#but would it have come across as more ‘this is a person doing a revolutionary act of patience love and kindness”’

[roobylavender]

you know what would automatically change my hatred to love for sasusaku? If their genders were reversed. Majority of the reason why I hate sasuke and sakura relationship is because the type of environment and the culture I grew up in where it's been fed to women since basically birth to always be faithful to her man no matter how terrible he treats her, even after marriage. The pharse, "Just be patient and he will change", infuriates me to another level. Seeing sakura chasing after sasuke throughout the series after numerous rejections and an attempted MURDER on her by him made me roll my eyes so hard like girl just move the fuck on omfg. And even after their "marriage" sasuke's treatment towards her doesn't get better lmao, leaving her alone with a whole ass child to take care by herself?? BYE sakura's patience for him is outmatch cus I would've divorced his ass for that. Though, the more I mature, little by little I begin to understand the complexity of their relationship after putting my gender issues aside for a second and look deep into them. And especially now, after reading your perspective on their whole relationship, it really did made half of my hatred go away and understand the relationship wholeheartedly. Like yeah, I absolutely love the trope of one person saying they don't deserve the other person's love but the other person keep loving them anyway, that stuff makes me giggle and swing my legs in the air and shit. It's just that the only way this trope would work for me if the person loving them has enough self-respect for themselves AND if it's a girl in the former & the guy in the latter. And honestly, I found naruto being borderline obsessed with sasuke annoying too but the reason why I can digest it more well is because naruto can go head to head with sasuke without backing down. Like, I wanted to see at least ONCE sakura having a heated argument with sasuke, or punch him in the face in the series. I feel like sasuke deserves a punch from her at the very least 🤷🏽‍♀️

Sigh, I really did wanna love their relationship and their journey to love (that scene of him catching her when she was about to fall and then having that iconic eye contact had me feeling butterflies ngl) since it has all the tropes I love but the execution is just so...

i mean if it helps any i absolutely hate post-canon and that's where my primary divide with most sasusaku fans lies 😭 i'm not sure if you read the blue-plums post i reblogged but it's a good dissection of why exactly it fails as a conclusion to both their individual arcs and their relationship arc generally. the post-canon we see is a direct answer to what sasuke's and sakura's dreams are at the start of the series, but the problem with this is that sasuke and sakura are nowhere near being the same people at the end of the series as they were at the start. generally, i don't think post-canon really takes the individual arc of any character into much account. its primary goal is maintaining the status quo with a slight veneer of friendship power draped over it for aesthetics. but nothing at the root is changed despite every traumatic development the characters were relentlessly subjected to. resultantly, you're left with a portrayal of sasuke as a neglectful father who glorifies the lone-wolf hero trope, which goes against everything he could possibly have learned from itachi; and you're left with a portrayal of sakura as someone content to keep house despite the bulk of her character arc being grounded in her ability and desire to take initiative not only at home, but abroad. it's not true to who either of them is by that point and, even more than that, it's a disservice to everything they've put themselves through for the sake of the love they were vying for. so while i love sasusaku as it progresses up through 699, i tend to wholeheartedly ignore whatever comes after and relegate that instead to either my own imagination or blue-plums's in her fics

what i will say about the naruto and sakura distinction is that a lot of people are more comfortable with how sasuke reacts to naruto bc they believe what naruto is doing is right. it's kind of like: if the only thing sasuke will realistically respond to is violence then obv naruto can resort to that violence without dwelling on it too much. but if you think about violence in the context of sasuke's entire life, it's not actually helpful at all beyond its ability to physically bring him to a grinding halt. even when naruto finally breaks through to sasuke, it's not the violence that makes things click for him. it's the words he says after, and it's the words he's always said before that that have stayed in sasuke's mind. violence, in contrast, is a poisonous thing for sasuke bc it's the only thing that has defined the parameters of his entire life. it robbed him of every person he cared about prior to his meeting team seven, and inevitably it intimidated him into seeking out more violence once he realized that he was incapable of saving the new people he'd come to care about as well. everything, at the root, was driven by sasuke's traumatically-exacerbated response to love and loss. the idea of losing naruto and sakura to the hands of anyone else was unbearable. so he decided that he'd rather have killed them himself. it was absolutely irrational. but a twelve year old child put through that kind of successive, relentless trauma was never going to think rationally, and certainly not after being exploited by people like orochimaru and obito (and to an extent itachi) in turn

all of this to say: there is of course a gendered aspect to the fact that sakura's response to sasuke is markedly not violence. but i also think people sort of refuse to dissect her response any further and esp in context of the narrative itself. despite being the hallmark of rationality within the team and perhaps even the series, sakura was inevitably always driven by the value she placed on humanity. it would've been so easy and rational and "right" to kill sasuke bc he was an insurgent, a terrorist, a danger to public safety, etc. but sakura knew it was more complicated than that. even without knowing about the intricacies of the uchiha massacre she'd been a witness to his suffering and struggle and helplessness. she was as much unable to kill him bc of her love for him as she was unable to kill him bc she knew it wouldn't be right. bc really, what would it solve. sasuke being written off or dying would accomplish nothing bc he would become one more person in the long line of victims to nationalism and the military-industrial complex. while naruto's desire to retrieve sasuke was driven by his love for him it was also driven by the fact that he was stubborn and relentless and refused to give up on people. if you won't believe in yourself i'll beat the belief into you. it's a very shounen-esque trait. in contrast, sakura's desire to retrieve sakura, while also driven by her love for him, was significantly driven by her ability to see that sasuke needed help. in fact, that's all she ever wanted him to get: help. and it would be one thing for this to be an isolated desire but when you read it in context of her own goals as a medic and a mental health professional, her unwavering belief in sasuke is a lot more striking. she was the only person in the entire narrative who never resorted to violence as a solution to sasuke's problems. and she was angry, to be sure. much as she loves him the struggle to bring him back and convince him that he was worthy of love and healing left her emotionally exhausted. but they're also children at the end of the day. she could've been angry at him, or naruto could've been angry him, and in the end none of it would've mattered in the face of knowing they'd finally gotten through to him. he had a smile on his face, he didn't have an arm anymore, and for the first time in his life he met a loss with utter peace and content. it was a thing of miracles after six years of relentless grief and sorrow, and nothing else could've been on their mind.

at the end of the day, team seven's love for sasuke isn't rational. the farthest thing from it, really. but that's what makes it so radical in context. if love in naruto was only ever meant to be rational then hardly anyone would survive. love was always written as an act of defiance and for however subtle the depiction sakura exemplified it

[booksandwillowtrees]

Everyday I consider how EEAAO was supposed to have Evelyn and Waymond as opposite genders.

[zoros-fourth-sword]

SABO x FEM READER

Request Post:

@kyokikia -hii can i request sabo × fem!afab! bratty reader, and brat taming smut? i wanna be completely dominated by this man.

{MDNI 18+ only}

This oneshot is a 18+ only so read at your own risk

This oneshot contains the following: fingering, brat taming, rough sex, choking, praise kink, and more

ENEMIES TO LOVERS

BEWARE MY WRITING SUCKS

“Your mission is to seek out the revolutionary army’s chief of staff Sabo aka the flame emperor,” Admiral Akainu said from his desk in front of me

“But sir how many times am I going to have to tell you no matter how hard I try the little shit always manages to escape” I complain to my Captain slouching back into my chair not really wanna dealing with the flame emperor of all people

“I don’t wanna hear any complaints Miss Y/N it’s your job you're a marine so you will obey my orders” Admiral Akainu snaps towards me not really wanting to deal with my tantrum at the moment

“Yea yea whatever old man” I huff out while rolling my eyes

“Good now the last I heard he was spotted near *island name* your job is to bring him back dead or alive a monster like him needs to be sent to prison” Akainu growled out squeezing the sides of his desk nearly breaking the thing due to his strength

“Yes I know the routine Admiral” I huff out before lifting myself from the chair I was sitting in

“Don’t get pissed off at me if my mission doesn’t succeed again” I say as I begin making my way out of his office

“Just get the job done Y/N,” Akainu said as I shut the door before he could finish the rest of his complaining

This tends to happen almost every fucking month I’m sent an order to go hunt down the infamous Flame Emperor and let me tell you it’s literally the hardest thing I have ever had to do the little blonde fucker always seemed to escape my grasp and sometimes I would be so close but the little bastard loved to toy with me he would purposely let me capture him and then fucking laugh in my face and make his leave he loved to see my confidence go down the drain once I realized it was just another one of his stupid games and he would always say the same words before he left

“Sorry pretty maybe next time”

Yea right, he knows damn well I don’t have a fucking chance but does that mean I’m going to give uh no of course not, and besides hunting him down makes my job less boring.

I’m currently hiding on the island that Akainu told me that Sabo would be on I’m patiently waiting for him to make a big commotion like he always does somehow almost burning down each damn island we come across with his devil fruit powers

“Miss Y/N are you there” I hear from inside my pocket letting me know someone was trying to contact me from my mini Transponder snail

“Yeah I’m here,” I say pulling the little creature out of my marine coat

“Admiral Aka-“Before the soldier could finish his sentence a big boom came from the left side of the island letting me know that Sabo was for sure here

“Sorry got no time he’s here” I quickly say putting the snail back into my pocket before dashing off in the direction of the explosion

As I began nearing the sight there was fire everywhere literally everywhere why the fuck does the little shit has to be so destructive

Just as I was about to speed up my pace a person jumped in front of me causing me to stop in my place

“Well well well it’s Miss Pretty Marine again” The man chucked out his arms crossed over his chest with one hand holding his signature pipe

“Yea yea it’s not like I wanna be here” I growl out rolling my eyes in annoyance really not liking the way he’s teasing me

“Awe come on Y/N don’t be like that I know you missed me” Sabo laughed as he began slowly walking towards me

“Yea you wish” I snap back crossing my arms over my chest causing my shirt to tighten around my breast

“Mhm” Sabo hummed out stopping right In front of me and scanning his eyes over my body

“You know you're quite the rude woman,” Sabo said as he began walking circles around me causing me to want to punch him in his stupid face

“Okay and you expect me to be nice to you when you’re the fucking bad guy you dipshit” I snap at him my eyes following his every move

“Miss Y/N you got quite the dirty mouth it’s not very lady like” Sabo chucked out stopping in front of me again

“Why yo-“Before I could finish my sentence the fucker cut me off

“Catch me if you can Pretty” Sabo quickly said before making a dash for it leaving me in my spot in utter shock

Maybe I won’t bring this fucker in alive after all

I quickly dash my way in the direction of sabo trying to catch up with the annoying blonde

“GET BACK HERE SABO” I yell towards the man once I saw his body come into view ahead of me

“HAH YOU WISH PRETTY” Sabo yelled back slightly laughing at my persistence

Just as I was about to catch up to him the fucker decided to jump inside the nearest building causing me to nearly trip over my own feet

That little shit I swear I’m going to kill him

I quickly dash inside the abandoned building through the window causing the glass to shatter all over the wooden floors

“Well you sure do know how to make an entrance” Sabo chucked from his spot he was currently sitting in one of the chairs that were in the home with us with one leg in his lap and his arms crossed over his chest

“Oh shut up and fight me already” I growl becoming impatient with the blonde as I got into my fighting stance

“As you wish pretty” Sabo chucked getting up out of his seat and placing his pipe aside along with his hat leaving his blonde hair a mess

“I’m not holding back princess,” Sabo said as he began getting into his fighting stance in front of me

“Nether am I” I snap back giving him the biggest glare I could muster on my face

“Very well then,” Sabo said flinging his right hand toward my face causing me to block his punch with my arm

“Well I see your Reflexes got better” Sabo chucked out trying to land another punch my way causing me to dodge it

“Well I had to get stronger to catch your annoying ass” I growl out swinging my leg up towards his face trying to land a kick but before I could he grabbed my ankle keeping my leg in the air

“I’m sorry to burst your bubble princess but you have no chance,” Sabo said as he kicked my other leg out from under me causing me to land on my back with a loud thud

“Keep telling yourself that blondie” I growl out quickly raising myself up off the floor trying to land another punch on Sabo

“I gladly will princess” Sabo chucked out grabbing my wrist and turning me around to put me in a headlock causing my back to be pressed against his chest

“You know Miss Y/N I can’t help but tell your hair’s gotten longer” Sabo whispered in my ear causing chills to run down my spine

“Are you that obsessed with me that you pay attention to my hair growth” I snap back landing a hard hit against Sabo's stomach with my elbow causing him to let me go from the headlock

“What can I say Princess we see each other almost every month” Sabo chucked out as his eyes scanned my body

“Ha I bet you look forward to every month” I chuckle out trying to land a kick against his ribs

“What can I say you make my job less boring,” Sabo said as he grabbed my leg pushing me to the floor so that he was above me trapping my arms above my head with his hands

“I can say the same thing about you” I huff out breathing hard from our fight my chest slightly rising up and down causing my breast to rub against Sabo's chest

“You know Miss Y/N I’ve taken quite the liking towards you” Sabo whispered out his face inches from mine his breath lightly fanning my face

“Is that so” I breathe out looking at every inch of the man’s face that was above me causing him to do the same

“Fuck it” Sabo growled out

“Wha-“Before I could ask what he meant by that Sabo's lips were on mine in an instant I quickly jerked away in surprise slightly angry with the man

“What the fuck” I growl out looking at Sabo to see pure lust fogging his eyes

We didn’t say anything at all we just stared at each other in utter shock my brain literally couldn’t grasp what was going on

Before anyone could say another word Sabo's lips were back on mine I quickly accepted it letting our lips move in sync at an aggressive pace letting the man above me take the lead he quickly let go of my wrists letting me wrap my arms around his neck pushing him closer to me

“Fuck princess” Sabo growled out taking my bottom lip between his teeth causing me to let out a whine

“You’re fucking delicious” Sabo hummed out placing one of his gloved hands behind my neck to slightly lift my head to kiss me at a better angle

Before I could tell him to shut up and kiss me his lips were back on mine the kiss being more aggressive than before as his tongue entered my mouth he decided to open my legs with one of his knees placing himself between my legs his hard-on slightly rubbing against my clothed core causing me to let out a moan from the contact

“You’ve been quiet the brat Miss Y/N I think it’s about time I teach you a lesson,” Sabo said as he pulled away to breathe slightly grinding his hips against mine sending electric shock up my body

“Fuck” I gasped out slamming my eyes shut due to the pleasure

“Mhm don’t you agree” Sabo chucked out as he began trailing his free hand up my hip and towards my neck wrapping his long fingers around it slightly adding pressure causing my brain to feel like mush

I couldn’t even form a sentence let alone focus so I just simply nodded my head yes letting out a whine agreeing with Sabo's statement

“Well pretty look at you being a good obedient girl” Sabo chucked out pulling his hand out from behind my head so he could rub his gloved thumb over my bottom lip while his other hand was still wrapped around my throat

“What should I do with you” Sabo said as he scanned my body with his eyes feeling up his plate

“Why don’t you be a good girl and listen to everything I say yea,” Sabo said slightly grazing my cheek with the same thumb that was just on my lips

What the fuck am I doing I could lose my job over this but I just can’t seem to stop myself all this built-up tension that me Sabo have had over the last few years is flowing over and there’s nothing I can do to stop it

I simply just nod my head yes not wanting to give him the satisfaction of saying yes

“Come on princess I wanna hear that pretty mouth say it” Sabo chucked out tightening his grip on my throat

Why you little shit your lucky I don’t hate you right now

“Yes” I squeak out turning my head to the side embarrassed with myself

“Oh come on baby no need to be embarrassed” Sabo chucked out quickly standing up before leaning a hand down for me to grab so he could help me up off the floor

“Now Miss Y/N I want you to strip for me,” Sabo said taking a seat in the chair as he began taking his gloves off with his teeth

“But”

“No buts princess,” Sabo said patiently waiting for me to take my clothes off

“Whatever” I mumbled out slowly starting to unbutton my marine coat

“Good girl” Sabo said as he threw his gloves on the floor before placing his elbows on his knees while resting his chin in the palm of his hands getting ready to enjoy the show

I take my coat off throwing it on the floor before moving on to my shirt lifting it up over my head and taking it off leaving me in my bra

“Shit baby you really are pretty” Sabo groaned out leaning back in his chair to adjust his position trying to loosen the tight grip around his cock from his pants

That sentence alone caused my heart to burst out of my chest deciding to ignore the feeling I quickly unbuttoned my jeans before slowly pulling them down my hips to make the situation slightly harder for Sabo

“Fuck baby” Sabo growled leaning his head back as he began rubbing his hard-on through his pants

“Come here,” Sabo said as he patted his knee signaling me to come sit on his lap

I quickly obeyed his order slowly making my way toward him so that I was standing in front of him

“Don’t be shy baby sit down” Sabo chucked out grabbing my hips while slightly spreading my legs so I could position myself on his lap my legs on either side of the chair

“What should I do first,” Sabo said as he began running his hands up my hips and to my breast slightly giving them a squeeze causing me to lean my head back letting out a small whimper

“You like that huh” Sabo chucked out trailing his hands back down my body and behind my back placing them on my ass and giving both cheeks a good squeeze

“I bet you’re fucking drenched princess” Sabo mumbled as he began pampering kisses along my collarbone and neck causing me to shut my eyes and let a whine

“You sound as pretty as you look” Sabo mumbled as he began trailing one of his hands back around my stomach and down toward my core

“Are you okay with me doing this?” Sabo asked looking up at me to make sure I was okay

“Mhm” I hummed out drunk off his touch

“Okay then” Sabo chucked out finally placing his fingers where I needed him the most

“Shit pretty your drenched” Sabo growled out as he began rubbing circles around my clothed clit feeling how damp my underwear is I quickly grab a fist full of his shirt burying my face in his chest letting out whimpers and moans from the pleasure

“Fuck baby I can’t get over you how come we didn’t do this sooner” Sabo growled as he moved my underwear to the side slightly running his fingers through my folds causing me to jerk forward from the contact of his rough hands against my pussy lips

“Fuck Sabo please I need more” I sob into his chest not being able to handle the throbbing inside my pussy

“I don’t know baby do you think brats deserve rewards” Sabo mumbled out knowing damn what he was doing

“Yes please I’ll be a good girl I promise” I pant out against his chest getting slightly lightheaded from the lust fogging my brain

“Since you asked so nicely princess I’ll do you this favor just this once,” Sabo said as he entered one of his fingers into my core causing me to arch my back against him his hard cock slightly rubbing against my ass

“Fuck Y/N I can’t wait to feel you wrapped around my cock” Sabo moaned out slightly picking up his pace with his fingers causing us to hear my juices squash around his fingers

“Fuck Sabo you feel so good” I moan out slightly seeing the stars due to the overwhelming pleasure

“Fuck Y/N I can’t wait any longer” Sabo said as he quickly lifted us up from to the chair to head over to the bed that was in the middle of the room

Sabo gently placed me on the bed causing my hair to sprawl out onto the blankets with my legs slightly parted giving Sabo the perfect view of my clothed core

“Fuck Y/N you’re absolutely beautiful,” Sabo said as he began removing his clothes so I wasn’t the only one bare

Sabo soon made his way back above me sweat slightly layering his skin causing him to glow from the sunlight shining through the windows

“I wanna make you mine Y/N I wanna be the only one to make you feel this way,” Sabo said as he began slowly pulling my underwear down my legs causing me to lose the air that was in my lungs

“Fuck Sabo I have always wanted you to make me yours why do you think I keep coming back” I whimper out looking Sabo in the eyes

“Why do you think I keep running away princess I don’t want you to catch me for a reason,” Sabo said slamming his lips to mine as his hand found its way back to my core

“Fuck Sabo please fuck me already” I sob out slightly pulling away from the kiss

“Your wish is my command” Sabo growled out before literally ripping my bra in half causing my breast to bounce free giving him the perfect view of my hardened nipples

“Are you ready baby” Sabo mumbled as he began lining the head of his cock against my opening

“Please sabo” I whimper out wrapping both my arms and legs around him trying to push him as close as possible

Before anyone could say another word Sabo gracefully slid his cock inside me causing us to let out a moan at the same time from the contact of the base of his cock against my mushy walls

“Shit Y/N your so tight and warm” Sabo groaned out as he began slowly thrusting in and out of me causing my body to slightly shake from the pleasure

“Fuck Sabo oh my gosh” I choke out placing my face in the croak of his neck

“I know baby I know” Sabo growled out as he began picking up his pace causing our skin to slap against each other feeling the small house with our lewd noises

“Your the prettiest thing I have laid my eyes on” Sabo moaned out leaning away from my neck so he could look at my fucked out face

“Your mine Y/N you understand that means no more being a fucking brat” Sabo growled out wrapping his fingers around my throat once again

“Yes yes I understand” I choke out as tears begin to fill my eyes due to Sabo's aggressive thrust

“Fuck Y/N your such a good girl when your obedient” Sabo chucked out as he began aiming his hips upwards to hit that one spot causing me to yelp out while rolling my eyes in the back of my head

“Your face is so pretty when you’re full of my cock” Sabo said as he released my throat to push my hair out of my face so he could see me better

“Fuck Sabo I’m close” I moan out as began to feel the burning sensation I have been yearning for in my lower stomach

“Fuck baby me too” Sabo growled as he began to speed up his pace to reach his release faster causing my body to jerk forward with every thrust

“Fuck Sabo I’m going to cum” I moan out once I felt my legs shake and the burning in my lower stomach becoming more intense

“Do it pretty girl cum all over your cock” Sabo growled before slamming his lips against mine

Once that sentence left his mouth the band in my stomach popped causing me to cum all over Sabo’s cock

“Fuck baby that was sexy just hold out a little longer I’m close” Sabo whined out speeding up his pace desperately wanting to reach his release

“Fuck baby I’m going to cum” Sabo said as he gripped the blankets beside my head before releasing deep inside me

“Fuck baby your mine forever mine” Sabo groaned out as he looked down at my face me seeing nothing but care and love fogging his eyes

This is the longest oneshot I have ever written so I hope you liked it 🙏😖

[dresshistorynerd]

https://www.tumblr.com/thebaconsandwichofregret/189924928150/comepraisetheinfanta-thebaconsandwichofregret

whenever i see people rbing the op without the additions i die a little inside so i thought you should have a go at debunking it 🫠

So these are the tweets from the post. I had blissfully not come across it before. This is one of the weirdest takes I have ever seen. It's amazing to see these fashion history takes that are so boldly and confidently wrong and inaccurate.

It's honestly hilariously ignorant to think that a massive cultural and societal shift that took couple of centuries, was all because one guy. It's so reductive and even goes to the great man territory to pick one person to blame for something like this that really had much more broad and complex reasons than "a guy did it". It's stressed in this tread that Beau Brummell was not noble or a gentile and "just some guy", so how would he singlehandedly change the fashions and concept of masculinity of the whole western world? He was a London socialite, it's not like most of his contemporaries in continential Europe knew about him. Like maybe the French, but does anyone really believe people in Eastern-Europe or Nordic countries or in the Mediterranean knew about? Not to mention places like US. Yet everyone dressed like that in his lifetime, so how could his influence reach so far so quickly? Not even kings and queens could so directly and massively shift the fashions. So in the face of it the whole claim is ridiculous, but it's also full of inaccuracies.

The shift from Rococo fashion to regency fashion was extremely stark and quick in both men and women's fashion, but it happened during 1780s and 1790s, before Beau Brummell became a well known figure in the London society (he was born in 1778 and became well-known in the society after his military career, during which he befriended the Prince of Wales, around the end of 1790s). Here's first an example from 1780s and then from 1793-94 and 1797.

The one from 1780s still has some rococo elements like the wig, but it's already much more toned down and the coat is already turning from frock coat to a tail coat. It's an example of the more casual men's countryside dress from the period. The court dress was still quite elaborate, though also toned down from the 1770s. But there's a big shift when it comes to the examples from 1790s. They are unmistakably Regency fashion. All of these example are French too. I'm sure these people had no idea and gained no influence from an unknown middle class English officer. So what did actually happen? Well, I'm pretty sure the French Revolution in 1789 had a little bigger impact on the European society and fashion than Beau Brummell.

I'm not going to go too deep into this, since I'm working on an in depth post about the masculinity and fashion in the modern era and I go into detail about how the French Revolution had a massive part in shaping them. But the short version is that the French revolutionaries rejected the elaborate fashions of the Rococo French nobility (in both men and women's fashion) as those over the top fashions stood as symbols of the excess wealth of the nobility and the extreme wealth gap between then and the rest of the people. This is also why the high fashion was getting toned down thorough the 1780s before the Revolution. The anger towards the ruling class was mounting at the time and it encouraged the nobility to down down and try to act a little more palatable in their aesthetics to maybe appease the angry people without doing any actual change to address the wealth gap and the centralized power.

The revolutionaries looked for ideal masculinity and femininity elsewhere then. To contrast themselves against the ruling class, they looked to the antiquity and it's simplicity as well as the peasantry and the country gentleman fashion. Romanticism was the driving force behind the artistic expression of the Revolution. It weaved nationalism to the class struggle that was at the core of the revolutionary movement. So the Revolution was not just the working class and peasantry against the ruling class, but the French People against the nobility. This is when physical labour, militarism, dominance and leadership, really became intrinsically attached to masculinity, as the ideal man of the revolutionaries was a working peasant, who with military power took the the power back to the people from the nobility. The democracy would not last long, but it's not a mistake that only men could vote under the new democracy after the Revolution was won. It's also not a mistake that even when the post-Revolution France eventually abolished slavery (but not without some push-back first and a couple of slave revolts to force their hands) they did not give most people of color rights to vote. Since colonialism whiteness had become intrinsic part of masculinity and femininity, which was part of the dehumanization of everyone else, and the new form of masculinity and femininity born out of the Revolution did not contest that. In fact the Enlightenment philosophy that had laid the ground work for the Revolution and the Romantic movement and it's nationalism that were driving force in it, in no way contested colonialism or it's white supremacy. Which is why the power in the new democracy went to the (mostly) white men.

These elements were in the new men's fashion too. Nationalism, the idealization of militarism and antiquity seen as the origins of democracy made it and especially Antique Rome perfect inspiration for the Revolutionary France. The short hairstyle was inspired from the Roman fashion seen in statues. The fashionable tail coat was influenced by military uniforms and the short jackets of the working class. The long trousers also came from working class dress. Here's examples of the revolutionary fashion from first 1792 and then around 1790.

To be very clear, the revolutionaries were not a single entity with single ideology. They were collection of movements, who were united in their shared desire to overthrow the ruling class and establish some sort of democracy. But inside the movement were much more radical movements than what eventually ended in power after the French nobility. Socialists, abolitionists, feminists, slaves and others also fought for the Revolution and there was a lot of internal struggle too. Romantic movement was also very varied and contained extremely nationalistic elements as well as outright socialist elements.

Beyond the direct and stark effect the French Revolution had in especially France, but everywhere in the western world, the 18th century fashion was never as extreme as in France. If you put the most elaborate French court fashions of mid 1700s and Beau Brummell's style next to each other the difference is certainly massive, but fashion for men as well as women was always much more restrained and somber in England. Here's an English example from 1755-65 and for comparison a French example from 1755.

In fact as the tensions were rising in France the upper class begun to adopt the more toned down English styles. After the Revolution the new Republican styles would spread to Britain too. In Britain though Romanticism had a more pronounced effect as it stayed firmly monarchist. Therefore the English fashion was especially influenced by the styles worn by country side gentlemen.

There's another claim in the thread that fully fails to understand the broad implications of fashion and societal gender and how these things change and evolve. It's the claim that Beau Brummell created the modern men's suit and he's the reason the suit has long trousers. We already went through how long trousers got into men's fashion and it was not him. But the writer is not wrong in saying that Beau Brummell's outfit in this picture is a direct ancestor of modern men's suit. It is.

But you know what else is a direct ancestor of men's suit? This.

The modern three piece suit has it roots as far as in late 17th century. Before suit men wore doublets, which style resembled women's fashion much closer than the suits would after it (as seen in these examples from 1630s). However the distinction between men and women's fashion had started to grow much earlier. A big shift that happened during the 16th century was that men stopped wearing skirts. Men and women wore the same garments for centuries before that. The styles and silhouettes for men and women had some differences (the skirts were often shorter for men for example) but they were parallel to each other. I wrote a whole very long post about how skirts stopped being acceptable for men. In it I write about how the shift in men's fashion was part of the large shift from feudalism to colonialism and capitalism, that needed a new hierarchy to justify the new system after the previous divinely justified feudal hierarchy was no longer an option. The new hierarchy was white supremacist patriarchy and therefore needed a clearer distinction between white men and white woman, that would also help distinct white people from the racialised people.

But such fundamental changes in the societal structure and culture are long processes. The process was continuing in the latter half of the 17th century, when Orientalism first became very popular. Orientalism is the dehumanization and fetishization of Asia and North-Africa, and it was born as the European colonial project was properly getting going in Asia. Colonialism in Asia and North-Africa took a little different form. I suspect it was because it was not that long ago, when Europeans had felt inferior to many of the peoples and empires in Asia and North-Africa, which they had always had much closer relationships with than the rest of Africa and certainly the Americas. I think that's why Orientalism is such a mix of coveting Asian and North-African cultures and bodies in a very fetishistic ways, while also demeaning and diminishing them. Nevertheless, Orientalism had a huge impact on European fashion in late 17th century. Both the way men and women's clothing was made after that to this day was strongly impacted by Orientalism. The coat and waistcoat combination was an adaptation of Turkish fashion. The three piece suit became popular in 1670s and fully took over men's fashion in 1680s (an example from 1687). The cravat was also adopted around the same time to men's wear from a light cavalry mercenary army in the Habsburgian Empire known as the Croats or Cravats. They were mainly Croatian, which to Western European was almost "Oriental" due to their proximity to Asia and Turkey in particular, and therefore the popularization of cravats as a fashion item was also influenced by Orientalism.

The Regency three piece suit also has all the same elements as the suit 150 years earlier, the individual pieces had just evolved into different different cuts. The three piece suit in fact still has the same elements to this day, they have just kept evolving.

My point is not to in any way deny Beau Brummell's influence on Regency fashion. He was the most influential fashion icon for men in his era after all. I hope this just made it very clear that these bigger changes are not about individual people but much larger shifts and movements in society and culture. His actual influence was popularizing some of the English countryside styles mentioned before in the fashionable London society, making extremely elaborate cravats into the fashionable items of the day and becoming the image of the English dandy.

The picture of him above shows him the typical English countryside suit with dark blue tail coat, white cravat and light pantaloons with polished hessian boots. He helped to make the outfit and pantaloons in general fashionable. Breeches would stay as the formal leg wear for some a decade still, till young fashionable men would start to use black or gray pantaloons in formal events too. Pantaloons were very fitted, but the trousers, that were fashionably quite narrow at the time, but looser, really came into the casual fashion in 1810s. As seen before their roots come from the working class fashion that was first popularized in the French Revolution, but they had been very informal and while they were still not quite as formal to be able to use in a formal event, they became acceptable in more casual events. Beau Brummell is credited for inventing or at least popularizing pants that have strap to go under the foot in order to keep them straight. Here's first a painting from of a gentleman in a very country style emphasized by the setting. Then a illustration from 1810 of a full formal dress with breeches and a fashion plate from 1817 of day wear with trousers.

The thread also misses what dandy really was. Dandy was the embodiment of the middle class social mobility of the modern era. He was the "self-made man", the fashionable middle class and the new celebrity of a post-feudal era. He dressed in refined fashionable countryside middle class clothing and was celebrated for his style and refinement, not for his birth. Ironically though, there was a distinct reactionary quality to the Regency dandy. After all dandy did not embody social equality, but mobility. He was the ideal man of the capitalist hierarchy. A bit of dilemma for the dandy was that being extremely fashionable was central to the dandy, but after the French revolution being too fashionable and too concerned about looks had been associated with the aristocracy and was now therefore unmanly. Which is why dandy quickly came to be seen as effeminate. There is a lot of satiric cartoons from the time period that make fun of dandies and their preoccupation with fashion and looks. Here's couple from around 1810s.

In conclusion it's pretty ridiculous to say modern men's fashion was all created by one guy. The real reason why men's formal suit (and to be clear more colorful and elaborate styles have come and gone from men's informal fashion during that time) has been what it is for more than hundred years is because much bigger changes, like capitalism, colonialism, Orientalism and white supremacist patriarchy.

[alexa-fika]

Hey there! Could you please make headcanons of the straw hats with a reader who's a marine admiral who is upset at the corruption of his fellow marines, deserts the marine and immediately accept Luffy offer to join his crew"since your not a marine you should join my crew" "ok sure" I imagine Luffy being over the moon and the others freaking out

Please use either male or gender neutral pronouns

Bye Family, Hello Family (Luffy x brother!reader)

A/N: Here we go! Another Defected Marine joins the dark side (the best side). Am I the only one who feels conflicted about Garp? Idk like he seems paternal and caring but at the same time he let his son die? But at the same time it was his job? But at the same time he did die? But at the same time he warned him? But at the same time he is one of the few good marines XD

Dividers by @/Saradika

“Im tired of this Luffy,”

Both Luffy and his brother sat together at the top of a cliff, the Sunny anchored beneath them as Luffy’s crew explored and entertained themselves around the small island they had rendezvous at; Luffy glanced at the Marine next to him. He turns to look a him, his head tilted, confused at his brother’s words

“Grandpa was wrong; this isn't what he made it out to be, Luffy. I hate it; the Marines are a farse filled with corruption.”

Luffy looks away from Reader slightly while listening to his words

“The offer to join me still stands; Monkey D Reader and Monkey D Luffy on the same crew, Shishishi.”

Reader cracks a smile at his brother’s words

“I don’t know Luffy, what about Grandpa? I wanted to make him proud.”

“You would probably make him more proud by actually doing what you want.”

Reader shrugs

“I’m not sure, Luffy; somehow, it feels like im giving up, but I really can’t take how those assholes treat pirates and others who stand against them. They always say how pirates are nothing but scum, thieves, and murderers, but aren’t we marines the same? The only difference is that they do it for this so-called justice. Pirates can have hearts, and they are living beings just like the next person. You and Ace are some of the kindest people out there with just as kind crews; even Sabo and the revolutionaries are incredibly kind, fighting against how inhumane the government is.”

He listened to Reader speak as a smile spread across his face

“So…You’re thinking of taking me up on my offer then?” He asked, raising a brow, waiting for an answer

Reader huffs out a laugh

“Luffy, all you heard from that was ‘im considering your offer’?”

Luffy laughed as well and nodded

“I also heard that you think im pretty amazing, shishishi.”

“That is just not what I said, Luffy!”Reader exclaimed, swinging at his brothers just for the latter to easily avoid the punch directed at him

“Come on, you’ve always wanted to help people, give freedom to everyone, and that’s what I want too! I want to be the Pirate King because he is the freest of all! You aren’t giving up if you join me! You’ll still be able to achieve your dream!”

He bites his lip, thinking over his brother's words

Luffy stayed silent; his gaze never left your face as he watched you think the possibilities over. He had a soft smile on his face as he waited excitedly for his brother to join him on his adventures

“Is your crew okay with this?”

“Of course they are! They trust my decision-making completely and know how much I care about you. I made them all promise to be nice to you and treat you just like they would me.”

“Luffy! You said that as if you were sure I would say yes!”

“Well, aren't you?” He smirked with his usual bright smile

“Besides, I already told them before I asked you; they’d said you were more than welcome to join us.”

“You are something else, Monkey D Luffy.”

“Shishishi, of course I am. im the next Pirate king,” he exclaims confidently

“So...You joining? You can't leave me waiting for too long, you know; I've already made plans for you and everything.”

Reader smiles, sliding off his Marine jacket and folding it, placing it on the cliff next to them, and turning to face his brother

“Where to next Captain?”

They let out a surprised gasp as, rather than words, Luffy responds by wrapping his rubber hands around him and pulling him off the cliff with him

“H-Hey! Im already regretting this!” Reader screams

Luffy just laughs as he pulls his brother off the cliff

"It's too late now!! You can't back out now!! You accepted my deal, so now you have to stay with the crew! Shishishishi”

Feel like I made it a bit confusing in between Luffy’s and Reader’s dialogues, I feel like you can’t tell who’s who, what do yall think. Also I keep avoiding using you, and I don’t even know why?? Maybe because I alreadys tarted writing without you but I feel like it would make the stiry writing smoother

Taglist:

@imaginarydreams

@amethystviolin

[ordinaryschmuck]

*Sighs*...Okay, yeah, Wish really IS bad

And I didn't want to go in thinking that. I went in with the most optimistic view possible. Because with EVERYONE treating this movie as the worst thing possible, a POX upon the house of mouse itself, I went in thinking that there's no WAY it's THAT bad. So when I finally watched, I decided...I was right. It's NOT that bad. But...Well...Let's get into it.

This is the part where I'd say "Positives First," to show off what worked before picking apart what didn't. Except that, aside from a few little moments and easter eggs that made me go, "Aw, that's cute," I'm coming up EMPTY. Every single thing--And I do mean EVERY SINGLE THING in this movie, from the animation, songs, characters, story, themes, ideas, and even EXECUTIONS...is ALMOST good. Every single aspect of this film ALMOST worked. The pieces are there and I can see just how this film could have been the masterpiece that was a CENTURY in the making. The problem is that there's ONE THING holding it back: Not enough time. And I don't just mean that the movie should have been longer. No, I mean that this movie needed another YEAR of production to tighten up EVERYTHING. Why's that? Well, let's go in order of the things I mentioned.

The animation is clearly trying to go for this mixed-medium style that movies like Puss in Boots: The Last Wish or Spider-Verse popularized. Those movies mixed hand-drawn animation with 3D models, making storybook illustrations or comic book art feel ALIVE. That's sort of Wish is going for. I hear people say that Disney's 100 year celebration should have been completely hand drawn to call back to their early years, but I tend to disagree. I think Disney making a movie that's mixed-medium is a better way to honor its one hundred years, taking the animation that made Disney huge and mixing it with modern CGI as a way to make it feel like a celebration of the old AND new. EXCEPT that it doesn't really look good, aside from certain screenshots. There are SOME still images where if you paused the movie at the right time you can get something that looks like a 2D image with CG touch-ups. For the rest of the movie, it looks like a modern CGI Disney film with a storybook filter slapped on it. It doesn't look TOO BAD when your eyes get used to it, but it doesn't stop the movie from feeling like it ALMOST hit the right mark. The only times it REALLY works is with Star.

Wha--No. No, not that one. That's the wrong Disney character named Star.

There he is. There's my little guy.

But look at him. He's a 3D character with hand-drawn touch-ups that really makes him feel like a 2D character brought to life. If the whole movie looked like HIM, then it would have been a revolutionary achievement for Disney. But it doesn't. Instead, it feels like a missed opportunity that would have worked better if they had more time to animate this film instead of leaving their animators scattered to the winds to make half-assed sequels or forcing out one to two projects every year.

There should have also been more attention given to the songs because...Oh my gosh, they're bad. They SOUND nice, I love the instrumentals and the POWER these people put into the vocals. "This Wish" and its reprise successfully gives me chills through how well they're sang and how epic the instruments make them. But the LYRICS...are messy. When you sit down and actually LISTEN to what's sung, it all just...BLEH. That's the best way I can describe it, I'm sorry! It's BLEH!

Why would a king in a fairytale kingdom in the distant past sing, "You're sure you're not the prob?"

"Throwing caution into every warning sign" doesn't come across as a person freeing herself from her insane king's vague warnings but ADHERING to them.

The way that Asha and King Magnifico sing about protecting wishes makes it sound like they're singing to EACH OTHER.

And "You're A Star." OH BOY! The song that's meant to explain how these animals can magically talk is just filled with allegories and allusions that think they explain EVERYTHING only to explain NOTHING. It's just vague nonsense that, again, SOUNDS nice, but offers no real substance. On its own, I guess I can get into it, but to tell a story, it falls apart. Because that's the difference when it comes to writing a regular song and writing a musical: You're not just making a good song, you're telling a story through MUSIC. Wish's soundtrack is one that's filled with catchy songs, but not ones that properly move the story forward. Not to mention how they're so jarringly out of character in cases like "This is the Thanks I Get." When Disney released the soundtrack, that was my favorite song because I felt like it perfectly fit this smug, egotistical prick who thought he was the best person alive. Turns out that's not what Wish was going for...Not entirely.

Magnifico feels like he's meant to be a mix between Gaston and Maleficent. A character that has a huge ego and loves himself more than anything, but has an incredible amount of power to make himself a threat. If done right, a villain like that could stand up to be with some of Disney's best. And, yeah, like everything else in this movie, he ALMOST works. When he's finally a villain, he's campy and over the top, making him entertaining...But notice how I said "When he's finally a villain." That's because Magnifico doesn't really become what he's meant to be until halfway through the movie. He starts off as a King with good intentions but paranoid ideals that doesn't make him evil, it makes him feel like a guy who needed evidence to prove that other magic isn't a threat. By the time he finally acts more like a Disney villain, it was such a jarring left turn that his sudden switch-up made me feel like it was somehow a nightmare sequence from Asha. He's NOTHING like the guy he starts out as, and it's not a natural change that flows well throughout the film. That's mainly because the story has a pacing problem worse than any movie I've seen. If King Magnifico's path to the dark side was slow and gradual, showing signs of his worst qualities first and make them more apparent as the film goes on, he would have worked INCREDIBLY. Instead, it comes across as his villainy was activated like someone flipped a switch in his brain that says, "Be evil now." It's the absolute REVERSE of a bad redemption story, mixed with a lazy explanation that it was dark magic that made him more corrupt when he should have been evil since minute one. And you want to know the worst part? He's probably the best character in this.

Asha...isn't bad. She's your standard quirky nice girl protagonist that Disney just LOVES to use, especially lately. It's just that Asha doesn't have that "Gets stuff done" attitude like Moana or Mulan, nor does she have the infectious charm like Maribel or Anna. Asha, instead, is a lot like her breakout song: Nice and enjoyably, but doesn't stand out from the biggest hits. As for her animal sidekick Valentino...He's not annoying, but he's not funny either. Honestly, his comedy peaked when it was revealed that this cute baby goat sounded like Clayface from that Harley Quinn cartoon. A joke, by the way, that got spoiled by the trailers, so it's not really AS funny in the movie. Honestly, Asha's SEVEN FRIENDS are funnier at times. Speaking of, those characters are very clearly meant to be the Seven Dwarfs. And it is VERY distracting because not only does it feel like only two or three of them are necessary to the plot, but they're the ONLY major reference that the movie shines a light on when it comes to Disney's history.

Would I have wanted this entire movie to be nothing but references of past Disney movies? Of course not. That's not how movies work. But Wish seems to have this problem where it doesn't really COMMIT to honoring Disney's legacy. The most it does is give the Seven Dwarfs human OCs, make them supporting characters, and throws in tiny little easter eggs here and there. Again, some of them are cute, but it's not enough. The same goes for when Wish tries to honor some of the tropes and cliches that Disney popularized. It's an animated musical with talking animals, a campy villain, an objectively pretty protagonist, and goofy sidekicks. But it takes more than ADDING that stuff to your movie in order to honor them. You need to look at what made those tropes and cliches work in the first place and make something that calls back to those classic films while still having something new to say. And Wish almost--ALMOST--has something new to say.

With everything surrounding King Magnifico and how he got more power with people's wishes, I almost thought Wish was going to be a film that called out modern Disney. At least, modern CORPORATE Disney, a company that takes ideas and thoughts created by dozens of talented people, twists them into something unrecognizable, and refuses to give those ideas back when choosing to do NOTHING with this great idea leaves them free of competition. And to stop something evil like that, you must make something of your own and work hard to make your idea yours instead of letting someone more powerful take it from you. I thought that would have been a GREAT message...But of course DISNEY wouldn't want a movie calling them OUT for their one hundred year victory lap. So, instead, we have a message that tries to get the same idea across, but in a simplified way where the wishes are taken LITERALLY and that the only way to get what you want is to wish hard enough for it. That is...NOT the message I want kids to learn from this as it often leads to bad expectations. If this movie tried an ironically anti-Disney message in ANY OTHER year, it would have a better chance of getting away with it. But for a hundred year celebration, there was no chance in hell.

Wish is NOT Disney's worst movie, but it's nowhere near the best. I love SO MANY of the ideas and what it TRIES to do, but there's a difference between good ideas and good executions. It was ALMOST good, but Wish was not the movie anybody was really wishing for...

[everydayyoulovemeless]

Another Bioshock req!! No rush ^^ How do the Bioshock characters act when they have a crush/are romantically interested in someone? Thank you ☺️

How Bioshock 1 Characters Act When They Have A Crush

➼ Word Count » 0.9k ➼ Warnings » None ➼ Genre » Romantic ➼ A/N » YES! I LOVE YOU

You can tell when Jack starts feeling a certain type of way toward you by how eager he is to help you out. It’d range from him offering to carry your bags to using small bursts of Incinerate! when you’re cold. He'll slowly find that he's happiest when you're near and will try to be around you as often as he can. He’ll invite you out to dinner, or to the movies, or on a walk - he doesn’t care! He’d follow you wherever as long as you were having fun. The little sisters will have to tug at his pant legs a lot because he falls completely into a trance whenever you enter the room. He's so embarrassed by it, but he just can't help resting his head in his hands when you start to cross his mind again.

Atlas hates it. It's the last thing he needs and will progressively get more and more aggressive the longer it goes on. It's not necessarily directed at you, but toward any other poor bystander who just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He'll give you easier tasks - something that doesn’t require you to leave any of the revolutionary bases - and will be firmer when it comes to your safety. You're not going to be fighting in the war and you're not going to be allowed in the room while he's interrogating someone. He’ll do anything in his power to prevent you from finding out just how violent he, and the rest of Rapture, can be.

Andrew Ryan will try to court you as any gentleman should. He’ll pay your rent, ask you out to dinner, and buy you all sorts of extravagant gifts and trinkets. He's under the impression that the best way to someone's heart is by presenting them with endless options and possibilities, and he can offer just that. He'll get you modeling gigs, use your voice in the Rapture Reminders, and grant you anything you'd ever wished for. He’ll shower you with mountains of materialistic items until you realize that he truly is the best option.

When Tenenbaum begins to develop feelings for someone, she tends to be far more keen on listening to them. She has a habit of wanting to correct people whenever they make a mistake, but with you, she finds that she's worried she'll come off too harsh. She also happens to be a little bit of a hopeless romantic and will write out entire lists of things that remind her of you just so she can better chart how strongly she’s feeling it. Sometimes she may even write short poems in the corners of her documents, although, she'd never dare show them to you.

You’re going to see a lot more of your features in Steinman’s patients, whether that be for better or for worse. He feels inspired by your mere presence and will frequently send you telegrams asking if you’d like to sit in on one of his surgeries or maybe just asking if you’d like to be a model for him? He wants to run his fingers across your face so badly, besides, studying your bone structure would help him perform more successful procedures, and wouldn't that be for the best?

Sander is probably the last person you want to have a crush on you. Somehow, he’ll find a way to get ahold of you and when he does, you’ll be his central muse, his inspiration for every sculpture, painting, play, poem - everything. He’ll quickly become very controlling over where you are and what you’re doing - he has to! You hold so much importance, not only to him but to the entire artist community in Rapture! Just pray he doesn’t lose this whimsical interest in you, or you may end up dead.

Fontaine is actually quite kind. Manipulative, sure, but he’d never dream of harming you. He’s got a lot of enemies, so one of the biggest signs that he’s started to grow fond of you is how protective he'll become. You'll slowly start to realize that whenever you leave your house, you're always being trailed by a handful of suspiciously inconspicuous men. He'd hate it if you somehow got involved with his political game, so the bodyguards he has following you all about Rapture are a precaution of his. He’s also a massive gift-giver. Mostly when it comes to clothing. He’ll send boxes of beautifully made outfits just because he likes seeing you all dolled up. Especially when it’s for him, in clothes that his company made.

Julie will be super tense around you. She's got a slight perfectionist streak and will constantly seek to be her best when she's around you. She relaxes a lot more when the two of you actually get together, but for now, she'll stand up straight, smooth out her dress, and shroud herself in all sorts of perfume. There are times when she may come off a tad harsh because of how desperately she wants to appear as smart in front of you, but she'll make up for it later when she leaves a bouquet of flowers and a sweetly written note on your doorstep.

Diane's quite confident in her approach. She'll most likely just start flirting with you outright, dragging her perfectly manicured nails down the front of your shirt while she compliments your outfit of the night. Then she'll tiptoe her fingers up your shoulder, bat her eyes, and ask if you'd like to move the conversation to the bar. Never one to be afraid of rejection and adores the attention you provide to her. If you're lucky she may even leave you with a kiss to remember her with.

[read-marx-and-lenin]

Something I've heard often from centrist/liberal folk is that UBI would solve all problems in society, what are your thoughts?

It wouldn't.

Now, most UBI advocates I've talked to don't actually think it would solve all problems in society, but even at the most ambitious (UBI pegged to individual cost of living and granted in addition to existing welfare) it's still just social welfare. The capitalists are still in control of the means of production and the state, and they'll be able to cut these benefits if they ever decide they're negatively impacting profits, just like with any other welfare benefit. Social democratic reforms within a bourgeois state are never revolutionary.

But the worst part about UBI, at least from my USAmerican perspective, is that the mainstream idea comes from the likes of Andrew Yang, who wants to replace existing welfare with UBI, akin to a welfare equivalent of a flat tax scheme. His whole thing is that it will cut costs by eliminating any need to customize benefits, while ignoring the fact that cost of living isn't "one size fits all". If you replace say, a wheelchair subsidy with a flat UBI, you don't have any way of ensuring that the person can continue to afford their wheelchair. This form of UBI is just an austerity measure with gilded edges.

Welfare is better than no welfare. But UBI is nothing more than welfare. It doesn't socialize private property, it doesn't give the working class any more political power, it doesn't do anything to stop colonialism or imperialism and in an imperial core like the United States would do more to entrench it as it would be dependent on tax revenue that is directly proportional to colonial and imperial exploitation. Income inequality in the US is not just a question of capitalism, it's a question of imperialism and colonialism, and you can't just say "spread the money around more equitably" without asking where the money comes from.

Dismantling the structures of imperialism and colonialism is the most important task at hand for communists in the imperial core. The United States in particular has a profound role in suppressing working class movements across the globe, and if we can disrupt that we open the floodgates for countless revolutions elsewhere. So personally, as someone living in the US, that's my main interest.

[thewaltcrew]

Chanticleer concept art by Marc Davis

Chanticleer is likely the most famous of all canceled projects at the Walt Disney Animation Studios. Although these drawings were done in the early 1960s, the studio had been trying since the late 1930s to develop a feature film based on two French stories: the play Chantecler by Edmond Rostand and the Roman de Renart or Reynard the Fox, a literary cycle first collected in 11th-century Europe. The two stories were initially developed separately. Storymen Ted Sears and Al Perkins were the first to work on them, but they quickly ran into the same problem that would constantly plague Chanticleer for its entire development existence: how to make an arrogant rooster into an appealing protagonist.

Sears: We, or any other cartoon outfit, cannot depict a likable, interesting rooster character. Good animators have told me this, and only some revolutionary change or inspiration would make a rooster character sympathetic.

Development on Reynard also ran into similar problems of having a protagonist with a less-than-admirable personality, as Reynard the Fox is one of the most famous sources that propagated the image of a fox as a sly trickster. By 1945, the idea to combine the two properties came about, likely to help alleviate the problem of Chanticleer’s arrogant character by having a villain for him to play off of. Attempts to develop it again continued on through the 1940s, but nothing ever panned out.

In early 1960, Marc Davis and Ken Anderson, uninterested in any of the films in development at the time, took a trip down to the Animation Research Library to find ideas for a film they could develop on their own. Davis, being a fan of musical theater, wanted to do a big Broadway musical-style animated feature. They came across the old treatments for Chanticleer and jumped on the chance. They disregarded the original source materials (aside from the basic premises) and began to develop their own plot, envisioning it as a satiric comedy.

The story would have been about a rooster named Chanticleer who believes that his crowing makes the sun rise every morning. Everyone else in the village adores Chanticleer because they believe in his power too, and they elect him mayor of the town. However, he becomes an overbearing leader, ordering the hens to lay more and more eggs. The townsfolk come to resent him, and Reynard the fox arrives and takes advantage of the situation, wishing to exploit the village for his own benefit. He entertains the citizens, and the chickens stay up all night, becoming too tired to lay any eggs. An angry Chanticleer orders Reynard to leave, but Reynard announces that he will run for mayor against Chanticleer. Chanticleer finds himself in a duel at dawn against a Spanish rooster who works for Reynard and doesn’t realize that the sun has risen without him. Once he discovers that his crowing does not bring up the sun, he realizes his foolishness and is humbled, allowing the villagers to forgive him. Because although his crowing never made the sun come up, it did awaken the citizens for them to be able to start their days.

Cost cutting is what effectively ended Chanticleer’s chances. Walt was pressured to stop the production of animated feature films moving forward, as their already existing catalogue would have been enough for the company to profit off of during re-releases.

Davis: Walt was about ready to dump animation; then he got to thinking, “I owe these people something,” which he did. So he said, “Hell, these guys know how to make these films without me.” I don’t think the others realized how eager the members of this business gang were to get rid of animation. Everything after Dalmatians was done with a minimum of Walt’s supervision. I think he got spread very thin: he got terribly interested in the Parks, his vision of Epcot, and more.

But as preoccupied as Walt was, he didn’t have it in his heart to shut down animated film production for good. He did, however, reduce the output by setting a schedule of a new film every four years rather than every two. This meant that one of the two films in development at the time, Chanticleer and The Sword in the Stone, had to be cut. The decision was obvious, as Chanticleer would have been much more expensive to produce, and The Sword in the Stone was a simpler story with human characters and a cute underdog protagonist.

Davis: We had all the artwork up on the walls, and the money people at the studio came in like it was a funeral. We went all the way through the presentation and met with silence. Then a voice from the back of the room said, “You can’t make a personality out of a chicken!” They all filed out and that was the end of it.

Walt would soon call up Marc Davis to ask him to help out at WED (later called Imagineering), which is where Davis would stay for the remainder of his Disney career (where he would contribute to some of the most beloved Disney attractions of all time), thereby making Chanticleer the very last thing he worked on at the animation studio.

Davis: I had always kind of doubled up: I did story on an awful lot of stuff that was not made, including some damned good things. I think some of the best drawings I ever did for the Studio were for Chanticleer.

Chanticleer has grown a legacy of its own, perhaps solely because of how appealing and well-drawn Davis’ work for the project was. As animator Andreas Deja put it, “Marc designed some of the best-looking characters I’ve ever seen--those drawings want to be moved and used... The designs for Chanticleer show the same level of graphic sophistication as his paintings. When that’s combined with his very thorough knowledge of anatomy and the Disney appeal, the result is outstanding.”

Mel Shaw attempted to rework a new treatment for Chanticleer in 1981, but it was quickly squashed. In 1992, Don Bluth, an ex-Disney animator who, like everyone else, loved Marc Davis’ work on Chanticleer, tried his hand at the story himself with the film Rock-A-Doodle, though to little critical or commercial acclaim.

Although Marc Davis never worked on an animated film again after Chanticleer, some of the designs he created for that film did find their way into his WED project America Sings and later Splash Mountain, when the animatronics from America Sings were repurposed.

research sources from [x][x][x], The Disney That Never Was: The Stories and Art of Five Decades of Unproduced Animation by Charles Solomon, and Marc Davis: Walt Disney’s Renaissance Man, Chanticleer chapter by Charles Solomon photo sources [x][x][x]

[chuuyaandreaderkilldazai]

Ranking JJK Characters I Don't Like

Ranging from mild dislike (14) to LOATHE WITH EVERY INCH OF MY BEING (1).

14. Mai: I don't hate her. I sympathize with her. I just wish she wasn't the way she is.

13. Junpei: I do have compassion for him, but ... school shooter vibes. Not a fan.

12. Noritoshi: Bad vibes.

11. Toji: Bad dad. And he's so nosy, too. Why does he always insert himself into situations with his fists swinging? Actually, now that I think about it, that's kind of iconic behavior. But all it ever really did was create more problems. If he had never inserted himself into the plot, Geto would have probably never turned mass-murderer-cult-leader--WE COULD HAVE HAD EVERYTHING. So it's a pass for me. Also, his haircut is off-putting for reasons I cannot articulate. It's like one day in middle school he got a haircut and just never changed up the style ever again.

10. Jogo: Ugly.

9. Uraume: Character design: slay. Helping Sukuna: not slay.

8. Like every adult from the Zenin clan: BECAUSE THEY SUCK.

7. Tengen: Old and entitled.

6. Kenjaku: Old and entitled part two. What gives him the right?

5. Sukuna: Horrid, nasty man. I feel like I shouldn't have to elaborate.

4. Ui Ui: Annoying. Literally, why are you even here?

3. Mei Mei: First of all, how am I supposed to take you seriously with that stupid braid hanging in front of your face? From the very instant her character was introduced, I did not like her, but I thought maybe I was being a woman hater for no reason, so I really did try to tolerate her. But when we finally saw that scene in season two. PRISON!!! I was right. She's the worst. We are not gonna ignore that. Check her files.

2. That thing with the blond side ponytail: I hate him so much I don't even know his name. I don't care to know it. I would say why do you as a man look like that, but honestly why do you as a HUMAN BEING look like that? Why do you act like that? Why are you skipping around wearing a poorly made DIY toga? Whole nip is hanging out, and no one asked to see that. Why are you HOLDING HANDS with your blade? Freak. There is something so intrinsically, inherently, ONTOLOGICALLY wrong with him, you can't even blame it on childhood trauma or a personality disorder. The only time I ever supported Sukuna was when he bullied this emaciated Jo Jo Siwa lookin' thing in Shibuya.

Mahito: I hate him so much. I hate him more than I've ever hated any character. I actually lose the ability to speak coherently when I think about him because I hate him so much. I think it's so cringe when try-hard dudes say, "When I'm angry all I see is red." But when I think about Mahito it really is like blood and pure rage cloud my vision. He is literally the embodiment of if you gave an edge lord psychopathic eleven year old the power to kill people. "Wee, I'm so powerful and killing people is just SoooOoOoOoOOOo much fun!!" SHUT UP!!!!!!!! SHUT UPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!! YOU ARE NOT FUNNY. YOU ARE NOT CUTE. YOU ARE NOT SPECIAL IN ANY WAY. He is genuinely the most irritating character I have ever come across. And as the story progresses, he just gets worse. What do you mean he can duplicate himself? Now we have to deal with TWO of this wretched creature? What do you mean he can be decapitated AND HIS HEAD WILL SPROUT LIMBS AND SPRINT AWAY? STOOOOOOOOOP. AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON WHAT HAPPENED TO NANAMI--I DON'T WANNA TALK ABOUT IT. Mahito is such a nasty, slithy, bothersome, despicable, nauseating little cockroach. "Yuji, you and I are the same." Huh? You thought you did something there, didn't you? You thought you ate and came up with some kind of deep, revolutionary concept? It's giving pretentious philosophy dude who thinks he's superior for being a little contrarian, nihilistic Nietzsche butt licker. When Yuji finally humbled him, I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed seeing the fear in his eyes. For one brief, fleeting moment, I could finally understand what sadists must feel like. Honestly, we deserved to watch him suffer, and I wish he would have suffered far more for far longer. Rot in anguish, Mahito. You will not be missed nor forgiven.

[shadyruinskryptonite]

ATLA Culture HC

Sorry I have a few notes on this one

A/N Since most of Titan Bending's readership is from AOT, I want to apologize that this doesn't have any reference to that world in it. I just don't have enough personal thoughts to add to the world-building from AOT to do an entire post like this.

A/N Even though there's no mention of AOT in the HC themselves, I still did the same tags for this as my fic because I want anyone that might read my fic to still see these because they are kind of important for upcoming chapters.

A/N I mention different songs and artists throughout this post. Let me know if you’d like me to make playlists for each of the nations. I think that could be fun and might do it anyway.

Idk if this is a headcanon or actual canon but music is super important to all of the cultures in ATLA

I talked about this a bit in my fic Titan Bending, but with English being my first language, I sort of consider that to be a universal language that most people learn in tandem with their native language (that’s how my brain makes sense of what should be language barriers between, well, everyone)

Northern and Southern Watertribe

Their native language would be something like Russian (I’m thinking like the native tribes of Siberia.)

Sokka and Katara speak this native language.

Similar to how a language like Spanish has morphed into different dialects, there are different dialects of the language for the north and the south.

There are a lot of sea shanties that are important to the culture as well as warrior songs. This includes basically anything by SKÁLD.

I also see songs like Savage Daughter being from the Watertribes.

The song Labour by Paris Paloma is a sort of revolutionary cry amongst the women of the Northern Watertribe.

Sokka and Katara are both really good singers

Sokka plays guitar

Again, this might be actual canon and not just in my head but the beads that women wear in their hair directly correlate to how wealthy they are. I’m almost positive I saw this in a video now that I’m typing it, so I’m sorry I can’t give that creator credit, but an example is that Katara’s classic hair loopies and braid are a much more functional hairstyle for daily work than Yue’s extravagant hair.

Fire Nation

So the Fire Nation is obviously based on Imperial Japan, that’s not a headcanon that’s fact. As such, they would speak Japanese.

I listen to a lot of Asian music - Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese. I have found a wide variety of songs that I would sort of characterize as “Fire Nation.” Thus, I HC that each of the Fire Nation colonies have developed thier own languages which is how I reconcile in my noggin all of the different songs I attribute to the Fire Nation

Earth Kingdom

It’s widely known that the Earth Kingdom is very diverse, so with that comes a lot of different cultures melding together.

The Sand Benders definitely speak Arabic. They were clearly designed with a sort of Middle Eastern aesthetic in mind, so I really hope that doesn’t come across as racist in any way, I just speak Arabic and I really want them to.

Side note to this, my HC takes it a step further and I want to believe that they’re Bedouin because I’ve done a lot of research into the Bedouin and when I lived in Jordan I got to experience a lot of their culture and they’re who I know the most about so if I ever write about the Sand Benders, those are most likely the customs I will incorporate

All of the romance languages are present throughout the Earth Kingdom

Ba Sing Se has different districts for the different cultures throughout the Earth Kingdom and there’s a big market with live music in the Inner Ring.

@mochminnie @sseleniaa @naruwitch Tagging you all so you don't miss this, even though it's not directly a part of the story <3

[smidgen-of-hotboy]

Our Angel of Brahma, pt. ix

Travelers. Friends. Mutuals. @ceaseless-watchers-special-girl @ananxiousgenz @the-private-eye @demonic-panini @gwenlena

SOUND: COMMS BEEPS. RECORDING BEGINS. MOTHERLY VOICE: I finally got a moment to myself thanks to Eber and Camilla… Thank the Goddess… I don’t know what I would be doing without them. (THE PERSON SIGHS) Where do I begin? I guess… my name would be a good start.  (CLEARING THEIR THROAT) My name is Eevee Bell, and I am one of three to four dozen Dome Wardens on Brahma. Our duty is to perform routine maintenance on the planet’s Dome, track incoming and outgoing shuttles and ships, and monitor Brahma’s severe weather outside the Dome. I love my job. I think I do my job very well. From what I’ve heard about other planets, they have robotics and computers to do this job now. Artificial intelligence that the Solar Planets spent a fortune to perfect. Of course just like with everything else though, Brahma gets left behind in the dust. (EEVEE CHUCKLES UNDER HER BREATH) EEVEE: Goddess bless our savior New Kinshasa. (EEVEE LAUGHS A BIT HARSHER) EEVEE: What happened to us though has been brewing under their noses for some time now. I guess it was only a matter of time before… something was done.  To be honest I’m still not entirely sure what did happen. I know that our alarms went off when the Reactor Core was removed, and I know they stopped going off when the Core was put back. I know that the Chief Constable called all of our stations, and ordered us to go home. I know that we have not gone back to our stations for nearly ten days. I know that if we don’t accept any imports within the next seven days Brahma will begin to suffer. And if we fall, New Kinshasa falls with us.  Cyrus called me while I was rushing to get home to Baird. He asked me how much I knew and after I told him, I asked how much he knew. He said it would be better if he came to speak to me in person. He lives across town with Iris. I told him it wouldn’t be wise to meet up so late, especially with a curfew in place. He disagreed, but I talked enough sense into him that he waited until morning to catch a tram over here to the apartments.  Baird was not enthused to see him. He was rather… indifferent, actually. I know it hurt Cyrus’ feelings, I do plan on talking about it with Baird when I can, but it’s so hard to talk about anything seriously right now. I’d rather keep things as light-hearted as possible.  I sent Baird over to Camilla and Eber’s apartment while I had tea with Cyrus. He looked so worried. He asked me if I saw the Chief Constable’s broadcast about the Revolutionary, Peter Nureyev. I have. I watched it with Baird the night before after I got home from my post. Cyrus said that he doesn’t know of any Peter Nureyevs in any of his revolution circles.  He surprised me by asking me for my thoughts about the Constable they allegedly found murdered by the Revolutionary. I didn’t at the time, and I still don’t now. Cyrus said that he has reason to believe that part was a lie. He doesn’t believe the Revolutionary killed a Constable. He thinks it might be an elaborate lie or cover-up for some more vain truth. (EEVEE INHALES SHARPLY) The revolutionaries are holding a meeting tonight. Cyrus invited me to come. He wants me there. I don’t want to get in trouble, but… I need to keep Cyrus and Baird safe. And by extension, it’s my job to keep Brahma safe.  SOUND: COMMS BEEPS. RECORDING ENDS.

SOUND: COMMS BEEPS AGAIN. NEW RECORDING BEGINS: EEVEE:  What the fuck! NEW VOICE:  What are you doing? EEVEE:  What am I doing I’m recording you idiot! Cyrus, don’t you see? If what was discussed tonight has any truth to it, New Kinshasa isn’t going to let any of this get out. More than– I bet you my next paycheck that Dark Matters is going to play a role in covering it all up! (CYRUS TRIES TO SHUSH EEVEE) CYRUS:  Alright, alright– you have a point. Keep your voice down alright the streets have ears… You really hope your little comms though is going to play a role in– This? EEVEE: Mark my word, I think my little comms will outlive both of us. If Baird’s lucky it will outlive them.  (CYRUS GROANS. EEVEE GIGGLES) Okay, okay… I attended the meeting– CYRUS: The book club. We went to a late-night book club meeting. What? Don’t give me that look. Plausible deniability, Eve. EEVEE:  Right. The Book Club. We attended Book Club and talked about the climax of a war story. In the story, the main character kills a man with radical ideas to overthrow their government. The man he killed was not popular amongst the rebels. In theory, they should have agreed with him. CYRUS: In practice, however, the rebels do not condone murdering hundreds of thousands of people. Thus the whole unpopular amongst the rebels.  EEVEE:  Of course, word got out about the man’s death, and to cover it up, the government claimed him as an Enforcer. And they were getting away with it because the last clothes the man was found in was a stolen Enforcer uniform.  I don’t know if I believe the rebel or the government’s of the story– CYRUS: Eve– EEVEE: But! But. But I do believe that it was the right call for the rebels to sit back and wait for information to trickle out to them slowly… I think I’ll need to attend the next meeting to really make sure I understand what I’m getting myself into. Oh– I’m so tired. Can we discuss all this in the morning? With hopefully less ears listening in? (CYRUS HUMS AFFIRMATIVELY) CYRUS: I’ll even let you sleep in if you let me crash on your couch.  EEVEE: Of course, I wouldn’t make you walk across town while already breaking our curfew.  CYRUS: Thanks, Eve.  (LONG PAUSE) Baird’s not going to be mad to see me, is he? EEVEE: This late at night? I doubt it. If anything he’s staying over at that Spade’s apartment probably fast asleep with Charlie. Oh, they’re so sweet together. I went to say good night to them one evening and I couldn’t kiss Baird’s head because Charlie had a death grip on his shoulders. He's always polite and entertains all of Baird’s whims… I wish you were around more to see it happen. CYRUS:  You and I both know why that can’t happen.  (BOTH OF THEM SIGH) EEVEE: You know he’s only so pouty around you because you and I split up, right? He just wants us all together again. Like a proper family. CYRUS: We are a proper family. Mom who works too hard, dad who left to get milk and never came back– see? Proper family. (EEVEE LAUGHS CAUSING CYRUS TO LAUGH) UNFAMILIAR VOICE: Hey, state your business and show your credentials. CYRUS: Shit, Constables. Run Eve! SOUND: COMMS BEEPS. RECORDING ENDS. 

SOUND: COMMS BEEPS AGAIN. RECORDING BEGINS.  (EEVEE WHISPERS) EEVEE: Cyrus and I got away from the Constables last week perfectly fine. This week on Brahma: we went to another revolution meeting. A few old timers took roll call and one of them said he had reason to believe that the person the Angel of Brahma killed was one of theirs. A man who wasn’t the least bit popular in any particular revolutionary circle. Apparently, he wanted to drop New Kinshasa out of the sky and saw it perfectly fit to kill all of Brahma in the process.  (EEVEE SCOFFS) The nerve of some people. No one at the meeting could remember his name though, and no one still knows who Peter Nureyev is outside of the photos projected on every billboard on the planet now. He looks so young. Those dark and haunting eyes and sharp teeth. I find it hard to believe that he’s just a teenager. But– he is.  I’m trying to keep my voice down right now because Baird is asleep. The meeting was held before curfew this time so Cyrus went home to Iris and I walked alone back to the apartment. Eber was waiting for me just outside and before I could say hello he was dragging me down the halls to Hank’s apartment. His dog Missy was sprawled out on the sofa but Hank, Camilla, and Josie were all gathered around the dinner table. Mrs. Darius was upstairs with Talia, Charlie, and Baird. I sat down and told them everything I could.  The revolutionaries wouldn’t let me record anything with my comms during the meeting, but there wasn’t much that I think needed to be recorded. Just talk about who was storing what, who was leaving their doors open to help others. There was a lot of talk about going on strike. Either food or labor. They want to send a message to New Kinshasa. I don’t think I can afford to do much of anything. Me and the other Dome Wardens just went back to work two days ago, we are working through a backlog of off-planet imports and exports still. If I strike alone I’ll just be fired. If all the Wardens strike, then the Constables will take over and that will lead to certain catastrophe. And if I stop eating then Baird will stop eating and he’s already so… short.  Oh– I wish I got a chance to talk to Cyrus before we went our separate ways. He’d help me think of some way I can help. Better yet, he’d probably be able to give the others here at the apartments the answers they wanted from me. Hank didn’t say anything other than telling us to get out. Eber, Camilla, Josie, and I were silent on the walk upstairs. The kids were delighted to see us. Eber walked Talia back down to Hank, Josie was trying to fill in Mrs. Darius, and Camilla and I watched the boys play some sort of game where they kept pinching each other and trying to not shriek? I think that was the objective? Children’s games used to be much less violent when I was that age. I remember when– BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): Memma? EEVEE: Bairdy! What are you doing awake? BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): I couldn’t sleep. You were being too loud.  (EEVEE TSKS) EEVEE: Then let’s put you back to bed alright baby? C’mon. I’ll even sing for you if you’d like.  SOUND: COMMS BEEPS. RECORDING ENDS.

SOUND: COMMS BEEPS AGAIN. NEW RECORDING BEGINS. EEVEE: I have either made the best decision of the revolution that will turn the tides in favor of Brahma, or the worst mistake of my life.  I told the old-timers at this past meeting that I work as a Dome Warden, and that a few of my colleagues seemed interested in joining the rebellion but were uncertain on how to go about it. The old-timers were delighted for a number of reasons and had drawn the same conclusion that I had a few weeks ago when a labor strike was first brought up. They think it would be very good if I was able to get some of the other Wardens on board with the revolution.  Cyrus was very quiet during the meeting. I asked him before we left if he had any opinions he was holding back, and all he said was to trust my gut. So… I trusted my gut. I told the other Wardens at my post about the meetings. I told them about going on strike. A few seemed skeptical. Others wanted to know when the next meeting was. I’m going to contact Cyrus and get him to help me get the others to the next meeting.  I hope… this wasn’t a mistake. I guess time will only tell. SOUND: COMMS BEEPS. RECORDING ENDS.

SOUND: COMMS BEEPS AGAIN. NEW RECORDING BEGINS. EEVEE: –you turned it on. Good job, baby. BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): Mom, why are you showing me how to use your comms? Is something going to happen to us? Is something bad going to happen to you?  EEVEE: What? Oh no, baby. Nothing is going to happen to me. I just think you would find more use out of my comms than I would. Look, since you got it to record you can start recording all those little songs you like to sing. Or maybe you can get Charlie to record a story for you.  BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): But Mom, I like your singing and your stories more. Will you sing for me? And tell me a story tonight? EEVEE: Absolutely not. You get one or the other. Take your pick. And whatever you don’t choose, you have to give to me.  (BAIRD POUTS) BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): Fine… I want a story from you, and then I’ll give you a song. EEVEE:  Good choice, Bairdy. What kind of story would you like? (BAIRD HUMS) BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): I want a story about Brahma.  EEVEE: A story about Brahma? Well… there once was a boy born on Brahma with nothing. Not even a name. He grew up just like everyone else, hungry for more. More food, more freedom, more time. The boy followed a man who dreamed of dropping the New Kinshasa on top of the planet.  The boy was very tired. Tired of being poor, tired of being hungry, tired of being alone. But he knew, that if he let that man drop New Kinshasa out of the sky, he would never be able to forgive himself. Brahma is his home. He looked down at Brahma from up high, and saw them: his people.  Starving young faces just like his looked up to the sky and stared back at the city as it trembled. The boy had the power at his fingertips to stop a tragedy.  This is it. The people thought. This is how we go out. Not with the big bang, but crushed under the heel of our jailor.  The boy heard their thoughts. He felt a rush of adrenaline and stopped the man from getting away. The city of New Kinshasa never fell out of the sky that day. The people were ordered to retreat to their homes. But that evening, everyone heard about the great threat against the Guardian Angel System. And everyone learned the name Peter Nureyev. And for the first time in the last half-century, hope bloomed on Brahma. The Boy, The Legend, The Angel of Brahma.  BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): That’s not a story Memma, that’s history.  EEVEE: And what is history but a story we have to learn from? Now, I believe you owe me a song. (BAIRD GROANS AND HUFFS) BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): Fine… (BAIRD TAKES A DEEP BREATH AND HUMS. THE SOUND GETS CLEARER LIKE HE’S BROUGHT THE COMMS CLOSER) My angel, I must ask you keep singing for me.  How sweet your tune, like a songbird at noon.  What a lovely trill, it makes me feel ill. O’ My heart overflows, I could never let go.  Like chimes in the wind, it must be destined.  I’ll find my way home, with your voice I’ll never be alone. Happy? (EEVEE SNIFFLES) EEVEE: Very. Thank you, Baird. That was beautiful.  (FABRIC RUSTLES, BOTH BAIRD AND EEVEE HUM) Promise me you’ll never stop singing baby. BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): Of course, Memma. I don’t think I could even if I tried.  EEVEE: Good. Now– (EEVEE PRESSES A KISS TO BAIRD’S HEAD) Get some sleep. Okay? We have a long day tomorrow. And Bairdy? BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): Yes, Mom? EEVEE: You know that I love you, right? BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): To the moons and back, yeah… Mom you promised nothing bad was going to happen to you.  EEVEE:  And nothing will. Good night, Baird.  BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): Night Mom.  SOUND: DOOR CLOSING. BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): Which button was it to end the recording? Was it this o– SOUND: COMMS BEEPS. RECORDING ENDS. 

- EEVEE BELL. BAIRD BELL. must contact Frannie’s friend about both of those names. - Dome Wardens are indeed an old, out of date job. Eve is right, they’ve been replaced with robots. It’s actually kinda scary how right she was about things. About that, about Dark Matters probably covering everything up with New Kinshasa. - Cyrus and Eve sound so fun together. I can see why they got married and had a kid together. - Bairdy and Memma… right up there with Charls and Dearest. - Oh Baird, he was 12 when these recordings were made. 12. Just almost a teenager, not quite. Almost too old to be called a baby. - Eve loved Baird so much. She reminds me of my mother a bit. And she knew exactly what she was doing tucking Baird into bed that final time. There’s no doubt in my mind this is the last recording with her in it. She was taken away after this and never came back. The Dome Wardens did go on strike at some point according to Baird in other recordings, so did someone snitch to a Constable? Did she the Constable that almost caught her and Cyrus track her down? - I think that’s the most frustrating part of my job. No matter how much I dig and research, there are some things that will be lost to me forever.

[letters-to-rosie]

You said last month that it's not Ekko if he's not involved in activism, anarchism, just actively doing shit to make a change. I absolutely agree. But you also said you "come out of a particular background and that means [you] have certain thoughts and approaches to social change that leave out things that others do and are involved in". Would you please elaborate further on that? Not just for writing Ekko, but for the sake of knowing and maybe applying to real life. You made me curious.

So I sat on this for a while not because I didn't want to answer it but because I wanted to answer it thoughtfully, and I've typed out some things that didn't feel right, but I'm going to try again now.

I tried to find the exact context for where I said that and I failed lol so I am working off memory, but again I will try.

So in terms of background, I'm a Black American. When I was young, I pretty much assumed that my family history would be depressing and I didn't want to look into it. And some of that is there: family trees that get lost once you hit enslavement, dysfunction you can pretty much trace right back to that period, having to explain to people that your family is on the light side not because of consensual relationships but because you're from one of those states that exported slaves, you get the deal. A byproduct of this is that by the time I was an adult and wanted to dig into it and found that there was actually a lot to learn, many of the elders I wanted to learn from had passed on.

That, mixed in with me trying to understand my... financially turbulent?? life led me to engage with black radical thinkers as an adult. And that led into left-wing politics in general. So that's like half of it.

The other half is I've always been the type of person who likes a hands-on problem. My approach to social change has always just been "find a problem and throw myself at it." And that translated into a social service background. Even now, to pay for my classes, I work in social services at my university, still throwing myself at a problem that's sort of followed me around for a decade or so now. I'm not in love with the conditions of trying to fight a problem within the walls of an institution that helps perpetuate them, but for me, the immediacy of people's needs supersedes any need I feel for ideological consistency.

On top of that, I study race. And media. So imagine my excitement when I see Ekko!

I don't know that I've ever encountered a character who checked so many boxes. He sees problems and throws himself at them. He practices radical compassion with people struggling with substance use. AND their victims. And even though he's fighting Silco, he knows that the problems in the city go straight to the top (I oughta write a fic someday where he does make it across the bridge and gets to yell at the council because he so deserves that).

He grieves. I've said before that grief is the emotion that has most defined my adult life. I feel like I'm always grieving. And Ekko models how you do that and keep moving. Rather than giving into the hopelessness of the setting, he creates a place where people can heal and be their best selves. AND HE HAS NATURAL HAIR!!! My natural hair journey is another story but it's honestly tied up in all of this lol.

He's like a treasure trove of things that matter to me, honestly. I'm not even sure how much I realized it at first. But as time passed, I'd keep going back to this character and thinking. His revolutionary spirit is truly to be admired. And I think that evolution in how I've thought about him comes through pretty clearly in my writing, as I come to fully embrace a bottom-up style of conceptualizing revolutionary thought and practice. I know I'll grow and change as I get older, learn more, and do more, but at this particular moment, I think Ekko has a lot of value for me.

So what am I not interested in? Off the top of my head...

versions of the character that leave out that political dimension. I'm not inserting politics into the show. The division between what is political and isn't is a false one. If the politics aren't registering, that's because they're close to the politics of the status quo

which is not to say I think everybody has to write him with politics fully foregrounded, but I wish more people would, you know?

and speaking of the politics, not really interested in ones that aren't radical. Not trying to pass a certain purity test, but we can keep in mind that Misfit Toys shows Scar beating up a dummy Enforcer, in gear. Which they probably got by fighting them. Fun!

another thing I think is key and I would like to see engaged with more is that Ekko doesn't view people using shimmer as enemies. I honestly wonder whether the Firelights know as much as they do about Silco's stuff because they have members who formally worked in the syndicate.

and I bring that up because another thing that the show as a whole and Ekko's interactions with Jinx invite us to think about is not viewing anyone as too far gone. I think in the rush to clearly delineate good and evil, we make too many lines and ignore the material conditions that motivate and contextualize people's actions.

and on that note, I don't like to make Ekko a paragon. I think casting him as a pure soul who is working tirelessly for his people ignores his indignation at the situation around him and how he is actively choosing, every day to do the things he does. I like to keep agency foregrounded.

To close, I wanna share some quotes, because y'all know I love reading revolutionaries.

“It is necessary that the weakness of the powerless is transformed into a force capable of announcing justice. For this to happen, a total denouncement of fatalism is necessary. We are transformative beings and not beings for accommodation.” —Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed

“We have chosen a different path to achieve better results. We have chosen to establish new techniques. We have chosen to seek forms of organization that are better adapted to our civilization, abruptly and once and for all rejecting all kinds of outside diktats, so that we can create the conditions for a dignity in keeping with our ambitions. We refuse simple survival. We want to ease the pressures, to free our countryside from medieval stagnation or regression. We want to democratize our society, to open up our minds to a universe of collective responsibility, so that we may be bold enough to invent the future. We want to change the administration and reconstruct it with a different kind of civil servant. We want to get our army involved with the people in productive work and remind it constantly that, without patriotic training, a soldier is only a criminal with power. That is our political programme.” —Thomas Sankara, Speech before the General Assembly of the United Nations

“Let me just say: Peace to you, if you're willing to fight for it.” —Fred Hampton

[love-toxin]

miss ellie i'm realizing now that i never told you now revolutionary your ocs are. like. i've been on this website for literal years and the day i found your blog was with an oc post where you introduced such a dynamic lineup with so much variety, it was the first i had ever seen. maybe i wasn't looking hard enough but you had poc yanderes AND trans yanderes it was the first time i had ever seen any (i know it sounds crazy to say but i'm being so fr rn.) even when i look through your old posts and reread them i just get blown away by how each one is different and has their own personality even though you have so many?? anyway it's late and i just wanted to say that ty <3

will you marry me?? 🥺

LOL to be for real though that makes me sooooo happy you don't even understand, I'm really glad i get to be that way for you and all you lovely people 💕💕 it's a blessing to be able to write & post my work and I'm genuinely happy to see people connecting with it.

tbh, the representation i try to portray accurately is a really long-standing relationship i have with writing & authorship in general. this might not be a terribly interesting bit of lore but back when i was in my teens and consuming a lot of fanfic online in the early forms of it (ff.net my love </3) that was something that hit me a lot in reading self-insert fic, because I'd always been a huge reader and was just then tapping into self-inserts and community fiction posting rather than just books. and i remember distinctly (i think partly bc I've always grown up in multicultural neighborhoods/had mixed family growing up) reading fanfics and having the thought of "huh, i can relate to this description or this experience, but that makes me wonder whether other people can."

funny enough, it was partly when i would read descriptions of the author giving a self-insert long hair or referencing their hair in some way, and I'd start wondering how girls who wore a hijab would read that same piece, cause i went to school with a bunch of girls who wore it or a full niqab. and so i started wondering more like "if i was black, would i relate to this experience in this fic? if i was trans or gender non-conforming, are there characters i can relate to? if i were a mix of these things, could i find somewhere i belong in this setting?" and since then it kind of became a focus in the way i wrote stuff going forward.

i think using inclusive language in fic writing is really integral to a greater horizon of people enjoying it, and thinking on my ocs i always wanted to have characters that people could really relate to. I'd stop a lot in my process of creating my initial sets of characters and try to keep in mind those thoughts that i had in reading fics; "if i were this or that, could someone in that position relate to the stories I'm writing? and if not, what can i change to make that happen?" because if people are going to enjoy my characters or find comfort in them i want everyone possible to have the ability to. it's kind of intimidating at times to write for experiences i haven't had personally but it led me (and still leads me) to do a ton of research, and in doing so I've been able to learn lots of really fascinating things in the process. in doing so, it made it really easy for my characters to develop their personalities through my writing because i think they inherently have identities that are complex, which is always the goal you want for any character in the first place.

sorry that this kinda went off on a ramble LOL, but after so many years of writing and with my degree under my belt i still really think about it a lot. I'm really glad what i wanted to do has come across and i hope you continue to enjoy my ocs!! ❤️❤️

[task800]

started slapping together a floppy lil prompt post about a northara oneshot where they represent fight versus flight (on first glance) but also flight versus fight (on further exploration) and how north is a "blood knight" revolutionary figurehead ruthlessly fighting for androids on the macro-level while fueled by extremely personal trauma, while kara is a more conflict-averse "nobody" who's just trying to ensure the survival of a select few, fueled by the drive to protect a vulnerable alice irrespective of alice's status as human or android, and how they would be ~ narrative foils ~ or whatever the correct literature term is idr --

-- and how in that process the fic would go on to depict north as this fierce thing who's terrified of the vulnerability that comes with interpersonal intimacy, who struggles to let herself love and be loved - who insists she doesn't need to be loved - because she's been so viscerally wounded before, and how this is her way of protecting her heart --- and kara being this soft-spoken gentle paradigm of "good girl" traits, who appeases as a survival strategy, and who narrows her sense of purpose down to the wellbeing of a little girl while subconsciously editing her own beliefs, herself, in a desperate attempt to be "good enough" to deserve love --

-- and then kara turning that love-hunger and unwavering reciprocity onto north, saying with her mouth "i don't want to fight" while the memory of todd's gun haunts her hands, knowing full well that she can and will kill for her own -- and north looking at kara and seeing this exhausted woman who has and continues to do everything in her power to be acceptable and worthy of love and affection, who deluded herself across a burning city into thinking alice was human because she still measures her own worth through her consumability to humans, when north never wants to be consumed again --

but it got out of hand and now it's probably gonna be a multi-post thing because it went from 'short prompt' to tolstoy-length meandering and i think im gonna have to chop it up just for the sake of my brain

[majoraop]

Prisoner Mine

KIDD AWAKES with a jolt, jumping up. He’s still bound to the floor, but at least he’s sitting now. It takes some time for his senses to adjust, then he frowns at his new reality: captivity. Captivity in Wano.

   Being a low-ranking underling is not fitting for a pirate of Kidd’s calibre, so he’s rejected Kaido’s proposal, but this decision has meant the end of freedom: his own, his men’s, and especially Killer’s. Kidd clenches his jaw, his narrowed eyes two red slits in the dim light of dawn. The cell is sodden in the early morning; a regular person would have frozen by now, but he’s used to travelling across all kinds of seas even in absurd weather conditions.

   Kidd yaws through his spinning head and throbbing temples. He has never had a night of good sleep since being imprisoned. To survive, he has imposed on himself to rest only a few minutes or hours at most, yet voices or noises or demons—imaginary and not—would unfailingly wake him up. Sometimes, it’s the weeping or screaming; some other times, the rumbling of his starving stomach or the wailing in pain of a fellow inmate. Finally, there are the nightmares: losing his ship, losing his crew, losing his dream… everything. But more than being tired, injured, and hungry, Kidd is angry. Most of all, he is furious.

   I need to get out of here.

   He shall be King of the Pirates, not Kaido’s slave!

   Then, Kidd remembers the seastone shackles binding his arm. He curses under his breath. He has been doing that—cursing, resisting the urge to give up, and then cursing again—for weeks. That has become his daily routine: almost a new hobby of his. After all, pirates are excellent at finding ways to pass the time, a skill particularly useful when you’re out at sea, stuck in calm waters, without anything better to do while waiting for the wind again to rise.

   […]

   Some voices catch Kidd’s attention. He sniggers viciously, recognising them. His torturers. They still try to break him every once in a while, but he has not given in. He will not give in. And yet... Kidd won’t admit it even to himself, but he’s relieved that those losers are busy with the new prisoner: a dark-haired young man, scrawny as a knife, eyes bright with life. Kidd has stumbled before those burning torches before: usually joyful, they would turn unfailingly fierce whenever some careless pirate or marine alike dared to hurt Monkey D Luffy’s mates.

   Kidd has never believed all the stories about the infamous son of the most wanted man in the world—the leader of the Revolutionary Army—and a Marine Vice Admiral’s grandson. Kidd has never believed them despite Luffy often appearing in newspapers as the protagonist of significant events like the incident at Marineford or, later, the fall of the usurper king of Dressrosa. Kidd scoffs; news is just entertainment, not something telling the truth. Besides, is there is a “truth” to begin with? No… not in a world ruled by false gods whose “justice” is crueller than the very pirates they pretend to protect regular citizens from. Nevertheless, he must admit that the brat is a tough one. Luffy has resisted so far, but the worst has yet to come. Kidd knows what they will do to him since he has gone through it too: Kaido specially trained his men to break prisoners’ will, and they are disgustingly good at it.

   At this very moment, Kidd hears the guards outside talking about the poor twig…

   “They should leave him to me. I would love to pierce those hateful eyes! Did you see how they looked when he got captured? I assure you, that’s not a slave’s gaze; better to extinguish the flame within, we’ve not time to waste.”

   “Forget about it,” the second guard states. “We can’t damage prisoners too much, or they’d become useless. Even if everyone is talking about this Monkey D Luffy, he’s just a kid; he’ll break eventually—like anyone.”

   “Not anyone!” Kidd hisses under his breath. He has not broken. Sure, he’s hurt from the injuries and from seeing his own men tortured. The worst, Killer being unable to smile (actually smile) ever again. Nevertheless, Kidd has not yielded. His crew knows and accepts he won’t ever kneel before another man. Kidd is grateful to them, and never submitting to Kaido is his way to repay his companions.

   And yet… Killer being forced to swallow a SMILE fruit—it’s been tough to withstand. His first and closest friend, reduced to an emotional mess, crying while forcibly laughing as that cursed fruit infected his blood, mixing with his very DNA to create a freakish being who, no matter what kind of emotion, always and always, unfailingly smiles, accursed images which keep appearing in Kidd’s nightmare-infested nights.

   “Then, at least, we could have some fun with him.” The first guard’s voice echoes again beyond Kidd’s cell bars. “This new kid looks quite... nice—if you know what I mean.”

   Kidd grimaces at the lustful expressions on the guard’s face as he elbows his pal. More sun rays finally reach even this hellish place, and Kidd can see them better. The air is becoming slightly warmer, but he is not in the mood to appreciate it.

   “Queen tried that already,” the second guard replies, “but it didn’t work to break the prisoner’s spirit. Instead, his eyes turned even fiercer… He’s securely shackled and everything, or I bet he would be tearing his bandages off while snapping at anyone coming close to him. He’s like a wild animal!”

   Kidd recalls the grunts and muffled screaming of the night before, confirming his suspicions. Kidd’s pride and body have been tarnished, too. He still remembers everything as clearly as if happening all over again: the pain, the shame, the smell.

   “Next time, it will be King itself. Or so I’ve heard.”

   “Wait, is King into such stuff as well?”

   “Naah…” The first guard shakes his head. “…but he’ll do worse.”

   Kidd sees the sadistic man licking his lips in anticipation: that bastard is having fun.

   After Queen and King and Kaido, I’ll kill you too. I’ll kill every one of you!

   Kidd feels the urge to smash the smirk off the guard’s face, but he is suddenly aware he cannot breathe. He feels a cold shiver as his mind forcibly pulls him back into the torture King put him through. He knows what is next for the new prisoner: deprivation of sleep. That’s nearly driven Kidd insane. Close to begging, he has been spared the humiliation only because King has gotten summoned by Kaido in the middle of it. Since then, the winged pirate has luckily been busy with the new inmates.

   Kidd closes his eyes. He has gone close to begging. Begging! He feels disgusted with himself for almost breaking, for nearly giving up. His hand trembles so much the seastone shackles clatter, covering the sounds of his rattled breathing.

   I must do something.

   Soon, the small brat will experience that same hell. Kidd feels something strange. Something new. He tries to analyse what it is. Pity, perhaps? No, not really. Luffy is younger than him, yet a pirate nonetheless. Kidd has injured and tortured, killed countless fellow pirates. He is not a saint—not in the slightest. But he has never tried to enslave people, to break their wills.

   No, maybe it’s something else.

   Just camaraderie, probably. An expected feeling towards another pirate from the Worst Generation like Kidd himself—and that smug-faced Law.

   Trafalgar Law hasn’t broken, either.

   Kidd smiles. Maybe there is still hope. Maybe they can work together—just this one time. Maybe, if they fight back to back, they can overthrow even Kaido: the three of them, Eustass Kidd, Monkey D Luffy, and Trafalgar Law—plus other pirates of the Worst Generation like Luffy’s second mate… Maybe, all together, they have a chance.

   I don’t like alliances—temporary or perpetual—but I must do this for you.

   Kidd’s thoughts get pulled back, hunted once again by the image of his closest friend, Killer, laughing grotesquely as the SMILE curses him. After that, he has not been the same anymore: Killer has picked an alias, masqueraded himself as a ronin, and began wandering.

   Please don’t go completely insane before I get out of here.

   Kidd scoffs at his own mental plea. Is he starting to get soft? Worst, is his spirit on the brink of breaking? No… So long as a plea, a wish, a foolish hope stays confined within his steel-silent heart, his—their situation is still somewhat, somehow manageable: Kidd’s composure and fame as a cruel pirate will not be affected by just what stays hidden in the depth of his sturdy, rusty soul.

---

   On the following day, Eustass Kidd would approach Monkey D Luffy.

   No longer after that, every man and woman confined in Prisoner Mine would regain their freedom in the wake of the breakout preceding Kaido’s fall and the return of Nika, the Liberator of the People.

My story for the One Piece Big Bang 2023, kindly illustrated by @ninhaoma-ya with two colourful fanarts of Kidd and Luffy! ^^ artwork #1 | artwork #2

CONTENT WARNING: Mention of off-screen torture and abuse (without graphic descriptions).

RELATIONSHIPS: Kidd & Killer, Kidd & Luffy.

TAGS: eustass kid; eustass kidd; prisoner mine; wano; canon-divergence; angst

SPOILERS: up to the ending of Wano

SUMMARY: Despite being locked up in Prisoner Mine, Eustass Kidd won't break. One day, a new prisoner gets locked there, too: Monkey D Luffy. While pondering about his situation and the fate of Killer and his other crewmates, Kidd hears the guards talking about Luffy and ultimately decides to approach the younger pirate.

AUTHOR’S NOTES: “Prisoner Mine” is a slightly canon-divergence fanfic (but with the same outcome as in the manga/anime) featuring a darker take on some of the Wano events. Not much plot involved, just exploring Kidd's thoughts and experimenting with a new writing style. I couldn’t get a beta reader for this story, so if you find anything to fix please let me know!