#the only war is class war

[richo1915]

What a lovely day for a show of Working Class Power.

A show of solidarity with our Union who is the target of the elite, media and political classes.

Nice to see the coppers watching proceedings….

[wildflowercryptid]

Your Kieran is at perfect snuggle height for your Florian it drives me insane thinking about it 🥹

damn, my real reason behind making florian that tall has been found out. ( /j )

same, though. i imagine florian to be pretty physically affectionate with people he loves so i could totally see him resting his head on top of kieran's and leaning on them whenever he can.

[nando161mando]

I predict it’s only going to get worse but Carpe diem

[will-pilled]

"Being poor is a choice, you can get out of it if you work hard."

I live with 4 people, one of which is a child. I work a full time job. So does another. And the third works two part times.

We have no heating. Our electric keeps getting shut off. We didn't have anything AT ALL to drink for 3 days.

You REALLY fucking think we choose to live like this? You think I want to fucking FREEZE right now as I type? FUCK all the out of touch lucky people saying this shit.

Is it possible to get out of a poor family? Yes. But the majority of the time your area of living is what predicts your wealth.

[beresaad]

DENRID | PERSICA | MARREC | CAHIR | TIERNAN | EMRYS

↳ Do not fear difficulty. Hard ground makes stronger roots.

[kov-nyn]

Obi-Wan watching with morbid fascination as Cody puts a mug of water in the space microwave.

Obi-Wan: ...What are you doing?

Cody: I'm making tea?

Obi-Wan: Oh, dear... Do you know what temperature the water is?

Cody: Um...hot?

Obi-Wan: Oh, darling, no...

[basilknell]

Vasily's Rank

I've seen it pop up a couple times that people point to Vasily's cockade and say that he's canonically low-rank because of it. I've addressed this before in previous blogs, but I figured I'd separate out the information here for a better, more in-depth discussion.

First and foremost: Vasily has more evidence he is an 'officer' than that of being a low rank enlisted man.

It's prudent for me to go ahead and say that, as this blog is in English, Imperial Russian military ranks are categorized differently from how you see the military organized in England and the USA. I will, however, try my best to lay things in terms without one needing to know much about any of these military rank systems.

For ease of sake, I will be splitting Imperial Russia's rank system into three categories: Enlisted Men (EM for short. This refers to those who had no prior military schooling when entering the military, and are colloquially 'low ranking'), Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs. These are enlisted men who have risen through the ranks to become officers but have no military schooling. They are officers technically, but are more simply called NCOs), and Officers (those who have completed military schooling and begin as a second lieutenant).

So, to start with the most commonly cited piece of evidence, is Vasily's cockade.

Below, I've attached the three sperate ways the cockade is illustrated between the anime, manga, and Noda's detailed illustrations. Since there is only a single image of the latter, I'd like to state that the design of the cockade is consistent across the anime to itself, and consistent across the manga to itself.

An equally important thing I'd like to note -- Vasily's cockade was not added into the manga until his 'resurrection'. Additionally, when the official volume that first contained Vasily (Volume 16) was released in 2019, only then did Noda go back and heavily edit Vasily (and the other Russian soldiers') designs. From adding Vasily's eyelashes and changing his equipment, to his papakha gaining a cockade. Hence, when reading non-volume scans of the border crossing event, is why Vasily missing his cockade and looks a tad different.

So, one might argue the manga has the most correct design of the cockades, as season 3 of the anime (the season in which Vasily first appears) was also announced in 2019. While the season did begin airing in 2020, there could be a couple reasons for why his cockade appears different from the manga. Firstly, it could be the animators were given the uncolored panels and told he wears an Imperial Russian cockade, of which search results would give the cockade design Vasily does wear in the anime. Secondly, and the more likely case, is animators were given the outfit reference Vasily's almost entire outfit is based upon: Johan Somers' Imperial Russian Field Uniform and Equipment 1907-1917.

Having the book myself, here's a quick photo of someone that might be a bit familiar:

Of course, there are some minor changes between Vasily's design and the one in the book. But, surprisingly, Noda changed Vasily's design to be more towards the WWI time period (such as giving him model 1916 ammo pouches). Regardless, while you can't see the cockade on this mannequin, other outfits displayed on its surrounding pages have that same cockade design that Vasily has in the anime.

So, it could have been that the animators were handed an incorrect design, and Noda either did not care or forgot about doing so, as it is quite an insignificant detail in the long run. After all, given the problems with Vasily's outfit and gear I will not specify in this blog, he did not have too much care for making Vasily's outfit completely correct. Regardless, this would explain the discrepancies between the anime's cockade design, and the one in the manga.

But is there actually a significant difference between these two (three) cockade designs? Actually -- yes!

[Photo belongs to RDSTRPV]

Cockades were a way to differentiate between ranks from a distance when it was hard to see shoulder straps. The cockade on the far left is one of an EM. As you can see, it most resembles the one Vasily wears in the anime, and the most common design to find in general because there were so many EM in the army. The design in the middle is an officers cockade. While one could argue Noda's illustration of Vasily looks an an artistic rendition of this cockade, it otherwise bears no importance. The third cockade is that of an NCO, and resembles manga Vasily's cockade the most with its large ring of silver. Again, an argument could also be made that illustration Vasily has a stylistic choice to appear most similarly to this cockade as well. At the very least, illustration Vasily's cockade looks the least like the EM cockade.

This is all to say: the manga and illustration Vasily appear to be wearing an NCO cockade. There exists argument and reasoning for why the animators would accidently be drawing an EM's cockade as well. However, this is not the sole evidence towards Vasily being an NCO.

Let's examine some of his other equipment: namely his Nagant revolver and his binoculars.

To be quite frank -- Vasily should have neither of these things if he was an EM. Even if he was an NCO, he'd need to be of a certain NCO rank to be issued a Nagant as well.

Vasily is either infantry or cavalry, the latter of which is only likely if he is a Cossack (refer here for Cossack Vasily discussions). Regardless, for both divisions, a single-actioned Nagant was only issued to NCOs of Feldwebel rank, an NCO rank that is three ranks above counting as an EM. Just as well, binoculars were also only issued to those of Feldwebel or higher ranks. While one might be able to argue that, as a marksman, Vasily had special permission to have binoculars, this does not explain why he owns a Nagant either. Even if Vasily proclaims in the series his revolver is a back-up for close combat, it would not justify supplying it to a soldier who technically does not have a strong need for a sidearm.

The only feasible explanation for why Vasily could be an EM and have both these items is that he stole them off a dead officer (in the case of the binoculars particularly -- he could have also stolen the revolver off certain division EMs such as artillery). But the more likely scenario is that he is, at the very least, a Feldwebel NCO and was issued these items.

Now, on to one-off evidence.

For whatever reason in this singular panel below, we can see Vasily wearing a double-breasted overcoat, something only officers were issued. However, we never see his coat drawn like this again so I don't think it is solid evidence. Also, at times soldiers often bought their own clothes when their own wore out, but it'd be strange for a non-officer soldier to pay so much more extra for a double-breasted coat at the risk for being berated.

Vasily's bashlyk is also of a unique point. The embellishing of it is of a brown-tan consistently through his illustrations and anime. However, bashlyk were not issued with this type of embellishing color. EM were issued bashlyk with gray embellishments, NCOs with silver embellishments, and officers with gold embellishments. Obviously, this brown-tan is closest to gold in appearance, but its still most definitely not gold, nor would it make sense for Vasily to have been high ranked enough of an officer to receive a gold-trimmed bashlyk when that would have required military schooling for him.

This leaves us conjecture evidence based on circumstance.

We can, at the very least, assume Vasily is not a private because he is stated to have served in the Russo-Japanese War. Unless he committed some grave offense during or post-war, and seemingly was not removed from the military for it, he perhaps could have been demoted back to private. Otherwise, there was only one other EM rank above private: Gefreiter (Yefreytor), loosely equivalent to private first class. It is not a stretch to believe he'd at least ranked up twice during the war if he was as excellent of a marksman as Vasily holds himself to be (and that Ogata states him to be as well). If he had ranked up at least twice, then he would count as an NCO.

Following that, it would be odd of the Russian government to have sent a group of EM to apprehend a known Tsar assassin. For the same reason they didn't issue Nagants to lower ranks (they believed EM couldn't be trusted not to waste ammo), why would they trust a group of EM to capture the assassin? Though, conversely, one might argue that Vasily's group were the only soldiers around, in which case they were the governments only option to send to the border.

Conclusion

Of course, even after all of that, Noda strictly avoided rank shoulder straps on both Vasily's overcoat and gimnasterka (his undershirt). Whether this was intentional or he either didn't want to do the research or did not realize shoulder straps were needed, I'm unsure.

Much of what I stated and pointed out has reasonable counters against the facts. Thus, one can easily still headcanon him as an EM if they so wish. However, the strict evidence does stack in favor of Vasily being an NCO -- particularly one that is at least of Feldwebel rank.

Anyways, have fun with this information! I just was surprised at the amount of people I've seen claiming him to be canonically an EM based solely on his cockade, which isn't quite right.

[muxas-world]

Colonization never really stop it only takes on new faces because who you come to a country to live and you do not adapt to its customs and way of living? worse if you only come to visit and learn? The point of tourism is to get to know new cultures but instead you want to come and have your life be the same as in the United States and that we locals have to adapt (in Mexico the gringos began to complain about the noise that the sellers make in the streets that are why they don't buy local and in Mazatlan together with the help of businessmen they want to ban the bands of cultural expressions that have been part of our country for decades just because that bothers them but if we Mexicans go to the USA and want to speak a litle of Spanish we get crucified)

[nostalgia-tblr]

there's something incredibly revealing about fandom's assigning of alternate jobs in AUs and how rarely this leads to Blue Collar Loki as opposed to Blue Collar Thor.

[richo1915]

Only two eggs again today.

I have been accused of running an old folks home and you know, nudge nudge wink wink. Snick thump of Madam Guillotine. To make way for more.

NEVER!

I do not care about their current production. The girls should be lauded as Hero’s of the Motherland for their service. I will care for and defend them until the end.

The oppressive lovers of Guinea Pigs (the rest of the family) soon forget all those lovely golden eggs the ladies provided for the house, friends and neighbours for all those years.

What have those Guinea Pigs ever done for us? What are the products of their labour? Social Media pictures and fertiliser. And even their ‘fertiliser’ is shithouse for the garden. Very Bourgeoisie.

Never forget the Worker.

The girls that produced rain, hail or shine. They put their all into their job. They produced the finest quality product. All they asked was a little food and shelter.

Well never fear girls! I will run the best damn workers retirement home I can!

You deserve it.

Look at those damn Guinea Pigs. Not producing for the greater society, only consuming.

Fat Bourgeois Capitalist Guinea Pigs….

[randomnameless]

Do you think Edelgard perceives herself as a victim? I’ve been thinking and I can’t decide myself, on one hand she clearly hates the idea of people being victims or helpless, and constantly reframes the victims of the war as “necessary sacrifices” instead of, y’know, tragic causalities of a war she started. She plays up her sad backstory to try to get Byleth to join with her in WC, but then she does all these things to concentrate as much power as possible on herself. On the other (other) hand, she pushes the culpability of the war on everyone except herself, and has trouble taking accountability. She’s obsessed with controlling everything but she doesn’t want to be blamed for the problems she’s created. What do you think?

Oh!

(sorry for replying one literal month later lol)

I find Supreme Leader hard to write because of this, but in a way, I believe that yes, she does.

However, for all the flak Faerghus gets for "ToXiC mAsCuLiNiTy" and "Chivalry BaD", there's something very toxic with the way some Adrestian victims (often women... blame the writers I guess?) deal with their abuse.

I'm not going to spend a lot of time on Doro because I already typed a lot about her, but while she still sees herself as a victim from what she endured and suffered in her childhood, she adopted the toxic mindset of "this suffering is a thing of the past and I grew from that/beyond that to become the person I am now" - which we can also see in Manu who suffered from, roughly, the same traumas.

Petra also follows this pattern, being a hostage and treated like shit, but she grow "beyond" her status of a victim to become the strong person she projects and believes she is - it's only out of House that she realises more accutely her status within the Empire, the reality of her situation and, in Houses, refuses vassalage to Adrestia to make her country independent without having to "ask the Emperor".

It's the same pattern : "I was a victim" but "I became strong" so "I am not a victim anymore, this is something of the past".

Applied to Supreme Leader...

Well, trying to ignore the Agarthans and her dad's own infuence on her character (which is kind of hard, since the games try their hardest to make Agarthans responsible for everything BaD and we're not clear on how much they had an influence on her), I think Supreme Leader believes she was a "victim" of abuse.

But - through further abuse and surviving said abuse - she became strong* enough to "not be a victim anymore".

Which is why her line of "if the weak remain weak it's their fault" feels like it echoes part of her mindset : she was a victim but became strong enough, maybe by hardening her own feelings to become "strong", so she is not the same helpless "victim" she once was.

If she managed to do that, then everyone can do the same.

As for the "necessary sacrifices", since early 2019 someone theorised that "the people" she pretends the fight for as seen as some general "concept", much like the "greater good". So if some people are sacrificed, it's for her ideals - the goal and aim of her newfound strength - , and it piles on her drive, she must realise them otherwise those people would have died (and she would have suffered) for nothing.

However, despite acknowledging her past self as a victim, and because she's now "strong", she's not above using her past trauma (but actually, still present! Remember the rat scene?) to reach her goals, because, at her core, Supreme Leader is soemone who is very determined. Maybe it's her only drive to grow beyond the trauma, or her own illusions, or a mix of everything, but AM made it clear, Supreme Leader is not above, well, using herself if it means seeing her goals come to fruition : unlike Lobotogard from AG, AM!Supreme Leader willingly transforms in Hegemongard.

This is the cost she's willing to pay, so while the memes about Lord Farqaad were on spot, I still think that Supreme Leader is ultimately willing to sacrifice** herself for her goal (but only when there's no other way to ensure her future will come to fruition, and in a way, I guess she thought she would survive the Hegemon transformation, jury's out on what she meant to do in AM's finale, but imo, she still tried, even beaten and battered as she was, to claim Dimi's head).

Ultimately I think everything's a bit muddled by the fact that, as @fantasyinvader pointed out, Supreme Leader is a liar and knows the importance of maintening good PR.

She lies and manipulates the truth to reach her goals (which again, is a red flag when CF claims to want to restore the "distorted history" of Fodlan!) and for all the flak I give them, the devs managed to scrap enough material to give us a peek in Adrestia's mindset (or at least its top nobles), they're not people who self reflect, they are salty because they aren't ruling the world anymore, and they feel like they are better than the rest of Fodlan.

Put everything in the mixer, and you indeed have Supreme Leader (but also her court, especially Ferdie in SB who dares to say, as he is invading and trouncing people who don't really like and accept the idea of being invaded, that the fear those people feel are only in their mind, or something like that? Like, dude, you're rolling over their people and country, of course they'll fear and hate you!) giving her weird rhetoric lines (why are people opposing me if they are going to die?), victim blaming (something Treehouse swallowed like honey, if their lolcalisation is anything to go by, remember, it's Rhea's fault for not offering her head on a platter that is the reason why the War continues in CF!) and so on.

IDK if the devs wanted to bank that much on the Dany parallel with her "if I look back i am lost", but again, I don't know if her drive to make a "better Fodlan" is motivated by her trauma, Adrestian revanchism, Ionius telling her dumb things or Agarthans agarthaning, but her goal and vision are everything to Supreme Leader.

So she will do anythign to see them realised, even if it means sacrificing her people, starting a war, tweaking "the truth" or using her own trauma to motivate and recruit powerful people who might assist her with her goals.

To reply to your question, IMO she sees herself as someone who had once been a victim, but won't let that stop her from reaching her goals, even if it means creating thousands of "hers" in the process, because, in her mind, reaching her goal is more important than anything else.

*I know, she refutes Dimitri's claim that she is "strong" or laughs at it, but imo, it was more in the sense of "I was weak and became strong" so everyone can "become" strong.

**I don't think she wanted to throw away her life, but more something in the lines of "putting my life on the line" or sacrificing her precious (and to see how precious it is, just play CF lol) humanity.

[queersouthasian]

PEOPLE ARE SAYING "too many men" FOR BLS NOW LMAOSNSNSNSN, IT'S MLM MEDIA WHAT DID YOU EXPECT?? WHAT PART OF "BL" YOU DIDN'T GET????

[nando161mando]

[moonshynecybin]

pecco is like. a rose gardener. person who you hire to maintain your fancy green house full of rare trees. but also happy to just go weed the flower bed etc. i am picking a pecco luca situation obviously... some sort of atonement but happy vibes lmao. u get it??

LOVE this love pecco tending his roses love the idea of him applying his studious little approach to acing projects to the capricious whims of gardening and or yardwork… pecco strikes me as a learner a doer someone who likes to really THINK something through and WORK at things and then see the fruits of his labor pay off. as i’ve said project oriented imo. and a lot of gardening is thinking about the garden planning the garden researching the plants for the garden and then achieving those ends via physical labor. and idk i think he would enjoy it ! that seems like his vibe ! he’s gardening on that ducati.

like pecco on a gardening forum researching optimal moisture levels and planting times for all his little plants mixed in with the physical catharsis of weeding !! pecco getting compliments on the roses he spent hours pruning ! lil pinch on the cheek from an old lady when he says he grew them himself. pecco also. crucially. staring down the cabbage patch that’s been raided by worms like it is something he failed at personally. pecco tossing and turning at night because the roses have DISEASE and there’s not a lot he can do about it !!! pecco trying to teach bezz to propagate. pecco walkin around with his big ass yard tools exerting some control issues. he’s thriving

in terms of the LUCA of it all i think pecco is very self critical AND has a liddle bit of a hard time verbalizing his feelings so at the beginning of their relationship one of the things he like to do is (not TOO vulnerable but undeniably a GESTURE) give luca a bouquet of flower cuttings from his garden… that would be very cute 2 me… remembering that he couldnt even call domi by her NAME for a bit so he’s got some issues there dhhhdkgkg

and thennnn when they’re old and grey it’s luca lounging around in immaculately maintained old person gay man clothes reading a magazine in the garden in the sun while pecco is harrumphing about the seedlings getting snatched by rabbitsssss

[shittywriterbrain]

thanks to rtd for including all of my current interests in one episode: bisexuality and body horror

[chaikajpeg]

here's my contribution to the "library wars" fandom of five people

reference photos:

someone's wedding photography (couldn't find the set): http://www.k-meng.com/go-c102.htm

"Station 19"