qwertyblog-asdasda

[1ncend1ary]

hi welcome to propaganda

[wonder-worker]

why did the wydevilles and richard III hate each other that much during edward iv's reign?

Hi! To get straight to the point – there is no evidence of hostility between the Woodvilles and Richard of Gloucester before 1483. On the contrary, their relationship during Edward IV’s reign seems to have been cordial and mutually cooperative. Elizabeth made Richard steward of some of her estates in 1469, increased his fee in 1473, and seems to have backed him against Clarence over the Warwick inheritance. Both of them clearly benefitted by Clarence’s downfall. Richard supported her sites of patronage, like Queen’s College, and he included her among those to ask prayers for when founding two new colleges at his northern homes, Bernard Castle and Middleham, in 1478 (we shouldn't see this as a mere formality, as his own mother was not included in the list). He also seems to have been on amicable terms with Elizabeth’s family: in 1481 her eldest son and her brother Anthony served under his command in Scotland; he raised Edward Woodville to a banneret; and in late March 1483 (just a few weeks before Edward IV’s death), Anthony had trusted Richard enough to nominate him as an arbiter in one of his disputes. Richard was also close to Katherine Haute, wife of Elizabeth’s cousin James, giving her a generous annuity from his estates. Historians have theorized she was his mistress as she shared the same name as his illegitimate daughter Katherine, but whatever the specifics of their dynamic, it does indicate closeness.  Also, as Rosemary Horrox points out in Richard III: A Study of Service, “the local interests of the duke and the Woodvilles coincided at several points, notably in Wales and East Anglia but also (briefly) in Richmondshire, where the queen’s mother, the dowager duchess of Bedford, held one third of the honour until 1472. Had the two interests been hostile, one would expect some evidence of local friction, but there is none”. Rather, Elizabeth and Richard engaged in independent land transactions with each other – for example, she bought the highly lucrative FitzLewis manors from him.

So while we don't know what they personally felt about each other, we do know that 1) there is no evidence at all of hostility on either side, and 2) the evidence we do have is one of mutual cooperation.

This is important to keep in mind when talking about the events in 1483. Most modern historians (Charles Ross, AJ Pollard, etc) have blamed Edward IV for his son’s deposition by claiming that he failed to reconcile the Woodvilles and Richard during his life, paving the way for tensions to erupt between their so-called factions after his death. Twisted leap of logic aside, this is ridiculously unfair: Edward cannot be blamed for “failing” to remedy tensions which literally did not exist during his life. He was not a prophet; he could not control events from the grave. There is no need to blame him for Richard’s shocking betrayal that we already know contemporaries were not able to foresee. During his life, Edward would have had every reason to believe that his wife and his brother would work together during his son’s minority. And he had good reason to believe this: while conflict between the Woodvilles and Richard did erupt in 1483, it was not inevitable and should not be viewed as such. Rather, in the aftermath of Edward’s death, Elizabeth Woodville seems to have expected to work with Richard. She took the king’s place in listening to his council, and Croyland reports that Richard was sending her deferring letters “[promising] to come and offer submission, fealty, and all that was due from him to his lord and king, Edward V, the first-born son of his brother the dead king and the queen”. Croyland also writes that the new king, Edward V, sent Anthony Woodville and Richard Gray, to “submit the conduct of everything to the will and discretion of his uncle the Duke of Gloucester”. We know that Edward V was planning on having an immediate coronation thanks to a letter he wrote to the burgesses of King’s Lynn, and according to Mancini, who quotes the young king, “as for the government of the kingdom, he had complete confidence in the peers of the realm and the queen [Elizabeth].” Considering what Croyland wrote above, the “peers of the realm” would have surely included his uncle Richard. Indeed, Anthony and Richard Gray trusted Richard enough to walk blindly into a trap; it’s difficult to understand how this was possible or why they weren’t better prepared if they truly disliked Richard (or, for that matter, if they had tried to exclude him from power). It’s possible - imo, very likely - that the Woodvilles would have been the most influential and dominant after Edward V’s coronation; that does seem to have been the view of contemporaries. But since the coronation never took place, and since Elizabeth and her family clearly wanted and expected to work with the council and peers of the realm – including (arguably especially) Richard – it’s not possible to read them as anything other than cooperative.  At the very least, based on what we know right now.

I don’t want this post to get too speculatory, because it’s not like we have video recordings of 1483 to know exactly what went down, but my basic point is that going by the information we have, it was entirely plausible for Richard and “the Queen’s kin” (which is what "the Woodvilles" were actually known as to contemporaries, both administratively and in chronicles) to work together. They had done so during Edward IV’s life, and the impression I get is that Eizabeth at least seems to have expected it to continue after his death. Presumably, Anthony and Richard Gray did as well.

I think there are two reasons most chroniclers and historians are so willing to believe the Woodvilles and Richard were "rivals":

One is hindsight: their explosive conflict in 1483 is retrospectively read backwards and applied to Edward IV’s reign as a whole despite the abundance of evidence (see: Anthony trusting Richard to arbitrate a dispute mere weeks earlier) that proves otherwise.

Historically speaking, however, the idea of a rivalry primarily stems from Ricardian propaganda that sought to vilify Elizabeth Woodville, reviving and doubling down on Warwick's earlier propaganda against her. She was framed as a disruptive queen and transgressive woman with an “ignoble” social-climbing family who dominated the government and "controlled" the king. His propaganda at that time also aimed to cast "the Woodvilles as the aggressors and [Richard] as the victim of circumstance", as Horrox has pointed out. Hence why you have Mancini claiming that Richard and Elizabeth hated each other and that her "jealousy" kept him out of court, or why Thomas More claimed that “the Queene and the Lordes of her bloode whiche highlye maligned the kynges kinred (as women commonly not of malice but of nature hate them whom their husbands love)’. This, as we should know by now, is nonsense. The conflict between Richard and the Woodvilles (most probably) originated in 1483 because of the existence of an unexpected minority and because of his actions against them, not by non-existent simmering tensions during Edward IV's reign.

Hope this helps!

*Thomas Gray Marquis of Dorset's alleged boast that "we are so important that even without the king's uncle we can make and enforce these decisions", as quoted by Mancini, is often taken as proof that the Woodvilles wanted ultimate dominance during Edward V's minority. However, there are ... a great many problems with this interpretation. One, we don't know if Dorset actually said something like this: after all, Croyland never claims any such thing in his own chronicle. Additionally, while it was (and is) popularly assumed that Elizabeth and Dorset wished to exclude Richard because they started the council without him, this makes no sense in context: Anthony Woodville, Richard Gray and the young King himself were also not present at that time. Does it make any sense at all to assume that the council was insulting these three figures (again, including the actual King) by convening before they arrived in London? Then why is it automatically assumed that it was meant to be an insult to Richard? Why are more pragmatic reasons never considered? After all, there was a 20+ day gap between Edward IV's death and Richard's arrival in London - governance of the entire country couldn't exactly be put on pause until then. Long story short, it's possible Mancini could misunderstood Dorset's statement/intent or - more likely - that he was unknowingly reflecting Ricardian propaganda specifically aimed to present Dorset in a bad light (as an aggressor who tried to exclude Richard, with Richard merely claiming his "rightful" place). And either way, even if he did say something along those lines, Dorset was not the senior or most influential member of the family: that was Elizabeth Woodville and his uncle Anthony. So Dorset's words - if he actually said something like that - can hardly be taken as evidence that his entire family felt the same, especially since Anthony & Dorset's own brother Richard Gray clearly went to dine with Richard in peace. Especially since we know Thomas obeyed his mother: he went with her into sanctuary, and he apparently tried to return to England from exile as she asked him to after she made a deal with Richard.

**The Woodvilles and Hastings do seem to have been at odds. This didn't stop them from working together during Edward's reign (we have plenty examples of them cooperating, there is no evidence of a divide between them in Edward IV's charters as there was for the Woodvilles & Nevilles in the 1460s, Hastings praised Elizabeth in 1480 and clearly recognized her superior influence with Edward IV, etc), but - unlike the case with Richard - there is genuine evidence of hostility between them. We don't know if this would have mattered as much if Edward V was an adult, or if he'd already been present at London at the time of Edward IV's death. But either way, we shouldn't exaggerate this or act as though it meant Edward V was doomed. It was very normal for different parties/families to have conflicts during minorities; it had happened to pretty much all minor kings prior to 1483, it had never stopped them from working together before, and it sure as hell had never led to usurpation. Moreover, if the Woodvilles and Richard had been able to work together, animosity between the Woodvilles and Hastings would not have mattered. There are indications that cooperation between them was entirely possible: Horrox has observed that the commissions agreed upon by the first council after Edward's death tried to balance out their interests. Lastly, we ... probably shouldn't overexaggerate Hastings' position after Edward IV's death, imo. He was very important and influential, yes, but he was also not a member of the immediate royal family; it's a pretty massive stretch to automatically assume he would have been as relevant as Elizabeth, the Woodvilles, or Richard during Edward V's minority. This can be supported by evidence: after Edward IV's death, his council gathered around Elizabeth, not Hastings; Richard sent messages promising to arrive and swear fealty to her, not Hastings; the final authority when it came to the young king rested with her, not Hastings. Moreover, once Richard and Buckingham came to power, Croyland explicitly states that Hastings wanted to "serve" them and "earn their favor". In other words, he was not leading the council himself. His reaction to Richard & Buckingham and Elizabeth & the Woodvilles may have been the opposite, but either way, the impression I get of Hastings' position in both scenarios seems to have been exactly the same: he was important and influential, but he was not the one in charge. Of course, this is just my personal interpretation - my main point is simply that while the Woodvilles and Hastings may have had problems, at the very least, there is no reason at all to assume this would have affected Edward V's position as King. His deposition was entirely unexpected, and very much the result of Richard's own unprecedented decisions.

[deathlonging]

due to i am not immune to propaganda i did watch the new bridgerton// trailer and they really did that huh...........they said we're going to make this even MORE racist than it already was and hope you won't see the murk in the water for the lilypads...............the number of lines of dialogue in the trailer ALONE about doing this or that for the Good Of The Empire is already egregious and insufferable what is IN that murk the execs are drinking that makes them incapable of keeping the genre romance

[chaosmax]

Many thanks to @rewuyuu for the commission!

hello everyone do you have a moment to learn about Sampo and Jing Yuan friendship propaganda because IN THIS ESSAY I WILL--

(based on that one Jason Momoa meme, because this is so their energy)

Edit: said essay--

(obligatory these are just personal headcanons of a friend and mine other interpretations are valid)

-They both go :3 they are both some of the few characters that make that face and it is adorable.

-They both conceal their true deeper feelings behind teehee funny man/lax eepy personas [this is assuming the Funny Bone video is canon to Sampo. It was made for Hoyofair but Hoyoverse showcased it in the Live concert event so I consider that canon until Hoyoverse says otherwise]

-On the topic of that both had a tight-knit group of friends they hung out with when they were younger and were ride or die with. Unfortunately, this turned out to be die as all of their friends died (some of the HCQ are still alive but are either reincarnated or so changed/driven mad from Mara the version Jing Yuan knew had died) while Sampo and Jing Yuan were the only one out of their pals to survive.

-But both had to move on and continue to anyway, whether they wanted to or not

-Due to these things in common they would understand and relate to each other in a deep, meaningful way that few others in their lives could. There would be a certain level of liberty to their friendship because of it. They'd be able to release pent-up emotions and trauma as well as sympathize and empathize with each other. They'd be able to support each other and trust each other with the burdens of their pasts because of it. While not easy for these topics to come up initially, once they did they would find a safe space in each other for these topics. And from this would form a strong bond of trust.

-Not to mention Sampo would be a great way for master strategist ™️ Jing Yuan to keep tabs on what is happening throughout the galaxy in other places or gain valuable information for the Xianzhou Alliance. AND as Jing Yuan has expressed a lot his daily life is quite boring and loves to hear tales from the Astral Express's adventures he'd also love to hear all the wild antics Sampo gets up to because you KNOW Sampo has some wild tales to tell

-In happier news Sampo is very outwardly mischievous while Jing Yuan is also hella sneaky but in a different way usually. But when put together they bring out the utter gremlin in each other and are constantly messing with each other or having a prank war but it's all in good fun. It makes them both genuinely laugh a lot, breathing new life into their days.

-Also Mimi is either really affectionate with Sampo or bullying him (safely and gently) but it freaks Sampo out because she so beeeg. Jing Yuan finds it hilarious.

[branwyn-the-half-witch]

Comparative Mythologies of the Long Night: Part One – Blood Betrayal

(posted alongside the twitter threads of the same title)

‘...the fact that some cataclysm took place many thousands of years ago seems certain’

A series of threads examining the myths of the first Long Night, and what it may tell us about the next.

In World of Ice and Fire (WOIAF) we learned that the Long Night was not merely a Westerosi story, but an apocalyptic event that impacted the entire Known World. That it was the same event is undeniable, because the stories share common threads; darkness, and unrelenting cold.

These threads will examine the origins of the Long Night, the stories of the heroes that fought against it, and will examine the parallels that exist with the main series (ASOIAF) in order to determine whether we can learn anything from these nebulous, uncertain legends.

We have one primary story for the origins of the Long Night, which comes to us from the Great Empire of the Dawn, the ancient predecessor of Yi Ti; this was a vast land ruled by the descendants of the God-on-Earth, only son of the Lion of Night and the Maiden-Made-of-Light.

These rulers, associated with specific gemstones, ruled a vast but increasingly troubled and sinful realm for thousands of years until the throne passed to the Amethyst Empress; however, the younger brother of this first Empress usurped the throne, with deadly consequences.

This ‘Blood Betrayal’ is explicitly cited as ushering in the Long Night. Examine how the Bloodstone Emperor’s reign is described; note that he is highlighted as practising specifically necromancy and slavery, and as having cast down the true gods. All hallmarks of the Others.

As an aside, this is the only mention we have of ‘the sinister Church of Starry Wisdom’ still found in port cities. This is a HP Lovecraft reference (‘The Haunter of the Dark’, specifically) where a cult of the same name worship ‘Nyarlathotep’, an outlier in Lovecraftian mythos because he is upon the earth, alive, and can take the form of a tall man. Unlike the detached, unfathomable horrors of Lovecraft’s other monstrosities, Nyarlathotep is deliberately cruel and openly beguiles and propagandises cults into existence to serve his goals.

Sound like anyone we know? The parallels between how Nyarlathotep functions and is described and Euron ‘when men see my sails they pray’ Greyjoy is quite striking, and the fact that the ASOIAF version of this cult is found in port cities serves to underline the parallel further.

GRRM seems enamoured with examining this kind of figure; one who operates by twisting both the physical and metaphysical into propaganda to serve privately hellish and disturbing goals, whose strength is more intellectual than physical, whose weapons are first and foremost the evil men are already willing to do. The Bloodstone Emperor, the Night’s King, Euron, pre-tree Bloodraven (and possibly even post-tree), the Undying; even Mel is a play on this theme insomuch as her reputation; only her inner thoughts reveal that there is more mortal than monster in her.

It’s important to hold to GRRM’s propensity for echoing his themes, heroes AND his villains throughout the world-building, because he’s writing a Song, and so both harmony and leitmotif are crucial.

(Your obligatory ‘Lovecraft-was-a-massive-racist-so-bear-that-in-mind’ note)

The Long Night is framed explicitly as an act of divine retribution; note the symbolism again that the ‘light’ deity turns her face away, and ‘night’ is the punishment wreaked upon the world. It is worth considering that, as above, the world was in a state of decay prior to the Blood Betrayal; this event is analogous to a great many divine cataclysms throughout our own legends, that come following an inciting horror after a long time of mortal hubris and moral decay. As with the fall of Babel, the Long Night leaves the world a broken and divided place.

The world was saved from the Long Night, and the sun returned. But it was not redeemed, and the Maiden-Made-of-Light still has her faced turned away. Evidence of this is shown in the malformed seasons; WOIAF gives us two knowledgable sources, sound, but untrusted by the Citadel. Septon Barth attributes the strange seasons to a magical matter, and one Maester Nicol contends that the seasons were once of regular length and reliable constancy, of which the only evidence were the most ancient of tales – those likely to pre-date the Long Night.

So what can this origin story tell us? Well, it has all of the hallmarks of GRRM’s main series and interlinks two of his cardinal sins; kinslaying and usurpation – most particularly of a rightful female ruler. Targaryen history is sown with usurpations of the House’s women, from the very beginning, reaching a climax with the Dance, and descending into a long nadir where the dragons die out and Targaryen women lose the last ember of escape available to them. I shall speak later of the notion of blood debts being imposed on the innocent to pay for the survival of all humankind, so make a note of that theme occurring in such a primal level here, in the construction of the mythos, and so all-encompassing that the whole world suffers for the actions of one man – and remember that in relation to Targaryen women specifically.

Within ASOIAF itself, the Red Wedding is such a horrific spiritual crime, it reverberates through time and space to touch far-flung dreamers. It has much the same feeling as this mythic betrayal, which I would be unsurprised to learn also involved the breaking of guest-right.

It is perhaps evocative of the described moral decay that led the GEOTD to be thrown down in the first place, that made it seemingly deserving of the scourge that would come to ruin the world. The Others are already on the march by that point in the story, of course, but much of the War of the Five Kings phase of the books does little to dissuade the reader from the belief that the world is due a massive paradigm shift, as lightning striking the tower. When the world is so unfairly and brutally structured, apocalypse becomes a necessity.

This concludes Part One. Part Two concerns the most famous name from our roster of heroes, and their famous sword.

[1ore]

Scuttling into ur askbox like a little beetle

i think i recall you reblogging/posting things about geography and culture + human effect on it - I vaguely recall a piece of art where it showed a blurred out, cropped piece of people fighting, and focused instead on the flora in the scene.

ANYWAY! getting back on track. seeing that piece inspired me to take a course this semester called "people and the land: cultural geography". and the whole reason I came to your askbox was to ask if you had any suggested reading materials? We'll get stuff in class ofc, but I am curious to see if there's any bias of materials on the prof's side vs someone else.

Phew that was a long ask. thank you o/!

That sounds like Liz Anna Kozik’s piece : D So happy it stuck with you! I love her work!!

As for your ask, what an awesome class! Land-human relationships are my bullshit, and I really enjoyed my own cultural geography class.

Thinking back on my schooling, I would say about 70% of my classes fell in with the “everything is awful and humans are the worst” narrative, and the other 30% made time for land-human relationships other than the extractive hellscape that most people currently live under. So, full disclosure, when I think of “bias,” that’s what I think of. You grow up in the miasma, it’s hard to imagine that there’s any other way of living. It’s also hard to say without knowing the professor, but I think, in general, it’s good to be mindful of who is or isn’t telling the story.

ANYWAY. All that in mind, here’s some articles about people-land relations that I think are neat:

The Environment and Society portal - I like their digital exhibits especially. I remember enjoying Oceans in Three Paradoxes and The Northwest Passage. Great place to wander around and pick a random article that catches your eye.

Of Deserts and Decolonization: Dispelling Myths About Drylands – obligatory desert propaganda. An article looking at how colonial mindsets about deserts disrupt existing relationships and hurt both people and land, and also how those attitudes shape environmentalism/conservation/etc. still today.

The Miracle of the Commons – lovingly challenging the Tragedy of the Commons with a creative solution to poaching and human-animal conflict in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. Great article to sit in discomfort about (productively!)

Biodiversity: The Variety of Life that Sustains Our Own – Contains one of my go-to examples when explaining how humans can be good for land and biodiversity, the story of Quitobaquito Springs (and its sister spring Ki:towak, though the author doesn’t mention it here.)

The Environmental History Timeline - just fun to look at, especially the further you go back. It’s funny to spot where a young branch of history is trying *really hard* to reframe how academia thinks about the past, by bringing the invisible landscape forward:

2700 BCE —  Epic of Gilgamesh describes vast tracts of cedar forests in what is now southern Iraq. Gilgamesh defies the gods and cuts down the forest, and in return the gods say they will curse Sumeria with fire (or possibly drought). By 2100 BCE, soil erosion and salt buildup have devastated agriculture. One Sumerian wrote that the “earth turned white.” Civilization moved north to Babylonia and Assyria. Again, deforestation becomes a factor in the rise and subsequent fall of these civilizations. (Perlin, 1991). 2700 BC — Some of the first laws protecting the remaining forests are decreed in Ur, Messopotamia. (Grove, 1995).

^^^ fucking around and finding out forever and ever and ever.

[dumbass-duo-showdown]

Preliminary Battle 4

Roronoa Zoro & Luffy vs Trafalgar Law & Monkey D Luffy vs Monkey D Luffy, Tragfalgar D Water Law, Eustass Kid (kidlulaw) (all from one piece)

Only one group can join the bracket

Propaganda under the cut

(also semi obligatory mention for @onepiece-polls)

Zoro & Luffy

I could rant about them for actual hours but like it's so hard to put thoughts down. But literally an actual quote was someone telling Zoro that "you promised you wouldn't cause trouble" and Zoro replies, EXACT WORDS, "I had no choice because I ran into Luffy." There was also an exchange where Zoro was giving Luffy food and Luffy warns him it might be poison while eating it and Zoro is just like "huh, so that's why my stomach was hurting". They also both swung from vines once and BOTH decided to Tarzan yell. They agreed it was a requirement. Also, Luffy once said he didn't wanna be a hero because heros would share their meat and he wants all of it, and Zoro entirely separately says the SAME THING BUT WITH BOOZE INSTEAD. There are so many examples of them sharing a single braincell. More than I could ever list. But those are the examples I thought of off the top of my head.

On the surface, Zoro seems to have some common sense, and only follows Luffy’s dumb schemes out of respect. Then Nami joins and you realize that Zoro’s seriousness IS his dumbassedness. He and Luffy have one track minds for their own goals and wants, and while they may clash, they have a decent amount of respect for each other.

haven’t finished one piece yet but one example: zoro when stuck figured cutting off his feet would be a genius idea and luffy is luffy. there’s never any thoughts going on in that head

When I first started One Piece I thought Zoro was going to be the badass smart counterpart to the dumbass protagonist just like Vegeta or Sasuke. Turns out I couldn't be more wrong. Him and Luffy are besties and share one brain cell and even thou Zoro uses it most of the time it's still one.

They share one single braincell at the same time: after being seriously injured in a battle, one wakes up to drink sake the other to eat meat. One almost cut a Noble (which means being pursued til death by the most powerful marines), the other actually punches said Noble. One gest stuck between buildings, the other inside a chimney for absolutely unrelated reasons

Their solution to everything is to fight it. They never have a plan and just rush into everything. Somehow they are technically the leaders of the group as captain and first mate. They have both at some point attempt to cut or tear their legs or arms off to get out something. They used the same metaphor to explain why they aren’t a hero without hearing the other say it (a hero would share their meat/booze I want to keep it all to myself).

they said let us cut/punch a hole trough a giant tsunami and they did it <3 also one time they were suppossed to lay low, but well they both immediately started robbing and attacking a town and being recognized and labeled as criminals in a new country. they don't even share a braincell, whatever braincell they had before immediately leave as soon as they both are together, also King of the Pirates and World Greatest Swordsman dreamteam, also for lasagne thing not only would the house be gone, the city be burning and they are fleeing the police while also fighting the police

They're just soooo stupid. Zoro can't walk to steps without getting lost. So Luffy will yank him miles through the air to land on wood. Or stone. Or some other hard substance. Luffy would fight someone on accident for meat. And Zoro for booze. And they have no brain cells between them. Zoro new Luffy for approx. 3 seconds before he decided he would die for him. And Luffy heard about this big scary bounty hunter who was captured by marines and went. I need him on my crew. They're perfect for each other.

I dont where to begin. One of their latest feats though is them going into the enemy base, Meaning to sneak in, Luffy went in after another guy, Zoro after Luffy, luffy then Announced himself, started a fight bc ppl wasted food on purpose, ZORO hearing a commotion, SLICED THROUGH A BUILDING TO GET TO LUFFY AND THEN REPRIMANDED LUFFY FOR FORGETTING THE PLAN AND BEING UNABLE TO BE QUIET. THEN. T H E N LUFFY SAYS HE SPILT FOOD ON PURPOSE AND ZORO IS INSTANT LIKE oh ok. They gotta die. (Theres more to it but thats the gist. And thats not even. Much. They r just so stupid together <33)

they both get lost very easily, they will throw hands with anyone, very stupid but very understanding, were a 2 person pirate crew that sailed around on a rowboat, motivated entirely by fighting, meat, and sake, neither is particularly literate one time luffy got his hand stuck in a bottle and zoro tried to get it out by cutting his hand off, yes this happened in a canon episode

look, I have a tag for them that's literally #pair of idiots.

Law & Luffy

Menaces (affectionate). Destroyed a country together despite throwing practically every step of the plan out the window.

Feral Jungle Gremlins. When they were little they would beat up thugs and steal their cash. They would dine and dash and then formally thank the owner without seeing anything wrong with doing that. The first time we met them in series Luffy sent Ace through several buildings without realizing it. They each have the energy of a little shit but it multiplies by a thousand percent whenever they're in proximity to each other. They love each other so sososososo much and I am STILL bitter about marineford.

Kidlulaw

They had a competition where "First one to dodge the giant fireball is a coward!" They all got hit.

They are all so powerful and they make each other even dumber

omg they share one braincell. Law usually has it, but when the three of them are together, it's hard to find any braincell. Luffy: "The first to dodge this (possibly fatal) attack is a loser!" - Law: "I'm not playing your idiot games!" - Kid: "See, coming up with stupid contests like that is why you guys are small-fry" - Luffy: "Okay, I guess you're just losers then" - All three proceed to play the 'game' then, keeping a close eye on the other to see if they dogde, all three getting hit right in the face by it.

Too busy trying to outdo each other to bother with brain cells. Law may have a couple on a good day, but he loses them when he comes within ten feet of the other two

They are literally so stupid but somehow the best pirates of their generation

they're idiots and i love them (platonically)

They've had a few of battles together (both canon and movies (stampede), and all they do is fight and try to one up each other. If you're not following OP or if you're up to date. Then I suggest looking for episodes 978 and 1016. There are more but these are good.

Law is usually calm and collected. Luffy and Kid are impulsive. When they're all together, Kid's impulsiveness grows, and Law loses all sense. Luffy (and Kid) suggest idiotic challenges, and all three take them up because they can't back down, even though they know better (well, Law does, and sometimes Kid does, and sometimes Luffy does too).

The picture you had in the Lasagna stats. That's it. They are dumb and get even dumber in each other's presence. They don't allow any of the other two to take the lead, so they make stupid decisions. (Like that one time when there were 3 enemy ships and they all didn't want the others to be the one to destroy an enemy ship so they all went after the same ship, which they utterly destroyed, and then bickered about who was the one to destroy it. While they could have... each... gone... for... a seperate... ship.) They are like 3 captains on a ship, but they're not taking shifts. instead, they're all captening it at the same time, and will sleep at the same time too, probably.

fun fact i was unable to use the og link so i put the collage photo from the lasagna scale in MSPAINT and tried to use it to get this specific panel

They played chicken with a massive attack from one of the most dangerous people in the world because they wanted to one up each other.

[somerandomcryptid]

A new challenger approaches! Sapnap is here now, and he is very confused.

I was going to do panels and shit for the first page but I decided to give myself mercy

This gets the point and vibe across without me killing myself over backrounds :)

This is my favorite face I've drawn, ever

Look at him! He's just a little guy!

Also, long haired Sapnap propaganda >:)

I will give every man ever long hair /j

Anyway lore drop!:

Bad and Skeppy just kind of adopt Cryptid at the first chance they get, it's not legal technically but like if anyone in the smp was going to be their legal guardian(s) it would be these two, and it basically is

Also they are fully think of themselves as their dads so yeah, in their eyes, this is their new child

In Cryptid's eyes it's a bit more complicated, as I've said before they're extremely resentful (if not too tired to actually get into a screaming match) when they are brought to Skeppy and Bad, and while they warm up to them quick enough, they don't immediately see them as their dads, they're touched by the gesture (and do feel similarly, just not as much) but it feels a bit like they're betraying their original parents if they accept that Bad and Skeppy are essentially also their dads at this point

Anyway that's the context, and that happens over approximately a week or so probably

Then, once Bad sees even a sliver of acceptance for the whole family thing he invites Sapnap over, not telling him what's going on and who he's introducing him to

And... it actually goes fine!

Sapnap and Cryptid actually get along pretty well even though I think they're both a bit embarrassed by their dad

Obviously Sapnap doesn't know shit about Cryptid even knowing Dream, and Cryptid only heard him mentioned probably like once, maybe twice, so it's not like they have any feelings on him particularly

So they have a pretty blank slate!

They aren't exactly sibling material by the time Wren and Dream get to the smp (oops spoilers) but they are definitely friendly, and once Sapnap learns about all the Dream stuff he is immediately more protective of them, like Sam, the situation reminds him too much of Tommy despite it being very very different

(obligatory disclaimer that Dreaming of Death is an au of the Penpal @calamari-minecraft-corner)

[the-possum-writes]

DAMN IT!!! I NEED MORE Peace Master x reader now!!! Maybe where reader is also a parent and knows the struggles. Also reader is totally into him and tires to get in his pants.

[Non-Family Friendly Thoughts]

❥Character: Peace Master

❥Tags: SFW, Yearning, Kissing, Suggestive thoughts but not fully N/S/F/W,  Single Parent!Reader

❥Synopsis: You're a single parent who's friends with Peacemaster since his kids are in the same class as yours, you've been having the hots for him and been hiding it for a while but he starts noticing it during a class meeting.

❥A/N: YEEEESSSS my Peace Master propaganda is working!

❥Taglist: @foxpearlwilder @watchingfromthefloorboards

You never knew you were capable of falling asleep with your eyes open until you walked into this meeting, it’s an obligatory teacher and parent meeting to discuss plans for the next school semester and you need to make sure your little kiddo is gonna have the best choices at their disposal but it’s been nothing but boring with how slowly the lead Karen is talking. Not to mention you’re without your partner in crime to keep you company.

You slowly munch on the bland Graham cracker at your disposal, mostly for the sake of keeping your jaw busy rather than to satisfy your appetite. “If they’re gonna be this slow they should've brought better snacks.” You mumble under your breath.

At the front of the room stands Karen, the pack leader of the parent group for the class your kid is in, she has this smug aura around her like she knows what’s best without asking anyone. “I advocate for healthier lunch options this semester, who else agrees?”. There were a few raised hands here and there while others just say “Agreed.” and those who don’t respond are probably just as bored as you are. Karen shuffles her papers as she changes the topic. “The next concern is the gym uniforms, little Timothy has been complaining about the new shirts being itchy,”

Just when you thought your head was about to smack against the tiny desk, the door abruptly opens and closes with a noticeable thud that has everyone looking back, where Karen groans briefly before addressing the late parent. “You’re late yet again, Mr. Peacemaster.” her voice is drowned out by the clattering of wet heels against the floor.

Peace master interrupts the conference by squeezing water out of his hat. The other parents simply look at him in silence as he soaks the flooring even more, his dark outfit is but a huge jab within the colorful classroom A striking sight in your opinion.  “Pardon for the delay, I was out exorcising an ancient temple that just so happened to be underwater,” he says casually. “Oh, but please continue.” He motions with the wave of his hand as he sits down next to you.

While the domestic parents were staring at him with disapproval, you were grinning to yourself at finding amusement with the adventurous man—particularly because his long legs didn’t fit in the kid’s desk. No adult fits in these, of course, but since he’s such a towering man that its noticeable with him. Your emphasis went back to the water drops running down the dark leather of his boots, unconsciously imagining the reflection of its shiny material stretching over his arms with tight gloves, it'll definitely look good on him just as much as how any black and whites stand out with his tranquil pistachio skin. The water drops don't stop their trail down his legs, they tauntingly guide your eyesight down to his thighs, which are rough and firm yet they have you wishing nothing more than to slip them apart or having them straddle you against the cushions of a soft bed.

Peace Master makes a little tilt toward you. "Did I miss anything?" he murmurs.

You let out an inaudible sigh, personally thanking any higher power for sending PM out on that underwater temple. "Only a pair of leather straps-" you broke out of your daydream before embarrassing yourself any more "OH! You're talking about the meeting!" You speak aloud unintentionally loud enough for another parent to gently scold you.

You swiftly unscrew the cap on your water bottle and down it. Although it's true that he can be unpredictable at times, he has the right combination of domestic and supernatural elements to stand out in your daily life. Anyone with a normal mind would tell you that you're crazy if you thought he was attractive given his unpredictable career and equally odd personality. However others may feel, Peacemaster has shown himself to be a responsible dad, which is also attractive to you as a single parent.

You shrug as you wipe the water stains from the corners of your mouth. “You didn't miss much, however Karen wants to change the lunch menu you proposed last semester.”

The man snarled angrily as he exposed his teeth. “That woman! It’s like she doesn’t know kids need some fun and protein, that’s what the chicken nuggets are for.” He laments in a low, irritated voice. "Speaking of tasty treats, I brought something for you. I expected Karen to serve lame snacks again; hopefully, this will make things less boring." You pray that whatever the Peace master pulls out of his coat isn't wet, but to your astonishment you see a bag of chips.

You gratefully accept the bag of chips, but not before recognizing how his hand lingered on yours throughout the short exchange, unleashing a flurry of previously buried emotions.  “Thanks PM, you make everything less boring.” You smile as you start popping chips in your mouth. Peacemaster redirected his focus to the meeting, but his hat's curve couldn't keep the smile on his face that resulted from your kind words. In return, you pat his shoulder. "I know, let's team up against Karen when the bake sale comes up. She'll want to do the easiest job and we can't let her win that," You smile mischievously, his tender smile morphing into an equally wicked grin that matches yours.

In addition to contradicting Karen on the Bake Sale, you successfully persuaded the other parents to revise the lunch menu options, returning it to the layout Peacemaster initially intended. It was worthwhile when you finally left the meeting with Karen's watchful eye but that didn't take away from your content laugh. It's already darkening outside when you leave the school building alongside Peacemaster, walking him across the parking lot so you two could reach his used van.

"Looks like we weren't the only ones who had a grudge against her; I didn't anticipate the other parents joining in so quickly." Peacemaster pauses briefly and turns to face you. "Thanks again for the support; I don't think I would have advanced this far on my own."

He compliments you as you stroke a hair behind your ear while grinning; it feels better than a hot beverage in the winter. "No problem, it's about time someone speaked up against Karen. Besides, I trust your judgment when it comes to your children and the decisions you make for them, well except when it comes to driving." You throw in that final blow as a joke.

"You might not trust my driving, but you can't argue with how quickly I get to places." He gives you finger guns while winking.

"I can't argue with that." you shake your head. "Speaking of which, think I can hitch a ride? My car is stuck in the workshop."

"Sure! Anything for my crime partner." Peacemaster unlocked the driver's door, but the squishy noise of his wet boots reminded him of his damp clothing. "Drat, I'm going to need to change first."

You raise your hands to the man, already turning around in respect. "Go ahead, I can wait."  Turning in the direction of the school grounds, you watch as each parent exits in their own car until all you can hear is the commotion behind you, while you kept your word and didn't turn around that didn't include reflective surfaces. Even if the mirror is small, it nonetheless provided you a glimpse of Peacemaster's underwear preferences. How appropriate, tidy whites.

"Let's go." PM breaks the silence as he buttons his pants and tosses the wet clothes in the back of the van. While you slip into the copilot seat and click your seat belt in place, Peacemaster stays in place with his hands firmly placed on the steering wheel but not turning on the ignition. "What's up?" you ask.

"Normally, I'm of sound mind and don't let anything affect me, which is why I'm good at my job, but leather straps? What was that about?" He tilts one arm on the wheel and turns to face you with intense curiosity.

You're an adult, that's the thing. Even though you have a child and have encountered odd situations in the past, this confrontation has made you feel just like a teenager all over again. You're dizzy, your palms are sweating and your heart is pounding in your ears.

"I, don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't play dumb with me!"

You jump unexpectedly when PM slammed his hand against the closest thing near him, in this case being the steering wheel which blew the horn throughout the empty parking lot. "I'm a very perceptive man, and although there are things I can't see at first glance and blame the misfortune on exterior forces I know this isn't one of them!" he points an accusatory finger at you as if you just summoned something you shouldn't. "I saw how you looked at me earlier throughout the meeting and while I was changing. I've known you for a while now and you've never eyed me like that before, acquaintance or not I am also a man of action and will act accordingly depending on the situation!"

You wanted to roll your eyes on that, it's inevitable he rides his high horse sometimes but you're being accused here so talking back probably isn't the best idea right now. But it doesn't stop you. "And what's the situation going on here Mr. Judge and Jury?"

Peacemaster raises a hand to his chin trying to appear professional but comes off as a know it all. "I'm well versed in a multitude of paranormal entities. Either you're being possessed by a promiscuous entity or... Well it's something else, but it's definitely the first thing!" his mighty speech slows down as he reaches that last part, as if he bumped into a wall in his logic.

"Or what...?" you continue, with your back already pressed against the door since he caught you you off guard. Wait. You crawl into the occupied driver's seat, shocking Peacemaster, but he's too astonished to stop you from straddling him. "Or what Peacemaster? Is it really that difficult for you to think I like you that you'd rather believe I'm possessed?" You spoke with an unexpected surge of flirty confidence that startled him. He is a guy who has encountered many horrors, but at least those horrors were known to him. This is unexplored territory, which is more terrifying than any beast from the deepest reaches of the night.

Peacemaster appeared to shrink in place, turning his head away as you metaphorically and literally pinned him to the wall "I... I would've noticed it earlier if that were the case! You're clearly being possessed. I mean, our kids have been friends since they were in kindergarten and if I would've known earlier I would've... I would've..."

"Pull the moves on me?" you finish the sentence for him.

"Exorcize you! I would've performed an exorcism already!"

"You're lying." you huff nonchalantly.

"AM NOT!" his green face turns into a dark shade as he rebutts your claims.

"Then why are you grabbing my ass?" you softly move your hips as you feel his hands grab either side you your bums.

Without any excuse or fight left in him Peacemaster leaned forward and shut you up by crashing his lips on your own, you return the gesture by placing your hands on his face and savoring everything he had to offer even if he was still being stubborn about it. "I'm gonna have to perform rituals on you, until you're completely... ah, purified... " he attempts to keep his threats but they sound like sweet promises to you.

"You can perform whatever you want on me~"

[jariten]

January-March 2024 Roundup!

Trying a new thing this year where instead of just "one off" "single volume" "limited run" "compilation" works I read "long form" "serializations". I must say it's already doing my soul good to prioritize and work through the way too many unread series that have piled up in my room while I was prioritizing short form works.

First I want to highlight is Chiisana Ochakai by Nekojuujisha! I already posted a very short description of the work but would like to share my own encounter and quick impressions. I first learned about the series from Futabasha's mook Natsukashii! 70-nendai Shoujo Manga Mook (type of mook I love to collect but can't spend too long looking at lest my demons make me go online shopping). This mook highlights both true classics as well as works and authors who have fallen a bit by the wayside in the manga landscape (but to no fault of the quality of their work). Chiisana Ochakai got a VIP treatment in this mook and I immediately knew this was something I wanted to read. I finally got around to reading this past month and was so blown away by this work and the atmosphere it created. Part of me wasn't expecting anything more than a charming fantasy slice of life set in a world of cats, but I many times found myself very moved by Purin and Moppu's view of life and their philosophical musings. The fairy tale world was truly that. I loved the little encounters like when Moppu met The Sun itself at the bakery. This is also by far the closest thing I've come to reading a manga that embodies a lot of the wistful qualities of the original Moomin novels by Tove Jansson. Can't recommend or praise it enough.

Also noticed how so many libraries have Osamu Tezuka's Buddha? I've encountered plenty that has but I finally found one that actually had the whole series and decide to do my obligatory one Tezuka title per year right then and there. And wooooow by far the best of his works that I've read, I was especially struck by the paneling and multiple viewpoints that were carefully balanced. A true epic and despite it being the retelling of the foundations of a world religion, Tezuka enjoyers who enjoy him being self referential or goofy will still find plenty of that.

Is Kichijoji the Only Place to Live? by Hirochi Maki was a manga that years ago got propagandized on Tumblr and I was just soooooo sure it would get licensed. Which it did, but digital only. I finally resorted to the Japanese edition. The propaganda post absolutely sold how charming and fun the protagnist sister pair is, but neglected to mention the varied clientele and what an amazing tour of the less known neighborhoods in and around Tokyo it is, with real life locations and spots to check! Worried most of these spots don't exist anymore post-COVID? check the post COVID sequel series!

Eine Kleine Nachtmusik is a manga adaption of Kotaro Isaka's novel by the same name by Ikuemi Ryou. I'm not familiar at all with Isaka's bibliography but I could tell this was a great combo (Isaka even admitting to being influenced by Ikuemi's work). I love one shot collections that focuses on characters that are connected to each other or the same incident seen from multiple points of view. Isaka's cast is varied and all at different points in life with different wants and needs.

I have a more detailed summary of A-ko san no Koibito by Akino Kondoh in the queue but oooooooh my god. This was my dedicated commute read for a bit and talk about a series that only got better with each volume. Eventually I didn't even want to arrive at my location I wanted to keep reading. Its one of my favorite explorations of relationships, facing your past ones, and figuring out what it is you actually want that I've read so far in great deal due to the blend + repetitions of past and present. These smooth transitions are done so well and drew me further into the characters and their conflicts. Truly nothing like any other manga I've read but fits perfect into my own slowly expanding mini canon of manga about late twentysomething and up characters trying to figure out what romantic relationships mean to them.

Also eeeeeek I'm beyond late just wanted to highlight Hunter X Hunter volume 37. I will always think that when one can deliver at a quality this high you have the right to take all the time you want. So intrigued by how everything is developing would love to reread what we have of this arc some time soon.

[drtanner]

IT'S TIME FOR STELAK PROPAGANDA.

First all, enormous thanks and a great big hug to @woltourney for organising this and giving me an excuse to show you all my lovely boy. 💜 I don't talk about Stelak nearly as much as I should!

Mr Ganzthuv will be appearing in Match 9 of Round 1, Side B! It'd just about make his day if you'd show him a little love when his turn comes around, and I'm here to tell you why you should. ( b ._.)b

(Obligatory thirst trap to open. We know what's important here.)

Stelak's a cheeky guy who doesn't embarrass easily and likes having fun where he's able, and as you'll learn when his matchup comes around, not only is he an accomplished bard and a WoL, he's also a whore! And yes, he's still taking on jobs while he's saving the world. 👌

Whoring is Stelak's main line of work and he enjoys it a lot; he takes a great deal of pleasure from making people happy and his clients, for the most part, are all lovely to work with. And he's good at it! Why would he ever think to do anything else?

(It should be mentioned, if you were thinking of hiring him yourself someday, that Stelak only services men. And yes, trans men are men, trans women are not, etc., etc., of course, obviously.)

That said, as exhausting and stressful as the work of being the WoL is, Stelak can't complain about the travelling it's seen him doing. He's met all kinds of people and made all kinds of friends, and for that he's enormously grateful. Given that he doesn't remember anything about who he might have been before he woke up in the back of that cart on the way to Gridania with nothing but a name, the clothes on his back and a robust set of instincts and principles, Stelak is sincerely delighted to have so many people around him whom he can rely on.

It is, after all, very difficult to keep going sometimes when the whole world is relying on you all the time.

Stelak has grown a little more attached to some of these friends than others to say the least, but you'll have to find my AO3 if you want to learn more about that. 👀 Ahem. Anyway.

Anyway.

Unlike whoring, being the WoL is difficult, taxing and often deeply miserable; preventing one catastrophe seems to achieve little but to make room for the next one, and being recognised by anybody only serves to make them all the more comfortable in making yet more demands of Stelak's time and energy. As such, he's often very tired and sometimes very sad, but at the end of the day, no matter how worn out and fed up he might be, Stelak will always dutifully pick himself up and go where he's needed without complaint (or at least, without complaint while he's still within earshot of the people telling him where to go.)

The work needs doing, and if not him, then who? What would happen if he didn't show up? He doesn't like to imagine.

Thank goodness he doesn't have to do it alone.

It would be easy to say that Stelak does all of this for the love of his friends, and he does, but he also does it because it's the right thing to do, and doing the right thing regardless of whether one will be rewarded for it is what makes the world turn, isn't it? That one might get to meet all kinds of fascinating people and see all kinds of wonderful places is just a happy accident, and one that Stelak is all too eager to embrace. The world's an incredible place, it turns out, and now he gets to see it all!

This, too, Stelak is grateful not to be doing alone. 💜

(That's Teddy, by the way. He's Stelak's other best friend.)

One might be tempted to assume that Stelak would be keen to find out who he used to be before he arrived in Gridania, or at the very least that he'd be interested, but truthfully, he couldn't care less. For all he knows, he might not have existed at all before that moment; for all he knows, Hydaelyn might have simply plucked him from the aether for convenience's sake, or out of his bed or his bathtub or from some other place, but none of it matters so much as who he is now, who he's going to be in the future. Stelak's experiences have changed him even in this relatively brief span of time; who knows who he'll be next week?

So yeah, vote Stelak. ( b ._.)b

[a-yarn-of-purple-prose]

The reason I won't be able to sleep tonight is that google and twitter are actively trying to influence the voting of a bill in my country, one regulating the responsibility of the service providers on the spread of misinformation and fake news, impersonation and bot activity.

Google's answer was to pen scare-mongering articles (based on an older version of the bill's text, but they don't say this) and link those in its front page, urging brazilians to contact our senators so they'll vote against the bill. Willful misinformation.

Twitter's answer was suppressing the trending topics related to the bill (PL 2630). Shadowbanning, but on steroids, but you'd expect that from twitter. We generally joke that if twitter was forced to take down all nazi propaganda (yes *that* is on the bill) they'd have very little content left.

I've read the full text of the bill.

(this is when I say I'm not a lawyer, I'm an academical. I know how to read the text and can interpret it, though I can't debate the minutia.)

While there are some areas that could potentially be used as leverage to infringe on personal expression, you have to understand that, legally speaking, freedom of expression in Brazil is not as important as bodily autonomy/freedom from harm (you can have opinions on this, I sure have opinions on laws from other countries, it won't change our constitution or the manner in which judges make their decisions over here.)

Some highlights:

The articles related to enforced demonatization have been scrapped. I mention this because it's all you find when you search about this bill in english.

The obligatory identification of all users (which was in the previous text of the bill) has been exchanged for a possible (the word "may" is used) use of official identification as means to curb impersonation.

Social media providers are expected to not only clearly mark ads, but also inform when someone paid for boosting. In case of political ads, the providers are expected to conform to existing electoral legislation and report the total amount of ad money spent on campaign by each candidate/party (which they were refusing to do. That was already illegal, this has already been to courts, the inclusion in this bill is just so that the commission created in it would receive such reports.)

That said, the bill includes some interesting requirements. Big tech companies would have to keep a portuguese speaking team over here which would be responsible for sending periodical reports to a government commission (mostly over bot activity and account suspensions), and the collected data should be made available to the academic community (!).

But, the way I see it, the important part is that this bill has this:

Capítulo III

(...)

Art. 20. A Administração Pública deverá coibir a destinação de publicidade para sítios eletrônicos e contas em redes sociais que promovam atos de incitação à violência contra pessoa ou grupo, especialmente em razão de sua raça, cor, etnia, sexo, características genéticas, convicções filosóficas, deficiência física, imunológica, sensorial ou mental, por ter cumprido pena ou por qualquer particularidade ou condição.

Translation (mine):

Chapter III (...) Article 20. The Public Administration shall curb the allocation of advertising to electronic sites and accounts on social networks that promote acts of incitement to violence against a person or group, especially due to their race, color, ethnicity, sex, genetic characteristics, philosophical convictions, physical, immunological, sensory or mental disability, for having served time or for any particularity or condition.

This basically means AdSense gets no government money, that Twitter can't serve government ads on hateful profiles. It could mean Twitter can't serve government ads at all as long as there is hate on the ad viewer's TL.

This is why Big Tech is working against this bill.

[irvinenewshq]

Will the media again Perrottets stand towards large playing?

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet’s dedication to implementing obligatory cashless gaming playing cards for poker machines in his state — saying it’s a matter not of if, however how, it’s carried out — is, forgive the pun, a high-stakes gamble, however one which deserves help. For the primary time, a NSW chief is standing as much as the malignant playing trade which has dictated phrases to generations of NSW politicians. The golf equipment and pubs trade in NSW hates cashless playing cards with a ardour, fearing it’ll dry up billions of {dollars} in money from the proceeds of crime flowing by means of poker machines. Unsurprisingly, NSW Labor is refusing to help the concept. NSW Labor has taken $1.7 million in donations from the playing trade between 2001 and 2021, together with almost half one million {dollars} from ClubsNSW, the foyer group campaigning towards cashless playing cards. The Liberals have taken $2.9 million from the playing trade, together with round $1.5 million from ClubsNSW. However in the mean time that’s not amounting to a lot for a premier eager for a problem to marketing campaign on in a tricky election. Join a FREE 21-day trial and get Crikey straight to your inbox Opposing Perrottet inside his personal authorities are the ever-toxic Nationals, who’ve loved over three-quarters of one million {dollars} in donations from the playing foyer, together with over $300,000 from ClubsNSW. It was the Nationals, below John Barilaro, who derailed the push by then-gaming minister Victor Dominello for a cashless poker machine card in 2021. Let’s be clear right here: Perrottet is taking over a legal trade that makes use of its large revenues from the proceeds of crime and exploitation of distress to purchase political affect throughout either side of politics throughout the nation. The refusal of Labor and the Nationals to help him speaks volumes for the toxic function that playing cash performs in politics. As Mike Baird discovered when he took on the playing trade over its slaughter and torture of greyhounds, or as Tasmanian Labor found when it tried poker machine reform, Perrottet may but discover that the mixed energy of the playing foyer is simply too nice. Essential to the playing trade’s success in forcing a reverse on the problem of greyhounds was its capability to take advantage of the media, significantly rabid shock jocks on Sydney radio. Since then Information Corp has change into a joint media-gambling firm — though its playing property Betr operates in on-line gaming, not poker machines. The place The Day by day Telegraph strains up will likely be vital for Perrottet’s possibilities of success. If it sides with the criminals and exploiters, it’ll make his probabilities a lot tougher. 9’s Sydney Morning Herald has been extra lively in mentioning the malignant function of ClubsNSW however 9, too, has its personal playing pursuits by way of the huge quantity of on-line playing promoting it inflicts on readers, and the relentless propaganda for the horse torture trade it churns out. Once more, a special phase of the playing trade, however for each 9 and Information Corp, there’s an actual take a look at coming over the stress between income and public curiosity journalism. For political events, these points could be a lot less complicated in the event that they determined that taking cash from the playing trade was now not acceptable. The price could be vital, however fairly mutual. Do you help Perrottet’s stand towards the playing trade? Tell us your ideas by writing to letters@crikey.com.au. Please embody your full identify to be thought of for publication. We reserve the suitable to edit for size and readability. Originally published at Irvine News HQ

[catilinas]

im now curious because of the other coin ask so: do u think that like. a typical roman citizen would actually know what the hell was going on on a coin?? because honestly i would NEVER have expected that sulla one to be “sulla with huge abs dreams of victory”. would they look at these and actually recognise the scenes on them?

rip i typed out a whole answer to this but chrome crashed when i tried to upload a pic of another coin with sulla on it :/

anyway. and please bear in mind that i'm not a numismatics guy i just went to two (2) obligatory Coin Seminars and also think numismatics collections in museums are sexy. i know there Is some debate among People Who Actually Know About Coins over who the propaganda on coins is For / whether it actually had any effect. and idk! maybe!

but about just identifying What's Happening on coins. i think we have to remember that Typical Roman Citizens were exposed to a lot of visual iconography that just doesn't survive today. like there are coins with things like the rostra / specific temples and aqueducts / the tribunes' benches / voting bridges on them that nowadays we're like. what. because we do not live in a society (eye emoji) where tribunes' benches are a thing you See. similarly at least some coins seem to have been based on art that doesn't survive like paintings and statues e.g. this coin minted by sulla's son faustus

like 'felix' (sulla's agnomen) does give you a clue that this is Something to do with sulla! in fact the images on coins Often have smth to do with the family of whoever minted them, and the romans were really into remembering the deeds of every famous family, so that also helped them figure it out. but other than that. Literally How Could You Tell. except! this particular coin has been identified as showing king bocchus of mauretania surrendering iugurtha to sulla, based on a passage in plutarch's life of sulla (6.1) that mentions that there was a statue in rome depicting that scene. if you're a Typical Roman Citizen hanging out in rome you would be able to recognise the image on the coin from the statue. and this is just an example where the coin + a reference to the statue Both survive. there are a whole bunch of statues and paintings etc that we know Existed but otherwise know very few details about! maybe there Was lost iconography that lets you tell which Generic Goddess Wearing A Helmet is on each coin. also maybe there was a statue or painting of sulla with huge abs dreaming of victory and if there wasn't. Why Not.

[elizabethsharmon]

So. Poland has chosen its "president" yesterday - if we can even talk about real choice here when he won by approximately 422k votes. When he won in 6 out of 16 regions, all of them with significantly lower number of eligible voters. When there are huge discrepancies between the results displayed in each polling district and the ones published on the website of the National Electoral Commission. When there were recurring instances of some voting cards not having the necessary stamps which automatically classified the vote as invalid. When some people went to vote and it turned out they're not registered in their designated district because of system error. When people abroad didn't get their voting cards on time. When his party sent over 150 buses to villages in Eastern Poland to take older, conservative people to voting stations. When this is how the results map looks like - and somehow the blue wins with orange.

In the last five years, Du*a and his party PiS (literally lAw AnD jUsTiCe but believe me, they're none of these things) have completely ruined the country and regressed it to Middle Ages.The democracy practically doesn't exist anymore, not since they have the majority to rule (the opposition won the senate back in the parliamentary elections so it's a small win but it's still not enough). They started with the judicial system, appointing conservative judges who are always ruling in their favour. The courts are not independent anymore. The Constitution is being broken over and over and over again. People have been marching and protesting for years now but to no avail. 

The national television, TVP, is practically owned by the ruling party. The propaganda, fake news, hatred on the opposition and minorities is getting stronger each day. What you need to know is that this is literally the first channel on every TV set in the country. No matter where you live, no matter if you have cable or satellite, you turn on TV and TVP is what you get. Their reach is so much higher than other TV stations from the big four (TVP1&TVP2, TVN, Polsat). Poland has fallen to 62nd out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index compiled annually by Reporters Without Borders. Before PiS took over in 2015 we were 18th. For du*a's presidential campaign now they gave TVP 2 billion PLN in order to strengthen the propaganda. There was a project to give those money to hospital oncology wards but PiS said no. TVP has only been showing him during the campaign. The other candidates have either been showed in a bad light or haven't been showed at all. Voters for whom TVP is the only source of information haven't seen other candidates nor their campaigns.

During the second round of the campaign, when another tv station, TVN, with two major Polish online media, Onet and WP, invited him and his opponent, Rafał Trzaskowski, for a debate. Du*a declined because he said he won't participate in a debate which isn't available for everyone and he asked them to reach an agreement with TVP to host the debate together. In the end there were two debates. Du*a on his own in TVP, answering predetermined questions from journalists reporting to his party and people in the studio that were paid to be there. Trzaskowski on his own in TVN and live on his Facebook channel, answering questions from the journalists from 16 independent offline and online media teams.

At the beginning of his and PiS first term of destroying the country, they started their crusade against women, because as we all know middle aged men are the most eligible people to make choices for women and their bodies. Abortion is Poland is (was? honestly who knows now) only allowed in three cases: if the woman's life was in danger, if the prenatal testing indicates severe damage of the fetus, if the pregnancy was the outcome of rape. With their pro life and anti women initiative, PiS was determined to ban abortion completely and punish it by prison. The bill was so flimsy that in some cases even miscarriage could be turned against woman. Even if the baby would've been born sick or severely disabled, even if the pregnancy could be fatal for the mother, even if it was caused by rape. We went on the streets. All dressed in black, with umbrellas in hand. Hundreds of thousands of women and allies marching and protesting together against the government. And they got scared. The bill proposal was dropped but the fight wasn't over and it still isn't. They tried to bring it back now during the pandemic just because they knew we wouldn't go out protesting. But we did, we blocked the streets with our cars.

The day after pill can only be bought on prescription. But if you end up going to the conservative ob/gyn they can invoke conscientious objection to abortion and they won't prescribe it for you. They want to ban sex ed from schools. In their opinion sex ed “demoralizes children and teaches them masturbation.” They want young people to be uneducated and have sex and get pregnant and give birth. They want to make kids have kids just so they would depend on the government and social wage programme 500+ which gives 500PLN (approximately 125€) each month to families with 2 or more children for each of their children. Right now you can be a woman raising your three or four kids and you will get the equivalent of minimum wage just for that. This program made people vote for them in 2015. First Du*a used it in his presidential campaign, then PiS was blackmailing the voters saying the program will only happen if both president and the government will be on board aka they have to get in so Du*a will sign the bill and people will get the money. People still believe only they can ensure the stability of the program even though almost all the other candidates said it will not go away.

In the last couple of weeks of presidential campaign, it became more clear than ever how Du*a is planning to win the elections - by trying to reach to the mindsets of elderly and conservative voters by attacking the LGBT community. He called us “ideological hurricane”. He said we are worse than communists. His party members have been saying we're not humans. He was saying over and over again how he doesn't care what people do in bed as long as they're not obnoxious on street and in real life about it. How sexuality is a private thing and we shouldn't be proud of it. How there's no place in Poland for “LGBT propaganda that wants to demoralize our children”. How there's no space here for unions for same-sex couples, not even mentioning marriage or adoption. How he'll do everything in his power to protect the “traditional Polish values and family model” (whatever that means). The most conservative parts of the eastern Poland has claimed their towns and villages as “anti-LGBT zone”. It's been going on since last year. After Dua's words now the hate crime is stronger than it ever was. When LGBT activists asked him to apologize for his spiteful words, showed him proofs that suicide rate among LGBT teenagers is higher than it was since his party is ruling, showed him the photographs and shared the stories of the people we lost because of the bashing they encourage and support, he said he won't apologize because he stands by his words and there's a freedom of speech in the country. Not for everyone I guess.

The journalists have been interviewing many people in different parts of Poland after it. What stuck with me were the words of some old man from the countryside who has said that “LGBT should be exterminated in Majdanek”. It's one of the places where the death camp was during World War 2. I don't think I have to tell anyone what words like this mean, how much they hurt, and how much worse it is when they’re said in the country that’s lost so so many lives during WW2. In a country that fought so hard for so many years to reclaim its freedom from the nazis and then from the soviets. In the meantime of this bashing, Du*a has pardoned a pedophile so he could return to his family (and the victim he abused). So that would be it for protecting family values.

The exit polls results yesterday were so close that they gave us so much hope that we would wake up in a new reality today but the hope died quickly. Now we're stuck again with a man who said in the middle of the global pandemic that he's anti-vaccination and he doesn't think vaccine for covid-19 should be obligatory. With a man who thinks climate change and global warming isn't real. With a man whose actions are constantly destabilitizing economy because he only acts like there is today and doesn’t look forward in the future and doesn’t know the way he and his party ruin the country will have terrible consequences in a few years. With a man who is homophobic, racist, misogynistic, xenophobic, and many, many, many other things. With a man who is a "president” of Polish people but only if you're a straight catholic man voting for his party.

Now our fear is that with him being “elected” as the “president” again, his party will try to meddle with the Constitution and try to change it so they could either extend his term for more years or extend the number of terms a president can have. And even if the change can’t happen so easily, what’s sure is that they will try to take away basic human rights from women and LGBT community. They made it perfectly clear in the last five years and during the campaign now.

So if you’re asking yourself now what can you do about it the answer is simple: spread the word. Read about it. Educate yourself. Make a buzz in the social media. We need as much help as we can get. We need foreign media to pick up the topic, we need them to talk about it and to make the noise. We need the foreign governments to know about it. European Union has already declared that if the bashing on LGBT continues, they will take away the development aid from the self-proclaimed “anti-LGBT zones”. Our country has suffered so much and somehow we’re still standing but I don’t know for how much long we will last. So please. Don’t leave us alone.

[suburbanbeatnik]

The short and very miserable life of Napoleon II, aka the Eaglet, aka Franz, Duke of Reichstadt: PART TWO

Although the beatings had ceased, Franz’s life continued in refined isolation until his fifteenth year, when his cousin Franz Karl married the beautiful and charming Sophie of Bavaria.

She was only six years older than he, a fine, pretty girl of sweet features and merry lips, with light chestnut brown hair arranged in great loops on her temples. She had done away with the stiff sumptuousness of her apartment at the Burg, and refurnished it in a more intimate atmosphere. In her salon, with its mahogany furniture covered in yellow velours and minus the usual gilding. Reichstadt would often come and sit beside her, looking through the pictures in her albums while she would paint, or play graceful Italian airs on her piano. And they would talk. She sided with him when things went wrong, pitied him, loved him. She was the only one to whom he could talk to with an open heart. Thanks to Sophie, in those troubled years of adolescence when the child is disappearing and the man is trying to find himself, he had at last found what had been refused him for so long: a friend.  [Aubry pg 140]

Franz was growing into a handsome young man, with his mother’s blue eyes and blond curls, but his father’s striking bone structure and deep-set eyes, and the emotional Bonaparte temperament. Though he was robust and “glowing with health” as a baby, by the time he was an adolescent he became more frail. Doctors said he had a “scrofulous tendency,” which was 19th century medical gobbledygook for some sort of disorder connected with the lymphatic glands. It seems to me that this kid was isolated and beaten for years, and suffered from pretty severe depression— on top of that, he didn’t eat (Aubry records that he had “a poor appetite”). Throw in an inherited tendency from his mother to have lung trouble, I’m not surprised he struggled with illness going forwards.

Apart from Sophie, there was no one to really look out after him. She encouraged him, his interests, his passions, his keen desire to be a soldier, his love for his father and of France, helping undo all the years of Habsburg brainwashing. As the years passed, he even learned how his father’s executors were continually frustrated in trying to pass on the legacy his father had tried to leave to him. “They had been kept away, or driven away: or else the relics they had brought had been politely taken from them and stuffed away into strongboxes, thus cheating the son of the only material inheritance his father had left him. Who had so ordained? Metternich, none other!” [Aubry pg 154]

Metternich, the true ruler of this not-so-holy and not-so-Roman empire, was the one man who had schemed and plotted to keep Franz so isolated and alone. Metternich, and this is no exaggeration, hated every atom of Franz since he was a baby, and he never let Franz forget it. Franz was under police surveillance at all times: the Chancellor had the Corsican’s son in his grasp, and would not lose him. He wouldn’t even allow the young man contact with his own grandmother, Letizia, Madame Mère, now eighty years old and blind from cataracts. He wouldn’t even allow a single letter— a single sentence.

That statesman, who had a government for a soul, had made Austria a prison for him instead of the home it should have been! Metternich had been his father’s enemy; he was his enemy too, and always had been! The young man felt the hostility underneath the Chancellor’s icy courtesy, and he hated him. Altogether without basis in fact are those accounts of numerous conversations between Metternich and the Duke of Reichstadt during this period. Prokesch maintains that the Minister talked to the Prince just five times in seventeen years. Far from seeking to influence the Duke of Reichstadt during this period, Metternich avoided all contact with him. He hated him as he hated his father. The likeness to the Corsican which he found again in the young man’s features offended him like an insult. He could not bear the sight of that forehead, the sound of that voice. At a Court reception on the evening of the Duke’s eighteenth birthday, the Chancellor paid the obligatory compliments and turned away hastily. Those who spoke to him immediately afterwards found him more distant than usual. As soon as he could do so without attracting attention, he left the palace. [Aubry pg 162]

After years of being force-fed Austrian propaganda, Franz had started reading as much as he could about the greatness of Napoleon— obsessively reading Las Cases’ Memorial of St Helena, which he found on one of the top shelves of the library. Imagine his feelings when he read his father’s will for the first time, discovering what affects and relics were left to him, but which he would never see, thanks to Metternich’s machinations (and Louise’s clumsy attempts to lay claim to Napoleon’s inheritance, which had sabotaged the work of the executors in the first place, did not cease until 1837). Franz, fascinated with his father’s campaigns and personal history, threw himself into his studies. Through books, he vicariously experienced Lodi, Arcole, Marengo, the Pyramids, Jena, Austerlitz… He became drunk with the glory of the past. A spell had been cast, and Franz became determined to make his father proud of him. When one of his tutors began to lecture him on his father’s shortcomings, Franz replied impatiently:

“The actions of great men are not to be weighed with ordinary scales.” [Aubry pg 156]

Franz was slowly shedding the relationships of his childhood. When, upon Neipperg’s death in 1829, he had discovered his mother had contracted a morganatic marriage with the one-eyed Neipperg, he “felt deeply insulted and humiliated.” He was enraged enough to discover just that: of course, keep in mind he had no idea that she was sleeping with Neipperg and had given Franz two illegitimate half-siblings while his father was living with the rats on St. Helena. I doubt he would have ever talked to her again if that was the case. Even without knowing that, he withdrew, “his letters were less affectionate and he mentioned her name more rarely. She had been expected at Schoenbrunn for the summer. Her son learned with relief that she preferred to take a cure in Switzerland.” [Aubry pg 160]

Of course, Louise kept doing her thing, weeping for Neipperg over “gay dinner tables and at the opera,” being annoyed whenever the name of Napoleon reached her ears, and then finding “a substitute for the one-eyed general in the person of the Count de Bombelles, at first Grand Master of her Household, then her lover, and then finally her third husband.” [Aubry pg 161]

Meanwhile, for years Franz had struggled with depression. The July Revolution had happened, with the kind and comfortable Louis-Philippe installed on the throne, and even though the King of Rome was still a popular figure in France, with perhaps a chance to ascend the throne, Franz was still, for all intents and purposes, a prisoner. And the older he got, the more obvious this became. Suggestions to become a monarch in Poland or Greece were pushed asides by Metternich. Attempts by his uncles Lucien and Joseph to discuss Franz’s future with Metternich were completely blocked. All he wanted to do was to start his military career, and make himself useful, but he couldn’t even join his regiment, or even visit his mother in Italy. His health was floated as the reason why he should stay inactive, but Franz doubted this was the only reason. Bouts of rage alternated with deep sloughs of “sadness and tedium,” and he could barely summon the interest to hold a conversation. Not surprisingly, his mother lacked sympathy. In 1830, when Louise was summering in Baden, taking the waters, she “rebuked him for his apathy. She could not understand why her son could be ‘so little like other young people.’” [Aubry pg 181]

It grew worse a year later. Italy was on fire with the revolutionary activities of the Carbonari, and Louise had fled Parma in fear of her life. Franz pleaded with his grandfather to let him go rescue her, but Metternich intervened. Let the son of Napoleon, the King of Rome, go to Italy, where his father won his own fame? Of course not! Emperor Francis gave into Metternich, and poor Franz was left feeling torn between misery, fury and desperation. Even Prokesch, his best friend apart from Sophie—a major in the Viennese army, a loyal soldier, scholar and diplomat who had worked for Metternich, but had defied him on a few occasions-- couldn’t calm him.  

His despair was palpable. He knew he would spend his entire life bound and trapped, with Metternich as his jailer.

The young man had sealed himself up in a silence that was almost complete, venting his feelings at the most in talks with Sophie and Prokesch, during which he expressed many severe judgments on members of the Imperial family. He loved Sophie and he had an affection for his grandfather, but he did not like the Empress, fond as she was of him. He thought the Archduke Ferdinand, heir-apparent and King of Hungary, was a ninny. [Editor’s note: Ferdinand was actually a brain-damaged hydrocephalic epileptic who couldn’t even consummate his own marriage with his wife Maria Anna, married in 1835.] He hated the Archduke Franz Karl, Sophie’s husband, calling him deceitful, mean and vulgar. Table conversations at the Hofburg were stupid, the Court life was cheap and in bad taste. Comparing himself with those pious, submissive and conceited Archudukes and those ugly, insipid Archduchesses, he felt himself of a superior race. He even said one day— and Prokesch recorded the words in his secret notes:

“If Josephine had been my mother, my father would not have gone to St. Helena, and I would not be languishing in Vienna. My mother certainly has a kind heart, but no backbone! She was not the wife my father deserved!”

And he added, burying his face in Prokesch’s hands:

“You do not respect her, do you?”

And Prokesch replied:

“She was what she could be. The woman your father deserved for a wife did not exist. But he chose her, and she is your mother…”

Reichstadt was now weeping, and a long silence followed. [Aubry pg 207]

And that was when he seriously began to think about escaping.

While the two began to consider exactly what they could do, Franz decided that he had had quite enough of the chaperonage of Count Dietrichstein, his head tutor. This was the man who whipped him when he was five, who thrashed him when he was ten, who drilled him for countless hours on his German and his Italian translations and all the minutiae of court etiquette. He claimed to be utterly devoted to the young prince. Maybe he was, in his own weird way. But Franz was spreading his wings (or at least attempting to��� even when he was 20, his imperial grandpa was still prone to treating him like a child, forcing him to dine with him in austerity if his own personal dinner parties became, in Francis’s opinion, too extravagant). In addition to the sensible and devoted Prokesch, Franz had befriended a few other young men, rakes and dandies all, like Neipperg’s eldest son and the young Esterhazy. Franz was gorgeous, brooding, romantic, and with perfect manners, and the women were obsessed with him (a Polish nun who had never met him but only saw him from a distance once swore undying love, even writing letters to this effect).

There was one woman that Franz danced with at a masquerade ball, a certain Naudine Karolyi, black-haired, handsome and bold, and not only did they manage to dodge Metternich’s spies, but they exchanged a lot of letters. This was 1831, and he was 20. But Dietrichstein soon found out about the correspondence.

At any rate, he strode into the Duke’s room, began rummaging through his desk, and finding a drawer locked, commanded him to open it. Reichstadt did not dare refuse— he obeyed, and his governor saw before him a pile of letters from Esterhazy. He opened a few, ran through them, and turned around livid with anger:

“What?” he cried. “You have a love affair?”

“Yes,” replied the prince coolly. “You can see with whom.”

“Do you write to her directly?”

“No, sir.”

“Then through an intermediary? Someone I know?”

He was besides himself with rage and almost shouting. Other persons had just entered the room and stood looking on in surprise at the strange scene. Reichstadt begged the Count to calm himself.

“Come downstairs with me,” he whispered. “You shall have all the letters afterwards, I promise you.”

The Count mastered his anger and went down with him to the Emperor. On the return, the Duke scrupulously handed him the entire correspondence, and it was forthwith consigned to the flames. [Aubry, pg 212]

But this didn’t stop Dietrichstein from trying to intercept Franz’s personal letters. At one point he saw that Esterhazy called him “the old woman,” and Dietrichstein was “extremely hurt.” He tried everything he could to break up the friendship from that day on, but didn’t succeed, as Franz could be extremely stubborn and loyal to a fault.

The affair with Naudine didn’t go anywhere, but there were others— there was even a reputed bastard daughter who later called herself the Comtesse de la Pommiere— but no matter what happened, his heart belonged to Sophie.

* * *

I’m cutting this off here, because LONG POST IS LONG, but more angst and drama will be coming with the next post!

Part One

Part Two

Part Three