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sheepwithspecs · 9 days

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Freedom of Choice

|| FFXIV || Rated G || XIVRarepairWeek2024 ||

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He was an idealist, she was a realist; can I make it any more obvious?

Day 1: Fated Arenvald x Fordola

“I wish you’d turn out that light.”

Arenvald turned his attention from the creased parchment in his hands, peering through his bangs at his sullen bedmate. Fordola had her face buried in one of his spare pillows, both arms burrowed beneath it as though she planned to smother herself in the soft featherdown. “Some of us are trying to sleep,” she added, her trademark scowl evident in every muffled word. At that moment, the midnight bell chimed low and strong from the chronometer.

“Sorry, sorry.” Smiling patiently, he refolded the parchment and tossed it onto the bedside table. “It’s only that Alphinaud’s letters are always so interesting,” he explained, adjusting his legs with painstaking care before shoving a pillow beneath them. Pillows and cushions had come to be indispensable in the months since his accident, being one of the easiest ways to prevent pressure sores. He was on his way to becoming something of a connoisseur, gathering castoffs from all over Ala Mhigo in order to gauge the quality of the fabric, the firmness, the moldability, even the strength of the stitching. Fordola made no mention of his growing stash, though perhaps that was because she seemed to prefer using him as a pillow instead.

“He’s going to the New World soon,” Arenvald settled the bedclothes over his legs with a heartfelt sigh. “Tural, he said. I’m almost jealous… I wish I could go.”

“Then go,” Fordola grunted, peering at him from beneath her elbow. “Put that linkshell of yours to use and tell him you’re coming along for the ride.”

“I could go, I suppose,” he mused, lacing his fingers on his stomach. “It’s not as though I’m bound by any real authority, not like when I was a Scion. And it’d be nice to travel again; exploring the star, meeting new people, delving into ancient ruins or scaling mountains in search of adventure…. But I’m better off staying here. There’s still plenty to do for Ala Mhigo, not to mention the former Skulls and their families. The Silver Griffins need me now more than ever.”

“Glad that’s settled. Turn out the light.”

“Besides….” Arenvald grinned. “I’d much rather wait until a certain someone can come along, too.”

“It might take a long time, if you’re banking on me.” She gave up the pretense of sleep, rolling onto her side to face him. “Who knows when they’ll see fit to set me free, if they care to at all. Time means nothing to a gaoler.”

“If you ask me, you’re one of the few things in my life worth waiting for.”

“Hmph.”

Arenvald couldn’t bring himself to voice the full truth: the thought of being so far away from her, even for a day, was almost too much to bear. The Resistance soldiers already joked that they were nigh inseparable, with Fordola serving as a volunteer for the Silver Griffins as well as his unofficial bodyguard in the field.

There were, of course, those who found their relationship less than palatable, snide whispers and sidelong glances. The bastard and the butcher. There were those who insisted that Fordola must have seduced him, perhaps employing some Garlean technological trick that kept him in her thrall. Others were more simple in their hatred, calling her a whore and him a whoreson in the same breath. They weathered the insults in stride, her raging fire the fuel for his diplomatic tongue.

At their core, they were the same—children of Ala Mhigo. His half-Garlean blood had left him no better off than her efforts to earn their favor. In Garlean eyes, they were savages; to Gyr Abanians, they were traitors. If his lot in life was easier, it was only due to the fact that he’d arrived on the winning team, so to speak. It was strange to think that in another life he might have been a Skull, or she a Scion.

“Do you think—” he began, the thought sparking an idea, “that if things had happened differently—if our lives had been different, I mean—would we have still ended up like this?”

“What are you going on about now?” she huffed. “I thought we were talking about the New World.”

“I know, but listen. Remember that time after your father died, when you had a chance to run away from Ala Mhigo and start a new life with the refugees? What if you had? Or what if I had never left the city, and instead I’d joined up with the Skulls when I was older, or… or anything else, really. Do you think we’d have still found one another, even if things were different?”

Fordola stared at him without a word, lips parted in utter disbelief. After a moment she fell back to the pillow with a groan, rubbing her eyes with the heels of both palms.

“Probably not?! What the hells kind of question is that?!”

“You don’t think we’re meant to be?”

“No! No one’s meant to be!” she snapped, gracing him with her best snarl. Her brows were furrowed deep enough to nearly meet over her nose, lips twisted almost comically in her annoyance. “There’s no such thing as soulmates or what have you; it’s all a heap of rubbish! That’s the sort of tripe spouted off by poets with no more common sense than a dodo two days from the axe.”

“But what about fate? Destiny? You don’t believe in that?”

“Tch! Of course not!” Fordola sat up, looming over him with a stern glare. “Fate’s nothing but a bloody myth. People do things because they want to, not because the stars are aligned. Rhalger himself could tell me otherwise and I still wouldn’t believe a single word. I’m here because I choose to be here, and no other reason. The only one in charge of my destiny is me. Now turn off this godsdamned light and stop asking silly questions!”

She lunged across the bed before he could move, arms straining to reach as she forcefully clicked the lantern shut, dousing the flame within and throwing the room into darkness. He blinked the spots from his eyes, waiting until she rolled back to her side of the bed before venturing to speak.

“Do you know what I think?”

“For fuck’s sake— No, I don’t know, and I don’t care to. Go to sleep!”

“I think that in every world, all the parts of you and all the parts of me… we always find one another, no matter what.”

“Well, Ithink your friends are a bunch of liars. I’ll believe in other worlds when I see them for myself, and not a day before.”

“I think we knew each other before, when there was only one world. I think even in the Final Days we were together. I think—”

“Arenvald!” He fell silent, heart beating strong with conviction. Now that the thought had taken root in the forefront of his mind, it was nearly impossible to ignore. Maybe this was part of the Echo, the memory of what once-was. Maybe Fordola didn’t feel the same way because the Resonant was not built with such capabilities in mind. Or maybe she was right, and he was just being ridiculous. But even so—

He was startled from his thoughts by cool fingers on his chin, turning his head with a gentle touch that belied his partner’s strength. She placed a clumsy kiss on the corner of his mouth, the barest flutter of lips, before resting her cheek on his chest.

“If it makes you feel better to think that way, go ahead and believe it,” she sighed, the breath tickling his sternum. “But don’t get upset when I call you a fool.”

“I think—” He wormed his arm beneath her, pulling until she was flush to his side. Even in this way, they seemed to fit together so well…. “I think that’s just my way of saying that I’d choose you in every lifetime, too.”

“Hmph. That’s not what I said.”

“That’s what you meant, though, isn’t it?” Arenvald smirked. He could practically feel the full force of her blush, hot as an iron against his bare skin. “Isn’t it? Fordola?”

“… Shut up and go to sleep.”

#ffxiv #ff14 #Final Fantasy 14 #arenvald lentinus #fordola rem lupis #XIVRarepairWeek #XIVRarepairWeek2024 #arenvald x fordola #final fantasy xiv #fanfiction #my writing

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lowtidelizard · 4 months

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Some random musings and thoughts about Dawntrail below the cut, based on what we know so far! I would absolutely love to hear your thoughts - I love discussing theories!

The team have mentioned that the story will feel like two distinct arcs which connect to each other. My thoughts are that the first arc will be the succession part of the plot, culminating with the Valigarmanda trial (Wuk Lamat seemed to imply that this was very important as part of the succession process, perhaps even being its culmination). The second part I am guessing will deal with Solution Nine.

I think it's very possible that the twins may switch out of the party after the first part of the plot, and that we may join forces with Thancred, Urianger and Koana (Wuk Lamat's brother, who appears to be a MCH and is almost certainly the one who recruited Thancred and Urianger). It almost feels like the twins are only there to fill Trust spots, and the fact that they're not on the poster makes me think they won't have major roles. However, I could be wrong!

I am guessing that the four claimants to the throne are Wuk Lamat, Koana, the Mamool Ja shown on the poster, and Erenville. Their positions on the poster make an almost perfect compositional square, and we know that Erenville is hiding something.

I don't necessarily think that Wuk Lamat will end up as the ruler of Tural. She clearly has a lot of insecurities - I would argue that she has put her name forward for the greater good, rather than having any ambition to rule herself. However, her story could go several different ways, and she may develop in a way that allows her to overcome this.

I am guessing the Mamool Ja on the poster is the "warmonger" sibling that Wuk Lamat mentioned. He might even be a blood relation of Gulool Ja Ja. Could he perhaps see himself as more "worthy" of the throne than his adopted siblings?

If G'raha and Y'shtola do come along (as the trailer would seem to imply), I could see G'raha either finding something else in the Baldesion Annex, or finding something in his research that makes him decide to follow - or warn - us. As Y'shtola is also in Old Sharlayan, it's not too farfetched to suggest they might come over together.

I don't have much to say about the lady at the top of the poster, other than I am guessing she'll be connected to Solution Nine in some way. Solution Nine itself is interesting, even just because of its name. What problem was it created to solve? Was it the ninth iteration of a possible solution?

#ffxiv #dawntrail #my theories

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felixferitas · 2 months

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knowing your partner can potentially make writing together a lot easier.

basics

✧ NAME: ash / meg

✧ PRONOUNS: she/they

✧ SEXUALITY: bisexual / queer.

✧ TAKEN OR SINGLE: taken. @ourpretender is my bf. we've been in a ldr for abt 2 yrs?

three facts

✧ i also love bts !! i'm a jin stan. i had a kpop phase for a while there.

✧ i love succession, along with other media about complex family dynamics and dysfunction. generational trauma. it always hits. also have an affinity for monsters and monstrous muses. anything that can serve as an allegory for queerness. i was a cw supern@tural fan for a good chunk of my teen years.

✧ i'm an aquarius and a very lowkey astrology nerd.

experience

✧ HOW LONG (MONTHS / YEARS?): 12 years ago i was roleplaying arthur pendragon after that depressing ass finale. yes, i was 15 at the time but fear not, i was a safe kiddo that grew up on the internet.

✧ PLATFORMS YOU’VE USED: tumblr, twitter, discord.

✧ BEST EXPERIENCE: meeting my partner 2 years ago. having a falling out with some of our mutual rp friends because they didn't like the fact that we were dating and surviving their attempt to sabotage our relationship a la the weird callout post they made in our disc server. it was the best of times, it was the worst of times..

muse preferences

✧ FEMALE OR MALE: male. being a cis woman is heavy enough in the real world. i write to decompress.

✧ FLUFF, ANGST OR SMUT: angst and smut !! fluff too. i'm all about soft epilogues.

✧ PLOTS OR MEMES: i really enjoy plotting, but i'm also a meme hoarder and if you send it, esp with like -- some context for what you think would help would set the scene, i will most definitely get around to it.

✧ LONG OR SHORT REPLIES: i love lengthy replies. just as long as it's not purple prose or aesthetic writing, but a reply with meat and substance, i'm jazzed. i enjoy short back and forths every now and then too.

✧ BEST TIME TO WRITE: afternoon. sometimes i write at night, but my mind gets overstimulated and it becomes hard to sleep.

✧ ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MUSE(S): sometimes. i am not at all like felix in terms of class or gender, but there aspects of him that i relate to. having a narcissistic parent being one of them.

#─── ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ * ⠀ ⠀𝐨𝐨𝐜.⠀ ／ ⠀ dash games.#─── ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ * ⠀ ⠀𝐨𝐨𝐜.⠀ ／ ⠀ mundane.#─── ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ * ⠀ ⠀𝐨𝐨𝐜.⠀ ／ ⠀ ramblings.

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scrollsfromarebornrealm · 5 months

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prepare (1)

Riven exhaled as she shut the door to Sunward. Wuk Lamat had been set up at the Baldestion Annex. For the forseeable future, there was a great deal of preperations to be made...but first things first.

"What did you all think?" She asked, turning around to face the others.

"Green." Reinhardt, Mathye, and Augustine said in unison, causing Sebastian to blink in surprise.

"She is green." Mathye said. "Fresh out of the training hall and running about in new-made armor green. If it weren't for the fact that she does have skill in combat, I'd doubt she'd even gotten any type of first blood."

"She's got smarts, however." Reinhardt added. "And bold. I imagine she probably was the only contestant who had the idea to approach foreigners and ask them for help. It means she's flexible in her thinking and can adapt quickly to a changing situation."

"But something's wrong somewhere." Augustine mused. When the others looked at him, he gestured.

"Think about it. It's one thing to hire foreign adventurers--mercenaries even. But instead she pings directly onto us--Erenville's stories aside. It's one thing to want our battle skills--but with everything else? We're overkill. And while she's being honest about her reason to win--I can't help but feel there's something more to the story."

"That was my thought as well." Riven admitted. "But Tural may not know about us. And from the little I read, I don't think they had any effects of the Calamity, or the Final Days."

"I would suggest we talk to Alphinaud." Sebastian said. "He can handle the politics of the situation much better than any one of us. In fact, when we make it over there--let's leave anything dealing with governmental affairs to him. As far as everyone's concerned, we're just the hired help to Wuk Lamat." Riven hummed at that, crossing her arms.

"With everything we've been though, it never occurred to me that someone would want to threaten Eorzea's peace from the other side of the world."

"Honestly I don't think anyone has." Augustine replied. "And now that I think about it...we never saw anything with the Empire considering going that far out."

"Nor the Allagans now that I think about it." Sebastian added. Mathye frowned.

"...That...does seem strange. The Garleans made inroads to the farthest reaches of the east, but not the west? It's not like they didn't have the ability to do so."

"Technological constraints?" Reinhardt offered. "Airships only have so much fuel."

"No. I've seen plans that can turn them into nothing but flying ceruluem tanks." Augustine mused. "And it's a known fact that there's plenty of untapped wells in Tural. And an Agrias-class airship can fly though almost anything."

"Might be something worth asking Jullus about." Riven offered. She exhaled. "At least we've got some time to prepare. I've got to get my requests in to the Arcanists' Guild library, and quickly."

"All done with Aloato Island then?" Sebastian asked. Riven offered a weak grin, shrugging.

"Not really, but my rotation turn to go out there won't be for a few weeks. And I'd rather not fight someone for their spot--or have somebody challenge for mine." The Arcanists' Guild had been forced to create a rotation research schedule for their students and members who wanted to study the still-unknown arcane geometry of the Thavnarian island. And in true Limsan fashion, academic combat had been decided as a way for one to possibly advance to a higher spot in the rotation schedules.

"If it's alright, I'm next on the supply delivery list for Garlemald." Reinhardt offered. "I'll poke Jullus's brain, see if he heard or knows something."

"I'll come with you to Limsa." Mathye said to Riven. "I need your Mastery clearance anyway for the medical libraries. I think we'll need updated vaccinations and I'd like to know what diseases we'll need to look out for."

"I'm going to track down Nero." Augustine said. When the group blinked at him, he continued. "I think getting you a backup leg might be a good idea, Mathye. We don't know how long we'll be over there. And we have to discuss ways for your maintenance to be easier on you." His older brother started.

"I--"

"No." Riven interjected. "That's actually a good idea." Mathye flushed, crossing his arms and looking away.

"If it's alright, I'll go speak with Wuk Lamat and do some research in Sharlayan." Sebastian offered. "She might be willing--or let something slip around me." He paused, chuckling.

"This is actually strange, preparing for something that isn't world ending."

"It's a little unnerving." Riven admitted. "But...exciting. And I'm glad we're all doing this together."

#ffxiv #wol riven #riven fortemps #dawntrail #ffxiv dawntrail #mathye bishop #augustine bishop #reinhardt sauveterre #sebastian astralyas #wuk lamat

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nebula-drcams · 5 days

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@wonderalmighty asked: 💍 Hildibrand to Nimue on the boat

send 💍 for my muses reaction to your muse proposing to them. || Accepting

Damn it. She's stalled too long on properly doing this, and now they're already on the boat headed to Tural. Leaning against the railing as they began to set sail, she figures it's just going to be some time before she can give him the ring. What she doesn't expect, is for he's about to do, and in front of several people no less.

Thank the twelve they're all her friends.

Turning to face him once he says her name, there's a curious tilt of her head as she watches him. It doesn't process at first, not until he's on one knee and actually proposing. There's a brief look of surprise, followed by a laugh, not mocking in any way of course. She's definitely going to have to explain to the others later what's going on.

Hands placed on top of his, she leans down and gives him a quick kiss before speaking.

" You should know the answer is yes, my dear. But the irony behind this is. Well. "

Pulling the small box she stored the ring in out of her pocket, she hands it over to him as well.

" I had been planning to do the same, granted before we arrived on the boat, but I think this works all the same for us, don't you? "

#just “ yeah this is the norm for us nbd ”#wonderalmighty #★ ► ᴠᴏɪᴄᴇꜱ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴏꜱᴍᴏꜱ ◄ ⌠ In Character ⌡#★ ► ʟᴇᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴛᴀʀꜱ ᴛʜᴀɴᴋ ʏᴏᴜ ♥ ◄ ⌠ Ask Answered ⌡#★ ► ᴀᴄᴛ ꜱᴏ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜ ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ꜰᴇᴇʟ ᴀɴʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴀʟᴏɴᴇ ᴀɢᴀɪɴ ◄ ⌠ Nimue Umiko ⌡#★ ► ᴠ; ʟᴇᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ʟɪɢʜᴛ ɢᴜɪᴅᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ◄ ⌠ FFXIV ⌡#★► ɪ ʀᴇᴀʟɪᴢᴇᴅ ɪ’ᴍ ɪɴ ʟᴏᴠᴇ. ɪᴛ'ꜱ ᴀʟᴡᴀʏꜱ ʙᴇᴇɴ ʀɪɢʜᴛ ɪɴ ꜰʀᴏɴᴛ ᴏꜰ ᴍᴇ. ◄⌠ Nimue & Hildibrand ⌡

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oathofpromises · 8 months

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I just wanted to take a moment to introduce Stella's parents. I know some people are probably thinking, How would this even work? Wouldn’t Stella end up as half Miqo’te and half Au Ra? Well, like genetics, it just depends on how much is passed on to her. While she has the appearance of a full Au Ra, there are tendencies that might be part Miqo’te too.

Anyway, her father's name is Takakazu, and her mother is Kuri. While she does get looks mostly from her mom with the added pink hair from her dad, She also takes on both of the classes her parents had as their main jobs. Kuri, as we know, was a white mage. It’s one of the very reasons Stella wanted to become one herself. Takakazu is actually a Viper main. I know we have only seen the trailer so far, but honestly, it fits with his overall fighting style and personality a lot. Which means that Stella also knows how to fight. I already have a viper glam picked out for her too. It may get altered slightly as time goes on, but it does fit her really well.

Takakazu was originally from Tural, I will have a lot more lore stuff for prior things for him once 7.0 releases. It was only while traveling to Ul’ Dah that he met Kuri. Unlike most Au Ra's, her tribe was located in a heavily oased area near the main city. It’s where Stella would eventually be born and raised, too. While usually a male Au Ra would be the tribe leader, it was Takakazu who became the tribe's appointed head after defeating the previous tribe elder in combat. It wasn’t something he wanted, but after seeing how badly the leader was treating the rest of the people in the tribe, the Miqo’te stepped toward it. It kind of reminds you of how quick Stella is to help others out and the way she will get angry when people are bullied.

I hope to have these two added to my muse list even though in canon storyline they both die when Stella is still very young..but could have alternate universes and such if people did want to write with either of them.

#— ❛❛ // STARFIRE LETTERS ¦ Out of Character・#ooc: Literally had idea for these two so long ago but only just sat down and created what they look like

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wings-arts · 5 years

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Wings’ adolescent art dump! Part eight of ???: Tural!

And here we have Harpy’s twin brother, Tural! His name is taken from Turul, a mythical Hungarian bird of prey. Because’s that’s just how I did things.

Tural didn’t come about until a friend and I started messing with Harpy as a main character in that unnamed second story. Unlike her, he’s very shy and level-headed, and was skilled at medicine and first aid. It’s only because of him that Harpy survived attaching her wings; he managed to handle the mess and get her stable enough to get to Dairus, the doctor (who will be in a future photo set).

He’s very cute and I love him a lot. He also had a love interest in Eileen, a girl from a wealthy family.

The fourth picture was inspired by that IB Art piece of Harpy I mentioned, which features a ribbon reading ‘Alis Volat Propriis’, or ‘She flies with her own wings’. I wanted to do similar, smaller pieces for the other characters, but I didn’t get very far. There’s one more you’ll see in a later photo set.

Harpy is not naked in that seventh picture I swear.

You can read the text by clicking on the pictures, with the longer ones being written below.

Fourth: (1) Beati Pacifici (2) We still need to settle on Boris’ design before I can finish this. (3) I need to re-work Tural’s face (4)

Tural: Blessed are the peacemakers Boris: Discordant harmony Arcane: Fortune favors the brave

(5) Concordia Discors (6) Fortes Fortuna Iuvat

Eighth: (1) Trying to imitate the style from Len’s ‘The Riddle Solver who can’t solve Riddles’ (2) “...Because” (3) “Why am I in a dress?” (4) Tural and Harpy just are so perfect for Len and Rin’s songs

#traditional #progression #doodles #pre-2015 art #muse: Tural #muse: Harpy

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dreamings-free · 5 years

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How Harry Styles Became A Modern Style Icon

by Phoebe Luckhurst - Evening Standard 15/11/19

A man wrought in the fires of teenage boyband hyper-stardom is not afraid of a little commotion. Still when Harry Styles — the One Direction matinée idol turned languid Gen Z icon — tweeted, at 1.01 pm GMT on Wednesday afternoon, that he would be taking his upcoming album Fine Line on tour, you could, if attuned to the correct demographic frequency, hear the howl echo around the internet: guttural, hungry, ululating. This was a pseudo-religious experience: one viral meme depicted the Pope holding a copy of his album aloft. The announcement has been retweeted almost 70,000 times.

The 25-year old is a tour veteran — he spent five years and five albums strapped to the thundering 1D juggernaut — but this new tour is his first as a bona fide solo brand. The album, his first in two years, is synth-soaked and soulful, the album’s aesthetic fever-dreamy. Granted, he’s not the first person to go to SoCal, try a few magic mushrooms and declare himself radically transformed, but the results are beguiling — and certainly a world away from his years as a Simon Cowell Ken doll. Since his last record, he has co- hosted t he Met Gala and been reborn as an Alessandro Michele muse. This is your Styles crib sheet.

Melody maker

Styles’s new album — written under a tie-dye mist after taking the aforementioned psychedelics, which also resulted in a mishap in which he bit off the tip of his tongue — is “all about having sex and feeling sad”, which, granted, as a topline, does not wildly differentiate the record from the genre of “al l other music ever”. Still, the early signs for Fine Line are encouraging. Its first single, Lights Up—which has been streamed almost 100 million times on Spotify —is synth-y, soulful, understatedly anthemic, very different to, and better than, the lead single on his last solo record, the Seventies, soft-rock Sign of the Times( it still, of course, hit No 1), and very, very different from anything he did with 1D. Many thousands of words have been written about whether there is a bisexual subtext to Lights Up. It has been noted that the song was released on National Coming Out Day, that Styles’s sexuality has been subject to frenzied speculation before, the video features an oiled-up, topless Styles gyrating around men and women, and that the lyrics (“Shine, I’m not ever going back/ Shine, step into the light”) could be interpreted as a meaningful revelation of sorts. Certainly, he has become a queer icon — especially with Gen Z — who are thrilled by his selection of genderqueer singer-songwriter King Princess as his support act for the European part of his tour. Speaking of collaborators, Styles worked on the album with producers Tyler Johnson, who has worked with Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus and Ed Sheeran, and Jeff Bhasker, who has collaborated wit h Mark Ronson and Kanye West, and his friend, Tom Hull, aka Kid Harpoon, who co-wrote Shake It Out for Florence + The Machine. He has also been granted a fairy godmother: Stevie Nicks, who called him her “little muse” at Fleetwood Mac’s hyped Wembley headline gig i n J une. “S he’s a l ways there for you,” Styles has said in the past. “She knows what you need: advice, a little wisdom, a blouse, a shawl.” Sure.

Got Styles

Any young man raised in the white heat of a boyband spotlight must be granted the space to find his fashion path; Styles has done so with no missteps and exuberant pleasure. Once upon a time, he would semaphore his individuality with a bandana; now, he turns up to a cover interview with Rolling Stone in a white floppy hat, blue denim bell-bottoms and Gucci shades, his nails coloured pink and green. His favourite trousers, until he lost them on the beach, were a pair of mustard corduroy flares; this week, he wore a Lanvin sweater vest with a sheep design that sent a coterie of London menswear stylists into throes of ecstasy. He wears floral suits and Cuban heels, ruffled, New Romantic shirts, Charles Jeffrey jumpsuits and pussy- bow blouses. It is flamboyant, self-consciously Bowie/Jagger, and in Gen Z parlance, “very extra”. His stylist Harry Lambert is partial to an extravagant collar, dramatic neckline and a voluminous trouser.

Besides Lambert, another part of this evolution has been his relationship with Gucci’s creative director Michele, who has turned the Italian heritage brand into the ultimate post-gender luxury fashion label, the first to merge their menswear and womenswear, and dispatch male models down the catwalk in dresses and women in suits. A good look for a Gen Z idol.

With the brand

Notably, the branding on this album and its tour artwork is consistent with this new look Styles. The album cover features Styles i n white custom- made Gucci bell bottoms and a Pepto Bismol-pink shirt, open almost to the waist, shot by mod-goth Tim Walker with a fisheye lens (it is Walker’s hand in that S&M glove you can see in the left-hand corner). In the dreamy video for Lights Up he wears a glittery suit and suspenders, in a sort of hallucinatory version of Saturday Night Fever. Into it.

Stand up

Then there’s his voice — not the music, but the activism. Even as one-fifth of a boyband manufactured by Cowell’s algorithm, he was quick, quippy and itching to go off-message; but now that he controls his own, he is amplifying causes such as Black Lives Matter and End Gun Violence. He wore stickers for both on his guitar on his last tour, which might sound small, except that photographs of Styles gallop around the digital world at hyperspeed. At concerts, he has waved pride, bi and trans flags, and a Black Lives Matter flag. He once borrowed a flag from an audience member at a show in Philadelphia that read, “Make America Gay Again”. At a show on his last tour, he declared: “If you are black, if you are white, if you are gay, if you are straight, if you are transgender — whoever you are, whoever you want to be, I support you.”

A vocal, engaged fandom of teenage girls minted his multimillion-pound fortune; he is loyal and admiring of their zeal. “They’re the most honest — especially if you’re talking about teenage girls, but older as well,” he told Rolling Stone this summer. “They have that bullshit detector. We’re so past that dumb outdated narrative of ‘Oh, these people are girls, so they don’t know what they’re talking about.’ They’re the ones who know what they’re talking about. They’re the people who listen obsessively. They f***ing own this shit. They’re running it.” Obviously, he’s a feminist. “Of course men and women should be equal. I don’t want credit for being a feminist. I think the ideals of feminism are pretty straightforward.” An icon is born.

#harry styles #evening standard #15.11.19 #article #stylesupdated #hlsource #hs2 promo #harry #mine

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worldsbywings · 4 years

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((I should really better define some of non-Pokémon verses. For all of my blogs. I don't have any relating to other fandoms, but I have a few general ones, even on Falk (like Sensual Songbird and the one where he works at a fabric shop with his dad). Sometimes I wonder about bringing some non-Pokémon ocs of mine, like from manga ideas from high school, like Harpy and Iris.

World anyone be interested in any of that? I know I still haven't finished Drasna, but in general? And which parts?

EDIT: have some old art of the ocs in question because I'm sleepy

))

Harpy (top right corner), who depending on the verse may or may not have nonfunctioning metal wings.

Her brother Tural, who is a shy sweetheart.

Iris, who is both a mess and somehow not a Tegami Bachi muse (but she could be!).

Sorry I couldn't put that under a cut. Be safe all.

#out of feathers #for the record I'm not leaving the rpc #but ocs and stuff seem to be a big topic tonight so it's got me thinking #also I should just reblog a meme and sleep

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warraigoe-aa · 2 years

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may i ask what all you consider a live action muse? it is just the fc?

yeah !! ok -- let me try to explain this clearly so i'm not confusing -- and i'm sorry if i am. i'm trying not make this a huge thing ? but sometimes my brain cannot make a good connection to thought. i wanna cover all these basis and i'm sorry if this complicating and ur free to sb if this too confusing...

OKAY SO HERE'S A CHEAT SHEET :

- iconless threads that features a live action muse are ok to not be tagged.

- threads with icons are ok to not be tagged -- this is mainly if your blog is la / irl fc focused. i don't want you to have to tag like every thread lol -- - the only exception is muses from superna//tural & docto//r wh//o. i would like any of those tagged tbh. - the only other thing are live action gif sets !

that's basically it -- i hope this clears thing up !

#— ❛❛ // out. ¦ i wish i was at disneyland.#i really don't want this to be overcomplicated... and i'm sorry if it is #thank you asking btw !! that's really sweet #anonymous

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argyrocratie · 7 years

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A makhnovist program

exerpt from a Draft Declaration of the (Maknovist) revolutionary insurgent army of the Ukraine adopted on October 20, 1919 at a session of the Military Revolutionary Soviet.

We declare that our Makhnovist insurgent army is merely the fighting core of this Ukrainian people’s revolutionary movement, a core whose task consists everywhere of organizing insurgent forces and helping insurgent toilers in their struggle against all abuse of power and capital. TheUkraine is on the brink of a genuine peasant social revolution. That is the import of the situation. We Makhnovist insurgents are the children of that revolution, here to serve and protect it. Whenever it spreads like a mighty bushfire through the whole of the toilers of Ukraine, freeing it of all aggressors and all powers, we faithful fighters will mingle with the millions of people’s insurgents. Then, shoulder to shoulder, we will partake in the free building of a new life.

As regards our thinking on the essential issues of economic and social reconstruction, we regard it as essential that the following be stressed: once toilers have the freedom required to determine their fate for themselves, they will naturally and inevitably, the vast majority of them, move towards realization of genuinely communist social principles. We reckon that only the toiling masses have the capacity to enact these principles, provided that they have access to the completest freedom of socio-economic creation. Thus we consider imposition of our ideal by force as quite irrational and out of place. We think, likewise, that it would be wrong to seek to trail the masses along in our wake, by means of leadership from above. We mean to restrict our role to simple theoretical and organizational assistance, in the form of proposals, advice, suggestions or guidance. Our thinking is that whereas the people should have the opportunity to listen to all opinion and advice, they alone should decide to act upon them with absolute independence and freedom, without interference from parties, dictators or governments of any sort.

We make every effort to communicate these views to the toiling masses, whilst focusing their attention upon their own autonomous role in free soviet construction.

The soviet system.

Our conception of an authentic system of free soviets we express as follows. In order to introduce a new economic and social life, the peasants and workers naturally and freely set up their social and economic organizations: village committees or soviets, cooperatives, factory and workshop committees, mine committees, railroad, Post and Telegraphs organizations and every other union and organization imaginable. In order to establish natural liaison between all these unions and associations, they set up agencies federated from the bottom up, in the shape of economic soviets whose technical task is to regulate social and economic life on a large scale. These soviets may be district soviets, town soviets, regional soviets, etc …. organized as the need arises on a basis of free principles. In no case would these be political institutions led by this or that politician or political party, who would dictate their wishes (as happens behind the mask of"soviet power"). These soviets are only the executive arms of the assemblies from which they emanate.

Such a soviet arrangement is a true reflection of the organization of the peasants and workers. If this creation is indeed the free handiwork of the peasant and worker masses themselves, if the bracing economic work of all the grassroots agencies and federative soviet organizations begins to attract more and more toilers, without any interference or arbitrary meddling by any party or authorities whatever, then, by our reckoning, it will be possible speedily to introduce an economic and social system based on the principles of social equality, justice and fraternity and thereby put paid to the existence of class differences, political parties and States, as well as the domination of one nationality over others. Gradually and naturally the backward and non-toiler strata of the population will be absorbed into this system. All “political activity” which leads inescapably to creation of privilege and a mechanism for economic and political enslavement of the toiling masses will be proved redundant in practice, and “political” organizations will tend to wither away of themselves.

Our answer to the questions that will be put regarding “official” agencies and sundry social pursuits relating to education, medicine, statistics, registration of marriages, deaths and births, etc. is that maximum scope will be afforded to the priceless and prolific initiative of the individual, within the framework of the soviet. All of this will be no problem and will be best resolved by local agencies of self-governance.

Judicial and administrative machinery.

As far as the depiction of chis machinery as necessity goes, we muse first of all reaffirm our position in principle: we are against all rigid judicial and police machinery, against any legislative code prescribed once and for all time, for these involve gross violations of genuine justice and of the real protections of the population. These ought not to be organized but should be instead the living, free and creative act of the community. Which is why all obsolete forms of justice - court administration, revolutionary tribunals, repressive laws, police or militia, Chekas, prisons and all other sterile and useless anachronisms - must disappear of themselves or be abolished from the very first breath of the free life, right from the very first steps of the free and living organization of society and the economy.

The free organizations, associations and soviets of workers and peasants must themselves prescribe this or that form of justice. Such justice should nor be enforced by specialist officials, bur rather by trustees who enjoy the confidence of the local population, by arrangement with it and utterly repudiating sanctions prescribed in the past. Likewise, popular self-defense must be based on free organization, and nor left to specialist militias. Nor only does formal organization of justice and defense by the State nor achieve its aims, but it is a betrayal of all true justice and defense.

The question of supplies.

At present this question could not be posed any more acutely. Resolution of it is of the utmost urgency, for the whole fate of the revolution hinges upon it right now. The major flaw in the previous revolution [the Bolsheviks’ -A.S.] proceeded from the complete disorganization of supplies, which led to a dichotomy between town and countryside.The toilers must pay the utmost attention to it. This issue was particularly easy to resolve at the beginning of the revolution, when life was nor yet in complete disarray and when food was available everywhere in more or less adequate supply. At that point, the contest between socialist parties for control of political power and then the Bolshevik party’s struggle to hold on to it, monopolized the attention of the workers and peasants who left the question unresolved and failed ,to display sufficient vigilance. As for the Bolshevik authorities, they proved quire naturally incapable of resolving the matter.

Here too we reckon that a just resolution of this matter and restoration to order of everything relating to it can only be devised by the toilers themselves through their free organizations. None but they will be able to settle the matter viably. In this regard, the toilers must fight shy of disunity, and close unity between workers and peasants has to be achieved. This will not be hard if they dispense with political organizations and verbose politicians. Released from all political authority, the towns will convene a comprehensive congress of workers and peasants and this will establish among its priorities the supply question and the re-establishment of economic links between towns and countryside, setting in train an equitable exchange of basic necessities. It will be up to trades organizations, cooperatives and transport agencies to take this further. Suitable agencies will be set up to seek out, consolidate and relaunch industrial and agricultural production: these will introduce a system for trade and fair distribution of goods. In this context, the workers’ and peasants’ cooperatives and free associations will have to play a crucial role. Only in this way, we reckon, can this particularly important issue of supply be resolved.

The land question.

The process of rebuilding and rapidly improving our agrarian economy which is at present in ruins and very limited, requires reorganization of the working of the land through absolutely free and voluntary decision-making by the toiling agricultural population in its entirety (obviously help from experts can be assumed). The village traders will have to be removed from this process quickly. We are persuaded that the solution to this problem of land will emerge unaided through communist organization of the peasant economy. Everyone will quickly be persuaded that growth of output and the meeting of all needs can only be ensured by the community and not by private individuals. However, any imposition of communism through constraint or top-down administration must be rejected.

The Bolsheviks’ decree regarding “nationalization of the land,” which is to say the placing of all lands in the hands of the State (in fact the hands of the government, its agencies and functionaries) must be disregarded. A State take-over of land will inescapably lead, not to fair and free agricultural structures, but to the reappearance of a new exploiter and master in the shape of the State, which wll have recourse -as bosses do - to wage slavery and will impose all manner of corvees, levies, etc. upon the peasantry by force, just as its pomieschiki predecessors did. The peasantry will reap no advantage from being faced by just one master - the State - even more powerful and cruel than the thousands of little bosses, masters and pomieschikis. Lands seized from great estate owners should not be at the disposal of the State but placed in the hands of those who actually work them: the peasant organizations, free communes and other unions.

The manner in which the land, equipment and very organization of the agricultural economy are to be handled should be worked out freely at peasant congresses, after discussion and passed as resolutions, without any interference by any authority whatsoever.

We consider that solution of all these matters by the peasants· themselves will usher in a natural process of expansion of the social organizations of the peasant economy, beginning, say, with egalitarian and commensurate division of the land, farm equipment and livestock: with social organization of labor and of the distribution of produce on a basis of cooperation: with social usage of the land and equipment, etc.: that is to say, according to a more or less avowedly communist formula. The manual and mental exertions of experienced and capable villagers, in dose concert with workers’ organizations, will complement this process and speed its development. Meanwhile, private holdings will be speedily and easily whittled down. The active peasant population will readily gain the upper hand over representatives of the large proprietor olass by first of all confiscating their estates for the benefit of the community and then integrating them naturally into the social organization.

Let us draw the attention of the peasant population to expanded cooperative organizations (artels) and production for distribution. Our reckoning is that cooperative organization is, as an initial phase, the most appropriate and natural step along the road to constructing the agricultural economy on new foundations.

What is called the “soviet economy,” where, inevitably, wage-slavery and arbitrariness and violence from Bolshevik-Communist functionaries prevail, must be wholly eradicated. The issue of the role of capable and specialist agronomists, as well as sundry other problems can be settled through discussion, as will decisions taken by peasant organizations and peasant congresses. Wage-slavery in all its manifestations must be eradicated beyond recovery.

It is all too apparent that a fair solution and further evolution of the land question are largely and closely dependent upon an equitable solution of the labor question. It is also up to the workers’ organizations to establish a number of links with the villages … enough such links to be in a position to barter all sorts of industrially produced materials and items for agricultural produce. Only a close; brotherly union of worker and peasant in organizations for mutual aid in production and in economic exchange, will be able to devise a natural, well-planned and fair solution to the agrarian question.

The labour question.

Having witnessed many attempt mounted by various political parties, “businessmen” or “erudite personages” to resolve the labor issue: and having scrupulously examined the idea and the results of state take-over (nationalization) of the means and instruments of worker production (the mines, communications, workshops, factories, etc) as well as of the workers’ organizations themselves (trades unions, factory and workshop committees, cooperatives, etc.), we can announce with certainty that there is one genuine and fair solution to the workers’ question: the transfer of all the means, instruments and materials of labor, production and transportation, not to the complete disposal of the State - this new boss and exploiter which uses wage-slavery and is no less oppressive of the workers than private entrepreneurs - but to the workers’ organizations and unions in natural and free association with one another and in liaison with peasant organizations through the good offices of their economic soviets.

It is our conviction that only such a resolution of the labor issue will release the energy and activity of the worker masses, give a fresh boost to repair of the devastated industrial economy, render exploitation and oppression impossible, and put paid to speculation and swindling and bring to an end the artificial escalation of prices and runaway rise in the cost of living.

We have come to the belief that only the workers, with the help of their free organizations and unions, will be able to secure their release from the yoke of State and Capital (private and state alike), take over the working of mineral and coal reserves, get workshops and factories back into operation, establish equitable exchanges of products between different regions, towns and countryside, get rail trafic moving again, in short, breathe life back into the moribund shell of our economic organization.

No State authorities, no party, no system for direction and supervision of workers, commissars, officials, political activists and others can, we are thoroughly persuaded, meet the target set. The organization of work, production, transportation, distribution and exchange should be the task of free workers’ unions, abetted by experienced and competent individuals, in a context of free labor in factories and workshops.

In order to ensure that such organization is active and its development fruitful it is vital that, above all else, genuine worker congresses and conferences be prepared on free foundations, without pressures or dictatorship from parties or individuals. Only those free congresses and conferences will have the capacity to arrive at an effective resolution of all the urgent issues of worker life and of worker construction along necessary and purposeful lines.

Needless to say, just resolution of and further progress on the worker question are largely dependent on an equitable solution to the supply issue and the division of the land; as well as the financial question which is also closely bound up with the worker question

The housing issue is part and parcel of this and so we are offering only the essence of our position on this matter: one of the primary tasks of the free worker organizations is to see to equitable allocation of available accommodation and thereby pursue the construction of requisite housing and this is achievable only in collaboration with those in charge of housing management (the house and district commitee).

The financial question.

The financial system cannot be divorced from the capitalist system. The latter will soon be replaced by free communist organization of the economy, which will incontrovertibly lead to the disappearance of the finance system and its replacement by direct exchange of produce through the social organization of production, transportation and distribution.

However this transformation will not be effected in a day. Although the monetary system today may be in complete disarray it must of necessity continue to operate for a time. For the moment, it is vital that it be organized on new foundations.

Thus it is not a matter of retaining or re-establishing it, but only of adapting it on a temporary basis to fairer ground rules. Up until the October coup d'etat, the people’s wealth was concentrated either in the State’s hands or in those of the capitalists and their agencies. Compulsory taxation and growing exploitation were at the root of this concentration. The Bolshevik-Communist authorities set themselves above the toilers as a boss-exploiter-State. They see themselves as the rulers and organizers of the country’s monetary system. In fact the Bolshevik State and its officials have sole disposition of the people’s wealth. In our view, this situation has to change radically.

In keeping with the introduction and expansion of the system “of free toilers’ soviets, ushering in a new and free life, all compulsory taxation should be discontinued and replaced by free and voluntary contributions from toilers. In a context of free and independent construction, these contributions will undoubtedly produce the best results.

By implication, the State’s centralized public treasury, in whatever form it may appear {even-in the guise of "People’s Bank”) should be wound up and replaced by the decentralized system of genuine people’s banks established along cooperative lines. The founders and depositors of these banks should be workers and peasants only, that is to say their associations, unions and organizations, on the basis of a freely agreed levy.

In the case of unavoidable outlay on this or that undertaking or service at a regional or even national level (take Posts and Telegraphs, for instance), the general congress or soviet of that agency should receive the required sum from the people’s banks. These latter may be communal, soviet or social, etc. as the case may be. The amount of these voluntary contributions will be determined by reckoning social needs and outlays. Not one single kopeck of the people’s money may be spent without the express permission of the organization {be it congress, commune, soviet or union). At the appointed time, the different social services and agencies· submit their projected expenditure to their respective agencies which, if need be, endorse the projected budget.

Such, in broad outline, is the financial system which we think should be employed during the time when currency and money circulation are still extant. Only that sort of an arrangement is going to be fully compatible with an authentic soviet system.

As regards currency as such, at the outset there may be more of this in circulation than needed. Thus, as the new organization of labor is reinforced and develops, workers and peasants will move from the money system towards the system of simply recording social labor performed. Such recording will afford the bearer the right to draw from social stores and markets those items and articles of which he has need, and which will begin to be in plentiful supply thanks to the organization of the new need-centered economic machinery.

The day is not far off when every toiler, thanks to his labors on society’s behalf {and thus on his own behalf as a member of society) will upon producing the necessary proof, be able to obtain those products and goods he cannot do without.

The national question.

Clearly, each national group has a natural and indisputable entitlement to speak its language freely, live in accordance with its customs, retain its beliefs and rituals, draw up its school books and have its own managerial establishments and agencies: in short, to maintain and develop its national culture in every sphere. It is obvious that this clear and specific stance has absolutely nothing to do with narrow nationalism of the “separatist” variety which pits nation against nation and substitutes an artificial and harmful separation for the struggle to achieve a natural social union of toilers in one shared social communion.

In our view, national aspirations of a natural, wholesome character {language, customs, culture, etc.) can achieve full and fruirful satisfaction only in the union of nationalities rather than in their antagonism. One people’s struggle for liberation leads naturally to the same chauvinistic struggle on the part of other peoples and the upshot, inevitably, is isolation and animosity between the different nations. Of necessity, this appreciation of the national question, a profoundly bourgeois and negative one, leads on to absurd and bloody national conflicts.

The speedy construction of a new life on socialist foundations will ineluctably lead to development of the culture peculiar to each nationality. Whenever we Makhnovist, insurgents speak of independence of the Ukraine, we ground it in the social and economic plarie of the toilers. We proclaim the right of the Ukrainian people (and every other nation) to self-determination, not in the narrow, nationalist sense of a Petliura, but in the sense of the toilers’ right to self-determination. We declare that the toiling folk of the Ukraine’s towns and countryside have shown everyone through their heroic fight that they do not wish any longer to suffer political power and have no use for it, and that they consciously aspire to a libertarian society. We thus declare ,that all political power of whatever provenance, that seeks , to rule and direct by means of constraint and arbitrariness, is to be regarded by the toiling Ukrainian masses as an enemy and counter-revolutionary. To the very last drop of their blood they will wage a ferocious struggle against it, in defense of their entitlement to self-organization.

Needless to say, in the society founded on truly soviet foundations, such as we have spelled them out, the question of proportional representation and other political procedures do not arise.

Culture and education.

In a free society, culture and education cannot be the monopoly of the State, nor of government. They can only be the concern of individuals and organizations freely and naturally united with one another. The living and free creation of the cultural values to which the spirit of the toiling masses will cling can only come about in those conditions.

Civil liberties.

It must be self-evident that the free organization of society affords every practical opportunity for realization of what are called “civil liberties:” freedom of speech, of the press, of conscience, of worship, of assembly, of union, of organization, etc.

The defense of society.

For as long as the free society may need to look to its defenses against outside attack, it will have to organize its self-defenses, its army. We see this as a free contingent, founded on the principle of election to positions of responsibility, and closely tied to the populace. It should be placed under the authority of the toilers’ organizations of the towns and countryside, so as to protect them against any violent trespass on the part of any State or capitalist power, and to guarantee them freedom of social construction.

Relations with foreign states.

The expanded congresses that represent all the organizations from the towns and villages - which make up the free society - will appoint a commission whose task it is to maintain regular relations with foreign states. This activity ought to be public and free of ambiguousness: no “secret diplomacy” can be countenanced. Issues that the commission cannot resolve will be left for extraordinary congresses to debate and determine.

Such, as we see it, are the bases upon which the free, just and wholesome society for which we are fighting, should be founded.

It is not for us to impose these ideas upon the toiling populace through coercion: our reckoning is that our duty is merely to make our view known and to offer workers and peasants the chance to debate this viewpoint freely - this and others as well, so that they may have absolute freedom to opt for this or that path to the economic and social reconstruction of society.

We are convinced of it: it is only by appealing to the most comprehensive freedom of inquiry and experiment in matters of reconstruction that the toiling population will be able to devise the natural route that leads on to an authentic and wholesome socialism. This freedom of inquiry and experimentation in construction we shall maintain and defend with all our might: it will no doubt be defended in the same way by all the toilers of the Ukraine whom we call upon to take a hand in our great common fight, amending as the need arises the inevitable mistakes and shortcomings, by displaying their sympathy and bolstering it through the continual recruitment of new fighters and defenders of freedom. It is through the concerted efforts of the broader community of toilers that the shape of the new society will be freely molded, and by defending this entitlement to creative freedom with armed force that we shall win.

#makhnovist #anarchism #communism #socialism #revolution #russian revolution #ukraine #freedom #liberty

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