#you just had to be there for this historic event

[fromchaostocosmos]

Hey OP everything I'm about to say I'm saying out both kindness and frustration.

I'm guessing that you are not Jewish because what you wrote really does not reflect the reality of life for Jews in the USA at that time.

Jews would not be socialites or rubbing elbows with wealthy and elite. And no matter how much any Jews would have stripped away any their Jewish identity they still would have been viewed as classless and lesser by the upper echelon.

Jews were immigrants who primarily did not speak English and mostly were on the east coast.

Fun fact about Jews during this time: Jews who kept Shabbat would have to look for a new job ever week because they would be fired for refusing to work on Shabbat.

As for San Fransisco Jews only came there due the California Gold Rush which happened the mid point of the 1800's.

Jews were heavily involved in Unions and were a major backbone of the Labor movement.

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911 is something that is major keystone is labor rights and movement history. You can not learn about unions and labor laws or anything to do with that without hearing about this. But you know what always gets glossed over, ignored, and often outright erased? The fact that the majority of the workers were Jewish girls and women.

In fact if you look at pictures of many labor marches you will notice that the signs are in Yiddish.

The Jewish identity of the Jewish contributors the unions, labors laws, child labor laws, and labor rights get erased and they become immigrants of X country when their Jewishness played a important role in why they fought for what they did, but also why they faced the discrimination and unfair labor practices they faced.

Also Oscar Wilde would not have had anything to do with anything related to Jews because he was a massive antisemite.

There is this thing that people often do, such as what you have, where they write Jews as having wealth, privilege, and access thinking that they are being inclusive when really what is happening is the furthering of antisemitic tropes and stereotypes as well as a revision of history when this happens in historical settings.

You want to make the Jewish character the prince of the story no problem. Have them be an organizer for a Union and the ball can some kind event or even march or something related to unions.

That can be a connection point between the two of them. The prince title can be a nickname or another connection point where her name, either first or last, is mispronounced by non-Yiddish speakers.

You could even have it be that she is going out and doing out reach to different jobs to get them to unionize/help unionize.

as for views towards their child being gay honestly it would vary with how religious the family was, but also the fact that she was a girl and not a boy it would not as much as a deal due to religious understandings.

While a lot of parts of Yiddish culture has been lost due to the loss of many Yiddish speakers their has existed within this culture a whole queer culture/world though they had their own words to describe it.

This idea has merit and could work it just need to fix the historical inaccuracies and cultural insensitivities in regards to the Jewish parts.

I'm not Chinese so I can't speak to those parts and I don't OP if you are Chinese so again I don't feel it is my place to speak on any of those parts.

Because I do not want Sephardim to left out or forgotten I want to point out that Ashkenazi Jews are not and have not been the only Jews in the USA.

1934 saw San Francisco's first Sephardi Synagogue.

So while yes there was in the 1800's a large influx of Jewish immigration of Ashkenazi Jews to the USA that doesn't mean that there were no Sephardim in the USA already or Sephardim who at the time who were moving around the USA or immigrating to the USA.

I don't want Sephardi history to be ignored or erased.

There is nothing wrong with having the Jewish character be Ashkenazi, I just want to make sure that if I'm accounting for proper historical record in regards to Jews then I'm doing that and leaving out Sephardim.

cinderella remake set in 1880s san francisco where cinderella is a chinese immigrant with bound feet and also she’s a butch lesbian and the prince is a butch lesbian too but she’s a paris-educated german-american socialite and a darling of the transatlantic arts and literary world so the connotations of her gender nonconformity are completely different. oscar wilde is there

[turbolezgooo]

Why ya'll hate on Cait and call her a dictator?

Well-written characters often have a story deeper than what you explicitly see them do or hear them say. Just because everything is set in a fantasy world, doesn't mean that characters are not affected by tragic events and the human condition.

First of all, Cait wasn't the one who made a police state. Ambessa and the council did that. Ambessa orchestrated the whole thing. Cait went along with it because she was turned around by grief. That shit messes with your judgment, but she was still trying to do what she and Vi agreed on. To focus on the real problem and prevent hurting innocent people.

Cait tried to control an unraveling situation AND literal warlord WHILE being inexperienced in how to deal with it, having a big ol' lesbian break up, AND dying inside.

You could see that when Cait argued to Ambessa that there are innocent people and there MUST be justifiable cause to arrest anyone. In Cait and Ambessa's interactions it's implied that Cait was getting in the way of Ambessa's agenda off-screen. She tried to keep something worse from happening because she does acknowledge the historical and current oppression of Zaunites.

This mirrors the way she offered Vi the badge to give her a voice in what happens to her sister if the enforcers caught her. The enforcers coming after Jinx was going to happen regardless of Cait. She took control by volunteering and taking precautions. See- While they did use gas, Vi would never agree to something that would permanently hurt the people of Zaun. The tactic gave them fewer chances of having to physically fight Zaunites who were just trying to defend themselves. Believe it or not, it was a controlled operation until grief got the better of Cait and things looked worse than it actually was.

The way that Cait deeply believes in equality in spite of a personal vendetta is why Ambessa sent Maddie to try and control her by 'filling' her hole (no pun intended). When Maddie attempted to have Cait stop the police state situation and withdraw, she did focus on Jinx at first but the second part of not wanting to make things worse was something she had a lot more to say about before Maddie interrupted. And Cait was right. What would have happened if she hadn't taken the role and played along? A puppet councillor or Ambessa herself would have been the figure head and do so much worse. Those people don't have the same perspective and understanding as Cait.

When Cait and Vi argue about listening to a war pig oink poison in her ear, she yells "I know!" as she throws a piece of war ship used in strategizing. You can tell her role was a strategic choice to have some control over the events that unfolded. That's why Vi didn't villinize her. Vi understood that Cait never really accepted anything Ambessa said. That's why she helped Vi at the commune. Cait was a double agent taking shit from all sides to stop worse things from happening.

She had grief and really crap options, but she always chose the lesser of the evils to try and stay true to who she really was. She even resigns in her argument with Vi, that she didn't put Jinx, her own mother's killer, in jail or punish her in any way. It's another example of her faltering in decision-making when overwhelming or unexpected things happen and it also tells us what she is. She's human. She doesn't make excuses for taking on an objectively bad role and making mistakes. When she said "We can't erase our mistakes.", she's also talking about herself. She takes responsibility and tries to do good. In the end, all she wanted was closure for her grief by having Jinx accept responsibility NOT by killing or abusing her or innocent Zaunites for that matter.

Imo there's a lot in Arcane that shows Cait as a flawed but inherently good person, and Vi absolutely knows it. They see each other warts and all. If you think CaitVi's lex scene was poorly written read this: https://www.tumblr.com/turbolezgooo/768190482340773888/bro-this-outrage-about-caitvi-relationship-in-s2?source=share

[kchasm]

Ryu Number: Albert Schweitzer

Albert Schweitzer was a German-born philosopher, theologian, and physician. His personal philosophy was based around the idea of "reverence for life": He believed that there was nothing of the objective world itself that evinced any innate meaning or ethical quality, and that the world was composed of life seeking to sustain itself, which occurred at the expense of other lives. Schweitzer proposed a system of ethics founded on a thoughtful and constant awareness of the reverence for life—all living things—from which should result the effort—through actions—to strengthen and develop it. In short: It was good to maintain and further life and it was bad to damage and destroy life, and one ought to commit to the former as much as possible while minimizing the latter as much as could be managed.

…Did I explain that all right? I don't feel like I got that all right, not really. I suspect I'm mangling the guy's principles here in some way, and I can't do a lot more than apologize. I might not have failed my philosophy classes in university, but I can't honestly say I aced them, either. Just sort of floated through while managing to keep my head above water,

Anyway, praxis manifested itself notably in his running of a hospital in French Equatorial Africa (later Gabon)—founded originally in 1913 before World War I broke out and, as a German citizen in French territory, he was removed. He returned to the hospital in 1924, and headed its operation until his death in 1965.

Yeah, all of that was really heavy, wasn't it? If you want to take a moment before crossing the readmore, I totally understand.

If you didn't already know, here's where you learn that both Ryu and Darth Vader show up as guest fighters in Brawlhalla. There's always someone who doesn't know about Brawlhalla, and I love letting them know that Brawlhalla exists. (Rayman is there too.)

Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga includes a trailer for the then-upcoming Lego Indiana Jones video game. Watch it, and you can buy Indiana Jones from the shop. And then play as him, of course.

Dude's a bit clean-shaven, but it's him. He's got the whip and everything.

The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles was a TV show based on, uh, well, the chronicles of young Indiana Jones. These semi-edutainment stories would usually see Indy getting tangentially involved with real-life historical events and meeting momentarily with real-life historical figures. The episodes were later edited and released across three DVD sets as The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones, each the sets including a DVD-ROM that let you install a slightly more educational computer game version of one of the stories in the set.

Quality-wise, these games are a little, uh.

Also Indiana's really blond in these for some reason.

Still counts, though. Including the parts where questionably drawn Indiana gets to meet the various questionably drawn historical figures.

(Incidentally, for his work, Albert Schweitzer got the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952. This makes him one among a surprisingly large number of Nobel Peace Prize laureates with Ryu Numbers. Larger than you'd think, I'd mean. Or at least larger than you'd think if I asked you to guess how many Nobel Peace Prize laureates had Ryu Numbers and then told you you had only five seconds to answer.)

(It's more than ten, anyway.)

[luvoverdose]

𝓦ildest 𝓓reams

▶︎ •၊၊||၊|။||||။၊|• 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮. 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙨

𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙣𝙚.

𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙨 / n/a

“Dude, what’s taking you so long? We’re leaving in, like, five minutes,” your brother called out, leaning against the doorframe with an impatient sigh. His messy hair and the wrinkled hoodie he always wore suggested he hadn’t spent half the time getting ready as he expected you to. “Even Hallie’s ready. *Hallie.*” He emphasized her name as if her being prepared was a historic event.

You rolled your eyes, suppressing a snarky remark, and zipped up your suitcase with an exaggerated motion just to shut him up.

“Happy now?” you muttered, brushing off the wrinkles in your sweater and glancing around the room one last time to make sure you hadn’t forgotten anything. Toothbrush? Packed. Charger? Packed. The book you’d started three times but still convinced yourself you’d finish during this trip? Packed.

It was the same thing every year: Christmas break meant a week-long escape to the Camerons' lodge in the snowy mountains. It was as much a tradition as opening presents on Christmas morning, with your family and the Thorntons—family friends so close they might as well have been relatives—spending the holidays together. It had started years ago as a one-off vacation, but over time, it became something of an unspoken rule, something you all looked forward to as much as dreaded.

The drive would be long and cramped, the lodge would be drafty no matter how many logs burned in the fireplace, and someone—usually Hallie—would complain about the Wi-Fi. But none of that mattered, because those trips also brought sledding down the icy hill behind the lodge, snowball fights that always ended with Hallie storming off, and nights crowded around the fire with mugs of hot chocolate, retelling the same embarrassing stories until everyone was crying from laughter.

“You good now, or are you planning to miss the car and ruin the tradition?” your brother teased, already half-turned to head back to the chaos of your bustling household. You could hear Mom yelling from downstairs, probably at Dad for misplacing his gloves again, and Hallie’s voice chiming in with something sarcastic.

“Relax, I’m coming,” you replied, heaving the suitcase off the bed. Despite the grumbling, you couldn’t help the tiny spark of anticipation creeping into your chest. Like it or not, the trip always had a way of creating memories you’d carry long after the snow melted.

Pulling your bedroom door closed behind you, you took a breath. Ready or not, it was time to dive into another Cameron Lodge Christmas.

“Finally we can leave.” Hallie breathed out while sliding off the kitchen stool. “We’re not even out of the house yet and you’re already complaining.” You rolled your eyes while dragging your bags down the stairs.

“Finally, we can leave,” Hallie breathed dramatically, sliding off the kitchen stool with all the energy of someone carrying the weight of the world.

“We’re not even out of the house yet, and you’re already complaining,” you shot back, rolling your eyes as you wrestled your bags down the stairs. The wheels on your suitcase snagged on the last step, jolting to a stop. With a grunt, you tugged it loose and glared at Holden who just stood against the doorway with a smug grin.

“Need some help there, champ?” he teased.

“I’ve got it,” you snapped, brushing past him and out the door into the crisp winter air. Your mom’s SUV sat in the driveway, already packed to the brim, the roof rack piled high with suitcases and blankets.

“Kids, hurry up! We’re burning daylight,” your dad called from the driver’s seat.

“I call window!” Hallie shouted, scrambling to claim her spot.

“Too late. I’m already here,” you said with a smug grin, sliding into the backseat and buckling up before she could argue.

The drive began as expected—cramped and chaotic. Hallie and Holden bickered nonstop, throwing barbs about who got more legroom or whose playlist was better. You leaned your head against the cool glass of the window, letting their voices fade into background noise as the snowy countryside rolled by. Fields blanketed in white stretched endlessly on either side of the road, and occasional clusters of pines stood like sentinels in the frost.

At one point, your mom insisted on a game to “bring the family together.” Hallie suggested *20 Questions,* which quickly devolved into your brother guessing increasingly ridiculous things (“Is it...a flying spaghetti monster?”) just to get under her skin. By the time you were halfway up the mountain, even your dad had had enough.

“All right, new rule: no more talking until we get there,” he said, his voice carrying a rare note of authority.

“Finally,” you muttered, earning a glare from Hallie.

The lodge came into view just as the sun dipped behind the mountains, casting long shadows across the snow. Warm golden light glowed from the windows, and the smell of pinewood smoke drifted through the air as your dad pulled into the gravel driveway.

The Camerons' Range Rover was already parked out front, the roof still dusted with snow. Before the car had fully stopped, the door flew open, and Rafe Cameron emerged, a cocky grin plastered on his face. His tousled hair and the way he shoved his hands into his jacket pockets made your stomach do that stupid little flip you always tried to ignore.

“Look who finally decided to show up,” he drawled, strolling over as you stepped out of the car.

“Look who’s already being annoying,” you shot back, trying to sound unimpressed, though the warmth in his blue eyes was enough to make you falter.

“Annoying? That’s the thanks I get for waiting in the cold for you?” he teased, leaning casually against the side of the SUV.

“Did you really wait, or did you just hear the car and run out to look cool?”

He smirked, shrugging in mock indifference. “Guess you’ll never know.”

“Rafe, don’t be a jerk,” Sarah called from the porch, her voice carrying over the crunch of snow under your boots. She was bundled in an oversized scarf, flanked by Ward and Wheezy, who gave you an enthusiastic wave.

“Hey!” Wheezy called. “Did you bring the marshmallows? We’re making s’mores later!”

“Of course,” you replied, smiling. “It’s not a lodge trip without s’mores.”

As your family began unloading the car, Rafe stepped closer, lowering his voice. “So, did you miss me?”

You raised an eyebrow, pretending to think. “I don’t know… Did *you* miss me?”

He grinned, his gaze flicking to your lips for just a second before meeting your eyes again. “Guess you’ll never know.”

Despite the cold, a warmth bloomed in your chest.

All your life a part of your heart has always belonged to Rafe. But you knew it would never go anywhere, so when you weren’t near him that deep crushed always got shoved aside.

“Where’s Topper?” You asked Rafe as he helped you drag all your bags out the car. “What am I not enough.” Rafe asked holding his hand over his heart.

“Nah don’t think so.” You said before bringing your bags into the cabin, dragging them all the way to you and sarah’s shared room.

Rafe layed down your suitcase before offering you a quick salute, then making his way back to his room.

You bit back a smile, refusing to let him see how easily he could unravel you. The trip had barely started, and you already knew it would be one to remember.

[aria-greenhoodie]

I'd love if you could elaborate on

child of the stars

momento mori

magic

Touch tone telephone

from the start

Dr sunshine is dead

crazy = genius

are you satisfied?

turn the lights off

Dr gaster

digital silence

YES!!!! I LOVE BEING ENABLED!!!!

For those seeing this post who haven't seen the original playlist, here's the post where I link it!

NOW LET'S PLAY: WHY DID ARIA PUT THOSE SONGS IN THEIR ABIGALE BLACKWING PLAYLIST?

(Putting it all under the cut because it's. REALLY LONG.) ↓

Rule #9 - Child of the Stars by Fish in a Birdcage - This song is THE perfect song to explain the dynamic my version of Abbey had with her father (Atticus Blackwing). Abigale's dad was always super supportive of her, bending over backwards to make her life the best that he could make it, and saw so much of both himself and his late wife (Chastity Blackwing) in her. I hear the song almost like Atticus is singing this to Abbey somehow... a couple lyrics that really stood out to me: "You were a wanderer / Back when you were young"

Abbey was always a curious child, constantly wanting to explore and learn about the world around her.

"I could only lead you so far / I believe in who you are / Take the world by storm"

Atticus died of an illness he had been battling for quite some time right as Abigale graduated engineering school. He did everything in his power to set her up for success, to follow her dream as an inventor and tinkerer before his passing, and always encouraged Abbey to be independent. He passed believing whole-heartedly that his beloved daughter would, in fact, "take the world by storm."

Rule #21 - Momento Mori by Fish in a Birdcage - This song can work for the time before Abigale found Thurburt's ad, but after Bill contacted her, but it fits even better for after the events of the conference. I have this idea that Bill couldn't help but rub salt in the wounds of the Anti-Cipherites, and particularly targeted Abigale, who had panicked and gone into hiding directly after the conference fiasco, fearing being institutionalized like Thurburt (the way asylums and medical institutions in general treated female patients was historically far crueler and more brutal than male patients in that time period, don't even get me fucking started on the "Rest Cure" that shits insane) And so was far more fearful and vulnerable than the some of the other members. In my version of Abigale's story, Bill torments her all throughout her exile, leading to Abigale forgoing sleep, eating less and less, and overall just worsening her mental state even further. This ALSO goes fantastically with Abigale's mental breakdown near the later half of her life far after her Northwest husband suddenly and mysteriously passed away (read: was murdered) and her son came of age, but I haven't written about that part of her life just yet so I'll hush up for now... but know that the dots do connect!! Some lyrics:

"I never wanted to sleep"

Self-explanatory: Abigale isn't sleeping in order to try and keep Bill out of her dreams, she tries to justify this by saying to herself that she never wanted to sleep anyway.

"Oh I won't forget / Momento Mori, leaves a debt"

Abigale's time as apart of the Anti-Cipher Society was honestly amazing for her. She felt at home among the Anti-Cipherites, finally finding people who weren't too off-put by her eccentric and sometimes abrasive personality, falling in love with Jessamine, spending day in and day out working on fantastic inventions just like she had always wanted... if it weren't for the triangle tormenting her this would have been the best time of her life. And Bill knows that, and uses it against her now that it's all fallen apart. "I'm the one who brought you bozos together, I'm the reason you had such a great time, and I'm the ONLY way you're ever gonna get a bit of that high back! If anything, you OWE ME this!" ...Abigale almost succumbs to the offer of a deal at this time, but ultimately refuses.

"Like a muzzled hound / I'm tied and bound / A wild beast crying for release"

Abigale feels completely trapped after the Anti-Cipher Society's collapse. She can't go back home, since she saw the asylum workers at her doorstep the one time she dared to try, she can't stay in the Anti-Cipher Bunker for long, since its only a matter of time until its found, she can't really skip town because a woman traveling on her own could raise suspicion, and she can't even cross-dress and skip because all of her "boys clothes" from her crossdressing days are tucked away in her house, which is, again, crawling with asylum workers. She's condemned to this horrible state of limbo, "tied and bound" to the dangerous place she found herself in, with no clear way out.

Rule #1 - Magic by Fish in a Birdcage - I'll be so fucking honest this one is mostly here because of vibes BUT also a lot of the lyrics also fit nicely as Abigale trying to rally up the Anti-Cipherites during times of doubt. I sorta hc Abbey as being the glue that holds the society together, her enthusiasm and sheer zeal for what their doing at the society is infectious! Thurburt may be the leader, but Abbey is the motivator. No I totally don't pick favorites ah ha ha what do you mean??? <- (lie) Anyway some lyrics to use as an example of this:

"There is magic in this room"

"I believe in myself / I believe that we can make it / I believe in all of you/ I believe that we can make this"

Both sets of lyrics could be Abigale encouraging the other Anti-Cipherites

"For starters, this is larger than both of us"

Abigale has always wanted to make something that could change the world, and saving the world from Bill definitely could have been that thing. Stopping weirdmaggedon from happening is certainly bigger than just 5 weirdos in a bunker. (Honestly Abbey is lowkey the Anti-Ford. She is just as desperate for recognition and fame but for completely different reasons and opposing bill rather than being fooled by him... but thats a whole other post in itself I could make)

"You can't kill an idea"

This one's stupid but that's literally a Bill Cipher quote. Bill fucking says that in canon. I'm not joking.

Touch Tone Telephone by Lemon Demon - The whole song is about a crazy conspiracist making his case to someone on the phone trying to prove his theories correct. The Anti-Cipher Society's whole thing was trying to fight against Bill while also trying to convince other people that he's even real. They went to a whole ass inventor's conference trying to convince the crowd that a triangular demon was trying to posses minds and that giving the Society money would make their "Anti-Cipher" technology possible. This song isn't just an Abigale song, it's for the whole damn society! Although, I will say that the cheerful and somewhat unhinged way the singer sings the song is very much Abbeycore. SOME LYRICS:

"I've been working on a unified theory / If I make it through tonight, everybody's gonna hear me out"

Working on Anti-Cipher tech, hoping that everyone will hear the Society out at the conference. "Make it through tonight" could also be read as the society trying to dodge sleep in order to keep Bill away from their dreams.

"'Cause you're the only person in the world who'd understand / 'Cause you're the only person in the world who'd understand the meaning of this / Oh my god / I try, and I try, and I try to make you listen to me"

They really want this conference to go well, chat.

"Don't hang up yet, I'm not done / I'm an expert, I'm the one / The one who was right all along / Better to be laughed at than wrong / I'm an expert in my field / UFOlogy, yes, it's all real / Ancient aliens, it's all true / I'm an expert just like you / And like you, I'm a genius before my time / Disbelieving, that's the real crime / Pretty soon, they'll discover me / In the Super-Sargasso Sea"

Real thing Abigale would have said at the conference if she was put in charge of the sales pitch instead of Thurburt, actually, trust.

From the Start by Good Kid - So this is a cover, the original could work too but I chose this cover specifically because the electric guitar and way the singer sings honestly is so much more Abigale-core then the original's softer, more acoustic tone. Yes I know there weren't electric guitars in 1901 I don't CARE Abigale is ELECTRIC GUITAR-CODED!!! <- (I sound fucking insane.) Anyway, this song is there fore Jessamine x Abigale purposes. I think Abbey fell for Jessa HARD, but automatically assumed she wouldn't be interested, so this song is sorta how she felt being around Jessamine, having this huge crush on her but feeling that she'd never reciprocate... Obviously Jessamine DOES reciprocate in my version of the story but for that brief period of agonizing pining this song is perfect for Abigale and Jessamine in my mind. Not gonna put lyrics here just cause I think they're pretty self-explanatory lmao.

Dr. Sunshine is Dead by Will Wood and the Tapeworms - Ok so this goes back to what I mentioned in the Memento Mori song, this ones here because of Abigale's eventual mental breakdown towards the end of her life. I haven't written out exactly what happens yet, and I kinda wanna keep things vague till I do so there's some mystery left when I finally DO write it down, so I'm just gonna plop some specific lyrics that have to do with that part of Abigale's life and better go in depth once I post the story hehe (Sorry for being vague I just really wanna save my analysis for when that part of the story is up!)

"The room I'm in is still the same, the shadows have not rearranged it / No, the only thing that's changed is how I see at night"

"When did I become afraid of the dark? / Was it when I left the cave and swore I'd never go back?"

"Damn my eyes for seeing what's not there"

"All that I ask is, keep those empty frames / If nobody's in them, then no one is to blame / For your self-portraits, sign another name / Well, who should I be then, if I'll never be the same?"

"And if dreams can come true, what does that say about nightmares? / I'll stay awake tonight"

Make of those what you will, all will be revealed... later!!!!

Crazy = Genius by Panic! at the Disco - Im sorry for putting a Panic! at the Disco song in there it will probably happen again. Anyway this is here mostly for the chorus, and not for very deep reasons either. Abbey's always been eccentric and "crazy" in most people's eyes, and considering her technological prowess she's obviously pretty damn smart, a "genius" even. Also not for nothing but Abigale has absolutely set herself on fire for the sake of testing one of her inventions, on purpose. I know this because I actually was there and saw it happen trust me guys. Lyrics:

"You can set yourself on fire"

See above comment.

"If crazy equals genius / Then I'm a fucking arsonist (hey) / I'm a rocket scientist (hey hey)"

She's a crazy genius guys wow! Such a deep analysis from Aria tonight, huh?

Are You Satisfied? by MARINA - So, Abigale married a Northwest, and my version of her married him after he offered a deal to keep her safe from the asylum workers sniffing her out in exchange for her hand. Abigale never wanted to marry, she was always far too interested in her work (and also women. Cough cough...) Not to mention Mr. Northwest was a sleaze-ball bitch, but she felt she had no choice. This deal (and it was a deal more than a true marriage) was all she had left to protect herself. Then, after her husband's death, Abigale sorta... changed. A LOT. Before this, as unhappy as she was with her husband, she was nothing but protective and kind to her son, and would do anything and everything for him, especially because his father was a piece of shit towards him so Abbey had to really pick up the slack in the parenting department. After his dad was buried, though, Abbey became... A lot more distant, more paranoid. She also became almost OBSESSED with the idea of her son reaching lofty goals that were never enforced so vehemently by Abigale before. Abbey sorta wanted to make sure her son reached the world-changing, lofty goals she was never allowed to, the goals that were ripped away from her. On top of that, she became obsessed with keeping up appearances to neighbors, pretending to be as normal and prestigious as what was "expected of a Northwest." This was a desperate cry for help since her whole life was uprooted and taken from her, plus now she has to make sure no one in town suspects her of killing her husband. She was never cruel to her son because of this, but the relationship fundamentally changed, and later, strained beyond the breaking point. I feel like this song is a really great way to exemplify that part of her life, and both her and her son's feelings towards each other and life in general. Some lyrics that stood out:

"I was pulling out my hair / The day I got the deal, chemically calm / Was I meant to feel happy / That my life was just about to change?"

This is very much how I imagine Abigale to feel on the day of her wedding day. "The day I cut the deal" especially jumps out to me, since thats what that marriage was: a deal. It was a means to an end, an agreement with no love attached.

"High achiever, don't you see? / Baby, nothing comes for free / They say I'm a control freak / Driven by a greed to succeed"

After her husband's death, Abbey becomes obsessed with her son's success, and he starts to believe that success means everything.

"'Cause it's my problem if I wanna pack up and run away It's my business if I feel the need to smoke and drink and sway"

Abigale is still trapped in her new life, even with her husband out of the way. She's trying her best, but all she wants to do is disappear. The only reason she doesn't run into the woods to never return is because her son still needs her. Also, I do believe Abigale would take up smoking to cope at this point (Not drinking, though, for reasons I'll prolly explain in some other post).

Turn the Lights Off by Tally Hall - Living as a member of the Anti-Cipher society was a surprisingly positive experience for Abigale, but it was also one hall of a whirlwind. Fighting a demon that lives in your dreams while also falling in love with another woman while also rushing to build tons of anti-cipher tech while ALSO dealing with nightly visits from that bastard triangle is a lot to handle. Turn the Lights Off as a song is also very similar to this experience: generally upbeat and fun tempo and melody paired with lyrics about monsters and evil, juxtaposed by other lyrics about lovers and taking back control of your life. Some lyrics that I think work well with this idea:

"Eyes of yellow"

Hello obvious and extremely easy to make Bill Cipher reference!

"Bend the nightmare / You control it / Artful dodger / Easy does it"

Abbey had to take some serious control of her mind the few times she does sleep in order to prevent herself from going completely insane due to Bill's nightly torments, at least until she starts developing better technology to prevent Bill's visits

"Don't remember (day's gone) / What we look like (night's on) / Younger holding (day's gone) / One another (light's passed)"

Jessamine and Abigale gay moment ... Specifically that sort of in-the-moment passion-driven kind of love between them where, if only for a moment, they forget themselves and their situation and throw themselves at each other, desperate for the other's touch.

"Can't they take it / Should be stronger / Books abandoned"

Could be about the no doubt near-infinite failed attempts at creating anti-cipher technology that actually works before settling on a final product, natural growing pains of a new developing technology... or could also refer to the conference that made everything fall apart.

Dr. Gaster by Shadrow - Another one heavily based on general vibes but I ALSO think this would be a really fun song for post-1901-timestuck AU Pacifica (like in this post)trying to hunt down any and all information about her ancestor and mentor Abigale Blackwing through years of buried and hidden family records, trying to piece together her life so she can understand what happened to her. Lyrics:

"Dr. Gaster / I won't let you down / Dr. Gaster / Left in the background / Dr. Gaster / I'll try not to frown / Dr. Gaster / I must flag you down"

Pacifica trying to "flag down" the pieces of Abbey's history, feeling she can't "let down" her mentor and wanting to give her life the spotlight she feels it deserved, to unerase an erased history, one that had been "left in the background."

"There was only one of you / Until you split the world in two"

Here, this line isn't as literal as the original song is. The first "you," as well as "the world," being Abigale herself, who is "split in two" as in her history is scattered and hidden, only the most basic knowledge of her existence being in family records while the bulk of her real life and personality. The second "you" can be seen as either Bill ruining Abigale's life, or as her descendants erasing her history for the sake of appearances.

"Dr. Gaster / Through oceans of time / Dr. Gaster / Please know we're both fine"

"Through oceans of time" as a Timestuck reference, since Pacifica meeting Abigale in 1901 and then returning back to 201X is trying to reach her mentor once more through her history and scattered documents. "Please know we're both fine" could also be Pacifica hoping Abbey knows she's back in the future safe and sound and doing the work to get Abigale's life the respect she wants her to have. (Disregard the fact that Pacifica is only one person and the song says this about two people I do what I damn well please)

Digital Silence by Peter McPoland - Another heavy vibes-based one, and also one related to Abigale's breakdown later in life! Also could work for how she was feeling right before and after Mr. Northwest's mysterious death (read: murder). Lyrics:

"This is the way that it is / This is the way that it always will be / Something you love turns to something you miss"

Feeling like she's trapped in her marriage, which she is. Missing her friends, her freedom and independence, her LIFE before Mr. Northwest came to sweep her away, before the conference happened, before everything went wrong.

"This is the way and it makes me sick / I feel it inside me like a pulse / It's starting to slow and the meter dips, oh"

Can represent the growing rage and hatred inside Abbey towards her shitty husband, feeling that hatred "like a pulse" from inside her body.

"Why don't you get it? Can't you get it? Understand / They're gonna execute the mother to elevate the man"

Execution is not literal here. Read it more as sidelining, ignoring, erasing the mother (Abigale) to elevate the man (Mr. Northwest). Abigale is constantly pushed aside in her marriage, treated like a prop and a toy, scolded for having any personality or interests, her very essence being erased (or at least, trying to be erased) by her husband.

"They're gonna propagate the killer, eliminate the youth"

Another non-literal line, here the "killer" is not literally a person who kills people, but instead someone who's generally violent and unpleasant, specifically Mr. Northwest. "Eliminate" here could just mean hurt or harm, and "the youth" is Mr. Northwest and Abigale's son, but I actually like interpreting "eliminate" as literal and "the youth" as the personality and ambitions of both Abigale and her son. Mr. Northwest is trying to "eliminate" his wife and son's personalities or "youth" in order to mold them into the perfect wife and perfect heir respectively, often resorting to nastiness and straight-up violence to do so.

"They're gonna blind date everyone until you love them too"

Yes another non-literal line listen I'm EXTRAPOLATING over here! Anyway this here I imagine as being a line about Abbey's attitude towards her son post-husband-death. As stated before, she wants him to be successful, and to keep up a good appearance/reputation for the family (both to ease suspicion off of their family for having a hand in Mr. Northwest's death, but also because Abbey wants to give her son the chance to actually reach his goals, plus living vicariously through him while he does so) and so "blind date" probably just means doing whatever upstanding boys his (Abigale's son) age should be doing, until "you," that being everyone around the family, "love" him too.

"This is the answer to the question / This is the sound of the truth / This is the answer to the question / There is nothing you can do"

Abigale convinced her actions serve as the only way for her and her son to survive, both before and after Mr. Northwest's death. This is the truth, in her eyes. There is nothing else she could have done.

WOO BOY THAT WAS A LOT! Thanks for reading y'all, and feel free to ask for more explanations about other songs in the playlist... or just enable my Abigale Craze in some other way I dunno I just love this woman sm

@chaseerr0rcode @localcanadiancreature62 ummm.... hey guys...... wanna read this giant wall of text.....?

[iamthemaestro]

Oh boy. I have a lot to say on this. I 1000% think that one of the biggest issues in AWI reenactment is the failure to reach the younger generation and I also wish the article had talked more about this and how it intersects with the inclusion of historically marginalized groups within the hobby.

I’ll put it this way: as of 2024, the BAR has an article in their constitution that prohibits women in ranks. As a young, non-male, and only sometimes white-passing reenactor, this has caused me issues in the past. People from the BAR have complained about me—a young, fairly new, dedicated reenactor—being on the field as a musician. Now, I’ve had the good fortune to be part of a unit with significant influence in the hobby, who have gone to bat for me in these instances and allowed me to feel relatively safe coming to these events, but I still can’t take up a musket at a BAR event if I want to. Over the past year I have become acutely aware that if it weren’t for the fact that I do music and not hat company, I would not be able to interpret at these events in the way I have repeatedly proven myself capable of doing.

So you have the primary overarching association responsible for organizing large-scale AWI reenactments literally denying interested, dedicated people from the younger generation the opportunity to participate in the hobby. And this is just one official organization—this is to say nothing of the culture. At the end of the day, sexism, racism, homophobia and transphobia is rampant in these environments. I do think the culture is slowly improving with time, but still, there are spaces where I do not feel safe in the hobby, and I spend a lot of time considering what my future as a reenactor might look like if I ever decide to medically transition, for example. My love for this hobby means I put up with a lot, even within my own unit, but I cannot fault other people who take one look at this mess and decide it’s not worth it. Of course there are going to be less reenactors. If individual units and the overarching organizations are going to actively resist a new generation of young living historians, interest in the hobby is going to waver.

I also think there’s an important distinction to make between so-called “progressive” units and a broader sense of historical accuracy, because ultimately reenactment is a hobby. I strongly believe that no issue of historical accuracy should take precedent over actual issues of discrimination (if we were going to really pursue historical accuracy, we would be excluding probably 90% of the reenactment community as it is!). But I also believe that the spirit of this hobby is one that is educational and authentic: second to having fun and staying safe, of course, I think the priority should be pursuing as accurate of an impression as you can in the meantime. “Progressive” units often get kind of a bad rap but ultimately I think they have the right idea. They’re what’s going to keep this hobby relevant as an educational tool and pursuit, as opposed to just being a bunch of grown men running around playing war with each other. Progressive units are, in my opinion, the future of this hobby. And yet a lot of more conservative units have this weird resistance to this philosophy simply because they don’t… want to have to adapt to what it means, I suppose. But I really do think that if that philosophy prevails, we won’t have educational reenactment—it’s possible we won’t have much in terms of reenactment at all. Ultimately I want to believe this, too, will improve in time, but the fact that we have to violently contest, for example, whether British soldiers had to shave (which they did) just because some reenactors desperately want an excuse not to… does not bode well for garnering interest from historians and enthusiasts in time for the 250th.

Anyway, that’s been my experience. I should probably stop talking about this because I think about it constantly and could go on forever. But that’s my (admittedly rather scathing) two cents on why this is the case.

Who has Wall Street Journal access I heard there’s an article about 250th reenactors and I need the tea

[swaggypsyduck]

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY TO THE EVENT THAT BROKE FOOTY TWT 🎉🎉🎉

[ifindus]

norway what was the bloodiest and most brutal battle you've ever been part of?

The battle of Lund in 1676.

The bloodiest battle Norway has been a part of is the Battle of Lund in 1676, fought between Denmark-Norway and the Netherlands against Sweden, where Sweden won. The Danish King had 12 300 soldiers to command and the Swedish King had only had 8 000. Both sides ended up loosing about 50% of their army. It is said to be the bloodiest battle ever fought in Scandinavia, and it was a coincidence that the Swedes won just due to the chaotic nature of the battle.

The battle was a result of Danish forces invading the southern part of today’s Sweden, an area that had previously belonged to Denmark. The Swedes were led by a reckless and young king who had already put them through harsh conditions and bad camp locations that had cause a great percentage of the soldiers to die from illness already before the battle had begun. The Danes had followed the Swedish army and were in much better position, both location-wise and with a steady supply line.

The Danes became impatient and gave up good placement to attack the Swedes as they neared the city of Lund just outside Malmö. As mentioned, the battle was disorienting and chaotic, with a lot of breaks in formation, a missing Swedish King who came back after several hours to break through Danish lines who had his forces surrounded. Not to mention over-eager Swedes absolutely slaughtering sailors who wanted to surrender, with the words “Sailors have paid to fight at sea, but not at land. You therefore deserve no mercy!”. The massacre was stopped by a Swedish officer.

[seraphic-sibyl]

I should have been born a frog. I should have been born a frog. I should have been born a frog. I should have been born a frog. I should have been born a frog. I should have been born a frog. I should have been

[priafey]

things the US needs to address:

the collective psychosis that leads people to make posts like these

[lawva-girl]

Rant alert about silly ppl being mean and hurtful about the hurricanes in the south and Florida right now

This hurricane is actually breaking my heart, I thought people were insensitive and horrible about Gaza (they are and it is so fucking horrible) but seeing the comments these adults leave? Omg “you’ll die if you don’t evacuate.. kids run away all the time but the second it’s a little scary suddenly it’s “my family won’t let me leave”

The teenage!!! Girl (op) was saying her family wanted to not evacuate, but she was trying to convince them. They got into a back and forth and the adult!! Said “if you are in the path you’re gonna die. You should leave.”

SHE DIDNT WANT TO LEAVE HER FAMILY TO DIE??? Do you not have any brain?

Yes I know it’s rage bait but omfg when did we decide that views and attention in comments was worth hurting people? And holy cow im so sick of people saying “why don’t you prepare” “you should’ve left, stupid southerners” LIKE ???

Did we all leave the things we learned way back in 2020 (hopefully school too) somewhere on the road? Like this rhetoric of liberals (in blue states) saying that the people, average Joe people, are at fault and need to pull themselves up by the bootstraps? It’s so disgusting.

Most of them are also white, and when ppl in their comment section call them out, they argue endlessly? Like I feel a pit of despair opening up that will swallow literally everything bc these liberals don’t know how to have any fucking empathy

[iamthepulta]

I've actually been scrounging for an ending to Ellenville, because it's hard to actually 'end' a tragedy with something that feels complete, and that last post hit me with yeah, that's right. Because we live in a world where blood is protection and the cost of safety; and it fits in so neatly with the themes of death as stasis and longevity.

The 'end' is the regulations in place. Not even watching it happen, but success. This is The Pushcart War but epic fantasy.

[muzzlemouths]

How do you think the dmd friends would feel about the ides of march being a huge holiday for some folks?

GHOST AKSJDHKASJFHSDKJF

Boring answer but I think they genuinely just wouldn't believe you

[devilfic]

some mj lore: I used to be obsessed with fox’s sleepy hollow series when I was a wee teen and I’ve been rewatching it since yesterday because I need some nostalgic comfort

anyway. I am realizing now how silly the historical fantasy in this show really was because what do you mean ichabod used to hook up with betsy ross

[lewanarta]

Vikersund was a blast!

📸 @eksperimentgaj

[giantkillerjack]

I don't understand why the hell HBO Rome (or as I call it, Game of Romes, since it feels like a re-skin of Game of Thrones ngl) needs to significantly change historical events.

The show takes place during the fall of the Roman republic! AKA one of THE most interesting, densely packed 15-year periods of history to ever take place!!!!

There is shit that happened during that time that is unbelievable except for the fact that we have proof! And if you as a writer want us to be able to believe those moments, you can't just randomly change shit to make it so actually it was your special OCs who brought down the Roman Republic!!!

Special shout out to Roman Cersei AKA 'Octavian's mom but for some reason she is literally just Cersei from Game of Thrones' [edit: I have just been informed this show came out like 10 years before Game of Thrones. So I guess Cersei is actually the new Atia!]