousands of fortunes are made, lost, and won back daily in Hoppe City. In spite of all their history and achievements, however, there is one thing. One little frustrating thing that comes to most non-Cereans' minds first when asked to think about Hoppe City...

#my setting #setting #worldbuilding #United Markets #Hoppe City

7 notes · View notes

sunshinexloftx · 2 years

Text

I've spent these last few days going from sadness to angry over Her Royal Highness The Queen Elizabeth death and the certain reactions and vile comments made about her. But I also see these comments for what they are, uneducated and they come from a place of hurt. I am aware of what the British Empire stands for to many people out there. And while there is many parts of my history (I'm scottish, not English but still considered british) I'm proud of, there is also a lot that sickens and shames me. And I think that to those people who have been hurt by the British Empire it is easy to blame the queen she is the only one that lived to this time to blame, and I'm not going to pretend that the monarchy didn't benefit from the colonisation, but the Queen was not a colonisers. So I would like to remind and or educate some to the accomplishments of My Queen, Britain's Queen, THE Royal Highness, Queen Elizabeth The Second.

Queen Elizabeth inherited the Crown in 1952, and by that time the Monarchy had very little power and authority. But she used what power and sway she had to do incredibly good things.

When in 1939 the Second World War broke out, Princess Elizabeth was only 13 years old. And when Buckingham Palace was Bombed, Her Father and Mother refused to leave their people and in doing so they choose to remain, but sent their two daughter away to safety. In 1944 Princess Elizabeth wanted to enlist and Help her people and country, when she came of age, of course her father was against that, as a father who didn't want his daughter in danger but also as the King who couldn't have his Heir in danger. Our Princess did not allow that to stop her and In 1945, when she was 18, Elizabeth was given permission to join the military effort. She joined the Women's Auxiliary Territory Service (ATS), and trained as an auto mechanic. And while that was not a combat role is was still an important and vital role, it also came with risks and danger, as at least 335 members of the ATS, were killed during the war.

A funny story, after the war in 1945, when Princess Elizabeth was 19 and her sister Princess Margaret was 14, they snuck into the streets of london and celebrated with their people, by dancing (Princess Margaret did the hokey pokey and took part in the chant of "we want the king" at the Palace railing. They both also took part and danced the conga through the ritz hotel . And shockingly none of the brits realised that it was their princesses among them)

In 1952 the British Empire was in rapid decline, with former colonies breaking away declaring themselves independent states, starting with India in 1947. And while the the process of the Commonwealth began in the late 19th century, it was really Queen Elizabeth that guided the country through a rapid acceleration of the process.

When in 1952 Queen Elizabeth was crowned, the Commonwealth has only eight member states, but today, there is 54 member states. Which means Queen Elizabeth seen to a process in which practically the entire British Empire transformed into a voluntary association of sovereign nations. Her own authority became largely ceremonial, and the British "empire" is down to just a few islands scattered around the globe, which I believe should have their choice of whether to stay or leave.

The Kingdom of England dates back thousand of years, and Elizabeth was one in a line of monarchs that dates back to 1066, when william the conqueror invaded the island. (That was Elizabeth line, not to be confused with the English and the Scottish Monarchy that truthed be told is really confusing to explain but basically the kingdom of England was created in the 10th century by the west saxon Kings when they extended their powers to Southern Britain. And the Scottish Monarchy was started by the first king of Scots Kenneth I MacAlpin ( Cınàed mac Ailpìn), who in 843 founded the Kingdom of Scotland. And then we had what was known as the union of the crown in 1603 when King John VI of Scotland was also crowned King of England due to Queen Elizabeth I of England dying without Heirs or husband so it was given the Scottish King John VI who was her Cousin and he basically became the last true king of Scotland. The unione of crowns also happened before england and scotland became the United Kingdom of britian and was still very much two separate and independent countries. Hope I explained it well but I thought it was important to explain exactly how old the monarchy is and not just The Queen Elizabeth II line in the monarchy.)

When King George VI, Elizabeth father took the throne, there was worry and uncertainty that the monarchy would survive. So while king George VI provided stability to His people, it really was our Queen Elizabeth II that saved the monarchy.

Her Majesty, stabilised the monarchy and modernised it, she was aware that her people wanted to see her so she appeared on television regularly, and spoke directly to the people, her people. She wasn't scared to embrace technology and infact in 2013 it was the Queen herself that sent the first royal tweet, she was also the first ever monarchy to record her Christmas message on film. And her Highness was a Christian, and while her belief caused her to hurt her loved ones (Princess Margaret and not allowing her to marry her love due to him being a divorcee, that she later came to regret deeply) she evolved and adjusted her approach to divorce, accepting that it was common and evening allowing and approving it to happen in her own family, her three out of four children are divorced. And allowing her grandson to marry a divorcee (harry and meghan). And in 2013 The Queen gave he approval of same sex marriage by signing the legislation Bill to allow same sex marriage. And When the Crown Act 2013 was passed it was known to be hugely due to her Majesty cooperation and influence. The Crown Act 2013 was important and symbolical as it, as it ended centuries of English history of the eldest son of a monarch being heir to the throne even if he had an older sister. So you know a great step on gender equality.

She was also the first ever monarch to address the Congress, it was in 1991 and by the THREE standing ovations it was a success.

The relationship between the Republic of Ireland and The British is a hard one to speak about. The conflict between the Irish and the brits was bloody and bitter. The English dominated the Irish for centuries and was the cause of the rift between the southern and northern island causing death, blood and war. Southern Ireland broke away and because the Republic of Ireland. (And if any Irish are reading this I would like say im sorry for scotlands part in it. As a scot I love Ireland, its country, its people, its language and scenery basically everything about it, and I hate to be one of those people, but my grandfather on my mother's side is a direct desendents of Irish parents who immigrated to Scotland, and my grandmother of my mother side grandparents immigrated to Scotland from Ireland,tho my father's side is completely scotland for hundreds of generations, so I'm not claiming to be Irish, I'm just proud of that fact)

The relation between the Republic of Ireland and britian, their previous imperial master, were marked by violence and death for decades and it resulted in a war between both sides of Ireland cause so much pain that is still felt to this day.

Which made Queen Elizabeth II's state visit to Ireland in 2011 an incredible achievement. She was the first monarch to make an official visit to the island since its independence.

her somber appearance at the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin was a sensation in Ireland. She placed a wreath at the monument to those who died fighting the U.K. for Irish freedom and bowed her head respectfully. Many Irish took this as a subtle signal that the Queen acknowledged her own country's misdeeds.

According to The Guardian, the trip and the gesture made Queen Elizabeth II incredibly popular in a country that typically despised the monarchy as a former oppressor. The trip was an incredible achievement, especially considering that the queen had no true political power and somehow reset relations between the two countries simply by showing respect.

One of Queen Elizabeth's greatest achievements was a cumulative one: the sheer amount of effort she put into supporting various charities. She arguably did more for charity than any other monarch in history.

Queen Elizabeth was credited with being one of the greatest supporters of charity work in the world. According to Borgen Magazine, she supported more than 600 charities in Britain (the royal family as a whole officially supports nearly 3,000 charities around the world). The queen was responsible at least in part for raising an eye-popping £1.4 billion (close to $2 billion). The queen made it a special focus of her life to help reduce poverty.

While many don't like how expensive it is to uphold the monarchy and how the people have to pay for them, the Queen herself after a traditional waiver was lifted in the 1990s, moved quickly to pay taxes on royal income that had been exempt for years, according to Town and Country Magazine. And British Heritage notes that by getting rid of expensive things like the royal yacht, she was able to reduce the cost of the royal family by several million pounds annually.

one of the great and severy overlooked and just plain ignored achievements of the queen was the quiet work she did over the years to support racial equality and advancement in the world.

Queen Elizabeth's work began in her early years. In 1961, she danced with the president of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, a Black man. This outraged many racists both in her own kingdom and the larger Commonwealth, but the queen was resolute in her support of equality. And she worked behind the scenes to get the Commonwealth to condemn South Africa's apartheid system, only to be stymied by her own prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, who opposed the statement for reasons both personal and political.

And Margaret Thatcher was a grade A bitch who no one liked and when she died all of britian had street party's and bon fires, the song "ding dong the witch is dead" was number one, so that tells you all you need to know about her.

the queen also supported the Black Lives Matter movement.

Queen Elizabeth has been credited with using her influence to pressure the South African government over its institutionalized racist segregation. Former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, for instance, has described her as a "behind-the-scenes force" in helping to bring an end to South African apartheid. She worked behind the scene in the case of South Africa to offer encouragement to Nelson Mandela.

"When Queen Elizabeth gave Royal Assent to The Race Relations Act 1968, an Act of the Parliament making it illegal to refuse housing, employment, or public services to a person on the grounds of colour, race, ethnic or national origins in Great Britain; Queen Elizabeth wrote into the Commonwealth Charter that racial equality is a cornerstone of membership. A cornerstone she respected by backing African Leaders in the expulsion and sanctioning of Apartheid South Africa, that almost toppled the British Government, as HMTQ was in direct conflict with Margaret Thatcher, who wanted South Africa’s natural resources.

From 1953 to 1968 Queen Elizabeth dismantled the Imperial Court of the United Kingdom, ending its practices of refusing to employ people of colour in household positions. The Duke of Edinburgh was instrumental to these changes, famously penning a letter describing his disgust at the way the Maori people were being treated by New Zealand. A disgust he made very clear on his many visits to both Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, where he made many enemies by championing the lives of indigenous peoples. Something still celebrated today in the Pacific Islands, for instance on the visit to the Pacific islands by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who were given a traditional greeting of being carried on thrones as a mark of respect. The Duke and Duchess, despite appearing uncomfortable, respected these local traditions so as not to be insensitive and dismissive of a different culture.

The Commonwealth is Queen Elizabeth’s most cherished organisation due to its ability to navigate the political landscape, ensuring the flow of the most precious resource, knowledge. This ability of course is a reflection of Queen Elizabeth’s ability to ride over petty politics and enormous egos of politicians. Her leadership in fighting discrimination and racism in real terms through the Commonwealth Charter set her apart from other world leaders in the West, who would take another 20-30 years to catch up and in the case of the United States it took until 2022 to decide lynching is a Federal crime! "

(The last two paragraphs in quote marks, is not my own word but one I got from Duke Pantalaimon’s Blog, the links not working but it's a lovely blog and full of interesting articles.)

And to finish my post I would like to share a story I've just learned about the queen.

There is a man called michael fagan, and if anyone is reading this you should definitely google him. He broke in to Buckingham Palace twice. The first time, he wandered about eating cheese and crackers, got bored and left. But the second time happend, same year 1982, he simmed up a drain pipe and broke into the queen bedroom, where she was laying in her bed. He was going to cut his wrists In front of her, but she thankfully managed to get security.

There has been three known assassination attempts made on the queen. Once in a train, involving putting a log on the tracks, once on horse when a man fired six shot at her and she managed to keep her seat on the horse while police sorted the man and once at a public appearance overseas, where thankfully then was to far away.

Princess Ann also had a kidnapping attempt which led to 5 people being shot. She managed to keep her calm and have a reasonable conversation with the man and calmly telling him she wasn't going with him, she speaks out that on a interview, if you YouTube it.

Her Majesty the Queen, has served britian with devotion, faith and strength and we thank her for that. Not everyone has to like her, but a bit on human decency wouldn't go amis.

Thank you, your Highness, for all that you did, for all that you were and all that you stood for. God bless you, you promised to serve us until you died and you did. I will be forever thankful for you devotion to our country. Be at rest with your dear Philip, we will carry on.

#queen elizabeth ii #monarchy #prince and princess of wales #colonists #britishempire #historical #the crown #meghan and harry #colonizers

59 notes · View notes

rabbitcruiser · 1 year

Text

National Fried Chicken Day

Make your own, or gather your friends and family around a big bucket of your favorite fried chicken and indulge in the greasy, meaty, tasty goodness.

The bird gets the spotlight on National Fried Chicken Day, and stomachs are rumbling already. Move over vegetarians, there’s a deep-fried chicken leg and breast coming this way!

Learn about National Fried Chicken Day

Fried chicken, otherwise known as Southern fried chicken, is a dish that features different chicken pieces that have been coated in a seasoned batter. After which, they are either pressure fried, deep-fried, or pan-fried. The breading creates a crisp crust or coating to the exterior of the meat while ensuring the juices are kept inside. Broiler chickens are most commonly used.

There is no denying that fried chicken is one of the best and most popular types of comfort food enjoyed all around the world. It may be greasy, but it is indulgent and very tasty! Today, we are able to enjoy this dish for a very cheap price, and it does not matter where in the world you go, you will be able to enjoy fried chicken on the menu! However, this was not always the case. In fact, fried chicken was deemed an expensive delicacy until the Second World War. However, thanks to mass production techniques, this is no longer the case! Phew!

There are a number of reasons why we all love National Fried Chicken Day. Of course, the main reason is that we have the perfect excuse to eat as much fried chicken as we want and we don’t have to feel guilty about it! It is also a dish whereby your manners can go out of the window.

There is no need to use a knife and fork when you are tucking into fried chicken! You can also get many different varieties of fried chicken to select from today. This includes everything from extra crispy to spicy fried chicken. Friend chicken can also be cooked in many different varieties of oil. This includes peanut oil, lard, vegetable shortening, and much more!

There are a lot of different variants of fried chicken that have been released. This includes hot chicken, which is common in the Tennessee area of Nashville. This is a variant that is pan-fried and is coated with a cayenne pepper and lard paste. Popcorn chicken has also become very popular. This can also be referred to as chicken bits. These are small, ball-shaped pieces of boneless chicken. They are battered and fried, resulting in a dish that looks like popcorn, hence the name! Or, what about Barberton chicken? This was created by immigrants from Serbia in Barberton, Ohio. the dish is now very popular throughout the state and it is sometimes called Serbian Fried Chicken.

Another reason why it is important to pay tribute on National Fried Chicken Day is that this dish had very humble beginnings. In fact, it acted as a way of empowering slaves. They were able to make their own independent flow of money by selling it. As chickens were the only animals that slaves were allowed to own and raise, this dish became very popular before the Civil War broke out.

History of National Fried Chicken Day

In order to really understand the history of this day, we need to understand the history of fried chicken. A lot of people are surprised to learn that this is a type of food that can be dated as far back as Roman Times. This is because there was a recipe for deep-fried chicken in Apicius, which was a Roman cookbook from the 4th century. The dish was called Pullum Frontonianum.

In terms of the expression “fried chicken” itself, this has been traced back to the 1830s. You will see this term used regularly throughout the cookbooks that were released in America during the 1860as and the 1870s. In the southern states of the United States, this dish can be traced back to precedents in West African and Scottish cuisine.

The fried chicken from West Africa involved the chicken being seasoned, battered, and then cooked in palm oil. The Scottish version involved the chicken being cooked in fat, however, it was not seasoned. As mentioned earlier, it was also a way for segregated and enslaved people to make money independently.

National Fried Chicken Day has been observed yearly for quite some time now. On this day, fried chicken is prepared and cooked in a number of different ways. Some fried chicken restaurants will have promotions running on this date. This includes the likes of KFC and Church’s Chicken. We have also seen that this date is celebrated across the world now as well.

For example, in Australia, in 2018, KFC gave people the chance to win free fried chicken for an entire year. In order to enter the contest, you were required to make a post on social media that stated the different reasons why you deserved to be the winner of this tasty prize! The person who won the prize was a 19-year-old who got the KFC logo tattooed on her foot. Her friend did the same as well, so let’s hope they shared the fried chicken!

How to celebrate National Fried Chicken Day

There are a lot of different ways that you can celebrate National Fried Chicken Day. Of course, heading to your favorite fried chicken restaurant is the perfect way to ensure that this day is a success. You can grab some of your friends and loved ones and tuck into your favorite bucket of chicken.

If you are feeling a little bit adventurous and you want to make sure that you enjoy the best of the best, you need to be the chef of the kitchen! Why not have a go at creating your own friend chicken creation? There are lots of great recipes on the Internet today, so you can easily find one to follow!

To add more pizzazz to the day, coat the legendary southern food in spices and yell “Yeehaw!” Cover the chicken with a mixture of cayenne pepper, garlic powder and paprika to put the spring back in the step. A little hot sauce? Sure, let’s go all out! Serve the mouth-watering fried food with chicken gravy to up the yum-factor even more.

Pair the succulent bird with waffles for a classic combo. Or, why not make chicken the star of the show and add a tasty side dish? Lip-smacking sides include buttermilk biscuits, cold potato salad or coleslaw. With fried chicken on the plate, the taste is sure to taste clucking good!

You could become everyone’s favorite person on National Fried Chicken Day by treating your co-workers to some fried chicken. All you need to do is order a few family-sized buckets and you will put a big smile on everyone’s face. This is definitely the best way to give your chances of being Employee of the Month a boost!

Source

4 notes · View notes

moviedungarees · 1 year

Text

The Banshees Of Inisherin was a very complex movie. At first it seemed like a dark comedy centered around two friends living on an Irish island where everything is boring, and nothing ever happens. Even after the whole story has ended, nothing has changed, there was nothing that would drastically change the way people live on this island.

But still it feels like everything has changed. Nothing will ever be like it was before. And everything happened because of a huge misunderstanding and stubbornness.

Then comes the second layer - the metaphor, and the Irish Civil War of 1923, where two sides fought for independence from England, but one side wished to stay in a British Commonwealth, and the other side wished to be entirely free of any outside influence. Both sides fought for the same idea of being it's own country, yet still, because of being stubborn and hotheaded, for a year a bloody war took place on and off, resulting in nothing but meaningless deaths of young people.

Finally, I think it's a perfect analysis of a conflict in general. Every war, every fight starts with at least two different opinions, which often can be brought together if only we listened to each other and tried to put ourselves in a position of the other side.

Beside this, the movie is done in a perfect manner, landscapes are breathtaking, colors are coherent and the sound and music are only enhancing the overall moody climate of a lonely Irish island. It's all done well, and by the book, but not well enough to win any prize in my opinion.

The acting on the other hand should and probably will win some categories they are nominated in, because the actors reached the top heights of the art of acting, from the body language to the actual language - I just adore the Scottish accent, even though I, for once, needed subtitles more than I usually do. The simplicity of Pádraic, and melancholy of Colm are unimaginably well presented, and the judgement over them from Pádraic's sister, Siobhán is the best single representation of sassy wise woman on screen I've seen in a long time.

I said it's a dark comedy, but actually it's a comedy in the name only, because none of the jokes are funny for the sake of being funny, they are rather poking us and showing our own foolishness. At the same time, they keep the whole movie more entertaining, like a spoon of honey after bitter medicine. The movie bluntly says: "You're idiots for not listening to each other. Here's a man falling on his face, ha, ha, ha."

Overall it's just an amazing social commentary and a great movie.

See you in the audience!

~ Movie Dungarees

19 notes · View notes

lindyloosims · 2 years

Text

So who caved first, Truss or the lettuce?

The only political thing I will ever say on this blog is this:

For a short time in the early 1980′s, Liz Truss went to a Primary School in Paisley, Scotland and one Halloween she went dressed as Margaret Thatcher. Now this would have been during the time of the miners strikes and the Falklands war. What I’m getting at here is that she’s lucky to be alive after showing up to a school in Paisley as the devil incarnate, Thatcher was not well liked all over the UK as a whole but she was absolutely despised in Scotland. She shut down the shipbuilding industry here making our country practically a ghost town and we were her guinea pigs for the poll tax when it was first introduced. She hated us just as much as we grew to hate her. Also Scotland hasn’t voted Tory since 1955 and the rest of the world, including England (sorry but it’s true), wonder why Scotland wants independence?

You may say, but you had a referendum in 2014, you voted no. Most of the people who voted no did so under false pretences, they were lied to like Boris lied about the hundreds of millions that would go into the NHS on his blunder bus during Brexit. Others, like the elderly, thanks to a lot of scaremongering, feared for their pensions. We were told that if we voted yes we would be forced out of the European Union and the only way to remain was to vote no. In 2016 62% of Scots voted remain in the Brexit referendum, we wanted to stay but because we are “part of the UK” our votes counted for nothing and we were forced out of the EU. You may also say, but the independence referendum was a once in a lifetime thing, you had your chance and you said no, well it was but wouldn’t you say all bets are off when we are not given what we were promised? When we vote for one thing and get another? Plus our then Scottish First Minister was the one who signed a document stating that he would never call for another referendum should we vote no, hence once in a lifetime, so he resigned. Our current First Minister, who is calling for a second referendum, signed no such thing. She was elected to power by the Scottish people under this promise: “The SNP Government was elected in an explicit manifesto pledge that the Scottish Parliament should have the right to consider an independence referendum if Scotland is faced with the threat of being dragged out of the EU against its will.” Now the Westminster government are telling her no, that now is not the time. They’ve been telling her this since Theresa May was Prime Minister. Now the current shambles of a Prime Minister says the only way to deal with our First Minister is to ignore her. Ignore a leader that was elected into the position she has today by the people of her country, unlike Liz Truss who was chosen as the lesser of two evils by Tory party members!

So to those now grown up kids who were in Thick Lizzie’s class, I say this: Well done on your strong will powers, it might have taken forty years but you may just have freed your country with that one act of self reserve! We’re about to have a third Prime Minister in one year, she’s gone and fucking resigned! Is it any wonder that Scotland wants out?

I will also say this, Scotland is not anti English, this is not an attack on England and it never was. Scotland is anti Westminster, a government that we never voted for telling us what we can and cannot do. Sneering and laughing at us and treating us like something on the bottom of their shoe. Anyone who watches what goes on in the Commons can see how our SNP MPs are treated with contempt every time they stand up and open their mouths, the Tories don’t even bother to hide it, we’re nobodies...but they sure do love draining us dry of the plentiful resources we provide, but that is another story. Because of my stance on this subject I’ve been constantly shouted at, unionists cannot have a calm conversation with you, all they can do is shout and be aggressive, I’ve had the words nationalist scum spat in my face many times, and my best friend has literally been physically spat on when she was in England during the indy ref and someone heard her Scottish accent, that was her crime, her accent. She was passing that person in the street talking on her phone and he just gobbed on her out of nowhere! I leave you with the wise words of the amazing Scottish actor, Peter Mullan, who sums up the feelings of the majority. Sorry for this rant, but I’m sure a lot of people don’t know much of this, they just see us as English hating scrounging jocks which we are not! We gave you the television, the telephone, penicillin and many other wonderful things. A man in Skelmorlie on the west coast of Scotland invented the Vanish line with soap! We’re not stupid, we’re not English hating yobs, we’re just tired and we want fairness! Something we will never get under Westminster rule!

Neighbours not Masters! Sounds fair no?

#nonsims #non sims #scottish politics #the only thing I will ever say on the matter #political post #lengthy post #no nasty comments thanks #just scroll by

12 notes · View notes

scotianostra · 1 year

Text

On May 28th 1333 Edward III's army maintained their land siege of the town of the beleaguered town Berwick.

Using a variety of siege engines and perhaps some primitive hand canons which were beginning to make their appearance but Berwick was still holding out so Edward III sent an army into the Berwick hinterland to burn and pillage. A ship attack was tried from the sea which was unsuccessful, as a result the town was blockaded from the sea.Edward Balloil was part of this army, his father was the man the English had made King after, Edward himself held the throne from 1333 til 36 although has never been officially recognised as King he was deposed and regained a number of times during this time, the events at Berwick were all leading up to The Battle of Halidon Hill in July.

Berwick and it's castle must have been a formidable place in it's day as you can see by this reconstruction.

#scotland #scottish #england #english #the disinherited #second war of scottish independence #history #medieval history

17 notes · View notes

cromwellrex2 · 1 year

Text

The New Model Army Defiant: ‘What were the lords of England but William the Conqueror’s colonels or the barons but his majors?’

Cromwell and Fairfax Choose Sides

The Farmer Who Ruled England by Ron Embleton. Source: Look And Learn magazine #51 (5th January 1963).

BY THE SPRING of 1647, the split between the Presbyterian faction that dominated Parliament and the New Model Army had widened into a chasm. The Army was fundamentally opposed to Parliament’s intention to disband most of its units, save for an expeditionary force to be sent to Ireland, with its months of wage arrears unpaid and with no indemnity granted to soldiers for actions taken during the war. The Army was also suspicious at what it perceived as the marginalisation by the Presbyterians of its popular leading commanders, Sir Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell, and nervous at the apparent negotiations between Parliament and the King which they believed could see Charles re-established with full royal authority on his throne, with potentially dire consequences for those commoners who had raised arms against him. The Independents were therefore assuming more and more influence amongst the middle ranking officers and the ordinary soldiery, leading to an increased militancy, not just against a Parliamentary faction that the men believed sought to swindle them out of their due, but also against an aristocratic ruling order they saw being reimposed and which many had hoped the war had rid them of. This led to the soldiers to begin to elect so-called “Agitators” to represent their interests to Parliament. The Agitators were more akin to shop stewards than the term’s modern connotation of persuasive political radicals, and indeed one of the first actions of the new militancy was for the Army to go on strike in April 1647.

The strike manifested itself as a refusal to serve in Ireland without the soldiers’ back pay being met, legal indemnities for their actions during the fighting being issued and, significantly an insistence that the Irish expedition be led by Cromwell and Fairfax. The two commanders were in an invidious position: Fairfax remained Parliament’s commander-in-chief and Cromwell was a sitting MP. Both men privately sympathised with the strikers. Cromwell attempted to broker an agreement between Parliament and the Agitators, but the situation spiralled out of control when on 25th May, Parliament announced the disbanding of the New Model Army with the exception of the force to travel to Ireland. The Army’s response was to muster in Newmarket, a show of strength that took the Presbyterians aback who, apart from the Trained Bands in London, had no military forces of their own to deploy against what was beginning to look like an organised mutiny. The Agitators then issued their own demand that the eleven MPs who had signed the disbandment order should themselves be removed from the Commons.

This development led to Cromwell’s moment of truth. Instinctively, he was a social conservative, very wary of the radical elements of the Army, but equally he owed a debt of blood to the soldiery whom he had commanded, fought with and led to extraordinary victories. His ultimate decision was made easier by his enemies in Parliament who believed him to be, at best, tolerant of the radical Independents in the Army and at worst, their cynical manipulator. As the Presbyterians’ negotiations with Charles threatened to being Scottish troops back into England to take on the New Model Army, Cromwell resigned his Parliamentary seat and cast his lot in with the military. What followed was the most audacious move in an extraordinary career that would one day make Cromwell king of England in all but name. Following a shadowy and never proven meeting between Cromwell and his immediate officers over lunch at an inn in Drury Lane, on 2nd June, a relatively junior Agitator named George Joyce, a second lieutenant, or “Cornet” in the New Model Army cavalry, led a troop of 500 horse to Holdenby House.

Joyce was met with suspicion by the military force guarding the King at Holdenby and they refused his demands to release Charles into his custody. The enterprising Joyce then forced his way into the startled King’s bed chamber and insisted Charles accompany him to London. The King, sensing something was afoot, and having obtained assurances from Joyce he would not be harmed or compelled to do anything against his conscience, agreed. The Parliamentary guard, unwilling to take on a numerous force of New Model troopers stood down and Joyce took charge of the King. An intrigued, and quite possibly amused, Charles enquired by what authority Joyce was taking him into custody. Joyce, clearly discomfited by Charles’ persistence, obfuscated, and replied transferring the King to the care of the Army, was necessary to secure peace in the Kingdoms. When Charles continued, asking Joyce “by what commission you have” to take his action, the exasperated officer turned and indicated his mounted soldiers. “By this commission, sir,” he replied. The King acknowledged the new reality under which his realm was now ruled. “It is as fair a commission and as well written as I have seen a commission written in my life.” he allegedly remarked. On 7th June, Joyce handed Charles into the charge of Fairfax and Cromwell. The rebellious New Model Army not only now had the unequivocal support of its much loved wartime commanders, it had the King as well.

Cromwell, Fairfax and the King all now proceeded to Newmarket where the Army remained under arms. Cromwell encouraged the formation of an Army Council to, in effect, administer the rebellious force, independent of any form of Parliamentary control. Parliament quickly realised the seriousness of the situation it was faced with: failure to compromise could lead to its overthrow by the Army. They quickly conceded the Army Council’s demands : the disbandment order was rescinded, the hated eleven signatories resigned their seats and pay arrears were agreed to be met in full. Cromwell now found himself in the position of being able to seek a settlement to bring the civil war to a conclusion but mandated by neither King nor Parliament to do so. There followed a period of intense negotiation with Charles under which Cromwell and Henry Ireton were prepared to reject the Newcastle Propositions and the Solemn League and Covenant, restore Royal privilege and crush the radicals in the army in return for religious toleration, biennial Parliaments and an amnesty for the those who had fought for Parliament. The only significant concession the Independents asked of Charles was his agreement to end episcopacy. An unlikely partial Royalist victory was within Charles’ grasp if he could bring himself to agree to the generous terms, known as the Heads of Proposals, on offer.

At the same time as, crab like, a settlement of England’s constitutional crisis seemed at last possible, political opinion was hardening not only within the ranks of the New Model Army, but also within a series of disparate low church groups for whom “toleration” was simply the start. They were spear headed by a remarkable group of radical egalitarians known as “The Levellers”. These proto socialists rejected monarchical and aristocratic privilege; sought the break up of aristocratic-owned estates and their redistribution to yeoman farmers; wished Parliament to be the depository of popular as opposed to kingly sovereignty, and promoted sexual equality and the rights of women. The Levellers also believed in the intrinsic correctness of social equality under God, and advocated for commerce and small business at the expense of inherited wealth and land ownership. It is possible that the Levellers could have ultimately been dismissed as one of several short lived seventeenth century utopian and extreme religious groups such the Diggers, the Ranters, the Quakers and the Proclaimers, but, crucially, they possessed intellectual heft in the shape of their leaders, William Welwyn, Richard Overton and “Honest” John Lilburne, and a power base within the Army which could not be ignored. In the autumn of 1647, the Levellers were to be one of the most influential elements in a fascinating episode in England’s radical history: the so-callled Putney Debates.

#english civil war #british history #parliament #oliver cromwell #thomas fairfax #Charles I #the levellers #radical history

5 notes · View notes

rachelbethhines · 2 years

Text

60 Years of Doctor Who Anniversary Marathon - Troughton 2nd Review

On a Pedestal - Short Story

This story was another mini history lesson for me. As an American, who’s never seen Braveheart, I knew fuck all about William Wallace. I didn’t know who he was, what he did, or what he was known for. I didn’t even know what time period he lived in. Which made things a little confusing as the author clearly expects you to know these basics going into the story.

Today’s Short Trip comes from the anthology The Quality of Leadership. The central theme of the book is the Doctor meeting various leaders through out time and space. Hence where William Wallace comes in; the leader of The First War of Scottish Independence.

Aboard the Tardis, Jamie and Victoria have an argument over the historical figure. As a Scotsman who has fought the British army himself, Jamie idolizes William Wallace as a hero. While Victoria, an upper-class woman from late Victorian England, has bought into the British propaganda she’s been told her whole life and believes him to be a villain. Only for the Tardis to land them in 13th century Scotland where they get to meet the real William Wallace and both have their preconceptions about the man challenged.

Let’s talk about the things I liked in this story first.

I liked how Jamie’s and Victoria’s backgrounds are used to flesh out their characters. They’re some of the few historical companions to travel with the Doctor, so of course their points of view are informed by how they were raised. Everyone feels completely in character.

I also like how the setting plays into those backgrounds. Jamie is right at home, even if he’s technically centuries in his past, because he has a chance to reconnect with his culture. Victoria is more out-of-place, and believes herself to be from a more ‘advance and civilized’ age, but is then faced with the harsh reality that all that she’s been taught about the British Empire is wrong.

Which is where my problems with the story come in. I know it’s only a story story but I wish the set ups and themes here were pushed even further.

Like I said, the author expects the audience to already know who William Wallace is and what time period he lived in, so there’s not enough effort spent on establishing how out of time Jamie and Victoria really are. Which is something you have to take extra care in establishing since they’re already historical companions.

I also don’t think Victoria was challenged enough on her beliefs. She seems to view Wallace’s injustice in isolation rather than as part of a larger systematic problem. The villainous English officer who hounds them and threatens them is just a bad egg to her mind and not a product of his environment. Therefore, it feels like she’s just sorry that the she’s being separated from the guy she has a crush on instead of learning a valuable lesson on the evils of imperialism.

Which leads to my second complaint. As a Victoria and Jamie shipper, I’m not too fussed over her romance with Wallace. Which just abruptly ends when he has to go on the run from the law, and she has to continue on traveling with the Doctor. He doesn’t even ask her to come with him or anything, so we don’t even get a rejection to resolve the plot point.

All in all, it’s not a bad tale, but I think this is one of the few Short Trips that could have benefited from being a longer story.

#doctor who #second doctor #short trips #jamie mccrimmon #victoria waterfield #patrick troughton #william wallace

6 notes · View notes

dwestfieldblog · 1 year

Text

ABOULIA

So, God save the King eh? At 100 million pounds, his cosplay bash was well worth the moolah…indeed, my bosom swelled with pride to read that Take That, Lionel Richie and two of the Muppets were there to aid the celebrations. Nothing but the best for GB. A few houses around here still have massive British flags hanging down from 2nd floor windows, one has a long string of pennants attached down to a broken wall. Nice metaphor. Those against the monarchy were arrested outside the coronation whether or not they had padlocks, rape alarms and superglue with which to protest. Peaceful protest in a democracy? Stay at home and rant quietly lest thy neighbours report thee. Had a chat with a woman up the street about Brexit and patriotism…who said; ‘The Scottish are Scots, the Welsh are Welsh, the Irish are Irish but the English are British’.

Imagine this mentality multiplied on similar themes all over the world, and we get the current Russian war, Sudan, racists, Arab wars, Trump fans, Chinese ‘communists’, fundamentalists etc, etc. THIS group, OUR group are the most important, enslave the others and if they disagree with such inhuman bondage, punish until pliant or just kill them. Behold, the Elite have become as Gods. Robert Anton Wilson said that he had always taken the viewpoint that sure there was an elite running the world…and it was him and his friends. A more optimystic viewpoint to have, good humour is better for the immune system than hatred, says Dave, arf arf.

Very glad to see Finland join NATO in April, Turkey and Hungary continue to hum and haa over Sweden assession as the former are moaning about Kurds and the latter because of the suspension of EU funds, cancelled due to its dodgy practices…Orban is not really a big fan of democracy…the Trump of Eastern Europe, still trying to stay mates with Vlad. As is Erdogan. Massive human rights violations under him ensured Turkey won’t be getting into the Good Guys club (arf) of the EU anytime soon. However, they are both in NATO (Turkey has the second largest army) and should know far better than to kow tow to Putin on any level. Let’s hope the May 14th election will up seat Racip Tayyip. Get him out, peacefully but surely.

An American parent complained that a school history trip featuring Michelangelo’s statue of David was ‘pornographic’ and suddenly the principal is sacked. One parent. Of a 12-year-old. A modest, circumcised stone penis and testicles is offensive? Must have been a ‘christian’. The western world 2023; Art is pornography now. And Kali bless the NRA. People should be aggressively tested for intelligence before they are allowed to have children. Especially in America. How do these ‘adults’ function on this planet? What next, Mona Lisa veiled because of the curve of her breast and suggestive smile? The masses are dumb partly because they pander to the minority of the dumber.

Apparently, the international arrest warrants for Putin and Maria Belova (Children’s Rights Commissioner (sic) for Baldhead) are ‘outrageous and unacceptable’. Invasion, murder and mass kidnap deportations of children for reprogramming are not decent legal reasons? Ok. Foully rotten to see the two Ruscist slapheads Prigozhin and mad Vlad dick measuring over ammunition and dead bodies. And today, the glorious May Day Victory parade in Moscow featured one tank. Not quite Beijing or Pyongyang standards. ‘The world is at a turning point’ said Vlad, still ranting about the ‘nazis’ in Ukraine. That would be the nazis who democratically elected a Jewish actor as their president. Seems likely huh? And again with ‘the West wants to destroy Russia’ rhetoric. No they don’t Vlad, just you and your band of criminals. You are not Russia.

Xi Jinping in Moscow, still slyly giving tacit and very complicit support for the War as they don’t much approve of areas seeking to remain independent of big brother. (Witness also, their keen support for the mass murdering Myanmar junta) Winnie the Pooh, leader for life just like Putin. Tik Tok/tick tock you bastards. At least Xi seems to have chosen his successor…Surely Mad Vlad is not loopy enough to think the appallingly insane Medvedev could take over? Lock them all together in a bunker with one pistol.

Meanwhile the West must utterly excrete (I said excrete not execute) Trump and Boris. Might just be possible (please Shiva) but unlikely the East will ever get shot of (I said shot of not shoot) Putin and Pooh. As said before in other formats by my hand, the West might be decadent liars and killers but those in the East make us look like clones of the Dalai Lama. How will the world ever move forward into love, peace and net zero? AI has the solution…remove the need for any humanity whatsoever. Or improve and evolve them. Now there’s an idea, quick, trap it, regulate it, drive it underground to build in supressed power…

Boris Johnson swore to tell the whole truth about Partygate but did he FK? He needs to be swamped with lawsuit after lawsuit just like his brother in harm Trump. The perfect empty reality tv stars of the West with Megan Markle as their Victim Queen. Risible Sunak goes to school giving a lecture about the importance of Maths, failing to appreciate the bitter irony of his mis handling of his previous job and the billions lost due to foul pandemic deals, cronies and Brexit. And his own extended family getting business deals via policy….

Conservatives Thatcher and Major led the country for 18 years and the government was a brown shower of corruption by its end, leading to a landslide victory by Tony Blair which kept the Labour party in power (don’t count Gordon Brown) for 13 years, also ending in scandal and corruption. This current gang of criminals and morons of the Tory party have now been in power for 13 years. And this country has been irrevocably ruined by them. (Opinion based on stats and business reports.) There is no possible way Labour can shore up the finances, employment, and health care system of this country in a term or two unless some type of V for Vendetta type crackdown (but this time for real) is enforced. So we will be treated to the sight of bullshitter Boris et al ridiculing the new Government as they wade through a swamp of sewage which they will inherit. Much the same way as the Republicans did when Obama took over the massive deficit they had created and for which they then blamed him.

The holy DAO…a decentralised autonomous organisation free of governmental control and hierarchies, sounds good? As usual, depends on the character of the humans involved. Hierarchies always develop according to variations on the food chain and even an equally skilled pack (animal or man) working as a team will allow pragmatic nature to select a top dog. The round table still reserved the biggest chair for the king. Use nationalism, religion, fear, a cocktail of all three. Never fails. Never will. Kill for your country, protect your family and uphold the common values. (But Sir, what if the common values are based on wilful ignorance due to obviously selectively released information and encouraged prejudice? Questions a timid voice from the back of the class.)

Politicians are advised of underling psychology and act accordingly. The constant daily manipulation of the millions who are seemingly unable to think for themselves, apparently prefer the clearly corrupt to control their reactions for them. Stir the mass, wind them up and watch them go, basing reactions on whipped up emotion rather than actual facts. Country after country, group after group. Still blaming the Bignoses (or, if you are Russian, the Bignoses AND the Nazis, not quite yet understanding their own current actions and words are in no way dissimilar to Nazis.) What are all these poor little racist didums going to do when Soros departs for higher planes? The good Christians will have to get louder about Bill Gates or the dodgy android Zuckerberg. Or Elon…

(Musk says Artificial intelligence is a dangerous thing, while buying into it. ‘Civilisation destruction’ a strong possibility he said, while buying into it. After all, who wants to be left behind in the race to destroy humanity and make money? Loved the beautiful press release from Elon’s people that his spaceship Starship (arf) experienced a ‘rapid unscheduled disassembly before stage separation’. I will call my next mental breakdown that. Unless he has copywritten it already.)

‘If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don’t have to worry about the answers’ Thomas Pynchon Gravity’s Rainbow. The West and East will never stop their chosen methods of manipulation, why should they when they work so well? Millions’ noisy addictive focused attention on the dreams of fake lives in fame and glamour and millions more afraid of the totalitarian knock on the door. Almost all avoiding the question of ‘Who are these whorepigs governing us? ‘And ‘Can any among us truly rule fairly when man lacks consistent self-control?’. The instinct to survive turns into greed, More ! is never satisfied, so faster and faster swirling into the void of absolute entropy upon which leaders have tried to enforce control, but have failed (and will continue to do so) because they have spent centuries hollowing the centre.

‘Democracy is indispensable to socialism’. Lenin, hmmm, he also said: ‘It is true that liberty is precious; so precious that it must be rationed’. Easy to say when your boss has all the gulags. ‘A lie told often enough becomes the truth’, and don’t the leaders on all sides just believe that as an immutable fact? Whereas when one repeats a provable fact, it maintains its structural integrity in the face of unbelieving ridicule That said, even E=MC squared is only a pixel in the cosmic landscape. It is the thoughts of ‘God’ which are the sub atomic particles transforming to waves, once observed by the individual which flow through mirrors of ‘neural pathways’ in all dimensions.

This is me sober, just on Alta Rica coffee in the afternoon, listening to The Stargazers Assistant, Mirrors and Tides, Shivers and Voids on headphones. With a crunchy red apple, just before a colossal rain storm. And a day later with Popol Vuh’s beauty on speakers, trying hard to avoid the crushing aboulia which is now constantly at the door of the heart. Dopamine circuits malfunctioning. When my respect for someone ends, they are Done, never been afraid to cull dead weight and now…it has come round to me. Like best friends, I have given myself many extra undeserved chances but now as Leonard said ‘the evidence accumulates’ and has become overwhelming…Need to do a couple more decent things with a new Will once the overlong and criminal process of inheritance tax is over months from now and then let go.

A lady up my road lost her husband last month to rapid onset dementia; I had met him some weeks before and had a fine thirty-minute conversation on many topics. He had been a gunner in bombers in the second world war and adored music, but during his last two weeks when his wife brought him tapes to the hospital of Mozart et al, he ordered her ‘Turn that noise off’. I had always thought that however ill I would get in the future, as long as I could hear music, there would be still be joy in life. Never occurred to me how the brain can change its mind so definitively about what was Loved.

Shivered.

‘I dream of a government that resembles jury service’. Jaz. Damn right. People who want to serve and improve/evolve society. A group only in temporary power for a fixed length of time before being replaced by similar albeit individual minds. Not years of lying greedy scumbags changing laws to suit their needs and handing out contracts to their mates before checking they can actually deliver. The flaws in this idea remain large and revolve around finding humans who are actually steadfast but flexible, rationally intuitive, good hearted without being wishy washy and strong enough to remain incorruptible by vested interests. Hmm, seems verrry likely. So, just allow nuclear war by arseholes or AI to breed humans the right way. A Matrix Terminator future. Or?

Happy springtime rising into summer, stay healthy, be free, realise in glimpses.

2 notes · View notes

duchessofostergotlands · 2 years

Note

“Boris Johnson has written to Nicola Sturgeon saying he "cannot agree" to hold a second Scottish independence referendum” - this seems like a bad idea lol

Well I'm not sure specifically what you mean about the bad idea thing but it's a hard thing. We can't have a referendum without approval, that's the law. Now we could theoretically just do what we want and declare ourselves independent. Other countries have. And the Tories break international law all the time without concern or consequence. But 1) England would likely refuse to recognise us as an independent country and so I'd imagine some allies would too, possibly the US which would be significant and 2) one of the biggest reasons many people - including myself - voted against independence before but would be happy to have it now is because we could join the EU again. But if we illegally declare ourselves independent we're likely to be met with a battle from some European nations who don't want to send a message to rising independence movements in parts of their own country that they could do the same thing (e.g. Spain). So we would very much be totally on our own.

It's a stupid system. It's like my friend at work who was bullied by our head of HR. You're always told to report complaints to HR but if they're the one bullying you you're fucked. The fact that we can't even vote on independence unless the British government - who we are trying to become independent from - votes in favour is so strange. And one of the common arguments is that we voted not that long ago and it was billed as "once in a lifetime." But when we voted we were part of the EU, and that was actually one of the arguments used by the Better Together campaigners. Then we left. That is the most significant thing in our country's history since perhaps the war, parameters have changed. You can only push people so far before they snap and it’s not going to go away.

#ask #anon #non royal #politics #scotland

7 notes · View notes

long-beach-ca · 2 years

Text

LONG-BEACH-CA

Things to Do in Long Beach CA

There are numerous wonderful things to do in Long Beach. Initially, there is shopping. Long Beach CA has various exceptional stores, consisting of the Pike Outlets and the Shoreline Village. There are also outdoors shopping malls and Retro Row, which is a great place to discover uncommon vintage finds. Second Street is lined with familiar name sellers.

There is likewise bargains of house home entertainment. There are numerous dining centers, video games, and other traveler locations along the waterside. If you have an interest in art, think about having a look at the Long Beach Museum of Art. It includes a Victorian-era interior with an Italian garden and a present store. There are also various beaches in the place, and the city's coastline is an exceptional location to take pleasure in a day at the beach.

The city also hosts a range of annual celebrations and celebrations. The Long Beach Grand Prix is a drawing automobile race through the streets of the city. Other yearly events include the Scottish Event at the Queen Mary and the Original Lobster Event at Rainbow Lagoon. The Long Beach Convention Center also holds various occasions throughout the year.

The Long Beach Museum of Art has a significant permanent collection of over 3,000 art pieces, which are displayed in the museum. The museum similarly hosts short-term screen screens. If you're taking a trip with children, you can take them to the museum to discover local art and culture. For art fans, Long Beach's art museum materials definitely complimentary admission on Friday nights. The museum depends upon the century-old summer home of plentiful benefactor Elizabeth Milibank Anderson.

The Aquarium of the Pacific is another popular area. If you 'd rather invest a day at the beach, you can have a look at the aquarium to see a few of the city's numerous vibrant marine life. You can likewise take a look at the city's finest dining facilities and night life on East Second Street. The Sky Area and the Shenanigan's Café are extraordinary places to invest a night out.

The fish tank is likewise an excellent location for households. It has live animal screens and jellyfish. There are lots of pleasing things to do in Long Beach. Counting on the time of year, you might even have the ability to tape a whale parade. Simply guarantee to use ear security, though!

For something a little less severe, there are a range of definitely complimentary tourist locations to pick from. The East Town Arts District, for instance, lies southwest of the Museum of Latin American Art. It has numerous independent shops and galleries, in addition to relaxing cafe, dining centers, and specialized coffeehouse. Whether you're looking for art, a regional dining facility, or a night out with friends, you'll discover something in Long Beach.

The sundowns over Long Beach are unbelievable. You can enjoy them from a waterside dining center or from a boat cruise. Visitors can likewise get a kick out of the view from Hill Park. From here, you can get a bang out of a romantic picnic with a remarkable view of the city. It's similarly an exceptional idea to take a picnic while enjoying the sun set.

If you're trying to find enjoyable activities, Long Beach's magnificent beaches are an amazing location to invest the day. The city has a range of public parks that you can have a look at to take a stroll. Visitors can also delight in swimming and fishing in the close-by El Dorado East Regional Park. The city is likewise house to popular sightseeing areas, including the Japanese Garden.

Another popular traveler area is the RMS Queen Mary. This historical ocean liner in the beginning set sail from Southampton, England in 1936. The ship was the most considerable vessel in the world for numerous years and hosted dignitaries and royals. It was even active throughout the second World War. Now, the popular ship rests completely in Queensway Bay.

The Long Beach Museum of Art is another pleasant place. Set on a bluff disregarding the ocean, this museum is an outstanding area to value masterpiece. It consists of an outdoors Sculpture Garden, an art studio, and a research study library. The museum similarly hosts routine events and workshops. It's also definitely completely complimentary on Fridays.

Whale watching is another pleasant activity in Long Beach CA. It's complimentary to do, and it's a terrific approach to head out on the water without investing serious money. There are lots of whale seeing cruises that leave from Long Beach, and you can take pleasure in the panoramas of the city and the beach. It's a terrific day on the water and a remarkable technique to loosen up.

Angels Bail Bonds Long Beach 5150 Pacific Coast Highway #200 Long Beach,CA 90804 (562) 326-5045 [email protected] https://angelsbailbonds.com/long-beach/ Mon. - Sun : 24 Hours

2 notes · View notes

longbeachca · 2 years

Text

Things to Do in Long Beach CA

There are numerous wonderful things to do in Long Beach. Initially, there is shopping. Long Beach has various exceptional stores, consisting of the Pike Outlets and the Shoreline Village. There are also outdoors shopping malls and Retro Row, which is a great place to discover uncommon vintage finds. Second Street is lined with familiar name sellers.

Whale watching is another pleasant activity in Long Beach. It's complimentary to do, and it's a terrific approach to head out on the water without investing serious money. There are lots of whale seeing cruises that leave from Long Beach, and you can take pleasure in the panoramas of the city and the beach. It's a terrific day on the water and a remarkable technique to loosen up.

Angels Bail Bonds Long Beach

5150 Pacific Coast Highway #200 Long Beach, CA 90804 (562) 326-5045 https://angelsbailbonds.com/long-beach Mon. - Sun : 24 Hours

2 notes · View notes

swordoaths · 2 years

Text

@bladewarde asked: question for alasdair: when did he know laera was the one? xox

This question has multiple answers, so buckle up! I’m going to break this down by different timelines because I am the way I am.

A special note: Regardless of verse / century, Alasdair and Laera’s love is the symbolic unification of Scotland, more specifically the highlands and lowlands of Scotland. There are extra notations surrounding this unification as related to the historical context of the given period, which I will touch upon below. But in all verses, their love is something that is both the love of themselves and the future and hope of Scotland.

1300s

Alasdair met Laera before he had been given immortality by the thistle and spirit of Scotland. As such, he was simply the son of Eanraig and Lioslaith MacDonald of Glencoe with no extra strings attached. His size and strength made him the pride of the family, and thus he was trained to be a great warrior. But there was a softness-- a romantic soul--- about him, and many a time he had wished to lay down the shield. It is at this moment when Alasdair is at odds with his dualities that he meets Laera. Being ever the romantic, he was quite taken by her when they first met. But Laera was very much a dear friend of his sister, Eilodh first (and it is Laera and Eilodh’s friendship that enables Alasdair to meet Laera in the first place). So, for quite some time, he stands in as another dear friend to her. It is during this time that he falls in love with her, admiring her strength and the way she chooses to find out about herself and the world after the church by her own terms. And it’s the little things, like her penchant for stories, or her little collection of small, wooden figurines, that sparks Alasdair’s heart with such fondness. He shows his love at first through poetry-- sharing lines he had written, or leaving books amongst her pile that she might enjoy.

When they are to be wed, Alasdair and Laera work together to plan out their life of growing old together. It is filled with a home of their own and a family. At the precipice of Scottish independence, their life and love together is at its highest. Their love here is comparable to the song, “Leezie Lindsay”.

But with the wars of Scottish independence unfolding, Alasdair is called off to war, and it is here at the Battle of Bannockburn wherein he will be slain and brought back to life through the thistle and spirit of Scotland. His immortality puts a wrench in their plans of a life growing old together, and thus, their relationship is strained. And so, when Scotland is successful in driving away the British, the relationship strain between Alasdair and Laera (highlands and lowlands) symbolises the coming division.

But Scotland comes together, and so too, do Alasdair and Laera. They come together again through a trip out into the highlands where they rediscover themselves and their love. They learn that their lives/future/love is not over, just different. And thus, they embark to create that new love story. So, in this verse, Alasdair realises that Laera is the one in two different ways. The first was in his mortal life when their love was just the two of them. The second was here, when Alasdair realises that their love is more than just the romantic bond between themselves, but rather a romantic bond and loyalty to each other that exists beyond themselves and thus, will last the test of time.

1700s

In this time period, Alasdair meets Laera several centuries into his immortality. They meet through Eilodh at the height of tragedy and struggle between Scotland and England. But there are also internal struggles within Scotland, as well, namely the division that is growing between the highlands and lowlands. The highlands and thus highlander culture is a target to the English, who wish to dissolve it and the fealty to the clans and Scottish independence found there. The lowlands, which faced struggles between the English, too, were now growing more assimilated with English culture. It was the highlands that hung on, and great loss of life, home, and culture would abound in these years. Amidst massacres and battles, Alasdair and Laera were fighting for their homes, identity, and also their love.

Alasdair realises his love for Laera a little bit sooner than in the 1300s. There is something within him, perhaps that spirit of Scotland, that recognises Laera as home and love when he first meets her. He shows his love much like he does in the 1300s, but he does not confess his love for her by word until they reunite after Laera left for England.

So, let’s get into this a bit here for symbolism and historical context...

Alasdair loves Laera. This is the beginning and end of it all. He recognises their souls share something that has bound them beyond time. But like the highlands and lowlands, there is an odds against them, or a tension that has yet to be addressed. It comes in the form of Laera’s need to find herself after her own life was taken from her by the church. Feeling like she has no home, she goes in search of an identity and home that she can try to make on her own terms in England. And Alasdair lets her go. He does not fight her and does not part with her in anger like Eilodh and Laera do. He lets her go because he loves her and because he knows the importance of her leaving. The lowlands (Laera) are in a period of flux now-- a period of assimilation with English culture, which Laera embodies when she leaves. In some ways, she is less connected to the highlands (and by extension, Alasdair). Though their love is there between them (despite them both not admitting it out loud), there is discovery that needs to be made by them both before it can be expressed. Laera finds that discovery in England, and Alasdair finds it in their parting.

Alasdair, who is still in Scotland, makes a plan to find Laera again, and he travels with Eilodh to find her. When he does, he confesses his love for her-- something he had known from the start. It is important that he confesses his love for her in this moment because, the English invasion and the Anglicisation of Scottish culture in this time period does not change their love. Their hearts are still bound together, and thus, the highlands and lowlands are still bound together in spirit in a unified Scotland regardless of what may try to drive a stake through said unification. Alasdair and Laera’s love, then, becomes an example of an enduring Scotland and an enduring love in the midst of division and loss of identity. In fact, their love makes their own identity and understanding of each other even stronger. Which in turn, is how Scottish culture will thus prevail and come back again, despite the laws in this period that strips their culture from them.

Their return to Scotland, and thus, a return to themselves, finds Alasdair and Laera in search of a life and place of their own.

1800s

The 1800s saw a romanticisation of Scotland and Scottish culture. The English now turned to Scotland with aesthetic interest, embodying things like the tartan and romanticising the concept of the Highlander. For military purposes, the Highlanders became of special interest to the English. In the past, Highlanders had been viewed by the English as barbaric, but now that England and Scotland had been united, the Highlanders had appeal to serve in the British military.

And so, with this romanticisation of Scotland occurring, Alasdair and Laera’s love become the most authentic, true love of each other and thus of Scotland. It is through their love that they are able to discover themselves, their culture, and celebrate it in a way that is their own (and not something that the English had latched onto because it intrigued them). Again, their love here has the implications of an enduring Scotland, but in this verse particularly, there is that added idea of an enduring and true Scotland.

Alasdair realises his love for Laera and that she is the one for him with each interaction. His immortality is there, and thus this spirit of Scotland is within him. So, in any verse wherein he is already immortal, he’s going to have some sense that their love is the real thing and that Laera is the one to whom his heart belongs. But what makes this time period different is that the realisation of their love comes because Alasdair and Laera are their most authentic selves around one another. Not that their love is not authentic in previous times, but given the historical context of the 1800s, what Scotland needs (and thus what Alasdair and Laera need) at this particular time is a chance to connect with another who is of a shared history and culture. In a world where people are now starting to like Scottish culture because it is “popular”, they find a realness in one another that they cannot find elsewhere. And Alasdair feels this in his heart during each of their interactions.

#&. alasdair headcanons #&. and I will love thee still my dear till all the seas gang dry / laera & alasdair

1 note · View note