suchthingbutnever

[suchthingbutnever]

I think of all the E/R fics – or fics featuring Enjolras and Grantaire as individual characters – Estelraca’s “To Follow” is one of the most underrated. Possibly because it’s canon era and was originally published pre-movie? At the time a much smaller fandom recognised its extraordinarily power, but for some reason it never seems to show up on fic rec lists, in spite of its well-crafted, pitch-perfect characterisation.

This is one of the most exquisitely written pieces in fandom, and is one of the most (possibly the most) superlative barricade survival fics ever written. It does justice not only to Enjolras and Grantaire in the characterisations, but also to each of the Amis who are written with beautiful nuance.

Almost unbearably and painfully poignant, is ultimately hopeful, and embodies not only the sense of looking to the future and the unquenchable, enduring faith Enjolras embodies, but also Grantaire’s devotion, warmth and love. Unlike so many survival fics, this has no self-doubting Enjolras (and, thankfully, it’s free of the “Grantaire restores Enjolras’ faith” or “Enjolras eschews his former beliefs as naïve in the aftermath of the barricades”). Enjolras is the adamantine figure of belief Hugo created, even as he has to face a future without his beloved friends. And that is what I love most about this story – it acknowledges loss, and sorrow, and abiding grief, but it is also written with a profound respect for what the Amis fought for and what they believed.

If you haven’t read it, please do so – it’s beautiful, it’s haunting, it’s powerful.

[suchthingbutnever]

marble statue

[suchthingbutnever]

people still think you become rich ??? from working hard?????? LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[suchthingbutnever]

[suchthingbutnever]

😍😍😍😍

[suchthingbutnever]

[suchthingbutnever]

✌🏽✌🏽

[suchthingbutnever]

Argentina ain’t crying for you, Evita

On this day, 7 May 1919, Eva “Evita” Perón, actor and later wife of president Juan Perón was born. Commonly seen as a hero of workers and the poor, the reality was very different. Evita and her husband were admirers of the fascism of Hitler and Mussolini, and were influenced by some of their policies, particularly trying to integrate the working class into the state machinery. While some of their early reforms helped improve living standards, after the 1949 stock-market collapse they slashed wages by a third, and declared military rule to stop a rail workers’ strike. During World War II they maintained relations both with Nazi Germany and fascist Italy until they were eventually pressured to drop them in 1944, although they maintained relations with fascist Spain from the time of general Franco’s (pictured) victory until his death, even sending aid to the country in the 1940s. After the defeat of the Nazis, the Peróns offered safe haven to hundreds of Nazi and fascist war criminals, like Adolf Eichmann, architect of the Holocaust, Joseph Mengele, the Auschwitz “Angel of Death” and the genocidal Ustaše leader Ante Pavelić. Responsible for the deaths of 100,000 people in just one concentration camp alone, including 90% of Croatia’s Jews, Pavelić was given sanctuary by Perón who then hired him as an adviser. Perón himself claimed that he hosted several thousand Nazis “for humanitarian reasons” as well as around “five thousand Croats threatened with death by [Yugoslav communist leader Josip] Tito”. The Peróns also helped launder hundreds of millions of dollars from Nazi corporations like Mercedes-Benz, while keeping a cut for themselves. During their time in power the Peróns amassed a huge fortune of hundreds of millions of dollars, much of which they held in overseas bank accounts. https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1419903818194764/?type=3

[suchthingbutnever]

“Khaleesi,” whispered Irri, “you must not touch the dead man. It is bad luck to touch the dead.”

“Unless you killed them yourself.” Jhiqui was bigger-boned than Irri, with wide hips and heavy breasts. “That is known.”

“It is known,” Irri agreed.

Dothraki were wise where horses were concerned, but could be utter fools about much else. They are only girls, besides. Her handmaids were of an age with her—women grown to look at them, with their black hair, copper skin, and almond-shaped eyes, but girls all the same. (ADWD Daenerys I)

This passage is a good encapsulation of what’s wrong with GRRM’s writing of the Dothraki (and his writing of groups inspired by non-European cultures in general). Irri and Jhiqui have been with Dany in almost all of her chapters. Like Dany, Irri and Jhiqui witnessed the birth of the dragons. Like Dany, Irri and Jhiqui crossed the Red Waste alongside Dany. Like Dany, Irri and Jhiqui went to multiple cities, from Qarth to Meereen, and came into contact with different cultures. Then why does Dany think about them the way Sansa thinks about characters she just met:

They are children, Sansa thought. They are silly little girls, even Elinor. They’ve never seen a battle, they’ve never seen a man die, they know nothing. Their dreams were full of songs and stories, the way hers had been before Joffrey cut her father’s head off. Sansa pitied them. Sansa envied them. (ASOS Sansa II)

Unlike Margaery’s cousins, Dany’s handmaids have been through a lot and we know it. So why are they barely characterized? Why can’t we even distinguish who they are aside from physical descriptions (like Jhiqui having the “wide hips” and “heavy breasts” that Irri doesn’t)? Why are they still girls?

And the same goes for Rakharo, Aggo and Jhogo. GRRM does explore the issue of toxic masculinity in the books and how it affects characters like Tyrion and Sam. How do these three change as they witness Dany’s female leadership and rise to power? How does that change their views on women in general? And how do each of them react to these issues (for no social group has members who react to everything the same way, though GRRM’s writing often makes it seem that’s the case with the Dothraki)?

And this passage is particularly upsetting: 

Dany felt shabby and barbaric as she rode past them in her lionskin robe with black Drogon on one shoulder. Her Dothraki called the Qartheen “Milk Men” for their paleness, and Khal Drogo had dreamed of the day when he might sack the great cities of the east. She glanced at her bloodriders, their dark almond-shaped eyes giving no hint of their thoughts. Is it only the plunder they see? she wondered. (ACOK Daenerys II)   

Because it feels like we the readers still don’t have any hint of their thoughts either.

[suchthingbutnever]

I would love to see the anti immigration conservatives do this for at least 30 mins..

Donate: We can’t do Thanksgiving without farm workers

[suchthingbutnever]

On this day, 2 May 1967, a group of Black Panthers armed with rifles and shotguns marched into the California State Capitol protesting against a gun control bill which was targeting them. To fight police violence and harassment against African-Americans, the Panthers used radios to listen to police calls, then members would attend scenes of arrest with law books and openly carrying shotguns – which was legal – and advise arrestees of their constitutional rights. To stop this self defence against the police, authorities brought in the Mulford Bill – dubbed the “Panther Bill” by the media – to ban the open carrying of loaded firearms in public. The National Rifle Association supported Republican governor Ronald Reagan in signing the legislation. To learn more about the Panthers, check out these books written by former members: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/collections/books/black-panthers https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1415796105272202/?type=3

[suchthingbutnever]

This is what we should be thankful for ✊🏾✊🏼

On this day, 21 April 1856, stonemasons in Melbourne, Australia, went on strike demanding a maximum 8-hour working day – down from 10 hours per day Monday-Friday with 8 hours on Saturday. They marched from their construction site, the Old Quadrangle building at Melbourne University, brandishing a banner demanding “8 hours work, 8 hours recreation, 8 hours rest” (pictured). The workers were extremely well organised, and were soon successful in achieving their goal, with no loss of pay, for workers engaged in public works in the city. They celebrated on Monday 12 May, the Whit Monday holiday, with a parade of nearly 700 people from 19 trades. To learn more about Australian working class history, check out our podcast episode about the Australian IWW: https://workingclasshistory.com/2019/01/28/e19-the-iww-in-australia/ https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1406281626223650/?type=3

[suchthingbutnever]

Y’all r wildin OUT

[suchthingbutnever]

More modern Mulan sketches

[suchthingbutnever]

[suchthingbutnever]

“I bet you fifty euros Enjolras couldn’t do this for you,” Éponine grinned at him, slightly feral while undulating her hips, the drag in and out of her snug heat making both of them shudder. “And I bet you a hundred that Marius Pontmercy couldn’t find your clitoris if you gave him a search light and a map!” He quipped back.

Sous Les Pavés, Chapter 4

#grantaire #eponine #best fuck buddies ever #les mis #les amis #nsfw #lol

[suchthingbutnever]

I'm going to bed before either of you come up with another clever idea to get us killed - or worse, expelled.