#can you believe this revolution was founded on kindness?
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Whispered fairytale - Lewis Hamilton
request: "hi can i have a request about moments of fluff when reader's pregnant? with lewis of course <3" - anon
pairing: Dad!Lewis Hamilton x Reader!
warnings: fluff, like a lot of it
wordcount: +2K
a/n: I am not sorry for the sighs I was letting out as I was writting this. You guys have been warned, it's dad Lewis after all.
As always, I'm open for feedback, come say hi!
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Monaco shimmered beneath the fading sunlight, a familiar scenery for Lewis and Y/N. This time, however, the champagne flowed with a bittersweet undercurrent as nestled in a drawer, a positive pregnancy test hummed with a quiet revolution. No elaborate pronouncements, just a single pink line etching a new chapter onto their shared story.
Their path to parenthood hadn't been meticulously expected. Discussions about starting a family had danced between them, unspoken agreements carried on the wind of their non-stop lives. Lewis, now an eight-time champion, a feat achieved under the scarlet banner of Ferrari, still felt the fire to chase another title. Yet, amidst the celebrations at the end of season, a quiet voice whispered that perhaps, the timing might have been just right.
As the celebratory roar began to fade, replaced by the clinking of abandoned champagne flutes, Lewis found himself gazing at Y/N, her smile hesitant yet imbued with a radiant joy, although the reason behind it hadn’t been revealed.
Their planned racetrack of a future had morphed into a sprawling unknown, but as Y/N's hand met his, a quiet certainty bloomed within him. This unplanned detour wasn't a wrong turn. It was a victory lap of a different kind, perhaps the starting grid for their greatest adventure.
A Dream
Sunlight speared through the sliver of uncovered window, painting a warm stripe across Lewis's features. Y/N stirred beside him, the weight of sleep clinging to her eyelids. Disoriented for a moment, she blinked, the room slowly coming into focus. Lewis, sprawled on the plush white chaise lounge next to his driver’s room sofa, was the first thing that registered.
Except, he wasn't really by himself, not mentally anyway.
His gaze was fixed on a spot above her stomach, a soft, almost reverent smile playing on his lips. He spoke, his voice a low murmur that sent shivers down Y/N's spine.
"Alright, little one," he was saying, "I know you can't hear me yet, but listen up. This whole thing...it's a bit overwhelming, you know?" He chuckled, a nervous sound that tugged at Y/N's heart. "Honestly, I don't have a clue what I'm doing. But your mama here," he glanced at Y/N, his eyes warm, "she's a trooper. We'll figure it out, together. As a team."
The sight of Lewis, ever the composed champion, confessing his anxieties about fatherhood sent a wave of tenderness over Y/N. Carefully, she reached out, her fingertips brushing against the dark braids of his hair.
"Lewis," she croaked, her voice thick with sleep.
He turned, his smile widening as he met her gaze. "Hey there, beautiful.”
"Just getting to know the newest member of the team," he continued, his eyes flickering back to her stomach. "We were having a little chat."
Y/N couldn't help but laugh, a soft sound that echoed in the quiet room. "It can’t really hear you" she said, her smile fading slightly. "It's still early days, remember?"
Lewis's smile softened. He reached out, his hand hovering just above her stomach. "I know," he said, his voice gentle. "But that doesn't mean I can't try, does it?"
Lewis, ever the believer in manifestation, ever the optimist. She scooted closer, making room for him on the sofa. He settled beside her, his arm wrapping around her shoulders, pulling her close.
"How was your nap?" he asked, his lips brushing against her temple.
"Good," she mumbled, nuzzling closer to him. "But you woke me up with your…pep talk."
"Just some heart-to-heart, you know?!" he said with a wink. "With the little one, of course."
Y/N rolled her eyes playfully, but a smile tugged at her lips. The past few weeks had been a whirlwind. The surprise of the positive test, the initial shock, the overwhelming joy – it had all been a blur. Lewis, ever the supportive partner, had taken it all in stride. Sure, there were moments of worry, of panicked glances exchanged in stolen moments, but mostly, there was a quiet excitement that simmered between the couple.
Out of the blue, as it tended to be, a loud growl echoed in the quiet room. She winced, covering her eyes in shame. "Hey, hey, it's okay," he soothed, his voice laced with concern. "This little one needs some food, right?"
Y/N nodded, the growling easing down "Yeah," she mumbled, leaning her head against his shoulder. "Sorry, I..."
"Don't apologize," he said firmly. "This is all part of the journey. We're in this together."
His words held a quiet strength, a comforting confidence that calmed the churning in her stomach. It was more than just constantly being hungry; it was a reminder of the tiny miracle growing inside her.
They lay in silence for a moment, the only sound the rhythmic rise and fall of their breathing. Outside, the world buzzed with activity, the roar of the racetrack a distant rumble. But here, in this quiet haven, a different kind of race was about to begin – a race against time, against uncertainty, but most importantly, a race towards a future filled with the promise of a tiny miracle. And that little one, even though they were still just a whisper of a dream, was already so loved. More than Y/N could ever imagine.
Your scent
The crisp scent of Lewis's signature cologne, a heady mix of citrus and spice, usually sent a wave of warmth through Y/N. Today, however, it was the trigger for a rebellion in her stomach. A wave of nausea crashed over her, sending her scrambling out of bed towards the bathroom.
Lewis, stirred by the commotion, sat up, blinking away the remnants of sleep. "Y/N? You alright?" he called out, concern etching lines on his forehead.
Y/N emerged from the bathroom, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "Yeah," she mumbled, her voice weak. "Just a little…" she trailed off, the metallic tang of bile rising in her throat.
Lewis was by her side in an instant, his hand rubbing soothing circles on her back. "Morning sickness again?" he asked gently.
Y/N shook her head, forcing a weak smile. "Second trimester was supposed to be smooth sailing, they said" Her voice held a hint of sarcasm, even to her own ears.
Lewis chuckled softly. "Maybe smooth sailing is a bit optimistic," he admitted. "But hey, at least you're keeping food down" Y/N grimaced. That particular phase had been brutal. She rinsed her mouth in the sink, the minty freshness a welcome relief.
"Actually," she started hesitantly, Lewis's brow furrowed. "What is it?"
Y/N hesitated, then took a deep breath. "Your cologne," she began, gesturing vaguely towards the bottle on the dresser "it's making me sick."
The surprise on Lewis's face was comical. He stared at the bottle, then back at Y/N, as if trying to process the information. This was the cologne he'd worn for years, his signature scent. It was practically an extension of him.
"My cologne?" he finally managed, his voice a mixture of disbelief and amusement. "But it's…" he trailed off, searching for the right words. "It's me, Y/N. You love me, right?"
Y/N couldn't help but laugh, the sound shaky but genuine. "Of course, I love you, silly," she said, reaching out to cup his face. "But right now, your child doesn’t really enjoy your 'you-ness'”
A slow grin spread across his face. "Alright, then” he declared, picking up the cologne bottle. "Operation: Find a pregnancy-safe scent it is."
Y/N watched, a smile playing on her lips, as Lewis rummaged through his extensive collection of grooming products. "How about this one?" Lewis asked, holding up a small, unassuming bottle with a label that read "Lavender Serenity."
Y/N wrinkled her nose playfully. "A bit too…serene for you, wouldn't you say?"
Lewis chuckled, tossing the bottle back onto the dresser. "Maybe. But hey, at least it won't make you puke."
Whoever they are
The air crackled with anticipation as Y/N's mother hoisted a heavy bag of groceries onto the kitchen counter. Lewis's dad, Anthony, hovered beside her, peering inside with a mischievous glint in his eye.
"Alright" Anthony announced, brandishing a head of cabbage, "let's settle this once and for all. Boy or girl?"
Y/N chuckled, her belly, now a prominent dome beneath her maternity clothes, bouncing with laughter. "Lewis and I have already agreed, no peeking!"
Across the room, Lewis, ever the competitor, mirrored Y/N's amusement. "Besides," he added, winking at Anthony, "I have a feeling your cabbage test is about to be proven wildly inaccurate."
Anthony scoffed playfully. "Don't underestimate the power of tradition. Now, hand me that measuring tape."
As the pregnancy had unfolded everyone had made the bump a target to old wives' tales and lighthearted debate.
Y/N's mother, a firm believer in the "pregnancy glow" theory, insisted the baby was a girl based on Y/N's radiant complexion. Anthony, armed with his cabbage test (apparently, a high, round shape indicated a boy), remained stubbornly convinced otherwise.
Lewis, however, held a quiet confidence in his prediction of a girl. He couldn't explain it; it was just a feeling, a deep one that resonated within him.
The rest of the family, friends, and even Ferrari staff, seemed convinced it was a boy. The sheer volume of blue onesies and miniature race car toys accumulating in the nursery was a testament to that.
Despite the overwhelming "boy" camp, Y/N found herself drawn to Lewis's quiet certainty, her mother's unwavering belief and Leclerc’s claim that Lewis was a girl dad and he wouldn’t believe in anything else. There was a subtle shift in their preferences, a secret language of pink frilly socks and delicate stuffed animals tucked away in the corner of the nursery.
As the due date came ever closer the playful arguments gave way to a more sentimental atmosphere.
Anthony surprised everyone one evening by pulling Y/N into a tight embrace. "Girl or boy," he said, his voice thick with emotion, "you're going to be incredible parents. And that little one," he patted Y/N's stomach gently, "they're already so loved."
A tear escaped Y/N's eye, mirroring the glistening in Lewis's. The truth was, the gender didn't matter. They were about to embark on the greatest adventure of their lives.
As Y/N snuggled against Lewis on the couch, just days before their little one arrived, her hand resting on her swollen belly, a wave of peace washed over her.
"You know," she whispered, "maybe the whole point isn't about knowing the gender."
Lewis turned to her, his eyes reflecting the soft glow of the lamp. "What do you mean?"
"Maybe," Y/N continued, a smile gracing her lips, "the point is in the surprise. The joy of meeting them, whoever they are, for the very first time."
Lewis's smile mirrored hers. He squeezed her hand gently. "We're ready, whatever comes." he said, his voice filled with an unshakeable certainty.
Their shared ritual
Exhaustion clung to Y/N like a second skin. The past three months had been a parade of sleepless nights, endless diaper changes, and the constant, gnawing worry that comes with being a new parent.
But nestled in the crook of her arm, a tiny miracle slept soundly. Her daughter, in a quiet moment of shared hope, was a testament to the love that bloomed amidst the chaos.
She was a symphony of soft sighs and the occasional gurgle, her tiny fists clenched in a peaceful slumber. However, the moment Lewis's voice cut through the quiet of the room, her whole world seemed to shift.
"Hey there, my little champion," Lewis cooed, his voice a low murmur as he entered the nursery. The infant’s eyes, a pitch perfect copy of her dad’s brown ones, snapped open. A wide, gummy grin split her face, and a high-pitched squeal erupted from her tiny lungs.
Y/N watched the scene unfold with warmth washing over her. Lewis, ever the prodigy, had taken to parenthood like a natural. The same gentle persuasion he used on the racetrack was now employed to coax a smile from their daughter, his voice a soothing melody that calmed her fussy cries.
The transformation was remarkable. Y/N vividly recalled the first trimester, Lewis sheepishly confessing his anxieties about fatherhood to their unborn child. And throught the months a routine was created as every evening, he'd spend a quiet moment by Y/N's side, whispering words of encouragement and promises of love to the tiny bump.
"Alright, little one," Lewis would say, his voice barely above a whisper, "we're going to face whatever comes our way, as a team, okay?"
Those nightly pep talks, once a source of amusement for Y/N, now seemed almost prophetic. The kid, it seemed, recognized Lewis's voice as a source of comfort, a familiar sound that echoed the evenings spent nestled safely inside Y/N, bathed in the sound of his love.
Lewis, oblivious to the internal monologue playing in Y/N's head, scooped the baby into his arms, his face alight with a radiant joy. He bounced her gently, singing a silly, made-up song about a race car driver and a tiny princess. Captivated by her father's performance, the infant cooed and gurgled in response, her tiny hand reaching out to grab a lock of Lewis's dark braids.
Watching them together, a lump formed in Y/N's throat. The exhaustion that had threatened to consume her throughout the day had faded away, replaced by a fierce and overwhelming love. There, in the quiet sanctuary of the nursery, their team flourished – united by an invisible thread of shared love, a love story whispered before their daughter ever entered the world.
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TAGLIST - @saturnssunflower @xoscar03 @chocolatediplomatdreamerzonk @happy-golden-hour @vicurious28
@0710khj @thecubanator2 @neilakk @bigratbitchsworld @adriswrld
#lewis hamilton x reader#lewis hamilton x you#lewis hamilton imagine#lewis hamilton#f1 x reader#f1 imagine#formula 1
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Let me talk about Mizrak
Yeah, this with all the entire Nocturne brainrot is going to continue for a couple more days at least. But the show has so many interesting themes and characters and I just love it so much. And after getting all my friends to watch the show, I got surprised by one of them being super angry about Mizrak.
Why? Well, because of the last scene with him and Olrox in the season and his words of: "You are just an animal that lost its soul centuries ago." And the friend considered that "being an asshole" and "cruel".
To which I say: Cruel? Yes. Asshole? No.
Let me explain.
First, let me make one thing clear: No, Mizrak is not a templar. I have seen that one too many times. He is not a templar. He is a monk knight of the order of St. John, so the Knights Hospitaller. Like the templars they were very much tied to the crusades originally, but they are not the same thing. There were a lot of orders and types of knights associated with the crusades. Templars were just one of them. (Do you guys wanna hear more about the templars? I can talk more about them.)
We know from bits and pieces of dialogue that Mizrak originates in Jerusalem (which is also where the order was founded). This is a gentle reminder: Israel as we know it today was not a thing back then. But Jerusalem was always a place of religious conflict as it holds importance in all three Abrahamic religions. Which was, what the crusades were all about after all. Before the time of the French Revolution, though, there was mostly some a conflict between the Ottomans and some Arab forces over Palestine. There were some Christian orders accepted within the city though.
Now, the Knights Hospitaller, who were accepted in Jerusalem, had a strong connection to France. Which... lead to problems, when some of the Arabs and the French got into problems. Which let to the Knights Hospitaller leaving for Malta. This too is referenced in the dialogue. (If you guys cannot tell: I am very happy with the amount of historical research put into this show!)
Mizrak looks to be in his early 30s. So I assume he entered the order in his mid-teens (which was a usual age to enter an order like that) and then probably left for Malta within a couple of years after that when the political situation got more charged. And then from Malta to France.
The Knights Hospitaller back then for all intent and purposes lived as militarized monks. That means they made vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. And this very much shines through with his character in so many scenes.
Of course we see that the entire "chastity" thing does not work out that well for him. But that is also why he clearly is shown to be conflicted about that entire thing. What he tries to uphold, though, is the obedience aspect of his vows. And that is, what his entire conflict is about.
See, what I love about this character is that there is all this delicious conflict.
I will iterate again: I grew up in a very, very conservative, strict, catholic household. Other kids got read fairytales for bedtime. My mother read me the bible. Priests and monks were people we intermingled with a lot. (Heck, the last pope? I met him when he was still a bishop.) And hence I got to make one very clear experience: There are three types of Catholics: Those, who focus on all the horrible things. Those, who focus on the literal stuff written in the bible. And those, who focus on the positive stuff. You know, the stuff with helping people, and being poor, and sharing, and being in general a good person. (Though the three types are not always mutually exclusive.)
And it is pretty clear that Mizrak is of the latter kind. He believes in the good he can do through his faith in God and Christ. But he has also grown up in an Order and a Church that puts a lot of focus on the idea of sin, on the idea of obedience, and the idea of the "natural order".
But there he is, with his Abbot collaborating with demons and vampires to enforce that "natural order", which among other things goes against their own vow of poverty. This is so clearly against Mizrak's believes. Because in his very core, Mizrak is a good fucking man. He is one of the good guys. Who wants to do good through his faith in God. And this conflicts for him.
So by the end of episode 7 he reached the point to go against his vow of obedience, because his faith in doing good was stronger, than his dedication to his vows. He very actively broke his vows in the eyes of his order, standing against his order, to protect those darn kids. Because it was the right thing to do. He is absolutely willing to do the noble sacrifice if that is what it takes to save those kids. And in comes that weird dude and takes this chance from him.
And his entire thing with Olrox... It seems very much that Mizrak is indeed gay. As the series so helpfully points out: Yeah, priests, monks, other clergy, and their vows of chastity were always a thing that rarely worked out. Again, as someone who grew up with close ties to the church: The fact that everyone is secretly fucking is... well known. As well as the fact that yeah, there are a lot of gay clergy. Mostly for the reason that they are shamed for their sexuality and then take the vows to not be tempted into homosexuality. Only to find that a priest school with a lot of other queer supressed men is exactly the place you do not want to be to not be tempted. (And that is all without going into all the non-con, pedophilia and what not. Things that were also already happening back then, I guarantee you.)
So, try to imagine that entire thing from Mizrak's perspective. There he is, already ashamed and suppressed about all of that and in comes this very, very seductive vampire man, who kinda seems to align with some of his values, but not with others. And who is emotionally unavailable as fuck, outright telling him that he does not love our dear Mizrak. Someone, who clearly is not for the vampires and your abbot, but also clearly not willing to take the other side. The side that you in your heart (even though it means standing against your order) know to be right. And this man, who claims to not love you, then comes in and tries to stop you from doing what is right.
Yeah, no fuck, Mizrak is a bit pissed at him. Especially as in that moment Olrox very clearly goes against Mizrak's ideals, that are all about self-sacrificially doing the right thing.
And I do think that Mizrak is right in one regard: Olrox lost his soul. He lost a part of himself. Through the trauma of colonialism, but he lost it never the less.
So, once more: Thanks the team for giving us another interesting, well-rounded religious character! CV already did so well with Isaac and Mizrak is sofar extremely promising in that regard.
#castlevania#castlevania netflix#castlevania nocturne#castlevania nocturne spoilers#castlevania mizrak#castlevania olrox#olrox x mizrak#mizrox
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AHHHH, I KEEP THINKING ABOUT IT!
Okay, I think the handling TFP/Aligned Orion Pax was weakened by the background inconsistencies that were supposed to ground his personality and motivations.
And that's why Orion Pax can come off as an asshole, weirdly tone deaf, or very naive, yet deep inside the revolution as a competent head.
It's as if the writers took so many cool things to prop up the guy, but let it compete with "How Orion Pax and Megatronus were Different" and made a mess.
And, depending on your view, it either was half-heartedly addressed or done masterfully.
Saltysaltdog did a really great analysis on Megatron's feelings of betrayal and humiliation of letting Orion Pax so close to everything, and it's found here: click
The biggest gripe I have with the whole thing with the characterization of Orion Pax is twofold: 1) the writers didn't leverage Orion Pax's unique, and let's be honest, precarious position, and 2) didn't expand deeper the fundamental differences that essentially broke Orion Pax and Megatron apart and started that catastrophic civil war.
The setup is there. Megatron and Orion Pax are distorted mirrors of each other. The major differences are driven by what was socially appropriate for them to consider as pathways.
The Cybertron that came to was deep in the grips of a well-established and well-entrenched caste system. In that kind of society, it isn't just money that decrees social mobility. The very hierarchy of the society is driven by cultural and religious norms on the "worthiness" of each group at various set levels. And from that "worth," it not only dictates the rights of the members in a caste but decrees the appropriate behavior and outlets as well as dictates how relationships between members of different castes are maintained.
So Orion Pax is a giant "FUCK YOU" to all of that. His very presence would have pissed off so many parties that isn't funny.
As in, I honestly believe he's alive because his initial seclusion from civilization had given him key skills and behaviors that saved his ass and Alpha Trion's personal care.
Yes. There would have been bullying. Yes. There would be complete resentment and hatred. Yes. There would have been social orstracism from his own colleagues.
Even individuals who are lumped with him as "caste climbers" or just sympathetic/pitying would have stayed away by the dangers of their own reputation being tainted.
"You're nothing but a bauble and an ornament. Merely a prized pet for Alpha Trion. One day, he'll lose interest, and that day, you'll go back to where you belong."
Orion Pax flaunted all the appropriate ways of inclusion to their occupation and way of life. He doesn't have a frame or a specialized ability that's related to information. He has no achievements, no accolades, and doesn't even have a sponsored education from a prestigious university or any useful connections.
Orion Pax is both an outsider and a representative. He needs to be extremely mindful of everything: his words, his tone, his body language, his own work... are all subject to scrutiny.
(And it either shows his sneakiness that he's able to shake off all eyes when he descends down to the gladiatorial game, his ability to lie by omission or obfuscation, or his colleagues relief with him out of sight.)
That very grey area would have left deep impressions on him. It would explain his passiveness, the perceptiveness, the way he speaks, and the careful plans he quietly does by the sides in a need-to-know basis.
Violence can come in many forms. And in a world where your worth is tied to your caste, then Orion Pax should be deeply familiar with the various ways it can be soft, sweet, and utterly insidious. A velvet wrapped steel glove. A dagger from the shadows. A poisonous treat. A deal of bad faith. A betrayl from a kind face.
Remember: Ratchet went through the proper channels and with the appropriate frame to match his function. Of course, he has that shield against so many grievances and injustices as well as many prejudices that color his perceptions. Look at the differences in how he recounts the brotherhood between Megatronus and Orion Pax and the outcome of before the High Council.
Orion is both given privileges that Megatron and his cohort wouldn't have, but it's also a noose around his neck. He is severely handicapped by Alpha Trion's deliberate meddling to keep the reincarnated Thirteen/the Matrix's newest Prime nearby and simultaneously well-informed and in the dark.
Unlike the miner-turned-gladiator, Orion doesn't have that option for bloodsport. His too low-caste for the avenues of security by the high-caste, but too high-caste to partake in the low-caste culture. It's acceptable for them to be physically violent, to be in bloodsport, to solve their grievances with their fists.
It's vastly different to the complete ruination of an individual's life that Orion got thrown into the deep end: reputation, finances, personal and professional relationships, involuntary reformat... The power games of the higher-castes are completely different ball-game.
He's stuck with his own thoughts because there's no way he can voice doubts to Alpha Trion (the mech who gave him such a position, advice, and unrestricted access to the archives) nor to his colleagues (who either hate his guts or would sell the information because information is power and the Hall of Records is a major point of power).
Look at the people he attaches himself to. They're rather straightforward: Megatronus, Ratchet, Jazz, Bumblebee, Arcee...
He's drawn to their ease yet still holds himself in a certain degree of formality because that's how he managed to survive in a snake pit. And that's too deeply ingrained into him at that point. People read that negatively. Megatron once saw that but didn't understand what it truly meant. Megatron saw his willingness to give up so much and his privileges, but he didn't understand the extent of the scars that Orion mentally and emotionally has.
Ratchet would be one of the few that really perceives that. The medic may not fully understands but he keeps trying, and the war eventually breaks down the barriers.
It would make so much sense about his strange notions, why he doesn't allow Megatron explore "his" world, why he keeps everything to himself, why he relatively comfortable with others outside his "caste."
This guy would literally ruminate the entire work day (both legal and subversive) until he fell asleep after rechecking the locks 27365837 times so an assassin or unfortunate "pet" didn't come into his room.
This could explain why he basically highjacked the damn meeting. Orion Pax has unrestricted access to many records. He knows his history. He can read between the lines. His A-game was on, especially in this endeavor.
Was it a well-intentioned plan to draw fire to himself because he had Alpha Trion’s strange degree of protection compared to the others? Was it panic because he knew all the ways to kill a person until death was mercy? Was it Plan 27-b because he thought all the ways it could go wrong? Was it his well-honed instinct demanding him to divert and pacify, but careful with the words (soft and fluttering with hidden danger with what is unsaid) to keep avenues open because to have the Primacy bestowed upon them would be an honor and completely legitimized the movement? Did he see the noose closing around Megatron and couldn't bear witness to have it strangle him, too?!
There's so much going on here. It all hinges on cultural absorption and clashes and the meddling by an ancient fart of an oracle, and it's just so tragically fascinating.
#transformers#transformer prime#tfp#orion pax#alpha trion#megatron#ratchet#cybertronian culture#maccadam#my thoughts#analysis#the shit that could have been explored#i got some weird feelings about the golden age and alpha trion's role in all of it
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healed ive been doing some very basic communist readings lately and. how do you cope with the fact that none of it seems particularly possible. how do you manage to put any of this theory into practice when the only two parties out there seem to be the We’re Basically Demsocs Party and the Sexual Abuse League. how do you not let it crush you and what ways have you found to like… manifest these ideas in your life? i guess one could say i was “radicalized” by recent events but having done basic reading (just beginner Lenin and Marx) has made me feel so much more hopeless. there’s no vanguard party and i don’t see what I can actually tangibly do to help proliferate communism. and it’s making me feel guilty for living my life, too, for doing things that I find fun and beautiful and enjoyable - there’s just the guilt of “this is a time-waster, this is brainwashing you”. do you have any assurance at all
so obviously the role of a marxist-leninist in a revolutionary situation (ie, one in which the conditions are revolutionary, in which the current bourgeois state is no longer tenable) is to be in a vanguard party at the head of the organized working class. but these things don't appear from nowhere--i think it follows that if you are in much of the world, where a revolutionary situation is not imminent in any forseeable near future, then the role of a communist is to help organize the working class and raise class consciousness through class struggle so that when such a situation presents itself the working class is both radical and organized, or capable of becoming such in short order.
that means that working within non-party organizations (unions, activist and mutual aid groups, grassroots campaigns) with the intent of learning the tactics of organization and radicalising the people around you is a meaningful participation in the class struggle. as much as i say 'get organized' and believe that a proletarian party is the best and most powerful vehicle for revolutionary action, that latter belief is of course to be taken and adapted for the situation.
do not be hopeless because you have read lenin--instead, be aware that when lenin was writing much of what he wrote, the situation of socialist parties across europe was dire. criminalized, divided just as they are now, replete with the exact kind of reformists you're complaining about (as well as adventurists). what lenin wrote about was not just a theoretical ideal party that did exist in his time, but instead the blueprints for the party he had a hand in creating. realize that lenin genuinely believed during periods that he would not see revolution during his lifetime.
organize with whoever you can, in whatever arena you can, and participate in the class struggle. develop the skills and understanding of the methods of struggle, even if trade unionism or climate activism alone are not sufficient vectors by which the contradictions of capitalism can be resolved, they are avenues by which your class consciousness and that of those around you can be honed and sharpened. find the most radical body around you and join yourself to their struggle--a vanguard party should emerge from the struggles of the working class, it should be an organization that serves as a vessel for effective action. you do not have to tie yourself to the decaying and rotting shambling zombie parties of the 20th century to participate in the class struggle--we as communists owe these organs no loyalty if they are not equipped for the realities of class struggle.
i'm lucky in that there is a small but dedicated group of marxist-leninists i have been able to join up with and work with. if that's not the case for you, conduct the struggle within anarchist collectives or trade unions or solidarity campaigns, while always keeping your true goal in mind. the class struggle unfolds across a multitude of arenas--as long as there's someone you can organize alongside on something, you are not powerless in your capacity as a revolutionary communist. good luck, comrade.
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I would like to talk about the Music Festival arc - aka my favorite Mairuma arc until now. I love them all tbh, this is just very close to my heart for several reasons.
[cw: non-suggestive discussion of s*x; if you are a s*x-repulsed asexual person you are very much welcome to interact, but this may not be the post for you, take care and proceed with caution ♡ edit: I'm uncensoring the words from here onwards thanks to a kind anon's suggestion]
To make it short, I love that the main theme of this arc is pleasure, and the desire for it. Honestly, it's very horny - but not in a slimy or creepy way, which is sadly quite rare in my experience.
The appreciation for pleasure coming from love (also platonic love) is there in several layers.
First, the plot itself, as Lilith cries out her desire to find "a love that burns like fire". She is not satisfied by most pretenders, and especially this frame spoke to me:
Because... Well... It's so true. I am an adult, and I had my share of sexual partners. The expressions people make irl are not always aesthetically pleasing, but who cares! We are told to strive to be always attractive, but in those moments of intimacy it's really not important, not as much as being fully present and enjoying the moment!
Then, can we talk about Kalego please?
I mean, Nishi here went all out and didn't even try to hide her fascination for ...discipline:
(and to be fully clear: I am NOT implying there is sexual tension between Kalego and his students, I am only referring to him!!!)
When I saw the whip I couldn't believe my eyes. Of course in that context it's not used that way, but it's very much recognizable as an adult tool... But more on this later.
Finally, I really like that the Misfits are growing up and finding out new things about themselves. They are characterized as high school students (even if we don't know how old they actually are), which is when humans tend to have their first experiences and explore their sexualities. They are building together this beautiful show full of emotions and desire, and honestly performing with other people is really an amazing feeling (I am a former musician and theater actor - let me tell you, every performance was fire).
Look at their faces: from here...
...to here.
They are shocked, but happy! And definitely feeling ...feelings.
And here is my main takeaway: I am really, really sad that sex is a taboo topic in our society, and when there's something about sex, it's mostly treated in a very bad way. This includes sex scenes in generic-audience movies, which I tend to dislike...
I hate that sex is handled like a dirty and secret thing. I hate that sex is mostly treated as something that has to do with power imbalance and taking advantage of someone else, usually men that "want to do stuff TO" women (nonbinary individuals like myself not found) - and too often not in a hot and consensual way. I hate that social media are becoming more and more sex-hostile, because investors fear these topics, and use children as a shield to justify limiting contents for adults as well. I hate that sexual education is mainly reserved for talking about pregnancies and, if the students are lucky, prevention of STDs. Solo or reciprocal pleasure? Consent? Treating it as a normal part of life for many people (and not ALL, again, asexual people exist)??? Naaaah, why do that, when you can make people feel shame and embarassment and perpetuate trauma.
Again, I am a grown-up now, and while this is legal and everything, I was conditioned to feel some level of shame nonetheless when talking about it irl (which I am working on). The whip I was writing about before (and the kneeling scene afterward)? It was a revolution in my brain. "So... That's a thing we can do...?"
(like that)
I plan on doing some adult drawings in the future, but there's a part of me that resists the idea, because adult entertainment usually involves some level of dehumanization... But you know what? I want to take it back and make it about pleasure and enjoyment as it should be.
Tbh, I could write a whole essay on the causes for all of the above and how they interact (patriarchy, capitalism, religions as power institutions, etc.), but this is not the place.
So I'll just say that I am really, really grateful to Nishi for including this arc in a manga for a young audience, as those are important years to build a healthy relationship with pleasure and one's own body. And as Sullivan said...
I'm very much convinced that Nishi is doing a great job at sending messages for inclusion and social equality in M!IK, taking the role of educator herself.
(Other reasons why I love the Music Festival arc are: Soi's story, Clara and Azz becoming closer, Iruma learning the piano, the appreciation of music itself, the immaculate art and more, but that's for another post!!!)
#mairimashita! iruma kun#m!ik#mairuma#iruma#manga analysis#welcome to demon school iruma kun#welcome to demon school#music festival arc#naberius kalego#m!ik kalego#kalego sensei#misfit class#asmodeus alice#cw sex mention#cw sexuality#tw sex mention#sex positivity#m!ik fandom#m!ik analysis
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ೄྀ࿐ ˊˎ- DEAR DUCHESS
“On this blessed windy day, they made the most perfect and joyful engagement among the cheering citizens. It was as if they had completely forgotten. I was once the Crown Princess.”
"One who never doubts... never yields... never relies... and always stands as the leader of his people. That is what makes a king."
"I cannot lose... As their elder brother, I shan't be defeated."
Record Of Ragnarok X Medea Solon! Reader
Qin Shi Huang
Before and after your death, your greatest desire has always been to be an Empress. You worked for it all your life. To be a manager. Sword lessons, a noble lady's lifestyle, etiquette and much more.
You lived as a Crown Princess. Your arrogance was superior to anything living, and in the end, everything you had in one day was taken from you in an instant.
It was as if everyone had suddenly forgotten how successful you were as a Crown Princess. Your anger was the only thing that killed you.
You went down in history as the Demon of Vasilos, the fallen Queen. And then you fought for Ragnarok and you won.
You met Qin Shi Huang not as a Duchess, not as Vasilos' demon, but as a godslayer.
He just fell in love. How could it not? You were strong, beautiful, talented.
You were a true Empress.
You spent a lot of time in the infirmary. Actually, you remind him too much of Chun Yan.
Although he is extremely confident in himself, a single glance is enough to silence him. How could you be this beautiful? An Emperor's legs don't tremble... But how can he be so affected by a little lip curl you give him?
Your seriousness causes him to become a little boy pranking his mother for you.
That's not how an Emperor behaves... Yet when you look at him so beautifully, for his Empress... Who cares?
He is extremely proud of his rank as Emperor, and that was the reason why you were interested in him in the beginning. You're obsessed with rank, he gets it. How can he not understand when he has lived such a life? If it's the title you want, he's proud to give it to you.
Yet deep down she longs for your cold heart. After all, you're his empress, aren't you?
Hades
I thought a lot about what would suit a Queen best... Here are the Kings of Our Queen!
Similarly, you met Hades as the Godslayer. Well, he was angry, but… Something in his posture or his gaze reminded him of himself.
You used to be the Devil of Vasilos, a Duchess who started a revolution for the sake of the Throne...
Yet he somehow found himself approaching you.
Yet he was also the first to see that the need behind your desire for the throne is love.
He was a God and you were a Duchess who killed his kind. It seemed impossible, but somehow it happened.
You were smart, you were strong, you were noble. He believed he was much more than a human being. You were the one who balanced it, you were her equal, you were him Queen.
He insists that you stay underground even though you are treated like a Goddess. Hades is not a vindictive man, but he doesn't think his other Gods would think so.
However, the first time he truly believed he was in love with you was the moment you slapped Poseidon.
While Poseidon was enraged, he was thinking about how to propose to you...
#record of ragnarok x reader#record of ragnarok#ror x reader#ror hades#ror hades x reader#ror qin shi huang#Ror qin Shi Huang x reader#snv x reader#snv hades#snv hades x reader#snv qin shi huang#snv qin Shi Huang x reader
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Gaming (Myoui Mina x Male reader)
It was a sunny Saturday afternoon when Y/N found himself at his favorite arcade. He had always been passionate about video games, and today he had decided to spend his free time doing what he loved most. As he was engrossed in a challenging game of Dance Dance Revolution, he couldn't help but notice a girl out of the corner of his eye, watching the game with keen interest.
The girl had an aura of elegance and beauty that captivated Y/N. Her name was Myoui Mina, a member of the popular girl group TWICE. Y/N recognized her instantly, as he was a fan of the group's music, but he didn't want to make a fuss. Instead, he continued dancing, trying to impress her with his skills.
Mina couldn't help but smile as she watched Y/N's graceful moves on the dance pad. It wasn't often that she saw someone who could dance so well. After his performance, Y/N finally noticed her and approached with a friendly smile.
"Hi there," he greeted, trying to sound casual despite his racing heart. "Enjoying the game?"
Mina nodded, her eyes sparkling. "You're really good at it. I've always wanted to try, but I'm not sure I'd be any good."
Y/N chuckled. "It's all about practice. If you'd like, I can show you some moves."
Mina's face lit up with excitement. "I'd love that!"
They spent the next hour playing games together, from shooting zombies in the arcade's VR section to competing in a friendly match of air hockey. Y/N discovered that Mina was not only beautiful but also incredibly kind and down-to-earth. They shared laughter and stories, finding that they had more in common than just their love for gaming.
As the afternoon sun began to dip below the horizon, Y/N mustered up the courage to make a move. "Mina, I've had a great time hanging out with you today. Would you like to go on a date with me?"
Mina's cheeks flushed, and she smiled shyly. "I'd love to."
A few days later, Y/N picked Mina up in his car, a picnic basket filled with their favorite snacks in the back seat. They drove to a picturesque park near the beach, where Y/N had planned a romantic picnic.
Under the shade of a cherry blossom tree, they spread out a cozy blanket and began to enjoy their picnic. They talked about their favorite games, shared childhood memories, and even discussed their dreams and aspirations. Y/N couldn't help but be enchanted by Mina's charm and intelligence.
After the picnic, Y/N took Mina to a nearby game store. He knew that she loved games, and he wanted to surprise her with something special. Mina's eyes widened in delight as she browsed the shelves filled with the latest releases and classic favorites. Y/N insisted on buying her a game of her choice, a gesture that left her feeling touched and appreciated.
Next, they headed to the beach, the setting sun casting a warm, golden glow over the waves. They strolled along the shoreline, the sand beneath their feet, and talked about life's simple pleasures. Y/N couldn't believe how lucky he was to be spending such a perfect day with Mina.
As evening descended, they arrived at a rooftop restaurant with a breathtaking view of the city skyline. A table for two had been reserved for them, adorned with flickering candles and a vase of red roses. Y/N ordered their favorite pizza and soda, knowing that sometimes, the most special moments were the simplest.
They dined under the stars, their conversation becoming more intimate as the night wore on. The skyline sparkled with city lights, providing the perfect backdrop for a confession Y/N had been eagerly waiting to make.
"Mina," he began, his voice filled with sincerity, "I feel a deep connection with you, and I can't imagine spending my time with anyone else. I'd like to ask if you would be my girlfriend."
Mina's eyes met his, her expression soft and affectionate. "Y/N, I feel the same way. I'd love to be your girlfriend."
Their smiles spoke volumes as they sealed their newfound love with a sweet, passionate kiss under the starry sky. The world around them faded away, leaving only the two of them, connected by their shared interests, dreams, and the promise of a beautiful future together.
And so, as they savored their pizza and soda, their hearts brimming with happiness, Myoui Mina and Y/N embarked on a journey filled with love, laughter, and endless adventures—all sparked by a chance encounter at an arcade and a shared love for video games.
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Mawaru Penguindrum Phrases Breakdown
I've written a big long post breaking down some of the repeated phrases of the show Mawaru Penguindrum because rewatching it a year ago gave me brainrot. Hope those who r interested enjoy.
Alright this has been occupying my brain for so long it should've started paying rent so I've decided to finally write it all up. Some of these are my own thoughts, but a lot of these are pieces of interpretations that are floating out there on the web. I just didn’t find any one place that compiles them all and puts them together.
Mawaru Penguindrum is the first Ikuhara show I ever watched and something about it really changed my brain forever even though I didn’t really understand what I was watching the first time through (because I was in middle school). I love its surreality and the density of its visual metaphors that all feed into each other has me like an insane person complete with a red string conspiracy board (that will be a section later). It’s show that challenges the viewers to piece together concepts and leaves questions for them to answer on their own, some intended and some probably not as much. I admire the ambition and the commitment to exist in a space that's between trite judgements of black and white, good and evil, and to trust the viewer to really engage with the work.
In this blog post I’m going to break down some of the major catchphrases of the show because they exemplify how the visual/thematic density rewards viewers who spend the time to really engage with the material. It also personally fascinates me as someone who enjoys these puzzle box-type themes and narratives that have the answers staring you right in the face from the beginning, but you just didn’t have the tools to understand what you were being cryptically told.
MAWARU PENGUINDRUM
We gotta start from the beginning and break down the title first of course.
MAWARU: spinning, turning, rotating - which brings themes like revolution and cycles to mind
It’s probably also nod to Revolutionary Girl Utena (though both shows share a lot of themes in examining and trying to challenge or examine societal norms, structures, and cycles).
PENGUINDRUM:
First layer of understanding: the physical diary that the Kanba and Shoma must find (actually it’d be more accurate the say the first layer is just being like “this is a nonsense word” but I digress)
Let’s do another layer of breakdowns -
PENGUIN: Flightless birds that belong neither to the land or the sea - chosen to represent the idea of the “unchosen.” Those in Antarctica need to rely on their community to survive in their harsh environment, huddling and rotating (mawaru…) to keep everyone warm.
There’s a common rumor out there that Ikuhara said penguins were also chosen because it sounds like “pingguo” which is apple in Chinese. Honestly I believe it because he seems to be the kind of person to say stuff like that, but also I’ve never found a source on this.
DRUM: An instrument that keeps a steady beat…like a heartbeat…badum tss. The apple in the show always being red reinforces this association.
Second layer of understanding: When the diary is lost, what the “penguindrum” is exactly becomes more nebulous and we start operating in a metaphor-as-reality world. In terms of visual representation in the show, the “penguindrum” is the “apple” the siblings have been sharing among themselves.
The Penguindrum being represented by an apple means there’s a lot of associations tied into its image. In the show, apples are a visual metaphor for being "chosen". Classically, apples are also the fruit of original sin (like fate…not to jump ahead but remember this for later) - which ties into the concept of “punishment” that Himari's fate is framed as.
Because of the breakdown from earlier (and also all the chest puncturing imagery in the show lol), we can also understand the Penguindrum to be associated with the heart - often in turn associated with love, which is a very loaded concept to dig through, especially as presented in the show (romantic, platonic, and/or familial connections; sacrifice, community, etc.)
Taking these all together, a third layer of interpretation is that Mawaru Penguindrum refers to the cycle (Mawaru) of sharing bonds/fate/connection/love (Penguindrum) between the show’s characters.
SURVIVAL STRATEGY
This phrase is what signals the Princess of the Crystal's presence and initiates the transformation sequence that takes the brothers into a surreal world.
The common reading of this is again the reference of penguins needing to huddle together to survive the cold of Antarctica. They rotate who bears the cold wind of the outside circle in order for the whole flock to survive. Basically, we need the help and support of each other to survive the cold winds of an uncaring society.
While thinking on this phrase, I was struck by how every character’s drive in the show can be explained as “survival strategies” they learned as children. Perhaps it’s a bit of a stretch to apply it in the way this phrase is used in psychology, but I do think it at least refers to the ideology characters take on as children due to their traumatic childhood events or from flawed role models.
Ringo’s “survival strategy” is the most explicitly stated in the show: in episode 6, she believes her parents are on the verge of divorce because she is not Momoka - therefore to keep her family together she resolves to become Momoka.
The origin of Kanba and Himari’s core approaches to life appear in the flashbacks of episodes 5 and 9 respectively. The Takakura parents each protect the two adopted children from injury by glass, a nod to their original unchosen fate. In doing so, they’re set up as the direct masculine and feminine role models that the two children learn from and model themselves on. I’m not sure it’s accurate to say that the lessons they internalize are strictly “wrong,” because I don’t think Penguindrum is interested in discussing characters like that, but they definitely are flawed.
Shoma deals with guilt from his family’s “sin” and grapples with the idea of taking responsibility for his parents’ actions.
Tabuki and Yuri still believe themselves to be “unloved children” and that’s why they keep pursuing Momoka or seeking revenge for her. They struggle to believe there’s a place in the world for them without their savior there.
Masako is a pretty clear one as well - she internalizes her grandfather’s habits and beliefs in order to try and fit in, even if it never earned her any respect in his eyes.
The childhood of the characters in the show informed how they viewed the society they grew up in, and what they needed to do or become in order to survive.
YOU WHO WILL NEVER AMOUNT TO ANYTHING, FIND THE PENGUINDRUM
Honestly I’m obsessed with the phrases that first sound like absolute nonsense, but cool absolute nonsense. This is the phrase that made me want to write this blog post in the first place.
The phrase is the call-to-action by the mysterious Princess of the Crystal. On first viewing, we can interpret so little of this sentence it’s really just a tool to sound cool and give us a snapshot of the Princess of the Crystal’s personality - haughty, cryptic, and generally unhelpful. It gives Kanba and Shoma a goal, even though neither us nor them understand what the hell it is.
YOU WHO WILL NEVER AMOUNT TO ANYTHING
As the show goes on, the themes and concepts around being a chosen or unchosen child arise. Those who are unchosen and unloved go to the Child Broiler to be turned into glass. This is semi-metaphorical and semi-literal (diegetic might be an appropriate word in a weird way) - metaphorically it can be interpreted as becoming a forgettable, blandly molded member of society, though being processed is acknowledged more like death in the show. In some ways that’s still accurate.
Each of the siblings started without an apple, literally-metaphorically starving of love and unchosen - originally they were fated to never amount to anything.
FIND THE PENGUINDRUM
Obviously this initially refers to the diary in the show, but as we broke down earlier PENGUINDRUM eventually takes on a more loaded meaning akin to love, bond, and connection.
So over the course of watching the show, the phrase transforms from a one-sided order and condemnation to a call to action. Put all together with a little more elaboration: You who were unchosen and unloved from the beginning, in order to survive in this harsh world you must find love and connection with people to share your life with, through good and bad.
I COME FROM THE DESTINATION OF YOUR FATE
Time to bust out the conspiracy red string board, literally-metaphorically.
The Red Line is the literal, metaphorical, and thematic spine of the show. There are two big starting categories for viewing The Red Line in the show, which then mix together to create new meanings as the show references it through imagery and dialogue.
First up, the Red Line refers to an actual train line that the entire show takes place upon, the Tokyo Metro Marunouchi line. The entire show is structured around the train line which starts with the Ogikubo Station and ends at Ikebukuro, with important locations being linked with the actual train stops. It was one of the train lines attacked in real life as part of the Tokyo subway sarin attack in 1995 which the Pingu group’s terrorist attack in the show is a very transparent reference to. This single point in time in 1995 is the origin of almost everything in Mawaru Penguindrum, and in fact almost half the cast is born on the exact day the Pingu group attacks, just to emphasize how closely their fates are tied to the attack.
Second, the Red Line can be seen as a representation of fate, as in the red string of fate. Fate and destiny are concepts brought up over and over again, with Shoma and Ringo having their own monologues about it in the first two episodes (and Kanba having his much later). The visualization of the red string of fate can also be seen in the ending animations.
Somewhere in between is the Red Line as the metaphor of a train to visualize fate. Fate is something that can’t be changed - just like how trains run on fixed tracks with fixed destinations. Of course this is challenged in the show - Momoka even uses the metaphor of changing train tracks to explain her ability.
Now, fate has its own set of associations, such as: destiny, love, connection, bond (hmm familiar), as well as superstitions like fated meetings, fated demises, divine determination.
These can start branching off into concepts like blessings, sins, retribution, and karma (cue the Fate monologues again). And now we start getting back into the idea of cycles: downward spirals of getting what one deserves for their actions, passing on one’s sins to those after you - or virtuous cycles of doing good deeds and passing love and care forward.
Often in discussions of fate, familiar questions arise. Does the beginning determine the end? Is the end fated from the beginning? And so the Red Line becomes the Red Circle, another visual device seen throughout the show. It’s all over the motion graphics of the show and appears around the train stations as well as around ‘95’, referencing the originating incident of it all - the beginning of the Takakura family that determined their end.
What I love about this use of the Red Line is that however you progress your understanding of the its importance to the show, it all helps you further understand any concept Mawaru Penguindrum is discussing. This coherence and repetition of visual metaphors is what allows the show to feel more texturally and thematically cohesive even when it starts getting loose in a plot sense.
(Going back to the initial phrase, I COME FROM THE DESTINATION OF YOUR FATE is said by the Princess of the Crystal in her introduction monologue. It likely lampshades the predetermined ending that the Takakura brothers are so desperately trying to avoid. But also, there is a much funnier, much more literal interpretation I enjoy - Ikebukuro, the last stop on the train line, is where the aquarium the siblings visit is. It’s also where the brothers bought the novelty penguin hat for Himari. So the Princess of the Crystal literally came from the destination (last stop) of your fate (the red line)!)
LET’S SHARE THE FRUIT OF FATE
This turns out to be the secret key phrase needed to activate the diary in order to change the tracks of fate, which Ringo uses at the end of the show in order to prevent another train attack from succeeding.
It’s probably not too hard to piece together what the fruit of fate is after all of this. In a sense, this phrase is just a repeat of Mawaru Penguindrum, just as an actual sentence with a bit more coherence.
I’ll bear your burdens and you’ll bear mine, and in doing so, let us forever be connected.
Wow, finally expunged these thoughts from my brain. Maybe somewhere in me there's still something left for a discussion on how the show uses repeated imagery and visual metaphor to communicate information and associations to the viewer that are vital to actually understanding what's going on because it's a narrative that half exists a non-literal thematic space but for now:
Thanks for reading!
#mawaru penguindrum#ikuhara#mpd#finally committed to writing this after dying from the booster side effects#i'm sure there might be translation differences from the original japanese but I think my logic will still hold
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In the mass protest decade, street explosions created revolutionary situations, often on accident. But a protest is very poorly equipped to take advantage of a revolutionary situation, and that particular kind of protest is especially bad at it. If you believe that you can forge a better society, if you are willing to run the risk of trying, then you should enter the vacuum yourself. But a diffuse group of individuals who come out to the streets for very different reasons cannot simply take power themselves, at least not as an entire diffuse group of individuals. Once someone goes in there and takes power in the name of the masses, you are talking about a type of vanguard—a particular ideological project, and a minority of people who dare to try to represent the rest of the population. In some of the more utopian strains of anti-authoritarian thought, the riot is supposed to become the new society, but this has not worked out so far.11 Perhaps it might, someday, but it would probably not work very well in the actually existing Global South, which is surrounded by so many foreign actors that might be sucked very quickly into an apparent power vacuum by the possibility of easy profit and plunder.
If some new group boldly steps into the vacuum, manages to stay there, and transforms society, then that’s a revolution. But if you find your political system broadly acceptable, or you don’t think you can replace it with something better, then the thing to do is to negotiate. That is called reform. You can use your power on the streets to extract concessions, if you play it right. But once more, this necessarily entails representation.
It was not just Mayara and Haddad who overlapped in their answers to my question. I heard it very often—it came in different forms, but I heard it more than any other response. I think Hossam Bahgat put it best, or at least, the most directly.
“Organize. Create an organized movement. And don’t be afraid of representation,” he said without hesitation, in his office in Giza, as his world fell apart around him. “We thought representation was elitism, but actually it is the essence of democracy.” I heard answers like this over and over, confirming research compiled by scholars. As early as 1975, William Gamson found that movements succeed more often when they deploy hierarchical forms of organization. In a wide-ranging 2022 study, Mark Beissinger found that loose uprisings of the Maidan type tend to increase inequality and ethnic tensions, while they do not consolidate democracy or end corruption.
“After Maidan, I decided I do not believe in self-organization,” said Artem Tidva, the young leftist who brought a red European Union flag to the square, as we grabbed a bite to eat in central Kyiv in the summer of 2021. “I used to be more anarchist. Back then everyone wanted to do an assembly; whenever there was a protest, always an assembly. But I think any revolution with no organized labor party will just give more power to economic elites, who are already very well-organized.” Unlike some of his former comrades, Artem never gave up on the Ukrainian uprising and stayed active in the post-Maidan political scene, working to push for center-left, anti-racist alternatives in the context of the new political order. But in Ukraine, it seemed clear that the uprising had benefited the groups that had already formed coherent, disciplined organizations before the uprising began, and we had seen more evidence of that earlier in the day.
“I definitely don’t have the same views on these things as I did before 2013,” said Lucas “Vegetable” Monteiro. He still believes that a better society must be born out of this one, not just created after some revolution seizes state power. But he now thinks that the Movimento Passe Livre turned the principles of horizontalism, autonomy, and prefiguration “into a dogma, into a kind of religion, and we could not turn them into real political practice. Instead, they became a kind of identity. And we ended up quickly crashing into barriers that we ourselves had created.” The MPL still exists, but no one who was in the group in 2013 is still a member. Looking back on 2019 in Hong Kong, Theo told me, “[It] was very fun to see the China building defaced, I had a lot of fun on the streets, but the decentralized nature of the movement meant that there was no room for discussion about how it should work, or how a coherent strategy could be developed.”
Not everyone I met came out of the decade adopting positions in favor of formal structures, in support of “verticalism” and hierarchy, insisting that representation matters. Mayara, for example, remains mostly true to the ideals she adopted as a young punk. But everyone moved in the same direction. I spent years doing interviews, and not one person told me that they had become more horizontalist, or more anarchist, or more in favor of spontaneity and structurelessness. Some people stayed in the same place. But everyone that changed their views on the question of organization moved closer to classically “Leninist” ones.
Bevins, Vincent. If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution
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so, i guess i'm kind if in the minority of players who actually really liked guarma. like, don't get me wrong, i really disliked the limited area, but the scenery is beautiful and the missions, god the missions, are so damn good. they do so much for the characters and the themes and the story as a whole and they are honestly the missions i replay most frequently.
one of these days i'm going to write a meta along the lines of "hercule vs. dutch: honest revolution and grifts" but that's for another time. right now i want to talk about javier, his relationship with dutch, and the idea that he "should've stayed a good guy".
i've seen a quite frankly confusing amount of people say that javier "would've sided with arthur" if it wasn't for rdr, and that he "wouldn't have turned bad". and i have a few problems with this.
in every single camp, javier has a multitude of random encounters and conversations that divulge his past; a past filled with want for a better world, revolution, betrayal, heartache, and loss of family. and then he describes how dutch found him and brought him into the gang. how he gave him a new purpose, something to fight for.
the sense of loyalty javier has towards dutch is just as strong, if not stronger, than arthur's.
in chapter 3, javier is beginning to doubt dutch. he believes in him fiercely, but there are holes in his plans that he cannot help but question. when he asks dutch about it, dutch lashes out, telling javier in no uncertain terms that he not only needs javier but that he needs javier strong. and the way javier reacts really underlines how unsure javier is of everything and how much he relies on dutch and the image javier has on him. he hesitates, he stutters, clearly unused to dutch talking to him like that, but ultimately gives in, willing to follow dutch to the ends of the earth, because dutch saved him, gave him a new family, and has yet to lead him astray.
and then guarma happens. javier is shot and captured – he essentially sacrifices himself to ensure the others' safety.
dutch and arthur come to his rescue. they could have easily left him to rot, and it would have probably been easier considering how heavily guarded the place is, but they don't. dutch puts himself directly in the line of fire and takes the extra weight of a wounded javier on his back while holding guards back with the help of arthur.
dutch could have easily died trying to save javier, was willing to put himself in mortal danger for javier, and javier notices. of course he does.
twice now, dutch has saved javier's life and brought him to what will/has become his family. how can he not double down on his loyalty?
on top of this, as dutch unravels further and further in chapter 6, the one thing he constantly rambles on about is loyalty and doubt and how the people doubting him are the reason for their downfall. and javier, who at this point believes even more fervently in dutch than he did before, hears this and sees the way john and arthur have begun questioning dutch, a man who – as javier believes and points out to them – raised them and gave them a family and a purpose to their lives, and comes to the same conclusion as dutch: they're the ones who have betrayed them.
so yeah, the idea that javier would have sided with arthur if rdr didn't exist is just wrong, even if you exclusively look at rdr2.
i also want to dismiss the idea that javier "became bad" in chapter six or that r* butchered his character. they didn't. what javier does in the last chapter lines up with everything i've mentioned above, and it doesn't make him a bad guy. putting aside the dumb idea that any character in rdr2 can be described as bad or good, that all the characters aren't morally gray and complicated, javier, till the very end, fought for what he thought was right, what he belived was right.
javier explicitly says that he is willing to die for what he believes in, for freedom, and unlike dutch, whose ideals i believe have eroded and nearly been cast aside by the time the game starts, this is a constant for javier. i believe that javier fervently believed in the ideals and philosphy dutch used to believe in, as well as the family dutch invited him into.
this doesn't mean that he doesn't eventually become a traditional villain in a sense. honestly, it's like r* put a neat little bow on the entire thing, because javier seems to undergo the same changes between rdr2 and rdr as dutch had before and during rdr2: he becomes everything he was previously against, everything he swore to destroy. javier abandons his ideals, actively fighting against revolution in mexico, and works for a man who, in cutscenes, has women dragged away to be raped – a villain in every sense of the word.
in my opinion, rdr2 did the same thing for javier as it did for dutch – it humanised him, made him redeemable and sympathetic, ultimately making his reappearance in rdr and john's life all the more tragic and horrible.
#javier escuella#dutch van der linde#rdr2#red dead redemption 2#tw rape mention#just like with dutch i did not think r* could make me like javier when i first started playing rdr2#and just like with dutch i was proven wrong
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Iconic Homoerotic Betrayal: Round 2
Round 2 Directory
Context:
Akechi/Joker
Summarized by Anonymous Contributor
Ok so Akira(you the player) are the leader of a group of thieves (who are doing good for society) but there are more sinister things happening that also get attributed to your group.
Enter Akechi the famous charismatic detective who’s declared that he will catch you(you can probably already guess where this is going)
When you first meet him it is already clear that something is very wrong under that obviously fake smile. Under your civilian identity you befriend him and slowly(or rather fast) he opens up to you showing more of his true self and what pains his heart. Even disclosing sensitive information that could bring him down.
Of course this is all just lies he made up to get close to you right? Nope.
You see the betrayal coming from miles ahead. Not only does he betray you, he’s been the real culprit all along.
Despite knowing this loooong ahead you still take him on little gay dates to the aquarium, public bathhouse, pretending to shoot eachother, a café or try to impress him with your amazing darts skills. You may even willingly make wrong choices just for his approval (I did gdi Akechi I trusted you.) And when you come home he's already waiting for you.
After you survive him gleefully shooting you through the head(it makes sense in context) you meet again he admits that he wishes you’d have met earlier, confirming that your bond was genuine, that you could’ve been friends/partners(? It’s complicated) and he really meant it when he said you’re the only one he feels at ease with. But not without having a truly unhinged meltdown about it first, vehemently rejecting your offer to still be friends and turn over a new leaf. (so after he's attempted to kill you at least 2 times and is gearing up for making it 3)
Akechi betraying you is as much a betrayal of himself as it is one of you.
Bonus points:
other characters comment on you being the only one close to him
during one rank he confesses to you…. His hate?
as previously mentioned, your relationship ranks up after he shoots you in the head(you survive, it make sense in context)
he himself compares his betrayal of you to romance(yes after shooting you through the head). On live tv. In the same moment he reminds himself how he’s felt unwanted his entire life, like a reminder he killed the only person who ever made him wanted.
At the end you have the choice to stay in a perfect world where he is alive and never underwent any of the pain in his life turning him into a wholly different person, or let him die(again) as his true self. If you pick the former you can return the betrayal.
*vague description it’s complicated.
Read other summary here.
John Silver/James Flint (Black Sails)
Summarized by Anonymous Contributor
what if we were pirates and I was grieving over my lost love and pulled you into the orbit of my narrative and turned you into the same kind of monster as I am but instead of dedicating all your energy to destruction you found people to love and you sacrificed our shared dream of revolution for a chance at a quiet life and you had to kill me to do it but instead you said I will wait here for a day a month a year until we can walk out of this together. and also we were both boys.
The moment that best exemplifies WHY I believe silverflint should win this tournament isn't the moment of the betrayal itself, but something that happens an entire season before. It's the season 3 finale, and Flint and Silver are preparing for a battle. Silver says to Flint, "Your demons are a part of our reality. Such is the nature of the influence you wield. Some of those demons I've come to know, but the one in whose name this war is to be fought is still a stranger to me." He asks Flint to share the deepest and most painful parts of his backstory - and Flint does. He opens up to Silver about his (queer) lover, who was killed because of their relationship. He's never told anyone about this before, and everyone who knew is is dead. But he tells Silver.
Silver takes this in and comes to a realization. He tells Flint that he sees himself as the latest in a line of people who have become very close to Flint and died because of it. He places himself in the same category as both of Flint's dead lovers. But he says that, when it comes down to it, he's afraid he's going to destroy Flint rather than let himself be destroyed. Flint tells Silver that if he does try to kill him, he'll have his work cut out for him. The whole conversation takes place in flashbacks, intercut with the battle that takes place the next day. The end of the conversation is played in voiceover over the final shots of the season: after winning the battle, Flint stands on the bank of a river, staring across at Silver and Silver's lover; the two of them stand on the opposite bank staring back.
It is POETIC CINEMA on a level I don't even have words for. It's the moment of their greatest triumph together, the moment Flint finally opens up to someone a decade after what happened to him, the moment their partnership goes from utilitarian to inseparable. But the seeds of their dissolution are already present. Silver says as much, in the same breath as he declares himself to be the latest in the lineage of Flint's lovers. It's a truly unbelievable sequence.
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RANDOM DIALOGUE PROMPTS, ACT II
ASSORTED QUOTES FOUND IN FILMS, TELEVISIONS, MUSIC, AND LITERATURE.
CHANGE gendered words as needed.
SPECIFY muse for multimuses.
“ A great force is asleep in you. ”
“ All I ever think about is you. ”
“ All I ever wanted was to know what to do. ”
“ Am I a good man? ”
“ Are you going to kill me? ”
“ Becoming the villain isn’t the answer. ”
“ Can you prove it to me? ”
“ Did you really think that I would ever let you go? ”
“ Do you regret taking the vow? ”
“ It was like a switch was flipped. ”
“ Fear cuts deeper than swords ”
“ Forgiveness is different from absolution. ”
“ Have I explained away any part of my guilt? ”
“ Help me. Remind me why I am here. ”
“ How many have died because of my actions? ”
“ How often will you repent? ”
“ How strange this is! What is the meaning of it? ”
“ I appreciate your concern. ”
“ I am beyond repentance. ”
“ I am destroying myself so other people can’t. ”
“ I am doing no injury to anybody but myself. ”
“ I am nothing if not merciful. ”
“ I am so glad to see you! ”
“ I believe you are perfectly right. ”
“ I can’t help but give in. ”
“ I cannot agree with you there. ”
“ I doubt I will be pleasant company. ”
“ I doubt everything, even my doubt. ”
“ I feel as though I have been living a long, long time. ”
“ I fought so hard to free you… ”
“ I have betrayed everyone and everything I know. ”
“ I have survived, but I have not been spared. ”
“ I have this grief and I don’t know why. ”
“ I will do whatever you ask. ”
“ I will not be a caged bird. I will fly free. ”
“ I played my part in the plan. ”
“ I pledge myself to your teachings. ”
“ I’m like a collection of paradoxes. ”
“ I’m sorry you were not truly loved and that it made you cruel. ”
“ I’m not too gone to be healed, am I? ”
“ I'm not everything I want to be, but I'm more than I was, and I'm still learning. ”
“ I’m restless and harsh and hopeless. ”
“ I’ll do all that I can to make things right. ”
“ If I cannot be loved, I must be feared. ”
“ Is everyone in danger as long as I’m alive? ”
“ Is this fair? Is this just? ”
“ Is this what you wanted? ”
“ It ends as it began. ”
“ It would be impossible, I know. ”
“ It’s not my fault — I’m not to blame! ”
“ It’s been a long time since I’ve been me. ”
“ I’ve started this storm; gotta stop it somehow ”
“ Money can only give happiness where there is nothing else to give it. ”
“ My intentions were not always wrong. ”
“ None of this is your fault. It’s me and my head. ”
“ No harm will come to you! ”
“ Life is full of tough choices. ”
“ Please remove your blade from my throat. ”
“ Pity comes too late! ”
“ Save me from these evil deeds. ”
“ Sorry is not enough. Sometimes you actually have to change. ”
“ That behavior is quite inexcusable. ”
“ The end justifies the means. ”
“ The path of hate is a dangerous track. ”
“ This can only end one way. ”
“ This is why you never should’ve left. ”
“ There’s a revolution coming. ”
“ There’s trouble for all when there’s trouble for one. ”
“ They are not to be trusted. ”
“ What do you mean? ”
“ What is this fighting all about? ”
“ Where were you when I was still kind? ”
“ Why are they all trying to make me into a saint? ”
“ Why can’t you see me? ”
“ Would you like to punish those who wronged you? ”
“ You can’t trust a single thing I say. ”
“ You can’t run from this! ”
“ You changed me. You should remember me. ”
“ You did not mean to be cruel. That does not mean that you were kind. ”
“ You don’t have to make a sound. ”
“ You have been loyal to a greater cause. ”
“ You know what’s best for me. ”
“ You were born for this. ”
“ You’ll always be a slave. ”
“ Your offer is meaningless. ”
“ You’re the one that I need. ”
“ You’re not as brave as you may seem. ”
“ You’ve gone too far! ”
#askbox meme#askbox prompt#rp ask meme#roleplay sentence meme#sentence starters#ask box#roleplay prompts#roleplay sentence starters#* sentence meme
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My thoughts on the ending
This is probably going to be a bit rambling and disconnected, so bear with me...
(This got far longer than I meant it to be...)
Does anyone else feel that the Deserter is a reflection of the person Harry could have been, if he hadn't lost his memory? The bitterness and anger and inability to let go of the past remind me of a lot of things that the Ancient Reptilian Brain and the Limbic System say in the dream sequences... I think that Harry's amnesia is a gift, in a way - it allows Harry to eventually let go of the past and decide what kind of person he wants to be now. One of the first dream sequences shows Harry a vision of himself as the hanged man, and I think in a way the old Harry did die when he lost his memories. One of the reasons the game was so affecting emotionally to me is that you as the player are the one getting Harry to turn his life around, if that's how you choose to play it, because it really makes you feel involved and part of Harry's story. It's one of the reasons why I don't think the game would work well as a TV adaptation - I think it would really lose a lot of its emotional impact without your input. It really moved me that I could get Harry to go from screaming that he "doesn't want to be that kind of animal any more", to telling the Phasmid: "I'm glad to be me - an incredibly sensitive instrument".
I really love how the tone of the game manages to be somehow hopeless and hopeful at the same time. Maybe the world is doomed by the Pale, and the Revolution failed, and maybe Revachol is a shithole, but... you can find that there are things worth loving and saving in this broken world. You're subconscious tries so hard to convince you that it's all terrible and evil and that you should just give up and let the darkness take you, but all of your actions through the game can prove that voice wrong. It tells you you're not helping anyone, but depending on how you play the game, you are: you found Billie's husband, and even though he's dead, at least now she knows and won't have to wait forever for him to come home when he won't; Cuno has someone who actually listens to him and takes what he has to say seriously; you got Plaisance to bring Annette in from the cold; you stopped the mercenaries from killing as many people as they might otherwise have done (it went pretty badly in my playthrough, but I tried), and you gave Kim a friend. I love the message it seems to be trying to put across that even if the world is ultimately doomed, you can and should still try to find the good in it, and make a small part of it a better place. And maybe in the end it won't change anything, but the fact that you had hope enough to try matters. And maybe if enough people thought that way, they could change reality for the better - maybe there was a grain of truth in that infra-materialist stuff all along. Maybe it sounds corny, but I found it very touching.
This is... sort of where the Phasmid comes in for me, because everyone thought the existence of the Insulindan Phasmid was impossible, but because you believed in it enough, you were able to prove it was real. And if the Phasmid is real, then maybe other things that people thought were impossible can happen, too... It makes me feel very satisfied that I chose "SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL IS GOING TO HAPPEN" when I painted that wall. It seems fitting.
I also love the fact that the Deserter being stuck in the past is literally killing him. And... he talks a big game about being the last real Communist or whatever, but in the end, how is he actually helping the working class by clinging to his bitterness and refusing to let go of what could have been, instead of trying to do something to help the people around him? Even though Harry is flawed, and on his own can't change the world, he's made a difference to the people around him, which is better than being consumed by bitterness and doing nothing at all.
In the end, I think for me one of the core themes of the game is faith/belief (not necessarily in a religious sense)... I think that something that really helps is Kim's belief in Harry. He's so kind to Harry, when he could just as easily write him off as a shambling alcoholic. I think Kim's faith in you makes you want to live up to what he thinks of you, so... I'm not sure how coherent I'm being here, but it's a bit like how Harry believing in the Phasmid lets him make it a definite reality - Kim's belief in Harry as a great detective, or someone who could be a great detective, makes Harry a better person, I think. (At least, that's my take on it - I got so attached to Kim as a character that I really wanted to make him proud of my version of Harry!) And in the end, his faith wasn't misplaced. Again, he can't change the world, and he's human and not a saint (much as Harry may think he is), but Kim choosing to be kind did make a difference, even if it was only to one man.
tl;dr This is going to sound unbearably pretentious, but if someone asked me if video games can be art, this is the game I'd point to and say "yes".
#this game's story and world have just grabbed my heart and squeezed#I'm Not OK#Disco Elysium#Splash plays games#Disco Elysium spoilers
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bundletober #8: nasty, brutish, and long
welcome to bundletober, the txttletale dot tumblr dot com ttrpg blogging indulgence that absolutely everyone. is talking about? yes! today i read a slightly longer game than most of the ones i've been talking about here, because, frankly, it captivated me. nasty brutish, and long, by not writing, is a game about rebellion.
what instantly drew me into this game is that 'rebellion' isn't abstract and it doesn't happen for no reason. a lot of games like to style themselvs as being 'about rebellion' or 'about revolution', with no actual desire to engage in why revolutions happen--there's an evil empire and you're fighting it because it's evil. but nasty, brutish, and long is clearly deeply invested in questions of class and economics--part of the first session asks you to consider the economic state of the nation:
and yet another part gives you a 36-item table to roll on for an inciting incident for the revolution in question:
i love this shit--well, firstly, because i love games that give you strong plot hooks, games that tell you about their world, games that imply possibilities through options rather than grabbing your lapels and telling you what possibilities are on the table in tedious monologue. but second because this shows that the game wants to tell stories about the realities of revolution, that it is founding itself in history as more than just an aesthetic.
another really cool thing that happens before you even get out of character creation is 'backgrounds' -- as part of creating your character, you select four backgrounds (professions your character has worked), which are separated by social class (another choice you make at character creation). while you can always choose, the game encourages you to roll on yet more tables and make a story from that--i've done it a few times, and it's great fun.
for example, in the course of writing this post i created geoffrey--born a rural peasant class, he was taken in under the wing of a preacher after his family died. the preacher recognizes his potential and groomed him to be his successor--when the preacher eventually passed away, geoffrey, who'd always been a confident silvertongued lad, became his rural township's pastor. however, although he was convincing, he'd never been a true believer--so while when on a pilgrimage a merchant approached him with a simple scheme, using the legal immunity afforded to pilgrims to have him smuggle contraband into the country, he happily became a smuggler. this worked out great for a while, and saw geoffrey make a very tidy sum--but after a particularly close call he realized that he needed to get the hell out of this arrangement. with the sum of his ill-gotten gains, he travelled to a city and purchased a bookstore, becoming a middle class shop owner. he happily lived out the next few decades selling books--but at heart, he missed the fire of a sermon, having the ear of a crowd, so in his late years he passed his shop on to his son and became an elderly teacher, bringing literacy to the village of his youth.
this is exactly the kind of thing i fucking love about tabletop roleplaying games, the feeling that the game is chiming in with me as i try to tell a story, throwing me these weird curveballs i have to 'yes, and!' to create a backstory i'd never have thought of on a million years on my own. something else worth noting is that character creation is very open for a forged in the dark game -- you're unlkely to even have the same set of attributes as someone else, and you can pick backgrounds and abilities (mostly) totally independent of one another or any overarching playbook-type restriction.
the game itself diverges from blades in a lot of interesting ways. instead of blades' system of looking for the highest die, nasty, brutish, and long operates on a die pool system, which is what allows for it to add a large pile of levers for influencing rolls, including using multiple attributes for the same roll--there seems to be some OSR influence in here, with the open-endedness of the actual moment to moment gameplay and the vast amount of opportunities to use and exchange in-game resources. that said, unlike OSR stuff, there's a lot of effort being put in here to hand narrative control to players. instead of just saying 'you succeed' on a success, it says, 'the PC narrates what happens' which is a really cool spin on the usual success/mixed success/failure trifecta. players also get the ability to make up NPCs by expending resources, which is super cool.
other highlights include a take on burning wheel's drives system, a weird version of blades' resist mechanic that lets you change, rather than avert, the consequence your character faces, and a take on 'downtime' that frames it as more of a timeskip, during which years can pass. it's pretty cool stuff.
oh, and finally--the fucking style of this game is incredible. it does a lot with very little colour--a few splashes of dark red here and there is all it needs to complement its striking black and white, rich sense of texture, and
if there's one thing i don't like about nasty, brutish, and long, it's that it doesn't have any strong ideas about what the players need to be doing. the game establishes social turmoil and brewing revolution, makes a huge point of social class and class differences, but the verbs, the substance of what your player characters do, is deliberately left totally open. and that's cool for some people, some people like that openness a lot! but for me, who appreciates a tight and specific design, it doesn't do much. the tagline says its 'an game about class and revolution'--and i'm not sure i can fully agree with that. it'd be more accurate to call it a game 'containing class and revolution'. which is a step up from a lot of games that claim to be revolutionary, as i said before--but at the end of the day leaves me feeling like something's been left on the table.
still, there's a huge amount here worth checking out--even if you don't intend on playing it, it's a great look into the different directions you can take the forged in the dark framework, and a great tool for Making Up Guys. can't go wrong with making up a guy!
nasty, brutish, and long can be purchased as a digital download through itch.io
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The songs of Young Royals - S1E4
Here we go again ♪ Episode 4 my beloved, it is your turn!!
Part one and two of this little project can be found here and there ♥
Holes, Zhala and Deep Throat Choir
I free my eyes at the start of time
Maybe this is an obsession of a witchy kind
And I lose myself inside
Erik died, Wilhelm lost the only person he was truly close to, the only person who was there for him. He is losing himself: what do you do when you lose the person that matters the most to you? It's when you realize how incredibly lucky it was that he started at Hillerska when he did, so he could meet Simon. Because otherwise, what would have happened to him? Would he have lost himself forever?
It's interesting that the "maybe this is an obsession" lyrics happens at the exact moment when we see Simon sending messages to Wilhelm while he watches the funeral on TV. "obsession" is a strong word but he is already very smitten and sending many messages to Wilhelm to check on him, to tell him he's there. Wilhelm does not answer though, because he is losing himself...
Remember
So you say, all you wanna be is remembered
Let me make you go down in history, baby
Let me write you into history, darling
Let me sing you into eternity
This song is beautiful. Indeed it's a good choice of song to commemorate Erik, Simon sounds great and the lyrics work very well in this context.
But there's a double meaning here: yes it is meant as a commemoration of Erik, saying he will not be forgotten, but it's also a message from Simon to Wilhelm. He is the Crown Prince now, and he is in love with another boy: it will make him go down in history. As Kristina said, he's the first one in the history of the royal family to not be straight (or at least the first one being opened about it), which will be a huge thing and an event that is gonna shake the country. But I can't help feeling moved by this song, by the image that Simon will be there with Wilhelm, next to him to endure it all. And let's not forget that Simon is gonna write a song about him during season 2, a song that he wants to sing in front of the entire world. So yeah, "let me sing you into eternity", Simon, you smitten boy...
Revolution, Elias
Let's start a revolution
How beautiful it is
Running with a crown on your head
A resolution written on your hands
And the lies they will hurt you
No more
This song... Do I even need to talk about it? Probably the best song they could choose for this show!! And I'm sure everything has been said about it already but let's give it a go anyway ^^
The whole scene is kinda perfect: the choice of song, the cinematography, what Wilhelm says... And yeah, it's Wilhelm grieving, and realizing that a lot of people around him are not "real", not his friends, not really there for him, for the true Wilhelm and not just the Prince. They don't know him. I think he probably doesn't know himself very well yet either. But it also makes him realize that he does like Simon. That's the only true thing, the only real thing he has left now that Erik is dead. And it's a revolution. Because he finally lets his guard down (granted he's drunk and high, but still!) and admits his feelings out loud, something he hasn't really be able to do 'til now. And he's going against everything he was taught, everything he believed. And that's a revolution. I don't know if he's "running" with the crown on his head, but he's certainly walking and stumbling onto that football field. And I'm not sure the resolution to declare his love to Simon was there already, but he still chose this place, where they had their first "date" to come to. So I do think that, even subconsciously , he was choosing Simon, choosing to come to him. And gosh, i don't know what awaits us in season 3 but yeah, in one way or another, Wilhelm and Simon together are a revolution.
Live and die, Gina Dirawi
Leave my body in a mess
All my seeds are ruined
This is my homage
Back to God
Thought if we
Were free
For a night
We'd make it right
But they're not free, not even for a night. They should have been. This night should have been theirs, and only theirs. It was their first night together, it was private and beautiful. It was love and lust after so much longing. And they don't know yet, how August is betraying them, betraying this moment. They are not doing anything wrong. They're actually "making it right" because they're finally acknowledging their mutual feelings, being true to each other.
It's not in the scene but later on in the song there are the lyrics "life in peace, no need for the lies" and it just works so well for them. Because they might have been honest about their feelings in this scene, but they are still in the midst of so many lies. And it's gonna take so much time for them to finally free themselves from this spiderweb of lies and complications.
This scene makes me so happy and so sad at the same time. It should have been just happiness, and love. It should have been freedom...
The songs of Young Royals - part 1
The songs of Young Royals - part 2
#Young Royals#Young Royals analysis#Young Royals songs#Young Royals S1E4#my analysis#song analysis#wilmon#simon eriksson#prince wilhelm#I love this episode#it breaks my heart and makes me happy at the same time#gives me all the feels in the world
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On “An Anarchist Anti-Gun Manifesto.”
Preface:
I am not an Anarchist, I am a Marxist, however, I think you will find that my disagreements with this piece are mostly compatible with an Anarchist position. (And if not… well… I don’t care.)
Full text of the piece may be found here.
I will be examining excerpts, while skipping over parts of the manifesto that repeat itself or are just not relevant to the points the author is trying to make.
(Side note: I do not mean any ill-will towards the author and I have nothing against them personally. I simply think that this text has very bad ideas that I strongly disagree with.)
The text begins:
“Before I begin in earnest, let me be clear: this is not a call for pacifism.”
This is an important distinction. The author does not want pacifism, they simply want to lose the revolution.
“I believe in fighting back with anything and everything we can get our hands on, however, I have grown tired with the continued fetishization of guns in radical (specifically anarchist) spaces.”
Please keep in mind the phrase “fighting back with everything we can get our hands on,” because it is contradicted many times in the rest of the piece.
I find their assertion of “fetishization of guns in radical … spaces” weak. Does it exist? Maybe, but they provide no examples of such, nor any descriptions of what it might look like.
(I can provide an example of a type of gun fetishization by leftists. Many American leftists have an affinity for guns originally designed in the Soviet Union and other socialist countries, manifesting, for example, in an irrational preference for AK models rather than the much more reasonable choice of an AR. But that is not touched on by this author and is a topic for another post entirely. Please do not buy a Makarov for self-defense purposes.)
Part I: “Illusions and Delusions”
They begin this section with a description of how Things Sure Are Getting Bad In America.
From the second paragraph:
“With each law passed, each drag story hour threatened, each captured display of violence on film, I see many with whom I find affinity echo some version a similar refrain:
‘This is why you need to buy a gun’
Every time I see this refrain, I pause and sit with the unease that rises from my guts into my throat and out my nose. I sit in the unease until a question formulates ‘What do you think a gun changes?’”
I’m going to legitimately answer their question.
A gun multiplies your capacity to do violence.
I don’t mean metaphorical violence or structural violence or figurative violence, I mean physical violence.
The oppressed peoples of America see that there is some kind of tide turning against us. And we are arming ourselves because not only is violence inevitable, it is already present.
I saw in the news how there was an armed standoff between the Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club and right-wing ‘protesters’ at a drag show. Many of the EFJBGC members were armed with AR-15 rifles. It is indisputable that they were a lot more intimidating than if they were unarmed. Some of the ‘protesters’ were armed as well, but the armed EFJBGC members outnumbered the armed ‘protesters.’ At that stage, in that context, intimidation was clearly a desired outcome. Sometimes intimidation is a necessary weapon against your enemies. We are “fighting back with anything we can get our hands on,” right?
“I’ve been around guns my whole life. I learned how to shoot at a young age, first a shotgun, then a rifle, then a handgun. I learned how to clean and care for a gun.”
I will refrain from casting any aspersions as to the author’s skill with a firearm. The problem is not their familiarity or skill, rather their errors in judgement.
Next we come to a real declaration.
“In no subtle words, believing that gun ownership is a meaningful answer to the violence enacted on marginalized peoples is to reify the illusion that to possess a gun is to increase one’s proximity to “safety”, and that to possess more guns is to become even “safer”. Owning a gun will never make you safe, because there is no such thing as safety in this world for the marginalized, for the Black, the targeted nonwhite, for the poor, the visibly queer,”
And they go on with a list of marginalized demographics, but I wanted to stop it at “the visibly queer,” because I find that significant.
I think it is incorrect to tell someone at risk of being gay-bashed that they should not have a means of exerting more violent force in a fight.
I am visibly trans and have been harassed on the street by random aggressive people many times. I’m lucky to have escaped such encounters through various means but I eventually decided that I was done taking chances. If you don’t have a need for self-defense, that’s cool for you I guess, but my life experience has been very different. I carry a 9mm Glock loaded with hollow-points in a concealed holster. I train regularly.
I wasn’t “safe” in the first place.
The next point they make makes me really wonder who they think they are arguing with.
“If you wish to continue breathing, there is no gun you can possess to prevent the sheriffs from carrying out an eviction. There is no gun you can possess to turn your heat back on.”
Nobody thinks this. It’s an irrelevant thing to bring up. Moving on.
“If someone really, truly, wants you dead, no gun will keep you alive, unless you turn yourself into a machine of pure vigilance, sacrificing living for the hope of survival that can never be guaranteed.”
This is literally not true. If someone really, truly, wants you dead, and tries to kill you, and you shoot them until they stop moving, they’re gonna have a much harder time killing you.
It seems that the author here is taking the nihilist point of view where there is nothing you can do to give yourself better odds in violent altercations where the other person wants to kill you.
Regardless of political ideology I never tolerate nihilism.
In their next paragraph they are truly self-contradictory.
“If there is to be a path towards anything resembling “safety” it will not come from individually arming ourselves, even in large numbers. It will come from a generalized culture of antagonism towards both formal and informal institutions of power. It will come from a culture of spontaneous resistance, from insurrectional potential. Guns may be a part of some explicit actions within that culture; however, they are neither necessary nor sufficient for bringing it about and may (as I will touch on later) hinder its continued existence. The only chance we have at protecting each other is gaining ground in the social war of our time.”
Let’s put aside the “generalized culture of antagonism” as that is within the purview of social movements overall and is therefore beyond the scope of what I can write about here.
There is a contradiction between their assertion that we should not individually arm ourselves and their assertion that guns may be necessary for social change. Ideally you should not spontaneously take up arms at a flashpoint of social change without previous experience and training with firearms, and the best way to have experience and training with firearms is to already have firearms so you can actually train with them. Their idea of a “social war” that apparently does not include firearms is ludicrous and unimaginable in the United States of America. If there is to be an actual “social war” with genuine insurrectionary activity, the right-wing and capital-owning opposition to those insurrections will be shooting at you. ‘Don’t bring a knife to a gunfight,’ as they say.
“Rather than taking an offensive position of articulating worthwhile actions and carrying them out, many revert to a defensive (even reactionary) positioning of arming themselves and simply waiting for the coming genocide, for the coming collapse. They may have other projects that they take part in but they are mostly ways to kill time. They don’t attempt to gain ground and so they don’t risk losing ground. Still, they are convinced of their own radicality because they armed themselves, they have primed themselves to defend the marginalized (potentially including themselves), the most radical thing one can do.”
What can I say other than ‘citation needed.’
Sure, if all you do is buy a gun and nothing else, then arguably you’re not a part of a revolutionary force. But that’s not what I see. I see people unionizing their workplaces, taking part in mutual aid projects, or, in fact, merely surviving.
What, in actual fact, is so bad about left-wing individuals increasing their capacity for self-defense?
The next paragraph is almost laughable coming from an Anarchist.
“We can’t shoot our way to liberation, not if liberation means the ability to determine for ourselves what a life worth living would be. A few shots may help, but they will never be the sufficient form of resistance against a world built upon the logic of concentrated power, of which guns are a primary mode of expression.”
Aren’t y’all supposed to be insurrectionists?!
Aren’t y’all supposed to desire the literal downfall of the State?!
Why are you struggling against your own means of fighting back against Power?
Or…
“…concentrated power, of which guns are a primary mode of expression.”
Perhaps the author believes that guns themselves are bad because they ARE a form of increasing one’s power.
This is a ridiculous point to take. If guns are bad because they increase an individual’s power, then you can logically proceed to the position that ALL forms of individual power are bad. Are we to conclude that individuals should not even learn how to fight hand-to-hand, because that skill and physical prowess is a form of individual power? How about physical fitness in the first place? How about owning a car? How about owning a home? Where does it stop?
I will provide a quote here that is better than anything in this manifesto.
In the words of Mao Zedong,
“Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.”
Part II: “The Concentration of Power and the Reproduction of Daily Life”
“I think people acquire guns because of the fantasy of possessing hyper concentrated power. We live in a world of incredible alienation and disempowerment. We look outside and believe ourselves broadly incapable of affecting our surroundings. In this context, a machine that, with the push of a button, can irreparably alter our existence is easily fetishized.”
I understand what they are saying here, but it isn’t actually an argument against the necessity of the ownership of guns, so it’s irrelevant.
”These power fantasies inevitably blind the radical from recognizing the experimental space opened before them, and so these radicals actively repress the experimentation and insurrectionary potential of others in those spaces. I saw far too many such ‘radical’ policing forces in 2020 to ever trust a person who shows up to a riot carrying an AR.”
This is actually something referencing real life that I wish they would expand upon. They don’t really go into detail as to what “policing” they observed, so I’m left without an ability to meaningfully comment.
I myself was left with disillusionment in the wake of 2020. What I saw was a lack of organization that created power vacuums that were easily exploited by opportunists, whether that meant self-proclaimed ‘organizers’ or ‘security’ forces or just highly charismatic grifters. However I don’t see the problem as being guns. I see the problem as a lack of power structures. A highly organized group of people is empowered to resist bad actors. I have observed that masses of people with no plan and no organization are highly vulnerable and, in a sense, weak regardless of how large their numbers are. This is why huge masses of unequipped, disorganized protesters, even violent ones, can be cowed, kettled, and dispersed by much smaller numbers of well-equipped and well-organized police departments.
It is the organization of human effort that multiplies our efficiency and power.
I will provide another quote that is better than anything in this manifesto.
In the words of Ralph Chaplin,
“When the union's inspiration through the workers' blood shall run,
There can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun;
Yet what force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one,
But the union makes us strong.”
Part III: “Fetish as Smokescreen”
This part is interesting because, although I disagree with it, I have never seen this kind of argument before.
“Perhaps the consequence of the continued fetishizing and fantasizing that feels most pressing, is how it alters our relation to the arms manufacturers themselves. I rarely, if ever, see these manufacturers recognized as viable targets of direct action even at the height of anti-police mobilizations despite the fact that the only reason the police are able enact violence on the scale that they do is because these manufacturers supply them with near infinite arms.”
The interesting thing about this is that they are almost onto something here. Yes! It is true that the police get their power not only from their organization but also from their arms!
There is an entire military-industrial complex that arms American police and military forces! In fact, American manufacturers of CS gas see their products not only used on American protesters domestically, but also supply their gas canisters to the (essentially) American client state of Israel so that the IDF can continue to violently enforce a settler-colonial apartheid state.
However, it might be a misstep for the revolutionary-minded left to indiscriminately target arms manufacturers.
Rather, targeting arms manufacturers other than the ones that exclusively supply the american & international militaries seems like a bad idea.
As anti-imperialist action, it would certainly be a wonderful thing to stifle the American nation’s exports of violence and terror on the international community. (Especially if said revolutionaries were able to seize some such arms for themselves!)
However, I do not think that reducing the amount of arms able to be brought to the American civilian market is a wise move in 2023.
The American right-wing, American police, and American military are all three enemies of the American left-wing, and they are all better armed than us. Until we can raid factories and armories and seize military-grade arms for ourselves, we may take to heart this old quote…
“The Capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them.”
Anyway, I shall finish up this section with another defeatist quote from the author.
“…we will never be able to match the police or military in the arena of arms procurement, and even if we could, the only way we’d be able to match them in an arms-focused conflict would be to turn ourselves into a military of our own with all the loss of autonomy and life that entails.
I refuse to admit defeat, and I refuse to fulfill some dutiful role within a misnamed revolutionary military. I desire life, I desire a life worth living.”
The author here declares that the left-wing should not form a revolutionary military in the case of a revolution.
I guess they hate winning.
Part IV: “Expropriate, Use, Destroy”
The author here flip-flops again and outlines a way in which the revolutionary left may ethically use guns.
“…guns may serve some purpose within specific actions and so it feels worthwhile to throw out a potential way of relating to them in the moments we deem them useful.
We expropriate (both individual armaments and the means by which to produce them) in order to break away from participating in the profiteering of the gun manufacturers while simultaneously dispossessing our enemies of their means to brutalize us.
We use what we have expropriated in the ways deemed worthwhile when we have deemed such actions necessary.
We destroy what we have expropriated to the best of our ability.
Most importantly, we destroy the means by which these arms are produced. So long as there exists a way to quickly mass produce arms, there will always be a timebomb waiting for the next police or military to emerge.”
This is a ridiculous proposition. They are outlining a post-revolutionary world where the dominant order (whether that is an Anarchist one or a Communist one) voluntarily disarms itself rather than consolidating and solidifying its power… leaving itself vulnerable to easily-concealed clandestine arms manufacturing!
What are you going to do, destroy every CNC machine? Every 3D printer?
At this moment, rebels in Myanmar are fighting against the military junta, and apparently a popular choice of firearm among the rebels is the FGC-9, a semi-automatic 9mm carbine that is made of both 3D-printed and simple metal parts.
The FGC-9 was specifically designed to be easy to manufacture, and as 3D-printing and other manufacturing methods become more advanced, surely people will produce even more designs for homemade guns.
Hell, the assassination of Shinzo Abe proves that even in a nation where personal firearms ownership is all but abolished, it is still possible for a determined individual to make a doohickey and exert an act of political power.
Anyway. Next comes a myopic and, frankly, liberal statement from the manifesto author.
“At its most simplistic, a gun is a machine designed with the specific purpose of killing. The majority of handguns and rifles produced today are designed with the specific intention of killing people. I refuse to accept the normalization, and fetishization, of such a machine within anarchist spaces.”
Wow! Guns are for killing people! Amazing! Nobody ever known that before! And you say killing is bad?! Truly groundbreaking stuff here!
Next comes a little bit of creative writing, I guess.
“While I’m not so naive as to believe there will be some idyllic future in which no one harms anyone else, I am certainly idealistic enough to believe a world without these machines is possible. If you disagree, fine, you can stand in defense of the gun factories, maybe even point one at me as I light the match.”
So they… envision a future where they will be gunned down for trying to destroy all gun factories? What is this amazingly nihilist imagination that can conjure something so divorced from material reality?
“Winning, to me, looks like the ashes of every precinct and prison mixing with the ashes of every factory, the ones that make guns included.”
Every factory? EVERY factory? At the risk of misinterpreting this piece… It seems that is person is not just against manufacturing guns, but rather, no industrial manufacturing whatsoever? So no trains, no pacemakers, no computers? Sounds like a pretty bad future to me. No thank you.
The piece ends with a few repetitions of their already established points.
I want to take this person seriously, and I want to empathize with them, but I just truly think these ideas are terrible.
At the end of the day, I think that individual capacity for self-defense for leftists and marginalized demographics is a good thing.
I also think that to win a revolution you are gonna want to form militias.
Of course, in the current tenor of America, forming leftist militias is prohibitively risky due to the power and hostility of the State.
I think that this will change in the future as the American empire seems to be decreasing in power. As its international influence wanes, it will increase its depredations on its residents, which will accelerate its own collapse into civil disorder.
I can’t predict how long this will take, of course. But a breakdown of civil society would include a lot of interpersonal violence, and perhaps even civil war.
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