#an anti reminded me

[unluckysatellite]

A Retrospective Analysis of Victor's Swim Date

Aka more like me yapping about Victor's Swim Date...Well, I guess this is less of an analysis and more of just me rambling about a few things about his date that I noticed. Sometimes, it's fun to read back on past content with the lenses of today's context, yknow? I may do more of this, when the motivation to spite people strikes.

I had this post on the back burner for a few months now and today I was randomly reminded 24/7 I will always love Victor that I had this in my drafts LOLOLOL

This date is pretty interesting, because I vaguely remember that people were disappointed by how unromantic it was (considering that it takes place after Victor's confession in his Rooftop Date). But to me, I think this date is significant because of what it establishes for Victor and MC's relationship: that he is always her safe harbor, someone she can trust when she fails. (which is fitting because of the sea imagery...get it??? Swimming....harbor...eh? Eh????)

To summarize this date: Victor offers to teach MC how to swim, in preparation for meeting with her new client, a swimming enthusiast.

Although she is nervous because she has no experience with swimming, the MC is eager to learn, since Victor is teaching her. Immediately, the MC nearly drowns as soon as she puts herself in the deep end of the pool. It's important to note here, that this near drowning accident was self-inflicted -- she let go of the railing and her foot slipped at the same time.

Anyways, she is immediately saved by Victor, there are a couple of important things to note here:

Victor teases MC for slipping and nearly drowning herself, but one should take note here, that none of his remarks hurts MC's feelings or her sense of confidence in any way.

It is the near drowning incident that puts the fear of deep water in MC, and it is that fear of drowning that makes her feel insecure about herself.

When she is visibly nervous, Victor gets into the water with her. He is patient throughout his lesson, not once does he insult or belittle the MC as he guides her through the motions, and stays with her when he removes her swimming ring:

When the MC feels more confident in herself, she and Victor do a bit of bantering as usual, and her curiosity is sparked when she asks about Victor when he learned how to swim, and briefly imagines what he looked like back then:

So after a bit of practice, Victor lets of her hands and the MC almost drowns again.

Though he immediately rescues her again, and she panics:

Although she says "I just can't learn. I'm not as smart as you." because of their conversation earlier, like I pointed out earlier: nowhere did his words ever hurt the MC's confidence when it comes to swimming, nor did she ever describe that her feelings were hurt -- she is flustered and saying anything that comes to mind and is making whatever excuse she can make because of her fear.

At no point does she ever blame Victor for insulting her, but rather she tells Victor that it is his fault for letting go of her when she wasn't ready to swim.

It is absolutely ridiculous to say that Victor is "abusive" in his Swim Date, to say that his words have hurt the MC's confidence, when it is her own fear of the deep water that leads to her own failure.

And so Victor tells her:

Victor is establishing himself as a safe harbor for the MC, for her to grow and mature. To be true to herself, as he is there for her as a safe place.

The MC herself realizes this about Victor: although his words are harsh, and challenges her every step of the way, he only, truly has the best intentions at heart for her:

And when she fails, he is there to protect her.

Like I said at the beginning of this post: although this date is...very awkward in the VictorxMC lore, especially as it takes place right after the Rooftop Date, one might expect something more...romantic.

But to me, it marks an important turning point in their relationship, as they go from boss and employee to lovers, and establishes one of the key aspects of their relationship: Be it as her boss or as a man who loves her, Victor is the MC's safe harbor, a lighthouse to guide her as she navigates through the sea of life.

(I suppose this is why a lot of their dates take place around the ocean, huh?)

[langernameohnebedeutung]

ngl, I'm beginning to take issue with how in conversations about anti-intellectualism almost automatically, the face of girls and women will be slapped on the problem.

[eggofchaos]

casual reminder that you can still spoil your femme without feeding into consumerism <3

write them notes n love letters, cook them their favorite meal, bake them a treat, steal them something from a shitty corporation, spoil them with words of affirmation and gratitude, bring back a pretty rock shell leaf etc. from an outdoor trip you had, proudly show off photos of yourself or photos you took, lend them your favorite book with a note abt why it's your favorite, put the towel in the dryer before they're out of the shower n wrap them in it, pick out outfits from their wardrobe you think they'd be cute in so they can show off for you, give them your undivided attention & ask encouraging questions, etc etc etc

[imposterogers]

what’s funny to me is that so many ppl at tony’s funeral hated him. like they’re canonically enemies. tony has very personally made a lot of their lives worse just by existing (raft prison, war profiteering, sokovia accords, blasted a few of them, shot another one, made ultron, was an asshole). I’m assuming for most of them there it was more of a relieved “thank god he’s dead I’m just making sure he doesn’t get out of that casket” rather than a “I’m actually sad rn” which is v fitting

[via707]

you know, considering everything this country has put us through and considering the absolute hell on earth we're forced to be buckled in for the next four years of.... its kinda nice that we can all smile and hold hands and celebrate the concepts of thoughts and prayers for the ceo of united healthcare 😌

just really love seeing all of america unite and giggle with glee as these billionaires unfortunately meeting their demise...

deny. defend. depose.

us working class do all have one common enemy. the 1%er's...

yes they have an unfathomable amount of money.... but what happens when an immovable object meets and unstoppable force.....

DENY. DEFEND. DEPOSE.

we, the working class, have each other... there's hundreds of thousands, of millions of us..... you 1%er's can barely trust each other... too busy trying to stab each other in the backs because you still think you dont have ENOUGH money.....

question?

DENY. DEFEND. DEPOSE.

how much money will protect you... when the whole world is waiting to see you fall....

hopefully.... whatever you have is enough.....

but for now: sympathy is currently out of network

DENY. DEFEND. DEPOSE.

[musubiki]

.🖤🔄🤍.

[cozylittleartblog]

yeah like having to deal with the obnoxious middle aged women who thrift to resell wasn't bad enough, now we got the braindead fast fashion bozos cluttering things up too.

its ok shirt, i will love you like somebody else apparently couldn't even if you shed microplastics into the water supply and will fall apart after 7 wears. and then i'll sew you back together like anyone with two braincells to rub together Should

[medicalunprofessional]

never change, man !

[communistkenobi]

The deeply moralist tone that a lot of discussions about media representation take on here are primarily neoliberal before they are anything else. Like the shouting matches people get into about “purity culture” “pro/anti” etc nonsense (even if I think it’s true that some people have a deeply christian worldview about what art ought to say and represent about the world) are downstream of the basic neoliberal assumption that we can and must educate the public by being consumers in a market. “Bad representation” is often framed as a writer’s/developer’s/director’s/etc’s failure to properly educate their audience, or to educate them the wrong way with bad information about the world (which will compel their audience to act, behave, internalise or otherwise believe these bad representations about some social issue). Likewise, to “consume” or give money to a piece of media with Bad Representation is to legitimate and make stronger these bad representations in the world, an act which will cause more people to believe or internalise bad things about themselves or other people. And at the heart of both of those claims is, again, the assumption that mass public education should be undertaken by artists in a private market, who are responsible for creating moral fables and political allegories that they will instil in their audiences by selling it to them. These conversations often become pure nonsense if you don’t accept that the moral and political education of the world should be directed by like, studio executives or tv actors or authors on twitter. There is no horizon of possibility being imagined beyond purchasing, as an individual consumer in a market, your way into good beliefs about the world, instilled in you by Media Product 

[haneentifosa005]

Here are some f1 memes I made pt.3:

(I posted this yesterday but tumblr ate it)

[fleshfictive]

i wish more of you would understand that alter roles are just common archetypes of ways that alters can present, and not definitive boxes that all of your parts MUST fit into. not every system comes with a set host, persecutor, protector, gatekeeper, etc. and the roles of host, persecutor, protector, gatekeeper, etc. (ie how they operate within your system and what they do) will look different for every system, too.

and, you don't have to know every alter's role. you don't have to immediately understand the exact intricacies over why all of your parts exist and what they're doing to be valid. trying to force your parts to fit into boxes of how they should be instead of trying to understand them as they are does way more harm than good. just saying.

[valyrfia]

i have to say the disconnect between the traditional media and the actual fan sentiment is absolutely wild in F1 at the moment. take oscar's overtake on lando in turn 1 in monza. every single fan that i've spoken to irl or seen online thinks it was the best move ever, super exciting to watch, and all in all just good racing whereas every single journalist immediately got on air and cried about it (looking at you will buxton) and chose into the baku weekend to continue to villainise oscar to hell for not just acting as second driver (even though there were no team orders to do so).

[thewalrusespublicist]

Hello! Love your blog and your takes, objective and sane and well researched chefs kiss! I had a blast scrolling through it like it was my feed yesterday lol can you elaborate on klaus and Paul if possible? People mostly talk about them like it’s already understood but I don’t understand 😭 I’m kinda lost on their (all of them, including stu) dynamic during the hamburg years specifically when it comes to Paul

Aww thank you anon! Tbh I was starting to feel a bit down about my blog and what I was putting out ( the eternal crisis on how to give full answers and opinions without being stupid, boring and annoying lol). So I really, really needed this. :)

Oh Paul vs/and the Exsis, it's quite a long one so buckle up.

Disclaimer: all of the people involved are essentially art kids/young adults who are famously the most exhausting people on the planet. Do not blame them for being dramatic, it's their natural state of being.

If we want to go into Paul and Klaus, we have to kind of start with the John, Paul and Stu. Now these three are a mess that's too big to go into here (though I have THOUGHTS about how Stu is utilised in the Beatles narrative that I'm more than happy to share if asked lmaooo). But in short(ish):

John and Paul had had an intense year and a bit of closeness. Then John meets Stu at art college.

John and Stu become c l o s e for many reasons (being peers, living together, similar artistic leanings + ego, Stu being a gentle guide to John, sharing art projects/poetry/long letters and feelings etc.) They became 'closer than two men' a friend had seen (remind us of anyone gang?). Most importantly, John could be open about his feelings with Stu in letters. If John had BPD which I subscribe too, I think Stu was his 'favourite person' and as Aunt Mimi said his 'special' and 'closest friend' from this period up until his death (though imho the transference back to Paul was starting prior to his death).

It's not clear what exactly happens as there's differing accounts but Stu uses his money to buy a new bass as John wants him to come to Scotland then Hamburg and play bass as he will 'look good'.

Paul doesen't like being relegated to the seat behind John and Stu when he used to sit next to John. He also isn't thrilled when he gets to Hamburg and not only does he get to sleep in the other room with just Pete but Stu cannot be arsed to play because he's hanging out with his hot new girlfriend Astrid (more on her in a sec). Our boy has spent a lot of money he doesen't have and given up on further education to be here and is jealous and annoyed.

Paul and Stu probably were friends and I think their mutual antipathy is overegged. HOWEVER, can't be denied that Paul is jealous of Stu and Stu is jealous of Paul (and getting flare-ups from increasing brain damage). John and Stu tease Paul and steal his money, Paul is mean to Stu (as are the others encouraged by John). Do I think John was playing games with both of them? Yup. They end up scuffling onstage because Paul said something about Astrid (not clear what, one account is that Paul said that Stu could borrow money off Astrid if he needed it which isn't really that bad a dig but who knows Yoko??).

Why is this dynamic important? Because it directly impacts the 'Exsis' (Klaus, Jurgen and Astrid's) group's relationship with Paul:

The Exsis were young artists living in Hamburg. They were artistic, cool, interesting and edgy. They were paramount in introducing the Beatles to cool new concepts, aesthetics and ideas. They also took themselves VERY seriously ie pretentious as all hell.

Astrid met Stu at Kaiserkeller and hit it off. They embarked on an all-consuming romance.

Letter from Stu to Astrid, c.1961

I've seen people say they were the proto-John and Yoko in terms of making their romance the whole world and influencing John years down the line and I can see that. With Astrid and Stu it's far more endearing though because they ARE young and the right age to have a relationship like that. Stu is popular with the Exsis in general and brings them into the Beatles group.

The Exsis didn't like or trust Paul. Astrid said later it was because Paul was 'too nice' which she herself admits is a ridiculous reason. The others also thought he was a bit of a show-off. It makes sense though if you're cool and edgy and want to stick it to the world to be sus about a guy being friendly show-off with seemingly no inner world. The other problem was a perfectly reasonable one imo, you're not going to like your friends frenemy who you don't connect with. Compound that with Paul not taking drugs as much as George or John and being in the other room and you begin to have a division.

Paul had been popular his whole life, like from what we know since-primary-school-popular. He had never been in this position before, let alone in a foreign country. I believe it became a bit of a brutal feedback loop. Paul's response to this type of behaviour consistently it to go more surface level, snide and passive aggressive. The natural response of any group with a designated 'ugh' person is to become more shady and exclusionary. The cycle continues and gets worse. Stu letters back home at this time says that in a shocking turn of events Paul is hated by everyone but Stu 'just feels sorry for him' (lmao OF COURSE you do Stu, its giving 'loathing' from Wicked lol). Klaus drew a lot of artwork of the early Hamburg Beatles that includes this highly unpleasant picture of Paul in 1961 which I think says a lot:

Klaus is also a musician and fancies himself a place on bass. When Stu leaves to pursue art, Klaus asks John if he could take over but John says that he thinks Paul is going to do it.

Klaus has later gone on to say that he thinks he was a better bass player for the Beatles' sound at the start and then Paul developed into being better for the group. It's one of those I cannot believe those words actually left your mouth and you are not deeply embarrased moments. But it's important to keep this desire and viewpoint in mind.

Klaus stays in touch with all of them and close to John and George, George especially. They visit Klaus on holiday in tenerife in early 60s and Klaus later draws the Revolver artwork.

This whole context of how they met and Hamburg is crucial and has to be taken into account when hearing Klaus' statements. Klaus and Paul started off with a lack of connection and with Paul on the outs, the Exsis got an incomplete view of Paul and an inaccurate snapshot of the Beatles dynamic overall. This is why when Klaus says 'Paul was always slightly apart from the others' and that 'divorce was inevitable' from early 60s we should remember that that is what Klaus is expecting to see as that's what he saw in Hamburg.

Klaus wanted to be the bass player (and was holding out hope to join a band with George and John in the 70s), was really close with George and suffers as many did with 'John Lennon aspiring boy bestie syndrome' (JABBS). Paul had what Klaus wanted and from the Hamburg experience, you could see why Klaus thought he might have an in and may have been jealous of this 'shallow' Paul of all people having the connection that he felt he should/could have with John and George. As with most sufferers of JABBS, he took John's side with everything, always refused to say any regrets about his involvement in How do you Sleep and thought Paul was fine with the song because 'he was even closer to John than [he] was. (Again Klaus to put yourself in that level of closeness with John that it's comparable to Paul is ???.) JABBS and its secondary condition PMIETGSH (Paul McCartney isn't even that good shut up) are virulent diseases that incapacitate sufferers objectivity and judgement, so it's fair to say that Klaus is a source you have to take with a pinch of salt on the early 70s period.

It seems that Klaus and Paul did get on a lot better the older they got (probably without the jealousy complication of George and John) and developed a sweet friendship. Here is Klaus' tribute to Paul for his 80th:

Here is the jam session he's talking about:

He now wants Paul to live in his house lmao so things have gotten warmer. But Klaus and Paul's dynamic is a great example of how and why natural bias, little jealousies and spats can consciously or subconsciously influence our internal narrative and why we need to be so careful about not taking one perspective as gospel.

[rejaytionships]

cannot believe i gotta say this but please don't follow me if you're comfortable selfshipping with canon racists. i don't care if you headcanon them as otherwise, because if their racism against a real group of people is a key facet of their character (much less incredibly important to the telling of the story that this character is a racist) then i do not wanna see it. this is not the safe space for you

[punkitt-is-here]

u guys just be saying shit at me all the time. you cant just say "there's a lot of stuff going around about this person" you sound like a gossiping old lady. either provide me with reputable sources or don't bother sending me an ask, randomly shitting on people anonymously is how misinfo spreads.

[achillesisnotcomingdown]

It's crazy that no one told me that David painted Andromache Mourning Hector

Resting against the bed Hector's body lies on, are his helmet, sword and belt. Under his feet you see, craved in the wooden frame, a battle scene. On his hair lays the laurel crown of victories. Even in death, Hector shall not escape war.

Look at Astyanax, reaching for his mother's chest, asking for her tender affection, but she's not looking at him. She's looking up, as she points to Hector's body. She asks the gods above "why did you have to do that to him ? Has he not served you well enough?"

And then there's Hector. He doesn't look like a corpse that has been dragged on the ground for days, actually, he barely looks dead at all. The wound on his clavicle is clean from any blood, his skin isn't any whiter than Andromache's, and his expression doesn't show any pain or fear (he looks resigned, that's all.)

Hector, the prince, the warrior, lays in a perfect athletic shape next to his gear. He looks like he's ready to get up and head back to the battlefield anytime now.

Because of her clothing and the lighting, Andromache stands out from the darkness of the scene. The painting tells you don't look at Hector, the symbol of the Trojan war, looks at her, the powerless mother and wife. It's her tragedy before anyone else's.