Still On Hiatus

Dear all, I am now working towards a master's degree in cinema studies!

My hope is to return to this blog in the summer of 2021.

Thank you everyone who is still subscribed and who have subscribed! I hope to once again have this be an active resource for writers after I hand in my master's thesis in June 2021!

Signed,

Captain

Hiatus

Hello everyone!

Most of you may have noticed that I have not been active in a long time. There are several reasons for this but a major one is that I’ve been working on my bachelor’s degree in films studies. I’m handing in my revised thesis on June 3rd, and that’s also the end of the semester! (Yes, I now have two BAs! One in history and one in film studies!)

I aim to get back to this blog, but I can’t make any promises. I want to respond to some of the asks I’ve gotten and then I’ll most likely delete all asks and open the ask box up to a finite number of asks - and close it when I reach the quota. In that way, you’ll get an answer more quickly, and I won’t have an overwhelming workload. 

For now the ask box will be closed. I’ll get back to you all sometimes after June 3rd. Thanks for sticking around!

Signed, 

Captain.

I’m on a bit of a hiatus, sorry I haven’t shared that information on my blog! I’ve been very busy with writing a thesis and with work. I’ll try and put some more information up shortly!

I noticed that Scripthistory's last post was from August. Do you have any news in regards to them? Thanks!

I don’t at the moment, but when things are a little less crazy (I’m in the midst of NaNoWriMo myself and like, 8k words behind on top of Thanksgiving being tomorrow, ugh) I’m going to actually go through and double check activity levels on ALL the Script Fam, touch base with as many of them as I can, etc., to see where we’re at especially on the slower-paced updaters (which, hey, some people just have busy busy schedules IRL, you know?) so like unless @scripthistory or someone else who knows more directly responds to this/contacts me, it might be December until I have an update on that for sure?

But I will say August is only a couple months ago, so I probably wouldn’t worry too much just yet. :)  You have to keep in mind, most of the Script Family have jobs IRL (which take precedent because, you know, making a living) or are in college etc, and we’re in the middle of a semester (right smack between Midterms and Finals no less!) + NaNoWriMo + holidays especially in the USA where quite a few of our bloggers are from. Tis a busy time of year!So, you know…life happens sometimes. I haven’t heard anything Big about Scripthistory in particular, but I’ll let you know when I know anything - it just might be a couple weeks is all.-Mod Vorpalgirl

Do you know anything about the pre-pottery Neolithic period in the middle east? (Around 8000-5000 BCE.) One of my stories is set in a fantasy culture modeled after those people, and I keep stumbling over figuring out the technical aspects of everyday activities. Do you answer questions about that, or do you know someone who would?

Not much but I do have a few sources. What is it specifically that you need help with?

The Illustrated Book of Manners: A Manual of Good Behavior and Polite Accomplishments, 1866

My story takes place in a fantasy setting with a culture vaguely modeled after medieval Europe. (They're also elves who use a lot of magic, so...) Anyway, the crown prince is sick with a magically induced dementia, and in talking to his healer, he just accused his younger brother of causing his illness. What would the healer do? She thinks the accusation is plausible, but there's nowhere near enough evidence, and she's terrified of what the younger prince will do if she repeats the accusation.

That sounds very interesting! Since it’s a world of your creation, you can decide what the healer would do! Could the healer not ask the crown prince to repeat what he said to her to the person in charge? 

It’s difficult to say what would happen in an actual Medieval setting because it all depends on when and where it took place. It’s absolutely possible that the accusation would cause a chain of events that leads to the imprisonment of the younger prince. It depends on what the king/queen/whoever happens to be in power thinks of the younger prince. 

Since it’s a fantasy world, your best precedent would be something like the TV series Merlin (BBC. 2008-2012). There you have a kind of medieval setting but with magic and the king’s physician happens to find himself in similar situations to what you describe. 

Good luck with your writing!

Signed, Captain.

My story takes place in an alternate world resembling preindustrial Europe. A war recently ended between two opposing countries, neither side really winning and instead reaching a sort of peace treaty. Each civilization is more or less left in shambles, so to speak. What would living in the main city of one of these countries be like ~6 years after the war ends? What would the situation be like with food and other resources for the lower and middle classes?

If we are talking preindustrial Europe, it’s not the same kind of war that took place in the postindustrial era. Before WWI, Europe had not seen that level of destruction. There would still be a lot of civilian casualties and destruction of farms and farmland, though, as it was often part of preindustrial warfare.

Starvation and disease are likely consequences of a long lasting war. A war is also expensive, especially long lasting ones which end in a stalemate. With a victory, the winner will typical demand monetary compensation from the losing side, but if there is a peace treaty there might be no such exchange of money. This would leave both countries in a difficult economical situation where the surviving population might turn on the governments due to the high taxes.

Was the capital city under attack? What was the damage? If it wasn’t attacked, the living situation will depend on population density and the economical situation. If we use London and the 100 Year War as an example, the war didn’t have the same devastating effect as it was hardly fought on English soil.

Although most noblemen and a good many among the gentry saw some war service, among the total population the proportion that fought was decidedly low. Since virtually all the fighting was on French soil, there was no English experience comparable to the devastation and dislocation of economic life in the French countryside. Plagues, recurrent after the 1348 Black Death, had much more significant effects on the conditions and living standards of ordinary working people in town and country than the war ever did.   [1]

The living-situation for the lower classes would, again, depend on if the war was fought in the place they live and on the living conditions prior to the war. Generally, large towns were very unsanitary, overcrowded and full of diseases. 

The living conditions in large, European cities have not been of a decent standard for lower classes until very recently in history. Take Stockholm as an example; it was until the 1940s that the living conditions improved for the lower classes. Before that, they lived in small, cramped apartments with no running water and diseases would spread easily. In later years of the 20th century, the standards of living in Stockholm became among the highest in the world. Other cities follow a similar pattern. [2] London, as a much bigger city, didn’t achieve similar standards until the 1960s. Even then, homelessness and poverty was a problem; as demonstrated by the documentary Cathy Come Home (1966, BBC1). [3]

To summarise, anon, life in the city would be:

crowded

dirty

the risk of catching deadly diseases would be high (and depending on the medical knowledge and if your characters can go to a hospital/see a doctor or not, even easily curable diseases could be deadly).

food could be scarce if farms had been attacked/burned during the war (depending on how much as been restored six years later)

the economical situation could be though both due to high taxes and due to scarcity of food.

homelessness could be high.

unemployment rate could be high. (War creates employment but aftermath of war increases unemployment rates.)

Hope that helps! Good luck with your writing!

Signed, Captain.

[1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/middle_ages/hundred_years_war_01.shtml

[2] https://stockholmskallan.stockholm.se/teman/stockholms-sociala-historia/barnavard-och-barnomsorg/

[3] http://www.localhistories.org/20thcent.html

I'm writing about a mute Japanese character growing up in the 80's. What should I try to look out for in this time period?

Hello anon! Since I don’t know where in the world your character lives, I can’t give a precise answer. In general they’d likely face ableism and, if they live outside of Japan, they’d face prejudges for being Japanese. In the west, USA for example, they would absolutely be facing both abelism and racism. In the 1980s, the economy was unstable and Japanese products were imported at a higher rate. This caused a severe backlash and resulted in harassment of Japanese people in USA. It also caused the death of a Chinese man, mistaken to be Japanese. 

If your character lives in Japan, they would face ableism. They would certainly be seen as “less than” abled people. Activism did grow in the 1980s, though, and different disability movements were working hard to gain equality. For example you’d have the Independent Living Movement and the Deaf Culture Movement.[1] Due to abelism your character would likely face social exclusion, belief that they are worth less than an abled person, segregation and unfair treatment from authorities. They also risk to internalize the negative view that society has of them. [2] The myth that a disabled person is a burden on society is also a persuasive stereotype. [3]

Hopefully you can find more helpful information in Stevens book, linked below! Good luck with your writing!

Signed, Captain.

[1] Carolyn S. Stevens, Disability in Japan, 2013, 39.

[2] Romel W. Mackelprang and Richard O., Disability: A Diversity Model Approach in Human Service Practice, 1999, 10.

[3] Ibid., 16-17.

Right now we have databases to keep information about people, how did people do that in the late 1800s? Also, how did people report disappearances at the same time period? Thanks in advance!

It depends on where in the world your story is set. In Sweden, for example, most everything was documented. Documents on people were kept by the church and the state. Where you were born, where you lived and who you lived with would be kept on record. The landlords would keep records on their tenants, churches would keep records of births and deaths and the state would keep criminal records. However, Sweden is more or less unique when it comes to keeping records so if there is a specific country you are interested in, let me know!

In a lot of countries, the documents would not be made available to the public. Sweden is an exception; a law was passed in 1766, making records kept by any authority available to the public. Any citizen should be able to request any government document. This was instituted in an attempt to prevent corruption. Of course, certain documents could be classified if they contained sensitive information. It did, and still doesn’t, mean, however, that people’s personal files are public. For example, a persons medical records are not public. Criminal records are not open to the public either, though it is open to authorities and employers. Records of births and deaths as well as marriages are available to anyone, though, and used to be kept by the Church.

Most countries kept criminal records. For example, a lot of what we know about Medieval Europe is based on the records that were kept of trials. In the 1800s these records would be kept by the court of law.

A missing person would be reported to the law enforcement.

Do let me know if you are interested in any particular kind of information and how it was recorded!

Good luck with your writing!

Signed, Captain!

Hi there! I was wondering, did women have to wear hijabs in Egypt specifically during the years 1988-1989? I know that, currently, many women there wear the headscarf by choice and that it's not required by law (although social standards are different), but what about during the years I listed?

Hello! They did not, but many choose to. The people turned from secular ideals towards Islam and thus women picked up the hijab. Anwar Sada, the president between 1970 and 1981 (when he was assassinated), was considered to be “too western” and his “open door politics” resulted in women wanting to return to the hijab in a form of protest.[1]

I’ve found an article that sums it up rather well:

Despite the emergence of religious activism in Egypt in the 1920s, hijab remained far from a phenomenon in Egyptian society until the 1970s and 1980s.

In the aftermath of the Arab defeat in 1967 and stalemate against Israel in 1973, Arab populations became increasingly disillusioned with secular pan-Arabist ideals.

This paved the way for Islamist ideologies to gain ground in schools, mosques and eventually the family living room.

The slow transformation of Egypt’s secular society into an increasingly Islamic one was also propelled by events unfolding in the country’s parliament.

Anwar Sadat, then the Egyptian president, curried favour with more conservative and religious forces in his bid to curb Nasserist influence in government.

Sadat’s tactics inadvertently created the social catalyst which fuelled the hijab phenomenon.

“The Islamist movement of the 1970s was born out of Sadat’s support, but by the end of the decade it was clear that it went out of his control,” Abaza told Al Jazeera.

And in spite of the turmoil of the 1990s – which were dominated by the battle between the government and militant Islamist groups, Egypt continued to witness a steady growth of religiosity in general due to the efforts of the more moderate Islamist grass-roots organizations.

As a result, more women began to wear the veil.[2]

What happened in the 1970s and -80s carried on to the 1990s. In other words, your character would probably have worn the hijab. It wouldn’t have been unlikely that this was her own choice.

Good luck with your writing!

Signed, Captain.

1) https://egyptianstreets.com/2016/02/10/100-years-of-egyptian-beauty/

2) http://www.aljazeera.com/focus/2008/09/20089812812445443.html

hello! I'm writing a story that takes place in early-mid 1700's, and in the first chapter there is an emphasis on how my m/c dresses. Do you happen to know the name of the ribbing on the inside of a corset?? I could have sworn it had a name, and I tried looking it up, but I can't find anything. Sorry if this question is a little off base for your blog.

Not entirely my area, no, but not that difficult for me to look up. However, I’m not entirely sure which part of the corset you are referring to? Do you mean the strength layer, between the fashion fabric (the layer that will be seen) and the lining (the layer closest to the body)? Or do you mean the bones (baleine) that support the shape of the garment?

Hope I was able to help you! If not, feel free to reblog this and clarify for me (perhaps with a picture) and I’ll try and do better!

Signed, Captain.

What are some means for a FtM character to transition in a story that takes place in pseudo-medieval times (it's a fantasy setting, not actually medieval times but just similar)

That, Nonny, is a complex and difficult question. Most history scholars agree that using modern terms (such as transgender or FtM) on Medieval sex and gender expressions would be ahistorical. It’s difficult to explain in a way that makes sense but, in line with Foucault, how we are able to talk about something (what words we use, for instance) dictates how we are able to think about it. For example, Foucault wrote Folie et déraison: Histoire de la folie à l'âge classique (Madness and Insanity: History of Madness in the Classical Age, 1960) to show that while mental illnesses existed before the asylums were constructed, the concept of “insane” people did not exist in the same fashion. The idea that people could be “insane” resulted in locking people up in asylums. In other words; how we talk about things have real consequences for real people.Thus; does the term FtM exist in your pseudo-medieval world? If so, how is it viewed? Like a deviance, like an illness or like a natural variation of gender? It´s difficult to determent exactly how sex and gender was viewed in actual Medieval European time, but historians largely agree that sex and gender were viewed differently from today. There was an idea of a single sex and there was some leeway in certain circumstances for variations in gender. For example, women could in some contexts be “male” - in the sense that within religion the “male” was the higher, more pure form and something a someone like a nun could strive towards. [1] Transgenderness, the way we view it today in the western world, did not exist as a concept in the Middle Ages.

When you have decided what your characters think about transgenderness, you will have to decide the medical knowledge of your fictional society; if they know about hormonal replacement or not, for instance. This is because HRT (hormonal replacment theraphy) is the only way to change the hormone levels of estrogen and testosterone (and progesterone). Apart from that, medical transition could include surgery. If these surgeries are available to your character also depends on what kinds of surgeries your fictional society can perform. If there is no understanding of how hormones work and surgeries do not allow for surgeries similar to real world variations that are available now, there is still the possibilities of transition.  I have written before if there is something akin to a binder available and there are some records of women biding with linen by wrapping it around their chests. (Please note that I really do not recommend anyone actually using this method to bind. Buy your binder from a legitimate company such as GC2B). It’s also possible to train your voice to get it lower. The way the character dresses, acts and what kind of occupation he has will also impact how he is viewed. Transition does not have to be about medically transitioning. How your character transitions depends on how gender is viewed in your fictional world. 

To summarise:

Decide if your fictional world offers transition in the form of hormonal replacement theory.

Decide if surgeries are an option.

Does your fictional society have a concept of transgenderness? 

Does the society have a binary understanding of sex and gender?

Is sex and gender viewed as intertwined or as separate from one another? (For example; is gender the expression of a biological sex or are sex and gender both viewed as social constructs?) 

Are clothes and occupations gendered? Does wearing certain clothes or performing a certain job gender the individual?

Here you also have some examples of FtM people who lived in the Middle Ages: “A BRIEF HISTORY OF FTM TRANS CIVILIZATION” 

Good luck with your writing!

Signed, Captain.

[1] Karl Whittington, “Medieval” in TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly, vol. 1, numbers 1-2, (Duke University Press: 2014). 125-129.

Hi! I was wondering if you could tell me what treatment would be for a character with a stomach bug in a small, late 1870s-early 1880s Wild West town would be? I thought it might be more suited to you than Aunt Scripty due to the historical aspect :)

That’s sort of within my wheelhouse. Your character would probably be given some kind of medicine. Unfortunately, this medicine would likely do nothing to help cure them. Worst case the medicine is actually poisonous;for example “booty balls” which consisted of mercury.  A lot of different kinds of medicine for pain are substances that are still know and to some extent still used today. There was the risk that your character would be fooled by the traveling medicine salesmen who soled cure all medicine. Of course, this was “snake oil”; concoctions that weren’t actually medicine but a mixture of at best harmless substances. At times the concoctions would contain opiates to ensure temporary relief for the patient and to try and get them addicted.

I don’t usually make lists but here you have one on a few kinds of medicine, made in, or imported to USA, and what they were used for:

Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup: Made for teething and otherwise fussy infants and put on the market in 1849. It contained “65 mg of morphine per fluid ounce”.  It wasn´t until 1911 that the medicine was discontinued due to it having been proven to be more likely to kill the patients than helping in any way.

Green's August Flower: The medicine was simply laudanum (an alcoholic solution of opium) and had no actual curing abilities. It was sold until 10 years after the patent ran out (that is until 1916). It was claimed to be able to cure all sorts of illness and it´s not at all impossible that it could be prescribed for a stomach bug.

Hadacol: It was marketed as a cure-all but in reality it was a solution of alcohol and very diluted form of hydrochloric acid. What it would actually achieve was to get you instantly intoxicated. 

McMunn's Elixir of Opium: What it says on the tin; opium, plain and simple. It was said to be able to cure a hole slew of illnesses and it was claimed to be less dangerous than other opium based concoctions, but that was entirely untrue. So not only did it not cure any illness, it was likely to kill the patient.[1]

Hope this was at least somewhat helpful! Good luck with your writing!

Signed, Captain.

[1] http://www.alternet.org/drugs/10-old-timey-medicines-got-people-high

Disclaimer: It should go without saying but this is not medical advice. The so called medicines have long since been discontinued but do not ever attempt to try and use any of the substances found in the above examples as medicine.

So this might go to scriptastronomer, i'm not sure which of you would know more about this, but how do you think a secondary moon would affect the calendar? My planet has two moons, how do lunar cycles typically influence calendars, important dates, and the such?

Iunfortunately have no idea how it would influence the calendar but I do knowthat many calendars have been influenced by the lunar cycle. Take for instancethe ancient Athenian calendar which was lunisolar. Most calendars are solarbased, though, but most do have months, and those are based on the lunar cycle.You can start out at Wikipedia (I unfortunately do not know any open sources,anything better that I could recommend is behind paywall) and hopefully you´ll be able to find what you need!

Signed, Captain. 

Hi Captain! I'm writing a story set in the Anglo-Saxon time in England. Od love to know whether it would be possible for my character to look Hispanic or Mixed Race (vaguely based on Anthony Ramos). Thanks!

Hello! It’s absolutely possible for your character to have mixed ancestry. In fact, semi-recent DNA studies show that British people have largely Spanish ancestry (or, rather, belong to the Iberian genetic group which means they have similar DNA to people of southern France and northern Spain). However, the actor you want to base your character of is Puerto Rican and I cannot say anything about his DNA. I can say, however that “The average Puerto Rican individual carries 12% Native American, 65% West Eurasian (Mediterranean, Northern European and/or Middle Eastern) and 20% Sub-Saharan African DNA.” This means that it’s not likely that your character would like Anthony Ramos. Perhaps your character would look something like Sebastian Armesto, British actor with a London-born Spanish father and British mother.

How realistic would it be that a queen would be looked up after her husband, the king was murdered and she was the one that was the one that payd for it, even though she was not the one who did it?

Very, regardless of if she may or may not actually be guilty of the crime. Don’t forget Mary, Queen of Scots who was believed to have had her husband murdered. However, Isabella of France was believed to have plotted the murder on her husband, Edward II of England. She was never accused or prosecuted and managed to rule some years after her husband’s death and while she eventually had to give up power, she remained wealthy and retired to a castle.

I don’t know what you are going to write or how you are going to portray it so this is just a general note to anyone who may read it. I would like to encourage every writer to think about the connotations of women and “sneaky” ways of murdering someone. There is a persistent belief that women can never be trusted because they will go behind your back and betray you at any moment. To be open and upfront about murder has, historically, been seen as the honest and manly thing while using poison and the like has been seen as the sneaky, dishonest and womanly way. Think about the connection between the Serpent and the woman, for example, in the Christian connection between women and the devil. I’m not making accusations towards you, or any writer, just trying to make my readers aware of this subtle kind of historical misogyny. (Because make no mistake, the trope of women poisoners is misogynistic in nature.) It’s of course absolutely possible to use poison or, as in this case hiring an assassin, in a story as long as one is aware of what kind of message it sends.

It's not currently women's history month (that's in March) but it's always a good time to learn more about amazing women throughout history! I'd like to point you in the direction of this video by Thomas Sanders, where women guests help teach us about women's history. I'll be back to answering your questions regularly after June 1st! Signed, Captain.