#Oliver fog

[earukimary]

No i don't know what these oliver shenanigans are

[titaniumions]

A Knight helping his kids beat a hard level in Super Mario Land, 1990s

[casrayy]

They are father and son and no one can tell me otherwise

[archonofdivinity]

Oliver Fog - The Representation of Trade Unions Post-War

When most people talk about Oliver Fog, it’s never through an analytical lens. He is mostly used for the sake of shipping and sibling headcanons. And if his backstory is ever addressed, it’s normally taken wrong. Oliver isn’t a character who just hates work. In fact it could be argued that he is a microcosm of trade union representatives in his time period.

First I must discuss the importance of trade unions on Oliver’s character especially of 1953. I say 1953 because Oliver mentions that he has not worked overtime for 211 days in his anecdote. Trade unions at the time were much more powerful than they were today, and had much heavy tight links to the UK Labour Party, which was undoubtably much more left wing than it is today. The leader of Labour at the time was Clement Attlee who, while no longer Prime Minister, was one of the most influential socialists in UK history and helped to set up the NHS. I bring this up due to Attlee’s influence on the country and left wing politics as a whole, and as a civil servant, Oliver would have been aware of him.

Let’s now take a look at Arsenal. Oliver says he was a fan of them as a child since they were a popular team, but for that we must look at Arsenal’s history to find out how old Oliver would have been. Seeing how Oliver turns 15 in 1952, he would have been born in 1937, just before the outbreak of WW2. Highbury Stadium was build in 1939 and the Football League was suspended for the duration of the wartime period, meaning that it was impossible for Oliver to have seen them at a young age. The earliest he could have seen the team by walking out on his own was at the age of 10. At this point in his life, Oliver would have lived through the death, devastation and brutality of a wartime period and how it left Britain bankrupt. 

Arsenal’s red colour palette is also telling due to it being his favourite team - red is a colour that politically means left wing ideologies, and in the UK is a reference to the Labour Party, as well as its anthem The Red Flag, a socialist song about the labour movement. It’s possible that the fact Oliver’s favourite team being Arsenal was picked especially for this comparison, but at the same time it might just be me leaning in too far.

Oliver has a persistent want of an eight hour work day in reference to the social movement prevalent after the Industrial Revolution, where working hours were long and children were exploited for labour. While the UK to this day doesn’t have an eight hour limit to the work day, there have been major strides, and it was first accomplished in 1889 by the founders of the modern day GMB union. The fact Oliver specifically becomes part of this social movement is telling of his feelings about rights. There’s also his hatred of overtime, which adds onto this.

Oliver’s rant to A Knight could also be alternatively read as a rant on a predatory structure or system.

I’m not even supposed to be here! I’m just a boy, but because of your dreamed-up notions of purpose and responsibility, I was forced to become a Fogwalker. I never wanted to walk amongst the fog. I’m terrified of it… I just want to… I just want to stay alive.

Oliver is without hope at the beginning of his anecdote, lost in not knowing why he so readily took up the position of the Fogwalker. By the end of it he’s become aware of his true beliefs.

The Fogwalker is one who steps into the fog and brings light to others. Fundamentally, it’s a joke like any other, mundane as tightening screws or scooping manure. But that’s not all it is. My father once walked through the fog to bring me hope. On that day, he did the same. “This is my responsibility, and it is our responsibility.” […] On that day in 1952, he also brought hope to the people of London. The hope of survival.

Personally there are a few hints that Oliver falls along left wing ideology such as socialism. This could be especially true of his beliefs in social activism of his attitudes towards labour rights. Let’s take a look at his new garment. 

Version 1.8’s location is Russia, presumably in the 1910s before the Russian Revolution that would later set up the groundworks for the Soviet Union, so already the fact the garment comes out in this version specifically is telling. This garment set as a whole is called ‘Constructivism in Concept’. Constructivism is a theory where people acquire knowledge through experience and conversations, not through just seeing things, which could be reflective of Oliver’s anecdote. The garment itself is ‘See You At The Workers Club’. Workers’ clubs were something set up in the USSR and was a place for workers and their families to relax and also a place for propaganda. It was also sponsored by trade unions. I had to use Google Translate for the writing on the sheet metal, and the text reads, roughly, “let’s protect the eight hour working day”.

It’s easy to interpret Oliver as a microcosm through what he does and what he says. As a whole, he is a complex individual, a traumatised overworked teenager.

[anonymocha]

[arcanistsanctum]

Oliver Fog's 1.8 Event Limited Garment: See You at the Worker's Club Claimable for free via UTTU during 1.8 Patch Update

[pokerfacedartist]

reverse: 1999's best british biblings!

[juthemagicalclown]

oliver fog is such a legend cause imagine being a teenager and having onesided beef with the spirit of a medieval french knight. iconic.

that's so british of him btw

[sleeplesssmoll]

From A Knight's Anecdote. Love seeing the crew hang out!

[stari-hun]

Constantine is probably the happiest about The Storm cause not only is she consolidating power for the Foundation more than ever before, child labor laws got reversed so Oliver and Vertin have to work

[mibkid]

oliver, foggy day is it not?

Pulled out my painterly color-style for this.

and one w/o the color burn bc as usual i can't decide. and a sketchy sketch!

Funny enough, i've been reading black butler recently too... isn't that just so fitting lmao?? Love characters with waistcoats. Oh and ms Sotheby is just so lovely! I wanna draw her too! I'm only on beginning of chap 2 of reverse 1999 so plz be aware of talking about spoilers w me :').

Honestly i used to love to watch mystery shows based in the 18-19th century like the alienist,,, but it's also scary and i can't handle scary stuff :')

[fishareglorious]

1.8! 1.8!

[skraktech]

Reverse 1999 aggie with @fageljar!!!!!!!!!!

we have developed some troubling addictions along the way

[archonofdivinity]

okay not to be normal but

THE CHARACTER DETAIL OF OLIVER FOG MENTIONING ST DAVIDS DAY.

For those who don’t know St. David's Day is not an English holiday! It’s actually a Welsh holiday, since St. David is the patron saint of Wales. What does this tell us? Well, it means that while Oliver sounds English, he probably has more roots in being Welsh - maybe one of his parents was Welsh or he grew up in Wales?

If you’ve seen and liked my analysis of him is a symbol of trade union activity and socialism, you’ll probably like this bit as well. Wales is a left wing area and very traditionally so. I could probably give names of famous left wing Welshmen, however the most relevant one I could think of for his time period of the 50s is Nye Bevan, the father of the NHS! However Oliver also makes me think of another Welsh socialist way back, Robert Owen, who was a founder of both utopian socialism and the cooperative movement, including support of education and childcare. And, if you’ve seen Oliver’s interest in the eight-hour work day, you’ll be interested by this. Owen actually raised the demand for an eight-hour day and even had a slogan - “eight hours labour, eight hours recreation, eight hours rest”.

Okay. I’ll be quiet now. Just think about it!

[schneiderenjoyer]

Finally got around to doing Oliver's anecdote and I'm so glad that Vertin's never beating the "terrible liar" allegations.

[pokerfacedartist]

doodles/sketches