"‘Here was my Gymnasium, over there, facing us, my university, and just a bit further to the left, my office. This small space,’ Kafka said, drawing a few small circles with his finger, ‘encloses my entire life.’”
“Je me souviens / Que né sous le lys / Je croîs sous la rose.”
[I remember / That born under the lily / I grow under the rose.]
- Official motto of Quebec
Inspired by @historia-vitae-magistras' beautiful and heart-wrenching stories about Matt and his two fathers.
The first panel shows Francis holding baby Mathieu, who remained under his tutelage until 1763, the end of the Seven Years War. Canada grew under the “English rose” until the 20th century, when it relinquished most of its dependence on the British Empire.
The second panel shows Arthur kneeling before a young Matt and offering him a rose. In the next panels, Matt pricks his finger on the rose’s thorns. The thorns can be a metaphor for all the wars Canada had fought in for the empire.
Eventually, the droplets of blood morph into the red maple leaves, Canada’s national symbol, suggesting that Canada has grown into his own.
References: (1) Turquoise suit (2) Simplified red coat uniform
Since my JJK posts are resurfacing again, here's Suguru's hand right before the village incident. Nervous tick? Muscle memory? He's attempting to summon the person that knew what to do with a phantom gesture. "What would Satoru do?" but there's no guidance.
this clip makes me so emotional. i feel like this sometimes, at night especially. That the whole wide world may swallow me whole. That i’m wide-eyed in the face of God. that I’m not a victim of smallness but rather its loving disciple.
Request to consider: erzsi and tolys interacting. Would they get along, etc.
My thoughts + some art under the cut
So there's just two (2) little crumbs in canon of them being in the same space together so not much to go by unfortunately but we ball.
Note: In my translation Erszi uses he/him until 1525, so I'm going with that. Also, this is based on my very flawed and superficial research, so if anyone wants to give me pointers, appreciated. I think they have potential.
So after their little meeting during the crusades, they don't really interact for a couple of centuries. For some time though, h.ungary was in a union with p.oland before l.ithuania was, and they have a history of good relations, so Tolys can have heard something more about him from Feliks after the Krewo union. Based on how their interaction, and h.ungary's history as a knight, I think Tolys would respect him as a fighter, but find him a little too reckless, especially after Varna where they get ther ass handed to them. Erszi on the other hand, would probably have heard some about him from teuton but he knows the guy rewrites history as he sees fit so he's neutral - and perhaps a little curious about what is really going on.
Friends of my friends are not my enemy kind of thing. But also not someone you want to have as your enemy.
They had some more direct relations later (16th century), years after h.ungary was defeated by the O.ttomans and partitioned, when due to a vacancy on the P.olish throne, there was a debate on whether the next king should be a guy from h.ungary or the emperor of the HRE.
In general, p.olish representatives were in favour the of the h.ungarian guy, while L.ithuanians and P.russians (who had no leverage of any kind at the time, but its kinda funny they threw in their two cents as well) favoured the HRE representative. This was mainly because... well you have the HRE on one hand and a very weak, damaged kingdom on the other. On whose bad side do you want to get on. That said, after some heated discussions, they ended up electing the h.ungarian king and it was a good choice actually. He was approved by the Lithuania.ns after a couple of years and gave them lots of concessions to gain their favour. The university of Vilnius was founded under this reign too so, despite it not being the best tactical choice perhaps, and the whole ordeal having led to throwing hands with Feliks a bit, he had to gain from the friendly relations, too. During this time, there was an exchange of scholars and lots of movement between the two countries, so their relationship moved on from friend of my friend to warm aquaintance, despite Erszi being a little annoyed by his initial resistance.
There is a little crumb of canon lore from around this time period where she introduces Tolys and Feliks to potatoes and corn, so they can be farmer buddies too. Very cute potential when she is not cleaning around A.ustria's house. Also, I think she would be a little jealous of how good gilbert is doing after becoming their fief compared to how things are going for her, and he picks on her, so she has a massive grudge dragged from this time period.
17th Century is pretty lacking. She's busy being fought and fucked over by A.ustria, so they grow apart. She keeps occasional relations with Feliks, and he also helps her occasionally in a series of battles, as well as the failed war of independence from A.ustria in 1700, where the PLC and France supported h.ungary's insurrection.
At the time, the PLC had bigger fish to fry so participating in this war was not a great choice, which is mostly why I think Tolys volunteered despite probably already thinking it would be lost. Strategize to the max and keep losses to the minimum. Not that he dislikes her - she has never been bad to him, and he would be happy if her situation improved, but this is not a great time for them so he'd rather there were no distractions. Erszi, on the other hand, though she might be too proud to say it, is deeply grateful to all who aided her in this endeavour, as I imagine this to be her final breaking point after which she becomes compliant.
After this, that's kind of it. Relationships are gradually dropped and there's not much to go on as regards to relations. she would have fought with them for A.ustria, and I could no diplomatic relations of note up until after the s.oviet union. I do think during this time Tolys would have heard of her as a satellite to keep an eye on, considering the events in the 50s, while she has.. virtually no interest in knowing what was going on in the republics in detail. Not a fun topic to bring up when you talk to someone you used to be in friendly relations with some centuries ago the next time you see him. On Erszi's side, though, I do think she admires his ability to get his shit together after indipendence very quickly while she was lagging a bit behind in the Eunion.
The only crumb I could find of direct collaboration is the construction of the via Carpathia, a motorway connecting L.ithuania to G.reece. Apparently they're the only ones that are done with their tracts on time. This, combined with a tentative curiosity on both sides (there is an increase of research on the two countries relations) I think could offer a window for them to get to know each other a little better. Well enough to maybe want to grab a coffee after work and chat but not well enough to know what's going on in either's personal life.
ALL OF THIS to say. Well they have never had that much of a reason to interact much, but plenty for mutual respect to build from a distance and it being confirmed when they got into closer relations. And for many reasons I think they would get along. They're hard workers, tough, are at least aware of what they had to go through to get where they are, have a history of hardships and picking themselves up + share a love for the outdoors. And Tolys deserves a spa episode. maybe.
What better way to spend Valentine's Day than read the epistolary exchanges between Monseigneur-I-was-made-to-live-and-die-with-you-Voltaire and Frederick-a-fool-in-love-with-your-genuis-the-Great.
Do you ever think about how the Bible says In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God. Meanwhile, kami in Japanese can mean paper (紙) or deity (神), and Shintoism teaches that he who masters writing can speak to the gods?
Absolutely devastating news from Australia that at least 11 people were killed in an antisemitic attack on a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney. One of those who was murdered, Alex Kleytman z”l, was a Holocaust survivor. His wife, also a Holocaust survivor, saw as he was shot. I cannot imagine the grief and pain she and many others are feeling.
My heart is with all the victims and their loved ones, as well as the broader Jewish community in Australia. May the memories of the victims be a blessing.
We deserve to be able to congregate and observe Jewish holidays without fear of violence, in Australia and globally.
Hetalia truly is a memory that haunts forever, because, after months and months of absence, it fights with all its might against the tide of oblivion to swim at the forefront of your mind again.
I’m reading musicologist Alan Walker’s biographical work on Frédéric Chopin, and:
"He attended occasional classes in Polish literature, taught by the celebrated poet Kazimierz Brodziński, who introduced him to the epic ballads of Adam Mickiewicz. And he also enrolled in a class devoted to Polish history, taught by the distinguished historian Feliks Bentkowski."
In the slim chance that there is someone out there checking this page regularly, thank you for stopping by. We will probably see more of each other once things quiet down on my side.
