Adaptational Context Change: In "Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)" from the Hamilton musical, Alexander says "Then I remember my Eliza's expecting me... Not only that, my Eliza's expecting," the first part meaning Eliza's expecting him to come back home safe and the second part meaning she's also expecting a child. It's a motivation for him to try to stay alive for once instead of dreaming of being a martyr. In this chapter, Aaron says something similar, that "My wife Eliza is expecting." Unlike Alexander's musical usage, he doesn't mean that she's expecting a child, although every other character interprets it that way, he means that she's expecting his safe return. And unlike Alexander again, Aaron is totally unaware Eliza is pregnant, and says this at the Treaty of Paris negotiations, not in the middle of a war. Though his situation is still precarious, his risks are along the lines of getting assassinated or messing up international relations, not getting shot by soldiers.
all lowercase letters: Like every other chapter title of this fic, this chapter's title is in all lowercase letters.
Decoy Convoy: When Aaron leaves France to go back to America. He and his party take a low-key route to the ship home, staying at inns and riding horses instead of staying at mansions and riding fancy carriages, since there’s a decoy procession presumably being very conspicuous in fancy carriages.
Double-Meaning Title: Chapter 16, "the terms of surrender ii" most obviously refers to the Treaty of Paris negotiations taking place, where terms will be set down in the aftermath of the British surrendering in the Revolutionary War. It also refers to Aaron surrendering to marrying Eliza (which happened in the last chapter, "the terms of surrender i") after pressure from Angelica and Alexander.
Externally Validated Prophecy: It’s not clear whether this was just something Aaron said out of annoyance and it happens to be true the way most people can say something that later comes true, or if it happens to be true as part of his Seer power where he inadvertently blurts out true things, but either way, Benjamin Franklin talks to Aaron, and “after a solid half hour of being told why light ought to be a wave and not a particle, Aaron throws up his hands and says ‘can’t it be both?’“ and the reader knows that according to current science, Aaron is right.
How Did You Know? I Didn't: Aaron says "My wife Eliza is expecting." People think he means that his wife is pregnant. Eliza's pregnancy was supposed to be kept secret from Aaron, so Franklin asks how he knew. Aaron responds in a way that makes it clear he didn't know. Franklin asking how he knew of Eliza's pregnancy is actually how Aaron comes to know of it in the first place.
Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Following the convention of naming every chapter title after a Hamilton lyric, this chapter takes its title from the lyric “We negotiate the terms of surrender" from "Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)."
In Spite of a Nail: A Seer asking the influential Benjamin Franklin why light couldn’t be both wave and particle gets the idea out and helps people discover wave-particle duality and quantum mechanics much earlier than in real history, possibly getting some technology developed much earlier, detailed further in thisWord of God comment. However, there’s no early nuclear war despite the capability and knowledge for one being present, according to thisWord of God comment.
If Only You Knew: Aaron is unaware that Eliza is pregnant. He says "My wife Eliza is expecting," meaning that she is expecting him to come home quickly, but he's misinterpreted as meaning that she's pregnant, including by characters who already know that Eliza is pregnant.
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Word of God comment. However, there’s no early nuclear war despite the capability and knowledge for one being present, according to this