Oscar II (baptized Oscar Fredrik; January 21, 1829 – December 8, 1907) was King of Sweden from 1872 until his death and King of Norway from 1872 until his dethronement in 1905.
He was the third of four sons of King Oscar I and Josephine of Leuchtenberg and was given the title of Duke of Östergötland. Like his eldest brother, Charles XV was without heirs (his only son having died in infancy in 1854), and his brother Prince Gustaf died in 1852; it was he who succeeded his brother as king.
Oscar II was king during a period when Sweden was undergoing a period of industrialization and rapid technological progress. The declining Union of Sweden and Norway was finally dissolved in 1905, and Oscar became the last Bernadotte king of Norway. He died in 1907 and was succeeded as King of Sweden by his son, Gustaf V.
At his birth in Stockholm, Oscar Fredrik was created Duke of Östergötland. He entered the navy at the age of eleven and was appointed junior lieutenant in July 1845. Later he studied at Uppsala University, where he distinguished himself in mathematics. On December 13, 1848, he was made an honorary member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
On June 6, 1857, he married in Wiesbaden-Biebrich, Germany, Princess Sophia Wilhelmina, youngest daughter of Duke William of Nassau.
From 1859, when his father died, he was first in line to the Swedish throne after his oldest brother King Charles, who then had no male heirs (his son had died in infancy in 1854). His middle brother Gustaf had died in 1852.
Himself, a distinguished writer and musical amateur, King Oscar proved a generous friend of learning and did much to encourage the development of education throughout his dominions. In 1858 a collection of his lyrical and narrative poems, Memorials of the Swedish Fleet, published anonymously, obtained the second prize of the Swedish Academy. His "Contributions to the Military History of Sweden in the Years 1711, 1712, 1713," originally appeared in the Annals of the Academy, and were printed separately in 1865. His works, which included his speeches, translations of Herder's Cid and Goethe's Torquato Tasso, and play, Castle Cronberg, were collected in two volumes in 1875–76, and a larger edition, in three volumes, appeared in 1885–88.
His Easter hymn and some other of his poems are familiar throughout the Scandinavian countries. His Memoirs of Charles XII of Sweden were translated into English in 1879. In 1881 he founded the World's first open-air museum at his summer residence near Christiania, now Oslo. In 1885 he published his Address to the Academy of Music, and a translation of one of his essays on music appeared in Literature in May 1900. He had a valuable collection of printed and manuscript music, which was readily accessible to the traditional student of music.
Being a theater lover, he commissioned a new opera house to be built by Axel Anderberg for the Royal Swedish Opera, which was inaugurated on September 19, 1898. It is until today the current home of that institution. Oscar II told Henrik Ibsen that his Ghosts was "not a good play." As he was dying, he requested that the theatres not be closed because of his death. His wishes were respected.
King Oscar II was an enthusiast of Arctic exploration. Along with Swedish millionaire Oscar Dickson and Russian magnate Aleksandr Mikhaylovich Sibiryakov, he was the patron of some pioneering Arctic expeditions in the 1800s. Among the ventures the king sponsored, the most important are Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld's explorations to the Russian Arctic and Greenland, as well as Fridtjof Nansen's Polar journey on the Fram.
The name and portrait of Oscar II have been used as a trademark for King Oscar sardines (which remains the only brand to obtain his "royal permission") as well as for gingerbread cookies (pepparkakor) and other bakery products made by Göteborgs Kex AB.
King Oscar was also a generous sponsor of the sciences, particularly mathematics. He set up a contest, on the occasion of his 60th birthday, for any scientist who was able to answer the question of the 3-body problem, expressly applied to the stability of the Solar System.
The political events which led up to the peaceful dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden in 1905 could hardly have been attained but for the tact and patience of the king himself. He was dethroned on June 7, 1905, by the Norwegian Parliament and renounced the Norwegian throne on the 26th of October. He declined, indeed, to permit any prince of his house to become king of Norway, but better relations between the two countries were restored before his death. He died in Stockholm on December 8, 1907, that morning.
From what little it is known about Lycka Benibara, she seems to be very energetic, cheerful, gentle, a teenage girl, and spoiled, which, given her youth, fits well, but she is shown to be fearless and gutsy unlike many youngsters around her years.
She acts very childishly, sometimes she acts like a drama queen at times and doesn't seem to take losing lightly. Jokingly, she cries on the ground like a little girl when things don’t go her way, but if watched long enough, she lifts her face out of her hands smiling briefly, before resuming her apparent fake crying. Judging by this, she seems quite aware of her cute appearance and uses that against people.
She usually states, "Bigger isn't always better, you know," showing that she doesn't care too much about her lack of physical body development in comparison to the other females. Despite this, however, she is implied to be jealous of Selena Logan for her measurements.
Lycka Benibara and Selena Logan are incredibly close. I guess we can say they’re almost like a family, almost being sisterly like. Of course, Lycka Benibara being the big sister and always looking after her little sister, Selena Logan. Ever since that day in Brixton, Selena Logan had become Lycka Benibara’s greatest student. And with such pride and joy, had become the youngest Crucis Sentinel to be ever selected by the Seven Heavens. Impressive by Selena Logan’s grit and determination, she has trained her in many disciplines such as a hybrid martial art that she had created herself Romanized as “Ways of the Flow” a.k.a. Nagare no hōhō.
This hybrid martial art, Nagare no hōhō, is a mixture of both feminine and masculine techniques in the correlation of free-flowing movement and complementation. One of the martial arts is based on the lightning-fast movements of Tai-chi, literally "Supreme Ultimate Boxing") is an internal Chinese martial art practiced for both its defense training and its health benefits.
Though initially conceived as a martial art, it is also typically practiced for a variety of other personal reasons: competitive wrestling in the format of pushing hands (tui shou), demonstration competitions, and achieving greater longevity. As a result, a multitude of training forms exist, both traditional and modern, which correspond to those aims with differing emphasis. Some training styles of t'ai chi ch'uan is primarily known for being practiced with relatively slow movements.
Today, t'ai chi ch'uan has spread worldwide. Most modern styles of t'ai chi ch'uan trace their development to at least one of the five traditional schools: Chen, Yang, Wu (Hao), Wu, and Sun. All of the former, in turn, trace their historical origins to Chen Village.
Lycka Benibara's chosen form is the 42-Form t'ai chi ch'uan, which is the standard Wushu competition form that combines movements drawn from the Chen, Yang, Wu, and Sun styles of traditional T'ai chi ch'uan (Taijiquan). It was created in 1989 by Professors Men Hui Feng from The Beijing Sports Institute and Li De Yin from the People's University for the Chinese Sports Committee. The 42-form has been subjected to criticism for being a hybrid form, but in actual practice, it has received a lot of positive attention as well for being a challenging, fluid form that loads the body with energy (qi). Today it is a modern form of competition as well as for personal health benefits.
The more masculine martial arts to complement tai chi is Bajiquan, a.k.a. “Open-Gate Eight-Extremities Fist" which is another Chinese martial art that features explosive, short-range power and is famous for its elbow and shoulder strikes. It originated in the Hebei Province in Northern China but spread to Taiwan and other places. Its full name is kai men baji quan (開門八極拳), which means "open-gate eight-extremities fist."
Baji quan opens the opponent's arms forcibly (qiang kai men 强開門) and mount attacks at high, mid, and low levels of the body (san pan lian ji 三盤連擊). It is most useful in close combat, as it focuses on elbow, knee, shoulder, and hip strikes. When blocking an attack or nearing an opponent, baji quan techniques emphasize striking significant points of vulnerability, namely the thorax (trunk of the body), legs, and neck.
The significant features of baji include elbow strikes, arm/fist punches, hip checks and strikes with the shoulder. All techniques are executed with a short power, developed through training; among Chinese martial artists, baji is known for its fast movements. Baji focuses on infighting, entering from a more extended range with a distinctive charging step (zhen jiao).
The essence of baji quan lies in jin, or power-issuing methods, particularly fa jing (explosive power). The style contains six types of jin, eight different ways to hit, and several principles of power usage. Most of baji quan's moves utilize a one-hit push-strike method from very close range. The bulk of the damage is dealt through the quick acceleration that travels up from the waist to the limb and further magnified by the charging step known as zhen jiao.
The mechanics of jin are developed through many years of practice, and baji quan is known for its strenuous lower-body training and its emphasis on the horse stance. Its horse stance is higher than that of typical Long Fist styles. Like other styles, there is also "the arrow-bow stance," "the one-leg stance," "the empty stance" (xūbù 虚步), "the drop stance" (pūbù 仆步), etc. There are eight different hand poses, in addition to various types of breathing and zhen jiao.
Prominent branches and lineages of the art survived to modern times, including Han family Baji, Huo family, Ji family, Li family, Ma family, Qiang family, Wu family (from Wu Xiefeng), Wutan Baji Quan and Yin Yang Baji Quan. Each has its unique elements while sharing core practices. Some lineages are more frequent or only exist in Mainland China, while others have spread to Western countries.
Lycka Benibara uses the most common lineage in the West today, Wutan Baji. Originally from Taiwan, where its founder, Liu Yun Chiao, lived. This lineage includes new arts which are taught alongside Baji, such as Piguaquan and Baguazhang.
Using such a hybrid martial art, Nagare no hōhō is extremely dangerous and to be only used in the last resort.
Although she has learned many martial arts over the years, which inquiries weapons training, her weapon of choice is rather unique. The only evidence that she ever uses is the one that is draped around her neck, a scarf.
A silk fleece knit, a multi-patterned, black, and silver scarf that measures 56 inches long and 14 inches wide. Too many, it is believed that the scarf is magical… But it isn’t. She uses the scarf for defensive purposes by wrapping up the person’s arm or neck, binding them into submission. Even at times, covering their waist or legs and feet. If she finds an opening, she will take it to bring you down.
Despite her small appearance, Lycka Benibara is a powerhouse and is a force to be reckoned with both physically in battle or on the political stage. In the year 1872, she was chosen and coronated as the new Aethereal Queen alongside her close childhood friend, who had a coronation of his own a few months later.
She loves to learn new things and make new discoveries along the way. Despite her being the Aethereal Queen, her thirst for knowledge holds no bounds. She usually tells her subordinates to at least learn something every week, even read a book or two every month. She cares deeply about all of her subordinates like she was her family, which leads to many heated discussions. To her, is a part of a necessary process to learn about oneself.
But just like any other mother, she has a sweet and kind heart. She cares deeply about the mission and the calling that was given to her at a bright young age. Her sincere devotion to the heavens and to her people is unparalleled and has been revered as not only one of the best Aethereal Queen that had ever served but the best Aethereal Queen they have ever served.