The imperial line breaks at least twice, even if you don’t count the mythological emperors and assume that emperors are in fact the trueborn sons of the previous emperors that they’re claimed to be. At one point the line schisms in pope/antipope style and iirc the following line descends from the one with the weaker claim.

In any case the emperor has for most of this time been a ceremonial religious front for the actual power in the realm, which has variously been the head of dominant clans, a parliament, the two bakufus (three, if you count the system established between the two world wars where the military subverted the parliamentary system that ruled in name of the emperor), and for one interesting stretch the retired ex-emperors.

The interwar bakufu came about because the parliamentary system (like pretty much everything in Meiji Restoration Japan) was based on trying to mirror the German system only with modifications to avoid its known failure modes. One issue was that the Prussian civil service and military tended to capture the electoral system for their own purposes, and so government employees, which included the military, civil servants, teachers, and even postmen were barred from voting.

They didn’t like this so they went about trying to find non-electoral means of capturing the government. There was a government workers’ general strike/insurrection that was put down, but one of the most successful tactics was that the Minister of War was required to be a sitting or former flag officer. The military was small enough that that was a limited pool, and given that they controlled the promotions systems they chose their successors, and eventually the military-supremacy types got to a point where in order to form a government the parliament was required to install one of them and keep them happy lest they resign and force a change of government.

The final straw was basically the military deciding to invade Korea on their own initiative and daring the parliament to not support “our boys overseas”. The parliament blinked and that was that.

thatscienceguy:

Crops Before Selective Breeding

zeether:

skooth:

dissonantwalrus:

fun fact: there is a russian version of it’s always sunny called it’s always sunny in moscow and features a similar cast of characters except they own a bar called ‘philadelphia’ in moscow

“The Gang Overthrows Putin”

xybutt:

fyeahlilbit3point0:

The lead singer of MCR pitched an Evangelion X Spider-Man crossover AU fic and Marvel is publishing it what a time to be alive.

it’s fucking REAL

wut

I noticed this shit in the ’90s, the habilitation of the Gadsden flag in place of the Stars and Bars as an *incidentally* white banner of resistance against the government, and one that maintained continuity with the Founding Fathers mythology. Then the Tea Party claimed it but I mean it was just sitting there and it’s not like they aren’t legitimate heirs of both traditions.

It’s been nice to live up in Cascadia where we have a respected yet virgin imaginary of secessionism. It’s been fingerbanged a few times, though, and pretty curious about the next step.

Anyway the Cascadian flag, the Gadsden flag, the Rebel banner, the ACAB graffiti, it all says the same thing - “we identify with violent opposition to the official order, so you can trust us”.

talkinggorillabutler:

t1m3l0rdh4nj1:

Having a pet is so weird. Like neither of you speak each other’s language and yet you form some strong bond by rubbing against each other and sleeping together and you might accidentally kick them in the face or step on their tail once in a while but at the end of the day you two are best buddies from entirely different species.

Is that not how marriage works?

hotdadcalendar:

Ways to make me dislike you instantly:

• refer to anything as “- porn” (foodporn, shoeporn, etc)

I think of those tumblrs full of exquisitely languorous black and white sex gifs as pornporn.

A Tom Waits cover of Taylor Swift’s “Mean” would be amazing, up there with Johnny Cash’s “Hurt” cover.

I wonder if any furry vore type has ever said “I like my women like I like my coffee: passed through the digestive system of a cat.”

jim-moriarty-in-your-flesh:

Abandoned Tumblr

I’VE BEEN DYING FOR THIS POST TO COME BACK. ALSO, SOMEONE MAKE THIS DASH THEME.

ALSO CAN WE TALK ABOUT THE BROKEN MIRROR IN PLACE OF BROKEN LINK.

c86:

Graham Sutherland - Christ in Glory in the Tetramorph (First Cartoon), 1953

Christ’s build works for man against nature and man against self but the man against man meta will eat Him alive

toastoat:

what a powerful cat

atomicdomme:

i love the tripartite division of the day into computer, beer, and moon

There has been a Scotsman on my couch for going on a week now and I still can’t figure out who in the house he belongs to.

He just sleeps and watches movies on his iPad and sometimes goes to the Scottish-themed whiskey bar down Alberta which might have been where my roommates found him?

He has a 15-years-ex-wife in town but they don’t sound friendly and more than on my couch I’m not really clear why he’s in my city or my country.