The song ‘Ça Ira’ is permanently drilled into the head of anyone who has ever seriously studied The French Revolution.

For the uninformed:

I just went into a city for the first time in a while, and kept thinking, “you know, I never really thought about it before, but pigeons are so stinking cute.”

me, realizing that may be a result of spending the past nine months studying The French Revolution: You did this to me Maxime…

(Maybe someday I’ll consider a pet pigeon, but I’m currently in the process of getting degus, who have a decent lifespan, and will not have the time, desire, or space for any more animals, so definitely not in the foreseeable future.)

Thank you all for not telling me yesterday that it was Robespierre’s birthday, because otherwise I would have been way more depressed. (Still sad though.)

The world would be a better place if people gave Robespierre’s life and execution the same sympathy, respect and love that they have towards Marie Antoinette,

How come none of the Robespierre biopics show the WHOLE Duplay household?

where are Brount and Jacquet?

How come non interactive historical re-enactments are always battle scenes? I want political debates. I want scientific discoveries, I want treason trials and family drama. There’s nothing juicy about battle scenes. Where’s the spice? Where’s the plot? Where’s the drama?

Some re-enactments that I think would be fun:

The Tennis Court Oath

Solving the enigma machine

The discovery of laughing gas

The musical duel of Adolff Sax

a Houdini performance.

The time Dante was in a court case on whether or not the pope was possessed.

Some re-enactments I think would be important:

The Thermidor speech.

The Oscar Wilde trials.

And finally, a single battle sequence that I would love to see:

A pirate fight featuring Zheng Li Sao.

This is such a bizarre time to be researching The French Revolution.

It is also such a bizarre time to be studying autistic traits in history.

And it’s a REALLY bizarre time to be studying how autistic traits affected The French Revolution.

My favorite way Robespierre is portrayed in fiction is when the plot builds him up as this irredeemable monster and then you meet him and he’s just a dork.

It very much reflects the process of researching him.

Historical figures that would slap in Xavier Riddle episodes

note: I am aware that some of these people would not realistically end up on the show because of controversy reasons, even though this is a brave show that has sparked quite a bit of controversy.

Dante Alighieri. (Wrote arguably the best book ever made.)

Sachem (Wampanoag leader who did a decent job at dealing with the puritans colonizing Massachusetts.)

Maximilian Robespierre (politician and human rights activist during The French Revolution. Also showed autistic traits.)

Voltaire (philosopher who basically turned being a drama queen into a productive, relatively harmless activity.)

Murasaki Shikibu (invented the novel.)

Hayao Miyazaki (animator for films such as Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro.)

Feel free to add your own.

Me: being told to check out Peabody and Sherman.

Me watching clips from it: Well this is super disrespectful to the darker elements of history.

The internet: Oh, Robespierre is in it.

Me: Oh dear god NO.

After I started studying The French Revolution, the history of rationing has become pretty interesting to me, and when it comes to The French Revolution, pour one out for Robespierre and the other folks who came up with the rules, because literally all their friends and family could just hound them whenever they missed their butter.

This post is brought to you by the scene in La Terreur et La Vertu where The Duplays are gently bullying Robespierre for the ration rules being too strict.

You know that if it had been around in 1700’s France, Robespierre would have been an EXTREMELY active member of The Audubon Society.

Remember kids: if anyone says autism is a modern ‘problem,’ show them accounts on Robespierre, and if anyone says homosexuality is a modern ‘problem,’ show them accounts on Friedrich The Great.