#senator styles for men

[blackmensuited]

[batboyblog]

2024 Senate Elections: You'd Better VOTE!

Yes it's election year yet again in America! but not just for President, almost as important will be the US Senate!

I'm not gonna lie this is a rough map for Democrats, we're playing a lot of defense in some pretty red states with even our best hopes for a pick up being pretty long shots. But even with narrow control of the Senate we've managed the biggest climate bill in American History a huge infrastructure bill thats bring high speed rail to America capped the price of insulin changed the law to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices bring savings to everyone, and put over 160 federal judges on the bench, 2/3rds of whom are women and/or people of color the first time white men haven't been the majority of nominees by a President. So let's keep progress going by voting for, supporting, donating, and volunteering for the following candidates in the races that will decide the US Senate this year.

Arizona

Ruben Gallego (Hold)

After frustrating Democrats by repeatedly voting against major Democratic priorities, supporting the filibuster and putting donors over voters, Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema left the Democratic Party to become an independent in 2022. Democratic congressman Ruben Gallego was running to primary Sinema before she left the party and is now the likely Democratic nominee to unseat her and give Arizona the Democratic Senator it deserves. Gallego is a former Marine, combat veteran, Harvard grad, a former state representative, and since 2014 a member of Congress. Gallego is a member of the Progressive Caucus and is known for his blunt and combative style standing up to Republicans. In Congress Gallego has been a strong supporter of native rights advocating for tribes on health care and child welfare issues. Gallego is also the sponsor of a bill to bring about nation wide, free, all-day kindergarten which isn't available in many states. If elected Gallego would be Arizona's first hispanic Senator. Republicans hope that the Democratic vote will split between Sinema and Gallego allowing them to win this important seat. The Republican front runner is conspiracy theorist and Trump super fan, Kari Lake. Lake rose to national fame in 2021 for pushing conspiracy theories about Trump having won the 2020 election, as well as anti-mask and anti-vaccine Covid conspiracies. Lake was the Republican nominee for Arizona governor in 2022. During that campaign she ran on an aggressive anti-LGBT platform, saying she'd ban drag, and was against trans rights. Lake also is against Abortion in all cases. After losing to Democrat Katie Hobbs, Lake refused to concede, and still pushes the conspiracy theory that she's the rightful governor of Arizona. If you live in Arizona please make sure you vote, but more if you have any time between now and November, volunteer to help Gallego! and if you don't live there you can still Donate or buy a pro-choice shirt from his campaign!

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Florida

Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (Flip)

Florida's current Republican Senator Rick Scott is a right wing extremist pushing dangerous ideas even by the standards of the Modern GOP. During his first term as Senator Scott has pushed to defund the IRS, and the Department of Education. He's sponsored bills to punish schools that allow students to use preferred pronouns, to ban affirmative action, bans teaching critical race theory, and ban trans people from women's sports. Scott is against abortion in all cases. Most alarming Rick Scott proposed a radical plan that would "sun-set" ANY and all federal laws after 5 years, including Social Security and Medicare, Scott would place all federal programs and agencies on the chopping block every 5 years for a radical Republican minority to block their renewal and leave us without Social Security, or the EPA, to name just two examples. The likely Democratic nominee is former Congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell. Born in Ecuador, Mucarsel-Powell immigrated to the US when she was 14 and had work to help support her family. When she was elected to Congress in 2018 she became the first South American born immigrant and first person of Ecuadorian heritage to be elected to Congress. In Congress Mucarsel-Powell was a member of the Progressive caucus, she fought to expand medicare, and secured $200 million for Everglades restoration. After a narrow defeat in 2020 Mucarsel-Powell joined the gun control advocacy group Giffords to fight for gun control a personal issue for her after her father was murdered when she was 24. If you're in Florida please make sure you vote, and Volunteer to help remove on of the most extreme Senators, If you're not in Florida you can help Debbie win by donating.

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Michigan

Elissa Slotkin (hold)

Long time Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow is retiring this election, so there will be a tough fight for control of this important swing state Senate seat. The likely Democratic nominee is Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin. Slotkin is a former CIA analyst, after retiring from the CIA she worked in the State and Defense departments during the Obama administration. Slotkin was first elected to Congress in 2018 winning and being re-elected in a tough swing district. In Congress she's fought for common sense gun control, supported the cap on insulin prices and Medicare drug price negotiation, she helped pass a law on drug price transparency, she championed the CHIP act to bring high tech manufacturing jobs back to America, and was a big supporter of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Slotkin is centering a pro-choice message in her campaign as well as gun control and bring down medical costs. Who the Republicans will pick isn't totally clear, it seems like it's between Former Congressman Mike Rogers and former Detroit Police chief James Craig. Craig ran for Michigan governor in 2022 before he was disqualified for fraudulent signatures on his nominating petition. Craig has listed cutting off US support to Ukraine as one of his top priorities, and endorsed Trump's 3rd run for President early in the primaries. Mike Rogers is also trying to win over Trump voters and has attacked the rights of LGBT students in schools calling it "social engineering". If you live in Michigan make sure to get out and vote, and also volunteer! And for everyone outside the state you can donate or buy some merch.

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Montana

Jon Tester (re-elect)

In most contexts Montana is a deep red state going for Trump in 2020 57% to 40%. This makes the reelection of Montana's only Democratic member of Congress and only statewide elected Democrat, Jon Tester maybe the toughest election for Democrats this year. A Senator since he was first elected in 2006 Tester has won a series of upset wins in Montana over the years. A 3rd generation farmer Tester has been as strong for small farmers and ranchers in Washington. Tester has always been a champion of accountably and transparency in government pushing ethnics and campaign finance reforms. Tester is rated one of the most effective senators and managed to pass more bills last year than any one else in Congress. He's never been afraid to stand up for the Democratic side even if it'd be an unpopular vote in Red Montana. Tester voted to impeach Trump twice, and he voted against all 3 of Trump's nominees to the Supreme Court. He supported President Obama on The Affordable Care Act and Dodd-Frank, and has supported President Biden on the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Republicans seem likely to nominate right wing influencer and former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy. Sheehy promises to get drag queens out of schools and the Lord's Prayer in to the classroom. He also hopes to repeal Obamacare calling for a "total privatization" of health care and made statements against the very idea of health insurance, insisting people should pay full price at point of use. If you're a Montanan make sure to vote to re-elect a champion of the little guy, and also volunteer! if you're not please think of donating what you can, if you can only give to one campaign this cycle this one, or Ohio are the most important!

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Nevada

Jacky Rosen (re-elect)

First elected to Congress in 2016 Jacky Rosen moved up to the Senate in 2018. In her first term as a Senator Rosen has championed green energy for Nevada. Together with fellow Democratic Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, Rosen has gotten millions for solar manufacturing in Nevada as well as millions to replace the state's school buses with electric, and programs to study new groundbreaking green technology. Senator Rosen has been a supporter of gun control, is in favor of banning assault weapons. She sponsored a bill, the Background Check Expansion Act, that would require background checks for all gun sales closing loopholes for on-line sales and gun shows. Rosen is pro-choice and has sponsored a bill to protect doctors from being prosecuted across state lines for providing reproductive care, and is a co-sponsor of a bill to codify Roe V. Wade into federal law. Rosen will likely face Republican celebrity and army veteran Sam Brown. Brown ran and lost a race for the Texas State House in 2014 and ran and lost for Nevada's other Senate seat in 2022. Brown stated he was in favor of getting rid of the Departments of Education, Transportation, and Energy. Brown is against Red Flag gun laws that allow police to temporarily remove fire arms from the home of someone deemed a danger to themselves or others. Brown also has refused to say if he supports a national abortion ban, but does say he's pro-life and wouldn't support any judges that weren't. If you live in Nevada make sure to get out to vote and volunteer to protect the state's green future and the right to reproductive care. If you're not in Nevada consider donating or buying some merch.

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Ohio

Sherrod Brown (re-elect)

Ohio together with Montana represents the toughest re-elect for Democrats this year. The state went for Trump twice, elected a right wing radical, JD Vaince, to the Senate in 2022 and has had a Republican governor since 2010. To complicate thing more Democrat Sherrod Brown is one of the most progressive members of the Senate, regularly scoring along side Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren for the most left wing in the Senate. From the time he was first elected to Congress in 1992 Brown refused to take the Congressional Health Insurance until all Americans could be covered. Brown first supported a Medicare for all bill in 2006 and has supported different efforts to expand Medicare and health coverage. He was a key supporter of the Children Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Brown is a strong supporter of unions and has struggled his whole career to protect unionized manufacturing jobs in Ohio. He was one of the first Senators out on the picket line during the UAW strike of 2023. Brown's hard work has help make Ohio the center of a new booming lithium battery manufacturing in America, a green manufacturing future for the state. Republicans look likely to nominate former used car dealer and father-in-law of Republican Congressman Max Miller, Bernie Moreno. Moreno's main qualification seems to be having been endorsed by Donald Trump. He lists among his priorities "End Socialism in America" and "End Wokeness and Cancel Culture". If you're in Ohio make sure to vote to re-elect a progressive giant and volunteer too! If you live out of Ohio donate, if you're looking for the race where your dollar will matter the most, this one or Montana guys.

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Pennsylvania

Bob Casey Jr. (re-elect)

First elected in 2006 Bob Casey famously beat incumbent Republican homophobe Rick Santorum by 17 points. Since first entering the Senate Casey has moved leftward on a number of issues. First elected as a pro-Gun Democrat since 2012 Casey has sponsored a number of bills to expand background checks, ban assault weapons, ban extended magazines, and well as supporting mental health funds for victims of gun violence. For a number of years Casey was called the last pro-life Democrat in the Senate, however in 2022 he came out in support of Roe V Wade and voted twice on bills that would have codified the right to an abortion into federal law. Casey voted against all 3 of Trump's Supreme Court picks and has long supported Planned Parenthood's contraception efforts with federal funds, seeing easily available birth control as key to reducing the number of abortions. In 2021 Casey published a plan he called "The Five Freedoms for America's Children" modeled after FDR's famous speech. He proposed automatically enrolling all kids in Medicaid, an expanded child tax cut, a federally supported college fund for all kids who's parents make under $100,000, expanded free school meals, more funds for head start and abuse prevention programs. Republicans are rallying behind Mitch McConnell's hand picked candidate, hedge fund CEO David McCormick. McCormick worked for the Bush administration during Bush's second term. McCormick's wife Dina Powell also worked for the George W. Bush administration and was a senior aid to Trump as well. If you're in Pennsylvania make sure to get out and vote for a solid Democrat out to solve child poverty in America and keep the Hedge Fund guy from Connecticut out, and Volunteer if you can. Remember you can donate where ever you are.

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Texas

Colin Allred (flip)

Texas is currently represented by likely the most hated man in Washington, Ted Cruz. Republicans hate him, Democrats hate him more, he has a very punchable face, he might be the zodiac killer (thats a joke and meme). From shutting down the government in 2013 to try to overturn Obamacare, to leading the charge in Congress to overturn the 2020 election on January 6th Ted Cruz is a greatest hits of the worst parts of the Republican Party of the last 10 years. When Texas lost power in the middle of a historic ice storm in 2021 Ted Cruz and family ditched the state to go on vacation in Mexico, classy. Cruz in the Biden years has cast himself as a culture warrior fighting against "woke" publishing a book "Unwoke: How to Defeat Cultural Marxism in America" in 2023 to kick off his re-election campaign. Texas is a traditionally red state but things are starting to shift and in 2018 Cruz narrowly won re-election over Beto O'Rourke. Democrats hope with the right candidate they can turn Texas blue and beat the most hated Senator in America. Democrats think Congressman Colin Allred is the man for the job. Allred is a former NFL Linebacker for the Titans. After the NFL he went on to get his law degree from UC Berkeley, and work in the Obama administration. Allred was first elected to Congress in 2018, unseating a Republican who'd been in office since 1997 and becoming the first Democrat to represent the area in Congress since 1968. In Congress Allred has supported bills to expand voting right and protect abortion rights, as well as gun control. In the Senate he promises to address Texas' shaky power grid and make sure Texas is never left in the dark again with its leaders missing. Lets do this Texas, make blue Texas a reality if you live in Texas remember to vote and volunteer, if you're an American who hates Ted Cruz you can donate to make in unemployed.

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Wisconsin

Tammy Baldwin (re-elect)

When Tammy Baldwin first ran for Congress in 1998 she was the first openly gay person elected to the US House and the first open Lesbian to serve in Congress. In 2012 she became the first openly gay person elected to the US Senate and the first Lesbian to be a Senator, she is still the only openly gay Senator. Through out her time in office Baldwin has been a tireless voice for LGBT rights, in 2022 she helped spear head the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act to help protect gay marriage, she's also a sponsor of the Equality Act to protect all LGBT people from discrimination. Baldwin is a progressive who was a member of the House Progressive caucus, opposed the Iraq War and supported impeaching Dick Cheney. In the House she introduced bills for a single payer healthcare system in 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2005. In the Senate Baldwin is regularly listed as one of the most progressive members, voting against tax cuts for the rich, supporting a bill to require companies to have workers on their boards, she sponsored a bill to create a public option in Health Care, and has supported gun control efforts. The Republican field to challenge Senator Baldwin is uncertain, but former Milwaukee sheriff David Clarke dominates the polls if he decides to run. Clarke's sheriff's department is accused a number of human rights violations from his time as sheriff, including allowing a prisoner to die of dehydration after 6 days without water in the Milwaukee County Jail. Clarke is a Trump super fan who has pushed conspiracy theories about mass shootings being fake, attacked Black Lives Matter, called Planned Parenthood "Planned Genocide", and called for the mass detention without trial of Americans because he believed there were a million ISIS supporters in America. If you're in Wisconsin make sure to get out and vote for a trailblazing icon and also volunteer if you can, all Americans can donate and support Baldwin wherever they are.

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If you're an American citizen and will be 18 years old (or older) by November 5th 2024, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! make sure you're registered to VOTE please check Vote.Org to find out what you need to do, what deadlines there are and act NOW

If you're an American living outside the US, YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO VOTE. Please checkout Vote From Aboard they have literally all the information you need to get registered and get your ballot wherever in the world you are, and Check out Democrats Abroad to take part in the global primary

Where ever you live in the US, there is an important life changing election happening! Get off your phone or computer and get involved, There are Events happening all around you right now Volunteer

Finally if you're a US citizen of any age any where on earth you can donate, donate to elect Biden/Harris donate to elect Democrats to the Senate, To the House, to Governorships, to local office

and the smallest thing you can do is reblog this very long post, thank you!

[catominor]

you are a roman senator, and one of your fellow senators just called you effeminate! what to do?

well, first you have to find out: how effeminate are you, really? take this test to find out!

do you:

like to wear the colors yellow, bright green, light blue, purple, or lavender: +1 for each

like to wear long sleeves: +1

enjoy the company of women: +1

like to wear perfume: +1

curl or style your hair: +1

shave any area of your body (other than your face and/or head) +1

move carefully in order to not mess up your outfit/hair/makeup: +1

wear a loose belt, or no belt: +1

like to wear loose fitting clothing: +1

have a lot of casual sex: +1

ever bottom in sexual encounters: +5

love your wife and are open about it: +1

like to wear translucent fabrics, or silk: +1 for each

wear your tunic longer than knee length: +1

wear more than one or two rings: +1

wear other jewelry (earrings, necklaces etc): +1

wear makeup: +1

have a complex and flamboyant oratorial style: +1

have long hair: +1

like to wear slippers: +1

enjoy living luxuriously: +1

have little impulse control: +1

once you have your total number, match it to these results!

0-4: you are a proper, virtuous roman man. only your political enemies would call you effeminate, and they do that to everyone. even if you scored a couple of points, most people understand that nobody is perfect.

5-10: you're getting into some dangerous territory here... you'd better watch out or your fellow senators will ridicule you for your womanish ways.

11-20: you are effeminate. all the other senators are definitely making fun of you. they're glancing at you, whispering in each others' ears and giggling as you walk in there with your little perfumed hairdo, or your fancy little outfit, or whatever got you a score this high.

21-25: “For one who daily perfumes himself and dresses before a mirror, whose eyebrows are trimmed, who walks abroad with beard plucked out and thighs made smooth, who at banquets, though a young man, has reclined in a long-sleeved tunic on the inner side of the couch with a lover, who is fond not only of wine but of men—does anyone doubt that he does what cinaedi commonly do?" *

26-31: you may as well just embrace it at this point. no one can dampen your effeminate swag if you just don't care what they think! you can even feel proud that you got the high score.

if you want to read more, this is a pretty good article that covers a lot of this stuff: https://www.jstor.org/stable/24616489

*(Gellius, Noctes Atticae 6.12.5, tr. J.C. Rolfe)

[starwarsanthropology]

Canon genders the clones, both individually and collectively, pretty aggressively. They're men, brothers, boys, sirs. Omega is notable for being the "female" clone, to the point where she's not recognized as a clone in a meaningful way.

But the clones grew up without gendered social groups! Despite how clones are gendered by external factors, gender is functionally a nonentity in their lives until they meet civilians, and civilians do a load of other weird shit anyway.

So why do they still use gendered language?

My argument is that feminine language isn't used as a gendered form of address, but as a form of address that reflects a specific kind of power dynamic and relationship between parties.

Given the structure of the clone army, the only people a vast majority of young clones interact with who could insist on being called ma'am are exclusively kaminoans.

The kaminoans view clones not as autonomous subjects, but as property. They have and expect complete control over their lives and actions. Incidentally, the female kaminoans we see (such as Nala Se) tend to demonstrate an even more proprietary perspectives on the clones.

You can question a sir, like your superiors or trainers, at your discretion, but you can't question a ma'am. A sir is someone who has power over you, but is somewhat responsible for you. The have personal accountability to you in some way. Sirs are responsible for men under them. A ma'am is someone whose power over you is absolute, an authority without accountability, who is not beholden to you but that you must obey. You are tool or a number to a ma'am.

And when you bring clones out into the wider galaxy, I'm not sure anyone would figure it out that quickly.

Say you're a new jedi general. You meet your men, and they address you as "ma'am". Maybe you correct and move on, figuring that they've grown up surrounded by thousands of identical men and aren't great at guessing genders based on social and appearance cues. Scuttlebutt has your forms of address spread through the men by the end of the day, and you don't think about it again.

The clones, on the other hand, take this correction as he/him jedi stating that they want to work with them and suppourt them despite having so much power over them, which fits with both what they know of the jedi and, most often, their leadership style.

She/her jedi (see Shaak Ti especially!), clones maybe treat a little more as absolute authorities. This gendered divide in behavior gets met with, "hm, maybe they're just not used to women." For many jedi, they eventually switch to calling them sir as well, especially as they build rapport.

For Shaak Ti specifically, she is an absolute authority as the representative of the Jedi on Kamino, not just as a figurehead but as a decision maker and educator. Even as the clones grow to trust and love her, she's a relatively distant and all-powered figure. She has near total authority over them, and clones might ask for help or suppourt, but there's no social obligation for those requests to be met, she's just kind. It's compassion, not duty.

Senators, there's a good mix of different factors that make it confusing. "Senator" is always an acceptable form of address if you're not sure how'd they react, even if they should be ma'ams by default, but they're either trying to build rapport for some reason or genuinely want to work with you when they say to call them sir, regardless of the actual power dynamic at play. The she/her senators that respect the clones are in the same boat as Shaak Ti: Padme Amidala may care about clone rights, but I am still just one of hundreds to her and she has no personal accountability to me. Her position is such that she should not and cannot owe me anything. Same with Riyo Chuchi, Mon Mothma, etc. etc.

And a civilian that insists on being called ma'am or sir is going to be an asshole either way, and they technically have power over clones without personal accountability or responsibility for them. It works.

Finally, Palpatine.

He's a slimy rat fuck who pretends to be affable and kind, so of course he's going to laugh and say, "Oh, no, call me Sir!" when you call him ma'am. He is not personally accountable to you, and he does not care about you, but it helps his image and it helps him manipulate people to pretend, so of course he's making you use sir to build false intimacy despite the fact that he's the ma'am of ma'ams, both in power gaps and lack of accountability for his treatment of clones.

So having clones using sir vs ma'am not as a reflection of gender but as a reflection of power? Yeah, I think it works.

[fynsh]

Fox is trading classified information and his brothers indulge the high prices probably because they love him

Even though they barely saw him, Fox was actually the most sought after little brother in the command batch for several reasons:

Not only was he still adorable to his barely older brothers as they still noticed the same stubborn curl of hair not sticking to the regulation style and the curiosity fueling every very intentional move under all his gruff and overworked exterior, he was also the most experienced in solving civil conflicts.

Contrary to the GAR being deployed wherever necessary, his corps stationed on Cruscant dealt with living (in most cases) breathing sentients of all shapes, forms and in various states of coexisting on a day to day basis. The Corries might not have been as efficient in fighting clankers, couldn't identify the typical formations and moves as fast, but much like their Marshall Commander they were patient and exceptionally well trained in reading social context clues.

Subsequently they were the clones with the vastest knowledge on how to not offend, peacefully interact with and even more importantly protect civilians. The Corries operated on a completely different scale when it came to navigating politically or culturally charged conflicts. One could say what Fox lacked in social skills needed to bond on a personal level, he made up for tenfold on a professional level. He keept tabs on everyone who owed him a favor and never ever ended up in debt to a brother. This put him in a position of being able to unofficially request parts of the other corps' rations and medical supplies even though he was the one who should have the easiest access to all resources available to the clone army.

Bacara has been watching this spiel go on for almost two years by now. He's one of the few who had only dealt in the Guard's currency of datachits for physical resources once. Information about the Outer Dim was hard to come by even for the Guard. He's also sure he paid a bit more than strictly necessary. Sure, it had been his own fault for not striking a better deal, but he wondered if the other commanders were actually oblivious to Fox subtle manipulation tactics or if they just liked him enough to indulge his antics. It's not like Fox was unlikeable. He never asked for truly unreasonable amounts in exchange for admittedly very valuable and not seldom crucial information on their next mission targets. But the Corries still took all they could get.

The Marshall Commander of the Galactic Marines was pretty sure the Guard got their info by spying on the Senators. He and Neyo mused their brothers on Coruscant had to be pretty close to some of the biggest assholes in the galaxy to be privy to those details. No politician would be dumb enough to carelessly discuss highly confidential tactics and locations in the corridors of the Senate building or the official meetings their brothers guarded, right? After all the Corries were no aides expected to be present all the time to bend to the Senator's every wishes, they only provided security where necessary.

Bacara wasn't very close to any of the commanders and wouldn't consider them friends per se, except for Neyo. The 21st was currently on their first and very limited shore leave after more than eleven months in the Outer Rim. His troops only returned to Coruscant for a classified mission for Mundi to run planetside. They all respected their General, but nobody was really interested in the Jedi duties the Cerean cited for their impromptu stay. What his men were actually interested in was stocking up on perishable and therefore rarely available foods and getting a drink at 79's. So that's where he currently found himself nursing some spotchka in a small booth in a corner. Nobody would dare to cause serious trouble and risk ending up in the drunk tanks or worse confined to their own cots back on the ship as long as he's present.

Their leave to Coruscant was scheduled on short notice. He didn't tell the other commanders about it because they wouldn't be at the homefront long enough to organize a meet up for batchers from different corps anyways.

So Bacara didn't expect to see anyone tonight. But even in the half darkness of the bar the very distinctive red of the local Marshall Commander's armor caught his eye instantly. Bacara was well aware the Guard always knee who was staying on Coruscant (he was pretty sure Fox also knew exactly where the others' deployments led them to and who of the commanders was currently sporting an injury grave enough to be reported to their medics and for what reason).

Fox seemed to notice him as well but took his time talking to a natborn Bacara didn't recognize nor care for before sauntering over to the only other clone still wearing a full kit except for the buckets. Bacara resigned himself to a conversation undoubtedly more suited to be held with a sober mindset but seeing the glasses the red armored man carried and the three empty glasses already stacked on his table it was a little late for that, wasn't it?

"Commander, it's a pleasure to see you and your men in our humble abode after such a long time."

Fox voice was smooth and even though he looked exhausted his smile actually reached his eyes. That's not something Bacara had seen often on his fellow Marshall Commander. He's also sporting some barely noticable fine scars and Bacara can't tell for sure what caused those.

"I'll make sure my men won't bother you. We're only planetside for two days anyways."

Fox nodded as he held out both glasses for Bacara to chose from. For a split moment his hands seemed to be a bit unsteady but maybe Bacara's eyes played tricks on him in the dim lights of the bar because the movement was gone in the blink of an eye. He took the smaller drink and held the glass out for a cheer. Fox clinked their glasses but instead of the usual Mando'a used by the commanders he cheered in crisp Concordian.

Bacara blinked. Oh so that's why everyone happily played along with Fox little games. That cold hearted idiot actually cared about them. So even the rational leader of the Galactic Marines being well aware of Fox coaxing him into a slightly unbalanced deal couldn't find it in him to say no too much. Nobody needed to know that he also decided to join the line of GAR commanders sending the Guard even more supplies than they asked for.

I don't know if Concordian actually has a different word for Mando'a "K'oyacyi" and if the Journeyman Protector training Bacara would have any incentive to use it in front of cadets but in this AU Bacara feels valued by Fox acknowledging his ever so slightly different cultural background as well as giving him the opportunity which drink to chose

[milesmolasses]

they’re just people (42miles x african!reader)

— this was a request that I very stupidly deleted

— idek how I fricken did it bruh just read the fic 😭

— miles is nervy cause he’s meeting ur family.

— ⚠️: unedited, reader and miles are aged up to be 17-18 (because it makes sense. what african parent do you know who is letting their child date at 15??), miles having a cute moment with his mom <3

— “senator style” dressing is very common among men in nigeria. look it up and you’ll see what i’m talking about

“you need to calm down.”

you could feel the anxiety radiating off of your boyfriend from a mile away as he was pacing up and down your room, while throwing around a bean bag he found in your drawer. he had quietly snuck in through a window while you were getting ready just to rant to you about how nervous he was.

a birthday party.

your mother had told you to bring him to a birthday party being held for your cousins at a venue. she thought it would be a nice idea to see how he would interact with the rest of your family (and to see if he was any good with children.) in miles' head, he was hoping for a small get-together like you had when you met his mom and uncle.

as he came over to you and and wrapped his arms around your waist he said, “mami, tell me to calm down one more time and I might explode.”

“eww don’t do that I don’t wanna have to clean up your guts,” you joked as you turned to kiss his cheek.

turning around in his arms, you pushed him away from you slightly to examine what was in front of you. miles was freshly dressed in a matching blue “senator style” shirt and pants. you reached for his newly braided braids as you brought them forward to lay on his shoulders. “you look extremely handsome. they’re going to like you, okay?”

he huffed as he rolled his shoulder back, a little tense from all the worrying he’s been doing. “okay.”

when miles snuck out your window and went back to his own home, his mother caught a glimpse of what he was wearing.

“wow, te ves bien. where are you going?” his mother asked sounding impressed by how her son had cleaned up so nicely.

“i’m meeting the parents…” he mumbled looking at the floor. she could tell his nerves were getting the best of him by how his eyes were darting around the room and not maintaining eye contact.

“oh wow, that’s why you’re dressed like this huh?”

“yup”

Rio sighed as she went up to her son, placing both her hands to rest upon his shoulders.

“miles, you listen to me. they are just people. they can’t hurt you, okay? and judging by the person they raised, they’re good people,” she reassured him the best she could as she slid her hands down his arms, rubbing small circles to sooth him.

“what if they don’t like me?”

Rio sighed as her eyes darted to the side, thinking of what to say. she suddenly stepped away from miles as she put her index and thumb on her chin. she began to circle around miles, examining everything about him.

miles could only stand there confused as to why his mom was inspecting every inch of his body. “uh.. ma?” she put a finger to her lips to shush him, still looking and studying him while deep in thought. until she finally came to a stop right in front of him.

“mmk now, ask me what I see when i look at you.”

“ma w-what are you-”

“shhh play along! now ask me what I see, ¡vamos!”

miles threw his arms up and let them fall down in defeat. “fine, what d’ you see mami?”

Rio smiled as she grabbed her sons hands into her own.

“I see the boy I raised,” she explained. “I see him in all his glory on his way to navigate the world he’s been given.”

"I see him trying his best understand what it means to have feelings — what it means to love someone. I see someone who cares enough to immerse himself in a different culture than the one he has all for the sake of a special someone."

she looked down as she continued, “I see a talented, intelligent, kind, respectful little boy who’s not so little anymore. I see someone I couldn't be more proud of, and y’know what—?” she lifted her head so her eyes could meet his, “if they can’t see what I see, están locos.”

miles couldn’t help the soft smile he had on his face as he looked into her sincere eyes. pulling his mom into him, he hugged her and gave her a small kiss on her head.

“te quiero, mami”

“ay mami please I gotta go-!”

“in a minute!”

you stood outside smiling with your hands crossed over your chest watching the scene in front of you; miles mother trying to make him look more presentable by straightening out his shirt and tucking away any miss placed hairs on his head as best as she could.

when she finally kissed her son goodbye and started her way back to the bus stop, she quickly waved and smiled at you before speed-walking to catch the next bus. there were people from your family all outside the venue, chatting each other up and taking pictures, and suddenly this all felt very real to miles.

taking a deep breath, he crossed the street and made his way over to you.

“hi baby,” you swiftly linked your arm around his and gave him a small kiss on the cheek.

“damn, how many people you got in your family ma?” he took a quick look inside through the windows and saw a hefty amount of people, which didn’t make this any easier for him.

“don’t worry, most of these people aren’t actually family. they’re more like family friends who we call aunties, uncles, and cousins,” you explained.

“okay okay, yeah sure,” miles let out a breath that he didn’t even know he was holding in. he started to look around at all the people outside the venue: they all looked so extravagant in long fitted dresses, and in suits that matched or looked similar to what he was wearing. all of the adults mingled with each other, and children were beginning to group off and mess around.

miles felt a bit like a fraud; like he didn’t belong there. this was all new territory for him. of course he had a few african friends in middle school, but he never really had to face their culture head-on like he was now. when he tried listening to what people were saying, he heard a few english words incorporated into their sentences, but he hadn't a clue on what was being communicated.

he couldn't stop the doubts that began to cloud his mind as he looked around him. doubts that he wasn't the kind of guy your parents wanted you dating, that he couldn't live up to their expectations. doubts that told him in big bold letters, "you don't belong here."

miles' facial expressions and body language often gave away what he was thinking, so when you noticed him begin to shrink slightly, him rapidly tapping his thigh, and his lip twitching slightly, you saw right through him. grabbing his hand, you gave him a small squeeze of affection, and soon enough, you were leading him through the doors of the venue, dodging people and children as you made your way through.

you led him right to your table which your parents saved for you and your siblings, plus miles.

as he saw your parents seated at the table, the first person he noticed was your father's presence. he took notice of the stoic look on his face, and his hand on the table which was intertwined with your mother's.

"hey guysss," you greeted with a smile as you dragged miles over to the table. "this is milesss, the boy I was telling you about."

you could feel miles tense ever so slightly as his father held his gaze.

"good evening sir, my name is miles," he introduced himself with a small smile.

“thank god this boy even knows how to greet,” your father said while nodding in approval.

when he reached his hand out for miles to shake, miles thought to himself, “okay, making progress.”

taking his hand, he gave a firm handshake to your father to which he nodded in approval again. turning to your mother, he extended his hand and said hello and was met with a softer touch and welcoming smile.

“I like your hair,” she mentioned, her hand gesturing to the two braids rested on his shoulder.

miles smiled as he look down to his braids. “thank you, my mom actually does these for me.”

“tell her i said she did well,” she complimented.

“please, sit down i’m sure the food will soon be ready, and then we will see what we can take home with us,” your mother mumbled that last part directed to your father, but you still heard and laughed.

“so, miles, we have been told many good things about you. you want to study physics?” your father asked.

miles squeezed your hand under the table, eyebrows raised in shock. “you guys talk about me?” he felt his heart swell at the mental image of you even mentioning him to your parents — especially your mom.

“of course na, our daughter comes up to us and tells us she’s been seeing a boy — how can we not talk about you?” your mother asked rhetorically. you could see the small almost unnoticeable smirk etching onto miles face. he would never let you hear the end of this.

after almost half an hour of talking, laughing, (mainly between you, miles, and your mother), and getting to know one another, miles started to feel much more relaxed. words started flowing out of him much easier than before, and he even managed to make your dad crack a smile with one of his silly jokes. miles nerves and doubts slowly but surely began to dissipate as the night went on; relief washed over his entire body.

it wasn't until your mother covered him in a layer of fear 4x as heavy as the one he just washed off.

“ah! see your cousin!” you mother told you. you looked in the direction she was looking and saw a toddler running around and giggling.

“why don’t the both of you go and say hi!”

she knew exactly what she was doing.

— bro idk what’s wrong but I really don’t like this (¬_¬)

— but I tried

— idek why but i think the other one was SOOO much better

[todaysdocument]

Joint Resolution of June 14, 1954, Public Law 83-396, 68 STAT 249, to Amend the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America

Record Group 11: General Records of the United States GovernmentSeries: Enrolled Acts and Resolutions of Congress

THE WHITE HOUSE [STAMPED ON LEFT MARGIN]

[THE REST OF THE STAMP IS CUT OFF]

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION [STAMPED ON RIGHT MARGIN]

RECEIVED [STAMPED ON RIGHT MARGIN]

JUN 14 1954 [STAMPED ON RIGHT MARGIN]

NARS [STAMPED ON RIGHT MARGIN]

FEDERAL REGISTER DIVISON [STAMPED ON RIGHT MARGIN]

PUBLIC LAW [STAMPED] 396 [HANDWRITTEN]

CHAPTER [STAMPED] 297 [HANDWRITTEN]

H. J. Res. 243

Eighty-third Congress of the United States of America [centered]

AT THE SECOND SESSION [CENTERED]

Begun and held at the CIty of Washington on Wednesday, the sixth day of January, [centered]

one thousand nine hundred and fifty-four [centered]

Joint Resolution [centered]

To amend the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United

States of America in Congress assembled, That section 7 of the joint

resolution entitled "Joint resolution to codify and emphasize existing

rules and customs pertaining to the display and use of the flag of the

United States of America", approved June 22, 1942, as amended (36

U.S.C. sec. 172), is amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 7. The following is designated as the pledge of allegiance to

the flag: 'I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of

America and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under

God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all'. Such pledge should

be rendered by standing with the right hand over the heart. However,

civilians will always show repsect to the flag when the pledge

is given by merely standing at attention, men removing the headdress.

Persons in uniform shall render the military salute."

Joseph W. Martin Jr. [signature]

Speaker of the House of Representatives

Styles Bridges [signature]

President of the Senate. [typeset] pro Tempore [handwritten]

APPROVED [STAMPED]

JUN 14 1954 [STAMPED]

Dwight D. Eisenhower [signature]

[ancientcharm]

Nero: The end of the Julio-Claudian dynasty (Part II)

'Nero finds his mother dead' by Antonio Rizzi, 19th century. This painting is interesting because it shows Nero as he had entered Agrippina's Villa and is surprised to find her dead, just as the characters in the background seem surprised. It's curious because in the 19th century no one doubted that it was a matricide and no one thought that Nero's mother could have taken her own life.

The first period of Nero's reign (54-58) would stand out, according to Emperor Trajan (96-117) for being the "best and most just government of the entire imperial era." According to historical sources, in those years the young emperor had a respectful relationship with the Senate, a young lover who was a Mima (actress in Latin) was indifferent to his wife Octavia, and was dedicated to art.

After the withdrawal and death of Agrippina in the year 59, having distanced himself from Seneca and Burrus- who really ruled according to historians- Nero began to make his own decisions.

Nero's dream: An empire of art

Augustus had his own cultural revolution-especially in architecture and literature- transforming Rome. Nero thought that the art and architecture of his great-great-grandfather's time were out of fashion and that it was time to innovate. From his reign a new style of art emerged that further beautified Rome. The Neronian style can be seen mainly in frescoes, colors on walls and mosaics. But he also surrounded himself with actors and musicians, both professions despised by the elite.

The first big mess during his reign (and a big doubt )

Statue of emperor Nero in Anzio, Italy, by Claudio Valenti. Photo: Helen Cook.

Nero needed heirs but could not or did not want have them with his wife with whom he perhaps would never have consummated the marriage. Seneca and Burrus had advised him not to divorce Octavia since she was very loved and respected in society. But in 61-62 Seneca was already retired, Burrus had passed away and the new Prefect of praetorian and closer to Nero was Tigellinus, who according historians was not exactly a good advisor.

Tacitus accounts that Tigellinus, sent by Poppaea tried to get Octavia's maidservants to confess an alleged adultery thus Nero would have a reason to condemn her to death. The servants denied adultery, and a slave woman while being tortured spat in Tigellinus face saying: "My mistress' privy parts are cleaner than your mouth." Despite this, young empress was accused of adultery.

This situation caused a revolt in Rome in favor of the daughter of the Divine Claudius, according to modern historians "the first and greatest popular revolt of the Roman imperial time".

"Immediately the people went up to the Capitol and cry out to the gods, tore down the effigies of Poppaea and carried images of Octavia on their shoulders, covered them with flowers and placed them in the Forum; They filled the palace with their multitude and clamor " -Tacitus.

Nero divorced Octavia, claiming that she could not give him heirs, and she was taken to Campania in southern Italy under military escort. Tacitus says that Poppaea, concerned about Octavia's influence on the people, convinced Nero that he should exile Octavia to the island Pandataria, a place where no one could leave or do anything.

Octavia was taken to Pandataria, and according Suetonius in June 9 of 62 died at 22 years old; Some men cut her wrists and then took her to a hot bath, in a kind of "suicide ritual".

According Suetonius twelve days later, Nero and Poppaea married. The historians not account about there were riots in the streets due this marriage and this make me think that the people of Rome did not know anything about Octavia's death o that she was still alive.

There is no doubt that the innocent Octavia was unjustly exiled. However, I realized something I hadn't noticed before:

No historian, including Suetonius, knows the date of death of any of the exiles of the Julio-Claudian dynasty or how they died; by starvation, disease, suicide or murder. Obviously they can't know because they died in exile. So how do they know exactly the day and month of Octavia's death and provide so many details about her murder? In fact she is the only exile in Roman history of whom we know (or believe we know rather) the date of her death and the way in which she died.

And the most interesting thing is that her date of death is the same as Nero's. It's even vehemently noted that "He died exactly 6 years after Octavia's death." A clear message that the fall and death of this emperor was a kind of divine punishment for having killed Octavia "a young woman loved for her kindness and attention to those in need" according to Tacitus, and daughter of Divine Claudius

The date came from SUETONIUS, the writer who showed the greatest animosity towards this emperor when writing his story, and is also Suetonius who wrote that "Nero met his death on the anniversary of the murder of Octavia".

I repeat: there's no doubt that Octavia was the victim of injustice but now I must say that I don't know when she died. In the same way that no one knows the exact date, and circumstances under which Augustus's daughter and grandchildren died, nor the children of Germanicus, nor the wife or sister of Emperor Commodus. And Octavia could have been murdered a few days after arriving on Pandataria just as she could have died few years later sick and weakened by the hardships.

Part III

[yoitsjay]

Hey! Saw you were taking requests, and I wanted to drop some inspiration. I love both Commander Wolffe and Fox, so I would be thrilled with either. For the plot, I'm always a sucker for hurt/comfort/ romance fic. I'm thinking maybe our clone commander's significant other stumbles across evidence of Palpatine's involvement in the war and his plans for order 66. This obviously makes significant other a target, and ultimately has to be saved by their commander and squad. Maybe significant other is hurt somewhere along the way. Up to you. Everyone lives, except Palps, and the galaxy is saved. I live for happy endings haha 😄 💓. I'm so cliché I know, I've accepted it at this point haha 😄 😅 😆 If it's not your style feel free to ignore, no worries. 👍

I honesty have tried to write this fic like 10 times but nothing stuck for me so I'm just writing headcannons for both men and their reactions instead. Sorry this took so long!

Everyone lives yippee! Headcannons

Characters: Commander Wolffe and Commander fox x gn reader

Summary: palps dies, everyone lives, YIPPEE

Commander Wolffe:

You had found out about the clone inhibitor chips, and evidence of Palpatine being a sith lord before fives had also found out about the chips. You and him worked together to bring this to the senate and to make sure people believed you.

You were a senator so you had a bit more sway in your words. But of course Palpatine found out that you had the dirt on him so he sent people to try and execute you.

What he didn't count on was for the wolfpack, more specifically Commander Wolffe to have your back.

You survived mang assassination attemps until you had finally brought your evidence to the senate. Which ended up in palpatines execution by the jedi, which then also ended the war. The inhibitor chips were removed from every clone, and because of you they were allowed to live their own lives, whether that meant staying soldiers, or moving away from Coruscant to start families.

You and Wolffe decided to start your own little family, much to your joy.

Though you knew Wolffe was stress TF out when Palpatine was trying to kill you, pushing you out of the way of sniper shots nearly every day took a toll on the man.

Though at the end you held him close. He would always have you, no matter what.

You made sure he believed it too.

Commander Fox:

Finding evidence that Palpatine was an evil person, especially when Fox was your boyfriend?

Yeah both your lives were at risk

You knee Fox would always protect you, he loved you even though he couldn't always show it because of palpatine

Though as soon as you found out that Palpatine was a sith lord, Fox basically commanded his whole guard to refuse any orders from Palpatine and just straight up protect you because in that time you were most literaly the most important person on Coruscant.

Eventually you brought your evidence to the jedi council and the senate, and they voted for palpatines execution.

Poor bb fox

He was also stressed tf out trying to protect you all the time and himself on top of it.

After that whole ordeal you and Fox left the republic all together, went back to your home planet and settled down, now that you were allowed too anyway.

You held Fox for as long as he needed, reassured him for days that Palpatine was dead, and that he wouldn't hurt Fox, you, or any of his brothers ever again

Eventually he believed you. ♡

Fuck you Palpatine 😒

➺

Tag list

Wolffe tag:

Fox tag:

Tcw tag:

All:

@moomoog017

[wizardbracket]

Round 3: Match 14 of 16

Why they deserve to be the ultimate wizard according to YOU:

Magneto:

Vanquished (so far): Doctor Strange, Zatanna

"Bisexual Jewish Holocaust survivor who later hunts N*zis. His exploits include dropping a stadium on Nixon, turning a Republican senator into a puddle of slime, and colonizing an asteroid"

"magneto is 100% a wizard (source: i like him)"

"Magneto isn't what science would define as a wizard, but he definitely fits the vibe. He's dramatic as all hell, too. he's just got more 🤌🏾🤌🏾🤌🏾"

"Gotta give it to the gilf"

"magneto all the way babyyy get that old man to the TOP"

"Cool hat, cool outfit, does magic. He qualifies as a wizard"

Ms. Frizzle:

Vanquished (so far): Fujimoto, Peter Grant

"i must choose the woman who wholeheartedly embodies a wizard in every aspect of her life"

"i WILL die for her"

"She's magic. That's all I have to say."

"She's the most wizardly woman with modern style that ive seen as of yet ... a wizard will lean more heavily into the "pursuit of knowledge" aspect of magic often to their own detriment manifesting in antisocialism. Often. Not always. Miss. Frizzle is very obviously all about that sweet sweet pursuit of knowledge but avoids the downsides of research-rabbit-holes by conducting her research with and for her class. The sheer publicity of this would get her closer to sorcerers than anything but the very backbone of her use of magic is academia so she's very securely a wizard"

[blackmensuited]

[hanafubukki]

Hehehehehe

We know melanor is around in ot3 route but does she just come stay at ramshackle for a week for bonding with her better half (y/n) and to share all the embarassing stories she has for silver malleus AND lilia????

Or does she just roll up, burrito y/n into a blanket purrito style, and chuck her onto meleanors shoulder before going right back through the mirror bc she missed yn and ONLY yn

[Masterlist]

Hi Anonie 🌷💚🪻

I literally read this and went, “Both.” 🤣🤣

These are the moments when I wish I learned how to draw because it would be so funny to show comic wise.

Meleanor is such a Queen, literally and figuratively, that I can see her just get tired of her Senate at times and teleports to meet YN. It’s okay, Levan is there and he can take care of things for her. She would pop up at Ramshackle, and have a sleep over. Sharing stories and moments and using her magic to show said moments. It would be a great way to rekindle and just have fun away from the men.

On days she can’t be gone for long, she’s just going to pop in to wherever YN is. If Lilia is present, even better, because she’ll use her magic to keep him away. She’ll then grab YN and off she goes, after waving to the kids and giving them a quick glance to make sure they are okay.

Levan is going to get a call from Dawn later to check up on YN while Lilia is grumbling about how Meleanor still hasn’t grown up after all these centuries and to return their wife. 🤣🫶

[i-was-today-years-old-when]

i learned about Gaius Valerius Catullus, also referred to simply as Catullus. A well-known Latin poet of the late Roman Republic who wrote chiefly in the neoteric style of poetry, focusing on personal life rather than classical heroes.

Catullus's poems were widely appreciated by his contemporaries, significantly influencing such great as Ovid and Virgil, among others.

However, the explicit sexual imagery which Catullus uses in some of his poems would be shocking to most modern readers - so much so that they would hardly see the light of day in the hands of the modern conservatives.

Case in point, in the first century BCE, Catullus addressed two of his libelous critics, another poet Furius and a senator Aurelius, in a poem considered so vulgar and obscene that it was not translated outside of Latin until the 20th century.

Modern bust of Catullus

English translation of the Catullus’s vitriolic poem:

I will sodomize you and face-f*ck you,

Cock-sucker Aurelius and catamite Furius,

You who think, because my verses

Are delicate, that I am modest

For it's right for the devoted poet to be chaste

Himself, but it's not necessary for his verses to be so.

Verses which then have taste and charm,

If they are delicate and sexy,

And can incite an itch,

And I don't mean in boys, but in those hairy old men

Who can't get their flaccid dicks up.

You, because you have read of my countless kisses,

You think I'm a sissy?

I will sodomize you and face-f*ck you!

No doubt, Catullus was not the type to mince his words; he sure was a straight shooter. During his times, without worrying a bit about political correctness or the cancel culture, he could address his critics in the way that is unthinkable today, not to mention severe legal and social ramifications.

But, that was then!

Nevertheless, standing up for one’s reputation and honor, even in less than a civilized manner, would be acceptable only in the zeitgeist of ancient Rome.

[arianeemorythethird]

Today's horrible Star Wars thought, prompted by some meta I'm not sure I fully agree with: when would have Anakin actually found out what the inhibitor chips really do?

According to RotS Anakin's not present when Palpatine sends out Order 66, he's already heading out with the 501st for the Jedi Temple. And up until that point, just like the rest of the Jedi Council, he knew that inhibitor chips existed but had no idea they could actually control minds and cause the clones to act against their will.

So when would he have actually found out the truth? I think there's actually two options here.

Option one is that in some missing moment after Mace's death, while Anakin was swearing himself to Palpatine, Palpatine told him ahead of time exactly what the inhibitor chips would do. This is possible, and frankly I think there's a decent chance Anakin would have gone along with Order 66 regardless - but I don't think it's the likeliest option.

At this point Anakin is, frankly, delusional, and he's flipflopping all over the place. A few hours ago he was completely loyal to the Jedi and turned Palpatine over to them. Could Palpatine be totally confident Anakin was completely and securely under his control and wouldn't change his mind yet again?

Sure, by the time Anakin commits himself to the Sith he is fully onboard the Jedi=evil train with Palpatine, fuelled partly by his resentment towards the Jedi Council but primarily, imo, by his desperation to erase his guilt over betraying Mace by convincing himself that the Jedi were traitors all along so he did nothing wrong. But "support me, the Jedi are evil, btw these people you trust and feel responsible for don't agree so I'm going to have to use mindcontrol and fully enslave them so they help us" doesn't fit into this neat narrative Anakin is using to justify himself. And it surely would have had the potential to trigger Anakin's slavery issues - in the wrong direction for Palpatine's purposes. It might be a low risk, at this point, but it's still a risk.

But also, there was a better option and one that, imo, better fits Palpatine's usual style.

Because option two is that Palpatine doesn't tell Anakin the truth about the inhibitor chips immediately. He just tells Anakin that the clones are loyal to Palpatine and the Senate (and, critically, Padme), and the clones have realised that the Jedi are traitors too, and Anakin should trust them.

And sure enough! Anakin's men in the 501st willingly attack the Jedi Temple with him, even down to helping him kill kids. Anakin can sense as, all over the galaxy, other clones turn on their Jedi generals. The Jedi must be evil, if the clones are turning on them too; Anakin must be doing the right thing.

In the critical moment when Anakin was still only taking his first steps into the dark it would reinforce his delusions, it would reinforce the worldview Palpatine was trying to push him towards, where Jedi were evil traitors and Palpatine (and Anakin, and the clones) were doing the right thing for the greater good.

And of course, it would give Palpatine something extra to torture Vader with, much later - much, much later. Another atrocity to bind them both together, and keep Vader feeling like he was irredeemable, he was so deep in the dark he wouldn't deserve to find a way out.

And like - this is not an exoneration of Anakin. He should have known something was wrong. In their right minds the clones would never have killed kids on Anakin's orders, they'd never have turned on the Jedi - but quite frankly if Anakin himself was in a place to recognise that, he wouldn't have been killing those kids himself, you know?

[100gayicons]

Excerpts from Herbert Tobias entry on Wikipedia:

Tobias was a German photographer best known for his fashion photography during the 1950s. He also drew critical praise for his portrait studies, his photographs of Russia during World War II and his homoerotic pictures of men.

In 1942 Tobias was drafted into the German Nazi army and was sent to the Eastern Front. Shortly before the end of the war he deserted and was captured by the Americans on the Western Front. He was released at the end of 1945.

In 1948, while staying in Heidelberg he began a relationship with a civilian employee of the American Forces of Occupation. In 1950 both men were denounced under § 175 of the German Criminal Code. They moved to Paris.

In Paris Tobias worked as a retouched for German photographer Willy Maywald who introduced him to the fashion world. In 1953 Tobias' first published photos appeared in Vogue. In the same year, after resisting arrest during a police raid on a gay establishment, he was thrown out of France and returned to Heidelberg.

Soon his fashion photographs began to appear in West German magazines. And November 1953, out of over 18,000 entrants, he won first prize in a highly lucrative competition by Frankfurter Illustrierten Zeitung.

Through publication of his work in many high-class magazines Tobias had become, by 1956, an established figure in West German fashion scene.

During the 1960s, Tobias style fell out of favor in Fashion magazines. But in 1972 he found a new avenue for his photographs - various gay and pornographic magazines.

By 1981, with some high profile exhibitions of his work in Amsterdam and Berlin, Tobias working on a book with a collection of his nudes.

Tobias became seriously ill in February 1982 and died in August of the same year. He was one of the first high-profile victims of AIDS in Germany. He was buried in Altona Cemetery in Hamburg. In 2007 his grave site was declared an Ehrengrab ("grave of honour") by the Hamburg Senate.

[anonymous-ace72]

Can you tell me the defining features and propogandic elements of busts from the different dynasties of Republic and Imperial Rome? That sounds super interesting and I'd love to hear about it!

Strap in.

Okay so the period that I’m going to be going over is roughly the span of time from the Republic period of Rome, all the way to Constantine, because that was the time frame my class covered. 

So, to keep in mind, all of the portraits of Roman officials, whether they be emperors or otherwise, are idealized. Meaning, they are not true to life representations of these people; this is probably not how they actually looked, and you’ll see this become more prominent when we get into the imperial periods of Rome. What these portraits are in reality, are representations of traits that Romans typically admired and thought to be appropriate for rulers. 

When you look at a lot of portraits from the Republic period, you’ll mainly see portraits of older people. During this time, only older people were allowed to hold powerful positions within the Roman senate, and since these were generally the people commissioning portraits of themselves, this is the bulk of what we see. It was mostly men, but some women were also depicted, which we’ll get to. 

These busts portray older men, but these aren’t entirely realistic portraits, this is probably not what this individual actually looked like.

The official name for this style of portraiture is called verism, and it’s worth noting that it is pretty much a direct response to the style of the Hellenistic Greeks, who’s dynamic, emotional statues were seen as uncontrolled, with rule breaking tendencies. 

These portraits are much older looking, because an older person was the physical embodiment of the kinds of traits someone from the patrician class would favor; traits such as wisdom, worldliness, piety, self-restraint. The wrinkles in the forehead and around the mouth are very pronounced and obvious. The man in this portrait might not have Actually looked like this in real life, but his real-life image did not matter; he’s trying to convey to the viewer that he is wise, and in-control of himself. 

When you look at full body statues from this period, you see a strange mixing of styles, which is not uncommon, and Romans would continue to do this sort of thing in their art pieces. This is purposeful.

We see here, a man with a veristic head and an idealized body. The head is obviously meant to convey the meaning above, but the body is of a much younger man; it’s meant to convey strength and heroism. So, the entire sculpture together paints the picture of a man with the experience and constraint of an older patrician man, but the strength of a hero. 

Portraits of women from this period would also be done in the veristic style, but not as intensely as their male counterparts. You can still see the agedness of this woman, and her distant expression of self-control, and dignity, but her wrinkles are not as deep and defined; she’s not meant to be as worldly as a man. 

Some portraits will have individual elements mixed in with the verism. Take a look at Pompey, for instance.

He’s still keeping somewhat to the veristic style; you see from the wrinkles on his forehead and his mouth that he’s clearly meant to be seen as an older man, but his huge nose, round face and small eyes are personal traits that he really had- you see a statue from this period of time in Rome and you see that nose, there is no doubt that it’s depicting Pompey- but there’s also more to this portrait. 

This is where we see some idealization start to slip back in. Take note of the hair; it’s reminiscent of Alexander the Great’s “Lion’s mane” that he’s pretty well-known for having. Pompey is choosing to depict himself with traits from Alexander, drawing a physical connection between himself and the great leader; embodying these traits and claiming them as his own, basically. He wants the viewer to associate him with Alexander the Great.

You’ll continue to see this with Caesar as well, the veristic style, but also the idealization. The idealization being him having a full head of hair, as he was reported to, uh, be balding, at least. 

When we get to Augustus, he does away with verism entirely and fully embraces the classical Greek style of sculpture. He does this because he wants to connect his reign to that period of time in Greece; so right off the bat he’s making connections to legitimize himself. 

Augustus’ portraits and architectural works are rife with propaganda, so that’s an entirely different beast that we don’t have time to go into, so we’ll just stick with busts and statues. 

The first thing to mention about Augustus’ portraits is that he never ages. He died in his seventies, but he became emperor young, so his portraiture kept up the appearance of him as a younger man; this is part of that classicizing style, specifically the depictions of Greek deities, whom were shown to be eternally youthful. It obviously draws inspiration from Greece, as stated, but it also meant to convey his “godly heritage” due to his descension from Caesar, who was also “descended” from Venus. You can also usually tell when a statue of Augustus was made if you look at the feet. If he’s wearing sandals, it was made while he was still living, but if he’s barefoot, then that probably means it was after he died and was defied. 

His skin is smooth, he has simple, sharp features which came to be associated with the julio-claudian line. These probably are not his true features- that idealization again- but the thing that identifies his statues the most is that lock of hair that looks like a crab claw. Remember that crab-claw. It will be back later.

A lot of his full body sculptures will include these little hints and nods to his heritage, as well as his various accomplishments and inclusions of other deities. These are promises for his reign. You see Tellus a lot, she was the goddess of the Earth, and Augustus used her image a lot to convey the bounty and peace he wanted associated with his reign.

As an aside: These statues were mainly meant as stand-ins for the emperors in question, as a lot of events needed the emperor to be physically present to do, so these statues and busts would be created en-masse and placed in different places so the emperor could technically be present.

Okay, back to it.

Remember those facial features Augustus generally depicted himself with? You should, because they’re gonna keep popping up for awhile.

Throughout the rest of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, every single emperor after Augustus will keep depicting themselves with these qualities. Tiberius, who ruled right after Augustus, did this as well, despite not even being related by blood to his predecessor. 

Tiberius on the right, Augustus on the left.

They’re doing what Pompey did with Alexander the Great in his portrait: depicting themselves with features associated with Augustus to draw a connection to him, essentially drawing power from his influence. 

In order, Nero, Claudius, Caligula.

We see this pattern throughout the Julio-Claudian line in portraits of Caligula, Nero, Claudius as well, though Claudius is unique in the fact that, while still using those features, he also chooses to return to verism in his portraiture, partly because he was older when he ascended, but mostly due to the fact that he’s trying to shake off the immediate association with Caligula by appearing as his opposite. 

We subvert a little bit when we get to that period between the Julio-Claudians and the Flavians, when there were 5 different emperors in one year (which seems like nothing when we get to the soldier-emperors later). It’s a little bit of a return to verism, to try and shake off the chaos that was Nero.

This is Vespasian, he was considered  the “anti-Nero”.

You’ll probably notice by now that a lot of emperors depict themselves in certain ways also as a direct response to their predecessors, basically going like “hey, I’m not like that guy.”

With the Flavian Dynasty, we see a semi-return to verism, the men don’t look as idealized as they were, but the women would continue to appear in that more, ageless, idealized state.

Hadrian comes along later and starts depicting himself with long hair and a beard. Hadrian loved Greek culture, so the hair and beard were meant to connect him with heroes and philosophers from that time, as well as to probably hide the facial blemishes he reportedly had. 

The Antonine dynasty will be dominated by this “Hadrionatic look”, as well as still having that ageless, idealized look to (most of) them. We also see some head movement in these portraits, and the introduction of new, antonine features such as droopy eyelids, and arched brows.

Rinse and repeat, the emperors that followed with this dynasty will continue to use these features to connect themselves with each other, particularly Marcus Aurelius, whom you’ll see his features repeated with Lucius Veras, and Commodus. Commodus also drew inspiration from Hercules to imbue his image with heroic qualities.

From left to right, Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Veras, Commodus

Looks nothing like the Commodus from Gladiator.

 This continues up until Septimius Severus, then gets flipped on its head when Caracalla happens.

His portraits are very militaristic in style, and vastly different from what we’ve been seeing. Short cropped hair and beard; he is also very distant from the viewer. Pretty much all portraiture up until this point engaged the viewer head on, but Caracalla’s neck is dramatically turned, his eyes staring up at the ceiling. He looks very cruel and suspicious, like he does not want you there. Fitting, He did kill his own brother so he could have sole rule. This is the most personality we see in a roman portrait, ever.

This high expressionism will continue for a while with the soldier emperors: this was a period of 49 years where 25 different emperors reigned. We don’t have portraits of many of them, aside from some coins, cause most of them didn’t live long enough to get to that point. 

Most of this emotionalism is fueled by the rise in neoplatonic philosophy, which placed favor on emotions rather than physical characteristics. 

Also, throughout this time we’ll see quite a bit of back and forth, a lot of “I’m not that guy” because soldier emperor portraits generally had 2 modes: either the more emotional Caracalla-esque appearances, or a return to classicism to evoke the feeling of Augustus’ glory age. These were usually used in direct response to the other.

Maximinus Thrax: Mode 1   Gallienus: Mode 2

When we finally reach the Tetrarchy, we are in complete abstractism. There are no more personality defining features, and it’s virtually impossible to tell who is who. Their faces are simplified, the only difference is that some have facial hair, and some are clean shaven; and this is only to identify who is the Augustus and who is the Caesar. We still see the eyes turned away from the viewer, keeping that distance between emperor and citizen. This is purposeful, it’s meant to convey the message that the individual is not important, the position is. All the figures look the same because they’re all ruling as one unit. 

This abstraction is seen in Constantine’s portraits as well, the simplified face, the large eyes, the distant expression, but we see the hair has a little bit of detail, the comma-like look of Trajan, as well as the clean-shaven, youthful appearance of Augustus. Constantine, like so many before him, is drawing connections between himself and these past rulers, making a promise that his reign will be just as successful.

TLDR: None of these portraits reflect what these people actually looked like. They reflected values and traits that they wished to convey to the populace to instill a certain image about themselves and their subsequent reigns. They would even draw influence from past emperors and historical figures to convey the message about themselves that they wanted to convey.