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neko-naruto · 1 year ago

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The one time it mattered

Summary: Five times Kenny confessed and the one time he didn't

Warnings: swearing, loss of faith, check Ao3 port for full tags

Authors Note: Never written a 5+1 fic before and maybe this was just a little bit ambitious on a time constraint but I managed. Day four was secret/confession, and I chose confession! the K2 comes like, after everything else so feel free to just skip ahead. so I hope ya'll enjoy and if ya do maybe consider dropping a reblog or checking out the Ao3 port

Kennys first crush was on Butters, the adorable and innocent Butters. Almost everyone could see that, they were young as they were when Chef was still around, and still terrible at hiding emotions. At the time Kenny didn't really get how to make a formal confession, or how to do it. He did understand the parts that came well after an established relationship though.

Still, he played plenty of games that put him in all sorts of roles and positions. This is the first time he plans on fully utilizing his role to get what he wants. And what he wants at the time is a kiss from Butters or for Butters to say 'I love you' and mean it. He doesn't do that a lot at home, or school, more focused on taking care of Karen or not dying. But just this once in grade four in South Park elementary, he plans damn well on getting what he wants.

If he has to use his Princess Kenny persona then so be it, he'll use his dress and his 'royal presence' to distract Butters into a kiss.

"Oh god! Princess Kenny is dying!" Came the shrill cry of High Jew Elf Kyle as he watched Princess Kenny go down.

"I got it!" Butters shouted as he ran over to his fallen ally and helped her up.

"Thank you, Paladin Butters," Kenny said as calmly as he could muster as he Butters handed him a cure potion for the bleeding. The same one that he had drank from- Kenny guzzled it in mere moments, "You look magnificent in battle Butters."

"Thank you Princess," Butters said before dashing off to smite some enemies with his hammer of justice.

Kenny sighed dreamily as he watched.

"Kenny block!" Kyle cried out just in time for Kenny to barely avoid the attack.

"Thanks!" Kenny shouted back as Butters returned to his side.

"Let me heal you," Butters said as he walked over to give Kenny a pat on the shoulder.

Kenny grabbed onto Butters, albeit extremely gently so he could escape if he wanted to. Shock played itself on his friends face, "Kiss me Paladin Butters."

An instant and visceral response of 'Gross!' was how Butters reacted, dropping the princess.

Kennys fourth grade mind took it as a devastating rejection. Took it as such to the point that while staying completely in character he ran off crying, one hand keeping his dress from dragging and all. He had a hard time believing he got rejected, they were so close, how much could one little kiss change that? His fourth grade mind just didn't get it.

His fourth grade mind also let him move on in a months time.

Kenny realizes that he's bisexual in grade six when gets a crush on Wendy Testaburger. He previously thought he was just gay. But nope, now he wears a little pin on his shoelaces, blue, purple, and pink. He doesn't wear it with a whole lot of pride because he has too take it off every day after school so his parents won't know he swings both ways. But at school he does wear it and flaunt it a little bit, happy he can sit comfortably with himself despite everything else.

He's forgotten about the horrible rejection of grade four, and him and Butters are just friends anyways. He can see now that it was just juvenile attraction, a foolish puppy crush not to be confused with what he feels for Wendy. The major hurdle when it comes to Wendy is the fact that she's in a rough spot with her on and off relationship with Stan. And as much as Kenny wants Wendy, he likes his friendship with Stan a lot more.

"Hey Stan," Kenny begins with as he sits down next to his friend whose lazily drinking a juicebox.

"Yeah man?" Stan asked in response as he prodded at his vegetable medley.

"How pissed would you be if I hit on Wendys best friend?" Kenny asked nervously, glad that Kyle and Cartman weren't around to hear it.

Stan looked confused, "Go for it, it's not like she's my girlfriend."

Kenny cleared his throat, "And if I hit on Wendy?"

"Dude! Fuck no! She's my girlfriend," Stan said defensively, putting up his hackles and spitting his words.

"Alright, alright," Kenny said as he rolled his eyes, hands thrown up in surrender, "She's all yours."

"At least wait until she's gonna break up with me before you start trying to get her for yourself," Stan said, tossing a juicebox to Kenny who expertly caught it.

-/-/-/-

Stan trudged to school the next day, Kenny meeting him at their lockers. The Marsh looks absolutely wrecked, like he got no hours, or minutes of sleep, the night prior. And that's saying a lot, usually if he goes without much sleep no one can tell that anythings wrong with him.

Kenny placed a hand on his shoulder, "What happened?"

Stan sighed, "Wendy broke up with me Kenny, she's all yours."

"Really?" Kyle asked, trying his hardest not to sound excited.

"Really," Stan echoed back with a nod, "Hope you enjoy her, if she even says yes."

"I have maxed out charisma Stan, it'll work perfectly," Kenny said boldly, bringing a hand to his chest in an eloquent manner.

"Good luck with it," Stan said, "I'm hanging out with Kyle while you make a fool of yourself during seven minutes in heaven."

"There's a game of seven minutes in heaven?" Kenny asked eagerly.

"Yep, drama room at first break, I'm not going," Stan said as he pulled off his outer jacket.

"Well I am, I'll make sure to tell you how much I score," Kyle said as he walked off to his own class, making sure to grab his homework before slamming his locker shut.

-/-/-/-

Kenny idly meandered around the halls as he waited for the bell to ring, he had sneaked out a few minutes early. He just had to get lucky now. The loud and obnoxious ringing of the stupid bell sounded and he was already rushing into the drama room. Most of the girls were already inside, sitting in a circle with a couple of the guys.

Kenny awkwardly wedged himself across from Wendy, sitting in between Clyde and Craig. He crossed one leg over the other.

"Alright, everyone knows the rules of seven minutes in heaven?" Bebe asked as she walked into the center of the circle, holding a glass pop bottle as she spoke.

Everyone nodded along.

"Cool, now," Bebe began as she placed down the bottle in the middle, "We spin!"

The bottle scratched on the hardwood floor as it spun in a perfect rotation. There was meager grinning and chatting as it came to a halt. Bebe drew an imaginary line from the mouth of the bottle to the person it pointed to.

"Contestant number one in this matchmaking game is Kenny!" Bebe exclaimed as she raised one of Kennys arms as though she were a ring announcer. He stood up and grinned a little bit as he was pushed out of the circle, he stood patiently.

She spun the bottle once more and Kenny is practically vibrating as he watched the bottle slow down. This was his best chance, he just had to get lucky. Obscenely, and impossibly lucky, but he's recently placed himself in the anything is possible category. He can die and come back the next day! Getting lucky in a game of seven minutes in heaven is nothing in comparison.

"And the second contestant is Wendy!" Bebe announced as Wendy stood up and walked over to Kennys side.

"Seven minutes," Wendy muttered under her breath as they were led to the closet.

"Have fun," Bebe said in a taunting singsong as she closed the door after them.

Kenny dropped down to the floor, crossing his legs. Wendy sat across from him, knees bent.

"So, Wendy," Kenny begins with, "You dumped Stan?"

"Yes," Wendy said.

"Which means you're up for a brand new a relationship?" Kenny asked, tapping his hand on his knee as he spoke.

Wendy raised a brow although Kenny couldn't see it, "I suppose it does."

Kenny took a bit of a shaky breath, "I'm pretty sure I have a crush on you," 'Pretty sure' what a lie. He was absolutely certain that he did.

"Mood, lot's of guys do," Wendy answered with, "What makes you think I should choose you over Clyde? Or maybe even Damien?"

Kenny couldn't form an answer.

"You're sweet McCormick but you have nothing to bring to the table," Wendy said, she gave a small smile as she spoke, "Maybe next time."

Grade six, drama room closet, first break, is the exact second that Kenny realizes he needs to plan things out if questions are asked.

Kenny has secretly been planning this moment for weeks, the perfect confession to his massive crush. More massive and more important than the last two combined, he's in grade eight now, this one is the winner. He has it all planned out, but he's fully prepared for something to come along and mess it up as well. He has a little speech prepared and enough confidence to kill a horse which is all he needs. Cartmans petty remarks are not part of what he needs but that's what he'll get if Kyle and Stan aren't around.

"Hey Craig!" Kenny called out from across the cafeteria, waving a big to grab the ravenettes attention.

He started on his way over.

"He's not gonna accept your confession man," Cartman said as he inched away from Kenny.

Kenny turned to throw him a smirk, "Jealous I have balls Cartman? Ones that will be sucked without fail?"

"Shut up," Cartman snapped back, "You're lucky that Stan and Kyle aren't here to see your pathetic attempt."

"You won't be either," Kenny said smugly, sticking out his tongue a bit.

Craig sat down across from Kenny, "What is it man?"

"Not a whole lot," Kenny started with as he drummed his fingers on the table, "I was just wondering if you're free for ten minutes after school?"

"I am," Craig said bluntly, taking a forkful of his salisbury steak, "Why does it matter?"

"Meet me where the goths usually sit right after school, they've all come down with a terrible case of the shits, it's fucking tragic," Kenny said, having to repress the grin on his face as he spoke.

Craig gave a single chuckle, "Did Cartmans mom cook for them?"

"Hey!" Was the only venomous exclamation Cartman could get out.

Kenny nodded, "Yeah, the chocolate chicken potpie was too much for them to handle."

"What a shame," Craig said, "Anything else? I told Tweek I'd only be a couple minutes before I go back."

Kenny shook his head, "Nope!"

"See you after school," Craig said as he made his way back to his table.

"Cartman it's gonna be great," Kenny said, taking a bite of the side dish.

Cartman sighed, "Don't say I didn't warn you."

-/-/-/-

Kenny has one flower behind his back, a lupin, as he waits out back for Craig to arrive. He's smiling a little bit as he watches the ravenette come into view and walk on over.

"So Kenny, what did you want to talk about?" Craig asked, tracing Kennys expression.

Kenny cleared his throat before holding out the singular flower, "Craig, I'm deeply enamored and adoring of you. You're one of the coolest fucking people on this planet and I'm lucky that I know you well enough to mostly read your emotions. I, I think you're one of my all time favorite people- more than Cartman, Stan, or even Kyle!"

Craig was silent.

"And with all that being said," Kenny said before taking a steadying breath, "Will you go out with me? Please?"

Craig roughly swallowed, "Kenny me and Tweek went on our first date this weekend."

That punched Kenny in the gut, all he could produce was a lifeless, "What?"

"Yeah, we were gonna tell everyone about it tomorrow during lunch," Craig said stiffly, "I'm so, so sorry."

"That's fine, thanks for letting me know," Kenny answered with to the best of his abilities, "You aren't, you aren't telling anyone right?"

"Fuck no," Craig said, "That'd be a total betrayal of trust and ruin our friendship."

Kenny nodded silently.

"Unless this did," Craig tacked on helpfully.

"No, we can still be friends, probably," Kenny said, "I'm going home."

"Me too," Craig said before turning to leave.

Kennys hands still tightly clutched the stem of the flower.

-/-/-/-

"What do you mean you knew and didn't tell me?!" Kenny snapped at Cartman.

"That's what you get for asking out everyone who says hi like some fucking whore!" Cartman shot back as he pressed a finger to Kennys chest.

"I don't do ask everyone out, formally at least," Kenny defended with in a sputtery manner.

Cartman narrowed his eyes, "Look man, it's gonna start wearing on you and I'd hate to see my best friend down in the dumps over it."

Kenny did nothing, not a nod or a word out of him.

"Wanna watch a shitty movie and eat KFC?" Cartman asked.

Kenny nodded, "Thanks."

Kenny feels a flutter in his stomach when he realizes who it is next, and for once cupid has good timing. That cunt shot his red tipped arrow into Kennys skull a week after Stans most recent breakup, right around the time he's rebounded entirely. They're finishing grade eleven now, almost prom at that, and the McCormick feels a sick satisfaction because he can ask Stan to go to prom if nothing else.

He can plan it out in advance again, watch his good friends love life like a hawk, make sure there's no hangups. He'll have someone say yes! Someone'll accept his confession and he hopes so much that it ends up being Stan instead of anyone else.

He does try to plan it out, he really does, but everything has a way of going to shit for the McCormick.

"Pass another one down!" Kyle called out for only for Craig to hand him a bottle of some local brew.

"Can I have that?" Kenny whined.

Kyle rolled his eyes and handed it over, "Fine."

"Thank you," Kenny said, batting his eyelashes a bit as he spoke. He popped open the bottle and tilted his glass before pouring in that golden liquid once again. This was his third beer, and maybe he was a bit more of a lightweight than he accounted for.

Stan placed down his mug, only the faintest red on his face. By all accounts he was sober, except for the amount of alcohol running through him, and the lack of filter. He pushed out his chair, "I'm heading outside for some fresh air."

"Alright, you do that," Was what he got in response from Cartman who was attempting to stay sober enough to drive. He was failing, but he could still walk straight.

Kenny watched eagerly as Stan left, sipping on his glass of beer the whole while. A small ring of foam was left on his upper lip, "I think I'm gonna do it."

"Don't do it," Cartman warned, heavily aware of what Kenny was referencing as he spoke, "You had a plan."

"I did but last time that fucked me in the ass with a chainsaw," Kenny explained with a shrug, "It's not coming out when I'm sober anyways."

"That's the problem idiot," Cartman muttered, "I'll preorder KFC for your mourning period."

Kenny gave a laugh, "There will be no mourning period this time."

Kyle reached over and swiped his thumb along the foam, wiping it down as best he could, "Don't wanna get beer in your kiss dude."

Kenny instantly froze at the soft, smooth touch. He was shoving it aside again in an instant, "Wish me luck dear friends."

Somehow he got a chorus of 'Good luck!'s on his way out to the sliding door. He wore an all too confident look on his face as he sidled up next to Stan. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a twenty dollar bill, fresh and green.

"Stan," Kenny begins with boldly.

"Yeah?" Stan answered with.

"I'll give you this crisp twenty dollar bill if you let me kiss you," Kenny said, waving the bill in the air as he spoke. He held it tightly between middle and pointer finger, saccharine grin on his face. He was winning right now.

He studied the slight shifts in Stans expression like he would be tested on it. He waited patiently for a response, he's answered with his twenty dollar bill being snatched away and pocketed. Then it's followed up with a hand at the small of his back tugging him flush against Stan and their lips meeting in a brief instant. That one instant is all he wants though, and maybe he's a bit too drunk to truly appreciate but he still craves it.

Stan releases him, "Thanks for the quick buck."

"Dude I fucking love you," Kenny accidentally said, words coming out in a mush of what he wanted to articulate.

"Real fucking shame," Stan said, leaning against the porch railing.

"You and Wendy hooked up again?" Kenny asked cautiously.

Stan laughed, a beautiful and angelic sound to Kenny, "No, god no. I think she's having an affair with Wendy right now. It's just that I'm shit."

"But you're not," Kenny said blandly, tugging on the syllables just a bit.

"Like, I'm bad at relationships dude. That was a good twenty bucks, but you can't buy your way into wasting your time on me," Stan explained. He tapped his foot on the wooden planks a bit, "Besides, if you're lucky you'll just forget this in the morning."

Kenny was not lucky and he remembered it perfectly when he woke up.

Kenny finds himself holed up in the bathroom at one of his best friends house when the realization of his next accomplice of romance hits him upside the head. Because of course it had to be him, it had too! He almost feels ill to the stomach because he knows exactly what the answer is, he doesn't even want to give himself false hope.

But he does anyways.

Life isn't worth anything if it isn't accompanied by the little lies you can tell yourself.

"Hey dude? You good in there?" Came a rather worried voice from the other side of the bathroom door.

"I'm fine," Kenny answered with as he stood up and unlocked the door. He hesitantly opened it and stepped out.

"So, no KFC or else you're gonna yak?" Cartman asked, Kenny nodded.

"Yeah. Definitely not," Kenny answered with a nervous chuckle.

"Deal breaker man, that's our usual 'Kenny just got rejected' meal," Cartman teased, "We could get something else, I guess."

"Thanks bro," Kenny said with a playful punch to Cartmans shoulder.

How was he gonna go about it this time?

-/-/-/-

He ended up deciding on a letter, a long, well thought out love letter. He knew it was too sappy for Cartman of all people but he also knew he'd just get turned down anyways. Why not do it with a little bit of flare? Have some fun while he's getting rejected for the umpteenth time before he's even done his school education.

He's scrapped at least four rough drafts, looking over the best parts of each and avoiding the really bad parts of the rest. He absolutely wants to die, but Cartman would remember and ask why he died so easily. Stupid curse and it's absolutely garbage ruleset, it really pissed off Kenny at times like this.

He took a deep steadying breath before paper to pen again.

Disclaimer: This letter is entirely seriously. Take each word at face value unless it's clearly part of a metaphor. It isn't a joke. I'm sorry in advance and I'm working on dealing with it.

Maybe that's a little bit too somber for the start, he keeps writing anyways.

Okay, with that disclaimer out the way, I need to say something. Dude I think I like you, I'm know that I do actually, even though you're an awful fucking asshole most of the time. You're just, you can be nice in private if you actually want to and that's pretty fucking endearing. And you've been sitting at my side for each and every single one of my rejections, even back in grade four!

Kenny pauses, maybe grade four is a bit too far back. He's writing in red ink, no going back now.

Look man. Every single time I've had someone reject me, brutally or otherwise, you've been there for me. You've spent entire nights playing shitty video games and eating KFC with me so I can forget and feel better about it. No matter what, and that's impressive if nothing else.

He tightens the grip on his pen a little bit and the side of his hand smudges a bit of the ink.

I already know what the answer is, I think it's helpful to get it out of my system as soon as possible so I don't dwell on it. I already know you're gonna say 'no' and probably call me a stupid homo or a whore cause you do that sometimes.

Sorry in advance, Kenny McCormick.

Before he can dwell on it he folds the paper in half and stuffs it in his pocket before heading out to Cartmans house.

-/-/-/-

"What is it this time? Get rejected by Tweek?" Cartman asked as he leaned on the doorway, arms crossed over his chest. He stared at Kenny, searching for the usual indicative reactions but there wasn't any.

"Worse," Was all Kenny could muster as he pulled out the folded paper.

"What's the paper?" Cartman asked as he snatched it out of Kennys hands. He expected some form of reaction or retaliation but he got absolutely nothing in response which was wrong. It was entirely wrong, he knew exactly how to push each of Kennys buttons and taking something without incentive was usually one of them.

Kenny glanced to his feet, "Read it."

"Right now?" Cartman asked, unfolding the paper doused in red ink.

Kenny nodded, "Or later, whenever works best."

"Something is seriously wrong with you today," Cartman said as he stared at his friend.

"You'll know when you read it," Kenny said absently as Cartman read over the words.

He glanced over them at first, latching onto a couple as he went before rereading it. He held the paper in one hand and tapped it with the back of the other a couple times. Then he checked it once more, disclaimer and all.

"Wow," Was what Cartman could manage.

Kenny couldn't even look Cartman in the face.

"At least you knew the answer am I right?" Cartman got out on an awkward laugh, "Look, I'll still be here eating KFC with you until the end of time, but saying vows? No fucking way."

"I know," Kenny got out quietly, "I know."

Cartman stuffed the letter in one of his few pockets, "Wanna watch a shitty movie and get some KFC?"

Kenny nodded, "That'd be fun."

Kenny just feels dread whenever those butterflies start to flutter in his stomach now, he's trying his hardest to beat them down. To ignore them, stuff them deep down where they'll never surface and hurt him again. He just wants to sob when he fails to keep himself safe, when he feels that all too familiar and unwelcome sensation crowd his skin.

He'll let himself have it one last time, he has a good net to fall back on. Said net being Cartman, and Cartman being used to dealing with an emotionally messed up Kenny. He's even roped Stan into helping him out with rough landing from getting rejected.

The real problem is that Kenny can't tell who it is, he can only tell it's definitely festering in his veins.

All he can do is wait patiently for the catalyst that's gonna set it off. The thing that's gonna let him know exactly who he needs to confess too and get it over with. He's just going through the final motions of school at this rate, trying to survive and ignore the ache.

He tried his best to give a smile when he opened the front door to find Kyle standing out front, "Hi Kyle."

"Meet me at Starks Pond, 5 'o clock sharp," Was what Kyle answered with.

Kenny was just stunned. "What?"

"Starks Pond, just me, and you," Kyle explained, "Five in the evening."

"We'll have to wait and see what happens then," Kenny said as he stuffed his hands in the pockets of his parka, "I am curious about why you'd like to meet me at Starks Pond."

"You'll have to come meet me to find out," Kyle spat back, trying to provoke a reaction out of Kenny. He hadn't been the same since the Stan thing, the Cartman thing went under the radar, even to Kyle.

Kenny raised a brow, "Oh? What makes you so sure of that, I have my ways Broflovski."

"Your ways aren't gonna get a word out of me this time," Kyle countered with, "Not when I've already paid them to keep quiet."

"Impressive," Kenny said, he held out a hand, "Consider it a deal."

Kyle took his hand in a firm shake, "Thanks bro," Then he pulled Kenny into a brief hug.

Kenny short circuited at the touch, the tough but still gentle squeeze. Hand to hand contact never once broken and head resting on his shoulder. He returned it the best he could despite how tense he felt, mostly because it was unexpected. Definitely because it was unexpected.

He watched Kyle walk off in one direction until he was starting to blur on the edge of Kennys eyesight. The McCormick pulled out his phone before sending over a message to Stan for help.

'what the fuck am i supposed to do?'

He watched the bubble flicker with intent.

'good luck man'

-/-/-/-

Starks Pond.

Kenny stagnated at the sign for much longer than he had too, but he really wanted to run away or just sink to the bottom once again. He had a pretty good idea of what was about to happen considering the past of Starks Pond. He wasn't sure if was mentally able to handle it, but it's Kyle, there's no way in fucking hell that Kyle would confess to him.

Especially not at Starks Pond of all places. It's far too cliche. Far too traditional. Far too perfect and exactly what Kennys ever wanted if someone were to confess to him instead.

He looks up from the sign before glancing around to find Kyle situated across the pond. Kenny starts on the trek over, eyes fixed firmly on the ground. He kicks small stones as he goes, some ending up in the consistently near frozen state of the pond. He plucks a crocus on his way over, bright purple petals standing out amidst the frozen ground.

He spins the stem between his thumb and pointer finger as he makes his way over. He actively refrained from the strings on is hood to cover his face, to protect himself just a bit more. He takes a small breath before he speaks up.

"What was it you wanted to talk about?" Kenny asked.

Kyle simply handed him a small, store bought bouquet. He could only tell it was store bought due to the variety of the blooms. He toyed with the petals as he thought over his next words.

"So, you brought me here to give me flowers?" Kenny asked, trying his hardest to avoid the topic that he knew was going to surface. He tactfully placed the crocus he picked alongside the rest of the flowers.

"Idiot, I'm here to ask you out," Kyle corrected, "And I thought you, ever the romantic might understand the connotations of a bouquet."

"Oh I do, I just didn't expect you of all people to fall for someone like me," Kenny said, "I'm kind of a loser these days."

"Who the fuck told you that?" Kyle questioned, both stern and worried all at once.

"No one, I am simply stating facts. Bad luck streak, poor- I am the worst romance candidate possible," Kenny got out on a light laugh, using himself as the butt of the joke just to make sure that Kyle understood he wasn't the right choice. That there are thousands of better choices out there.

Kyle simply answered with a firm, "You're the best one I've met."

"Prove it," Kenny said with a hum of laughter, he swung a foot back and forth, brushing the sole across the ground.

"Firstly, you don't fucking give up, ever, like, at all. Even when you were dying of muscle deterioration you still came back, somehow. You're a determined asshole and I admire that so much you would not believe," Kyle started with, raising a finger for his point, "Secondly, you have a decent sense of humor. In the worst of times and the best of times you're making everyone laugh one way or another. It's impressive honestly."

"And?" Kenny asked, still refusing to believe that Kyle is here to confess to him. It's making his heart pound a little bit harder in his chest, not hard enough to burst an artery of course. He knows exactly what that feels like. This is like a light summer breeze compared to a hurricane.

"Thirdly, you look hot, like honestly bro you are no doubt about it the most attractive of us all. Even more so than Craig, but that might be my blonde bias coming out when I say that. You got a couple scars here and there but honestly it's part of the look, and somehow your hair always looks nice? I don't know how you do it but I'm impressed," Kyle explained carefully, watching Kenny for any form of muted reaction, "And lastly, I love you man. I've grown into it and I doubt I'll grow out of it, but whatever we have, well, it's definitely mutated to love on my end at least."

Now Kenny felt like his heart was going to burst out of his chest. He couldn't get a single word out.

"I love you Kenny, here's hoping I'm not too late in fessing up," Kyle said, lowering his hand as he spoke.

Oh.

That's who Kenny had fallen for this time.

"You're not, I'm shocked I didn't confess first honestly," Kenny managed to get out.

"I've been procrastinating on this for years man," Kyle said bluntly, "Trust me, there was a massive window of time you could've spoken up first."

Kenny clutched the bouquet a little bit tighter, "I doubt I was in any shape to tell someone like you was crushing on me when I was jumping at the first sign of anything for anyone."

"So, you'll go out with me?" Kyle asked hopefully.

Kenny nodded, "Of course man, I'd fucking love to go on a date with you."

"Wanna go rub it in Cartmans face that you finally have a boyfriend?" Kyle asked in an almost teasing tone as he held out a hand.

"Fuck yeah," Came Kennys knee jerk response, gladly taking hand and interlacing their fingers.

#K2WEEK2023 #south park k2 #sp k2 #south park #kenny mccormick #kyle broflovski #eric cartman #and like #a bunch of others im not tagging #writing #fanfic #fanfiction #fan fic #fan fiction

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cricksims · 2 years ago

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I'm currently playing a Decades Challenge Legacy and will also start to post stuff about that. This one's less silly (theres still some silly) and more realistic than the Dimayuga Legacy, I'm a history major just couldn't help myself man. This is from an American history standpoint, but please note not everything is going to be 100% realistic. I will not have racism and anti-semiticism in my game, and that is not to downplay or erase that part of history it is because this is Sims! I don't feel comfortable portraying such serious issues in a silly video game. And as a Jew, I'm really trying to have some escapism from n*zi stuff right now.

1890S

We start with married couple Moses and Selma Borowski. The two lovebirds moved into a tiny countryside cottage soon after their small ceremony with family. While they love their time together, Moses and Selma want some pitter patters through the house. But with attempt after attempt not working out, can they manage to grow their little family?

Moses Borowski

Friendly and loyal, Moses Borowski is a good fellow to have as a friend. He enjoys woodworking and fishing to pay to the bills. Moses prides himself on being the breadwinner of the family, but can he keep it up when there's finally a baby on the way?

Traits: Family-Oriented, Loyal, Handy, Ambitious, Good

Aspiration: Nerd Brain

Likes: Selma, Gardening, Woodworking

Dislikes: Cooking, Cows, Meanies

Selma Borowski

Selma Borowski's the sweetest and most creative gal you'll meet. She struggles with her self worth after her failed attempts at bearing children. All she wants is a little bundle of joy in her arms.

Traits: Loves Outdoors, Creative, Feeble, Family-Oriented, Artistic

Aspiration: Successful Lineage

Likes: Cross-stitch, Painting, and Knitting

Dislikes: Cows, Gossiping, Blue Eyes

#sims 4 #sims 4 legacy #sims 4 decades challenge #sims 4 screenshots #sims 4 story #sims 4 simblr #sims 4 gameplay #sims 4 historical #borowski legacy #meet the borowskis

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meganlarussa · 1 month ago

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Create the Perfect Look with a Fashion Styling Course

Learning to style clothes can make a difference in a world where first impressions are important. Whether you want to become a stylist or improve your style, taking a fashion styling course online can teach you a lot. This blog will help you understand how these courses can help you put together great outfits, boost your confidence, and style your wardrobe.

Learning the Fundamentals of Fashion

Understanding what fashion is and what are its basic rules is very important before you start your journey. Fashion is not just wearing good clothes. It is about what color to choose, which colors to match, and what kind of accessory to choose. All these things play an important role in understanding the basic fundamentals of fashion.

Color Theory

Color theory is all about learning about colors, including the color wheel, complementary shades, and seasonal palettes. Understanding and learning about colors can enhance your styling skills. The right colors can brighten your complexion, boost your mood, and make your outfits pop. Understanding which hues work best for you is the key to creating visually appealing looks.

Body Shapes

Every body shape is unique, and understanding this can help you highlight your strengths and weaknesses. A personal style course can teach you how to choose silhouettes that flatter different body types. When you feel confident in your body, you can carry any outfit beautifully.

Fabric Knowledge

The drape, texture, and weight of fabrics play a critical role in how an outfit comes together. Opting for a fashion style course will not only educate you on the properties of various materials but also help you select the right fabric for different occasions and seasons.

How can you Create a Perfect Look With a Fashion Styling Course?

Developing your style can be a game changer in your life. An online personal styling course can help you build your confidence and give you the courage to bring out different styles every day.

Develop your style

Once you’ve learned the basics, the next step is to find your personal style. A styling course often includes things that help you discover what you like. This could involve making mood boards, trying out different outfits, and looking at current trends. You’ll also learn to identify key pieces that express who you are, like a bold necklace, a fitted blazer, or vintage jeans. The course will help you choose and style these signature items for a polished look.

Try to mix and match your outfit

When you have multiple outfits in front of you, try to match them differently. For example, you can try a black kurta with blue flared jeans. Accessorise with some oxidized jewely and you are good to go for a classy yet simple look. Mixing different outfits, not only makes you look different but also gives you a sense of confidence and pride in creating something good.

Use unique accessories

To make your look pop out, even more, better, you can accessorize yourself with multiple things. You can use bold jewelry like bracelets, rings, and different layers of neckpieces. Wearing accessories makes you look elegant and smart.

Build up your self-confidence

One of the biggest advantages of taking a personal styling course online is the confidence it gives you. As you learn more and gain experience, you’ll feel more sure of yourself in your clothing choices, both for yourself and in a professional setting. Fashion is a strong way to express who you are. By knowing how to build your wardrobe, you can showcase your personality through your outfits which will help you feel more confident in social situations.

Final Thought

A fashion styling course isn’t just about dressing nicely but about learning how to express yourself through fashion. By learning the basics, finding your style, and building confidence, you'll be ready to create great looks for yourself or others.

As you start this exciting journey, remember that the main goal of fashion styling is to feel good about yourself and show your unique personality. The fashion world is full of possibilities and let a styling course help you create looks that truly reflect who you are.

To go ahead in your fashion journey, choose Style Yourself Chic with Megan LaRussa. She is a professional wardrobe stylist and a personal fashion consultant who offers multiple fashion courses that can make your journey knowledgeable and interesting.

Disclaimer- The information provided in this content is just for educational purposes and is written by a professional writer. Consult us to learn more about the fashion styling course.

#fashion #image consultant #style coach #professional wardrobe stylist #wardrobe consultant #personal stylist #fashion tips #style

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iwantjobs · 6 months ago

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5/22/2024: I can't believe colonizer Spain and its old Spanish colonies like notorious Colombia are the leader of an independent Palestine for the reason of Israel colonizing Palestinian region. It's embarrassing to see England and old British colonies of America, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia don't see this. Even the Vatican has recognized Palestine as its own state. Or perhaps subconsciously this is also a Christian religious war between Catholicism and Protestant of Church of England to control the land of Jesus as their prIze land with Spain, the Vatican City, and Italy as buds against England and the old colonies. I am supporting the Hamas terrorists and the Palestinians because Israel did steal land back from the Hamas terrorists whose ancestors have been living there for 400 years (I see Palestine as a region on the world map. I have never seen ancient Jewish land of 3,000 years ago on a map before, but I did see an old map with the word Palestine and there was no Israel on it. Also the terrorists' religion taught me that God is not a human (they never showed Muhammed's face); whereas the Christians taught me that Jesus is God and God is a human even though the Bible clearly stated that Jesus is only God's son. Let's end the war and create 4 new countries in the Holyland Jerusalem, a true democracy of Jews and Palestinians, Gaza as the Vatican City of Muhammed's religion, and Palestine. I wonder why God (Jesus' father not Jesus per the Bible) had to go kill the Iranian president for? I would never want any president of a country to be killed, but his presidency works like a vice-president in America. The plane where he died has a a Jesus looking cross on it. And to nearly killed the Slovakia man in that. I know it's because the Christianity force and the anti-Putin force are bigger than their adversaries that's why those two guys got hit. Oh well, so much to learn so little time, only God (Jesus' father not Jesus per the Bible) knows. I wonder if the Christians know who Jesus' father is? Is he a human like Jesus or is he not a human? I wonder why Iran call America Satan while Americans and Israel call terrorists and the Hamas terrorists evil and the dark force? I don't know who to believe. However, I'll start using my own heart to analyze by trying to be in the middle as much as I can for I see one world won't allow females to have any freedom and another world gay males are having oral sex at the Capitol building and post it on social media, trans women are raping girls in bathrooms, gays are bullying heterosexual near death in San Francisco with me as their victim and a lesbian sexually harassed me in a minor form, gays are sexually harassing heterosexual men in San Francisco, gay men are dancing naked in Pride parades, and one religion covers up the human bodies while another religion has their God (Jesus) nearly naked with his sexy crotch nearly exposed to closeted gay priests to drools over every day at church to rape our poor choir boys while the Pope in the old days let them off with little punishment. So hard but so easy at the same time. I know in San Francisco I found the reincarnation of Jesus (second coming of Jesus) as half tanned-white Jew with Jew curvy nose blended in with Christian Filipino mother's nose and Satan living as a man (kinda gay hetero male with blond hair and blue eyes with a drop of indigenous American blood from Oregan who is addicted to hard drugs and willing to seduce gay men for money for drugs) Trang's thinking at 51.16 years old

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psychreviews2 · 8 months ago

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Case Studies: Dora – Sigmund Freud Pt. 3

The cycle of disappointment

Freud was right that communism wouldn't work to eliminate conflict and racism, but he wasn't able to see much further than that. The 2008 economic crash, as bad as it was, proved that a form of democratic socialism was something that people couldn't do without. It prevented the fallout on the poor from being as bad as it was in prior generations, vindicating some of Otto's idealism for a future with more stability.

Freud's advice, based on his patient's inability to deal with reality, and make healthy changes to the environment, was prophetic with his result with Ida. In Hannah's book, accounts of Ida's outcome identified her as being similar to her mother, with her "excessive cleanliness. She and her mother saw the dirt not only in their surroundings, but also on and within themselves. Both suffered from genital discharges." Richie Robertson in the introduction of the Oxford World Classics version, hints that Ida's mother, instead of having a psychosis of cleaning, was performing a form of revenge, since "you have made me a housewife; very well, I’ll be a perfect housewife and make you suffer for it." Some of these feminist interpretations are quite modern. Another interpretation was that Ida's mother wanted revenge for getting syphilis or gonorrhea from her husband. My interpretation is that the obsession to clean is more about cleaning a person's self-esteem, to avoid rejection from others.

"Nothing is good enough to join us!"

Hannah's book goes further into Dora's Christian conversion, and her, and Freud's escape from the NAZIS. Again the pattern repeated of destroyed hopes for the Jewish. Even when deliberate attempts to imitate the culture of the ruling ethnic groups, her brother Otto said that "assimilated Jews [were] still obviously Jews according to their facial characteristics. Race instincts and race prejudices live on after assimilation." Otto felt that Christian conversion wasn't going to work, and only intermarriage with Christians would solve the problem. This differed at the time with the Zionists who felt that the only solution would ultimately be to live in a Jewish nation.

This is a great lesson for all people who want to immigrate to another country. The lesson is that if you compete with the status and identities that others have already claimed, they will split hairs in every way to put you down. "You're too Jewish! Oh you're Christian now, but you still look Semitic. Not good enough!" This goes more into my influences from René Girard's Judeo-Christian works, but to enter into any new society, even if you are not that different from the culture you are joining, because you are a HUMAN, you have to be different in a way that is useful to others. This means creating new businesses, new products, and have something new to trade with the established identities of others.

Blue Ocean Strategy - W. Chan Kim, Renée Mauborgne: https://www.isbns.net/isbn/9781625274496/

If one can't create those situations, then filling positions that are needed as opposed to competing for the most alluring hierarchies everyone else wants, creates the harmony that Otto was so desperately trying to seek. There will always be competition for pride and social rewards that leads to conflict, especially in economic crashes and the resulting scarcity of opportunities. People are forced to step on each other's toes to hold onto an identity in a recession.

Circling around, zeroing in - Thanissaro Bhikkhu: https://www.dhammatalks.org/Archive/y2018/181116_Circling_Around,_Zeroing_In.mp3

I remember coming out of the Spike Lee movie BlacKkKlansman, and seeing an interracial couple walking out with looks of relief of validation. They were obviously maintaining their identities and going to mind their own business and live their lives, which looks the same as everyone else's lives.

But a society where people are trading their advantageous differences with each other means people can see value in those differences, and therefore less bigotry, and if there is intermarriage, it's more authentic because the marriage isn't a means to an end, to gain an identity. They have a healthy identity beforehand and appreciate each other's. There's always a commonality that can be found if people are willing to look for it. In my travels, most people are worried about the same things. Getting a good job, having their kids find success in school, and trying to gain a good marriage. After a period of culture shock, people eventually find new cultural habits to graft onto the ones they want to keep. Sometimes this takes a couple of generations, but it happens.

Flexible goals

With the help of her son, Ida was able to move to New York. She lived with the same physical problems as before and died of colon cancer in 1945. One can imagine that Dora would have loved to have lived long enough to see how things had changed for women, or visible minorities, but I think she would still notice the same cycles of dissatisfaction in modern people as in the past. As long as people are struggling with identities that have mutual claims, they will be stuck in the same conflicts, regardless of what their success looks like from afar to those followers outside their milieu. "Control of consciousness determines the quality of life," as Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi reminds. A lot of people at the top of the pyramid feel they don't have as much control over their life as they think they do. Having to make appearances, networking, dealing with politics and keeping allies satisfied, reduces a lot of that sense of control. René Girard, also noticed the intensity of the desire, and how it dissipates when the desired object is obtained, or how it intensifies again when the object is lost. The freedom of knowing this is that I can always look for a new object when there's a rivalry, because ultimately, I will be bored with any possession, because no possession can make you eternally satisfied like an omnipotent God. New objects will always be desired. I can instead look at objects for their actual value, not whether the object will add to social proof that I'm a human deity. I also don't have to worship an idol, like a missing parent, or pretend to be a God and all the effort at impression management that narcissists go through. The great value of this knowledge is that it doesn't have to be hidden. I don't need to hide this knowledge to one-up someone else. The knowledge is flexible, no matter how many people know it, and having more people know this, the better. Much like Galadriel's "I pass the test" speech in Lord of the rings, we have to see this in ourselves. It's not so much the ambition, which can be noble, but how aggressively we look at "Others", as Girard emphasizes, with this ambition. It's actually hard to let go of the sadomasochism of bullying and revenge. But for the one who does, narcissistic neurosis cools off into a beautiful peace and self-acceptance.

Finding personal meaning

Another solution to a lack of personal meaning and identity in life comes from Viktor Frankl, in Man's Search for Meaning. He emphasized the need for people to actively find their own meanings in their current lives. His message was similar to Freud's of actively using ingenuity and realistic choices and actions that have personal meaning, to reduce that sense of helplessness that makes people neurotic or violent. These negative feelings come from chasing activities to "be somebody important", while at the same time putting oneself down for not being there already. Yet there are many important things in our lives we are doing now that should allow us to be as we are, without shame and envy. We remind ourselves what we are trying to achieve when we are taking care of someone who is sick, or serving a customer, or communicating important values. It doesn't mean we let go of healthy ambitions, but we know that it's okay to just start somewhere, and all these early activities are important stepping stones to where you want to go.

If we can't control our consciousness all the time, if we have to change objects of desire, if we choose to see the meaning and importance of our current mundane activities, they become intrinsically satisfying, and then the self-hatred disappears. This meaning doesn't require imitating a narcissistic idol providing a parental meaning for us. We don't have to gather into the safety of ethnic groups and scapegoat others for our problems. A lot of Viktor's message resonates with me, because meaning is found in those overlooked opportunities that are available to us right now. We shouldn't get locked into objects that we are not ready for or are not available to us.

A Case of Hysteria - Sigmund Freud: https://www.isbns.net/isbn/9780199639861/

Freud, Dora, and Vienna 1900 - Hannah S. Decker: https://www.isbns.net/isbn/9780029072127/

Physiology of Love and Other Writings - Paolo Mantegazza: https://www.isbns.net/isbn/9781442691728/

Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: https://www.isbns.net/isbn/9780061339202/

Man's Search for Meaning - Viktor Frankl: https://www.isbns.net/isbn/9780671023379/

Ellis, A. W. & Raitmayr, O. & Herbst, C. (2016). The Ks: The Other Couple in the Case of Freud’s “Dora”. Journal of Austrian Studies 48(4), 1-26. University of Nebraska Press.

I See Satan Fall Like Lightning - René Girard: https://www.isbns.net/isbn/9781570753190/

René Girard and Creative Mimesis - Thomas Ryba: https://www.isbns.net/isbn/9781498550574/

René Girard and Creative Reconciliation - Thomas Ryba: https://www.isbns.net/isbn/9780739169001/

The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien: https://www.isbns.net/isbn/9780261103207/

A Survey of the Woman Problem - Rosa Mayreder: https://www.isbns.net/isbn/9781330999349/

Psychology: http://psychreviews.org/category/psychology01/

#dora #sigmund freud #psychoanalysis #psychology #casestudies #Projection #oedipus complex #transference #countertransference

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spiderfreedom · 9 months ago

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Very long post ahead sorry

The issue is EXECUTION, not intent. It's good to have non-conventional female protagonists, as long as they still feel of their time and don't talk like a Twitter bio.

This. We want to be able to see non-conventional women, but we want them to feel "of their time." I had to stop reading a certain popular historical novel because the protagonist felt far too modern in her approach towards sexism in the 1950s (Lessons in Chemistry). It was just too much and broke my immersion. It was too unrealistic. But then I read a different one from the same period that was more realistic while still dealing with women coming to terms with sexism (When Women Were Dragons). You have to respect the era somewhat if you don't want it to just be an aesthetic set dressing.

It's why, although most of your rich Victorian blorbos would be imperialist assholes, we don't tend to depict protagonists as racist. Most of your medieval darlings would HATE Jews, but we don't write about that, now, do we? Because it's not fun!

"Babel" is one of the best modern examples of actual Victorian blorbos having period-accurate sentiments about, you know, race and imperialism, and it's a difficult read! (Great book, but not pleasant!) I like to imagine that other marginalized people, like people of color, disabled people, etc. may like to see themselves in the past in a way that honors the reality of their lives without turning into trauma porn. The past is fascinating, aesthetically cool too, but not everything about it was cool, and anyone wanting to seriously learn about it is better served reading a non-fiction book than consuming any sort of fiction, anyway.

Also on the same topic, if we portrayed the way men actually thought of women, you could basically get rid of most historical romance. If we were being honest, most husbands had sex with their wives when they didn't want to, pawned the chores off on her even when she was working (cough, Clara Schumann), and generally were not supportive of their girls getting much education. We don't include these aspects in our historical romances because it kind of ruins the fun of historical romance!

If we can allow this Shockingly Enlightened historical man to exist, I don't see why we can't similarly entertain the fantasy of a historical feminist woman who is Shocking Enlightened.

I'm getting so sick of major female characters in historical media being incredibly feisty, outspoken and public defenders of women's rights with little to no realistic repercussions.

It does feel like every historical woman protagonist has the same weird personality which is like, Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice but make it Feminist. They're all just so witty and making comments on everything and they just get it in a way other women don't. It might have had a use at some point when we were making steps into feminist historical fiction, but we've outgrown it by now.

We have examples of women (and girls!) who spoke out against the mores of their time. They were, unfortunately, not taken very seriously, and usually alone. (It took a long time for women with gripes about The System to realize they weren't alone and band together and get their own money to support their own organizations.) I want to see their stories told, the good, the bad, the ugly. I also want to see women who broke norms in unrealistic ways, but with realistic consequences (e.g. the entire setup of "Blue Eye Samurai" is a little contrived to create this story of a half white/half Japanese female ronin, but the way she acts is relatively realistic. She has sympathy for the grueling trials women are put through, but she can't risk her life or her mission standing up for every woman she sees. It also fits in with the generally cynical atmosphere of the show!).

They weren't letting the side down by not having and representing modern gender ideals. It says a lot about how you view average ordinary women if the idea of one of your main characters behaving like one makes them seem lame and uninteresting to you.

I don't entirely agree. "Ordinary" women enforcing gender roles and being complicit in sexism were, in fact, letting women down by trying to get by in their own times. (Still are - every woman who makes fun of a woman for being fat, gender non-conforming, ugly, not having a man, not knowing how to do makeup, etc. is shoring up her own status by showing her willingness to play within the rules while pushing other women down.) They may not have thought about it in that way, but every time they looked down on some other woman as lesser for not participating in the system, they reinforced that very system and the means by which they attained any success in that system. Every well meaning mother who squeezed the confidence out of her daughter to transform her into marriage material passed her shackles on as well as advice. (We could talk about what it means that humans in general prefer to cope with systems rather even imagining trying to change them, but that's another topic. None of this is unique to women, and plenty of marginalized group members try to "get by" by adopting majority codes and ruthlessly policing anyone below them. They are still marginalized! But they also uphold the system marginalizing everyone because they believe they've found a way to get higher up.)

In books like "The Radical Women's Press of the 1850s," the suffragists spend a lot of time talking about men not wanting them to vote (duh), but they also spend a lot of time talking about women judging them, viewing spinsters and old maids as social pariahs, saying things like "I have all the rights I already need," making fun of women who did not fit into beauty standards... Convincing women that things should change was as much a battle as convincing men. So frankly, I do think the women opposing them were making things worse for future women whether or not they realized it.

You can still write such a character in a relatable way, such that the audience understands her motivations and even sympathizes with her. But I don't blame anyone for wanting to see a woman in a pre-20th century setting who isn't working in the narrow set of roles available to us (maiden, married housewife, prostitute). I've seen enough of these and I'm bored (except for realistic depictions of sex workers; sex workers are almost always background characters, romanticized, and/or end up dying).

I'd like non-conventional women who make some sense within their time period! I'd like "conventional" women whose lives are deeply explored, who reflect the common views of their time! I'd like more well thought-out women characters in general.

I have way more to say because the portrayal of 'feminist' women in historical fiction is interesting to me as a real challenge of balancing historical accuracy and Not Depressing Your Audience. Also we know plenty of conservatives who don't want to see non-conventional women in historical fiction because they find the very concept of a non-conventional woman threatening and they enjoy the idea of a fictional refuge where women were happy with their subordinate status and didn't complain, so that's also something to consider. (Same with the anger at including people of color in historical fiction - no, there probably would not have been black folks in a medieval English town, but if the individual piece is not about 100% True Historical Accuracy, can we not just move on? Why can't black people be allowed to see themselves depicted in fictional historical settings in something other than slavery or segregation?) So it's a tough equation to balance and I'm gonna stop or I'll write more words but basically, many good points being made

I'm getting so sick of major female characters in historical media being incredibly feisty, outspoken and public defenders of women's rights with little to no realistic repercussions. Yes it feels like pandering, yes it's unrealistic and takes me out of the story, yes the dialogue almost always rings false - but beyond all that I think it does such a disservice to the women who lived during those periods. I'm not embarrassed of the women in history who didn't use every chance they had to Stick It To The Man. I'm not ashamed of women who were resigned to or enjoyed their lot in life. They weren't letting the side down by not having and representing modern gender ideals. It says a lot about how you view average ordinary women if the idea of one of your main characters behaving like one makes them seem lame and uninteresting to you.

#mypost #women in media #it's true that historical fiction takes a simplistic view of gnc women #and feminist women in general #but also i think we can have a little wish fulfilment. as a treat

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masonpelt · 2 years ago

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Get Woke, Gain Earned Media Coverage

Get woke go broke, rhymes. It is, however, a stupid criticism nearly every time I've heard it applied to a company's advertising. The exceptions are when the criticism of wokeness is a criticism of the messaging and placement. Or when a company is truly ideologically motivated, but the latter is rare.

In almost every example of ad people call "woke," the business has no company-wide ideology. People at companies have ideologies and may push a firm toward their morality. But Disney or Procter & Gamble are too large and complex as organizations, having too many moving parts to be truly ideological.

When a publicly traded company, with a board of directors and many layers of executives, does something, it's generally smoothed into whatever the decision-makers believe benefits them. Their incentives are aligned with the company making money to pay out shareholder dividends. Charitably this is an imperfect system, but it also means any perceived ideology, woke or otherwise, is a hollow commitment.

Target

Pride Month is June. For the last few years that means each June, Target will greet everyone with a display for cardboard rainbows holding forth gay apparel, fa la la la, la la, la la.

Target has LGBTQ+ employees and allies up and down the org chart. But the pride displays are because the items sell at a profit. It's a sign of cultural acceptance that the LGBTQ+ market segments are so far out of the closet they can be openly catered to by a company that wants money.

The hand full of people flipping out on social media over the rainbow vomit wokeness are, generally speaking, free advertising. Were Target a single location store in rural Texas it may not work. But Target is a top 10 retailer by size, and at scale, the lunatic's freaking out help the bottom line.

Bud Light

Bud Light hired Dylan Mulvaney for a promotion. Mulvaney is trans, and while famous, not Beyoncé famous. Also, Mulvaney is not the kind of person normally associated with Bud Light, causing some uproar. The buzz has probably been incredible for Bud Light directly, but certainly for AB InBev.

Bud Light is a joke among many; It's the water of beers. It's cat piss in a glass. It's also the top-selling beer in the US for 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, and I stopped looking. Bud Light can handle people posting social media videos of them shooting the blue cans.

All the social media attention is giving a mid-tier influencer's brand partnership, Beyoncé levels of awareness. The rants and media coverage will make some thirsty for beer. Some may even want to support bud light. Others won't buy a Bud Light or a Budweiser; they know better get woke go broke after all!

But the people, now thirsty for beer, may pick up some similarly priced beer from Michelob Ultra, Stella Artois, Busch Beer, Natural Light, Landshark, Shock Top, Hoegaarden, or one of the other brands owned by AB InBev. AB InBev doesn't hold all the beer, but they own a lot. Carlsberg Group, Molson Coors, and Heineken will benefit from the Bud Light outrage.

The biggest threat to beer right now, is perceived as hard seltzer. If Mulvaney has gotten people talking about beer, AB InBev will make money. And that's the goal, profit.

True Ideology

Few to none of the woke companies people point to are ideologically motivated. They deserve neither praise nor rage for wokeness. Some companies are truly moving due to ideology.

Look at B&H Photo, they aren't a woke example, but you'll understand what I mean. The company is owned and operated by Hasidic or Orthodox Jews who keep Shabbos. So bhphotovideo.com does not process orders from sundown on Friday to sunset on Saturday.

What about Chick-fil-A? Despite an apparent 2019 PR push saying Chick-fil-A loses 14% in revenue from closing on Sunday, the math was stupid. The churchy chicken chain earns more per restaurant than any other fast food joint.

Closed on Sunday drives a volume of sales on Saturday and Monday. The spike (from limited data) for Chick-fil-A's sales is well above the expected baseline set by comparing competing restaurants. Consider shoutouts from the evangelical pulpits Chick-fil-A gets, and closing on Sunday is a marketing strategy, not a moral stance.

Bad Ads

So why do some woke ads fail if every large company, including privately owned Chick-fil-A, is just in it for money? Because some ads are ineffective.

The first time I heard "get woke, go broke," it was over a Gillette ad. The ad's messaging missed any reasonable mark. It spoke neither to the primary buyers of the products nor the primary consumers.

As I've written before, the "look at your man" Old Spice ads were brilliant because they addressed women with a male significant other. At that time, at least, that demographic was the primary buyer of men's toiletries.

The Gillette toxic masculinity ad started by pivoting the established company slogan, asking, "Is this the best a man can get?" Saying "the best a man can get" is a statement about product quality. The other is asking, "can't men be better?"

It reminded me of the Globo Gym ad from the film Dodgeball. "Tired of being overweight and under attractive?" Come out to the gym, you useless waste of human flesh. Generally speaking, shaming people doesn't drive sales.

If the Gillette ad used the same opener about toxic masculinity, switching to a montage of clips of Fred Rogers, Jim Henson, Steve Irwin, and LeVar Burton, ending with "the best a man can get" tagline, the ad would have been more effective. The ad was just bad.

Disclosures: Via agencies and production companies, Mason Pelt worked with Bud Light (Graphics for Bud Light Bands) in 2012 and Gillette (YouTube Channel Management) in 2013-14.

Article by Mason Pelt of Push ROI. First published in MasonPelt.com on April 11, 2023. Photo by Dylan Mulvaney on TikTok

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juliaseiderdown · 2 years ago

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symbols!

shoutout to the random teacher on google named Mr. Rose who wrote this, credit to him.

colors

Red: blood, passion, emotion, danger, or daring

Black: passivity, death, evil

White: innocence, purity, light.

Green: new life, fertility, hope

Yellow: caution, decay, decrepitude, old age Blue: peace, serenity, eternity

Pink : innocence, femininity

Purple : royalty

Brown : earth, soil, humility and poverty Orange : heat, sun

Gold: riches, sacredness

seasons + nature

🌸🌱🌿Spring: birth, new beginning

🌞🍉🌻Summer: maturity, knowledge

🍂🍁🥮Autumn: decline, nearing death, growing old

❄️☃️🌨️Winter: death, sleep, hibernation, or stagnation

🌅Dawn: illumination, hope

💡Light: truth, safety, warmth, knowledge Darkness: evil, ignorance, danger

🍎Apple: temptation, loss of innocence

🌱Weeds : evil, wildness/outcasts of society

🌼Flowers: beauty, youth, strength, gentleness

🌹Rose: budding youth, romance

💧Water: purification, cleansing Evergreen tree: immortality

weather

🌬️🍃Wind and storms: violent human emotions

⚡️Lightning : power and strength

🌅Morning : purity and promise

🌈Rainbows : heralds of good fortune, heaven

⛈️Thunder : God’s wrath, punishment

🌁🌫️Fog/Mist: isolation; confusion, obscurity

☔️Rain: sadness or despair

animals

🕊️Dove : peace, purity, simplicity

🦊Fox: slyness, cleverness

🪶Raven: death, destruction, impending doom Lion: strength, power, authority

🦚Peacock: pride, vanity

🐭Mouse : shyness, meekness

🦅Hawk : sharp, keen eyesight

🦉Owl : wisdom

🐈Cats : cunning, forethought, and ingenuity

🐑Lamb : sacrifice element, the children of God

🦅Eagle: freedom

🐴Donkey: humility, patience, stupidity

🦤Buzzard/Vulture: warning of impending death

clothing

🦸🏻‍♀️Cape: withdrawal into oneself or into God.

🎭Mask: demonic tendencies

🧥Cloak: human trickery

settings

🌳🦌Forest: usually a place of evil or mystery

🌵🏜️Desert: isolation: alienation, loneliness

⛲️🏡Garden: paradise of a haven

🏞️Park: a place for retreat and renewal

objects

💀Skull: death

👑Crown: wealth

💍Ring: long-term commitment

🪓Axe: battle, work

🥋Belt: protection, chastity

🪟Window: freedom or lack thereof Door: opportunity

🕯️Candle: light in the darkness

⭕️Circle: wholeness, perfection

🔥Fire: Hell; pain, death

🧋Pearl: incorruptibility

⚔️Sword: protection, strength

🚙Journey: the call of fate, adventure

NUMBERS

Zero (0): the ultimate mystery; nothingness

Three (3): tripartite nature of the world; signifies fulfillment Consider: Holy Trinity; 3: beginning, middle, end; past, present, and future;

Five (5): human perfectionConsider: Five senses, five fingers on each hand, five toes on each foot, five wounds of Jesus

Seven (7): totality; divine abundance Consider: Seven days of creation, seven days of the week, seven sacraments, seven deadly sins

Twelve (12) universal fulfillment Consider: Twelve tribes of Israel, Twelve Apostles, twelve days of Christmas, 12 months in a year

Forty (40): penance, purification Consider: 40 days of lent, Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness, the Jews wandered the desert for forty years, Moses spent 40 days on Mt. Sinai, the Great Flood was caused by 40 days of rain

my notes

really interesting to note how a lot of symbols are Biblical.

make up your own symbols and meanings!

symbolism can be shown in a number of things from parts of your characters to their clothing and surroundings... be creative!

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loki-god-of-mischief-13 · 5 months ago

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@mossadspygoat @david-goldrock @casavanse and anyone else who sees the idiot who insists it’s pink washing , point and laugh guys.

Kay, let’s break this down anyway.

It is a war not a genocide, yes many people died but it is not a genocide. A genocide would be trying to erase the Palestinian identity. Also Israel just wants the hostages back, and Hamas are the ones who hide and put the hostages in “safe zones”. It also should be up to Hamas to build bomb shelters.

a. No apartheid. There’s not just Jews in Israel, there’s also a large percentage of Muslims, as well as Christians, Druze and others.

2. b. Also the wall was built to protect Israel from attacks like what Hamas did on October 7th, yet it didn’t work.

3. No Israelis being able to celebrate pride isn’t pink washing.

The queer Israelis care about pride, they are not just pretending to care. What corporations do, pretending to care, is pinkwashing not Israelis celebrating pride. You might say it’s a distraction but then you could go on and say every pride parade and any event is a distraction from Gaza, but if it’s not about Jews you can’t say that. What about what’s going on in Sudan, or Ukraine or what China’s doing to the Uyghurs, but Israel’s not involved in those, so I guess it doesn’t matter to you.

No queer rights still need improving in Israel but no place is perfect. I’m hoping certain laws will get fixed.

4. The Israeli flag doesn’t symbolize the death of Palestinians.

5. Here’s what Hamas does to queer people in Gaza.:

Here is how a Palestinian described being gay in Palestine:

6. What queer Jewish Palestinians? 7. again not all Jews or Israelis are white. Also it’s not always white oppressors/ POC oppression narrative. The Arabs colonialised places to. But that’s another topic.

Jewish lgbt pride flags at pride marches 💖🧡💛💚💙✡️

#Jumblr #pride #its not pinkwashing #am yisrael chai #free palestine from hamas #fuck hamas #Pro Israel #i stand with israel

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cozywriting · 2 years ago

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Love, from Nantucket

An upcoming Inglourious Basterds fanfiction.

All characters and world setting elements belong to Quentin Tarantino and are credited as such.

I do not own anything else unless stated otherwise.

Genre: Romance/Drama

Pairing: Hans Landa x oc

A Hans Landa character study.

It is post-World War II, and the Nazi regime has fallen. Officiated war veteran and former SS, Hans Landa is living quieter as a local detective on Nantucket Island. Life suddenly turns when Hans intertwines with a familiar face and must understand that you can never fully run from your past.

“Wouldn’t you rather know if there are any Jews hiding under our feet?”

“No, because it’s you I wish to know about.”

He dreamt of her again.

Waves crashed at her feet, splashing the hem of her dress. Her eyes were ponds of blue, the coolness radiating the emerald glow in his. The sand was warm and soft. The rhythm of her laughter echoed across the beach. He moved closer, hoping to feel her this time. These were his favorite moments in his new life. She existed this way only in his dreams, and it was the only place he allowed himself to be vulnerable.

It was always her, after all.

Every step he took, her figure began to fade. Slowly, then all together she vanished into the breeze.

He was alone, once again.

Hans awoke with a gasp, covered in sweat. His ears perked at the clashing of high-tide waves outside his window. He quickly wiped a hand over his moist face, looking up at the ticking clock.

4:17 a.m.

He paid very little attention to another blonde stirring from under the covers next to him.

“Hans? What’re you doin’…” She mumbled, clearly dazed from her sleep cycle.

Hans annoyingly stared down at her dozing form momentarily before sliding away the covers. Walking towards his closet, he slipped on some slacks and a buttoned-down shirt.

He decided he would kick her out later.

Hans walked down the stairs of his two-bedroom townhome and turned to open the guest bathroom. Since his days as an SS officer, people have proudly regarded him as a war hero. He swam in popularity and praise amongst the community. Still, he lived a quieter life on the island and was offered a work position for Nantucket’s local detective agency.

He blamed his pride and squished the ounce of thought that knew it was the only way to hold onto the shell of his former life.

The light flickered on with a switch, and he eyed his pale reflection before splashing cool water over his face. He was practically unrecognizable. Long gone were the years of his clean-shaven face. He now sported a dark beard but kept it well-trimmed. His sandy brown hair was styled a bit longer these days, and the tips of his bangs did the job on covering his most warranted scar.

It was the talk of the town once he first arrived, his head wrapped up in layers of gauze. Somehow the local rumor mill created a distorted tale that it was a group of Nazi men to blame for viciously branding him. Though, this proved to be quite effective in garnering sympathy amongst the women he routinely bedded.

Hans always loved rumors.

#inglourious basterds #inglourious basterds fanfiction #quentin tarantino #christoph waltz #hans landa #hans landa fanfiction #christoph waltz x reader #hans landa x oc #fanfiction #wip #romance #this is a multi-chaptered wip but i'm posting this snippet here to see if it will gain any reach and potentially peak interest!!#cozy writes #lfn

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vasiliquemort · 3 years ago

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hi care to explain why your newest meiker has the bandera flag in it? i support ukraine but nationalism is always evil, no matter the situation

Oh! Um, hi, yes, yes I do care to explain;)

It's inspiring to see people interested in the story, even though it can make it harder to interact and perceive within the art.

An important point that I need to say right away is that at this place we do not support either Bandera or the OUN or UPA as a whole. My family is originally international, my relatives are both Jews and Russians, and I do not perceive patriotism as a matter of birth and blood (probably, it is even unpleasant for me to perceive myself as a patriot in general, since the foundations of my life and images are concentrated primarily with individualism and personal independence of each person). I was born and lived all my life in the eastern part of Ukraine, the people and historical conditions here are much more predisposed to the Union with its good (and not really) realities, and the OUN and UPA movement is considered a radical organization here and is not welcome, and my inclusion in "Dnieper Gothic" of the red and black flag was a very tense and calculated decision (but oh, I'm bad at math).

Right now there was a preliminary introduction - but in general I wanted to tell you that the origins of this flag in this game were an artistic reference to this painting by Repin (drawn in 1891 and refers to a letter written by the Cossacks to the Ottoman Sultan in the 17th century, while the UPA with its symbolics was founded in 1942).

There is two lowered banners are depicted in the background (top-left), one is customary yellow-blue, the other is red-black. And Ilya Repin, whose works were absolutely stunning and detailed historical creations, was very careful and delicate with all the elements of his paintings, constantly consulting with historians when creating each of the shares of weapons, armor, clothing, appearance, landscapes and architecture, and, as in in this case - with symbols and horugves.

Speaking without additional lyricism, then such duality was real at that time - in Zaporizhia of that era, especially at the beginning of its existence, they used two different banners, one is accustomed, which depicts the beauty of the land that they were supposed to protect (wheats of gold and the purity of the sky in the traditional interpretation), in the other - a much more malicious picture of this culture (Ukrainian black soil and the blood of those who defended it). Zaporizhia was a democratic and advanced state of warriors, the existence of Ukrainian statehood - and the freedom of its inhabitants among the powerful empires, were primarily assigned to fierce resistance and the preservation of their way of life. For a people of peasants who are firmly attached to their land, the territory was not so much a matter of national pride or anything else - but first of all the initial survival of yourself and your kin, either you a pan or a serf, a military leader or a householder.

These two flags are two sides of the same world in which they lived, each of these - the beauty or cruelty of existence, were integral parts of the era, predatory and nightmarish, bright and restless in itself. I connect the current Ukraine primarily with Zaporizhia, and only secondarily with Kievan Rus, and the Sich was the state of the European Vikings of that time - with their light attitude towards their death and blood, the men's share directly related to military campaigns, and the women's - with an independent individual economy, where they had the full right and inheritance to land and property, to the name of the family and its sacredness, prosperity and security. This is a certain part of history which should not be denied - no matter how predatory and dark it may be, and so leaving only the good-natured one-sidedness of this historical picture - one flag without the other, seemed wrong to me at my point.

Later, this state was destroyed, the Sich was liquidated by Catherine and included in the New Russian (aka Novorossian) province, under the conditions of the empire this land remained a fertile appendage and buffer for future wars, a country of serfs and villagers whose language and traditions were considered to belong to people without learning, consciousness, true nationality and culture. The black and red symbolism was revived in another, no less dark, era of history - in Galicia this time, and the concept of an independent land and blood coloring it already had other, modern and consonant with a number of other concepts, symbolism. Bandera is largely demonized and immortalized, it seems to me, what to say about the wars of our time, where the military leaders "going to catch and kill Stepan Bandera", in 2022. In many ways, the nationalists embellish his face, too, putting up monuments to him and awarding with orders of the present time.

While the Yellow and Blue symbolizes the kin and unity of the land, the black and red flag is a symbol of struggle and resistance, one is associated with the other closely, and in many western regions of Ukraine they are hung next to each other on days that matter to the wars of liberation - be it the day of those who perished from repressions, the announcement of the act on the restoration of the Ukrainian state, and on the day of the defenders, too.

By the way, in addition to these flags, in the game there is also a silver one, which is a reference to the painting with Joan of Arc, from which the figure and the idea of "Dnieper Gothic" were taken. I have to clarify that this picrew has nothing to do with French wars and catholic religious figures. The Red-Black flag was also actively used in protest movements in Europe, Latin America and Africa at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century, so if we go past the historical and territorial context of the picture with the Cossacks, then we can take into account these details too.

On the other hand, I understand that it doesn't matter exactly what context and meaning you put into elements since there is a potentially sensitive issue about Ukraine for a lot of other people - so I removed the Red and Black flag, adding a couple of simple backgrounds instead - to picture what we stand firm for is more important that the mere symbolism of, uh, standing itself, I think.

Either of the ways, thank you so much for your message - and I hope you have a beautifull day! ;)

#ask #ukraine #history #historical

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