#might start wearing headwraps again

[the-winds-of-destiny-xxx]

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[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

Hii ik saw me many times but i love your blog so much about hobie and Miguel i have questions have any hc hobie being west African hc of that been there since watched movie i cannot get it out

I AM GOING TO SCREAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM AT THIS BECAUSE YES YES I CAN

(also sorry if this is kinda Yoruba centric!! cause that's the area I know the best - for reference I myself am Bajan/Quechua (West Indies - Barbados / Indigenous Peruvian))

West African!Hobie Headcanons:

And because I'll never get a chance to talk about this again I'm gonna start off with the one I love most and the one people know most about (and that is demonized - literally - the most)

Hobie and Vodou (aka VooDoo):

Yeah, I said it. Hobie can work. He got juju. He rootworks. He conjures. Whatever iteration, whatever title - if Hobie followed any religion it would either be Buddhism, which some argue that some sects can double as a moral philosophy,

-If he'd respect any religion. It'd be a Traditional African one and I'm putting money on Vodou.

[And heads up, I am not an initiate of Vodou, but I do actively practice African Traditional Spirituality (HooDoo/Rootworking) and Ancestral Worship. So take from that what you will.]

First of all - how punk would that be??? A West African religion demonized by the western world for centuries from Africa to Haiti to Louisiana - that praised ancestral worship and community first???

YES PLEASE. Some people might not really understand all of this but:

First things first, yes, he speaks Yoruba and if you call it 'Speaking African' he's going to flay you alive.

Like????? Hobie sweet talking in Yoruba??? I'll throw my self on the floor right now!!

Hobie practicing ancestor worship - and thanking all the oppressed people who gave their lives and suffered daily so he can live his life?

He'd have an altar in his house, a small one he keeps out of sight, even to Gwen.

Leaves offerings and bits of his meal on the altar. Cause he was once food insecure, but now that things are a little better, he can do that

Like even if he practiced a form of HooDoo or another sect that derives from Traditional African Spirituality (that doesn't involve initiation)

He'd want to give back to his ancestors, learn how to use natural herbs and work them, learning how to make powders, doing floor washes, sweeping a certain way

And having all of these routines related to his African spirituality that are so subtle but he thinks about always

Prays to his ancestors to give him strength when he's struggling with being Spiderpunk

BUT IMAGINE IF HE WAS INTITATED THO ????

Hobie in all white during ceremony???????

HOBIE BEING A CHILD OF SHANGO??????????

NAH THEY AINT READY FOR IT

But even so -whatever Orisha got that boy head be putting in WORK.

And you know he keeps his beads on forever and always even under the suit!!!!

And the style!!! Hobie AfroPunk?!!!

I don't know if they have this elsewhere, but in NYC there's a music festival called AfroPunk - and it's full of black artists, and black people come out in these amazing outfits - and the goal is to incorporate as much African influence as possible

HOBIE WOULD EAT THIS UP.

The inside of his vest being lined with African textile!!

He takes it off in front of you and you see that little pop of that of classic orange-gold color

You just know he's wit it!!!

And the BEADS

(He should wear beads he's royalty compared to the raggedys at HQ)

[Cough] red and white shango beads [Cough]

Imagine Hobie giving his girlfriend a coral bead bracelet too AWWW

And telling them the significance??!!

He loves a woman in a headwrap. GELE ESPECIALLY but any type

And if you wear waistbeads UMMMMMMMM

As soon as he sees it peeking from under your shirt - IT'S GAME OVER

He's gonna wanna test if they working how they supposed to IF YOU KNOW YOU KNOW.

AND The FOOD!

First of all - Hobie hates that British manners shit.

Was raised eating with his hands and loves it

He hates old white people who wanna stare cause he eats with his hands

He loves goat. Not me projecting he LOVES goat.

He really appreciates rice based dishes because they can fill you up - and you can't just buy them anywhere

Prefers Waakye to Jollof Rice but still loves Jollof

With FUCK UP some Fufu if he can get it

I say he eats standing up so he's just there at his kitchen counter eating Fufu and the most random shit in his fridge???

Like he'll be eating left over KFC with fufu - like what are you doing??? Thats - not a meal bro

He loves Okra (ew nasty ass) and he'll eat it all the time.

Especially fried okra but okra soup is cool too he's fine with that

His fried plantains go INSANE. They go SO HARD. They're to die for

He always picks the sweetest ones and it cooks them till they're all caramelized and shit YUMMMMM

(can you tell I like my plaintains sweet and soft cause I DO)

Extra Headcanons

He was not playing that when Gwen first came over - as soon as she stepped on the houseboat with shoes he was like "Girl-"

The first time Peter B. heard him speaking Yoruba he went "Wow, Hobie, Your Nigerian is great!"

Hobie, who already hates Peter B, looked at him like he was the dumbest mfer on earth like

'Right, and you speak American, right? Fucking bellend. I hate you. 'Nigerian'. It's Yoruba.'

(He's only saying that cause he hates Peter personally and wants him to have a bad day)

Meanwhile Gwen was nice enough to just ask "What language is that?" (The correct way to do it, do not assume language names like Peter)

First time he went over to Peter B.'s place (on Gwen's insistence), Mary-Jane accidentally swept over his feet before setting her purse on the floor

and in the moment he knew he had to leave.

He's a streetkid, but since he's in the neighborhood so much he has like 45 different women he calls auntie - and they make sure he has good food to eat because 'you are so skinny! you need to eat more.'

He does that auntie shit where you're walking with him and you see someone you know and now they're in a long ass conversation

Or when he says 'goodbye' then stands by the door having a conversation and you're standing there in your coat like....'fam are we out or not cause i can sit back down'.

He always goes to meet the elders of whatever house he's in to introduce himself, very respectful of black elders and enjoys helping old the older black folk in his neighborhood.

He enjoys giving them respect and hearing their stories, helping around the house. Plus he gets great food out of it

ANNDD That's all of them I think!! Sorry if any of these were off the mark - a lot of these are from personal things I know about West Africa and things learned through Spirituality. I hope I got everything okay!

Thanks for this by the way I LOVE Hobie and culture you know he'd be SO proud!!

[If you've read this far - maybe take some time out to learn a bit about African religions - they're beautiful practices (open to black people - we're worshipping black ancestors) - but you can still learn about them and understand how modern culture often demonizes these types of religions. If anything, I hope you learned a little from this! Hoodoo, Vodun (VooDoo), and Santeria (Latino witchcraft) are not scary, dark practices!] And because I spoke about spirituality, imma put this here cause DO not be playing yknowwhatimean

🧿

[cave-monkey]

Monkey King Episode 8 (Part 2/2)

*BUSTS THROUGH THE DOOR* All right, time to finish this!

It's been two days since I watched this episode let's see what stuck.

"The Six-Eared Macaque has six ears! Isn't he really cute?"

Ginseng Fruit thinks Six Ears is cute. Canon.

Okay, so. The fake bunny ears? Absolutely adorable. Holy shit. These kids are the cutest. Jade Rabbit's body dysmorphia is probably on a level to qualify as the full disorder, and that's less cute and more sad and distressing, but it's so nice this attempt at comforting her worked and they were able to make her feel a little better about it.

Stone Monkey was so worried about her, too! Six Ears was clearly only there as emotional support (desperately needed, because Stone Monkey was not doing okay) since he had no idea who she was and Ginseng Fruit just didn't like her, but Stone Monkey probably would have started ripping the island apart stone by stone to find her if they hadn't managed to coax her out. He was worried! And emotionally unstable about it! Ginseng Fruit losing their patience and insulting her got them attacked.

Like, it took Marshal Ma a multi-episode timespan to wear Stone Monkey down enough to have him almost lunging for Marshal Ma's face. Ginseng Fruit got there in about two sentences. Even Six Ears was pretty alarmed about it. (Six Ears trying to comfort an angry and distressed Stone Monkey by cautiously reaching out to touch his shoulder from an entire arm's length away is very monkey of him. I just had to note that.)

Also that thing again of Stone Monkey's genuine anger being pretty violent. And how much quicker he is to lose it if the ones you're jabbing sticks at are his friends and not him.

I can't even really blame Ginseng Fruit for being upset they were spending so much time and energy checking on Jade Rabbit, since from Ginseng Fruit's perspective she was actively trying to hurt/kill the two of them nearly since Ginseng Fruit met her. They have reason to not like her and not want Stone Monkey around her. Still not the time or place, but their concern and frustration was understandable!

From Stone Monkey's perspective, what's a little attempted murder between friends, I guess? They had a Bash Brothers bonding moment against the Demon King's army before Jade Rabbit's headwrap was knocked off and she panicked, so clearly it's all square now. She was just upset! She didn't even manage to actually hurt them! It's fine! It's also possible he blames Ginseng Fruit for Jade Rabbit being angry at all, since if Ginseng Fruit had just stayed away from him like Stone Monkey had wanted them to, and hadn't tagged along, they never would have had a chance to run their mouth and set her off. Which isn't really fair, but. Stone Monkey barely seems to tolerate Ginseng Fruit at this stage of their relationship and that was true even before all this went down. I'm not sure he would be fair. Especially not when they're shouting insults his already hurting friend might be able to hear.

Six Ears got them to work it out, of course, but I definitely noticed that Ginseng Fruit's tears weren't even enough to rock that look of utter disdain until Six Ears scolded Stone Monkey about it.

(Ginseng Fruit: *sobbing*

Stone Monkey: Suffer.

Six Ears: Hey. Hey, isn't it funny how all your friends keep getting sad around you?

Stone Monkey: 😟*🎶SHOT THROUGH THE HEART🎶*)

Six Ears really did go for the throat, though. Jade Rabbit wasn't even Stone Monkey's fault! Don't imply it is! He'll believe it if it comes from you!

I thought it was pretty funny and cute though, that Six Ears apparently just took it upon himself to carry Ginseng Fruit around while they were accompanying Stone Monkey. Looking at all of this though, it might also have been him just trying to keep Ginseng Fruit alive. He put Ginseng Fruit down for FIVE SECONDS and in the next scene they're picking a fight with an already upset Stone Monkey and almost getting their skull crushed in. They were right back on Six Ears's hip in the next shot lol. Can't take these guys anywhere.

But in reality it was probably just Six Ears's self-appointed Monkey Kinda-Maybe-Prince Boy Scout babysitting reflexes kicking in. He accompanied an upset Stone Monkey to go find this other friend of his, saw this little guy with tiny little legs trying to keep up with them (and especially Stone Monkey who was probably not in the mood to slow down or have Ginseng Fruit on him), and just scooped without a second thought. And Ginseng Fruit likes him! At least if their comment about Six Ears being cute later is anything to go by. You have a stalwart fan now, Six Ears. You carried them, spoke up for them a bit, and now they will die for you. Ginseng Fruit does nothing by halves.

This episode had so much character relationship building in it. I loved it a lot. The actual editing of the episode was a bit more like a fever dream or like the guy storyboarding it hadn't slept in a week, so I hope they're all right, but the writing was hitting all the beats. It was so good. Easily my favorite.

[littlemessyjessi]

And another thing! Where is the representation of my melanin queens on every day things?! I’m just really upset about alot of fanfiction right now.  Like, I don’t get it.  I’m using every fucking piece of information that I have gathered from my godmother, an indescribably beautiful melanin goddess, over the years and I’m using it in fucking fanfiction because it’s fucking important.  For example:

My godmother, Dana, is a STUNNING black woman.  She was there for me when my birth mother would straight up drop me on her doorstep and I would see her for months. 

Dana, the queen that she is, is a beacon of light and information. 

I had an interesting childhood.  

I’m a mixture of a lot ethnicities to be honest and I spent my childhood back and forth between two countries if you want to know the truth about it.   But when I was in the USA, I was supposed to spend time with her which lasted for all of about two weeks full of abuse.  Looking back, honestly being with Dana is probably what saved me. 

Anyway, personally I’m a red head but my curl pattern is somewhere between 4B and 4C.  Naturally, it has a tendency to be frizzy and is heavy on the dry side.  I have my mother’s hair. 

Dana knew this, as she grew up with my mother and actually has a very similiar hair texture. It’s just that her’s is dark. So she knew exactly how to handle me when my mother jumped ship. 

And my dad didn’t know how to do that.  He’s Serbian and white. Not to mention the fact that he worked all the time over the road trying to provide for his four children. He wasn’t around much but it wasn’t because he didn’t want to be.  It’s just that someone had to provide for us and that was him.  Side note:  All of have different mothers and they’re all crazy.   I think he has a type.  He didn’t turn them crazy.  No, no. They were like that when he met them.  I just think he’s a glutton for punishment. 

Anyway, the hair. That was a foreign language to him.  I mean, he tried but he was hopeless until Dana legit showed him. 

This fucking angel introduce me to the bonnet when I was four. Four.  To this day, I refused to go to bed without a bonnet.  

She also introduced me to protective hair styles and the concept of a damn headwrap.  Which is fucking life changing mind you.  My cuban fiance, Valentina, bonded over this when we first started talking because she video calls me one morning to talk to me while we were getting ready for our respective days. 

Of course, I answer.  Still in my pjs, bonnet on my head and slathering myself in shea butter.  Again, thank you Dana for your life changing knowledge of shea butter and cocoa butter.  I attribute my good skin to you, love. I’m in my late twenties now and honestly I don’t really look any different as to what I did when I was eighteen.  Perhaps, it’s genes.  But I think it was Dana and her knowledge. 

Anyway, we’re sitting there talking and all of a sudden Val just has the biggest smile on her face and I’m like, what?

And she was just like, “I love that you have your bonnet on.” 

And I was like, “Uh, ok? Should I not?” 

And we got into a whole discussion about it and how it’s viewed.   

Listen, if I am deep conditioning my hair I will walk straight out this house with a bonnet on and not give a single fuck.  You think I’m playing but I am not.  And that’s my point.   I don’t know why things like this are looked at differently and I’m sick of it.   

What’s even more disgusting is that I would get less looks for it than a black woman.  Why?  Because regardless of the fact that I actually came out of an extremely deeply darkly skinned woman, I pass as white. 

That god damn statement enrages me to my core.  The fact that I, someone who passes as white, can do basic things like wear a bonnet or a headwrap and while I may recieve some strange looks here and there..... it’s really nothing. 

Whereas a woman of dark complexion has a totally different experience.  And that enrages me.   I used to lose my temper over it when I was about 10 or so and Dana would take me to the movies on Sundays.  That was always deep conditioning day and so we went in our bonnets.  And these mother fucking girls would snicker and point and act like fools.  I, all 4′11′’ of me, nearly got into a fight with them b/c I have a short fuse on a big bomb.  But Dana just pulled me back and told me not to worry about it.  But I was upset.  Dana is literally one of the most beautiful people I have ever met, inside and out.  And I couldn’t understand how someone could be so nasty.   We had a talk that day about skin and why it was different.   I mean, I knew Dana and I have different colors to us but I never thought much about it to be honest.  

She was very honest with me in her experiences and she told me that we were different and even though that shouldn’t make a difference at all, for some people it did. 

Cue tiny preteen Kenny going on a fifteen minute rant until she gave me pineapple and tajin and told me to chill out, lol. 

Also, if you’re not putting tajin on your pineapple, what are you doing?  You’re missing out and I highly reccommend you see to it immediately. 

She told me the best thing to do was to ignore them and to just live my life.  And I see her point but I also don’t.  Because if you always look the other way then nothing changes b/c it just keeps getting swept under the rug.   

Dana is a lot nicer than me.  And perhaps, she’s smarter b/c she’s older and she just knows more than me.  But I will not stand for this! 

I realize how ridiculous that may sound but I don’t care.  I will call someone out on it in a heartbeat. 

I just get heated about things I feel strongly about. 

So all this to say that I was listening to this video where a girl was talking about how upset she was about the lack of representation in fanfiction and I was just consumed with anger b/c she’s right! 

And I was just so pissed. Poor Val listened to me rant forever before she just called Dana and was like, ‘Please calm down your child.” 

Because yes, as far as I’m concerned, Dana is my mother.  Not my birth mother. 

And, lol, Dana told her, “Just give that little hot cheeto some pineapple and tajin. Or make her some kool aid.  She’s just gotta rant for a minute and get it out of her system.” 

And Val said, “I tried to give her kool aid.  She spazzed out and drank half a pitcher.  Now she’s on a sugar high and she’s worse.” 

I’m assuming Dana told her to just hand over the phone and she promptly told me to calm down before she came over to deliver an ass whoopin.  

And then she asked me what was wrong and so I told her. 

And so she said, “Just write the fanfiction how you want it.   That’s what you’ve always done. So if you want to see mentions of bonnets in stories, start putting them in.   Make it a point to create scenes that specifically give you an opportunity to showcase some of that stuff.  Talk about the struggles of finding a foundation that actually matches your skin tone.  Talk about wash days and co washes.  And for the love of the all mighty, please mention to someone to put some damn lotion on their elbows and knees.  I’m tired of seeing these ashy ass people.” 

And we talked for quite some time about it and she made me feel better.  Like she always does.  I didn’t come out of her but Dana has always been my mother.  And always been there for me.  Always given me the best advice.   Always knew just what to say when my emotions wreck me. 

So I know a lot of you like my reader content and I’ll continue to do that. I promise.  I mostly just do plus size reader. But maybe we’ll include some specific POC plus size reader.  I mean, that’s not new for me.  I’ve done that before but you get my point.  The only way to get passed some of these irritations and unfairness is to normalize it to the point of common knowledge. 

And you might be seeing more and more POC OC’s from me.  This isn’t new either as I’ve got plenty of them.  But you might see an influx lol.  Because I’m upset about it and b/c it’s deserved.  You know what I mean?  

Also, for the love of god, please please please if you are writing reader insert when you are talking about someone blushing... jesus christ, Dana could be embarassed and you’d never know b/c she is literally as dark as a dark chocolate bar.   Blush doesn’t show on her skin tone and I can imagine it doesn’t show on a lot of deeper skin tones.  It doesn’t on Valentina and she’s cuban caramel candy.  

There are other ways.  Like heat creeping up the neck or whatever.  You know what I mean.  

Also, the ‘he ran his fingers through my hair’ bit?  Ugh.  First of all, with my hair.... I’d like to see them try.  Second, don’t. touch. my. hair.  

Just saying.  There are other ways.

Anyway, thanks for listening. 

And Dana, if you’re reading, cause I know you come read my stories sometimes- thank you for listening and giving me good advice.  As you always have.  I love you and I’m just really thankful you’ve always been there for me and taught me so much.  I love you, Mama D.

Love, 

Kenny

Also, ya’ll pray for me.  I have a whole pitcher of kool aid, that I made so it has way too much sugar in it.  And if I can’t calm myself down, Valentina may murder me.  And ya girl is trying to get some tonight, lol. 

P.S. If she does away with me and you never find my body, someone just tell Idris Elba, Queen Latifah, Sebastian Stan and Aaron Taylor Johnson that I love them and that I died well.  

Probably not though.  

Valentina is mean.  She’d make me die a slow and horrible death. 

Like depravation of cuddles and chocolate. 

The horror. 

Shit, I like her feisty though. 

Anyway, I’m rambling. 

I love y’all and that’s really all I had to say about the issue lol. 

[angelruel]

free time

a ruel fic that was never meant to be taken seriously

summary: in which the girl that Ruel leaves a voicemail for in “Free Time” calls him back which ultimately ends in them agreeing to meet up for closure. this is trash I wrote it so long ago lmao sorry. quality work coming soon.

masterlist

Word Count: 3.8k (too long)

      There is nothing Y/N wants more than to see Ruel right now. She’s sure that he’s going to hug her when he sees her, even if it’s just a pity hug. And she can’t wait for it. Of course, she’s going. The problem isn’t the fact that they’re about to see each other for the first time in two months. The problem is what he told her last night. And what she told him when she called back.

      Y/N can’t even explain how this all happened. The pitiful voicemail from him and the lengthy phone call they had afterwards all seemed years away now. The mental assurance she had with herself that she refused to be hurt again all somehow seemed to be irrelevant. How could she be so foolish to admit that she missed him? He clearly did not care about her after what he did. Even though her stubborn persona can be an impenetrable force to almost everyone who encounters it, Ruel has been granted full access. And he knows it, too. That’s why she’s in the process of getting ready to see him for dinner despite having promised herself that she’d never see him again only two months prior. As much as she doesn’t want to admit it, she’s pretty sure that the only reason Ruel reached out was because he was bored and needed something to give inspiration while writing the new album. Or maybe he was just drunk.

       Y/N is the queen of communicating without saying actual words, and that’s just what she plans on doing tonight. He already knows that she’s broken from this split due to her big mouth and slipping fingers. She refuses to let anything else get out tonight. For example, she’s not going to tell Ruel that ever since he left the apartment to her, she hasn’t been able to sleep without a constant noise being played in the background to make her feel safe. Or how she cuddles his pillow to actually close her eyes. And she definitely won’t be mentioning her constant phone calls to her best friends in the wee hours of the night sobbing about how she’s ruined the best thing that’s ever happened to her. Or the fact that it is quite impossible to miss Ruel because she sees him every night in her dreams. None of that will be discussed tonight. He’s going to be the one doing all of the talking. Hell, he’s the one who begged her to meet him in the first place.

       Even though she was never going to say no.

       The two outfit options say all that Y/N can’t manage to put into words. On the right side of her bed, she laid down some very soft light wash jeans along with her favorite maroon sweater—the same sweater that Ruel used to throw in the dryer to heat up for her on the nights she was especially needy. It’s also what she had on the day he left, and what she wore for the three days after. Yeah, she probably shouldn’t do that to either of them. But the sweater will let him know the truth. As soon as Ruel sees the signature color, he’ll know that she hasn’t been fine. He will automatically be able to picture her pressing a hand to her chest and sobbing only moments after he left the apartment, something that didn’t even occur to him when it originally happened. And the pity hug that Y/N is anticipating will turn into a genuine, “I’m sorry that I hurt you, but I’m here now” hug. And a very big part of her wants that to happen. She wants nothing more than to feel Ruel’s embrace once again. Just to place her head on his broad chest and feel his hands rub her back softly, a motion that was not only loving but the most comforting thing he could do for her. Maybe she should wear it. Ruel has always been a sucker for Y/N in her most vulnerable state. The slightest quiver of her lip or the formation of a tear in her eye has always set him off, immediately sending him into a nurturing state, ready to hold her and do or buy whatever to make her feel better. However, there is a small part of her that refuses to be vulnerable. This is the side of her that laid across some shorts and a tank top that she’d only worn but once on the left of her bed. Part of Y/N doesn’t want to show her true colors to Ruel even though he’ll probably see them anyway. She wants to show up in this outfit and barely make eye contact with Ruel, returning the pity hug with an embrace of sympathy for him as well. As if he hasn’t taken this well.

       Y/N puts in a request for an uber before ignoring the two outfits all together and just throwing on a simple t-shirt and jeans combo. There’s no way that clothes can say that much. And even if they did, Y/N has plenty to say on her own already.

       He’s already waiting for her at the table.

       She’s not late, but Ruel is definitely early. He wants to see her walk in. No, he doesn’t. He wants to make sure that she knows where to go. And he also wants to see the look on her face when she walks in. There are so many thoughts going through Ruel’s mind now, which are often interrupted by the waiter stopping by every few minutes to ask if he’s ready. After he replies with a, “Not yet, thanks. She’s on her way,” he continues to think about her. He remembers the look she had on her face when he gave his house key to her and he remembers how he ignored it. He remembers so many details of the breakup but for some reason he can’t remember why the hell he did it in the first place.

       All he knows is that it was for the best. And that he has been lost without her for the past two months. He’s not even going to question it, because if they were to get back together then he’s sure that he’d remember why they broke up in the first place. And he can’t break her heart again. He loves Y/N too much to even chance putting her through another heart break again.

       But isn’t that what this whole meeting intended to do? None of that matters as soon as Y/N walks in. Ruel immediately stands, unsure if she can see him or if he should walk towards her.

       She knows exactly where he is. It is pathetic to think that she suggested they meet at the Italian spot where they had their first date. Y/N almost laughs at Ruel’s predictability of what table he’s at. She sees the hopeful look in his eyes. Is it crazy to think that he might want to try again? He is the one who ended this, after all.

       Ruel sits down to wait for what seems to be forever as Y/N walks across the place to meet him. There has to be a reason why he can’t remember what prompted him to leave her in the first place. It definitely did not have anything to do with her looks. God, she looks amazing. He can tell that she spent a while contemplating her appearance for this evening because of the one piece of her hair that pokes out of the headwrap she wears seems to be burned due to her over curling it with her wand. Why is he thinking about this? He’s here to check on her since she avoided him ever since they broke up. Like his voicemail said, he just wants to “catch up.” Ruel didn’t try to force it because he wanted to give her time. But in reality? He missed her so much more than she missed him. Although he can’t remember the important details about the split, he does recall how hard it was to go through with. When he went to hand Y/N his key back, he saw the look on her face. With that alone, he was ready to scoop her up in his arms and ask her to forgive him for what he had just suggested. He knows that it was a hard decision. He knows that it was for the best.

       It’s crazy to think that this was happening to the person he thought he was going to marry. When they first started their relationship, it was one thing after another. They were only enjoying each other, each moment better than the last. He never thought that it would come to an end. Furthermore, Ruel didn’t think that it would be his idea. To think that he put a stop to the very thing that was keeping him going at one point is heartbreaking. Not only to her, but to him as well.

       Maybe they just needed time? Because looking at Y/N right here right now, Ruel is ready to pick up right where they left off. He can’t deny how much he misses her. Is two months even enough to change a person? He thought that all he needed was time away from her but after about a week he knew he’d made a mistake.

       As she gets closer, Ruel immediately remembers how he felt last night when he swallowed his pride and called her out of the blue. He felt way more vulnerable than he would ever like to admit. There is no possible way that he could ever fix what he set out and broke two months ago. In the moment, it seemed so right. Like there was nothing else to do but walk away. Is it crazy to think that she might actually take him back? He is the one who ended this, after all. But isn’t that what a relationship is, though: two people who make mistakes, love each other, and work through their problems? He can fix this. In this moment, he knows he can.

       And just like that, the meeting goes from a sincere arrangement to check on the woman that he broke to a mission of redemption.

       She reaches Ruel’s table and automatically looks down, pretending to see something on her shoe. There is plenty to be said but still a sense of mystery lingers between them, considering their last time seeing each other ended poorly. He places his hand on her shoulder. This makes her look up.

       Oh no, here it goes. The pity hug.

       As much as Y/N dreads being pitied by Ruel, if it means getting a hug from him then she doesn’t mind. She’s not sure what kind of look to give him to indicate that she’s okay with the hug, because she knows that he won’t do it if she’s not okay with it. She looks up at him. Why does he look significantly taller now? She indicates in her brain to give off friendly eye contact, unsure what she actually looks like in person.

       She looks at him like she’s over him. The kind smile he sees on her face screams, “I’m okay. Yes, you did hurt me, but I’m good now. In fact, I’m actually better for it.” Wow, maybe he can’t redeem himself. Although she seemed distraught over the phone, she seems to be doing pretty good for herself now. Nevertheless, he reaches to wrap his arms around her figure, and she leans into it. They both take in the embrace of each other for what seems to be an eternity.

       Why did they break up in the first place? Ruel has to fix this.

       When she lets go first, he looks down at her to see if the expression has changed. It has, she looks sad. She raises her hands to adjust the scarf on her head just in case the hug had damaged it in any way. Ruel tugs his hands into his pockets.

       “Hey,” he finally breathes out.

       “Hey, Ruel.” They both go to sit down, and he fights the urge to push in her seat for her when he sees her struggle to scoot in. The condensation that had pooled up around what used to be her ice water left a small stain on the tablecloth. The ice had melted, and she wonders how long she actually took to get ready.

       “How long have you been here? I didn’t mean to keep you waiting.” She really didn’t. And now she wonders how much extra time she could’ve had with Ruel tonight if she hadn’t contemplated her damn outfit for so long. Who knows the next time she’ll see him? If ever again.

       “Oh, don’t worry about it. I came a little early just because. Wanted to make sure I got here first in case you were lost.”

       The silence between them returns and seems to take every ounce of Y/N’s hope with it.

       Ruel really does want to know how she is, but he doesn’t want to make any wrong moves. If he’s going to get this relationship back then he can’t make it seem like he’s okay with being without her. His heart signals him to ask her if she forgives him. If there’s any way that they could not even start over but try to make amends and continue to build what he tried to destroy. Somehow, what comes out of his mouth is “How are you?”

       She hesitantly replies, “I’m okay, how’ve you been?”

       “It’s been alright. The sessions have been great.” She looks at him to tell her more because she’s genuinely interested. And the longer that they talk off topic, the longer it’ll take before they have to discuss what actually brought them both here.

       He doesn’t really want to talk too much. After all, this is about her. To see how she’s been. Well, to get her back actually. But he continues anyways. Because he does not want the night to end.

       “I feel like there’s a difference in what I’m doing now from the way I used to record. It all feels very different. In a really good way, though.” A look of realization flashes over Y/N’s face, and he gives her a confused one right back.

       “Happy belated Birthday. I’m sorry. It crossed my mind.”

       He smiles. “Thank you. And you don’t have to be sorry.”

       The silence is back. There’s no more hope left for it to take from Y/N. So instead, a little bit of Ruel’s confidence is stripped away.

       He was just about to say it, but now he’s not so sure. And Y/N seems to have gotten quite comfortable with the awkwardness as he watches her pick through her salad. If he doesn’t say it, what’s gonna happen? There’s no way that she’ll be able to go back home and feel relieved if she’s still in love with him. He shouldn’t put her through any more pain though. If she’s truly healed and grown from the break up, he should leave her be. Let her stay on the shelf where he left her before continuing to live his own life. She seems to be put back together now, and if he really loves her then he’ll give her a chance at real happiness without him.

       Fuck that.

       “Do you think there’s any way that we could ever,” he struggles to finish his sentence. Partially because he doesn’t know what the hell he’s trying to say. But he knows what he wants, and he knows that there’s no way he’ll be able to get that by keeping his mouth closed.

       Her heart thumps. What exactly is happening right now? Is he about to ask for a friendship? Because even though it’s going to truly hurt her, she’ll do it for him. She’ll do anything. When he looks up, she can see that he’s cursed away whatever it is that was holding him back the first time.

       “I’m trying to see where you are with this. I know, I know you said that you missed me and that you didn’t want this in the first place.”

       She cuts him off. “Okay, you do understand that this wasn’t a mutual thing for me, right? I didn’t want any of this. I just wanted whatever you wanted.” She looks down.

       Y/N refuses to cry in front of Ruel. Even though it wouldn’t be the first time and he’ll know exactly what to do, she can’t bring herself to that state of vulnerability ever again. Not after confessing that she still loved him over texts. It’s over, and she refuses to let that take her back into a depressed state. It’s no one’s job to take care of her except for herself now.

       What was he to do? He just nods, puts his head down and takes in a deep breath before deciding that enough is enough. Ruel thought that “making things right” meant checking on Y/N and being supportive during the entire closure situation. But as long as they’re not together, Ruel’s not sure it will ever be enough to make either of them happy again. It seems as if breaking up didn’t fix any problems but rather put them all on hold until they saw each other again. Nothing was actually wrong with them.  He still loved her. He was still very attracted to her. And he still feared that his distant lifestyle was ultimately hurting her. At some point, his concern for them to have a stable relationship outweighed his desire to be with her. It just wasn’t possible. Was it? Is it now?

       It really doesn’t make any sense to put Y/N through any more pain, but he’s not sure what will hurt her more: leaving the situation alone or trying to repair the damage.

       “I thought I was doing the right thing,” he continues, “..by leaving you.” A look of disgust takes over her face and she just shakes her head. Tears cloud her vision and it burns, but Y/N refuses to let a single drop fall.

       Doubt and anger with himself begin to block Ruel’s focus. However, change can be painful. If both were in pain, then maybe they did have a chance.

       “Wait-stop,” she begins. Confusion floods her gaze and she continues to shake her head. “Why am I here? Why are we here, Ruel?” She looks pissed.

       Maybe they don’t actually have a chance. She seems upset. One of Y/N’s least favorite things about Ruel was his ability to hide what he was really feeling in stressful situations. This made arguing with him extremely difficult. Although she had a hard time reading him, she always had a couple of certainties in the back of her mind: She was sure that he loved her, and she was always sure that he wanted to work things out no matter how difficult they seemed. But now, she had no idea what he was feeling or if he even wanted to work this out. Despite whatever dark exterior he tried to mask his emotions with, Ruel was a sweetheart when it came to her and always tried to keep her from any emotional damage.

       Ruel sighs. “Look, this has all been so hard for me. Juggling my career with our relationship. There was always hardships and I felt like I was hurting you. I just couldn’t do that to you anymore.”

       He can feel his heart break into pieces as streams of tears stain both sides of her face. She can’t keep a strong front anymore.

       “Nothing-“ she stops for a second to sniffle and grab the napkin on her side to wipe her face.

       “Nothing ever hurt more than when you left me.”

       Ruel feels shame and regret. Knowing that he was the sole person who caused her this pain yielded a weight on his shoulders like no other.

       “I know, and I am so sorry for that. It all just happened so fast-“

       “What, your career or our relationship?” She is definitely pissed off now.

        “Both, I guess,” he lets out in a light chuckle. His attempts at lightening the mood were all but successful and Ruel couldn’t tell if he had just made things worst by telling the truth.

       “I didn’t realize that being with me caused you so much hardship, Ruel”

       “No, no, it didn’t. There was just so much I wanted to do. So much I wanted to give you. And the realities of my job took away from all of that. I just didn’t want to deprive you of a normal, stable relationship. So I pulled away.” The looks Y/N gave him as he delivered his half-assed excuses ran chills down his spine. She looks up at him like he is the only person on Earth who has ever caused any kind of pain to her. And that could very well be true.

       At least they were getting somewhere now. Even though it might not be where Ruel wanted to go.

       “That’s the thing, though. I was fine with it, I was fine with it all. As long as I was with you, I was happy. I didn’t care about the late nights or the sneaking around. I didn’t care about the invasion of privacy or the constant criticism from fans. I was perfectly happy because I had you, so none of that extra stuff even mattered.”

       “You deserve better than that, Y/N. You deserve mor-“ She cut him off again.

       “You don’t get to determine what I deserve. Only I do. And I thought I deserved to be happy with you. Or to be treated as an equal in this relationship.” Her voice chokes up at the end of her statement. It sounded like it took all but the last once of her energy to say all of that to him without crying in hysterics.

       Her right hand was resting on top of the white tablecloth next to her glass. Ruel reached his own hand over and placed it on top of hers. She didn’t pull away. He takes this opportunity to make full eye contact and give another try at reversing the damage that seems to be irreversible. His hazel orbs meet hers and they have a tender moment for the first time tonight. Ruel lightly runs his fingers on top of her hand in the same circular motion he used to rub her back.

       He takes this time to attempt to tell her what he needs to tell her without saying any words because the first few approaches didn’t go so well. The light chatter of others eating and conversating in the restaurant serves as a soothing soundtrack playing in the background of their exchange of looks. He doesn’t want to ruin this moment but he also wants to savor it. Ruel wants to make sure that he can share moments like this with her over and over again. So he takes a leap of faith. He closes his eyes to brace himself for the possible rejection and goes for it.

       “I still love you.”

[pre-raphaelitepunk]

2021 Sewing Plans

Historybounding Capsule

So, friends, these are the items I want to make this year, roughly in order of when I want to make them:

January     1) Bedgown/Adrienne - pattern TBD     2) Shift - self-drafted

February     3) All Well Cardigan     4) Seamwork Kenzie Skirt: altered to work like an 18th     C. petticoat, with separate front and back waistband, and     slits for the pockets, and adding several inches to the length

March     5) Seamwork Willis Shirt     6) Long-Sleeve Band Collar Shirt - pattern TBD: will     probably have bishop sleeves or gigot sleeves as well

Apri     7) Seamwork Nolan Pants     8) Thimble and Plume Wulsthaube to go under my current headwraps

May     9) Bum Pad - self-drafted     10) 1780s or 1790s stays - pattern TBD

June     11) Pockets - self-drafted You may have noticed that I only have projects scheduled until June for my Historybounding Capsule, and that is because I have a few other projects lined up for 2021 as well. I wanted to leave room for

Special Occasion Outfits

The whole reason I started sewing was to have clothing options that fit me for any occasion (when I thought I was getting married, I even hoped to sew my own wedding dress). There are plenty of other special occasions and I really want to have clothes that I've made to my own taste to fit my own body.

If I'm not able to make the outfit by my deadline, I'm skipping over it for another time, so I won't be piling a bunch of sewing on my to-do list for the end of the year.

Occasion              Deadline for Make

Easter/Pentecost               April 1

It's been along time since I dressed up for Easter (since childhood, to be honest), but as I've entered a more liturgical church culture, marking the Holy Days has become more important to me and one way I want to do that is by making an outfit that commemorates what is being celebrated, in this case, Easter. I will probably make this outfit from Ankara fabric, and wear it again on Pentecost Sunday, when my congregation invites everyone to wear clothing representative of their various cultures to celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit to all people in all people groups. Y'all can tell I'm being really hopeful, lol. Even though I'll probably still be attending church online, I want to join in the spirit of the service at home. I also may end up doing the Wulsthaube early, because I ~might~ want it for underneath a matching headwrap.

Summer/Pride               May 1

As a celibate bisexual woman, usually I attend Revoice, though this year was online due to COVID. Even if we're not able to meet in-person, though, I still want to have a special outfit to wear at home, or for any smaller meetups. I'm thinking of some kind of sundress or high-waisted shorts set in my light blue Ankara fabric.

Birthday               November 1

I've always wanted to make an outfit especially for my birthday. The main choices are if I'll be having something small and outside and socially-distanced or if I'll be having the skate party I wanted back in 2020. If we can be out in public without killing each other, I'm probably going to make the George and Ginger Zappa Pants for a disco-themed skate party, BUT I am also considering altering an All Well Box Dress with extra tiers and lantern sleeves to look like this Shein dress (video by SweetHime).

Christmas               December 1

I want a dress for holiday parties! And even if 2021 goes the way of 2020, I've realized that dressing seasonally adds to the experience of the season even (maybe especially) if I am not able to do the other activities that I would usually engage in. I will probably make the By Hand London Hannah Wrap Dress, in a green vintage cotton.

Quilts

More Wedding Quilts

I referenced the fact that both of my previous roommates and pretty close friends got married last year (right around this time actually). Having finished the quilt for one roomie it is time to start the other, and it will not take as long to make. I was really inspired by this kissing diamonds patterned quilt in cream and blue Nani Iro fabric by Florence from the Flossie Teacakes blog. I am going to cheat a bit and make the diamonds with half-rectangle triangles but in plain navy and cream colored fabric. My younger sister also got married and I have a quilt to make for her as well. Depending on how the Kissing Diamonds quilt goes, I may attempt a more complex quilt block, the Storm at Sea pattern, in purples, blue-greens, blacks, and grays. But if I'm short on time or don't feel like doing a complex project, I will make another kissing diamonds quilt.

The Kwanzaa Mini Quilt

My last quilting project is to finish the Kwanzaa quilt that I want to use for a table mat or the Mkeka. My project has differed wildly from the original design, but I like that it fits my improv quilting aesthetics. I didn't like that the red of that I ordered clashed with the red of the Ankara fabric backing, so I eliminated it from the design. I may have to order more of the green, black, and ivory fabric to make u for it, but that is a November 2021 problem.

Birthday/Christmas Gifts

And I haven't even factored in birthday and Christmas gifts. I will probably go back to the Seamwork Gift Guide that I used for Christmas 2020, since I already have several patterns printed, taped and I'm familiar with the construction. So, I've barely even gotten started yet, and my sewing year is already full

[ara-la]

Brilliant history of indigenous North America from Quora

Why did no ancient civilization come up the Mississippi river valley even though it had similar conditions to other river valley civilizations?

Jonathan Hall

, Sapient primate since 1996, enjoys learning about things

Updated Jan 27

· Upvoted by

Roderick White

, PhD Ancient History, University College London (2018)

It really is a pity that even today, despite all the literature, museums and outreach, even the average citizen of the eastern United States is still blissfully unaware of the complex societies whose remnants they often walk or drive right over.

Story time!

The Eastern Woodlands of the United States has been a nexus for stratified civilization since 3500 B.C. The Mississippi River area was even home to its own independent cradle of agriculture known as the Eastern Agricultural Complex, from which we still have popular vegetables like squash and sunflower. The peoples that farmed these crops have been traditionally termed the “Mound Builders”, so named for their apparent proclivity towards earthworks. The term is a bit dated now, and archaeologists today are able to differentiate specific cultures, but “mound-building peoples” is often still used to describe the cultures in general.

There have been many mound-building societies over the course of North American history. We’ll probably never know the exact political relationships, but we can identify consistencies in material culture and living patterns. The first one that really seems to take off across the board is the Hopewell:

Starting around 100 BC, sites all around the Mississippi start adopting a similar set of traits such as pottery styles, arrowhead techniques and artistic motifs, along with a much more pronounced sense of social stratification. The Hopewell appear to have begun with the Ohio Hopewell, which built upon the stratified Adena culture that existed since 1000 BC on the Ohio River valley, which connects to the Mississippi. The Hopewell greatly proliferate the number of mounds constructed in the Eastern Woodlands and diversify their uses.

One of the most iconic examples of the Hopewell are the Newark Earthworks: a series of interconnected circles, walls and moats that appear to serve as a massive lunar observatory. The Moon’s orbit ‘wobbles’ in relation to the Earth: at one extreme the orbit is rotated one way, and rotated the other way at the other extreme. The point in this cycle where the Moon’s orbital plane reaches its northernmost or southernmost extent before going back to the other is termed the lunar standstill, which produces an effect not unlike the Sun’s solstices. This happens every 18 years, 7 months and almost 10 days. The Newark Earthworks are able to track the Moon’s declination until the next standstill with remarkable precision.

Newark today. A country club still owns parts of the earthworks.

It’s possible that the Ohio Hopewell had such influence over the Eastern Woodlands that they may have started a new religious movement, or perhaps their influence was economical and assimilating their culture was better for business, or people may have simply admired parts of their culture enough to replicate it. A mix of the three may have happened, but we might never know specifically why people wanted to copy them.

What we do know was that their influence was phenomenal. The Hopewell had access to a trade network that extended all the way to the Great Lakes, the Gulf of Mexico and the Rockies, with artifacts from these regions showing up in Ohio:

In the year 500, the bow and arrow trickled southward after being introduced by the Inuit from northern Canada. This makes hunting (and fighting) much more accessible, freeing people up from their dependencies on crops and some hierarchical control.

From there the magic begins to die for the Hopewell and the societies within its sphere fall into the geographically broader-ranging Woodland period. The 500 years of the Late Woodland period saw a great intensity in fortification, a significant reduction in mound-building (though some are still built) and more numerous, smaller walled villages instead of the larger towns of the Middle Woodland’s Hopewell. This lifestyle, in some form, actually lasted in the periphery of the Eastern Woodlands until the arrival of Europeans.

By the year 1000, however, something new appears in the heart of the Mississippi. People are once again gathering in large towns and forming wealthy elites under the control of powerful rulers who began using earthworks to proclaim their legitimacy. Corn (maize) was introduced to the Eastern Woodlands in 200 BC, but had a hard time dealing with the colder climates. However, new cold-hardy cultivars had finally been developed and were taking the Eastern Woodlands by storm into a new agricultural revolution. Things were about to get corny.

Archaeologists have given these corn-crazy, mound-building chiefdoms the aptly-named title of the Mississippians:

This is where things really start getting big. The power and influence of chiefs have increased drastically into large, multi-town paramount chiefdoms, though if we’re being completely honest some of these really resemble early kingdoms and the difference is largely semantic. The massive trade networks have fired back up and are bringing in more goods than ever before. They especially love Great Lakes copper. Art, culture and religious expression have also greatly expanded and this cultural movement reaches nearly every corner of the Mississippi River watershed:

The “Sponemann Figurine” from Cahokia. The headwrap seen on her head has been documented in historical Native American tribes:

Copper plate of a falcon-eyed man from Spiro Mounds, Oklahoma:

“Crouching Man” effigy pipe from Shiloh Indian Mounds, Tennessee:

More Spiro copper plate art, including a falcon dancer (or warrior) to the left. These are replicas for Spiro’s museum exhibit:

“Conquering Warrior” effigy pipe from Spiro. The wooden slat backshield he is wearing has similarities to the armor worn by Great Lakes tribes, which also protected the head and neck in this way:

Wood duck effigy bowl, diorite. Moundville, Alabama:

Shell gorget of two dancers from the McClung Museum of Natural History & Culture in Tennessee:

But one of the most profound examples of Mississippian culture, and what everybody wants to see when they visit the sites, are of course the mounds:

Winterville Mounds, Mississippi

These are no mere piles of dirt either, but alternating layers of various clays and particulates that each have their own physical properties and ostensibly spiritual meanings to ensure the greatest structural stability and proper religious status. Most of these clays were sourced from many miles out, even when a more convenient source was nearby. Most of these mounds were built to house a temple or chief, and the larger mounds served as residential-religious complexes for the elites. When the person living on the mound died, his house was burnt with any of his belongings and a new mound was constructed atop.

The most impressive of these Mississippian mounds, still standing today (in somewhat eroded form) is Monks Mound in the archaeological site of Cahokia:

This terraced platform mound is 100 feet high, 775 feet wide, and 955 feet long; slightly larger at the base than the largest Egyptian pyramid.

The mound held multiple large buildings, including that of the paramount chief who overlooked a city we call Cahokia, the largest in pre-Columbian North America north of the Rio Grande, existing from A.D 1050 to 1350.

And there’s a highway right through it…

(A little outdated: there is evidence of clay caps on many Mississippian mounds, which means these mounds would have been a bright yellow or red instead of turf green)

The safe estimate for Cahokia’s population is around 20,000 people, but it has sometimes been given twice that. Either way, it’s reasonably impressive for the area and historical context. Our modern life has made us used to megacities spanning hundreds of thousands or millions of people, but to put 20,000 souls into perspective: This is close to the same size as London in 1200. Berlin was a quaint village of barely over a thousand at this time. Paris had very recently become a medieval metropolis at a hundred thousand people, but had floated at around 35,000 for about a millennium. The modern city of Ithaca, New York is around 30,000.

This city was America’s first melting pot, bringing in peoples from very distant regions who came for trade, religion and safety. The city was organized into districts according to class and sometimes function, including ‘industrial zones’ for production of things like beads, tools, pottery and copper art.

Outside the walled ceremonial district was a “Woodhenge”; a circular arrangement of poles that track the position of the sun like a giant solar calendar. Nearly all of the buildings are aligned to the four cardinal directions; the four directions to this day are important to many Native American tribes. Some pits within the city were dug as a source of clay and, if we can glean from historical accounts of native towns, were likely flooded and stocked with fish.

Cahokia faced many typical issues of a large early city: social order, sanitation, dietary deficiencies, and especially resource exhaustion (good timber had to be brought in from upriver). In finding a reason for Cahokia’s fall, it seems to have dealt with these okay enough. But some time after 1200 AD came an unusually wet era for the Mississippians, and all that extra rainfall drained into and rushed down the Mississippi, which would have drenched all of Cahokia but the tops of its mounds.

Interestingly, the Osage tribe, a Dhegihan-Siouan people that have one of the closest cultural similarities with the archaeological findings of Cahokia, have an origin story that draws many parallels (from Willard H. Rollings’ The Osage: An Ethnohistorical Study of Hegemony on the Prairie-Plains):

. . . in the beginning all of the Osage lived in a single village located along a river. One day the river flooded, and the Osage fled the rising waters. One group made it to the top of a hill, while others fled a nearby timbered ridge. A third group escaped to higher ground and sought shelter in a dense thicket, while a fourth group found refuge at the base of [a] hill just above the floodwaters. Some of the Osage, unable to escape, remained in the flooded village. After the floodwaters receded, the Non-hon-zhin-ga [council] insisted that the people remain in the groups they had formed during the flood. They claimed that Wa-kon-da [the Great Spirit/Mystery] wanted the people to live apart and to establish five villages . . .

After the flooding, Cahokia was still inhabited, but was a shadow of its former self. The people that lived there in the roughly 200 years until its final abandonment seem to have lived without a major elite class and used parts of Monks Mound as a garbage midden. Cahokia, once at the forefront of the Mississippian trade network, seems to have taken the long distance trade with it.

…but that’s not the end!

Mississippian culture was still alive and vibrant in the Lower Mississippi and Southeastern Woodlands (and the Middle Mississippi and Ohio River too, but the other places are more intense). However, times have changed. The lack of the Cahokian trade nexus has wrecked regional economies. Influence vacuums have formed and the world seems just a bit more dangerous. This is where history begins to rhyme a bit: there is an increase in fortification and town splitting, though not quite to the same degree. Towns are typically surrounded by a defensive wall and people move if the population gets too big, but complex hierarchies and earthworks are more active than ever. The political climate of the Southeast leads to the creation of vast open territories, with areas of dense wilderness serving to buffer the territories from large military campaigns (though light travel is still possible on trails). These territories, of course, had to be managed. And it’s during this era that we are finally able to know how the Mississippians governed themselves, at least in some parts, due to the accounts from Hernando de Soto’s entrada. In the Southeast among Muskogean (Creek) towns, the major town leader (potentially the paramount as well) was the mico/micco. Subordinate to the mico are the orata, which governed satellite towns. The iniha/heniha was an administrator served along the mico as a kind of magistrate and the yatika was the official translator. Each of these large territories was an italwa, and this word was also used to describe the largest towns ruled by micos, talofa being the smaller towns. The Caddo Mississippians in Texas and Oklahoma had the same structure, despite being on the other side of the Mississippian sphere.

Hernando de Soto’s route through areas that are known Mississippian polities. There are more archaeological sites than shown here which could possibly represent other polities.

Starting from Florida, Hernando de Soto and his entrada entered Mississippian civilization, starting with the Appalachee (to the south, off-screen of the map) and into the Mississippi River proper. There they found large capitals with their mounds and walls, and many towns had other features such as moats and levies. Some of these moats seem to have doubled as fish traps, according to de Soto’s secretary Rodrigo Ranjel who described Pacaha’s (probably the Nodena site in Arkansas) moat as ”full of excellent fish of divers kinds”.

The Parkin site in eastern Arkansas, one of the places visited by Hernando de Soto

You will often hear that from here, Hernando de Soto’s very existence caused 90% of the natives to keel over from European diseases. However, there is actually no evidence of such mass deaths, even in towns that had Spanish artifacts. To make matters even more interesting, De Soto and some other Spaniards actually fell ill and died on this journey, at a point in the journey longer than the incubation period of known European diseases, with the natives unaffected!

But the entrada still had a devastating effect on the political atmosphere. In his search for gold and the desire to continue such a journey, de Soto raided and burned towns, forcibly occupied capitals and even kidnapped paramount chiefs — people who were supposedly of heavenly descent, reduced to being bound and caged for ransom. He used his influence to alter Mississippian political relationships to his benefit and this wrecked the status quo. The paramountcies of Coosa and Cofitachequi no longer had the same kind of respect, influence and control over their territories as they once had. Political cohesion was now much more tenuous.

The entrada would not be able to walk away from the Eastern Woodlands so easily, however. Shortly before he died, de Soto tried to use his claim as son of the Sun to force the chiefdom of Quigualtam, the largest and most powerful polity of the lower Mississippi, to give them safe passage down the Mississippi…and some tribute for the road, of course. Quigualtam wasn’t buying it. After a failed overland route near Texas, De Soto’s entrada (now led by Luis de Moscoso) built some ships and tried to sail down the Mississippi as quick as humanly possible.

Quigualtam, of course, caught up with them. The small Spanish river fleet was met by Quigualtam’s fleet of nearly a hundred canoes, many of which held up to 70 people. These large canoes had awnings in the back housing the commanders; the awnings, paddles, weapons, and the boats themselves were all one color, with a different color for each boat. They sang and drummed in unison to pace their paddling; most of the songs could be summed up as “You Spaniards sure are in for it now!”. There was, naturally, a very loud scream at the end of each song.

Once the boats got close, teams of divers jumped off the boats and into the water to board the Spanish’s pinnace boats. Other paddlers stood up and began firing volleys. They managed to kill, wound and capture some people, but made the decision not to engulf them entirely — Quigualtam’s plan was not to annihilate the Spaniards, but to harass, exhaust and terrify them enough that they understood who had the real power in the Mississippi, and would tell all of their countrymen back home. Which of course succeeded: every time the Spanish thought they out-sailed Quigualtam, they would hear the shouting again and the terror would start back up.

Quigualtam’s cultural descendants are the Natchez, whose society remained strongly Mississippian well into the historic period, interacting diplomatically with the United States.

Despite this successful expulsion of the Spaniards, it was only the beginning of the end for the Mississippian way of life as a whole. European ships were conducting slave raids all around the North American coast, as well as propping up some natives to become slave raiders themselves, which only expanded ever inward. This led to an increase in warfare, famine and mass uncertainty that undermined the political structure of the Eastern Woodlands, leading to the breakup of most Mississippian polities. It was only when the stresses from raids and starvation was at its peak that the first epidemics begin to sweep through; these events had lowered the immune system of natives. The Native American slave trade continued well into the age of the British colonies and early U.S., where Savannah, Georgia was an important port for the export of Native slaves.

De Soto’s accounts were buried in the libraries of New Spain, records of English colonial interactions with remaining Mississippian polities fell into obscurity, and the survivors of the Mississippian breakup had long since adopted new, somewhat more egalitarian lifestyles. Many of the old Mississippian towns and cities were revisited again as abandoned mounds. Rather than believe they were built by the ‘savage’ Indians they were killing and enslaving, people came up with numerous myths of other more prestigious people who came to America before them, only to be killed off by the current inhabitants. The Aztecs. Hindus. Babylonians. The Lost 13th Tribe of Israel. The Welsh. Anyone but the indigenous people. Thomas Jefferson was one of the first, after archaeological digs of his own, to suggest that the mounds were in fact built by Native Americans.

But the myth had always persisted. In fact, some pseudo-scientific circles to this day still deny the origins of the mounds in favor of their preferred civilization. And the lack of respect Americans have had for the mounds is exhibited by their constant destruction throughout American history. Massive temple platforms were excavated so their clay could be used for road fill or embankments. Some were simply in the way of progress: right across the river from Cahokia was the remains of a smaller city which was nearly completely torn down to make room for St. Louis. Only one deeply eroded Sugarloaf Mound remains. Many Mississippian sites are still on private land, their artifacts routinely dug up by plows while their discoverers don’t think much of it.

This has been simply another front of a campaign as old as the United States itself to destroy and mask the history and culture of Native Americans, so as to put European-American history and culture at the forefront. Today, we are more sensitive to the real history before the United States, and also have the power and resources to protect and educate. But the damage inflicted over the centuries has been done, and we are still reeling from its effects. It will take a while before Americans really truly become aware of their country’s pre-European past and realize it’s something to be celebrated, not quietly ignored. Until then, we should try to educate and raise awareness as much as we can.

As you can see, the Mississippi River did indeed give birth to some quite complex societies. You might also be wondering: why didn’t all this complexity happen earlier? Or reach the political strength of other river valley civilizations?

Well, first off I don’t think you can ever get a detailed answer to that. Many people like to fall on geography as the sole determiner of human society, but humans, as we all know, are complicated and do not like to follow the rules. Nevertheless, while the fertility of the Mississippi watershed can’t be overstated, the region is also perhaps a bit…too fertile. Most other river valley civilizations are in relatively dry areas, with a narrow stretch of fertile floodplain that forces most people to huddle together and submit to a central managing authority. In the Mississippi, you can have great farmland by the river, but you can also go deeper into the many, mazelike tributary rivers into the woods and have almost just as productive a crop. This is harder to keep under control, which narrows the focus of elites for the most part. However, ancient China had much the same layout: a large swath of fertile land under a complex watershed of not one but twogiant rivers. Horses, not available to the Mississippians, may have also played a part in such a difference. Or perhaps simply not enough time has passed since the Eastern Woodland’s adoption of agriculture in 1800 BC and the introduction of more efficient crops in 900 AD. If you’re asking me, a historical particularist, I believe that the fate of human societies can ultimately fall on the decisions made by their communities. The ideologies that led to the creation of sprawling, intensely bureaucratic states simply did not come to fruition in the same way they did in China or Mesopotamia. Maybe that was influenced by the factors I mentioned, or the values were simply different.

Yet a civilization it definitely was, with its own sophisticated cultures, politics, and artistic expression. Like many civilizations, it had its own peaks and dips, and with every dip rose a peak that was stronger than ever before. The collapse of the trade networks after 1400 was a dip the Mississippians had just begun to recover from. Considering the interruption of Mississippian history with the arrival of the Spanish, one has to wonder: what kind of peak might we have seen next?

Further Reading:

Mysteries of the Hopewell: Astronomers, Geometers, and Magicians of the Eastern Woodlands by William F. Romain

Ancient Cahokia and the Mississippians by Timothy R. Pauketat

Medieval Mississippians: The Cahokian World by Timothy R. Pauketat and Susan M. Alt

Mapping the Mississippian Shatter Zone: The Colonial Indian Slave Trade and Regional Instability in the American South by Robbie Ethridge and Sheri M. Shuck-Hall - goes into the political instability caused by European activity that led to the collapse of many Mississippian polities

Epidemics and Enslavement: Biological Catastrophe in the Native Southeast, 1492-1715 by Paul Kelton - also discusses the shatter zone, but builds upon it by touching on the biological aspect. Particularly, it addresses the myth of the spread of European disease in the EW: rather than the wildfire-like instantaneous transmission many imagine, the worst of the epidemics only came about when the immune systems of the natives were weakened through stresses.

The Forgotten Centuries: Indians and Europeans in the American South, 1521-1704 by Carmen Tesser and Charles Hudson - very aptly named; in-depth exposition of the often overlooked protohistoric period, inbetween the jurisdictions of archaeologists and historians.

Amazon.com: Knights of Spain, Warriors of the Sun: Hernando de Soto and the South's Ancient Chiefdoms by Charles Hudson and Robbie Ethridge - Contains actual primary sources of de Soto’s journey, augmented and illuminated by the interpretations of modern historical and archaeological data.

[sockdreams]

Socks Through Time: the History of Fishnet

Fishnet is a material with a lot of history and connotations, and while our assumptions about them have changed over time, their history is always lurking just below their netted surface... but do we really know what their full history is? Today we aim to find out...

Actual fishing nets, the inspiration for fishnet clothing. Image sourced from publicdomainpictures.net .

While typically ascribed to the Victorian era, the exact beginning of fishnet stockings isn't entirely clear, though the general consensus on their place of origin points to Paris. Many believe that the dancers at the infamous Moulin Rouge were the first to don fishnets, though we have yet to find any photographic evidence to back this up. Every depiction we've found of the can-can dancers of this era points to opaque black stockings as the uniform du jour. Others claim it was the dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet who traded in their opaque tights for fishnets. Again, backing up this claim has proven to be a feat beyond our humble research skills.

Spandex Fishnet Pantyhose in the two most classic fishnet colors: beige and black

What we did find is what appears to be the earliest reference to wearing fishnet -- the kind used for catching actual fish. In 1815 the Brothers Grimm released the second edition of their collection of Children's and Household Tales (now better known as Grimms' Fairy Tales) which included a newly collected tale, that of The Peasant's Wise Daughter. This story remained in subsequent versions of the book, with the last being published in 1857. While the first few editions had been criticized for being inappropriate for children, with some changes to the stories  (including, for some reason, the addition of even more violence) following editions grew in popularity. In the story, a king is holding the titular peasant captive, only to be released if his daughter is able to answer his riddle: to appear before him neither naked nor clothed, neither walking nor riding, neither on the road nor off it. Now this might sound like the kind of riddle that would appear in the soothsayings of Shakespeare's Weird Sisters, resolving in some perfectly logical explanation, albeit with tragically too-late timing. I might sound like that kind of riddle, but it's not. The wise daughter shows up wrapped in a fishing net, and makes her entrance being dragged behind a mule with only one toe touching the ground. Of course this is exactly the ridiculous solution to the riddle that the king had in mind. Naturally.

Topless Thigh High Fishnets are an authentically retro look, which happen to fit a great variety of people. Left: Topless Industrial Stockings, Right: Topless Fishnet Stockings

Now, while these fairytales were gaining in circulation and popularity, Victorian fashions had women's legs hidden away, which resulted in the phenomenon of stockings becoming fetishized in Victorian society. Our suspicion is that the Brothers Grimm planted the idea of wearing fishnet into the collective subconscious of this stocking-obsessed society, resulting in the creation of the fishnet stocking, which, being full of holes, are the perfect juxtaposition of there, but not there; skin-covering, but skin-baring.

Gloria Swanson sports fishnet sleeves and even a fishnet headwrap as Leila Porter in Don’t Change your Husband, 1919, Paramount Pictures

In the early 1900's, fishnet made its way from Paris (presumably) to the USA. There it was picked up by dancers, actresses, and sex workers. In this era, hemlines rose as young women pushed fashion and gender boundaries, culminating in the flapper style of the 1920's. Of course, it was a fairly small sect of women who fully indulged in the flapper look and lifestyle, and there were many who judged them for it. Fishnet's popularity with Hollywood actresses at this time began the push from fringe to mainstream fashion, though it would still be many decades before it would overcome its bawdy origins to be accepted as regular street wear.

Left: Fishnet Arm Warmers, Right: Fence Net Arm Warmers

By the mid-20th century, pin-ups were being mass-produced, and while they had started as promotional materials for burlesque dancers in the 1800's, by now they had evolved into a stand-alone form of erotica, featuring skimpily clad women, and occasionally men. Fishnet stockings were and continue to be a wardrobe staple of the pin-up world. As pin-ups became associated with patriotic wartime propaganda, the form was further advanced into the mainstream of American society, aided by more and more "America's sweetheart" styled Hollywood starlets who were regularly featured in pin-ups. By the 1950's, mainstream icons such as Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe were posing for pin-ups, and the art form was no longer considered to be strictly erotica -- many of these pin-ups were now promotional materials for movies. Celebrities with their roots in ballet, such Bridgette Bardot, could be found posing for pin-ups in ballet-styled outfits, including fishnet tights, alluding to their alleged origins.

Spandex Fishnet Pantyhose in two brighter options

The 1960's were the first time we really saw fishnet as regular street wear, though as some of our mother's can attest, they still garnered unwanted commentary. Fishnets began to be produced in bright colors which complimented mod fashions of the day, and though the style remained controversial, in the era of the miniskirt they actually offered more coverage than going bare-legged, while being comfortably ventilated in warm weather.

Fencenet Pantyhose and Industrial Net Backseam Tights

So, what happens when a fashion item with a Reputation becomes accepted into mainstream fashion? Why, it must be subverted, of course! In the 1970's, the punk movement got ahold of the now-acceptable fishnets, and did their best to make them as counter-culture as possible. Though snags are inevitable for some styles of net (but not the nearly-indestructible Professional Fishnets we carry!), punk is where the fashion of wearing deliberately and extremely holey fishnets comes from. The look was adopted into gothic fashion soon after, as an antithesis to the ubiquitous disco fashions of the time. This era also saw the rise of larger-gauge options, such as fence net and industrial net.

Distressed Net Fingerless Gloves and Distressed Net Arm Warmers mimic the look of ripped fishnets

Of course the punk and goth subcultures have endured, and continue to feature fishnet-heavy fashions, while mainstream fashion has seen an ongoing evolution of fishnet. In the 1980's Madonna brought netted fashions beyond just stockings to a mainstream audience (though as you may or may not be aware, this fashion icon was heavily inspired by the not-so-mainstream drag scene) with net tops, net gloves, and more - if you can name it, Madonna probably wore a netted version of it.

Professional Fishnet Tights with Cotton Sole come in three colors

The 1990's brought the grunge look, which, taking a cue from punk, heavily featured distressed fishnet tights. Though grunge wasn't a true counterculture, the more "mainstream" end of 1990's fashion also included fishnets, as juxtapositions of the stereotypically feminine with edgier elements dominated women's fashion for much of the decade.

Top: Starlet Dotted Net Tights, Seamless Allure Net and Lace Tights Bottom: Double Fishnet Trouser Socks, Fishnet Anklets

Here in the 21st century, fishnet is totally acceptable attire for almost any occasion. Not trying to look edgy? Try white, beige, or brown fishnet for a softer look -- some brides are even sporting this breezy material for summer weddings! In fact, now is probably the best time to be a fishnet fan, as there are more variations available than ever before, including some really unusual patterns and colors. For a wild, iridescent look, try layering two different colors of neon fishnet. If layering seems too fussy, there is even a pre-layered option at this point.

Fishnet Overlay Rainbow Thigh Highs, Vintage Rose Printed Net Tights, Neon Rainbow Fishnet Tights

Fishnet is probably our favorite style for summer, as the diamonds expand and contract around curves, highlighting the natural contours of the leg, all without adding much in the way of warmth. We encourage everybody to enjoy some fishnet this summer -- do not let its history daunt you, for its history is both not-that-clear, and kind of awesome.

~♥~Rosalind Socks by Sock Dreams • Free Shipping in the US • $5 International Shipping Find us on facebook | twitter | pinterest | instagram | sock journal | g+