#homoerotic wrestling portrayal

[wrestlingarsenal]

Oh my -- now this is getting very sadistic (and sexy!) My poor Daniel Garcia looks so vulnerable and helpless beneath the boot of his deviously betrayer. And look how jacked and powerful MJF appears in his tank top -- total Boss! Those black pants and chunky boots just add to his dominant appearance. What a visual!

It was a good idea for MJF to wear that white shirt because it really shows off the crimson bloodstains -- much better than, say, a black or red shirt.

To my utter shock (and satisfaction), the post-match abuse continues as MJF hoists his former friend into position for an Off-The-Turnbuckles Pile-Driver.

THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS, WRESTLING FANS! THIS CRUEL BASTARD MIGHT HAVE JUST ENDED YOUNG DANIEL GARCIA'S CAREER!!

Garcia has not been seen at any shows since this devastating assault occurred on July 3rd. Sources inside AEW have reported that he's lost all feeling in his arms due to MJFs neck-breaking Piledriver!

(But I also learned that Daniel Garcia's contract with AEW recently expired and now he is in negotiations. He is considering joining the WWE given that he's one of the hottest studs in wrestling rn.)

From a purely selfish (and prurient) perspective, I sure hope he returns to AEW to continue feuding with MJF for at least another year. I need to see MJF beat him down at least 6 to 8 more times, maybe in a few Dog Collar Chain matches, and to stand with that boot on poor Daniel Garcia's neck after every match. Maybe I can start a GoFundMe to pay the difference between AEW's salary offer and whatever WWE is promising...

Anyway, THANKS guys for performing this sadistic and very homoerotic break-up scene. MJF is fantastic as the backstabbing devil, and Garcia always cooks. Also thanks to the He Is Out! blog for creating these images to help me tell this story.

[bthump]

What if the eclipse rape didn't happen, but Casca still survived somehow and retained her sanity? Do you think she'd follow Guts in his quest for revenge or carve her own, distinct path? How would her opinion on Griffith shift, would she hate him/deeply resent him/try to understand him/a mix of everything?

To be honest, I'm more interested in how you think this scenario should play out in order to feel satisfactory than in how Miura would've handled it, because I really dislike his portrayal of Casca post-eclipse. Also, there's a sequence leaving rent free in my head of Casca being mad and yelling at Griffith for sacrificing the Hawks and basically betraying the blind trust she had put on him and shattering her whole worldview in the process lol. Without Miura silencing her and the eclipse rape taking away her dignity and virtually destroying any hope for a fulfilling future interaction with Griffith, she would've had a solid chance to grow and develop really interesting changing dynamics with our two protagonists, and it's a shame it was stunted...

Thanks for the ask!

For me, when it comes to what I'd want to read or write in this scenario, I think Casca should go her own way and separate herself from Guts. Partly for worldbuilding-logistics reasons, actually - two branded sacrifices can't stay in the same place for long without majorly fucking up that place, as we saw in the Conviction arc.

But mainly because I like the idea of the two of them separating and doing their own thing, and I think it would work with the themes. Like the story could use their two characters to explore differing reactions to trauma - the healthy and the unhealthy. The making connections with other people and growing reaction, and the killing stuff as a coping mechanism reaction. Guts and Casca would essentially be foils for each other.

Unfortunately Casca's stuck with the less fun healthy reaction lol because only the unhealthy gets to be mired in fucked up homoeroticism with Griffith and I'm unwilling to sacrifice that for the sake of a more interesting female character.

So with that division, it would make sense for the narrative to divide the behelit and the armour between them, and in this case Casca should get the armour while Guts gets the behelit. The armour is in a way a test of self control and you can be pulled back from succumbing to it, while the behelit is a one and done monsterizing device, so the armour goes to the healthier one. Casca also collects friends in this scenario while Guts miserably Black Swordsmans around (Farnesca, anyone?)

So ultimately Guts gets my ideal post-Eclipse arc of obsessing over revenge/equality with Griffith and eventually becoming a monster just like him, whereupon maybe one or both die, or maybe Guts ironically rejoins him in a homoerotic "tragic" ending for him 😏

And Casca kind of gets Guts' Millenium Falcon arc through which the story reiterates the importance of relationships, where she wrestles with her own inner darkness but grows past the need for revenge and turns to other goals.

And then maybe her story intersects with Guts and Griffith's in that Griffith needs to be stopped to save the world from dragons or whatever so she allies with various people and does that, and is able to succeed specifically because she's not obsessed with revenge and can keep her head or something like that. Yk, like she uses the armour but is able to come back from it. Whatever.

I don't know or really care what the climax would be here. Does she kill Griff and maybe Guts too? Does she serve as a distraction while a magic thing happens? Or maybe they're reverting the world back to low fantasy and it has nothing directly to do with Griffith and Falconia and she has to slay a dragon or something. Idk, point is she gets a moment to be badass and maybe be tempted by a monsterizing power-up but doesn't succumb to it.

Anyway yeah, idk I'm not super imaginative so my answer is basically "Berserk but Casca gets Guts' role and Guts gets to be gayer" lol. But that said, I would love to see Casca get to express her feelings so yeah that also fits into my thoughts here. Maybe she doesn't directly yell at Griffith but rather tells someone else about what happened and how fucked up it was? Or maybe she gets a Hill of Swords style reunion as well and does get to scream at Griff. It'd be nice. I do think that, in the brief amount of time we saw both her and Guts after the sacrifice and before the Eclipse rape, she was angrier with Griffith than he was.

[sebastianshaw]

What are six kinks Sebastian has? What are some little things he enjoys? ~glory-hasnoplacehere

New follower, I hate to disappoint you, but I try not to think about it much. There’s some things even I don’t want to know. Canon seems to indicate he likes dominant women, homoerotic wrestling with men who hate him, and getting hit. Madelyne Pryor started their relationship by literally walking into his room at night and telling him no talking, I’m serious, and he was totally her bitch after, I think it can be safely assumed he likes it when women take control. By contrast, I think he likes to top guys or at least try. Most of the men he seems attracted to are his age or older, whereas the women tend to be 20s-30s, though also it should be noted that 20s-30s (or looking like you’re in your 20s-30s when you’re actually thousands) is like...almost the only kind of woman that EXISTS in Marvel besides teen girls and shriveled old ladies (Agatha Harkness, Aunt May, etc) so like, who the fuck knows, maybe he’d fuck women his own age if any were actually around. He’s absolutely a masochist too, that’s for sure imo. For sure gets pegged. All that said, I actually don’t smut on this blog, or anywhere. Shaw Definitely Fucks and I reflect that in my portrayal, but I don’t write it out in-depth because it’s not really what’s interesting to me about it. I prefer to just make innuendo and implication and leave the details ambiguous, or use it more for comedic purposes than erotic (such as recounting bizarre kink stories from the Hellfire Club to appall my followers). So I don’t make anything too specific about his sex life. It’s not what I’m into, not what appeals to me about him, and honestly I probably couldn’t handle it because I’m actually much more prudish than this blog lets on. But as for little things he likes, give him a scratch behind the ear sometime like a dog.

[iasipranked]

IASIP Episodes Ranked: #106 of 144 - Charlie and Dee Find Love

dir. Richie Keen, written by Scott Marder and Rob Rosell, aired November 15th 2012, Season 8 Episode 4

summary: while dee and charlie are stalking the waitress, a rich brother and sister crash cars with them, and ask them on a date. charlie and dee try to act fancy initially, but are coaxed by the rich people to be themselves. frank, mac and dennis attempt to get in on this, with dennis eventually trying to seduce the woman who has fallen in love with charlie, to no avail. meanwhile mac talks to [hits on] trevor and they enter into a homoerotic wrestling situation. frank attempts to carry out charlie’s tasks he does for the waitress, and the waitress’ life begins to crumble as she realises how reliant on him charlie had made her. the gang are all invited back to the mansion for a party, and soon discover the rich people are just taking advantage of them for laughs. trevor shows a video of him and mac engaging in wrestling? sex? meanwhile the gang tries to get charlie out of the relationship he has entered into. charlie reveals that he has been using ruby taft to make the waitress jealous.

abby’s favorite line: ‘judo, karate, i got more of a catholic thing goin’ on’ -mac

luce’s favorite line: *barks* -charlie

positives:

this episode doesn’t shy away from the fact that charlie is stalking the waitress, in fact far from it. this episode demonstrates in a humorous way how abuse victims are forced to become reliant on their abusers, and this is exactly what charlie has done to the waitress. if only season 12 and 13 could have this same insight...

the homo-eroticism of this episode is off the charts! this is really a key episode in which we see mac’s association of wrestling and typically masculine activities with sex - it’s also another example of mac and dee having the same taste in men (see rex)

dennis being irritated by a girl wanting charlie over him is priceless, and what his character really needed at this point to become more depraved. also dennis immediately relating the situation to the nineties chick flicks cruel intentions and dangerous liaisons is so incredibly in character!! also the spooky music playing in the scenes where dennis is ‘worried’ charlie will get humiliated really adds to it

when mac looks through the window to the taft house to see dee ‘ruining’ their chances with the tafts vs. mac later looking into the room where the taft dudes are all making fun of them are interesting parallels; no matter what the two could have done they are just inherently messy and aggressive and easy to poke fun at 

this episode rlly shows how the gang always thinks everyone’s out to get them (in this case, the rich) when really, they’re usually the ones causing the trouble and being cruel

all the different locations in this episode are absolutely gorgeous and actually like really heighten the drama and clear difference between the lives of the gang vs. everyone else

also dee breaking open the lobster claw for mac is pure and wholesome mac and dee are best friends actually 

negatives:

while the portrayal of abuse and stalking in this episode on the one hand is really interesting and good, the character of ruby taft in this episode is entirely mistreated. this episode is an insight into charlie’s true nature: a malicious stalker who doesn’t care about women in the slightest. ruby taft is used entirely for a game on charlie’s behalf and she is incredibly emotionally damaged by the affair. it’s just not as obvious as dennis’ mistreatment of women, within the show and the fandom charlie tends to be treated as a baby and his crimes are overlooked. the takeaway from this episode should have been that charlie is just as bad as dennis, and yet people still see him as an idealised, lovable version of a man. of all the characters on the show, we need to pay more attention to its darling and hold him accountable as much as we would frank or dennis or even mac and dee. it is good though that charlie’s horrible behavior is brought up again in s13′s times up for the gang.

tldr: this episode is a well-done look at the gang interacting with people that you literally never think they would, as well as highlight charlie’s obsession with the waitress and how much damage it has really done.

[gracegugerty-blog]

Project #3(Revised)-Arts Review Monumental Vulnerability: Kristine Potter Captures Moments of Youth at West Point

The exhibition opening of “The Gray Line” occurred at Light Work Syracuse on February 3rd, 2017. “The Gray Line” was displayed at Light Work from January 17th to March 3rd  According to their website, Light Work is “ A non-profit photography organization supporting artists since 1973” located on Waverly Avenue in the Robert B. Menschel Media Center. Their website has links to past exhibitions and information about their artist in residency program, which show that a broad range of styles and photographic techniques represented at Light Work.

Outside view of Light Work 

Light Work is located in the same building as Watson Hall. A dorm/art gallery is an unusual tenant combination that begs questions that have gone unanswered by my research. Small pieces from students at Syracuse cover the walls of the hallway, separate from the main exhibit.  There is also a workspace for artists with multiple photo printers behind a glass wall next to the main gallery. Clean white walls, glass doors, and muted yet clear lighting characterize the main gallery.

Interior of Light Work Main Gallery during “The Gray Line” Exhibition- note the size of the photos.

“The Gray Line” is a series of portraits of West Point Military Academy cadets taken by Kristine Potter between 2005-2010. All of the photographs in the series were taken on a digital SLR camera. The photos were digitally edited to be black and white, with low contrast, hence the “gray” effect. For this exhibition at Light Work, the photos were printed large, around four feet by four feet, and mounted with the center at eye level. Many featured a single soldier. However, some had two, but they were often not interacting.

The posing of this portrait is awkward and uncomfortable, particularly because he is on the rocks. There is no depth, especially because the gray camouflage is lightened to almost match the rocks completely. (Source)

Each cadet is dressed in full dress uniform or camouflage combat fatigues and captured candidly standing, lying down, or looking into the distance. Upon first glance, the photos are striking by sheer size, but the content is not particularly attractive, with stark, plain backgrounds in the woods. The washed out grayness gives the overall aesthetic a lack of dimension. Therefore, the eye is not immediately drawn into the photo

Between some of the photos are smaller, darker black and white photos which were taken by Kristine’s father taken while he was deployed in Vietnam. Her father was one of her inspirations for this project, so she used four of his photos as diptychs to show military members on the job. These pictures, though still black and white,  enhanced the visual aesthetic Kristine’s project as they broke up the larger portraits. The backgrounds of her father’s photos were more unique, as they were taken in the jungles of Vietnam and none of the men were posed, thus creating a more naturally appealing photo.

Kristine's father’s photo on the left.

Another of Kristine’s father’s photos. The darker contrast gives greater dimension. It is apparent this is a candid shot. A gas cloud can be seen in the sky, providing context to the dangerousness of the situation, yet this photo captures a moment of peace in the jungle. The shapes of the leaves and density of the forest are more complex and exciting to look at than the background of Kristine’s portraits. (Photo source)

Kristine is a self-described “military brat” with nearly every man in her family holding some rank in the armed forces. She grew up in Georgia and as a kid, she “never questioned” her family dynamic- heavily patriarchal with rigid portrayals of masculinity. After leaving Georgia and got her MFA, she began to question her childhood a bit more. She wanted to understand the culture and “her ongoing interests in male archetypes,” (seen in her other work )  led her to West Point. She recruited young cadets to act as models for her every other weekend. It is important to note that the men at West Point are young and incredibly intelligent. West Point is highly selective, rigid, and intense, as are all of the military academies. Kristine wanted to capture these young men outside of that environment; as individuals on the brink of adulthood. An essential element of her photographs is vulnerability. The uniqueness in these portraits, explained by Kristine comes from the juxtaposition of subject appearance, pose, and background. Photographing the cadets, she asked them to do what made them feel comfortable As a result, these tough, highly trained men begin to take on a more youthful demeanor. They look like kids playing dress-up in the woods, rather than rigid, militaristic men whose lives are characterized by order and hard work. 

The loose fit of this man’s clothing gives the sense of a child playing dress-up in his father’s old uniform. His face is softened by the low contrast, making him look no more than 14. He is minimized by the looming boulder he sits on, contemplating. (Photo source)

During the question and answer portion after Kristine’s introduction, someone raised their hand and asked: “Aren’t these the photos that broke Buzzfeed?” Kristine, rather reluctantly, replied, “Yes, in a way.”Kristine, a starving artist, was taken aback when a Buzzfeed author approached her about running an article featuring her photos. Almost immediately after it was posted,  “The Gray Line” was determined by the Facebook community to be homoerotic and disrespectful to the military. Here is the link to the actual Buzzfeed article(archived) which has since been taken down due to backlash.

One of the more controversial photos from “The Gray Line.” The men are wrestling. However, some interpreted their close contact as having sexual undertones. (Photo source)

I was stunned by this reaction to the photos. Where did it come from? Was it cognitive dissonance due to the juxtaposition of tough servicemen posing in gentle, innocent ways? It wasn’t until I did some secondary research on Kristine Potter that I realized these claims were not completely unfounded. Her previous photo series on her website depicts men posing in seductive ways, and Kristine has publically acknowledged the photos have sexual undertones. There are undeniable similarities in those photos and “The Gray Line” portraits. This knowledge, however, should not be taken as fact. Kristine did not publically acknowledge “The Gray Line” photos are sexual, she adamantly opposes the idea. The exhibition at Light Work is the first time Kristine has shown these photos in public since the incident in 2014. She referred to her choice to print larger versions of the photos for the Light Work exhibition as “monumental vulnerability” or as the less artistic folk like to put it “go big or go home.”

Light Work’s hours are 10am-6pm Sunday through Friday. Their current featured exhibitions are George Awde: Scale Without Measure   and Eric Gottesman: If I Could See Your Face, I Would Not Need Food (Ka Fitfitu Feetu) . 

Read this review here