disastress

I love this one slightly cursed fashion trend from Poltava and partly Kyiv region in the second half of the XIXth century.

It's called "perchyky" (little peppers). A woman's coat was embellished with little dangling "peppers" made out of red felt, creating an interesting 3D texture to the garment.

And here's an artistic interpretation of this trend, worn by Verka Serdiuchka in a holiday musical special, based on "The Fair of Sorochyntsi", which takes place, of course, in Sorochyntsi, Poltava Governorate.

I'm gonna talk about two things in Show of the Ropes that I loved for a second; the UBI and The Nest being a Co-op business.

Early in the comic it’s offhandedly mentioned that the coffee shop the main character, Chloe, is hoping to work at is a co-op run business, and a little later Chloe mentioned having lived off UBI (universal basic income) for a time. These two details are small but I argue their effects on the narrative are impactful and positive. 

First, the existence of UBI. Knowing UBI exists in the setting and Chloe is using it changes the tone around her job seeking significantly. She isn’t seeking employment because she’s running out of money or gonna end up destitute if she doesn’t, she’s seeking work because she wants to have that specific job. This does two big things for the narrative. 

First is it removes potential stress surrounding her not getting a job. She’s not gonna be unable to access medical treatment, go hungry, go homeless, or otherwise be screwed over if she doesn’t get the job; she’ll just go back to living on UBI and looking for jobs elsewhere. This means when the narrative shifts it’s focus away from the job search to other matters, it can do so without the reader worrying too much about the consequences of her not getting the job.

Second it means when Chloe ends up doing stuff with Red and Beruca later, her decision to engage with them is not driven by a desire to get on their good side so they give her the job, because otherwise she’s screwed; it’s driven by the fact that she wants to be with them. If she doesn’t get the position her financial situation doesn’t change. (Also Beruca says she’s hired well before any of the kinky sex can start which also helps things.)

The Co-op aspect has a smaller effect but it also adds to the narrative as well. Because The Nest is a co-op, Chloe has equal power in the shop as thee others working there, so any sexual relations she engages in with the people there will likely have a much lower chance of fucking over her position at the shop. Like, Chloe doesn’t have to worry about how her relationship with Beruca and Red would affect her employment because they aren’t bosses over her. She doesn’t have to worry about turning down something with them and them refusing to give her a raise or fire her.