#edward bellamy

[quasi-normalcy]

[dozydawn]

[ne-krokodilanta-larmaro]

[travsd]

On the Popular Phenomenon of Edward Bellamy and "Looking Backward"

I know — you were hoping this post would would be about THIS guy — — Martin Laurello, the man who could turn his head backwards, but there’s no need to be disappointed. You can still read all about him here, but then come on back please! Edward Bellamy (1850-1898) looked backwards too, but from the FUTURE. Which actually means he was looking FORWARD when he wrote his famous 1888 novel Looking…

[fivexxxxx]

Edward Bellamy, The Blindman's World, 1898.

everybody’s always on writing prompts like “what if there was a world where everyone had a timer ticking down to their death… but you met someone whose timer said infinity!” or “what if everyone had their cause of death tattooed across their forehead… but you met someone whose forehead said THE CREATURE!” Enough -

enough. stop with the shock value. there is no need to insert THE CREATURE; the benign concept of such a world is horrifying enough. not even in urgency, but just in banal, everyday interaction. imagine you meet someone and their timer says two years. not tomorrow, not urgently soon, but two years. enough to do quite a lot. they could fall in love in that time - could they get engaged? have a baby? you might otherwise get to know them, befriend them, but perhaps you opt not to, make a conscious choice not to invest in your own grief. what balancing act would every individual person have to participate in - I have ten years, is that long enough to be a good mother to children? is that long enough to secure a caretaker for my own mother? my wife will die a few months before me. my newborn’s timer reads nineteen years.

and cause of death. you interview for a job and emblazoned across the healthy, smiling face of the HR lady is MALNUTRITION. your country is prospering, safe, but every person you meet on the street from the babies to the old women read BOMB. BOMB. what kind of havoc would fate wreak on the world? what about the loss of privacy? how would that shape our notions of hope? idk man I think a lot of those ancient poems were right, and the fates are monsters. I’m interested by the framing of these ideas as trite horror tales when the premises themselves are so much more disturbing if simply taken to their logical ends

[nevinslibrary]

Weird & Wonderful Wednesday

It’s always fun to read what those in the past thought that our current (well, actually, our 24 years in the past, but, close enough). This is the story of Julian. He lives in Boston in 1887. He goes into a very deep hypnotic sleep, and, when he wakes up, it’s 2000, and, he finds it quite the Utopia to him, as well as to the author and the others at the time that it was published in 1888.

It’s an interesting story and thought experiment, but, it’s also interesting to think of how those in 1888 would have read it, and then compare that to how I read it. It’s also kinda weird because, in the story is the idea of a credit card. The characters buying things on credit from big box stores. It was a different but fun read.

You may like this book If you Liked: For Us, The Living by Robert A. Heinlein, The Shape of Things To Come by H.G. Wells, or The First Immortal by James L. Halperin

Looking Backward, 2000–1887 by Edward Bellamy

[artisthomes]

Edward Bellamy's home at 91–93 Church Street in Chicopee, Massachusetts, United States

[mindovermuses]

The Parable of the Water Tank by Edward Bellamy

An interesting tale explaining how capitalism isn't a system made to help anyone except those who run it, explained in the simplest terms.

Click here to read...

[thatwritererinoriordan]

I love that title Antic Hay. If I remember my NPR correctly, the radio told me it's the name of a medieval dance, later referenced in an Christopher Marlowe play.

I posted some thoughts on Brave New World. from ml.books

[bobauthorman]

One Piece of the New Era

Occasionally in One Piece, the phrase "New Era" is tossed about by various characters. When the story starts, it has been 22 years since Gold Roger's legendary execution, when his final words spurred countless pirate crews to form in search of his treasure, the One Piece. This is called the "Great Pirate Era". But in the two decades since it began, no one has claimed the treasure, and the world has entered a status quo, upheld by the three Great Powers; The Navy of the World Government, the Seven Warlords of the Sea who work with them, and the Four Emperors of pirates. So, what is the New Era supposed to entail?

The first time we hear of a "new" era is in Jaya, where Bellamy tosses this out;

As far as Bellamy is concerned, the New Era is where pirates give up on immaterial goals like becoming Pirate King or pursuing dreams. Instead, they focus on regular treasures, like what pirates normally do. As the arc goes on, it becomes apparent that Bellamy is just a bully looking for a fancy rhetoric to hide behind, to the point that even Blackbeard calls him out indirectly. Luffy easily driving Bellamy's head into the boardwalk later shows just how weak this "new era" talk is.

The next time we hear of a new era, it's from Bellamy's boss, Don Quixote Doflamingo;

This is very vague, and hard to figure out, but essentially Doflamingo's version of the New Era is where the relative 'peace' established by the Three Great Powers will come crashing down, and only the truly strong and ruthless will be able to make their way. As we learn, Doflamingo has ties to both the World Government and Four Emperors as a Warlord and black market dealer, so he's in the perfect position to let the chaos unfold, safe and secure. No matter who wins, he comes out on top.

Except, he's not as safe as he thinks, which Trafalgar Law proves when he pulls the Straw Hats into his vendetta;

As Law points out, just because Doflamingo has had a good run doesn't mean he can hold onto it forever. If only the truly "daring and mighty" can survive, where does that leave the puppet-master who hid in the shadows? Nowhere. In this moment, Law trumps Doflamingo's rhetoric, and later on Luffy, who embodies the true freedom the series preaches, takes down the Celestial Demon.

And speaking of Luffy, what about his idol, Shanks?

Shanks also speaks of the New Era. From what I gather, he sees it as a changing of the guard, with new blood coming in to replace the old. He clearly sees Luffy as the bastion of the New Era, the positive aspects of it. However, he also sees the New Era being developed by Blackbeard, and tries to warn Whitebeard of the danger Teach poses. But Whitebeard was already aware of Blackbeard's threat, and his inability is a sign the old pirate is losing his place in the world...

And when Luffy's group does prevail in Wano, defeating both Kaido and Big Mom, who is there as an 'attaboy?'

You guessed it.

With all this in mind, it says a lot that in a series of inherited will, the greatest enemy is Imu, a being who is apparently immortal.

[arsenicflame]

Izzy/Sam/Stede/Ed, or: Jeez Izzy, how come you get three captains?

[vickyvicarious]

it's so fascinating to see how one of bram's ways to signal that the characters are modern and in tune with new science ends up horribly dating the book and making them all look worse to modern readers (i'm talking about the physiognomy thing)

Yes, absolutely! It's really interesting. In this case it's much worse because physiognomy is such an inherently racist and flawed idea. And that feels much more like something they could have realized. It forcibly reminds modern readers of the different culture these characters belonged to and the prejudices they either actively held or at the least passively accepted.

But it's not the only instance of the passage of time making certain details feel a lot different than they were meant to for contemporary readers. For example, Jack's phonograph is pretty new and exciting technology. Mina gets excited to see it today! But within the 1890s the shift from wax cylinders to flat discs began to happen, leading to gramophones and eventually record players. At the time this story is set (likely somewhere in the 1893-1897 range) the two technologies co-existed, but records were what eventually took off on a massive scale and phonographs with cylinders are seen as more of a prototype. This is something that might be less notable to modern readers since both are old technology to us, but it's a shift that happened not too long after the book was published. And of course the famous blood typing discovery...

When it was originally published, several critics disliked the book for being too modern, something they thought didn't suit a vampire story. Of course, the very contrast between modernity and ancient monsters was intentionally a major theme. And yet the passage of time changes our perspective on that theme. It's really fascinating to consider this stuff from 100+ years on.

[darkfire359]

Absolutely cackling at the “best OFMD ship (voter fraud encouraged)” poll results.

I swear the entire thread is gold.

Good job evil!Stede and evil!Ed!

OP including an edit for basically every single placing is also great.

I hadn’t known this was a thing people shipped but it makes sense.

I did actually vote for this one, for all the good my single normal, non-bot vote did here!

[therealpiratesofonepiece]

I love One Piece

And I love real pirates, so I made this blog to share facts about the real pirates who inspired some of the characters.

Gol D. Roger - Henry Every and Olivier Levasseur

Alvida - Awilda

Calico Yorki - Calico Jack Rackham

Zeff - "Red Legs" Greaves

Blackbeard and Whitebeard - Edward Teach Actually Whitebeard is closer to Benjamin Hornigold than Edward Teach

Roronoa Zoro - François L'olonnais

Jewelry Bonney - Anne Bonney

Lafitte - Jean Lafitte

Eustass Kidd - William Kidd

Captain Morgan - Henry Morgan

Basil Hawkins - Basil Ringrose and John Hawkins

Urouge - Oruç Reis

X Drake - Sir Francis Drake

Bellamy - Samuel Bellamy

[major-knighton]

RATING PIRATE FLAGS

By your friendly neighborhood pirate enthusiast. Remember the sources for most of these are often shoddy at best, we do with what we have.

1. EDWARD LOW

Spooky. Red. Makes your intent clear. Fitting for a man reputed for violence, sadism and a penchant for torture so strong he was compared to the Spanish Inquisition. 9/10 very Halloweeny.

2. EDWARD "BLACKBEARD" TEACH

Dramatic as fuck. Who hurt you, Ed? Also why is the devil so skinny. This design is a good idea but maybe a bit messy. 6/10 solid flag but makes me think of 2000s emo album covers.

3. STEDE BONNET

Meh. It tries to be symmetrical but fails because the dagger and heart aren't the same size. Trying too hard to be original but with no real creativity. 4/10 you bougie bitch.

4. BARTHOLOMEW ROBERTS

Very cool design. Always dubious of putting your own image on the flag, but overall the execution is good. You have the captain pointing at the hourglass to signify your time is up with Death by his side. 8/10 supervillain flag.

5. BARTHOLOMEW ROBERTS AGAIN

NOOO NO NO. This looks goofy as hell, Barty. The letters are supposed to stand for "A Bahamian's head" and "a Martinican's head" but putting letters on a flag is gauche. The flaming sword looks like a cactus. 2/10 You can't just draw yourself standing on the skulls of your enemies holding a flaming sword and expect people to take you seriously Bartholomew

6. SAMUEL BELLAMY

The classic. Can't go wrong with it. Points deducted bc a bunch of people used it and it's impossible to tell who started it. 5/10, neutral

7. OLIVIER "LA BUSE" LEVASSEUR

WHAT in the reverse slenderman is this shit? Get that out of my sight you French bastard. 100000/10 it lives in my nightmares.

8. HENRY EVERY

BLACK. IT'S CALLED THE BLACK FLAG ASSHOLE. Otherwise, it's a solid design, unique and simple. 6/10 unusual but not bad.

9. JEAN THOMAS DULEAIN

Just no. Too much stuff. Three skulls is nice but then you add all the other things and it becomes a confusing mess. Pick one thing and stick to it. 3/10 what the hell

10. JAQUOTTE DELAHAYE

We don't even know if she was real but what I do know is that this design fucks. Dancing with Death over a bleeding heart? Showing your prey that they're going to be bested by a lady? I stan. 11/10

[idzymi]

So here’s the thing

All Ed’s partners basically hate each other

Izzy hates Jack, Jack despises Izzy, and Sam can’t stand them both

So Ed is kinda used to it

And if Izzy and Jack can endure each other presence for Ed’s liking he sees no reason why can’t Stede

Stede has different opinion

Ps the solution is group sex