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aphspain-pure · 8 months

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"He who once was King" [Part 1]

Title: "He who once was King"

Category: Fanfiction.

Pair: EngSpa, UkSpa. Other minor or implied pairings

Words: 7.566

Genre(s): Cardverse AU; Drama, Romance; enemies to lovers.

· · · · ·

Entering the grand ballroom, the explosive lighting and festive atmosphere made Arthur's face twitch in almost disgust.

Having made the long journey from the Kingdom of Spades to there, the Kingdom of Clubs, his body was feeling particularly resentful from the exhaustion of an interminable trip. The journey had been long and disastrous, and Alfred's thinly disguised excitement had ended up getting on Arthur's nerves in more than one extreme situation. He would had been on the verge of throwing himself out of the train's luxury compartment, had it not been for Yao's strict insistence and Matthew's sympathetic and kind intervention.

He sighed, trying to erase the horrifying memories of his journey.

He didn't even know why he had agreed to take Alfred with him to this ceremony. If a marriage within the royal family —or even general nobility— took place in another realm, the moral code of the aristocracy mandated that the corresponding royalty of each kingdom should come to pay their respects, as a mere bureaucratic, symbolic formality.

They had therefore been more or less obliged to attend the wedding.

In any case, it was no secret to anyone the palpable tension and seething hatred between their King, Alfred F. Jones, and the current King of Clubs, Ivan Braginsky. It was so damned obvious how little they tolerated each other's political ideas and presence, that the Four Kingdoms had been fearing that the peace that had managed to last for almost 300 years would be shattered by the bursting of this Cold War bubble.

Therefore, no one, really NO ONE, would have cared if Alfred had not shown up at that exact ceremony —which, leaving the King aside, would star the current Queen and Jack of Clubs.

Thinking about it, Arthur's head went far away again, plunging back into his usual musings and reasoning.

The Kingdom of Spades was the greatest power of knowledge and education among all the kingdoms. Therefore, it was not difficult to suppose that Arthur, as a representative of such a Kingdom, was the very fruit of all that supremacy. It was therefore only logical to assume that his knowledge of history was, frankly, excellent.

For that very reason Arthur began to wander into historical questions as he replayed in his mind the marriage that was to take place.

It had been only some 50 years ago that the old tradition of royal marriage was Heaven's law. And no matter what other characteristics aside from the letter —that is, regardless of the gender, age or even parentage of the two involved— always, in all circumstances, the King and Queen were to be married. By then, thank God, times had changed; and, thankfully, it was no longer a total obligation to consummate the marriage by the role of the Card alone.

It had become generally agreed that, in reality, the titles of King and Queen were just a bureaucratic formality and did not represent a true "couple" relationship, but a simple turn of Destinty pickpointing the next generation of rulers. Thus, that old habit of tying the representatives of the royal offices into a marital relationship had broken down, and situations like the one that was to take place today began to occur: legal marriages between Queen and Jack, for example.

Although, anyway, the Kingdom of Hearts, which was generally the most religiously observant and traditional, still chose to prolong the royal union. Thus, the monarchs Ludwig Beilschmidt and Honda Kiku were married by Church and were loving to each other as a front for their people —even if Arthur knew from his spies in other courts that it was, in fact, a chaste marriage and that the King had a thing for his Jack, but well…—.

On the other hand, the King of Clubs actually had zero interest in things like love affairs, so he had ruled out marriage long ago; ironic and somehow conversely, contrary to him, the King of Diamonds had perhaps too much interest in that sort of things, so tying himself to a single mate happened to be out of the question.

Again, Arthur thanked God that the laws had been modernised, because the Queen of that Kingdom was a poor creature, still thirteen years old, hastily risen to power after the premature death of the previous Queen. A sweet little child who did not deserve to go through the torture of being the wife of such a frog.

So, as much as he might have respected the Ancient History and laws of his great Kingdom, Arthur was indeed glad to the core of the modernisations that had been forced to make in the marital sphere nearly half a century ago. And as much as he loved Alfred, Arthur didn't even want to imagine the conjugal scenario. He hadn't questioned Alfred about it, in fact, but he was pretty sure that in the idiot's straw head there were only hamburgers, superhero comics —mostly produced in the Kingdom of Diamonds— and warships. So he was pretty sure that he had never even considered the idea; which he prefferred.

Indeed, he envied him. He really did. It must be comfortable to be so oblivious and idiotic all the time.

He was brought back to reality for a moment when Yao, his Jack, shouted 'I don't know what two-aru' things at him and he had to understand over his thick Oriental accent that Alfred had caused a mess again.

A vein bulged in his forehead and he could almost feel his blood pressure rise to frightening levels for any doctor. All the while, in the distance, he caught a glimpse of his stupid King thrusting his chest out and facing Ivan, the one and only terrifying King of Clubs, who was looking at him with a cold smile and clenching a pipe with restrained tension.

Arthur would have panicked and probably sweated like a poor wretch on any other day, but this time Alfred had pushed his patience to the limit with the little train journey —he'd told him to behave himself and not pick a fight with the Clubs, for God's sake!—. Between the gnashing of her teeth and a distinct twitch in one of her bushy eyebrows, he ran up to him to grab his ear.

— AUCTCH! H-hey, but what!? ARTHUR! —Alfred had begun to shout once he had been stopped in his attempts to threaten him—. What are you doing - ow, ow…! It hurts, stop it! —but Arthur didn't stop and even pulled harder on the imprisoned ear, forcing the other to whimper like a child.

At the same time, he turned to look formally at the host King and gave him a polite little salute, apologising in advance for what had happened.

— Long time no see, Your Majesty Braginsky. Congratulations on the marriage of your Queen and Jack and, I'm sorry, but I beg your pardon to our King for his lack of manners. —he said, with such poise and quietness that Yao, hiding behind a pillar, had to thank the Heavens that at least one of the royal duo in his charge was able to do his job properly.

Ivan visibly relaxed to give him a polite bow in return.

— Don't worry. Many thanks to you for coming all this way, my lord. —he responded, cold yet elegant and respectful—. How are you enjoying the ball in honour of the bride and groom? Is it to your liking?

One of the specialities of the Kingdom of Spades, actually, was feasts, celebrations, balls and so on, and every year they held dozens of events that were beyond imagination how beautiful and impressive they were.

With that in mind, the modest, quiet ball —far shabbier and far more underfunded than his own — had not suggested the slightest praise in the quiet walls of his mind. Still, cynical and pragmatic, Arthur had said, patronisingly.

— Charming in his own way, indeed. —in a flattering tone.

That seemed to be enough for Ivan who, after a soft smile and a last tense glance at Alfred, decided at last to do a last gesture with his head, and go on his way to visit the rest of the guests.

Once he had vanished, Arthur gave the other lingering fool a cudgel.

— Autch- HEY! —he shouted, sulking at being beaten like a brat, but Arthur refused to listen to his retorts.

He called back to Yao who ran up to him and thanked him for putting the brakes on the other, and Arthur simply told him to keep an eye on him so he wouldn't get into trouble again. The Jack nodded.

When he had checked that everything was in place, he went back to a less crowded area and became self-absorbed again, thinking about everything and nothing at the same time.

Few… people knew it, but he was supposed to have been the King of Spades.

When a member of the royal family is born, God grants him or her a symbol.

This person can be born in the same nobility or in the house of a humble cobbler, as well as in the same street, only God knows if there is a special reason for this. This person, determined from the very first of its days directed to be part of the royal court of the country, shows a mark with the corresponding letter, together with the symbol of the Kingdom. Likewise, there was a subdivision within the nobility, between the lower aristocracy —made up by numbers from 2 to 10— and the upper class —King, Queen, Jack and Ace—, who are the real rulers amongs them all.

Few people knew it —among them, the most senior of the nobility of the Kingdom of Spades and the King of Diamonds— but, at his birth, on Arthur's collarbone there had been a "K", not a "Q".

He had been chosen to be the next King, and he had been trained to be so during his early youth. He had been instructed in all the arts of dialectic, rhetoric and combat, in those that the King would require throughout his life; and had been preparing himself, as fate dictated, to be the next leader.

Or at least he had been doing so until his tenth year.

Overnight the "K" on his skin had disappeared.

It came as a real surprise throughout the court because, much to their regret, such things usually only happened once the King had reached an advanced age and was no longer able to fulfil the role of the Card. But never… all of a sudden. And, strangest of all, not only did his previous mark disappear, but another one appeared. A "Q" marked his skin and, although he understood nothing at the time, all came together for the 10-year-old Arthur once the newborns Alfred and Matthew were placed in his arms, with their respective "K" and "A", and he was told that it would be his duty to instruct them.

Then he understood, he understood that God had put him on the back burner.

But don't misunderstand him, Arthur never had any great attachment to the title of King —at least not as Alfred had, who had always clung to his royal nature as if it had made him one of his much-loved heroes—. He, from the very beginning, accepted his new position, because he knew that if he played his cards right, being Queen would serve him just as well. He had rank enough to set in motion his plans for the future of the country, to make it great and prosperous; rich and powerful.

So, without much ado, he became the one to oversee the education of the Ace and, above all, of the future King, who was basically raised as Arthur's own younger brother —all the more reason why Arthur would never have put up with the royal marriage—. And while Arthur would have many things to criticise about Alfred's personality and tendencies as a monarch —namely that he was young and inexperienced, too impulsive and lacking in logical reasoning, and with belligerent tendencies to boot— he could tell right away that he had the makings of a King.

He was friendly and used to interact a lot with his people —something he had never really done— and he had a certain natural charisma that had charmed Arthur, Matthew and the rest of the Kingdom as a leader since a young age. Arthur had never blamed or resented Alfred for changing his destiny.

A soft voice snapped him out of his thoughts again.

— Good evening, Kirkland-dono. I was looking forward to our meeting today. —he turned his head to smile softly and give a slight bow of his head.

— I couldn't agree more, Your Highness Honda. It has been a while since we last spoke.

In front of him Honda Kiku, the Queen of Hearts and a person he held in high esteem, was dressed in the traditional regalia of his Eastern region within the Kingdom of Hearts, with the mythical red national colour. He was smiling elegantly behind a delicate fan, with kindness in his dark eyes.

They chatted for a while about trivial matters and matters of state, and even invited each other to drink while they waited for the newlyweds —since, as far as he knew, they had been married in the privacy of their private chapel a couple of hours ago— to arrive and they could all celebrate together. He had never had a relationship with any of them, except for some clash with the Jack on business, but his position compelled him to be there to offer them at least a respectful "Congratulations".

Kiku's company —in his thoughts Arthur dared to call him "Kiku", his dear friend— made the situation pleasant until they were forced to part by a girl from Hearts, who came to warn them that they should join their respective clansmates, because the bride and groom had just arrived. The pair of Queens leisurely said their goodbyes and Arthur sought out Matthew and then joined their King and Jack.

Once they were together and in their seats, Arthur could not help but notice the change in Alfred's countenance, who was now looking more relaxed, more grown up.

Now 18 years old, he was a tall, handsome man, arrogant when he needed to be and more relaxed when the situation called for it, and he shone with all the brilliance a King should have. Arthur felt proud to have practically raised him, agreeing with the part of himself that had always thought Alfred's blue eyes had even fairly matched the colour of his Kingdom better than his own.

The front door of the ballroom opened and a pair of people entered, holding hands and sweet smiles on their faces.

Roderich, the Jack of Clubs, wore a rather light and sweet one, while Elizabeta, the Queen, beamed with a huge one on her face. As soon as they entered, cheers poured down upon them, and people, especially from the Southerners of the Kingdom of Hearts, who rushed to give them their blessing. Then, little by little, representatives from each Kingdom came to give them their congratulations and words of encouragement.

First, everyone from the Kingdom of Clubs arose, leaving a special appearance for Ivan who, without further ado, shook hands encouragingly with both of them with a smile. Next, the Kingdom of Hearts stepped forward and Elizabeta was embraced by the Jack who, being someone close to the couple in their childhood days, had taken these liberties. The King of Hearts, utterly embarrased, tugged at his clothes and apologised to them both, causing the couple to laugh softly, not giving the matter too much thought. Then it was their turn, and he and Alfred exchanged encouraging and respectful words with the newlyweds. A cynic like Arthur found it hard to believe in such frivolous things as love, but he could tell that these two loved each other deeply and dearly.

Once they were back in place, it was the turn of the splendid Diamond Kingdom to approach the couple. At this specific fact, Arthur allowed himself to snort like an annoyed child.

Stunning, elegant, glowing like the sun itself, the yellow colour that was the face of the Kingdom of Diamonds predominated in the clothes of those present, in different shades and intensities. Leading the way, hair soft and silky like that of the finest model, rich and ostentatious clothes that left one speechless, and a simple and loving smile, King Francis Bonnefoy stretched out his arms as if he were the young couple's greatest friend. The newlyweds grimaced as he approached them, even more when he kissed them both on the cheeks —a custom that typical of certain parts of the Kingdom of Diamonds and the Kingdom of Hearts— and then began to speak honeyly to them with his thick French accent.

Arthur had to suppress a retch as he pitied the poor fellows.

He had known Francis since the two of them were little more than half a foot tall and had gone through the first steps of training to be future Kings together. One could even somehow say that Francis had even been… something of a teacher in some areas of his education, being a couple of years older than himself. Still, they had never put up with each other, and had a cat and dog relationship most of the time, which they had always tried to camouflage under a mask of professionalism. It didn't usually work, and they often came close to gouging each other's eyes out.

Anyway, when Francis turned away, the next pair came to congratulate the couple. The adorable little Queen of Diamonds, just turned 12 and looking like a little doll, spoke a few quick, nervous words to them while her older brother, the Jack, stroked her back and gave her encouragement. The latter, for his part, was talking politely to Roderich and congratulating him quietly; and though Vash would probably have preferred to hide it, Arthur clearly saw the appreciation of an old friend in his gestures and words. Arthur smiled sideways, very full of himself, amusing himself by reading between the lines and getting into the minds of others. As the Queen, he had a certain talent for seeing things that others could not. The pair of siblings withdrew and suddenly Arthur caught a glimpse of one more person, so he blinked, quizzical.

In the Diamond Kingdom he had only known those three members of the high nobility for all those years, but he didn't recognise this guy at all. The bridal couple, on the other hand, had jumped at the sight of him, and after a brief moment of shock, they had smiled broadly and hurried over to him, the Queen hugging him tightly. Arthur found Roderich's face especially curious, who until then had been maintaining a quiet, thin smile, and was now smiling broadly, as if he were truly happy. When the woman turned away, it was the turn of the unknown man to step forward, and kiss her twice on the cheeks. A moment later, he was repeating the same action with the elegant Jack, kissing him as Francis had done earlier.

The reaction, however, was totally different.

— We've missed you. —Arthur had managed to hear from the Jack's mouth, disconcerting him. Words that elicited a sound that, to his ears, sounded almost like a spring breeze.

A frankly charming laugh came from this unknown individual who was showing his back to Arthur, who immediately took the hands of both bride and groom and brought them to his lips to place a light kiss of devotion upon their knuckles.

— I always knew you were made for each other, Rod, Eliza.

The sound of a male voice, not too deep and not at all raspy, charming like no other, dulled Arthur's senses for a moment.

The guy kept talking, but Arthur didn't understand the content of his words, more interested in intercepting the vibrations of his voice and his accent in his ears. And he was so lost, so far gone, that he didn't know where he was or what was going on until Yao brought him back to the earthly world with a couple of finger snaps. He growled at him, annoyed, and a moment later he apologised, remembering he was supposed to be a gentleman.

But as soon as he regained his self-possession, he craned his neck around in a desperate attempt to find the guy with the dreamy voice who had caught his eye. He asked Yao, his Jack and therefore who was in charge of external affairs in his Kingdom, to see if he had any record of who he was. The Chinese frowned his lips, mumbling.

— I… don't know him aru. I was surprised to see him too, I don't recall seeing his face ever before. —he had replied, to which Arthur realised that he had not, in fact, seen his face.

A heaviness in his stomach and a child's impertinent determination made him pucker his lips and come to the conclusion that he had to face this guy head on. Matthew probably noticed the glint in his eye, because he began to sweat uneasily for no reason.

But before he could go on any kind of intrepid adventure in search of the said man, the lights went out and music started to play. A single spotlight illuminated the starring couple, who prepared to begin dancing to the classic Viennese waltz that was playing.

After a couple of minutes the rest of the lights were dimly switched on and gradually people began to join in the ballroom, dancing. The first pair, as expected, were the King and Queen of Hearts; Ludwig, tall and elegant in his formal attire, being orthodox and polite in asking his husband to grant him this dance. Kiku politely accepted and they joined in the dance; Arthur, out of the corner of his eye, watched the reaction of Jack Feliciano, who was smiling happily, while behind his back his hands were clasped together, trembling.

So, little by little, other couples from different Kingdoms began to join the dance and even Alfred, who had been a little pressured by the situation, extended his hand to him offering him a dance wearing a stupid expression. Arthur shook his head, saying that he didn't feel like it, and pushed him to go ask Yao or his brother to dance. As Matthew had symptoms of social panic, Yao went out to dance with Alfred in the end.

It could be said that he had zero to no interest in dancing until his keen eyes caught something that left him stuck in place.

There, among the dancing couples, the curly, tousled brown hair of the guy who had caught his eye earlier appeared like a mirage. But it was not the apparition itself, but rather his company that left him still and petrified as if he were a poor idiot.

There, waltzing perfectly, the brown-haired fellow who had earlier let out such a charming voice found himself being grasped round the waist by the fro- Francis, by Francis. They were dancing together, and Francis, from his stupidly calm and happy expression, seemed genuinely delighted with the situation.

He didn't even quite know why, but a freckle popped out of his forehead from the strain of his eye contracting in pure irritation.

He honestly didn't know why, but the stupid face of the frog, so happy and debauched dancing with this guy who had caught his eye, gave a rather significant plus to his usual bad mood. He gnashed his teeth when, after a particularly awkward turn, both men laughed a little and hugged each other, then continued dancing as if nothing had happened. The twitching of his eyebrow was merely collateral damage from his boiling blood.

He relaxed himself as he realised that he was acting in a totally irrational manner.

He took a breath, leaned against the column behind him and glanced again at the King of Diamonds and the brown-haired guy dancing along with the rest. He felt uneasy for some reason, yet he chose not to make a big deal of it. Still, he couldn't stop his questioning from coming out in a sigh.

— Who is this guy…?

— That "guy" is Antonio, eyebrows.

A voice next to him startled him, causing him to put his hand to his heart in shock. A second later, he turned shudderingly to collide with the only red eyes he'd ever met.

The Joker.

Gilbert Beilschmidt, the older brother of the King of Hearts and the only current Joker. Some would correct him because there was, in fact, another current Joker; but Arthur preferred to be specific and correct in these matters, and preferred to maintain the status of Peter, the boy under his custody and care, as only a 'potential Joker'. After all, he was still only a child, so he couldn't use his powers, leaving this albino guy in front of him as the only current Joker.

He looked him square in the face, recovered from his initial shock, and asked. — Antonio? —with slight curiosity.

Gilbert, who —Arthur was absolutely sure— probably hadn't even been invited to this celebration, looked back at him with those blood-red eyes that used to make people nervous. He had an arrogant smile plastered across his face, as if he felt superior just knowing that.

— Yes, —he had responded—. Antonio.

The guy's repellent attitude frayed Arthur's nerves a little, who, trying not to get nervous, pushed a little harder. — And who is this "Antonio"?

— The amazing Ace of Diamonds, of course!

And with that Arthur's green eyes expanded to widen beyond their confines.

— The Ace…? —he had been thinking all his life that there was no Ace of Diamonds at present, that since the previous one died some thirty years ago there had been no successor! He was literally certain that apart from the Swiss brothers and Francis there was no one else in the Kingdom of Diamonds belonging to the high nobility, for there had never been any talk of a successor! He was literally sure that apart from the Swiss brothers and Francis there was no one else in the kingdom belonging to the high nobility, for he had never been spoken of, never been named, and certainly never appeared there. And he had known Francis since he was a little boy, so how was it possible that this guy…?

But then it dawned on him, and the muscles in his body seemed to relax.

— Ah… —he said, and unwillingly his mouth escaped—. So he's not that frog's lover, thank goodness. I was beginning to feel sick.

— Oh, if that's it, they probably are by now, zwar.

He choked for air, shocked.

— What?!

He glanced quickly back at the happily dancing couple, then turned to look at the Joker. — The King and the Ace?! together!? —Gilbert shrugged his shoulders.

— Well, these are modern times. And I'm sure you know Fran well, that's not especially something that would stop him when it comes to "l'amour". —he remarked, making inverted commas with his fingers and looking disinterested. His eyes, however, instead of looking at Arthur, were looking beyond, towards the duo—. Besides, Toni is beautiful. And Fran has always been after him like a hungry hyena. So it's not actually that surprising.

Pathetic as it was, Arthur couldn't help but resent the pretty brown hair that had so often prevented him from seeing the much-lauded face of the subject in question.

The comment about the King of Diamonds' apparent extreme interest in his Ace was, in any case, unimpressive. If anyone had ever told him that Bonnefoy drooled over lampposts, he would have put his hand in the fire without a second's hesitation, believeing it without a second thought.

Now fully recovered, he looked at Gilbert and noticed the strange, heavy look in his eyes. He narrowed his eyes, suspicious.

— I'm sorry to be indiscreet, but you speak of them in a very familiar way. What exactly is the relationship of the Joker, someone who should be completely neutral with respect to the Four Realms, to the King and Ace of Diamonds? —the question seemed to catch the albino's attention warmly, and he immediately smiled softly.

— We are childhood friends. I spent my early years as a Joker in the mountains of their realm, gathering my magic; they, of course, were something like my overseers. —and the blond drew his eyebrows together and twisted his lips.

He didn't like to be out of the loop on something. He was fairly well known for being efficient and a born gatherer of information, certainly seconded by his long system of espionage and investigation, so the news that was reaching him that day surrounding the mysterious figure of the Ace of Diamonds was beginning to irritate him. To irritate him as a personal matter.

He looked at Gilbert proudly, and then made a decision.

— Good. As the representative of the Kingdom of Spades I have to meet all the representatives of the other Kingdoms, so now you are going to introduce me to this Antonio. —at which, for a moment, Gilbert's face froze in a comical and strange grimace.

— Y-you want to meet Toni? Look, Kirkland, I don't think that's…

— Do you want our dear Queen of Clubs to know of your presence in her wedding reception?

Gilbert's face turned white and almost immediately blue, and a moment later he began to walk forward, leading the way to where he had been sent, almost in despair.

As he did so, and without turning to look at Arthur, who followed him calmly with a victorious smile of superiority, he said.

— Then later don't tell me I didn't warn you.

That sentence could not have mattered less to the monarch who followed in his wake with the air of grandeur typical of the Spades.

…

Circling the dance floor where the people continued to waltz, the pair reached the area closest to where Francis was still dancing gracefully. Gilbert called out to him, who, without paying much attention, winked and continued dancing as if nothing had happened. This time not only Arthur, but also the Joker had a shuddering spasm, annoyed.

It wasn't until the piece was over that the blond broke away from his partner and approached them, holding out his hands in a way too much dramatic gesture, as he was used to. With zero politeness, both Arthur and Gilbert rejected the greeting kisses the other was about to give, turning away sharply and looking disgusted. Not that Francis looked offended, by the way.

A princely smile on his lips, he spoke. — What a… pleasant surprise that his Majesty the Queen of Spades would honour me with his presence! To what do I owe such a gratifying pleasure? —with a wry yet syrupy and irritating tone that made Arthur's temper flare.

— Cut the crap, asshole. —He spat, somehow forgetting everything about etiquette that he had hold dear due to his status. Instead, he tried to look behind him insistently, frowing—. Why did I never know you had an Ace?

Francis played dumb.

— You… never asked?

He would please expect that no one would blame Arthur for wanting to kill that incorrigible fool.

And maybe he really would have jumped on the other one to hang him or something, if it hadn't been for the Joker's intervention.

— Kirkland here wants to be introduced to Antonio, Fran.

Francis' blue eyes paused for a moment, before looking directly at Arthur who looked, frankly, unconcerned on the subject.

— What? —stated Arthur, unmoved yet irritated—. Does it surprise you that I want to meet an important member of another country's high aristocracy? Well, you shouldn't be. In fact, you should be grateful that I'm not going to accuse your shitty kingdom of high treason for withholding such valuable information.

The other monarch did not seem particularly intimidated. He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

— This wasn't really a matter of withholding information, don't make up things, Arthur.

— Oh no? And then what is it, because I still don't understand how is possible that the rest of the Kingdoms did not know about the existence of your Ace.

— You are wrong there, mon ami. The only ones who didn't know about it are you, the Spades.

He was answered almost instantly by a high-pitched cry of incredulous 'what!?' from the other. Francis tried to calm him down by waving his hands.

— Wait, calm down, that's not relevant now, it's really not as serious as it seems. And if I haven't been particularly interested in publicising Antonio in general, it's because… Because… Well, I suppose a picture is worth a thousand words.

And, leaving Arthur a little too curious, he turned gently to direct his gaze to the dance floor.

There, in the crowd, his former dance partner was gently guiding the steps of the young —and highly impertinent— Ace of Hearts. In a calm voice, Francis called out. — Toni! —and then, the said man turned.

Then Arthur's world stopped, just as his jaw gave way and he dropped to the floor, eyes wide and wide as headlights.

The sudden sight of deep green eyes was like a burst of spring.

As if he had wandered into an untouched jungle in the tropics, or plunged into the dew on the grass at dawn. Like the most beautiful of gemstones and at the same time the most terrible of curses, the greenish gaze fell in his direction, causing Arthur, holding his breath as a clumsy child, to almost choke himself.

The formerly peak of auburn curls framed the youthful face of a man about his age, with sun-tanned skin, healthy cheeks and a straight nose. From where Arthur stood he could not admire in all its fullness the rosy hue of the friendly lips which, locating Francis there in his direction, stretched to show a veritable wonder of the world.

The infinitely stretched smile, cheerful and carefree, which caused two dimples to sink into the defined cheeks, was another thing that made Arthur's brain gears explode, and his guts to simply churn.

And when this guy, grinning like an idiot, began to approach them and spoke, all the functions of his brain came to a screeching halt.

— Ah, Fran! —the young man had merely said, in a voice as masculine as sweet and charming, but that was enough for Arthur, his mouth unhinged, to be abandoned by his spirit.

The foolish incarnation of a god of art and passion began to approach them leisurely, his face lit up by a smile, while Arthur listened to Francis comment.

— I hope you understand me for being a little selfish in keeping him for myself.

....

As the brown man caught up with the group of three, his friendly face wore a quiet but certainly puzzled smile. As soon as he had arrived, he had positioned himself next to the King of Diamonds so naturally, with his own inertia, that it was more than clear that this was as normal and basic to him as breathing. Once at his side, Francis reached out his nimble arm to rest his hand on the newcomer's lower back, as naturally as the aforementioned. This was basically his usual modus operandi, while Gilbert, with a complicated expression on his face, watched the action with questioning eyes.

Arthur, on the other hand, continued as before. Quiet. More than silent…, gone. With his mind flying away, perhaps in some imaginary place or who knows where.

Francis could only take pity on him who, like a Spade, must have suffered some kind of culture shock after seeing his Ace's aura.

— What did you call me for, Fra- Oh, wait! I suppose at this point I should refer to you as Your Majesty. —and laughing awkwardly for a moment, Antonio rubbed the back of his neck, correcting his appellation—. If it is not too much of an inquiry, what is the purpose of your call, my King? —Francis, looking conflicted, somewhere between rushed and excited, gently stroked his companion's lower back as he gently shook his head.

— A simple trifle, my lord, a favour I ask of you as your humble servant. —the blond then replied, smarmily, as Antonio laughed, seemingly unaffected by the other's apparent devotion, and Gilbert snorted, hissing through his teeth. The King smiled for a moment, and then his smile devalued a little to a polite, emotionless one—. I wanted to introduce you to a fellow monarch and good old friend of mine. —he then held out his arm in a show of affection and addressed the man who had hitherto been left out of the conversation—. This is Arthur I of the Kirkland Clan, currently Queen of Spades.

And it was at that moment, when the splendid and devastating green eyes as big as stars, bright as the sun itself, and deep as the greatest abyss, turned and rested upon him, that Arthur came back to life to become, as he had never been in his life, red and redder, and even redder.

Knowing the fate of the greenish gaze that had so disarmed him, Arthur could do no more than stand petrified as he watched the man in front of him look at him intently. The colours rushed to his face as, somehow, the blood drained out of his brain. What was wrong with him, why was he acting so…?

Incompetent, stupid.

He felt like a elementary school child in front of some kind of divine creature.

Perhaps by the hand of those last thoughts he had truly lost his sanity, embarrassed to the core as he was 100% aware of the effect this man was having on him.

He managed to shake himself out of the stupor that had assaulted him when Francis, having taken the role of presenter, pointed to Antonio and introduced him.

— And, Arthur, this is Antonio Fernández Carriedo, the Ace of my Kingdom. —he said, smiling at his companion. Arthur was somewhat curious about the fact that Antonio had two surnames, remembering somewhere in the back of his mind that this was a tradition in some parts of the Diamond Kingdom. He turned his attention back to him when he opened his mouth again—. My beloved Ace here has been far away for a while on a research assignment in a distant land, across the ocean, so it is only natural that you two have not met before. This is, if I am not mistaken, the first time he has set foot on our continent in more than five years. —he was surprised, dismayed, and dismayed by this.

It surprised, dismayed and otherwise amazed Arthur, all at once.

He, a lover of wisdom as clichéd as it was from the people of his Kingdom, had always wanted to go beyond the Great Blue that stretched from the shores to the horizon. He knew that there was something beyond, but very few people and very few ships were limited to going and, perhaps, never returning from those distant lands.

He had always been drawn to such adventures and legends, and he was sure that, had it not been for the fate that fell upon him to impose the safety and welfare of his people, he would have taken to the seas to discover, to breathe, to live. Unleashed to run and be surprised by the strangeness of the world beyond his borders. In freedom.

This guy smelled, felt, like freedom.

And his eyes were so crystal clear that he felt the sea was right there for him.

If Yao were in his head, he probably would have called his attention to how shamelessly self-centered that had sounded, as if this Antonio had appeared now and there for and because of him.

Without skimping, avoiding letting a single second pass, he made an elegant but measured bow and formally introduced himself.

— Arthur Kirkland, the Queen of Spades, here to serve you always, my lord.

And he held out his hand so that the Ace could extend his own, to make possible for Arthur to give him the formal, elegant kiss on the hand that, in a way, he longed to offer.

His lips stung in anticipation.

Though his intention was immediately thwarted when, rather abruptly if Arthur were asked, the other fellow's eyes widened slightly, his gaze averted, and in a curt tone he mumbled, cold as ice. — Ace of Diamonds Fernández Carriedo. It's my… pleasure.

The sudden rejection and the coldness that, from what little he had been able to observe, did not seem to go well with his warm and effusive character, made Arthur, not a little self-conscious and annoyed, pick up his own outstretched hand. His brows furrowed, which only seemed to be accentuated when he saw the same gesture reflected in the other's forehead.

Gilbert and Francis didn't look the least bit surprised.

Equally, he was not at all surprised himself when he deepened his voice and, trying to maintain his composure, said. — Forgive my outburst and I do apologise if my behaviour might seem out of place, but I would like to point out your attitude. —that caught the attention of the green eyes, which turned to look at him fiercely—. Are you always this lackadaisical, or do you just have a problem with me? Please don't beat around the bush. I can't stand levity.

The Joker jumped up, overwhelmed. — Kirkland!

But Francis cut him off, calming him down. — Gil, leave it to me. I'll explain. Look, Arthu-

— The latter. —he melodious voice dictated, responding to his kind of rethorical question, and they all turned to look at him, as he turned from glaring at Arthur, somehow fiercely. Then, he closed his eyes and turned away—. I simply have a problem with Spades, it's nothing …"personal", my lord.

…

Arthur's fists clenched, and he gritted his teeth, poisoned by the humiliation.

How could…

How could he pretend to tell Arthur that his entire Kingdom was a problem, but still pretend it was nothing "personal"?

He reached out and tied the man's arm, squeezing it tightly to stop him, and exclaimed.

— You're crazy if you think that-!

— D-DON'T TOUCH ME!!!

The scream reverberated through the room, and the music stopped.

The cold fell on Arthur, and he panicked. In a moment he was away from Antonio, and suddenly the Jack of Clovers Roderich, the groom on this occasion, obstructed his view and acted as a wall between them as, elegant as ever, he remarked non-important things to divert attention. His hand slipped off the arm where it had been, and suddenly the sounds melted into the background and he went still, catatonic. No, he…

He hadn't meant to scare the guy, he…

I mean, yes, he'd felt insulted by him and had wanted to show himself as a proud and capable leader in front of him, but… He'd never intended to unleash such a…

He hadn't… found words to define what he had seen in the other man's eyes for a split second.

There was hatred and rejection, yes. But most of all there was something else, something that made his throat dry and made him want to vomit.

Before he could name the nature of the mist in those eyes that, he was now sure, weren't exactly looking at him, Antonio had been pulled away from him, and the natural noise of the room had been organically restored. Roderich kept saying something to him, at least until he saw Gilbert, and the two of them started to argue, but Arthur didn't listen too much. He was only able to see Francis giving him a complicated look, before he, too, disappeared into the crowd.

Nothing else worth telling happened during the rest of the evening. Not that Arthur, in the pale state of his mind, could recall, at least.

…

But that same night, in his blankets, Arthur couldn't sleep, he was tossing and turning. The saw green freedom-eyes suddenly darken under a veil of unknown feelings every time he thought he was falling asleep. And then he would open his eyes and look up at the ceiling, thinking.

Who was really Antonio? Why hadn't he known about the existence of someone as important as the Ace of Diamonds? And how was it possible that he had been out of the Four Realms for so long? Why… What for did everyone seem to hide and treasure him so much? And, above all,

Why did such cheerful eyes as his only exude pure anguish when they looked at him, a Spade?

That night Alfred's snoring in the next room and the tinkling of the glass decorations in the guest room accompanied him in his wakefulness. Partly caused by the anxiety in the back of his mind that was warning him of something unknown; partly, too, by the tingling in his arms and in his soul that numbed his senses when he thought of Antonio, his hair, his voice, his eyes and his smile.

All night he thought of nothing else, in fact.

[To be continued… ]

#hetalia #aph spain #aph england #aph france #spuk #engspa #ukspa #hetalia cardverse #queen of spades england #ace of diamons spain #king of diamonds france #joker prussia #this is an enemies to lovers don't let it get to you #why am i like this

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celiciaa · 9 months

Text

GILBERT VON OBSIDIAN MAIN ROUTE....

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR, ROMANTIC.

translations are not 100% accurate. expect mistakes.

trigger warning: mentions of rape, death and violence.

minors and ageless blogs dni.

That day —— I slipped out of Obsidian Castle.

Wearing the black dress gifted to me by Lord Gilbert, with obsidian jewelry on my chest.

No soldiers were blocking my path, and with surprising ease, I met up with the owner and the others who had been staying at the lodging facility.

The signing ceremony is just around the corner.

It is a long-awaited treaty that promises that the great military nation of Obsidian will not commit a military invasion.

Although King Chevalier evaluated it as meaningless,

That is only if Lord Gilbert's plan to destroy the continent is successful.

(I will stop the plan and attend the signing ceremony. That's the best I can do right now.)

From the land of ore to the land of roses.

By the time we passed through the checkpoint and entered the country, I had stopped crying, which had not stopped for a long time recently.

(I haven't had this feeling in a long time.)

What awaited me when I returned to Rhodolite was a host of hostility sharper than the thorns of a rose.

All of the princes except King Chevalier and Luke were gathered in the room,

The major bureaucrats, the political aristocracy, the soldiers and knights in high ranks.…

As a commoner, I was never expected to have anything to do with the leadership of Rhodolite.

(I was prepared. I was prepared for it. .…But it still hurts.)

When I was Belle, I was in the lowest seat, but now I am sitting in the honored seat/the highest position.

I was reminded that my position had changed and that I had become a member of an enemy nation.

Bureaucrat: Impossible...this is a farce.

Bureaucrat: A woman who until recently was a daughter from Rhodolite is now the Empress?

Bureaucrat: Who would trust and accept such a crude plot?

Bureaucrat: Obsidian never intended to sign a non-aggression pact to begin with.

Leon: But Emma has the emperor’s power of attorney. Besides…..

I met Leon's gaze and nodded.

Emma: I am now officially welcomed into the royal family by Lord Gilbert.

(….That was a big lie——)

━━FLASHBACK━━

Gilbert: It's good to call yourself whatever you like in Rhodolite. I will match your settings.

Gilbert: But I hate lies. Be responsible for what you say.

Emma:…….

Gilbert: You can take your time thinking about it, okay?

━━FLASHBACK ENDS━━

(Even if it uses everything available, it still serves the purpose.)

I can think about the future as much as I want later.

Emma: This is something the Emperor has authorized me to do.

Emma: On top of that, I was given the position of Empress on behalf of the Emperor.

The surroundings rumbled, and the air shook.

Leon: If she's registered with Lord Gilbert, even if she's from Rhodolite.….

Leon: Emma is a member of the Obsidian Imperial Family.…and is considered fully qualified to be appointed as a proxy Empress.

Leon: The signing ceremony is supposed to be attended by the Emperor…..

Leon, who has never smiled since entering the room, pulls a letter from his pocket.

The emblem depicts a strong fortress of Obsidian.

Leon: Earlier this morning, I also received a personal letter from the Emperor of Obsidian.

Leon:…It's a bit of a mystery why he's appointing Emma instead of Lord Gilbert, but…

Leon: This proves that his signature validates Emma's. There can be no doubt about it after all this

(That's...not what I heard.)

(…After you’ve threatened me so much that you wouldn't let me out of the castle…..)

Clenching my fist, unbeknownst to myself, I let go of the emotions that were about to overflow.

Then I turned to the domestic bureaucrats, who were the first to speak up.

━━FLASHBACK━━

Bureaucrat: I'm sorry...may I be excused from the meeting today?

Bureaucrat:….I can’t stand it.

Bureaucrat: No matter what...my wife's face comes to mind.

━━FLASHBACK ENDS━━

(…You’re one of those who hate and resent Obsidian, so half-hearted words won't reach you.)

All of those pretty words of the past have bounced back. // Everything that was once beautiful has been repelled.

I open my mouth, carefully choosing the words that come to mind.

Emma: It may be natural to feel neglected.

Emma: But I am here, and I didn't come here lightly.

Emma: To stand here as one who once committed the tragedy of the Bloodstained Rose Day.…

Emma: It's the equivalent of being on the edge of a needle.

Bureaucrat:…

(Rhodolite is no longer by my side.)

(That was the price I had to pay to achieve my ideals.)

There is no turning back, even if my heart bleeds.

Emma: I told you before. That I wish for Rhodolite the everlasting peace

Emma: We should approach Obsidian and establish a new relationship...

Emma: That idea hasn't changed. I'm here to fulfill the ideals I had that day.

Bureaucrat:….Do you truly think your ideals can be fulfilled with a treaty that could be violated at any moment?

Emma: No…of course, I don't think this will solve everything. It's just a first step.

Emma: However….

The corners of my mouth lifted up as I remember the gentle smile that Lord Gilbert always had on his face.

Now I am on Obsidian’s side.

Then I wanted to face them with dignity and grace, like Lord Gilbert, who doesn't care about hostility.

Emma: You never know until you try.

Emma: This non-aggression pact could really be a stepping stone to peace.

Emma: I will not let Obsidian invade Rhodolite ever again.

Emma: I believe that is the consensus not only of myself but of everyone present here.

Bureaucrat:….

Emma: It's the first and last chance Lord Gilbert has given to a mere girl.…

Emma: I'm going to use this to my advantage and go as far as I can.

(Even if it is a self-righteous one...)

Looking around at the assembled people, I make a proud declaration.

Nokto: Do you understand the cost of "use"?

Nokoto: If you participate in a signing ceremony that attracts international attention as a proxy Empress, you are no longer a hostage.

Licht:…Obsidian is an evil empire, the whole continent thinks so.

Licht: From now on, just because you are a member of the royal family, you will be accused of something for a crime you did not commit. You will be in that position.

Jin: Even we won't be able to protect you...and at worst, there's a possibility that we'll become your enemies.

Jin: If you want to reconsider, now is your last chance. You still have a path to exile, don’t you?

The Rhodolitian princes seemed genuinely concerned about me.

(….There's no way such kind people would fall to the tyrannical authorities that Lord Gilbert hates.)

So I am confident that I can stop Lord Gilbert's ambition.

Emma:…Thank you very much.

Emma: But it’s okay. I didn't come here because I was forced to.

Nokoto, Licht, and Jin:…..

Yves:…Why.

(Yves…?)

Yves, who had remained downcast and silent until then, looks up.

His expression was somewhat angry.

(Come to think of it, Yves was quiet the whole way back to Rhodolite from Obsidian.)

(He looked like he was pondering something.….)

Yves:…Why should you have to carry such a burden?

Yves: This is a matter between countries, not one that involves good, ordinary people like you.

Yves: I have no idea what Prince Gilbert is thinking, but…

Yves: All that you're physically trying to do is...

Yves: It should…have been me, because I have Obsidian and Rhodolite blood in my veins.

(….)

(I see….Yves is angry with himself...)

━━FLASHBACK━━

Gilbert: "The only prince who came back to the castle dressed beautifully."

Yves:…….

Gilbert: I’ve heard this rumor before, was it true?

Yves:….I was useless on the battlefield anyway.

Gilbert: Wow, that's great. You're at Rhodolite and you're proudly taking Obsidian's side.

━━FLASHBACK ENDS━━

(I am sure my ideals and Yves' ideals are the same...)

(Maybe he really wanted to be a bridge between the two countries all along.)

Yves:…I don't want you...to be...sacrificed.

Yves: If only I'd been more...stronger…

Yves looks down at his eyes with a bright red face.

His beautiful ultramarine eyes seemed to be wet with tears.

(Perhaps if it is…sacrifice.)

(…Even if Yves were to take over my ideals...)

(I don't think I would give up this position. .…You might say I don't want to give it up.)

(Is it really for the everlasting peace of Rhodolite?)

━━FLASHBACK━━

Emma: What does it mean to "love"?

Gilbert: It's easy.

Gilbert: Isn't that what you want me to live for?

Emma: You love….me.

━━FLASHBACK ENDS━━

(I already know the reason why.)

A self-mocking smile spreads on my lips.

Emma:…What I'm trying to do is not for my country.

Yves: Eh….

(I want everlasting peace. There's no doubt about that.)

(But my motives... are different from before, when I could only say empty words like anyone else would have.)

Emma: Obsidian has a lonely, troublesome beast.

Emma: He's a beast who doesn't trust anyone, doesn't love anyone, and is willing to destroy everything...

Emma:…I think he only loves me.

Yves:….

Emma: If Rhodolite and Obsidian no longer have a reason to be enemies, we can stand by them.

Emma:…I am not a victim.

(Loving Lord Gilbert in this place is unacceptable. that's why…)

Emma: Rather, he's a big, bad with no-excuses villain.

When I revealed my hidden feelings, some thorns became even sharper, and others lost their strength due to bewilderment.

I don't know what each of them is thinking about, though,

The only thing I was sure of was that some of the pitying glances at me had disappeared.

I feel guilty and have a guilty conscience.

(But my heart can't help it.)

A soft laughter echoes through the silent room.

I looked next to me and saw Leon laughing for the first time today.

Leon: Don't think of me as a scoundrel. I just can't help that feeling.

Leon: I hope you are not sacrificing for our country. I was relieved just knowing that.

(Leon….)

Leon stood up from his seat and turned his gaze around the assembled crowd.

Leon: Do you all understand the situation regarding Obsidian's attendance at the signing ceremony?

Leon: If anyone has something else to say, say it now. However….

Leon: Only those who have the same resolution as Emma's are allowed to speak.

Leon: Knowing that she will not be welcomed by you, the proxy Empress has come to this country for the sake of peace.

Leon: Which one of you can surpass Emma's determination?

No one opens their mouths at the voice of their leader.

Each of them seemed to swallow the words with a hesitant look on their face.

Leon: Then it's decided. Treat Emma respectfully as a guest of Obsidian.

Leon: And then, Julius.

Julius: Yes. What is it?

Julius, a soldier from the domestic faction who had been waiting in the corner of the room, steps forward.

Leon: You are in charge of protecting Emma during her stay.

Julius:….

(Oh...is he upset?)

Julius: Why me? There are plenty of other people who would be better suited to protect her.….

Leon: You are the most trustworthy. …For Emma right now, okay?

(...The way you said that...)

(….)

━━FLASHBACK━━

Gilbert: Thank you.

Julius: No, I'm glad I could help.

━━FLASHBACK ENDS━━

(...Ah, so that's what it means...)

Julius: Since when——

Julius is blatantly upset but swallows his words.

Julius:…No, I understand. I will protect her even if it costs me my life.

(Julius is an Obsidian spy.….)

(…Just as Prince Chevalier said, you were close to him.)

Clavis: Hmm... then Cyril, you too. It's not enough to have only one guard for Obsidian's royal family.

Cyril: Yes, sir.

Leon: Then dismissed. Now, please do your part for the signing ceremony.

Leon's voice made people stand up from their seats as if time had begun to move.

Some looked at me as if they had something to say, while others quickly turned away, not wanting me to be in their sight.

(But I guess I got through the first barrier.)

(I don't expect the relationship to change right now, but I can start earning their trust with my actions.)

(I'll be able to attend the signing ceremony, so that leaves...)

Emma: Hey, Leon...where’s Luke?

Asking in a hushed voice, Leon beckoned Clavis, who was just about to get up.

Clavis: What is it?

Leon: Her Majesty is looking for Luke.

Clavis:…Hmm.

Leon: You know where he is, don't you? I know you were sneaking around with Chevalier last night.

Clavis: Haha. As expected of our leader. You can't be underestimated, can you?

(I don't know what you mean.)

Clavis: I have an idea...but do you really want to see him?

Emma: Yes, I have to see him now.

(I've been keeping my eye on Luke for a long time.)

(I stopped thinking about it too deeply when the owner came in that day, though...)

━━FLASHBACK━━

Gilbert: What kind of answer did you come up with?

Emma:….No, it’s nothing.

Gilbert: Liar.

━━FLASHBACK ENDS━━

(——As Lord Gilbert said, that was a lie.)

(I have a pretty good idea...of what Luke is.)

(I should have known when I was friends with Lord Gilbert.)

Clavis looked at me as if he were searching for something, but eventually he shrugged his shoulders in an exaggerated manner.

Clavis: Then I'll go with you. If that's what the Empress requested?

——Clavis prepares a carriage behind the court and sneaks out through the back gate.

Cyril and Julius are riding alongside us on horseback as escorts, but there is no one with them.

(I knew that not being in the court meant...)

Clavis: You noticed that, didn't you?

Emma: The way you said that...So did you, Clavis.

Clavis: Yes. By the way, my brother knows.

Clavis: Today, apart from Luke, Chevalier was the only one you didn't see, right?

Clavis: You're smart enough to know what's going on.

(...No way——)

━━FLASHBACK━━

Gilbert: For example, how do you feel when your loved one has to die for his country?

Gilbert: Is it clear that it can't be helped? Human beings are not so easy.

Gilbert: But he does it without hesitation. That's why he's such a cruel and merciless beast.

Gilbert: He has no hesitation in killing people. As Belle, you have one more insight, haven't you?

━━FLASHBACK ENDS━━

(Luke should now be "national harm" for Rhodolite.)

(And King Chevalier has no tolerance for any harm to the country...)

My blood turned so hot that I covered my mouth with my hand.

Clavis: As you can imagine, things are pretty serious.

Clavis: And "they" are also bloodthirsty and don't even have ears to listen to people's stories.

(Clavis also seems to have guessed what I'm trying to do.)

I don't know if he's aware of it, but his usual shady smile disappeared.

That's just how bad the situation is.

Clavis: Are there any odds?

Emma: Of course there is.

(On the way to Rhodolite, I kept thinking about how to stop Lord Gilbert's plan.)

(But I don't know if it will work.)

What I'm about to do from now on is a direct challenge to Lord Gilbert, who misleads and controls people with his words and deeds.

Emma: Clavis, are you coming with us?

Clavis: As much as I'd like to.…..but Luke would probably overreact if I were there.

Clavis: Therefore, it may be a hindrance to Chevalier.

Emma:…Won't he get mad at you?

Clavis: It happens all the time.

Finally, Clavis smiles.

(It's not easy to get in King Chevalier's way...)

The cruel and merciless beast surely has no mercy for blood relatives.

(But I vaguely guessed that Clavis was "this kind of person.")

He is a prince of humanity.

Otherwise, he would not have ridden alone into enemy territory to save prisoners of war on Bloodstained Rose Day.

(With Clavis, I think...)

(I think he is a great man even though I selected Chevalier as king.)

Emma: Thank you so much, Clavis.

Clavis: What, I just want to harass my brother as usual.

Laughing loudly, Clavis turns his head to the window.

He seems to have finished everything he wanted to talk about.

(…Just at the right opportunity.)

Emma: Clavis….

Clavis: What?

His golden eyes reflect mine again.

Emma: This continent...so rife with the corruption of people with powers that it must be destroyed?

(I haven't seen that much of the corrupt world that Lord Gilbert knows, so I can't sympathize with him.)

(I just wonder how Clavis, who lives in a similar world, sees it.)

Ever since I learned of Lord Gilbert's ambitions at Obsidian, I had secretly wanted to ask him about it.

Clavis: Well...now Chevalier is a good example.

Clavis: He identified the anti-monarchy as a threat to the country and planned to use force.

Clavis: He does not even consider the path of communication. He thinks that violence is the only way to control the situation in the name of defending the country.

Clavis: And because he is powerful, he is allowed to run rampant. Even if he had to kill them all.

Emma:….

Clavis: The same goes for most other countries. Absolute power through bloodlines can be a catastrophe if used improperly.

Clavis: The "rampant of power" you speak of is everywhere, you're not aware of it, are you?

Emma:…Yes, that’s right….

(I was blessed with my environment….)

(Many people may be saved by what Lord Gilbert is trying to do.)

Clavis: But as long as people are social creatures, power is bound to arise.

Clavis: Even if we kill Chevalier, the next power will come along and rule over.

Clavis: As long as there are people, there is no end to pervasive power.

(Yes….)

(...Yes, that's ridiculous.)

(Even if you overthrow the monarchy using anti-monarchy groups, what awaits you is the next person in power...)

(It would have been nice if those people were of good character, but was that part of Lord Gilbert's plan?)

(Lord Gilbert, however, seems to have achieved his goal if the anti-monarchy group caused a riot.)

(Even though the new regime may not be Lord Gilbert's ideal... would he still choose to die at this time?)

Something caught my attention, and I raised my eyebrows, and that's when the carriage shook so much that my body slid off the seat.

Clavis:…Whoa.

Cyril: Are you all right!?

Clavis holds me up, and the tense voice of Cyril, who was running alongside us, follows.

Clavis: Yeah, what happened?

Julius:…It's like they're welcoming us.

(Welcoming us...?)

My ears pick up the sound of something exploding with a bang.

(That sound...)

I didn't have the knowledge before I went to Obsidian, but now I do.

(...It's a gunshot.)

Cyril and Julius, who were outside the window, raised their hands.

Cyril: Prince Clavis, we are surrounded by about 10 people.

Cyril: They all seem to have guns.

Clavis: To be spotted from this distance... Haha, my little brother, you're really something else, aren't you?

(If they have guns, then they are anti-monarchy...)

It's a forest outside.

If a gunshot rang out, it would be no impediment.

Clavis: Emma, I'm sorry. ….It looks like I'm going to have to go with you.

(...This place...)

We were led by a group of armed men with guns pointed at us to the living room of a mansion deep in the woods.

At a glance, many of the faces I had seen before at Clavis' party.

They are no doubt the "anti-monarchy" people who are dissatisfied with the current monarchy and are thinking of starting a revolution.

And in the center of the crowd, there was a young man sitting comfortably on a sofa like a king.

(...To be honest, before I came here, I only thought he might be a member of the anti-monarchy faction...)

Emma: Luke, you are the leader of the anti-monarchy faction.

When I met Luke for the first time in a while, his young leaf-colored eyes were dark and stagnant.

Luke:…I know you've noticed. I've misspoken a few times in front of you.

Clavis: Luke, don't you think it's a good idea to point a gun at a woman, okay?

Clavis, who was standing next to me with his hands raised, had been standing there blocking the barrel of the gun for some time now.

Cyril and Julius did the same and seemed to be trying to protect me.

(I have to be careful...)

Luke: I'll take that as a no. I don't have anything against Emma either, but if Chevalier's going to come and destroy us, it'll be today, right?

Luke: There's nothing better than being cautious. Emma is on Chevalier's side.

(He sees through it all.)

Luke: What are you guys doing here?

Emma:…I wanted to see you, Luke.

Luke: Did Gilbert tell you anything?

Emma: No. Nothing...but I did hear about your plan.

Emma: Lord Gilbert is trying to bring down the current administration from within by supplying arms to the anti-monarchy factions in each country.

Emma: Until now, the guns in the hands of Luke and his friends have been nothing more than lumps of metal…

Emma: Before the signing ceremony tomorrow, Lord Gilbert will present you all with bullets.

(…After I left Obsidian, Lord Gilbert made his move, too.)

This place was already filled with a bloodthirsty atmosphere, like a battlefield.

People have a fighting spirit in their eyes and may be in a situation where they do not listen to what Clavis says.

Emma: I'm sure there will be many guests of honor at the signing ceremony tomorrow, right?

Emma: The security measures will be so heavy, I don't think it will be easy to drop them…

Emma: If everyone has Obsidian firearms, then you have a good chance of winning.

Emma: This is your chance to hit the royal family. …I thought you guys might make a move tomorrow.

(…And, as expected, they seem to be preparing with a sharp eye.)

Luke: I think not, but you have not come to convince me.

Emma: Yes.

The moment I admit it, I can even feel the deadly atmosphere being thrown off all over the place.

Although not as deadly as Lord Gilbert's murderous intent, my body cowered unconsciously.

Luke: You are indeed being too reckless. Gilbert should have stopped you…

Emma: I don't think I need to stop. He doesn't think I'll be able to stop his plans even if I struggle.

Luke: You're right. You should give it up too.

Emma: I don't want to...Luke, don't do this.

Emma: Were the princes in the Rhodolite court so irredeemable that they had to riot?

Luke:….

Luke's eyebrows, which had never lost their composure, twitched.

Emma: You know. You know that they are good people.

Emma: Nokto and Licht, Leon and Yves, Clavis and King Chevalier...even Jin...

Emma: I…liked the Rhodolitian princes very much. They were all so kind and warm.

Clavis: Except Chevalier.

(…Clavis, are you an ally or an enemy!?)

Luke: I guess so. Maybe you're right, maybe they were good guys.

Luke: But, you know, even the best of them, could you say the same thing if they killed your family?

(Eh…)

(…His family was killed?)

Luke: You didn't just ask me about bloodstained rose day 10 years ago, did you?

Luke: That day...my family was killed by Rhodolite royalty.

(…No way...)

Luke: Her head sprang off her neck, right in front of me,

Luke:…Can you still forgive them?

(…..)

Emma: This must be... some kind of misunderstanding.

Emma: No prince I have ever seen would kill an innocent person.

Luke: But, in fact, she was killed. …For whatever reason, she was killed.

Emma:….

Luke: After all, it was the royal family that caused the bloodstained rose day.

Luke: We lost something important because they made the wrong diplomatic decision.

Luke:…You also know about the former king, right? That bastard asshole.

(Oh…)

━━FLASHBACK━━

Gilbert:......Do you know the story of Luke's mother?

Gilbert: His mother was just a maid in the service of the court.

Gilbert: But the king forced himself on her because she looked like the woman he loved.

Gilbert: Heartbroken, she left the court to give birth and raise Luke in secret.

━━FLASHBACK ENDS━━

(Luke...only Luke...)

(There is no reason to trust royalty.)

Luke: When I think of that kind of royalty, it makes me want to destroy them.

Luke: I admire Gilbert's ideal of a democratic society—— a country centered on the people, not royalty.

Emma:…So you're going to start a revolt with guns?

Emma: Will you hurt a lot of people…because you are angry, sad, and resentful?

Emma: That weapon you have may take the life of another innocent person.

Emma: Then next time those people might want to kill you and start another uprising.

Emma: I'm sure everyone here, including Luke, remembers the tragedy of bloodstained rose day.

Emma: But you... are you going to stain the roses with blood again?

Luke:…

Emma: In the end, it's a roundabout path. You are just being used by Lord Gilbert to get what he wants…

Emma: You just get weapons and think you're allowed to do whatever you want…

Emma: What's the difference between someone in power who thinks "a person with status can do as he pleases to those with lower status"!?

Luke:...!

As I raised my voice, the deadly atmosphere swelled—— some of them were even holding firearms.

(...They all have tools that can easily take lives.)

(They are so tainted with Lord Gilbert's malice that they have no doubt that this is the right thing to do.)

(Oh, why...)

(I wonder if he likes people who can corrupt good people to such an extent, like me.)

Luke: I don't care what you say, I ain't going to stop now.

Luke: I'm not going to listen to you. …You're going to stay in prison until we get to the bottom of this.

Luke signals with his eyes, and an armed, strong man tries to take us somewhere.

(…I'm not done talking about it yet!)

Emma: Listen! Do you really think Lord Gilbert is on your side?

Emma: I don't think so. Even you guys must have disagreed about that...

Emma: Don't be deceived by his sweet talk, look at the reality! Lord Gilbert's purpose is probably not to wipe out those in power!

Luke:…Then, what the hell are you on about?

(I know it's a lot...)

On the long road from Obsidian to Rhodolite, I thought seriously about it.

As a result, there is an answer that I have arrived at.

Emma: Lord Gilbert is a beast that doesn't love people.

Emma: If he doesn't love anyone, he doesn't care what happens to any of you.

Emma:...Pretending to be on the side of the weak, but in truth...

━━FLASHBACK━━

Emma: ——How did you become a beast, Lord Gilbert?

On the last day before I left Obsidian, I once asked Lord Gilbert while in his arms.

It was a forbidden question that the owner told me not to ask.

Gilbert: Oh, you want to know?

I nodded, and Lord Gilbert put his head on my shoulder.

Gilbert: I guess this is our last time...

Emma: It's not the last. There are still many things we don't know about you, Lord Gilbert.

Emma: Don't think that today is the end.

Gilbert:…I don't like it. I feel like I'm about to get stripped.

Emma: I intend to do so. Since Lord Gilbert had obtained information about me from the owner…

Emma: I have a right to know a lot of things, too.

(Please, don't say this is our last time.)

Gilbert: Hehe… I see what you mean.

Lord Gilbert's smile was somewhat happy.

Gilbert:…I told you before. I used to be a stupid kid who loved everything.

Gilbert: I didn't like my father because he was crazy even back then, but...

Gilbert: I loved my mother, my brothers, my friends, my acquaintances, everyone.

Gilbert: Even in a castle full of deceit and corruption, there were times of peace.

(That was probably the kind-hearted childhood that Cyril and the owner were talking about.)

Gilbert: But one day, when the Emperor announced that he would choose a successor, everyone's eyes changed.

Gilbert: My older brothers, who had been good friends, formed a faction, and they took the servants and nobles under their wing, and the rifts deepened...

Gilbert: Soon, they began to kill each other fiercely.

Gilbert: Kicking someone down to gain power was as common as breathing in our country.

(…I can't imagine it at all, and I can't empathize with him.)

(But that's the world that Lord Gilbert has seen….)

Gilbert: Fortunately, I was born sickly. A fragile prince who can only stay on the bed was put on the back burner.

Gilbert: One by one, I watched the people I loved die.

Gilbert: After about the tenth person died, my heart became numb and I no longer felt anything.

Emma:….

He snuggles up to me like a spoiled tiger, and I embrace Lord Gilbert.

Gilbert: Maybe it was not a good environment for me to be under such a heavy mental load, but one day I got so sick that I thought I was going to die.

Gilbert: Albert and my mother forced me to go to Rhodolite for medical treatment.

Gilbert: For about a year...I took only Walter with me, and secretly recuperated in Rhodolite.

Gilbert: They were so overprotective, they wrote me letters and sent them to me regularly

(Those were the letters that were in the hideout. The proof that he was a "person" that Lord Gilbert still has in his possession...)

Gilbert: But then one day, the letters just stopped arriving.

Gilbert: I had a bad feeling about that, and I went back to my country...what do you think had happened?

Emma:…They were…killed?

Gilbert: Exactly. Their heads were lined up in the halls of the castle.

I was speechless.

Gilbert: Albert and my mother.…were both executed for expressing their opinions to the Emperor to stop the struggle for the succession.

Gilbert: I'm sure they were trying to clean Obsidian by the time I got back.

Gilbert:…They're really stupid. I was more cunning and cruel than any of my brothers, just because I was sickly.

(I can't stand it…..)

(.…I can't stand that kind of thing.)

Gilbert: They died selfishly. While I was shunned and exposed to a corrupt world.

Gilbert: ——Oh, I finally realized how cruel human nature can be.

Gilbert: Once it rots, it falls anywhere. I didn't know that because I loved everything.

Emma:….

Gilbert: First, I killed my brother, who laughed at Albert's death. Second, I killed the power-hungry people around me.

Gilbert: I killed and killed and killed….until I found myself in the good graces of the Emperor and a high position.

Gilbert: I ruled many countries under his command. I did a lot of dirty things that I couldn't tell you.

Emma:….

Gilbert: And so I came to be known as the trampling beast.

Lord Gilbert’s voice holds no emotion in there.

He is simply…laying out the events that have happened.

Events that were once unbearable for a boy with a pure and beautiful heart are now so unbearable that Lord Gilbert can't think anything of them.

(I now know why his red eye don't reflect people.)

When I put strength into my arms, Lord Gilbert suddenly smiled.

Gilbert: You were exposed to a lot of malice, but in the end, you didn't waver.

Gilbert: I continued to believe in the goodness of people to the end, even though I could have mistrusted them. Even now...

Gilbert: I think I can turn the people’s hearts in black back to white without killing them.

Emma:….

Gilbert: Unlike me, you're pure white.

Gilbert: You're not dyed black. …You're dazzlingly white.

━━FLASHBACK ENDS━━

Emma: ——Lord Gilbert is testing you.

Emma: He gave you weapons, and see what choices you will make."

Emma: He's the kind of person who declares that there is no love in a human's nature, so I'm sure...

Emma: I'm sure he's been waiting for someone to say "no" to him for a long time.

(Because Lord Gilbert used to believe in love.)

(...I think he was really looking for a way to correct the corruption other than violence.)

Luke:….What the hell.

Emma: You’re right, "What the hell".

Emma: It's too bad I can't just dismiss you as a "troublemaker," but...

Emma: But please...reconsider.

Emma: Don't be fooled by Lord Gilbert's sweet words and lose yourself.

Emma:…I know Luke went through a difficult time with the loss of his precious family.

Emma: But as far as I can tell, all the princes were nice to Luke, weren't they?

Emma: Let's talk before resorting to violence. ...You'll fall into the hands of a beast like Lord Gilbert. Come on.

Emma: You can still turn back now.

(It may be too late for Lord Gilbert, but not for the people here.)

Stepping forward, Luke pulls out a lump of metal from the back pocket of his hoodie.

It was the same as the one I have...the small gun Lord Gilbert called a "prototype".

Luke: I don't give a damn! Whatever Gilbert's intentions are, I don't care.

Luke: I've lived my whole life to avenge her! If you get in my way, I'm ready to kill you too.

When the bullets have been loaded, my view is blocked by a white coat.

Emma:…Clavis, please step aside.

Clavis: No, this is indeed a serious matter.

Emma: I'll be fine.

(…It's okay.)

Gently pushing Clavis away, I step forward.

Then, at Lord Gilbert's command, I carefully took out the gun I had hidden in my thigh and placed it on the floor.

Luke: You, that's...

Emma:…Luke also got that from Lord Gilbert, right?

Emma: I won't use it. I will never use it.

Emma: I cannot resort to violence to carry out my intentions.

Emma: I like Luke because he's always been nice to me.…you know?

Luke:….

The barrel of a gun never deviates from mine.

Luke: I'm...

Luke:...I—

I continue to believe and keep my eyes on Luke.

It felt like an eternity.

Luke's finger on the trigger—

???: That's enough.

(…!)

A strong force pulls me in, and Luke disappears from sight.

The scent of roses grazed my nose and took my breath away.

Chevalier: That's enough of that.

Emma: King...Chevalier?

Enclosed in a white cloak, I blink my eyes.

A wave of turmoil and alarm spread, not only among me but also among those around me who did not seem to notice.

Chevalier: I think you've had enough of these talks.

Chevalier: Simpleton...there is nothing more you can do.

Chevalier: His mind is filled with bloodbath, too. He needs time to think.

(…Why…)

Luke: Are you alone? I thought you were going to take control.

Chevalier: That was the plan, but the return of the proxy Empress messed up my plans.

Chevalier:…I've made a troubling promise.

(What do you mean by "promise"?)

King Chevalier pulls me roughly and throws me forcefully toward Luke, who is standing there.

(!?)

If Luke hadn't dropped his gun and caught me on the spur of the moment, I would have been badly bruised.

Luke: You…!

Luke:….

Chevalier: Have you noticed?

(……What?)

Luke looks startled and frozen, and Prince Chevalier takes me away again.

Chevalier: This woman rode into enemy territory like a fool and tried to persuade you.

Chevalier: You have resorted to force and abandoned your thoughts. You have given up everything to the beast.

Luke:….

Chevalier: It's as clear as daylight which side of us is the winner.

Carrying me on his shoulders, King Chevalier walks away, unconcerned about the turmoil around him.

Chevalier: I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

After leaving the mansion, King Chevalier throws me into the carriage.

I was thrown to the seat and somehow managed to catch myself,

King Chevalier was unconcerned and left Clavis and the others behind as well.

Emma: How did you...?

Chevalier:….

This is not a muttering against King Chevalier's outlandish behavior.

(How did you…get here…)

Chevalier:…A one-time favor from an old friend.

Sighing uninterestedly, King Chevalier crosses his arms.

Sitting next to him was someone who should not have been there.

Gilbert: Good. You're alive.

Emma: Lord…Gilbert?

Gilbert: Hehe, I told you. I said I'd be there to witness the signing ceremony.

Gilbert: I just wanted to surprise you.

(This is impossible...)

(…He's not supposed to be here.)

Even though I understand it in my head, the person in front of me is Lord Gilbert himself…

However, that red eye reflected a "person".

▸ [ previous / next ]

#ikemen prince #ikepri #ikemen prince spoilers #ikepri jp #ikepri translations #ikemen series #cybird #gilbert von obsidian #ikepri gilbert

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saneijeijei · 2 years

Text

Marriage

I was thinking about Callisto's words about his parents' relationship. And about the false words about the emperor's love. Were they at all? Well, that is, did the emperor really lie that he loved the Empress, or could things have been a little different?

The novel doesn't say who the empress was before the wedding, and in general, we don't know much about her, so further thoughts are my fanfiction nonsense.

Callisto has no relatives among the aristocracy. After his return to the empire, throughout history, we do not see a single character, the so-called patron (a representative of the family, the heir of the family, who is interested in having a prince ascend to the throne, with whom they are related by blood) among the aristocrats, except for poor Cedric and the nanny. That is, it is likely that Callisto's mother was from a neighboring kingdom.

Considering that Callisto's father was the second prince, I am inclined to believe that his mother was a princess of a neighboring state, and not a simple noblewoman.

Based on military campaigns and numerous wars, the emperor could conclude a political alliance to strengthen his position. If the Crown Prince had been chosen for the role of groom, it would have caused unrest among the nobility. The aristocrats would be extremely unhappy that a member of another royal family is in power.

Therefore, it is likely that the second prince, Callisto's father, was chosen for the role of the groom. A character is quite decorative, but explains small details in the relationships of minor characters, and partially reveals the identity of Callisto's mother.

The future emperor had little interest in politics. Throughout the novel, we practically do not see his presence in any of the plot arches. He appears only in dialogues between characters. The emperor is not present at events or when solving many important cases. He literally cares little about what is happening around him, the same competitions or open conflicts between his second wife and first son.

The relationship between Callisto's mother and father could be quite cold and distant. Arranged marriage. The second prince is not a pretender to the throne. Prince enjoying life in the palace, and the princess who married for the sake of the union of two kingdom.

I think that during this time their cold detached relationship could develop into love (I wanted to write about passion, but I'm not sure). A moment when they could enjoy carefree days and not worry about anything. These are the most beautiful moments of the vow of love and a happy marriage that young Callisto remembered.

But the woman considered her husband worthy of the throne, not his older brother. She had good support among the nobility of the empire and its state. I would not be surprised if her father/mother-ruler themselves promoted their son-in-law with all their might so that he, and not his brother, ascended to the throne. But did he want it himself? Has anyone asked him if he wants to rule and become emperor?

The Empress received a strong faction that supported the new emperor. The power was in the she hands.

The split in relationship, quite likely, occurred precisely because of the ambitions of the empress and the emperor, who did not want to become what she wants to see. Considering that in the future we do not hear anything about the elder prince, it is quite likely that he died in the struggle for the throne, which could also leave a wound on the heart of Callisto's father. The spoiled relationship finally destroyed the idyll. The Emperor turned away from the empress and Callisto too, out of deep resentment. Without the support of the emperor, the Empress gradually lost her power, and the faction, realizing this, gradually disintegrated.

It is at this moment that Marquis Ellen appears with her daughter. Who by some miracle turns out to be pregnant with the second prince. I am convinced that the cunning Marquis, quite likely, took advantage of the fact that the emperor quarreled with his wife, and helped his daughter "comfort" the man. Due to an illegitimate pregnancy, the marquis could demand from the emperor that he take his daughter in marriage. But he was married. Which was hardly an obstacle for Ellen, since we know the tragic fate of Callisto's mother and the words of the Crown Prince himself that the Marquis was involved in an attempt on the Empress.

He gathers a new faction, and after the death of the empress, he takes power into his own hands, when the emperor, accustomed to his wife controlling everything, leaves everything to the marquis. He never needed it, so in the future, we practically do not see him anywhere except after the story arc in the novella.

So, we can say that his parents could have had a period when they were in love with each other, but because they did not take into account each other's desires and dreams, the little family fell apart? It's similar to what almost happened between Callisto and Penelope, but the couple tried to respect each other's wishes and dreams (Callisto did most of it) and, in general, tried to talk about what they like and what they don't like (Penelope did most of it). Therefore, they managed to survive the crisis in the relationship, regardless of how they started.

You tell me, hey, Jei, is this another parallel? Yes, damn it, I like to spend them in fanfic ideas.

#vadd #ditoeftv #death is the only ending for the villainess #death is the only ending for a villainess #villains are destined to die #text #callisto regulus

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memoriae-lectoris · 10 months

Text

The late Heian system of government, cumbrous and inefficient though it was, looked as if it might lumber along by sheer inertia when suddenly in 1156 a brief explosion of violence, in which opposing Court factions unwisely enlisted the support of different military leaders, revealed that the entire structure of aristocratic rule was an anachronism.

For all real power in the land had rapidly been passing to the samurai, those despised, boorish warriors whom the noblemen had for centuries used as their lackeys to settle land disputes and to keep order in the provinces and the capital, but whose leaders were now determined and ready to take affairs into their own hands.

Though the emperors were still regarded as the ultimate source of authority owing to their religious charisma as direct descendants of the sun goddess, and though members of the Fujiwara clan still kept an important position in the microcosm of the Court, such effective government as Japan might have would henceforth be directed by the class that during the past century had acquired by far the strongest force in the country and whose economic base was secured by its control of vast estates of rice land.

During the twelfth century the Court aristocracy had finally proved itself incapable of providing even a minimum of practical control and administration, not only in the unruly eastern territories but even in the home provinces and the capital city itself. While the military leaders were prepared to leave them with the trappings of prestige and to recognize the imperial family as the moral source of political power, there could be no question that a new era had started in Japanese history and that all important decisions would now be made by leaders of the samurai class, who alone had the power to enforce them.

Japanese mediaeval samurai, for all their protestations about selfless, disinterested service, usually fought in the knowledge that their sacrifices and valour would be noted by their overlords and duly rewarded in the form of land grants or other material advantages. Any failure to bestow such rewards or any inequity in the distribution was bitterly resented.

#book: the nobility of failure #heian era #politics #12th centruy #Japan

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johnjankovic1 · 1 year

Text

Gilded Age 2.0

History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes.

Mark Twain

Society’s capture by corporations signals the late stages of capitalism where free markets run roughshod over governments and the public. What abounds is the inexorable creep of business into every facet of life as policy decisions rest in the firm control of monied interests in search of profit with the loss of sovereignty and agency for the elected and electors alike. Each passing year marks a further consolidation and concentration of wealth where income inequality spurs political instability. Not foreign to history is how this very brinkmanship conspires to limp the world into revolution as similarities resonate with the Ancien Régime when deprivation reached a crescendo of resentment for the ruling class amidst the French Revolution. Without confidence a system suffers an erosion to its legitimacy until its proper subversion. Likewise the inordinate clout held by Big Business over politics has had the same effect of sidelining the majority who feel helpless when their job security hinges on the footloose nature of their employers. Such a footprint left by deindustrialization, wage stagnation and automation upon labour markets has ushered the spectre of collapse for middle-income households everywhere.

Everything since has become polarized under the existential threat that is global corporatocracy. The ‘Great Reset’ with its unprecedented transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich marked a nadir of regression in a foil to the immediate postwar boom for the working class. It might be said that society has devolved back to its primitive state under the jackboot of aristocracies from a bygone age. Big Pharma exploited profits to the detriment of public health causing the OxyContin epidemic thanks to a complicit FDA. Big Finance immune to risk cowed policymakers into industry-wide deregulation until the advent of 2008’s Financial Crisis. Big Auto blinkered to fuel economy was left flatfooted after years of protectionism when the high elasticity of demand for SUVs cut payroll on the assembly line. Big Tech manipulated public opinion in a quid pro quo at the behest of politicians in the 2020 election. Big Oil and the military-industrial-complex exported imperialism in the Middle East for oil reserves and defence contracts respectively. The FAA allowed Boeing to self-regulate leading to the crashes of the 737 Max. These examples to name a few bespeak how market capitalization equates with a veto power over the electorate to the perversion of democracy.

What capitalism now approaches is the wild accumulation left for the Robber Barrons at the height of the Gilded Era. Modern companies transcend nationhood to become whole empires with corporate revenue rivalling the GDP of most G7 economies akin to the predation once seen in the railroad, steel, and oil industries when monopolies of upstream and downstream production greatly widened the distribution of wealth. The legacy of these past exploits left a country divided along fault lines between liberalism and populism exactly as it does today. Deregulation, subsidies, legal immunity, protective tariffs and the like were all sought by lavish donations as a form of insurance to maximize those interests presiding over Washington and Wall Street. Such politics in the spirit of Public Choice Theory arouse a species of discontent for the top 1% much like it did then only now it is a symptom of job displacement and scarce labour protections in light of the gig economy and decline in unions. The knowledge economy appears to be a facsimile of the industrial one. Of particular note is how this centennial cycle mimics the fortunes of the affluent and the limited opportunities for the working class in terms of income disparity (Zucman 2019): a pithy explanation would be to say that history has come full circle.

The balance of power in Washington therefore privileges the preferences of the C-suite whose dollars leave little room for ordinary citizens in authoring legislation. The long list of enactments at odds with democratic ideals since backdoors rather than votes are used does vindicate the sort of symbiosis so common between the corporate sector and government. Think tanks, lobbying, campaign finance, and the revolving door of former executives now in office are all strategies that companies avail themselves of to exert influence over policy outcomes. In 1998 the Copyright Term Extension Act expanded exclusive rights to Disney over its intellectual property of Mickey Mouse from seventy-five to nine-five years as a barrier to competitors. In 1994 NAFTA exploited lower wages for automakers by offshoring supply chains in search of profitability. In 1999 the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act consolidated commercial banks with stock exchanges and insurance providers under the aegis of ‘too-big-to-fail’ institutions like Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase. In 2003 the Medicare Modernization Act fattened the bottom line of pharmaceutical companies. In 2005 the Energy Policy Act extended the useful life of pipelines to buttress the fiscal health of companies like ExxonMobil and Chevron (Metcalf 2009). In 2008 the Troubled Asset Relief Program preserved the marketshare of General Motors and Chrysler via subsidies. In 2010 the Supreme Court in the Citizens United case equated political spending with the First Amendment right to free speech. In 2023 Big Tech has yet to be hemmed in by any type of federal privacy laws. Finally the National Defence Authorization Act backs the revenue stream for Lockheed, Raytheon and Boeing on an annual basis. These vignettes are but a few in a long saga of corporatocracy.

The birthplace of these shadow sovereigns can be sourced in the neoliberal doctrine midwifed by economists Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman for the Mont Pelerin Society in 1947. At the time laissez-faire capitalism came to be a nemesis at odds with the fiscal deficits legislated by the zeitgeist of Keynesianism meant to stimulate demand in the wake of WWII. By the 1970s with the onset of stagflation when economies were mired in contraction the marriage between government and the machinery of business ejected the failures of such statism in favour of austerity and its fiscal discipline with greater freedoms given to the private sector. What came to fruition was the Washington Consensus supplanting the Keynesian one as the welfare state receded in the face of supply-side economics that set greater store in deregulation and privatization of public goods. This crusade led by proponents for the shareholder value of financial assets set a premium on investment and trade as precursors to the emergence of modern globalization. A new skepticism for governments summarily begot a substantial degree of autonomy for companies to penetrate new markets in search of profitability from foreign consumption and international supply chains. Ultimately one of the many perquisites aside from political power for these fledgling oligopolies was their limited liability owed to the socialization of their financial risk borne by taxpayers.

#Globalization #Free Trade #Corporatocracy

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orsuliya · 3 years

Note

... the evil cousin in the book tried to "seduce" Xiao Qi even before the arranged marriage in Hulan? What was exactly her plan? Did her and her evil mum really think Awu could accept this shit?

Anyway I'm happy that Awu here is more aware of her own insecurities. She already knows about her health problems and deals with it with her own terms. Qianer's affair made her more frustrated and conscious about her own position. She is really jealous but jealousy isn't the real problem here.....she knows her husband isn't interested at all about Qianer, she doesn't doubt on his fidelity but this doesn't change the reality. Xiao Qi can accept to have a wife who can't give him sons, but the society can't. Her enemies won't never stop to use this weakness to ruin their peace or to try to usurp her position, and she can't live like this.

It's not because she doesn't trust her husband, she knows his heart but her fears are still realistic.....She even feels guilty towards him because he's giving up to have precious heirs! And no other man would do the same. (She includes even Zitan, lolololol)

That's why she tried everything to get pregnant, not only because of maternal instincts *_*

(So sorry for the long post‼️)

Hey, that plan wasn't so bad! In fact, I propose it was far more sensible than their drama shenanigans, which had little rhyme or reason. But then, that's what you get when you accept drugs from Xie Wanru.

The book establishes two things. One, Awu's aunt has an axe to grind with the main branch of the Wang clan as Wang Kai, her sole biological child, died while Turnip Wang survived and thrived. This made her resent the main branch in general and Awu's other aunt in particular. And what an excellent revenge would it be to see her own Qian'er - a daughter from a concubine no less! - lord it over the oh so high and mighty Wang Xuan in her own house! Two, childless women are vulnerable. So much so that Awu's aunt sees nothing wrong with giving Pei'er, Qian'er's sickly elder half-sister, two maids with the express purpose for using them as breeders, should Pei'er have trouble with bearing children for her new husband. Huanmi, also not a shining example of health, came to her marriage accompanied by four concubines, although we don't know the exact reason for that.

What's more, there's nothing to suggest that book!Qian'er was the toast of Langya. In fact, the aunt's total lack of resistance to the idea of marrying Pei'er off to another province - which Awu notes as somewhat suspect - combined with her general behaviour and what she says about her hometown, makes me wonder how good their situation really was. They have their name and that name is exactly what nets Pei'er a marriage into one of Jiangnan's preeminent clans... But would she rate this match if it wasn't for the pressing need to patch up political relationships with Jiangnan aristocracy via a double marriage: Turnip to Shen Lin, Pei'er to Wu Jun. Why, Pei'er is furnished with the title of Xuanning Princess, which screams of a peace marriage. Unless another peace marriage comes along, what kind of match might Qian'er expect for herself?

Well, I can tell you what kind of match she wouldn't be expecting and that is one to a man of Xiao Qi's standing, at least not as his main wife. By the time this whole mess happens he's the single most powerful man in Cheng. A glaringly childless one with no women other than his main wife. No other women = no competition. By the local standards this is not something that happens very often: Turnip's concubine count is in double digits, Song Huaien takes some at the first opportunity, I mean, who doesn't have a few concubines in their family? Well, except imperial brothers-in-law whose previous ones died in exceptionally tragic circumstances.

Since there's no competition, the only thing that Qian'er would need to do is to get with child. She bears the heir, her status goes sky-high. Especially since it doesn't look like the main wife is going to procreate any time soon. In the book it's been years and years and still nothing. And really, why should Awu be against this whole enterprise? Better a Wang girl than a stranger, right?

That Xiao Qi is Xiao Qi is another matter altogether. By the way, while in the drama his insistence on monogamy seems motivated solely by his love for Awu, it is not the case in the book. Or rather it is, but not quite, see: his tragic backstory. His aversion to having children with anybody but his main wife dates from before their marriage and is motivated by his childhood. Seeing as his mother was from a disgraced family and didn't even rate the status of a concubine, which made Xiao Qi's birth something of a disgrace, and that he ran the moment his father breathed his last... Yeah, I suspect life in the Guangling Xiao clan wasn't exactly all rainbows for a boy of comparatively low rank. Our general is simply too smart to replicate a losing strategy!

And yes, Awu's fears are entirely too grounded in reality. Sure, she believes Xiao Qi won't be faithless and it's clear that in the absence of the Re-do Wedding he must have made some sort of announcement, otherwise how come the whole country knows that their Regent doesn't accept concubines? But still, he's not the one that will feel the societal pressure and not the one who faces the rather bleak prospect of becoming a childless widow. Awu is the one who will be branded a failure if this situation persists any longer. But you know what, there is every possibility Xiao Qi might have enough power to shut everybody's mouths. Except.

Except that in the book there is one other factor that makes having children a must. Xiao Qi has been gunning for that throne for years and he's just a few steps away from his goal. The problem is this: how does one establish a new dynasty with no heirs in sight? Childlessness rather invalidates this whole enterprise and Awu is just as invested as Xiao Qi; why, at one point he gives her an out and still she tells him to go for it. This whole desperate trying for children is less about maternal feelings and more about building legacy. Which, taking their imperial ambitions into account, rapidly becomes a matter of national stability. It's already a miracle that Xiao Qi got away with abolishing the imperial system of six palaces with only a single male heir; I suspect it was nowhere near painless nor widely accepted. Without that male heir? Ooof, it simply doesn't bear thinking about!

#ask and answer #the rebel princess #emperor's conquest #we don't say sorry for long posts in this house!#unless you think we should start #naaaah better not

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dwellordream · 3 years

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“England, an island kingdom with a majority population of Anglo-Saxon, Celtic, or Danish origin and a ruling minority of Norman French descent, must have seemed in many ways a strange land to Eleanor. Happily for the queen, England since the 1066 Norman Conquest had had close links with the French and Latin culture prevailing on the European mainland. While the majority of the native population spoke English, the language spoken among the aristocracy at the royal court and by London’s commercial classes was Anglo-Norman French. The clergy and many royal officials knew Latin as well and easily moved from one language to the other.

A number of Anglo-Norman speakers were trilingual, since they found some knowledge of English, the language spoken by the mass of the population, a practical necessity, but French would remain the language of the royal court long after Eleanor’s time. One of Henry II’s courtiers wrote glowingly of the king’s linguistic skill, noting that he “had some knowledge of every language from the Channel to the river Jordan, but himself employed only Latin and French.” Probably Henry could grasp the gist of what was said to him in English, but was far from fluent and unable to make himself understood by English speakers.

Such linguistic plurality was familiar to Eleanor, who had moved back and forth in her childhood between the two French tongues, langue d’oïl and langue d’oc. Yet she never learned English, although she must have had many English-speaking servants. Surviving accounts from Henry II’s early years as king mention his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine and little more, but there can be no doubt that shocking rumors about her conduct on the Second Crusade followed her to her new kingdom.

Large numbers of ambitious English youths who sought out the learning of the schools of Paris doubtless laughed over drinks in their taverns at exaggerated stories told of their new queen’s scandalous conduct as Louis VII’s consort. On their return to England in search of employment, many gathered at the royal court, a place filled with clever courtiers, ambitious and greedy men of low birth, who traded on amusing stories to stand out from their fellows in the rivalry for patronage. They readily turned their skill with words toward gossip, flattery, lies, and hypocrisy in order to prevail over competitors.

Doubtless, one means of impressing potential patrons with their access to power was to retell tales of the queen’s immorality that they had heard while in France. Nothing could be kept secret at court, for the royal family lived their lives in public with courtiers and lesser servants constantly present, and they could not avoid being the subjects of much gossip. It is impossible to gauge how far down among the common people gossip about the new queen penetrated. The majority of Eleanor’s new subjects probably knew little more than that she came from a place far away in the south of France and that she had left her first husband, the French king, to marry Henry Plantagenet.

Yet court gossip circulated among Londoners and no doubt spread to their acquaintances in the countryside. Eleanor’s largely unflattering portrait painted by English chroniclers writing toward the end of the twelfth century probably reflects popular opinion. It shows that she did not meet a standard for queenship being defined in the course of the century, part of a reformulation of gender roles that would impose harsher judgments of her than those passed on earlier English queens. Despite a growing animus against powerful women, Eleanor’s four Anglo Norman predecessors as English queen-consorts had enjoyed the approval of contemporary writers.

The chronicler Orderic Vitalis, an English-born monk writing in Normandy, supplies few signs of women’s worsening conditions early in the twelfth century. His stereotypical references to feminine weaknesses are no more than superficial comments made in passing. He portrays queens as companions and helpmates to their husbands, “helping in government in any time of crisis, ruling during minorities, or helping the foundation of churches.”

Other chroniclers similarly described Anglo-Norman queens in conventional terms as models of piety and purity, making benefactions to religious institutions and supporting literary and artistic patronage at the royal court. These ladies attracted no scandalous gossip, were conscientious mothers and worthy companions of their royal consorts, even if occasionally involved in politics, serving as regents during their husbands’ absences from the kingdom.

William I’s wife Matilda of Flanders escaped Orderic’s condemnation for mixing in worldly matters, since circumstances required her to act as governor of Normandy for long periods while her husband was busy consolidating his rule over his new kingdom of England. Orderic recorded without disapproval “the hard facts of her participation in the work of government” later in England, where she acted as regent and even as royal judge. Henry I’s consort Edith-Matilda had exerted similar influence in the political sphere, acting as regent during her husband’s absences from the realm. When exercising power on Henry I’s behalf, she applied her own seal to royal documents, and she expected royal officials to obey her as they would the king.

Yet her activity as her husband’s helpmate did not sully her reputation, for her piety staved off writers’ objections. Indeed, Edith-Matilda spoke openly of her influence over her husband; in a letter to Anselm of Canterbury, who had incurred royal wrath, she told him, “With God’s help and my suggestions, as far as I am able, [Henry] may become more welcoming and compromising towards you.” Eleanor’s efforts as Henry II’s regent during the first decade of their marriage did not win her similar praise, however.

Unlike Henry’s grandmother, whose intercession with her husband on behalf of worthy petitioners had led churchmen to compare her to the biblical Queen Esther, Eleanor did not earn contemporaries’ gratitude for taking advantage of her intimate access to Henry to intervene for the sake of others. Edith-Matilda with her saintliness represented a model of what was expected and esteemed in an English royal consort. Yet her death in 1118 marked a change for English queenship, for by then the eleventh-century reform movement’s fight for clerical celibacy was bringing about a sharpening of gender definitions to deny women any public role.

While Eleanor was queen, English churchmen were condemning great women for assuming such “manly” roles as the exercise of power, and they decried husbands who allowed their wives a role in public life as guilty of “unmanly” behavior. Henry II’s own mother, Empress Matilda, had suffered from accusations of an “unwomanly” desire for power. Eleanor sought a place for herself in politics that went beyond what northern Europeans considered suitable for a queen. Even as a young wife and a stranger at the court of Louis VII, she had demonstrated a desire to share power with her royal husband; and she had resented both her mother-in-law’s influence over her young husband and Abbot Suger of Saint-Denis’s role as his senior counselor.

As a French biographer writes, “It is that constant political activity and her role at court . . . that makes Eleanor an exceptional woman to the point of astonishing the historians of our time and of shocking the misogynistic chroniclers of her own.” Religious devotion was an important quality for queens, who were expected to be models of piety, using their prominence to promote religion in the kingdom. While Eleanor’s predecessors were known to have given pious gifts to monastic institutions, including new foundations, she is not noted for having founded new religious houses in England.

… monasteries or convents favored by her ancestors seem never to have benefitted from gifts of English lands from her as additions to their endowments. Unlike Henry II, who provided Fontevraud with revenues from English properties and encouraged the foundation of Fontevraudist priories in England, no evidence survives of Eleanor’s gifts to that house from her English revenues. Eleanor formed a special relationship with Reading Abbey where her first son, William, dead at the age of three, was entombed in 1156, apparently while Henry II was abroad.

No doubt her husband sent instructions concerning their son’s burial; and his body was placed at the feet of his great-grandfather, to King Henry I of England, Henry’s model for ruling England. The choice of Reading as the child’s resting place was a means of linking the Angevin king and his family to Henry I, founder of the abbey, who had intended it to be a royal mausoleum. Like parents in any age, Eleanor and Henry mourned the loss of their first child. In making a grant for the little boy’s soul to Hurley Priory, a dependent house of Westminster Abbey, the king declared that the gift was made at the queen’s request and with her assent.

…Another rare letter to Eleanor as queen of England survives to cast light on her spiritual life. It was written to her by the prophet and mystic, Hildegard of Bingen (d.1179), another remarkable twelfth-century woman, and a letter addressed by her to Henry II also survives. As Hildegard’s fame spread, she conducted a wide correspondence replying to requests for her advice from powerful persons throughout Europe, including England.

Since the letter cannot be dated more precisely than sometime before 1170, the event that impelled Hildegard to write to the English queen remains a mystery. She addresses Eleanor not so much as a sovereign as a woman who is prey to troubles; and she offers counsel to calm her, advising her to search for stability. She wrote “Your mind is similar to a wall plunged into a whirlwind of clouds. You look all around, but find no rest. Flee that and remain firm and stable, with God as with men, and God will then help you in all your tribulations. May he give you his blessing and his aid in all your undertakings.”

- Ralph V. Turner, “Once More a Queen and Mother: England, 1154–1168.” in Eleanor of Aquitaine: Queen of France, Queen of England

#eleanor of aquitaine #eleanor of aquitaine: queen of france queen of england #history #high middle ages #henry ii of england #english #medieval #queens

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the-archlich · 3 years

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Do you think Cao Shuang's incompetence justified Sima Yi's coup? Its unquestionable that he was better suited to managing Wei then Cao Shuang?

I don't think Cao Shuang was incompetent at all, and I think that the impression he was comes from people who are not paying very much attention to the facts.

Cao Shuang successfully took power and held it for a decade. He secured most of the top positions in the court for his own followers and drove out many who might have opposed him. He gave his personal friends and supporters command over key border regions (see Xiahou Xuan, Zhuge Dan, Wen Qin, etc) and was, on the whole, a very skilled political operative. That he was outmaneuvered was due to the skill of his rival and (in particular) the stronger and deeper base of power that the Sima had to draw on (that is, the old aristocracy that resented the rise of Cao Shuang's partisans who threatened their long supremacy).

By promoting revolutionary scholars and artists, Cao Shuang did much to advance the intellectual culture of Wei and give it a unique flavor. When he and his partisans were executed Zheng Chong (later a long-term servant of the Sima regime) lamented that half of the greatest minds in Wei had been killed.

While Cao Shuang's actions angered the established powers, they were in no way damaging to Wei; and establishing a counterweight to the legacy aristocracy was healthier for the state in the long-term. Enemies at the borders were repelled. Offensive operations, while unsuccessful, were limited and conducted with minimal losses.

On the whole, Cao Shuang did an excellent job of managing state affairs. While I certainly consider him a corrupt official who monopolized power and used his influence to enrich himself and his confederates, that's not any different from any other regent or emperor you can name; and he preferred to demote, dismiss, and exile his opponents and critics rather than kill them and their families, putting him a cut above others, ethically speaking.

While there is room to discuss what justification, if any, Sima Yi had to act against Cao Shuang - or if any justification is even needed - the charge of incompetence and the assertion that Sima Yi would have managed affairs better holds no water.

In the 10 years Cao Shuang ruled, there were no revolts within Wei until his removal in 249. During the decade of the Sima securing their power (from 250-260), there were 2 civil wars, 2 attempted assassinations of the regents, and Wang Ling's failed plot. The Sima regime created far more instability than Cao Shuang's regime did, and threatened the state's existence and prosperity to a far greater extent.

I personally take no issue with the fact that the Sima seized power, the way in which they did it, or the measures they took to maintain that power. In my mind, that's just the game and they played it more successfully than their opponents. But the idea that this was somehow the best thing for Wei, or that Cao Shuang was doing poorly, is absolute nonsense.

Cao Shuang was by no means inept. He was defeated not because he was foolish, but because he was opposed by someone far more ruthless and with a far deeper base of support. Cao Shuang exiled opponents and had the support of a new generation of scholars and intellectuals, and a few older supporters. Sima Yi was willing to kill hundreds and had the whole Han-era aristocracy at his back. Cao Shuang's failure was that he was unable to balance the interests of the old Traditionalists with his Revisionists but was not ruthless (or cruel) enough to eliminate his opponents.

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seriousbusinessforhumans · 3 years

Link

Feb 2018

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) counted over 100 people killed or injured by alleged perpetrators influenced by the so-called "alt-right" — a movement that continues to access the mainstream and reach young recruits.

On December 7, 2017, a 21-year-old white male posing as a student entered Aztec High School in rural New Mexico and began firing a handgun, killing two students before taking his own life. At the time, the news of the shooting went largely ignored, but the online activity of the alleged killer, William Edward Atchison, bore all the hallmarks of the “alt-right”—the now infamous subculture and political movement consisting of vicious trolls, racist activists, and bitter misogynists.

But Atchison wasn’t the first to fit the profile of alt-right killer—that morbid milestone belongs to Elliot Rodger, the 22-year-old who in 2014 killed seven in Isla Vista, California, after uploading a sprawling manifesto filled with hatred of young women and interracial couples (Atchison went by “Elliot Rodger” in one of his many online personas and lauded the “supreme gentleman,” a title Rodger gave himself and has since become a meme on the alt-right).

Including Rodger’s murderous rampage there have been at least 13 alt-right related fatal episodes, leaving 43 dead and more than 60 injured (see list). Nine of the 12 incidents counted here occurred in 2017 alone, making last year the most violent year for the movement.

Like Atchison and Rodger, these perpetrators were all male and, with the exception of three men, all under the age of 30 at the time they are alleged to have killed. The average age of the alt-right killers is 26. The youngest was 17. One, Alexandre Bissonnette, is Canadian, but the rest are American.

The “alternative right” was coined in part by white nationalist leader Richard Bertrand Spencer in 2008, but the movement as it’s known today can largely be traced back to 2012 and 2013 when two major events occurred: the killing of the black teenager Trayvon Martin and the so-called Gamergate controversy where female game developers and journalists were systematically threatened with rape and death. Both were formative moments for a young generation of far-right activists raised on the internet and who found community on chaotic forums like 4chan and Reddit where the classic tenets of white nationalism — most notably the belief that white identity is under attack by multiculturalism and political correctness — flourish under dizzying layers of toxic irony.

The Killings Started in California

The timeline for alt-right killers began on May 23, 2014.

On that day, college sophomore Elliot Rodger stabbed his three roommates to death before driving to a sorority house at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and shooting several women. He then killed or injured several pedestrians with both gunfire and his vehicle before exchanging fire with police and eventually taking his own life. He ultimately killed seven and wounded 14.

Rodger left behind a sprawling 107,000-word manifesto titled, “My Twisted World: The Story of Elliot Rodger,” which contained passages lamenting his inability to find a girlfriend, expressing extreme misogyny and various racist positions including disgust for interracial couples (despite the fact that he was multi-racial himself (half-Chinese)).

“How could an inferior, ugly black boy be able to get a white girl and not me? I am beautiful, and I am half white myself,” Rodger wrote. “I am descended from British aristocracy. He is descended from slaves.”

Rodger frequented PUAhate, a deeply misogynistic forum populated by failed “pick up artists” dedicated to revealing, “the scams, deception, and misleading marketing techniques used by dating gurus and the seduction community to deceive men and profit from them.” Discussions about women on the forum are at best objectifying and at worst, violent.

The term, “white sharia,” allegedly coined by Sacco Vandal of the popular alt-right site Vandal Void, is a radical response to Patrick Buchanan’s argument in Death of the West: that the increase in immigration and decline of white birthrates is leading to the end of Western civilization. Rodger’s celebration at the 504um, one of the premier alt-right forums, is the rule rather than the exception, and locates misogyny at the core of the alt-right.

Andrew Anglin, the neo-Nazi Daily Stormer’s founder and chief propagandist, has his own troubling history of vicious misogyny, tracking all the way back to high school.

In the aftermath of Rodger’s killing spree, a user at 4chan/b/ posted a photo from Rodger’s Facebook page with the note, “Elliot Rodger, the supreme gentleman, was part of /b/. Discuss.” This sentiment was echoed by other /b/ users who found similarities between his lexicon and that of the noxious board, including the term “beta,” used by men online to describe themselves as lacking the physicality, charisma and confidence associated with alpha males.... The term resurfaced on 4chan/r9k/ in the wake of a shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, by Chris Harper-Mercer, who killed nine and wounded at least seven others at the college on October 1, 2015. “This is only the beginning. The Beta Rebellion has begun,” one anonymous user wrote. “Soon, more of our brothers will take up arms to become martyrs to this revolution.”

Although never proven, it is widely speculated that Harper-Mercer was a user on the board as warnings against attending school the following day that circulated on the eve of the shooting. Authorities believe Harper-Mercer, who like Rodger was multi-racial, was also motivated by white supremacist ideas. The Government Accountability Office categorized the Roseburg killings as “white supremacist” in an April 2017 report.

2017: A Year of Alt-Right Violence

The first killing in 2017 that can be tied to the alt-right occurred on January 29 in Canada. A 27-year-old university student named Alexandre Bissonnette allegedly brought a semiautomatic rifle into the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City and shot and killed six worshippers while injuring 19—two critically.

On May 20, 2017, Sean Urbanski, a 22-year-old University of Maryland student, allegedly stabbed and killed newly commissioned Lt. Richard Collins, III. Authorities described the attack as “totally unprovoked.” Urbanski approached Collins, who was black, and two friends at 3 a.m., seemingly intoxicated, and said, “Step left, step left if you know what’s best for you.” When Collins refused, Urbanski stabbed him. Urbanski, however, was a member of a Facebook group called “Alt Reich: Nation”.

Less than a week later, Jeremy Christian, a 35-year-old Portland resident, allegedly stabbed and killed two people and severely wounded another passenger on a train while they were defending two young women from his anti-Muslim and racist remarks. Christian, who identified as a white nationalist and had a history of violence and mental illness, had a Facebook page filled with racist and bizarre political content. Witnesses at an alt-right free speech rally in the month preceding the stabbing saw Christian wearing an American flag cape, yelling racial slurs and making Nazi salutes.

Two months later, on July 14, 2017, Lane Maurice Davis, 33, allegedly stabbed his father, Charles Davis, to death at the family home in Skagit County, Washington, after accusing his father of pedophilia. Davis, a conspiracy theory obsessive who went by the name ‘Seattle4Truth’ online and accused his father, not based on his own experience, but instead on his belief that liberals around the world are participating in secret pedophilia rings. Davis was reportedly a researcher for Milo Yiannopoulos and claimed to have ghost written pieces on Breitbart News for the former tech editor.

In the months leading up to Unite the Right, members of the alt-right colonized and organized themselves on the gaming chat platform Discord. This includes Auernheimer who was a frequent participant in the Daily Stormer’s server, “Thunderdome,” where he regularly interacted with site readers and put out calls for action.

Young, White, Angry, Male

According to Dr. Eric Madfis, author of a 2014 paper on the intersectional identities of American Mass Murderers, young, white, middle class, heterosexual males commit mass murder at a disproportionately high rate relative to their population size in the United States.

The rate of mass murders spiked in the 1970s and 1990s. Between 1966 and 1999, there were 95 cases of mass public shootings. Between 1976 and 2008, mass murders occurred roughly twice per month, claiming an average of 125 deaths each month. A more recent study published by Mother Jones identifies 95 mass shootings in the United States since 1982. Of those, 55 (59%) were committed by white men.

FBI crime data suggests that ages 16 to 24 are peak time for violent crime. According to Dr. Pete Simi, Director of the Earl Babbie Research Center at Chapman University, "This is a period of substantial transition in an individual's life, when they're less likely to have significant attachments in their life that deter them from criminal violence."

Madfis’s 2014 paper from the University of Washington investigates the role of intersectional identities in mass murder incidents and argues that young, white males' unique downward social mobility, relative to his expectations, accounts for their overrepresentation as perpetrators of mass murder.

Only one in five mass murderers are “likely psychotic or delusional,” however, according to Dr. Michael Stone, a forensic psychiatrist at Columbia University.

A 2001 study conducted by Meloy examining 34 adolescent perpetrators of mass murder found that 59% were the direct result of a triggering event. That rate jumped to 90% among adult mass murders.

Dr. Elliott Leyton, an expert on serial homicide, argues that contemporary mass murderers often target the perceived source of lost financial stability or class prestige. The alt-right, which couches its mission in terms of surviving literal extinction, routinely laments so-called reverse racism and affirmative action as well as immigration in all its forms.

The grievances collected by those motivated by the white nationalist ideology at the heart of the alt-right often do not begin with racist propaganda, but rather in the toxic communities of the men's rights movement... The age-old racist argument - that black men are 'taking our women' — is made regularly. Racist slurs are chucked around casually. There seems to be a significant overlap with organised white supremacy."

Andrew Anglin once wrote “[o]ur target audience [for the neo-nazi website Daily Stormer] is white males between the ages of 10 and 30.”

Wiring Young Neurons

“Our target audience is white males between the ages of 10 and 30,” Anglin wrote in his “PSA: When the Alt-Right Hits the Street, You Wanna be Ready.” “I include children as young a ten, because an element of this is that we want to look like superheroes. We want to be something that boys fantasize about being a part of. That is a core element to this. I don’t include men over the age of 30, because after that point, you are largely fixed in your thinking. We will certainly reach some older men, but they should not be a focus.”

[Richard] Spencer told Mother Jones in December of 2016 before a contentious speaking engagement at Texas A&M University. “I think you do need to get them while they are young. I think rewiring the neurons of someone over 50 is effectively impossible.”

Undeniably, their efforts have had success. Mainstay racist conferences, like the annual gatherings of American Renaissance and the National Policy Institute, are attracting larger audiences, no longer dominated by their once singular demographic of middle-aged white men.

On a panel at Harvard University in October, Derek Black, son of longtime white supremacist Don Black, who once represented the future of the movement until he renounced racism during college, described his surprise at seeing so many young participants in Charlottesville:

I can say for sure my entire life in white nationalism I went to conferences many times a year. I spoke at them. I tried to organize them. I organized online through my dad's site [Stormfront] through organizations whether Jared [Taylor]'s AmRen or David [Duke]'s EURO or Council of Conservative Citizens … Everybody at these things is gray-haired. Me and two other people would be under 40. That was it. Which is partly why I took this impression that this is not gonna last. And a lot of that is because young people have a lot to lose … Young people who show up to a rally like that are going to get their identities exposed online and then it's gonna be hard for them to get jobs … I cannot actually explain what changed. The one striking thing about Charlottesville…was there's a ton of young kids like college-age or actual college students who got on buses and went to this who I don't think had been to an event like that before.

Alt-right groups such as Identity Evropa and Vanguard America are marketing themselves exclusively to college and high school-aged individuals.

Then, on October 19, barely two months after the chaos of Charlottesville, the University of Florida was forced to host a Spencer speaking engagement under threat of a lawsuit........................ Hours later, three of his supporters were arrested for attempted murder after an alleged confrontation with protestors in which Spencer’s supporters threw stiff-armed salutes and one fired a shot at the urging of his accomplices.

Not Even 21

James Alex Fields was only 20 years-old when he drove his Dodge Challenger into a crowd of attendees and protestors during August’s Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, injuring 19 and killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer. Fields stood with members of Vanguard America during the rally and carried a shield with the militaristic, alt-right group’s insignia on it.

According to police records, Fields also had a troubling history of childhood domestic violence — which experts see in about 1 in 6 mass killers. In 2010, Field’s mother called 911 after he attacked her for telling him to stop playing a video game. Other records reveal that he brandished a 12-inch knife at her on a separate occasion. His disabled mother uses a wheelchair.

Just three months prior to Unite the Right, another young, white man with a history in the alt-right, 18-year-old Devon Arthurs, allegedly killed two of his roommates... in Florida. Arthurs, who was taken into custody by authorities after holding employees of a tobacco shop hostage, had converted to Salafism, an ultraconservative form of Sunni Islam, and begun defending ISIS online a year prior. He was previously a leader of a National Socialist group known as the Atomwaffen (“Atomic Weapon”) Division which formed on the fascist forum Iron March.

In the year leading up to the shooting, Arthurs appeared to be blending his alt-right beliefs with his newfound adherence to extremist forms of Islam. His username changed from Weissewolfe to Kekman Al-Amriki, a combination of the trollish god of “meme magic” common to 4chan and the name of an American member of al-Shabab, an Islamic militant organization. According to VICE, Arthurs also spoke of “white sharia,” a concept exemplifying the brutal, misogynistic core attitudes of the alt-right and those it has inspired to violence.

Leaderless Resistance

In 2014, after longtime Klansman Frazier Glenn Miller Jr. killed three at a Jewish community center and a retirement home in Overland Park, Kansas, Brad Griffin of Occidental Dissent published an article on the topic of “self detonating lone wolf vanguardists.” According to Griffin, “a ‘self detonating lone wolf vanguardist’ is someone who is radically alienated from society and who has given up on persuasion, a fanatacist who is inclined toward violent methods of bringing about eschatological political change, who usually acts alone or with an accomplice in the name of a movement without the support of assistance of any group, and who typically explodes, lashes out, or ‘self detonates’ without warning in rampage shootings, murder-suicides, and bombing campaigns.”

In its just over four years of operation, the Daily Stormer’s audience included at least three readers who were either convicted or indicted for murder.

"An Age of Ultraviolence"

On June 17, 2015, Dylann Storm Roof killed nine African-American worshipers and wounded one while attending a Bible study class at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Roof, then 21, told his victims, including Reverend and State Senator Clementa Pickney, that, “I have to do it. You rape our women and you’re taking over our country, and you have to go.”

In a manifesto posted to his website, lastrhodesian.com, Roof cited the Trayvon Martin case as his inspiration for searching on Google for “black on White crime.” According to Roof, “I have never been the same since that day. The first website I came to was the Council of Conservative Citizens. There were pages upon pages of these brutal black on White murders. I was in disbelief.”

On March 22, 2017, another Daily Stormer reader, James Harris Jackson, was arrested after stabbing 66-year-old black man Timothy Caughman with a sword in Manhattan. Jackson, an army veteran, was 28 at the time of the alleged stabbing. He travelled to New York from Baltimore, Maryland, to conduct a “practice run” for what was intended to deter white women from race-mixing. He told a media source after his arrest that, “the white race is being eroded.”

On Friday, December 27, a 17-year-old white male, reported to be Nicholas Giampa, allegedly shot and killed the parents of his ex-girlfriend in Reston, Virginia, before turning the gun on himself. According to reports, the parents had facilitated the break-up after learning that Giampa held neo-Nazi beliefs.

Giampa’s account also attempted to engage with those of alt-right leaders and organizations like Mike Peinovich, VDARE, the Traditionalist Worker Party, Identity Evropa, as well as Vanguard America, the neo-Nazi group that James Fields was photographed with in Charlottesville. One of Giampa’s main obsessions, however, was the hardcore neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen.

2018 is already off to a disturbing start. On January 2, Blaze Bernstein, a college student who was gay and Jewish went missing and was later found murdered. Friends of the accused murderer, Samuel Woodward, told ProPublica that Woodward was a committed neo-Nazi and member of Atomwaffen which may have as chapters in as many as eight states.

This former Atomwaffen member also said that the events in Charlottesville had a major impact on the group. Its membership doubled.

(selected sections of article)

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nadiaportia · 3 years

Text

Heloisa de Rubalcaba

The charismatic aristocrat with a taste for ambition.

Other bios: Sayelle | Deirdra | Ximena | Cibela

Full name: Heloisa María Dolores de Rubalcaba y Saavedra

Meaning of name:

Heloisa: German variant of Héloïse which means “famed warrior”

María Dolores: Spanish name for Mary of the Sorrows

Family:

Cibela de Rubalcaba and Ximena Rubalcaba: Heloisa’s sister, Cibela the older and Ximena the younger one. Being the middle child, she spent the most time with Cibela but after the latter left Calpacia, she was around for most of Ximena’s childhood. She has genuine affection for Ximena and certain begrudging respect for Cibela despite their differences but also sees them as rivals of whom she feels intense jealousy.

Marisol de Rubalcaba: Her mother ani d the former Marquesa de Rubalcaba. Marisol was rather distant towards her younger daughters but would try to be an affectionate mother towards them. Heloisa looked up to her mother and constantly tried to win her affections, even went as far as trying to emmulate her, while also resenting her for holding favouritism for Cibela.

Valentín Saavedra: Heloisa’s late father and a sea-faring merchant prince from the higher Cartagense bourgeoisie. Like his wife, Valentín favored his eldest daughter yet tried to encourage all of his daughters’ ambitions and work. Heloisa remains bitter to this day for her father not giving her the same amount of love like her older sister.

Esmerelda de Rubalcaba: The matriarch in-all-but-name of the Rubalcaba family, Marisol’s older sister and Heloisa’s aunt. Esmé holds immense favouritism for Heloisa and was of help to her in her rise at court, yet she’s not above manipulating her niece for her own ends. Heloisa feels torn between wanting to please her aunt and overthrow her.

Aníbal Heßling de Cordovero: Cibela’s husband and Heloisa’s brother-in-law. Both are courtiers, although in different areas and of different levels of importance, and thus rivals.

Agustín de Rubalcaba: Her aunt Esmé’s only son and Heloisa’s cousin. They are civil towards each other but hold little to no respect for the other.

Others: Agustín de Rubalcaba (maternal cousin), Constanza de Rubalcaba (maternal grand-mother, deceased), Cristobal de Rubalcaba (maternal uncle, deceased), Máximo de Otxoa (maternal grand-father, deceased), Jaime Saavedra (paternal uncle), Genoveva Saavedra (paternal aunt), Dulcinea Saavedra (paternal grand-mother, deceased), Leonardo Buendía (paternal grand-father), Catalina Saavedra (paternal grand-aunt)

Nicknames: Helo (by close friends), Lola (by family), Lolita (by her aunt)

Favourite meal: Shrimps roasted in garlic, lemon and cilantro

Favourite drink: Soursop liquor

Favourite flower: Passionflower

Favourite color: Magenta red

Birthday: 7th of December

Age: 43 during the events of the game

Zodiac: Sagittarius

MBTI: ESTP

Patron Arcana: Temperance and Queen of Wands

Upright: Temperance shuns extremes and embraces harmony. She finds tranquility in the midst of struggle.

Reversed: Temperance allows conflict to overwhelm her peaceful disposition; she reacts with extreme measures.

Upright: The Queen of Wands is confident in social and professional settings, drawing others into her orbit.

Reversed: The Queen of Wands is stubborn and quick-tempered, easily losing her temper when things don't go her way.

Gender: Cis female

Sexuality: Lesbian

Height: 1,62 m // 5′3″

Appearance:

Heloisa is of slender build. Her skin is of a slightly light medium brown color with a warm undertone and she has a slender face with slightly visible crow’s feet around her eyes, dimples and a beauty mark above her upper lip on the right side of her face. She had slightly thick and well-groomed eyebrows, eyes a color reminiscent of dark honey, an upturned nose with a low bridge and full lips. Her hair is dark brown with a reddish hue, wavy and reaches shortly underneath her chest. She is a very extroverted woman who naturally draws attention to herself and as a courtier and politician, she knows how to be a crowd pleaser.

Visual Inspiration(s): Eva Mendes and Bianca Lawson

Languages spoken: Calpacian, Prakran, Firenti, Karnasso, Galbradan, Hjallen, Venterran, Oriolà, Zadithi, Bizateni and the Common Tongue

Love interests:

Ippolita: An OC of mine and Heloisa’s long-time lover. A former assassin and one of Esmerelda’s wards, they have a long-term affair that is never made public due to Ippolita not belonging to the aristocracy as well as Heloisa’s fears of total commitment.

Justina: Another OC and fellow courtier. They are long-term friends with benefits who at the same time are business rivals.

Nadia: They met at one of the masquerade and had a fling, one which Heloisa would’ve loved to continue.

In general, like with most of my characters; if they’re compatible sexuality- as well as personality-wise, feel free to ship them with your OCs or MCs! Hit me up with a message and we can discuss the details!

Backstory:

Heloisa was born as the second child of the Marquesa de Rubalcaba, Marisol, a courtier in service to the Zaan of Cartagenth, the capital of Calpacia. Her family had been one of the most influential ones of the empire for several centuries, and Heloisa has been destined to take onto that legacy before she could even make her own decisions.

Being overshadowed by her older sister Cibela, her aunt Esmerelda, a highly decorated general of the Grand Army of Calpacia, took on tutoring her personally in politics and debating after recognizing the potential for a talented politician in her niece. She grew to love her niece as if she were her own child, in no small part due to her resemblance in behaviour with Esmé’s own sister, but also because she knew exactly how neglected Heloisa felt and figured that she needed someone in her corner. Even at a young age, Heloisa already had a way with words and was able to manipulate others with ease. She enjoyed the best tutors, who themselves were former politicians and courtiers, and joined the junior court at the age of twelve. She was given the chance to see the world and travelled to places as far away as Hjalle and Prakra and on her travels picked up the hobby of writing.

Throughout her youth, Heloisa got into disputes and arguments with Cibela, sometimes for no reasons at all but mostly due to rubbing each other the wrong way, their ongoing rivalry and vying for the attention of their parents, their aunt and peers. Heloisa, who naturally had a pendant for jealousy, felt that compared to both of her sisters she got the short end of the stick; she wished to be trained as a magician or as a warrior, began to read a lot about magic, befriended the court magicians and secretly trained herself in sword fighting - but after approaching her aunt with the desire to learn more about the arts her sisters dabbled into, she was told off, that each of them had a speciality and she should know better than to try to be a jack-of-all-trades but master-of-none.

When Heloisa was about to be of age, a dispute between her and Cibela escalated and ended with her getting injured after challenging her more experienced sister to a duel and caused her ascension from junior court to court to be postponed for some months until she healed her injury. The time spent with Ximena by her side and where she was unable to leave her house allowed her to focus on her writing and finished her very first play. She also came around to realize one important thing that would have a lasting impact on her: to focus on her own weapons, always keep her mind sharp and leave the physical fighting to someone else - but at the same time, never be unprotected on her own.

When she published her first play, it became an instant hit and most popular among both the richer citizens of Cartagenth as well as the nobility, and Heloisa decided to tour with her entourage to promote it at the courts of several sovereigns outside of Calpacia. Upon her return to the capital, she was welcomed to the Calpacian court by the Zaan and began her political career. She took on the role of a representative of Cartagenth and over the years focused mostly on the life at court and her playwriting. The death of her father was easily brushed off and Heloisa let her resentment reign over her grief, and while her mother’s death did affect her, she refused to indulge in sadness and focused on her work.

Ximena’s apparent betrayal angered her and she was arguably the one who was the most active in diffusing the explosive situation Ximena had inadvertently caused for the family she had left back, and initially wanted to have her brought back to Calpacia at all costs and imprisoned, but deep down she felt more hurt than she ever had. The exposure of the plans made by the War Council, led by their aunt, the Court - among them Heloisa herself, who had enthusiastically contributed - and the Zaan about the future of Calpacia brought chaos to Cartagenth. In order to save face, the Zaan announced the Rubalcabas to be the sole scapegoats and it was only due to Esmé’s immense influence and a very direct threat that kept their titles, lands, fortune, positions and even their heads in place even if beyond the official statements, they effectively became social pariahs too powerful to be removed and useful to be thrown to the angry mob in the streets. In order to return her family to its former position among the Cartagense high society, she began driving a hard line in order to redeem the court in the eyes of the resentful commoner populace with the help of her aunt, who still held a lot of power at court.

Over the following years, Heloisa gained more and more power at court, and even gained the new Zaan’s confidence enough that they made one of their most trusted advisers as well as official representative of the Calpacian sovereign. She was fully aware that the crown’s status was able to override the line of succession so that someone with actual skills in politics and the one who had actually washed the hands of the Rubalcaba family could become its primary heir. And yet, the fact that Esmé never gave her the title that she considers herself fit for and not Cibela made her grow bitter towards her aunt, as well as the realizations that she was being little more than a pawn to Esmé in a plan she is unwilling to disclose to her. While Cibela actively tries to leave their aunt’s orbit and be independent, Heloisa prefers to play the long game with the hopes of eventually ending up on top.

Art:

feat. Ximena by @missrabbitart | full post

#the arcana #the arcana oc #the arcana original character #heloisa de rubalcaba #writing the bio took longer than id like to admit but PHEW im finally done w the bios so far!!!#writing the backstory took way longer than id like to admit but phew... finally done w the bios!#long post /

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uthseikoashx-inflamedme · 4 years

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(sorry for the mistakes (and I'm not sure about several expressions). and it's only my opinion!)

A choice they might have to do in the future with Gellert Grindelwald

There's a gap between canon!Gellert and fanon!Gellert: fanon!Gellert is often way more human, struggled, suffering, sensible than he seems in FBtCoG. Basically, he is more layered.

In my opinion, producers, Yates and JKR will have to do a choice in the next movies between two Grindelwald.

the first one, the one we already know:

he hates Muggles, is always manipulative, highly insensible and detached from others. The Statute is an excuse to his own coup d'état, the revolution justifies his power lust. He definitely manipulated Albus since the beginning, is certainly not anymore in love with him - if he ever has been (I know Yates said they were both in love, so it is official, but still not canon). Maybe he is still obsessed, but his former love became contempt, disgust, etc). A true villain, a awful, detestable man with a Dark, not-able-of-empathy heart. It's the man who kills without a second glance, who actually rather enjoy doing it. The man who is delighted to see the aristocracy of the Wizarding world at his feet - well, the whole word at his feet. The one who had been able to move on after 1899 (at least, far more than Albus had been able to). The one who throws Antiono, who beat Credence and never thought about Credence's psychological state except to push him as far as he can to break him and finally, offering his help.

the other one, the one deeply developed through fan works:

he thinks the domination of Muggles in unfair and genuinely thinks Wizards are supposed to rule the world, so the abolition of the Statute is one of if aim - one of the three most important one. The second aim is to gather the Hallows, the third one is to be sure to be the one in charge (he's still longing for power). He's willingly affected by his visions, is tortured and constantly surrounded by doom and death. When he met Albus, he finally met a true equal - and whether or not his initial aim was to be sure of keeping Albus, a future likely threat, enable to move against him, he fell in love too (but didn't entirely acknowledge how deep his feels were before the end of the summer and later through the years). Years after, he didn't move on, and the Quest and the Revolution are painful to lead alone. Nevertheless, he is still sure he did the right choice: despite his regrets and - repressed, a bit denied - feelings, he knows Wizards and particularly him (he? idk) have both the right and the duty to take the power - it's his destiny, the role he's supposed to play and the goal to achieve. The one who wears the Blood Pact above his heart, the one who's still yearning and yet afraid of Albus. The one who's going to lose the battle because he will not be able to kill Albus when he's going to have the occasion to. The bitter, resentful, in pain, insecure and still manipulative and power hungry Gellert Grindelwald.

The huge problem here is: either we have a bit grotesque-ish Gellert who's basically a manipulative, hateful and deeply evil monster and we are extremely happy when Dumbledore finally defeat the bad guy; or we have a more layered and complex character, with more background, torn between his feelings and will of power - and chose power - a person who thinks he's doing the good although he leads a genocide, an eventually understandable character but who is a murderer, who is still evil, who manipulated and beat Credence, etc.

And a character like fanon!Gellert might sent the wrong message: we could hear "this man, who did awful things, is finally human and complex" instead of "even if he was able to love and thought doing good, he wasn't someone good at all, should not be appreciated and is entirely responsible of his actions, which are unpardonable".

That’s why I think we are going to have a 100% bad Grindelwald: it's way to dangerous and complicated to develop him - plus, when? The next films also have to develop Newt and his friends, Credence and Nagini - and last but lot least Albus bloody Dumbledore, and I didn't mention development about the universe, the politics and the plot. They might not have time and space to do it.

And an almost-100% bad Grindelwald buuuut with just a bit of emotional attachment, just enough to acknowledge he's human but not enough to justify any of his actions may be something really complex to do - idk if it's possible and something we would like. In a way, I believe (imo!) Gellert can't be a main character and consequently, have to stay as simplified as possible, not too layered, etc.

But we will see what JKR and Yates will do with him in the future?

(Again, it is how I see it, my opinion and point of view about it, maybe I'm more biased than I think, etc. And I heard that Yates said the plot of FB will eventually be "two men in love who have to fight" (give or take) so, why not? Idk)

#gellert grindelwald #fantastic beasts #fantastic beasts the crimes of grindelwald #fb #fbcog #fbtcog #fantastic beasts 3 #fb3 #fantastic beasts theory #grindeldore #gelbus #ggad #albus dumbledore x gellert grindelwald #etc etc #character development #i don't know what to tag?#hope you are ok #(maybe i read a bit too much of ggad fanfics lately)#(but just maybe)

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cincinnatusvirtue · 4 years

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Vlad III Dracula (1428/1431-1476/1477) AKA Vlad the Impaler. Voivode of Wallachia and real life inspiration for the modern popular conception of the vampire.

Some historical figures are steeped in more mythology and it can be hard to separate fact from fiction. This could well be true of one especially seen to be viewed as the inspiration for one of the most popular monster figures of contemporary culture. Let’s look in more detail at what we know of the real life, Dracula, Vlad III, Voivode of Wallachia...

-Vlad was born between the years 1428-1431 in what is the modern nation of Romania. At the time Romania was divided among different provinces, Transylvania in the north, then part of the Kingdom of Hungary. Moldavia in the east, a part of modern Romania and Moldovia and Wallachia in the south just north of the Danube river border with Bulgaria.

-He was born in the town of Sighisoara in Transylvania, the town was largely a merchant town controlled by Transylvanian Saxons (Germans) burghers and located in the Kingdom of Hungary. Transylvania was populated by Hungarians, German Saxons and Romanians (Vlachs/Wallachians).

-Vlad was an ethnic Romanian with roots in the nobility of Wallachia & Moldavia. His father was originally from the House of Basarab, but their branch became known as Draculesti. Vlad’s father was Vlad II of Wallachia, also known as Vlad Dracul, due to his membership in a Christian military order sanctioned by the Catholic Church, the Order of the Dragon. Their mission was to prevent the spread of Islam into Europe, namely from the threat of the Turkish Ottoman Empire that had conquered much of the Balkans in Southeastern Europe by then.

-The sobriquet Dracul was Medieval Romanian for “dragon” and Dracula as Vlad III would be called or Vlad Dracula meant “son of the dragon” as relates to his father. In modern Romanian, Dracul means the “devil”.

-Vlad’s mother is unknown, Vlad II’s first was unknown but some historians now believe his mother to have been Eupraxia of Moldavia, a relative of Alexander I of Moldavia.

-Vlad II Dracul would serve as voivode of Wallachia on more than one occasion, due to his family’s noble status. The term voivode was used mostly in Southeastern Europe, taken from the Slavic languages to mean roughly warlord, or later as prince. It mostly used in Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia & Croatia, Poland, Ukraine & Russia as well as Romania and Hungary.

-In 1436 his father came to power as voivode of Wallachia in the south of Romania following the death of his half-brother Alexander I Aldea. At the time, Wallachia found itself caught in a power struggle between rival factions and interests internally as well as in the wider context of the rival ambitions of Moldavia, Hungary and the Ottomans. Nominally, the voivode of Wallachia needed the blessing of the Hungarian King, Sigismund of Luxembourg, later Holy Roman Emperor or the Ottoman Sultan.

-Vlad II was made a member of the Order of the Dragon by Sigismund and given his blessing on the grounds, he protect Roman Catholicism, despite himself being a member of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

-Vlad was supported by the Hungarians whereas his brother had paid homage to the Ottoman Sultan. However, in 1437 Sigismund died, followed by rebellion in Transylvania which weakened the Hungarian position. In order to protect his own precarious position on the throne, he now chose to deal with the Ottomans and traveled to the then Ottoman capital in Adrianople, modern Edirne, Turkey. In return for Ottoman patronage he agreed to annual monetary tribute and had to serve on military campaigns in support of the Turks. Becoming their vassal. The Sultan at the time was Murad II.

-Vlad II supported the invasion of Hungarian Transylvania serving as Murad’s guide and aided the Turks in capturing 30,000 slaves for them. However, he also sought to placate the new Hungarian king, Albert of the House of Hapsburg by releasing some prisoners taken. He hoped to maintain a balance between patrons, leaving both the king & sultan to be wary of his intentions.

-Albert died in 1439 and was replaced by the young King of Poland Wladyslaw III, now King of Hungary as well. He appointed John Hunyadi, a Hungarian as Voivode of Transylvania in 1441. Hunyadi asked Vlad join him on a renewed Crusade against the Turks. He would meet Vlad in the Wallachian capital of Targoviste.

-Vlad II was accused of betraying Turks by their governor of Bulgaria following a Hungarian victory in 1442. Murad ordered Vlad to Adrianople to prove his loyalty. He named his eldest son, Mircea to serve in his stead, possibly suspecting danger. He was indeed arrested by the Ottomans and held prisoner for a time.

-The Turks tried to invade and annex Wallachia proper in 1442 but were defeated again by the Hungarians under Hunyadi who placed Basarab, Vlad’s cousin the new voivode.

-The Turks realized working with Vlad once again, maybe in their interest. In order to secure his throne once more, he made a new pledge to the Ottomans, to supply an annual blood tribute of 500 Wallachian boys to serve as janissaries in the Ottoman army (Christian boys forcibly converted to Islam and trained to be personal guard of the sultan). He also had to leave two of his own sons as hostages in Adrianople for training in Turkish culture and the ways of Islam. These two sons were Vlad (Dracula) & Radu.

-Vlad II was back to power in Wallachia in summer 1443 under unknown circumstances. During the subsequent war between the Hungary and the Ottomans he was to remain neutral. His sons were to be released if a peace deal with Hungary was signed. However, the papal legate to Hungary prevented its signing and encouraged the war to continue with the disastrous Battle of Varna (1444) fought in Bulgaria which resulted in the Turks defeating a Christian coalition of several nations, Wladyslaw III was himself killed while charging the Ottoman sultan’s position, nearly succeeding only to be stopped and saved by his bodyguards.

-The war between the Crusaders & Turks raged on over the next couple of years and gradually Vlad came out of his neutrality to fight against the Turks, meanwhile he may have believed his sons were murdered during their hostage stay in Turkey.

-In fact Murad had not killed Vlad’s sons, instead they were given an education in all matters, including Turkish warfare, military structure, governance, language, history and Turkish and greater Islamic culture. Vlad Dracula was reported to have been far more resistant to the Turks attempts to earn his favor than his brother Radu who is believed to have become a potential lover of Murad II’s son the future sultan, Mehmed II.

-In 1446 he made peace with the Turks once more on his own, but his relations with Hungary and Hunyadi in particular was worsened, he still believed his sons had been murdered having not heard on their condition. Meanwhile, Hunyadi wanting to make sure Wallachia remained a Hungarian and not Turkish vassal was prepared to now replace Vlad II once more, he had given shelter to another cousin of Vlad’s and pretender to the throne of Wallachia, named Vladislav or Dan. He invaded in late November 1447, during this invasion Vlad II fled but was caught and killed along with his son Mircea, betrayed by the boyars (Romanian aristocracy) who were possibly paid off by Hunyadi and the Saxon burghers who saw Vlad and his back and forth with the Turks as harmful to their political and economic influence in the area.

-Vlad Dracula meanwhile now as eldest surviving son of Vlad II had a claim to the throne of Wallachia and the Turks wanted a client to continue their influence. Taking advantage of his cousin Vladislav II ‘s absence from Wallachia to support Hunyadi in the Battle of Kosovo 1448, with Ottoman support he snuck back into Wallachia and was proclaimed voivode, becoming Vlad III, but his reign only lasted a month as his cousin returned with an army that he couldn’t compete with. Dracula fled back to Turkey.

-His exile in Turkey soon transferred to Moldavia where he was taken in as a guest of his possible maternal uncle and brother in law of his father. He travelled between Moldavia, Transylvania and Hungary during this time, at times conversing with Hunyadi in the hopes of restoring himself to the throne. However, Hunyadi saw him as not as useful having concluded peace with the Turks in 1451 and denied the right of him settling in Brasov, a major center of Transylvanian Saxon mercantile power, crucial to Hunyadi’s power base.

-Nevertheless, Vlad procured some support from Hungary and in the late summer of 1456 invaded Wallachia to overthrow his cousin Vladislav II, who did indeed die in the invasion, some sources state by Dracula’s hand in one on one combat.

-What followed was the consolidation of his second and ultimately most lengthy and notable reign as voivode. Vlad III set about settling old political scores and implementing reforms to his lands.

-First, he dealt with the boyars that had killed his father in conspiracy with the Saxons by purging them and killing hundred of them during a feast. Those not killed were put to slave labor towards building his castles and fortresses. He also at this time sent a letter to the Transylvanian Saxons asking for mutual aid against the Turks, whose politicking he felt jeopardized his father’s rule and whose harsh treatment including beatings and whippings as a hostage made him resentful of them.

-He also made land reforms and had some property from his victims (former boyars) confiscated to compensate his new supporters who in turn pledged loyalty to him.

-Dracula passed new laws as well which included punishment for crimes committed by nobility & commoners. Criminals, beggars, transients & committers of adultery among his own people were punished, sometimes with death. His preferred form of capital punishment was what became most associated with him, impalement. Using wooden stakes hammered into the ground, his victims would be placed upon the stake which would pierce the body and leave the body in great agonizing pain and left for public display as a deterrent for others. Impalement was often a slow form of execution and thought to take hours or days to complete death. Blood loss and damage to the vital organs would ultimately be the cause of death, the impalements depicted in this time, could be done frontally or dorsally, some may have been vertical for the victim as well, but the contemporary artwork from the time only depict the frontal or dorsal aspects. The frequent use of impalement earned him the moniker Vlad Tepes or Vlad the Impaler.

-Dracula during this time, continued his tribute to the Turks whose sultan sent 1451 was Mehmed II, the Conqueror. So named because he at long last achieved the goal of his ancestors, the completed conquest of Constantinople, the capital city of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) in 1453. This successful siege swept away the last remnants of ancient Rome and consolidated the links between Ottoman controlled Asia Minor and Southeastern Europe. Mehmed had known Vlad during his childhood imprisonment and had probably become lovers with his brother Radu, known as Radu the Fair or Handsome. Radu didn’t officially convert to Islam but he was more receptive to the Turkish education and attempts to control him than his older brother Vlad.

-Dracula used this time not only to reform his own land but to partake in a Hungarian civil war in Transylvania. He invaded and sacked the villages around Brasov, killing Saxon families including women & children by impalement. His attack wasn’t for wanton cruelty so much as to secure his position since the Saxons were harboring another Wallachian pretender that could usurp his throne. They agreed to peace and to hand over the pretender as well as have mutual trade for Saxon & Wallachian merchants in both Transylvania & Wallachia. Vlad’s agreements with the Saxons would be off and on over the years, alternating between peace brief periods of war, usually consisting of raids. Vlad laid claim to parts of Transylvania as well during this time.

-Hunyadi had died in 1456 and eventually a son of his Matthias Corvinus, in part aided by Dracula’s raids against the Saxons was elected King of Hungary in 1458. Convinus would like his father and Dracula’s father before him also play politics siding both with and against one another. Initially he had peace with Dracula but later supported a pretender, Dan III against him only to have Vlad defeat Dan’s ad hoc army in battle, killed Dan and then raided southern Transylvania once more, killing peasants in the surrounding area, both German & Romanian who had supported his ouster. However, peace was concluded by 1460 with Corvinus & the Saxons.

-Sources vary and aren’t conclusive but suggest Dracula’s problem with the Turks was renewed by 1461, due to his lack of paying tribute, some said he stopped paying tribute in 1459 others only in 1461. This brought him into conflict with Mehmed.

-Finding out through spies that Dracula was negotiating with Corvinus, Mehmed sent emissaries to demand Dracula’s personal presence in audience with the sultan. As the story goes, Vlad found out that he was to be arrested at the border on the Danube river like his father decades before. While meeting with the emissaries, he had them executed. Supposedly during an audience, Dracula asking them to take off their turbans as a sign of respect, when they refused on religious and political grounds, Dracula obliged them and instead had nails hammered into their skulls so that their turbans would never leave their head again. He sent the executed envoys returned to the sultan, essentially an act of war.

-Dracula knowing Mehmed would now find reason to invade Wallachia, decided to preempt him and go to war. Hoping a new Crusade would materialize with Hungarian support. He first lead his troops to the fortress of Giurgiu, along the Danube river. There disguised as a Turkish official and being fluent in Turkish deceived the garrison commander into opening the gates to let him in. He and his guards overwhelmed a portion of the garrison and let in awaiting other troops to sack the city and kill the Turks.

-From the sack of Girugiu, Dracula’s army crisscrossed Ottoman Bulgaria, along the Danube river, killing mostly Turkish soldiers and settlers but also some Bulgarians who were Christian as well, this may have been out of necessity if they had loyalty to their Turkish overlords. By his own account in February of 1462, 23,000+ were killed by his troops. Wallachian settlers in Bulgaria joined in his cause too, declaring themselves liberated.

-Dracula wrote to Corvinus of his actions in the hope of spurning an alliance with Hungary. He wrote of the need to defend Christendom and protect Catholics, though he had been raised Eastern Orthodox, he had functionally become Catholic.

-Mehmed responded by raising an army, the size of which varied according to the sources, some suggest as big as 150,000 troops and others as small as 25,000-60,000. Mehmed personally led this army and was accompanied by Radu, Dracula’s younger brother, who had become a Ottoman loyalist. Mehmed sought to replace Vlad with the more receptive Radu at this point.

-The sultan and his army crossed the Danube in summer of 1462. Realizing he was outnumbered, Dracula began an scorched earth policy, burning crops so the Turks could not live off the land. Meanwhile, Vlad fled to Targoviste.

-Schooled in Turkish warfare, he knew their methods, strategy and structure and as such he hoped exploit any weakness he could. The Turks encamped near Targoviste on June 17-18th 1462, Vlad would lead a daring charge into the Ottoman encampment with the goal of either abducting or killing Mehmed. Knowing the loss of the sultan would demoralize the army, they would likely retreat in the chaos. Nevertheless, the so called Night Attack did not succeed in its goal, as he attacked a subordinate commander’s tent and not the sultan’s. It roused the Turks to action, despite their initial surprise. Vlad managed to escape at dawn having fought his way back out of the camp.

-Vlad retreated to the Carpathians abandoning his capital to the inevitable. However, Mehmed and his army came to a now famous and horrific sight at the abandoned Targoviste. A field full of 20,000 impaled corpses, a mix of men women and children, including Turks impaled on stakes, creating a so called “forest of the impaled” it measured by some accounts larger than several stadium sized venues combined. Mehmed was said to be alternately sick or impressed with the sight, either way astonished.

-Vlad then hid at Castle Poernari located in the mountains near the Arges river valley northwest of Targoviste. Here in the isolated mountaintop fortress with a commanding view Vlad awaited any movement from his enemies. Nonetheless, Mehmed ordered Wallachia abandoned having suffered attrition through the scorched earth tactics with was causing starvation and thirst among his troops and no decisive action to boost morale.

-Dracula harassed the rearguard of the retreating Turks in guerilla warfare marked by ambush and hit and run tactics. Nevertheless, his brother Radu was gathering support from the local boyars who were tired of warfare and Dracula’s strict criminal justice and authoritarian rule. Not only did he gather boyars to defect to him, Radu promised the Transylvanian Saxons restored trade rights and lasting peace, all parties finding him more agreeable than his brother, they turned on Dracula, aside from a host of devoted loyalists. Dracula was driven from power in late 1462, ending his seven year longest period of rule.

-Radu ended up accomplishing the goal of Mehmed by diplomacy and a show of force where the sultan had failed with show of force alone. Radu would reign uninterrupted for the next 11 years and voivode of Wallachia. Fulfilling, the promise of increased Turkish influence in the area at the expense of the Hungarians.

-Radu’s reign was marked by some conflict with his future son in law, Stephen III of Moldavia.

-Dracula meanwhile fled to Hungary, hoping for help from Corvinus who did not intervene during the Turkish invasion of Wallachia. Instead, Corvinus charged Dracula with trumped up charges of treason and imprisoned him first in Romania and then Hungary proper at the citadel in Visegrad. Vlad would remain there for the next 14 years.

-Meanwhile, Radu ruled Wallachia until a dispute with the Ottoman in the 1470′s lead to his dethronement though he would be restored a few more times albeit briefly.

-Records of his life during imprisonment do not survive. He was only released in 1476 when the Hungarians felt he could be of use once more to drive away the latest Ottoman puppet on the Wallachian throne. He also had to officially convert to Catholicism, the brand of Christianity he and his father had agreed to defend while remaining Orthodox in affiliation.

-The new Ottoman puppet was Basarab Laoita. Vlad had moved to Transylvania in 1475 but was called elsewhere by Corvinus to fight the Turks in Bosnia. Meanwhile, the Turks invaded Moldavia but were countered by a Hungarian force consisting of Stephen Bathory & Dracula.

-The Hungarians launched a two pronged attack into Wallachia with the intent of forcing out Basarab and Ottoman influence and placing Vlad on the throne, this was confirmed in late November 1476. Vlad once more had made peace with the Saxon merchants of Transylvania and was restored this third and final reign as voivode.

-His reign was short lived, less than two months after regaining the throne Dracula was on the defensive against a renewed Ottoman invasion backing Basarab Laoita. Dracula would be killed in battle with his retinue, fighting to the very end.

-The Turks hacked his body to pieces and sent his head to Mehmed in Constantinople as a confirmation that Vlad was at long last dead and no longer a threat. The location of the burial for the rest of his body is not known but widely speculated to this day.

Epilogue:

-Vlad Dracula later most famously served as both the name and partial inspiration for Irish author Bram Stoker’s 1897 Victorian gothic horror novel, Dracula which in turned popularized the modern vampire myth, with its association in Transylvania etc. Stoker never visited Romania but he did read up on its history and the folklore of the area which along with Slavic sources had plenty of vampire references. He came across the name Dracula and made it the central character’s namesake but beyond the name and location of his characterization, little else from Vlad’s life was taken into account for the novel.

-In his own time, German and other sources note and portray Vlad as cruel, sadistic and authoritarian in his rule. This is portrayed in both print and woodcut artwork of the 15th century and later. Some portrayals going so far as to say he dined outdoors amid the forest of impaled victims and dipped his food in the blood of dead and dying, perhaps somewhat influencing the literary vampire connection. These sources are mostly believed to be exaggerated propaganda from biased sources, especially the German ones given Dracula’s antagonistic relations with the Saxons. Undoubtedly, he did engage in impalement and other forms of execution and torture, but realistically he was not the only ruler in that time period to engage in such cruelty.

-Some historians also tend to view his widespread capital punishment and strict justice system as a political means to an end, rather than for mere enjoyment or barbarism. Vlad would have viewed it as a matter of political necessity to maintain a balance of power amid so many warring interests both internally and externally. Given the warring influences, any such widespread torture and execution of the populace was likely to alienate enough factions and ultimately undermine his rule so as to guarantee it was short lived and he like many of his contemporaries and holders of his title held short reigns or multiple reigns for quick time periods.

-Today, in Romania he is still revered as a folk hero by some. With some people believing his methods were justified and others less so. Those who support his memory positively, praise his defense of the country from the Turkish threat, the German economic influence and Hungarian meddling, they also praise his justice system that they view as ridding Wallachia of corrupting internal influences such as the boyars. His detractors of course cite his methods as brutal, arbitrary and authoritarian. Whatever view one takes, Vlad III Dracula’s name is one hard to forget nowadays and his memory lives on far beyond his own short life...

#history #military history #military tactics #capital punishment #15th century #romanian history #romania #vlad the impaler #vlad tepes #dracula #ottoman empire #wallachia #1400s #transylvania #vampire #bram stoker

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