#it’s such an amazing story i
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I did it, I actually did it
I can’t believe I finished the series
It always comes as a shock to me once Ive actually finished an entire series. Like everything kind of like sets in and then Im like wow, I just finished it, it’s over.
#i don’t want it to be over#it’s such an amazing story i#i don’t know what to say#i can’t believe irs over#like the empty kind of feeling when you finish something#im still going to watch the donghua and ty e live action#but like I still can’t believe i’ve finished the books#they were wonderful#the characters were amazing#the dynamics between them all were great#the overall vibe or like feeling the story has is amazing#it was just all so good#i don’t know what im going to do now#this is what i spent so much time doing#i have all the other stories and shows I put on pause for mdzs that im going to go back to#but like wow#I’ve finished all mxtx’s series#I’ve read them all#i still can’t believe that#grand master of demonic cultivation#mdzs#its time to destroy myself by listening to character and ship specific playlists on spotify#the people who make playlists almost always hit just right and create masterpieces of playlists that have actually reduced me to tears#on multiple occasions that is
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i did wrestling in middle school. on one hand, i was actually quite good at it, which was nice. being good at any sport was a new achievement for me. on the other hand, i was bi, and i was trying very hard not to notice that i was bi, and getting folded into knots by very kind, very muscular dorks made that task somewhat difficult.
adding fire to the problem was that my parents and my grandparents wanted to watch my matches, because they were very proud that their Gangly Nerd Son was actually Sporting, and they wanted to cheer me on. which would've been sweet and all, but if there are four people you do not want there during a key part of your Burgeoning Sexual Awakening, it is your mom and your dad and your grandma and your grandpa.
right? i mean, imagine some guy's got your head in his armpit, and you're going you know, old sweat smells bad, but fresh sweat has a sort of and then you make eye contact with your grandpa in the stands and you remember you're swearing spandex so if you pop a boner people aren't just going to be able to see the outline, they're going to be able to count the veins, and the only way you will be able to restore your family's honor after that would be by moving to siberia and renouncing joy, forever. that, or lift your entire body up by your kneck then twist 180 degrees without paralyzing yourself.
it’s a lot of pressure, is what i’m saying.
still it did motivate me to win my matches really fast. because i was so tall and skinny, i was stupidly good at the double leg takedown, and then once someone was knocked down, i'd just do the half nelson and kind of flip em over for the pin. then the ref would count to three and i’d win. EZPZ.
i had one match where that went great. won in the first ten seconds, sat back down, and prepared myself for a good hour or two of doing fuck all. didn't even feel bad the parents/grandparents were gonna be bored. the matches went up from me in 5 pound increments (i was in the 115 lbs division) and it was going great until we got to the 145 lbs division. the other school's wrestler stepped onto the mat, and she turned out to be a girl so our guy flipped, because for straight guys, wrestling a girl is not a pleasant experience.
i'm not entirely unsympathetic. my experience wrestling dudes was definitely a little traumatic. but also, i dealt. guy could've dealt too. instead, he refused to wrestle, and the coach went - fine. not even worth fighting over.
so he went to the 140 pounder, and that guy said, nosir, my mom said mormons can't wrestle girls. next guy down, 135 pounder, now he knew he could pull the same card and thus did. 130 pounder, 125, both tapped out. he got to the 120 guy, and that guy was catholic, but he said he was considering being mormon, and thus would have to pass. as a precaution.
coach blew up a little at that. he said "is there anyone - anyone - on this entire goddamn team that is willing to wrestle a girl?" and then he pointed at me and said "YOU. MAT. GO."
and i'll be real, if i'd been paying more attention, i'd have pulled the mormon card too, but i'd just been putting all that audio into a buffer file because i was reading, so i was halfway across the mat before i even processed what had been said and by then it was too late to turn back.
still i had a plan. and my plan - my beautiful, perfect plan - was to do what i'd always done. tackle, flip, pin, win. sit down. read. bore my family to death. move on.
i got the first part right. she was bigger than me, but she wasn't taller. just an incredibly stout woman. god built me like a snake with glasses, just as he built her like a combat cube. the problem was the half nelson. soon as she was down, i tried hooking my arm under hers from behind and for both genders, the defense for this move is just clamping your arms really fucking tight against your sides. if you're a guy, that's whatever, but if you're a girl - especially if you're god's chosen combat cube - that pins your opponents hand right against your boob.
so, i got the hook in, she clamped, my whole arm pressed against something soft, my coach was yelling THE HALF NELSON. BABYLON! JUST FINISH IT! FINISH THE HALF NELSON! and i was just trying to press hard enough to finish, when then my brain went
...oh.
and i flipped out. of course i flipped out. i like girls, and touching a boob is an elemental experience, and i was not ready. i was not prepared. i had not committed the sacred rites. i recoiled like i'd just brushed my arm against the surface of the sun, stood up, and backed away. nobody in the room knew why i'd given up. all they saw was me, right about to win, suddenly flailing around and scrambling. so everyone started screaming at me to just get the half nelson again, and i couldn't really yell back there's a fuckin' boob in the way and it was very distressing, and the only way i could think of to make them stop was just doing it over again the right way.
so i did.
i hunkered down and prepared myself for Wrasslin' Attempt #2: The Sequel.
i knocked her down again, EZPZ. i went for the half nelson again, but she knew what i was about to do so she super clamped, and i knew she was gonna super clamp, so i wound my arm back like a pop-eye cartoon punch before swinging my arm through the gap between her bicep and her side, but the amount of time i spent winding back super signalled what i was about to to do, which gave her time to clamp even harder, which somehow redirected the entire force of the popeye punch to the bottom of her bra.
it spat out a single boob the same way an action hero might spit out one single tooth after getting a solid crack across the jaw. as if to say:
*ptooie.* "that all you got?"
i did not actually see this. my experience was that first there was an arm, then there was a bit of boob, but i was braced, i was ready, forward at all costs, tatakae motherfuckers, and then the boob went away, and i didn't know where it went but my team, and the audience, and everyone who was in front of me, they all gasped like i just kicked them in the stomach. except for my coach. he was behind me, and thus one of the four people in the room who did not see the boob. now my mom, my dad, my grandma, and my grandpa, they all got flashed but nooooooo, coach thunderbutt was behind me, and he didn't see shit so he was still yelling NOOOOOO BABYLON WHAT ARE YOU DOING JUST FINISH THE NELSON! GO FOR THE KILL! BABYLON! BABYLON!
but i did not go for the kill. i stood up and she stuffed her boob back real fast, and we just kind of circled each other awkwardly until time ran out and i won on points. that's not technically allowed, but the ref had some mercy on me.
my coach did not.
i barely had time to sit down before he strode over to the bench to chew me out.
"babylon," he said, in that very calm way people get when they're too pissed to yell. "why didn't you pin?"
and i didn't know how to say well coach, i tried, but there was a boob, and it kept getting in the way, and my mom was watching, and so was my dad, and so was his dad, and his mom, and god (like bible god) and that's a can of worms because i'm pretty sure he was already mad at me, and i'm wearing spandex, and i think i might have to move to siberia, so instead i said
"i uh. i forgot how to do the half nelson."
which is actually impossible. forgetting how to do the half nelson is like forgetting how to swallow your spit.
and he looked at me, like i was the dumbest person in the entire world, and i looked through him like i'd just survived my 250th day in a trench at verdun, and he said: fine.
fine.
but we're all going to practice it for an hour tomorrow because you forgot.
and then he left.
and my buddies had the gall to be salty about it. i got so many comments saying "dude, why didn't you just tell him the truth?" and i said "you can if you care so damn much. you could've wrestled the girl too. maybe someone else should do the hard thing today."
but they didn't. so the next day, we did an hour of half nelson drills, and i spent a decent amount of time getting thrown around the mat, and it was pleasant in exactly the way that i hated and the year after that, to the surprise of everyone but myself, i quit wrestling and joined the trivia team.
and if you want more reasons to love my mom, my grandpa joked after the match that i might have to talk to my bishop about it, and my mom told him he would be allowed to make jokes after he stood in front of a crowd of 110 people in spandex underpants while wrestling a woman that was not his wife.
he paused for almost five seconds after that. then he said: aw. hell. sorry babylon.
and i'd have preferred my apology from god, but getting it from him was pretty good too.
#whew boy this make me anxious just typing it#wrestling#middle school#the dread#i feel like i have to write some stories about my grandpa not being a dick#because he was actually an amazing grandpa#he just had a few goofs are very comedic moments#and you know if you're gonna have a goof making it comedic is a virtue in itself#he was there for me more than a lot of my classmates dads were#and i dont want that undervalued#yeah#babylon-lore
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Radiorose 📻🥀
Based on a true story where I deadass just started digging through a new friend’s purse because I’m a psycho who forgot how to have any goddamned manners 💀
#it was an alastor ita bag and I was looking for more alastor’s#I couldn’t believe my audacity#thankfully she was very gracious to me 😭#I actually met her because I walked into traffic because I was distracted by her amazing nun alastor cosplay!#and then told her the story and she gave me fanart she made and we followed each other#and then met up the next day at the con! it was lovely#cons are fun#hazbin hotel#hazbin hotel fanart#my doods#alastor#Radiorose#rosie hazbin
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“Checkmate dance”
Just them walking around after one of their adventures.
#doodle break#coatedflanboard#tadc#tadc fanart#tadc kinger#tadc queenie#the amazing digital circus#tadc episode 3#I’m honestly a fan of dancing tropes in stories#and I specially want these guys on this scenario >:D✨#And well you know a little bit sprinkle of seasoning of course on the middle✨👌#checkmates#kinger x queenie#I offer this scene thats been gnawing on my head and now IM FREE!! free from my shackles now it’s out physically out of my head#Alright imma run away now#kinger#queenie
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sooo so happie to launch into space the art i did for this @zukkabigbang2024 for the beautiful fic
The Mercy of Magpies
written by the wonderful showstopping @ranilla-bean and betaed by the equally iconic @faux-fires. Featuring dilves, birdies, true love, war, crazy plans, dubious plastic surgery and a galaxy far, far away. Please check out the rebloggable fic post with its special cover art here (or jump directly to the fic, I can't blame you, it is That Good)
also, some extra juicy plot relevant characters pop up in later chapters and havent been included for 👀 spoiler reasons 👀 but you can already try to guess who they are who's that pokemon style <3
#sokka#zuko#zukka#zukka big bang 2024#zukkabb24#atla#It's been such an amazing (ongoing) journey and labor of love and we're so excited to share it with you aaalll#i rlly think this is the biggest project ive ever tackled and it would have been impossible if my team hadnt been so supportive and perfect#fr Everything i could hope for in a collab#and the story is so beautifuull and i'm so happie with what i've done so far!!#rlly so so excited i hope u enjoy our Beautiful Bebe as much as we did#spacedilves#my art#id in alt text
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Mr. Riordan, it is truly a pleasure getting to experience your second draft.
#seriously tho what an amazing thing for an author#to get to revisit your series years later#and get to make all the tweaks now that you know exactly where the story is going#to go back with your theme crystalized in your head and say 'ok now this time on purpose!'#kiddo and I are enjoying the PJO series immensely#love demigods#wish adhd was real#now excuse me while I add 9 billion tags#percy jackson#pjo tv show#pjo#rick riordan#percy jackson and the olympians#disney+#pjo series#percy jackson tv show#does this need to be tagged as a spoiler? I don't feel like it does#the suggested hashtag being spelled wrong is just *chefs kiss*#love that for us#anyway if this needs another tag tell me
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⚠️ Slight spoiler for TADC episode 3.
#the amazing digital circus#tadc#art#illustration#digital drawing#fanart#tadc episode 3#spoiler#sometimes they sneak away so the recorder can tell spooky stories#yeyeyeye#the amazing digital world#tadw au#i like to think the recorder is either its own character or the soul of the husband#that “how did he record that if he was in hell” got me thinking
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there are so many amazing and powerful benders in atla but what i love about zuko is that whether or not he can use his bending in that moment has zero (0) bearing on how much he’s going to absolutely kick your ass. no bending? that’s fine - he’s got swords. no swords or bending? that’s fine - he’s literally just going to beat you up. if you’re REALLY unlucky then you get all three. as a treat.
#like he’s surrounded by these amazing benders.#azula who’s a prodigy#the literal avatar#katara who mastered water bending in like -3 days#(literally iconic of her tbh)#and zuko IS a great firebender (his abilities as a firebender improve as his story progresses)#but it just absolutely cracks me up when i remember zuko will just. not use his bending sometimes#anyway zuko alone fight was special bc he really said i will use all three bc ur special 🤭#zuko#avatar the last airbender#avatar: the last airbender#atla#hattie talks#where’s that post that’s like zuko is a prodigy but his special skill is breaking and entering and he can’t tell anyone about that
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EMOTIONAL WIN ! ! the bug lets his emotions make decisions for once !
#when ur bug has rsd#mf needs affirmations after everything man#ppl expect a mystery fantasy drama but its gonna end up being a story abt learning how to experience being yourself#a whole story just about experiencing emotions and how amazing and beautiful that can be#( with a side serving of heavily autistic experiences)#get praaaaankeed#i really dont get kissing but here it sorta made sense i think#kissing with mandibles must be a bit difficult#shoutout to unhinged jaw#chasing stars au#adventure time#fionna and cake#adventure time au#Sīdus the Fallen star#prismo the wishmaster#the carmine cavalier#scarab the god auditor#prohibitedwish#this technically has a part 1 but i didnt line it or anything- i may add it onto this later if i feel like it#Sīdus is the one to usually instigate stuff but he makes sure Carma is the one to go further#kinda just letting him know that hes there for him but no matter what he gets to choose what hes comfortable with-#when hes in such an unfamiliar situation
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I don't care how excited it might make some people, I don't like this remake
#no heart. no effort. no soul. it looks animated everytime cinematic scenes of Berk or the dragons shoe up what was the poiiint#httyd 2025#aweful set and costumes. barely any cool details. dry emotions. no man i hate it#httyd live action#httyd#how to train your dragon#the only good thing this is bringing that it's giving me a chance to wipe the memory of thw from my mind#lf btw. look at the fur detailson gobber's vest and also the lighting#in these screencaps#try and compare this to whatever the hell they're doing with the remake. is any of it present? no#it looks vooler and better in the animated medium#amd it would've looked good in live action if it wasn't a remake and had good artwork done with some heart to it#like. i can actually imagine a live action httyd looking amazing but not as a remake but as a book adaptation#with changed perspectives and story and cinematography#hey can't replicate the masterpiece#and you know what pisses me off even more?#They based Toothless on his THW model. not even the first movie's model#his movements are all so... wrong
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RETURN TO OZ | 1985 ↳ Directed by Walter Murch
#return to oz#dorothy gale#fairuza balk#mombi#the nome king#jack pumpkinhead#ozma of oz#horroredit#userbbelcher#userstream#chewieblog#filmtv#cinemapix#fyeahmovies#moviegifs#filmedit#filmgifs#dailyflicks#dailytvfilmgifs#throwbackblr#1985#*mine#i actually made over 60 gifs cuz i couldn't pick my faves. there will be more sets sorry not sorry#did u know that l. frank baum also wrote this screenplay?? amazing to me. it really is a horror story.#(its also a love story but thats neither here nor there)#trauma for an entire generation <3
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i've been completely charmed by witch hat atelier♡
(art prints)
#witch hat atelier#guys... i had been meaning to read this for so long and i'm so mad that it took me forever to start#but omg i'm SO glad to be finally here now😭😭😭💖💖💖#this story is so special😭😭🥺🥺 i love everything about it so much#found family+queer+fantasy are my top 3 story themes ever it's like this manga was made for me... plus the old fairytale art style omg#every page is stunning... genuinely some of the most beautiful art i've seen in my life#consistently spectacular composition & gorgeous character design throughout the entire thing it's so amazing#shirahama kamome is incredible the work she's doing here is seriously amazing on every level#the story is so good and deep and heartfelt and the bond between the 6 main characters is my favorite thing ever😭 that's a family!!!!!!#it's a masterpiece i'm so serious please go buy it and read it. if you like the same things as me you're going to love it#i'm so excited to see where the story goes next and to watch the anime next year🥹🥹#witch hat atelier fanart#qifrey#coco#qifrey witch hat atelier#coco witch hat atelier#wha#wha fanart#illo#illustration#artists on tumblr#green#blue#atelier of witch hat
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"Kuina's death is ridiculous" yes! That's the point! You do realize that falling down the stairs is a way of showing Zoro how fragile human lives are, right? You are aware that the point of Kuina's character is the unfairness of the world towards women in comparison to the privileges men have, like living in itself and fulfilling their dreams, right? You know that Kuina's death is "ridiculous and dumb" because it's meant to show that even the strongest person Zoro knew could die from something so little, right? You understand that the value Zoro gives to life is fucking immense, right? Right?? You realize Zoro can't seek revenge because nobody took her away from him and now the only thing he can do is become the world's greatest swordsman to avenge her death, right? You get that Zoro's character is an atheist because he doesn't believe in anyone and he can only rely on himself when it comes to Kuina's sudden death, right? You are aware that sometimes people die in the simplest of ways and that doesn't make them weak because death doesn't discriminate, right? You know that all of these things are what make Zoro's character so interesting and important, right? Right??? You know, right?
Well, of course you fucking don't because if you knew you wouldn't be saying her death is ridiculous <3
#if i see somebody else complaining about this i am going to throw hands i swear to god#sorry i just saw a bad take in here and i couldn't stay quiet#it's the most basic thing about zoro's character why are people complaining#'his backstory is boring' well i think YOU are boring and also don't have good taste#i am a zoro defender for life and his backstory with kuina is amazing shutupshutup#stop trying to find a weird dark theory abt her death. you won't find anything. that's just it. she died.#she fell down the stairs and died and it's a great story let kuina rest in peace#one piece#roronoa zoro#shimotsuki kuina
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Ren's told he needs a disguise and so he shows up in drag as a cop. No hesitation, no lead up; the moment arose and he jumped at the chance. What an absolute legend.
#he looks amazing hello??? ma'am.#ren did you just have this in your closet#also. akechi genuinely laughing so hard he ends up on the ground because he was so caught off guard...#i can't believe how endearing so many of their interactions are. you know. considering. everything.#storyrambles#story plays persona 5#p5r#ren amamiya#random thoughts
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Has anyone considered the fact that Shen Jiu burning the Qiu manor to the ground and Yue Qingyuan arriving late to find the burnt manor means that not only was he convinced Shen Jiu died in that fire, he probably went back to the sect and made a memorial tablet for him. So yea, anyway, I was thinking, what if Shen Jiu found the tablet with his name on it later on after becoming a Qing Jing disciple and realized that Yue Qingyuan probably never showed up because he thought he was dead.
#it could spiral into a full reveal where he gets the story that Yue Qi went back to find the burned down manor and then that Yue Qi had a q#deviation and have all that delicious angst and pining and forgiveness that 79 deserves#and yea I just think it would be amazing angst potential#79#mxtx hell#qijiu#shen jiu#yue qi#yue qingyuan#mxtx svsss#svsss au#sqq svsss#svsss#svsss fanfiction#svsss fic#svsss shen qingqiu#mxtx fandom#mxtx novels#scumbag system#scum villain self saving system#scum villain's self saving system#scumbag self saving system#danmei#danmei fandom
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I have to talk about Chester Arthur. His story makes me go crazy. A mediocre president from the 1880s who's completely forgotten today has one of the best redemption stories I've ever heard and I need to make people understand just how cool his story is.
So, like, he starts out as this idealist, okay? He's the son of an abolitionist minister and becomes famous as a New York lawyer who defends the North's version of Rosa Parks whose story desegregates New York City's trolley system.
Then he starts getting pulled into politics and becomes one of the grimiest pieces of the political machine. He wants money, power, prestige, and he gets it. He becomes the right-hand man of Roscoe Conkling, the most feared political boss in the nation, a guy who will throw his weight around and do the most ruthless things imaginable to keep his friends in power and destroy his enemies.
Because Arthur's this guy's top lackey, he gets to be Controller of the Port of New York--the best-paying political appointment in the country, because that port brings in, like, 70% of the federal government's funds in tariffs. He gets a huge salary plus a percentage of all the fines they levy on lawbreakers, and because he's not afraid to make up infractions to fine people over, he is absolutely raking in the dough. Making the rough equivalent of $1.3 million a year--absolutely insane amounts of money for a government position. He's spending ridiculous sums on clothes, buying huge amounts of alcohol and cigars to share with people as part of his job recruiting supporters to the party, going out nearly every night to wine and dine people as part of his work in the political machine. He's living the high life. Even when President Hayes pulls him from his position on suspicions of fraud, he's still living a great life of wealth, power, and prestige.
Then in 1880, his beloved wife dies. While he's out of town working for a political campaign. And he can't get back in time to say goodbye before she dies. Because he's a guy who has big emotions, it absolutely tears him up inside, especially because Nell resented how much his political work kept him away from home. He has huge regrets, but he just moves in with Roscoe Conkling and keeps working for the political machine.
And then he gets a chance to be vice president. The Republican Party has nominated James Garfield, a dark horse candidate who wants to reform the spoils system that has given Conking his power and gave Arthur his position as Port Controller. Conkling is pissed, and he controls New York, and since the party's not going to win the election without New York, they think that appointing Conkling's top lackey as vice-president will pacify him.
They're wrong--Conkling orders Arthur to refuse--but Arthur thinks this sounds like a great opportunity. The only political position he's ever held is Port Controller--a job he wasn't elected to and that he was pulled from in disgrace. Vice President is way more than he could ever have hoped for. It's a position with a lot of political pull and zero actual responsibilities. He'll get to spend four years living in up in Washington high society. It's the perfect job! Of course he accepts, and Conkling comes around when he figures out that he can use this to his advantage.
When Garfield becomes president, Arthur does everything he can to undermine him. He uses every dirty political trick he can think of to block everything that Garfield wants to do. He refuses to let the Senate elect a president pro tempore so he can stay there and influence every bill that comes through. He all but openly boasts of buying votes in the election. He's so much Conkling's lackey that he may as well be the henchman of a cartoon supervillain. On Conkling's orders, he drags one of Garfield's Cabinet members out of bed in the middle of the night--while the guy is ill--to drag him to Conkling's house so he can be forced to resign. He's just absolutely a thorn in the president's side, a henchman doing everything he can to maintain the corrupt spoils system.
Then in July 1881, when Arthur's in New York helping Conkling's campaign, the president gets shot. By a guy who shouts, "Now Arthur will be president!" just after he fires the gun. Arthur has just spent the past four months fighting the president tooth and nail. Everyone thinks he's behind the assassination. There are lynch mobs looking to take out him and Conkling. The papers are tearing him apart.
Arthur is absolutely distraught. He rushes to Washington to speak with the president and assure him of his innocence, but the doctors won't let him in the room. He gets choked up when talking to the First Lady. Reporters find him weeping in his house in Washington. Once again, death has torn his world apart and he's not getting a chance to make amends.
Arthur goes to New York while the president is getting medical treatment, and he refuses to come to Washington and take charge because he doesn't dare to give the impression that he's looking to take over. No one wants Arthur to be president and he doesn't want to be president, and the possibility that this corrupt political lackey is about to ascend to the highest office in the land is absolutely terrifying to everyone.
Then in August, when it's becoming clear that the president is unlikely to recover, he gets a letter. From a 31-year-old invalid from New York named Julia Sand. A woman from a very politically-minded family who has been following Arthur's career for years. And she writes him this astounding letter that takes him to task for his corrupt, conniving ways, and the obsession with worldly power and prestige that has brought him wealth and fame at the cost of his own soul--and she tells him that he can do better. In the midst of a nationwide press that's tearing him apart, this one woman writes to tell him that she believes he has the capacity to be a good president and a good man if he changes his ways.
And then he does. After Garfield dies, people come to Arthur's house and find servants who tell them that Arthur is in his room weeping like a child (I told you he had big emotions), but he takes the oath of office and ascends to the presidency. And he becomes a completely different man. His first speech as president mentions that one of his top priorities is reforming the spoils system so that people will be appointed based on merit rather than getting appointed as political favors with each change in the administration. Even though this system made him president. When Conkling comes to Arthur's office telling him to appoint his people to important government positions, Arthur calls his demands outrageous, throws him out, and keeps Garfield's appointees in the positions. "He's not Chet Arthur anymore," one of his former political friends laments. "He's the president."
He loses all his former political friends. He's never trusted by the other side. Yet he sticks to his guns and continues to support spoils system reform. He prosecutes a postal service corruption case that everyone thought he would drop. He's the one who signs into law the first civil service reform bill, even though presidents have been trying to do this for more than ten years, and he's the person who's gained all his power through the spoils system. He immediately takes action to enforce this bill when he could have just dropped it. He becomes a champion of this issue even though it's the last thing anyone would have expected of him.
He oversees naval reform. He oversees a renovation of the White House. He still prefers the social duties of the presidency, but he's respectable in a way that no one expected. Possibly because Julia Sand keeps sending him letters of encouragement and advice over the next two years. But also because he's dying.
Not long after ascending to the presidency, he learns he's suffering from a terminal kidney disease. And he tells no one. He keeps going about his daily life, fulfilling his duties as president, and keeps his health problems hidden. Once again, death is upending his life, and this time it's his own death. He's lived a life he's ashamed of, and he doesn't have much time left to change. He enters the presidency as an example of the absolute worst of the political system, and leaves it as a respectable man.
He makes a token effort to seek re-election, but because of his health problems, he doesn't mind at all when someone else gets the nomination. He dies a couple of years after leaving office. The day before his death, he orders most of his papers burned, because he's ashamed of his old life--but among the things that are saved are the letters from Julia Sand, the woman who encouraged him to change his ways.
This is an astounding story full of so many twists and turns and dramatic moments. A man who falls from idealism into the worst kind of corruption and then claws his way back up to decency because of a series of devastating personal losses and unexpected opportunities to do more than he could have ever hoped to do. I just go crazy thinking about it and I need you all to understand just how amazing this story is.
#history is awesome#presidential talk#i thought about his story again this morning#and was once again struck by the desire to chase people down and make them understand just how amazing this story is#and instead of harassing random strangers i decided to inflict it on tumblr again#my original essay was rather too long and dry and tangled up in too many other details#and didn't quite capture the 'i want to chase you down and look you in the eye and make you freak out about this with me' vibe of this stor#this still doesn't quite capture it but at least it's shorter#and prevents me from rambling to unsuspecting family members#sorry for inflicting this on you again but what else am i supposed to do?
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