raffleshitposting

[raffleshitposting]

everybody thank god that there was no such thing as ts pmo icl gurt yo sybau ikiab abc def ghi 💔🥀 back then because leyden's letters would be unreadable

i saw this image in the wild and i laughed so hard i had to make this

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i saw this image in the wild and i laughed so hard i had to make this

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sorry if this looks wonky or whatever i’m like really asscheeks at drawing

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my personal tierlist of depictions of raffles

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my thoughts and ramblings on merdeka (2) [spoilers!!]

CAN I BE SO FR this was my favourite production of the play so far.... the cast are incredibly talented and i really liked the additions of traditional malay and indian dance that weren't there in the original play (or at least, not in the recording i have). the coordination and chemistry of the cast (despite their increased size) during the added choreography in the syed yassin scene where farquhar and company were running around in circles and collectively sniping the temenggong's house, as well as the rani of jhansi regiment marching and flag signalling (semaphore?) scene gave me literal CHILLS.

also on the characterisation of raffles, i deeply enjoyed the played-up machiavellian portrayal of him for comedy here. i think i whispered to my friend "lore-accurate raffles" multiple times during certain scenes LOL it was so damn funny i was trying not to tweak out in my seat everytime the actors pranced around on stage. on the other hand, the real raffles is probably rolling in his grave rn. truly the raffles of all time.

also the way they utilised the stage and props in this one is genius even though all they had to work with was these platform things which they could stack and move around? in chapter 1 during the ritual humiliation scene where raffles and the installed sultan sat together in the palace (narration taken from hannigan's raffles and the british invasion of java!!), the platforms they sat on were stacked high and they were put in a very elevated position as compared to the original play, where they were just sitting on chairs on the ground. thought it was a very clever way of showing how the british constructed and enforced their superiority by literally elevating both the installed sultan and raffles above the the stage. watching this scene IRL was a very sobering and upsetting event like the whole audience was silent and the tension..... holy shit wtf. and in chapter 3 or 4 (?), there was also a bit where raffles and farquhar literally backed the sultan into a corner by moving the platform back into him which was a small thing but i will be thinking about this for the rest of my life...!! AGGHHGH

though i was a bit wary at the way they replaced the plot of the 'raffles must fall' book club with the one about a youth group staging a play for a school festival at first (not because i didn't like the idea, but i was just not used to the change and wondered if they were going to change any other parts of the play) i came to realise that the changes made were a sort of 'modernisation' of the play for 2025 (complete with jokes about DEI and cancel culture) because the original play was made in context of the bicentennial and i suppose it would've felt quite dated. and also they retained the scenes i loved in the original anyway so im good :3

also this is a random thought, but the national service protest scenes eerily made me reflect on the state of modern student protests in singapore. idk if it's just me but like it just feels so impactful that students (students MY AGE) were fighting for a cause they believed in with such conviction. but nowadays, it seems like any protests here are quickly shut down by the authorities as soon as they start (moe lgbtq protest, 'smiley face' guy, nus campus protests for palestine etc.). and it's easy to think that any sort of protest or activism is not worth the legal issues and are ultimately a waste of time and resources, but like. the whole point of protests is having the courage to disrupt the status quo for something you believe in, regardless of the consequences you might face!!! head in hands fr.

(OKAY TIME TO BE NITPICKY (not actual criticism. just things i want to be annoying about) erm ackshually ☝️ farquhar was scottish so i wish he was given a scottish accent, but i think it's really funny how he was given an exaggerated posh english accent instead. the rest of the audience loved it and i can honestly forgive it because i also love making fun of the english accent LMFAO. ALSO i was quite sad that they didn't do the thing where they threw the 'MERDEKA' prints to the audience </3)

BUT overall i fucking loved this play man. so much. kudos to the playwrights and the actors and everyone involved i'm so glad i watched it live (AND MANAGED TO GET FRONT ROW SEATS AHHGHHGHHH). truly the quintessential singaporean play i hope they stage this again every so often 🙏🙏 WILD RICE THEATRE DO YOU HEAR ME. WILD RICE THEATRE.......

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just watched merdeka my life has been changed

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why does he have like 98435975 poems addressed to random women john leyden was a PLAYER 😭🙏

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what is bro on

leyden's memoir is so fucking funny . wdym he summoned satan as a prank (WHILE STUDYING DIVINITY), tied a pig to a church bell to scare villagers, ate raw beef to prove a point, engaged in ye olde twitter trolling, whipped out a human hand at a party, memorised and recited a whole act of parliament and then scaled to the top of a ship WHAT IS BRO DOING?? 😭😭😭😭

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leyden's memoir is so fucking funny . wdym he summoned satan as a prank (WHILE STUDYING DIVINITY), tied a pig to a church bell to scare villagers, ate raw beef to prove a point, engaged in ye olde twitter trolling, whipped out a human hand at a party, memorised and recited a whole act of parliament and then scaled to the top of a ship WHAT IS BRO DOING?? 😭😭😭😭

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modigliani and most wanted man from lucy dacus' new album makes me sick because they're so sophia-coded OGUGUHH NOOO THAT MAN MERELY SEES YOU AS AN ACCESSORY....... NOOO DON'T DEDICATE YOUR ENTIRE LIFE TO THE TRAGIC PURSUIT OF LOVING HIM IN LIFE AND IN DEATH ANYWAYS........

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sometimes when i’m angry i chew on this picture of john adams

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in my head there is such an awesome animation to soldier, poet, king about gillespie leyden and raffles rn but i can't show it to y'all because it's IN MY HEAD

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Raffles: A Non-Exhaustive Bibliography

so i've been working away at compiling a bibliography for a while and realised while researching there was like 3987539484 articles and books written about this guy so i was like ok nvm i am Not doing all that but i'd still like to post the spreadsheet here if anyone's interested! the stuff i've listed here are the ones i have already read... at some point... and to varying degrees of completion... 😁

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yknow ive made playlists for all of them that i REALLY want to share but i made them private because i cannot be caught by my . 114 spotify followers (all of whom are irls) listening to a playlist called "stamford raffles" 😧

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idk maybe because [everything that happened from 1819-1823]

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hiii im gonna reblog this since i cant rlly send pictures of the text in the comments itself but here's what john bastin had to say abt it, might be of interest :D

though the exact reason for this denial is never revealed lol

Why do you think Raffles almost never uses the ‘Bingley’ in his full name?

His full name is Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles, but he always signs off his letters as ‘T S Raffles’, and even his grave plaques have the ‘Bingley’ omitted.

Perhaps that is why the author of ‘The Bonnie, Bonnie Banks of Singapura’ had Farquhar refer to Raffles as ‘Bingley’ instead of ‘Thomas’ or something. I think the idea is that the author wanted to get Farquhar to refer to him by an obscure name of his, just like how Farquhar himself became obscure?

I’m thinking of making this occur in one of the heart events in my game, where Singapore asks Raffles why he never uses the ‘Bingley’ in his name. However, I’m drawing at blanks at how to make him answer her question. Any of you guys got any ideas or know where that part of his name came from, and why he almost never uses it?

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via this