#ideal of american man my ass

[ippokampos]

last year it was bergman girl summer, this year... hitchcock girl summer 😶‍🌫️🫣

[shannonsketches]

like why did they change where Vegeta was when Cell announced the cell games in the anime

why did they make this vegeta starting shit with yamcha instead of chillin in the lab with his family? why did they take Bulma out of the lab? Why'd they say she was Out while Dr Brief was repairing 16? Why did they change Bulma working on advanced robotics to running in late with her baby?

it's the same scene except: - Bulma's actively at work being a scientist - Vegeta's not being rude to her (or anyone else!) - Vegeta waits for Trunks instead of leaving the room - Cell interrupted the airwaves, which means Trunks and Vegeta were just hanging out with Bulma and Dr B while they were working

Those are all Great Character Details!! That the anime rails against!!

[max1461]

Continuing on with my America/Europe dichotomy, and this one's gonna be a doozy. This one's for the real thinkers. Ok so basically, Americas are uh, patriarchal and Europes are Oedipal. Ok. Look. This one, right, you're really gonna have to follow me on this one.

Look. In America, right, we do the whole single family home, like, patriarchal homestead medieval Icelandic family farm thing, the man is in charge of the house, rugged individualism and/or suburbia. But it's patriarchal. American man goes out and gets a hot trophy wife, who looks good and bleach blonde hair and signifies "this man is a Real Man, cause he got a hot trophy wife". Wife is like a fast car, wife is like a ferrari you get, to show off. For the American man. Remember China is also an America. Chinese gucci fuckboy chainsmoking guy needs to own a house, he needs to own a house and make one bajillion dollars to land a Chinese beauty standards thin and swan-necked hot Chinese babe to go with his gucci and his car. JUST like American man. Remember that China only ever had one empress in its million year history. Patriarchal.

In a Europe, right, every man wants to fuck his mom. He just does, I've met European men. They all want to fuck their mom. Italian guys? Fuhgeddaboudit. His wife is NOT a trophy to show of to other guys. He will expect her to cook, clean, wipe his ass. And there's this reputation, I know because I have family members who habitually date European men, there's this reputation where they literally live with their mom who cleans their underwear until they move in with their wife and now she cleans his underwear and pops out sixteen Catholic children. Right? Europe is oedipal. Ancient multi-generational homes... it breeds wanting to fuck your mom wanting a fucking mom-wife. Japan has had nine empresses. Squarely a Europe.

This is the source of all the other differences. They don't mind reusing old bathwater in Japan for the same reason moms don't mind when their kids barf on them... in America we don't mind poisonous chemicals in our food because young men don't care about that kind of shit. This is the fundamental difference.

IDEAL state of affairs, ok, is to be born in a wild and crazy America such as America or China, or maybe Russia (edge case), and then move to a nice and peaceful Europe in adulthood. They're great at walkable cities and shit in Europes, they love that shit. Doing what mommy tells them. And as an American it's a breath of fresh air. But it's important to be born and raised over here, you see, so you have that fuck you attitude, so you don't want to fuck your mom. Have I ever told this story? My grandad ate rat poison once, when he was a kid in the great depression riding the rails. I'm not making this up. Apparently he ate so much that his body didn't even try to digest it and it went right through him. He was fine. 🇺🇸

[magg0t-king]

Yo! So I saw your OC Tony awhile back, and I just really wanna learn more about that him.

Any specific headcanons for him?

GRAAAAHHH TY FOR ASKING ABOUT HIM (Keep them questions comin'!!/hj?)

uhh... CW'S: Idk.. Butchie? Horrorporn quick mention. I guess home life mention? Nothing bad ig. There's no actual explicit or NSFW stuff in here. Maybe a joke or two, but these are mostly silly stuff. Might wrote more about him later

🫁To start, his childhood wasn't shitty, but it wasn't great yknow? The good ol' toxic masculine dad and busy yapping mom. Plus being bullied wasn't the most ideal.

🫁 Believe it or not, this man DID IN FACT graduate from med school with an MD (A doctor of medicine (MD) is a physician who has earned a medical degree and is qualified to treat patients).. Thus meaning that this man can legally perform surgeries!!! He's not stupid, just a creep.

🫁His favorite game series us Postal, def in the top 5% for playing the game the most. Dirty Dangles (P4 brain damage) is his ringtone.

🫁Does this man take abuse? No. Despite obviously being totally frraky in da sheets with butchie, TONY THROWS THEM PUNCHES BACK! Lovingly... Sorta.

🫁Also he and Butchie aren't dating. It's like a fwb kind of situation... Sorta... They go to concerts together.

🫁His 'voice claim' (or whatever) is Billy Ray Stillwell from Twisted Metal Black, a good ol' southern boy. (this guy btw)

🫁He's pretty loaded from his work. Physician during the day, Horror pornstar at night, illegal body mods on the weekends! Reow!

🫁 He knows how to use a shotgun. Don't undermine his skills.

🫁As said in a few posts ago, he shares an apartment with Pete... Which it's not exactly the most ideal living situation, but hey- it works... Kinda!

🫁Does he have a dog? No. Cat? Nuh uh. A pet fish??? Hell no!... THIS MAN HAS A FUCKING KING COBRA AS A PET! It eats the apartments rats and likes sleeping beside him. The cobras name is Daria.

🫁This mans immune system is so damn high... Give him syphilis and he'll be as good as new within half a week! Can't handle his shrooms tho sooooooooooo...

🫁Tonys favorite horror movie is actually American Mary! Tame, bloody, and totes girl boss.

🫁He likes My little pony because it's the only animated series to catch his short lived attention.. Rainbow dash jar?? WHAT-

🫁This man isn't a short twink. Hes a 6'3, sweaty texan who has a huge love for gar and ugly ass fish.

🫁Butchie went to his med school graduation. That's all I'm gonna say.

🫁Uhhhhhhhh..... Idk. Tony has a janky ass lowrider. Like- the AC sucks, the radio is shit, and it smells like gas station pizza all the time... But it gets the job done.. And it can go duper fast!!!! Vrooooooom!!!

🫁Please ask Tony about MLP or Postal. He hyperfixates SOOO HARD on those.

🫁Certified drum player!!

🫁He loves old PS2 games...

🫁ALSOALSOALSOALSO- Did I mention that he can to a successful backflip??? Yeah eltingville ocs... Beat that! 🙄/j

[mama-qwerty]

Okay, I'm gonna get political here.

I've been seeing some alarming posts going around, in which people seem to think that Biden is somehow as bad as, or worse than, Trump. And a lot of the reasoning seems to come down to how he's dealing with Israel. He's not doing enough to stop Israel and is actively supporting them. Which, he has to, because the US is Israel's ally.

Is it ideal? Is it great? NO. It absolutely sucks, and we really should not be involved, and be doing more to stop them.

But that seems to be the single issue most people mention when talking about not voting for him. And my question to them is, do you seriously think Trump will handle it any better??

And let's put Palestine aside right now. I know it's terrible, I know it's my privilege to look away for a moment, but I implore you, I fucking BEG you to remember that the US president affects laws and policies here, which affects each and every American who lives here.

This post lists, in a convenient little checkbox format, what each candidate is for and against. As you can see, Trump will support Israel, too. Moreso than Biden. But he will also remove rights and destroy protections for countless other groups.

Both candidates are absolutely NOT THE SAME. Biden, while not perfect, has done a lot of good for the country, it's just not reported because negative things get more views than positive. He had A LOT of cleanup to do after Trump finally dragged his ass out of the White House. And he's done what he could.

I get that Biden isn't ideal. He's not who I would want, either. But he's the Democratic candidate, and we absolutely cannot afford to "send Washington a lesson" by abstaining or voting third party. We are a two party system, and with Trump on the ballot, we cannot, CAN FUCKING NOT afford to split our forces.

Every Republican will be out in droves, casting their vote for Trump. One vote for a third party candidate, is a vote for Trump. If you do not vote for Biden, you are essentially handing Trump the victory.

This country will not survive another Trump presidency.

I sincerely believe that. The damage he did the first time around was bad enough, when he didn't know what he was doing. But now? Now he's had 4 years to scheme and plot and work behind the scenes with his cronies so that when/if he gets back into office, he can go all in on gutting the government, stacking the Supreme Court, enacting whatever laws he likes, and simply declaring himself dictator and never leaving office again.

And the Republicans will help him.

Every one of those spineless bootlickers will be trailing behind him, nodding like a fucking bobblehead, agreeing with whatever asinine idea tumbles out of his third grade brain.

"For the good of the country," they'll cry, as they gut support for the poor.

"For the helpless little babies," they'll weep, eliminating health care services for women and removing any help for families.

"Make America Great Again," they'll chant as they send the military to drag children away from parents and lock them in cages because they dared come to the US--a country that was founded on the backs of immigrants--for a better life.

Republicans only care about keeping themselves rich and in power. They don't care about the poor. They don't care about women or minorities or LGBTQ+ rights. They don't care about YOU. They only care about themselves. They've proven it time and time again, yet they always try to convince their base that it's really the Democrats and radical Left who are the bad guys. Because they constantly want to *checks notes* make sure people are safe, healthy, and cared for.

And that's not the America the Republicans want.

I am begging all US voters to look past Palestine, for just a moment, and realize that choosing the wrong man in November will have very, very, VERY long lasting repercussions for this country. We can't afford to "send a message". We can't afford to simply not vote. We can't afford to throw out the old "they're all the same" line.

THEY'RE NOT.

Please, please, please. Think about the people who will be hurt under another Trump administration. Think of those who will lose their support, lose their aid, lose their protections. Think of those who can't protect themselves.

The only message we need to send to Washington this November is NOT TRUMP. NEVER TRUMP.

[meeks-just-wants-to-scroll]

hi 🐊 me again

i figured id ask soneone who actually gives a rats ass about colm since most of my pals dont lol ^-^ last ask posted gave me the push to ask

i think a lot about kieran describing colms happiness as "a ray of sunshine" when speaking about him at the campfire. of course it could just mean that kieran isnt being treated horribly, and thats a ray of sunshine to the him, but i like to think his standards are a little higher even if they never get met.

ive always liked to imagine it as actually meaning something, at least to kieran. its lead me to believe that in an ideal world, kieran was moreso colms personal errand boy rather than just the gangs as a whole, that would make all of the o'driscolls recognizing him make sense. and that would also make the "sunshine" line make more sense too, if kieran was colms own little whipping boy, they would probably have a slightly closer relationship than most. after all, during the camp raid in chapter 1, we do see kieran directly grabbed snd hit by colm.

but im mostly curious about your thoughts on it all, especially as someone whos colm brained (i am trying to get myself there honestly ^-^). id looooove to know your interpretation of that line and what it says about the o'driscoll leader !! its always stuck out to me considering how little they try to humanize colm elsewhere for most of the game, and kieran says it with so much energy that youre stuck believing him.

Oh man, I am glad to get this ask because I love colm discussions. I kind of lagged on answering this because I wasn’t sure if I could actually bring a lot of interesting stuff up to talk about. Colm had so little screen time that it’s hard for me to get a grasp.

Okay. So… sunshine… ☀️

When Kieran said this it immediately made me think of cyclical abuse tactics where there is a period of good treatment followed by destruction.

I believe Colm is much the same as Dutch with having the ability to draw people in and stick with a commonality + a common goal. The O’D are drawn together by the commonality of being Irish heritage (despite Colm being American but has an Irish name). Their common goal is money and the outlaw freedom to do bad and feel invincible in numbers.

Colm doesn’t put a lot of 1:1 time with his gang so I can’t assert how he treats the rest of the gang (likely like a distant boss). But I can make a guess how he treats his close circle of people based off of Kieran’s dialogue.

Why is Kieran selected to stick with the gang? That deserves its own post, but let’s pretend Colm took a liking to Kieran and let him be the personal whipping boy; Someone who showed he was malleable enough to not put up a fight when bossed around (and disposable).

As for the sunshine, I think that could be Kieran recalling the times Colm had treated him well. Not just “he didn’t punch me today. Yay!” But 1:1 personal attention that is so far from what Colm usually does for the rest that it makes Kieran feel on top of the world. Of course he isn’t actually treated well, but it is that friendly talking and ease of laughter that makes Kieran almost forget it’s not sincere.

I think Kieran would be touch starved, and Colm knows this, so he uses brief kind gestures of touch to persuade Kieran. This is me being me but I rlly like Colm touching people’s hair. It is such an invasive and personal thing to do but also 🗣️♥️head scratches and getting your hair played with feels nice‼️♥️. It’s that dissonance between “this is creepy but also I haven’t been shown kindness since my parents died.”

It’s compared to sunshine because Colm’s nice attention is like being singled out by the sun in a cold mountain. It is a spotlight.

The flip side of “when he’s angry, it’s like the devil is upon you” is harder for me to define. I sometimes struggle with media analysis when it comes to imagining things I don’t get to clearly see in the media. Leaving stuff to the imagination is powerful, but I need something of substance to bite into for me to analyze.

I feel like Colm’s anger can be unpredictable. He has the men power and persistence to extend his anger not just to you when he is before you, but to you at all times. I don’t think Kieran was only paranoid, I think he had good reason to fear every moment he was being watched. The one time he let down his guard, he was snatched. There are also letters across the game written by O’Driscolls where they make threats and allude to them stalking people.

Colm’s anger in person is hard to read. I don’t think he yells except in a few cases, he always whispers and talks in such an eerie way. Pardon me as I copy and paste what I told some friends on the topic of his voice…

“He talks in a way that fries my brain because I know I shouldn’t trust him and he DOES sound untrust worthy but I can’t get my claws into what specifically is setting off my radar.

[in blessed are the peacemaker] After the threatening “I liked Annabell” line, Colm is so ominously silent, drawing out the tension moments longer before he just???? Smiles and almost laughs. It’s so playful and harmless sounding (without the context of the situation). Such a fucking 180 and unseriousness. He also says ‘you’ve always liked the ladies,’ as if Colm knows how shallow and fast Dutch likes and falls out with women.

And then the ‘I like that about you,’ whisper is just… Colm. Very colmy. Just whispering something as if it’s some secret or to emphasize it.

Colm is incapable of going one sentence without changing his tone/delivery/pacing/breathiness all to throw off how to read him.

He talks like he is a three headed snake-rat-vulture chimera.”

He turns on a dime when talking to Kieran in Chapter 1 (mission Old Friend? I forgot the name). He holds an amicable conversation for a few moments before something suddenly cues Colm to grab Kieran and give him two quick slaps across the face, then shove him and yell at him. It’s brief, but Colm has been shown to have the capacity to get his hands directly on people, not just use his gang as an extension of his hands. I also want to mention the intentions detail of Colm being atop his horse and leaning down to talk to Kieran. Visual story telling/signifying rank and dynamic. Even when speaking amicably, Colm is in command.

I wish I had more research in my brain of manipulation tactics that would lead to this, but I do think Colm either keeps easy to influence people or already morally corrupt people in his ranks so they’ll easily align with him when he is angry. Hence Kieran mentioning how “he’s mad. And you’re upset and you don’t know why… as long as it isn’t directed at you, you don’t care!”

^ I believe what I am talking about are “Flying Monkeys” in the context of psychology and narcissists. Brief rehashing of what TheraminTrees taught me but it’s when people knowingly or unknowingly are recruited by narcissists to extend their influence / control beyond direct interactions.

I don’t think just anyone could be slotted into Colm’s gang and especially not his close ring of people. That man had an eye for picking people who will easily follow and carry out his bidding.

I don’t think the game could have humanized him a whole lot outside of one of his abuse victims briefly mentioning how colm had moments of good treatment. As the audience (extra: as the audience looking through Arthur’s eyes), there is no good way the game could have made ups sympathize or respect Colm because we ourselves aren’t the kind of people who would believe the sickly sweet lies Colm drip feeds to keep his men by his side.

I do like how they managed to at least briefly allude to a “kind” side to Colm. It would have been so easy to paint Colm as a black and white bad man with no redeeming traits (and I am sure that’s how some fans see him if they missed or ignored Kieran’s camp interaction). But that tiny mention makes him so interesting to me.

As much as I hate how little screen time he got, that’s in character for him. He is elusive, he is hard to read, he is contradictory in how he talks (sounding so humored one minute and deathly silent the next). He is… so. God damn. Slimy.

I love Colm as a character so much it is actually driving me ballistics.

SIGHHHH LONG ANALYSIS BUT ANYWAYS thank you for sending this ask this was a good use of like…. Two hours.

[momokarp]

Heyyyy I saw your Danny Phantom comic about him reading the Great Gatsby during the fight with Vlad (great art btw), and I was wondering if u could give a long-suffering student a rundown of the themes?

I’m gonna cover the themes I can think of off the top of my head and if you really need me to go into more details, I CAN??? But this is just a quick “it’s 7 in the morning for me and I’m actually gonna hyperfixate real quick” kinda moment.

Yes, there are two kinds of rich people, and yes, one side really doesn’t like the other. It’s apparent in Tom and all of his opinions of Gatsby are later on in the book when he finally attends one of his fancy parties.

Old money gets their opinions and styles and tastes from their parents who got it from their parents. It’s a boys club, if you’re in? You’re in, and it’s hard to get in unless you’re of a certain pedigree.

New money? Loud. Outrageous. Doesn’t even know what to do with all that money and everyone is welcome to enjoy it. Gatsby owns a BRIGHT ASS YELLOW CAR not because it’s of a certain model but because it screams loud and expensive and “look at me” and it’s not just cause he’s trying to get with your wife. He knows how to ACT like old money, to a certain degree, but at the end of the day, he can’t hide that he wasn’t born into it.

An unreliable narrator is usually a story told from a first person point of view and their own biases can often warp the reader’s perspective on the events unfolding. Nick even tries to clarify that he doesn’t judge people. Yeah, OUT LOUD, but he’s judging internally. Which is making you, the reader, judge. Tom has an affair with Myrtle Wilson. Nick IS quietly judging them although he tries not to and how could he not? Daisy is his cousin, and he sees the man she’s married make her move away from Chicago and Tom is not hiding his affair very well, she clearly knows about it and hates it.

Oh but here comes Gatsby, with this beautiful story of how he fell in love and went to war and couldn’t be with her and came back and she’s MARRIED and now he’s trying to win her back- and Nick HELPS HIM. THAT’S NOT UNBIASED. HE IS SWAYED. He sides with Gatsby through and through, even when he starts to see the flaws in Gatsby’s vision, he wants to cheer for him.

We’re going back to the green light here for a minute. Gatsby gets a house DIRECTLY ACROSS the lake from where Daisy’s is. There’s the green light at the end of her dock that flashes, that’s a reminder to Gatsby when he looks out that his dream is just over there. Daisy, the perfect gal, along with acceptance into the fancy rich lifestyle. He wants to meet her parents, he wants to have kids with her, he wants to be a somebody, an established respectable person.

But he’s kind of fooling himself too. He wants too much. It’s not enough to have Daisy, she needs to RENOUNCE her ever loving Tom and then properly marry him. He wants to be a part of the boy’s club, but Tom finds out that he has gained his wealth through the mafia and that’s not very respectable! He wants Daisy to call him in the morning, a call that never comes because she won’t cast aside her lifestyle for him. She was raised to trust and live in the sheltered life she was brought up in, even if she’s unhappy. It’s safer than the unknown. She chooses to stay with Tom, as even she realizes she can’t live up to Gatsby’s ideals.

It’s ironic cause this is the Oxford English Dictionary definition and Gatsby is an “Oxford Man!” Not only has Gatsby idealized on the American Dream, but it’s a dream that was never real. Yes, he did get rich, but not because he had equal opportunities. He got lucky to help out an old rich man on his boat (WHICH HE DIDNT EVEN GET ANY MONEY FROM) to learn the rich social skills, and he worked with the mafia to get all his wealth. Yes, he got Daisy, but not REALLY. He had an affair with her. They didn’t marry properly, didn’t have kids, didn’t move in together. And Daisy never intended on doing any of these things. She wanted to run away.

And Gatsby was never going to get these things because he wasn’t BORN rich. Tom represents the concept of Old Money so well not only in how he lacks any genuine character that isn’t inherited from his father, but how protective he is of keeping the status quo, so that he remains in power and no one who doesn’t fit the club can come in.

And Gatsby pays the price of his affair while Tom gets away with everything. How is this the American Dream? It isn’t.

Okay, that’s my stuff. I can go into symbolism on the yellow car and big billboard and all that other stuff if this was helpful at all. I hope it is helpful???

[thechekhov]

Dungeon Meshi: Quick Reacts (CHAPTER 1)

Hey guys, what’s up! I’ve been neglecting to read things for a long time, being as busy as I am, but I thought it was about time I actually consume some media instead of making it for once. That’s the healthy way of doing it, I hear!

Anyway, since I like to react to the things I read, I figured I may as well record my reactions to the manga known as ‘Dungeon Meshi’ or ‘Delicious in Dungeon’ as its localized title.��

You can read the manga on your own here! Or find it elsewhere, though I encourage you to support the artist as much as you’re able. 

I cannot promise that this will be an ongoing series, I just wanted to have a bit of fun with it. This read-and-comment liveblog will contain spoilers - obviously!

Let’s get right into it!

For the sake of clarity - this comics reads RIGHT to LEFT!

Immediately, this is way more intense than what I was expecting! I thought this was gonna be cutesy, but this is straight up intense! I wonder how the eating portion of the story will tie into--

ah.

Gotta say, this style is one of my favorites. This is such a simple yet expressive way of drawing characters, distinguishing them and yet keeping it mildly realistic! It’s a delight to see. 

The resource scarcity realism is.,.. impressive. I wonder if the author based it off of a specific videogame or a ttrpg? I know TTRPGs aren’t huge in Japan, but this really does have fantastically recognizable RPG vibes. 

This is great, but I have to comment on the fact that (unsurprisingly) this is such a Japanese array of foods. It reminds me of an izakaya menu. Specifically the ‘thick-cut bacon’ bit - what is called ‘bacon’ in Japan is not bacon as Americans know it. It’s the same cut of meat, but it’s not cured nor smoked... It’s simply HAM. 😂 

Shockingly, I really can sense that these guys are friends with just a few pages.

What do you mean ‘noo’??? It’s literally a giant ass mushroom 

I think I can honestly this this is the point at which I realized I might just love Laios. 

you may not like it, but this is the ideal man. rabid and ready to cook anything he finds at a moment’s notice. 

IT’S A WOK. I THOUGHT IT WAS A SHIELD. HE’S CARRYING AROUND A POT ON HIS BACK. Incredible.11/10

I do so appreciate the seasoned-adventurer energy here. She straight up said ‘oh huh this thing killed me once before! a traumatic memory! neat!’ and then got right back to it. 

Never have I wanted to create a character based around this whole concept more than I do now. 

oh I SEE. 😂

[tipigirlng]

you are the role of the König girl

This is my first work so please don’t judge too much ++ this is all translated with the help of a Google translator and in English like a dumb American child

I'm sorry if you see König differently than I do, I see him as a normal person, let's say not with bipolar disorder whose mood and character changes depending on the essence of the fic

.......

he hugs you a lot despite the fact that he is a huge bulk, and your difference in height is large, if not huge, and you two like it

If we talk about König hugs, they are very comfortable, warm, and gentle

he hugs you very tenderly and affectionately, despite the fact that he is a fighter and is taller and bigger than you very much

breakfasts in the morning; if you don’t know how to cook, then he is simply the ideal of everything, he will cook for you for the rest of your life, every morning you wake up not from something loud or anything else, but from the aromatic smell of coffee and your breakfast. König especially likes to cook food from Austria, namely national food so you can try it. he will be in 7th heaven if you eat this in 1 second

tender kisses; I don't see König as an altfa male or a person who 😐, although König has a complex because of his height and perhaps his appearance, despite this you love to kiss his face, starting from his forehead to his chin, and the same works in your direction , he likes to kiss your face, hands and other parts of the body, especially if you are not confident in yourself, then he is ready to kiss you all over

jealousy; I don’t see König being jealous, if that’s the case, then yes, he will be jealous, to get the stupid man off you, all he needs to do is put his hand on your waist or kiss the top of your head.

he won't be jealous of you towards the other guys in the squad or towards your or his friends.

as we know, König is a social phobe, and all this happened due to childhood trauma, and the question is how he behaves with you in public, does he kiss you, does he take your hand? yes, he is embarrassed, maybe he is not so confident in himself, but he is working on himself and every day it becomes easier for him to take your hand, kiss you in front of someone

I also think that he is very loud when he is comfortable with someone, like in the game he often shouts something, and therefore I think that he is quite loud and he is not an introvert (?)

....

I hope you liked it I have no ideas, so I'm a lazy ass, for some reason when I was writing about breakfast, I remembered how I woke up a friend with a stale omelette that burned 10 times, and now I almost burned the house down to live with it

[chirpingfromthebox]

Me just thinking out loud and inarticulately trying to wrap my head around my thoughts on the simmering dumpster fire that is my hometown team. Feel free to scroll on by.

I feel like something missing from a lot of the Curl discussion is the context it all happened in. Lots of articles and posts make it seem like the problem fans have is just that Curl got drafted at all. And I think the context around it all matters.

The league shit canned Natalie Darwitz days before the draft, wouldn't say why, acted like they aren't saying anything because they want to respect Darwitz, but meanwhile Darwitz seems like she would LOVE to talk about the situation.

To make matters worse there's all this talk and speculation surrounding the role Klee had in this, and amongst that he goes to the draft table with the emptiest table of any team, drafts Curl in the second round, (you can tell the league already was ready for bad fallout from Curl because they had a prepared statement locked and loaded to go out in the youtube chat seconds after it happened), and then Klee IMMEDIATELY makes things worse by purposefully staging her draft photo to be taken with St. Paul's mayor Melvin Carter (a black man) and the assistant coach (a queer woman).

Then Klee, the team, and the league decide to handle the fallout from everything in the most half-assed tone-deaf manner possible.

Before the Darwitz debacle I had mentally prepared myself for the eventuality that someone would draft Curl. But I had prepared myself for someone doing it in the back half of the draft.

A team would get her, but at least it would suggest Curl's actions had lowered her value considerably in teams' eyes.

Like, none of the craziness happened, and Darwitz had drafted Curl in the 5th or 6th round, made a proper acknowledgement of the situation and their plan for moving forward, and Curl had made an apology video that was written by someone who didn't go to the American Political School of Empty Statements?

I think the community could understand. We wouldn't love it, but we could live with it. It would be like seeing a big spider in the corner of my ceiling: I certainly don't like it, and I'm gonna keep my eye on this, but as long as it doesn't step to me any further we'll be alright.

But that's not what happened. And that's not how it happened.

And I'm still not sure what to do with my Minnesota fandom at this point.

At the moment I'm waiting to see what the final team looks like. If they re-sign their queer players I'm willing to put in the work to fight against Mr. Potato Head's attempts to sabotage my team, and try to at least make the fan community as welcoming and inclusive as possible.

But if Klee and co. don't bring back Minnesota's queer players? Then I'm out. For the good of my own mental health I'll go support a different team until they can get their shit together.

Because I do believe that people can change. Especially people in their 20s who were dumb-ass ignorant assholes in college. And she's not my main problem. My main problem is what does this team and this league want to be? Because someone like Curl coming into a queer positive environment is one thing. But her coming into a place with nothing but conservative ideals and a pinkwashed door? That's something else entirely.

And if the people at the top are going to fire the woman who built the team, put a dude in charge, give a person with a history of supporting bigoted ideas a position of influence, and become the only team in the league without any queer players?

And then have the gall to claim to be an inclusive?

Fuck that.

[also everyone wants to act like Minnesota is some rogue villain in all this and that isn't fair. This isn't like the big league male teams: there are no individual team owners here. The league controls it all and their fingers are in every pie. But that's a whole different conversation.]

[more-than-tender-curiosity]

I know Jay has a history withDan Cody but I cannot for the life of me remember much about that man other than the fact that he died at see. If that is true, would Jay, after acquiring wealth, make a tombstone for him? Place flowers and such? Or would he bury that part of him. The past of him and Dan Cody?

Putting this under readmore because it's gonna be a doozy. Spoilers for Gatsby as well

Okay so. One thing I will remind you of is that Jay never really intended for anyone to know about Dan. His only remnant of the man is that one photograph and he hung it up on the wall in his bedroom, where I'm sure he never expected anyone to see it, at least not to a point where he'd have to explain. I don't think Jay was exactly bringing home anybody to his bedroom (until he got back with Daisy, of course)

Remember when Jay had Nick and Daisy over, and they noticed the photo of Dan (and the one of Jay from the same time), he brushed over it pretty fast. Told Nick that Dan used to be 'his best friend' and that he was dead now, and the moment Daisy latched on to that, he instantly distracted her with his weird ass scrapbooks. It wasn't until after everything blew up in his face that Jay told Nick, and only Nick, about everything.

Obviously for Gatsby I explore their relationship much further. I personally believe (through my years of research into Jay's characterization through the various drafts of this book and the original version of Absolution where it becomes clear that men of a certain persuasion think very much of Jay's good looks, even when he was too young to be viewed as attractive to any healthy person.

Dan was of course an unhealthy man. We know for a fact that he was an alcoholic, and that he was violent but Jay had put it past him/possibly forgiven him if not simply tucked the trauma away so he didn't have to inspect it (chapter nine, "...only the picture of Dan Cody, a token of forgotten violence, staring down from the wall.") That particular quote could simply refer to the violence of the Old West that Dan brought with him, but given again Absolution and Jay's constant involvement with powerful, violent older men, and his desperate pursuit of a woman like Daisy who he presumed to be soft and sweet and totally unable to hurt him, (thus making the irony of the situation that much worse when she contributes however unintentionally to his death) I believe it also refers to the violence Dan inflicted upon Jay during those five years aboard the Tuolomee.

Obviously I have my own opinions about things like Jay's sexuality and why he was so twisted up and obsessive and desperate. Much of what I believe is taken directly from fact and stretched out through interpolation of those facts, looked through a modern lens to an image of masculinity in the years Fitzgerald wrote the books. I think Jay was gay, slipped himself into a sexuality of convenience to further his ideal of a Perfect American Man, and had his wires crossed by his father's behavior so that he searched out a father that loved him—only to be met with another monster who only saw value in him when he gave up his own humanity.

Dan was, of course, that monster. In Gatsby, once we get to 1922, Jay will be wholeheartedly unable to confront the true nature of his relationship with that man. He spent so long believing it was purely romantic and that he had 'cured' Dan of his alcoholism by being good and loving someone who needed to be loved just like he did (with that notion of reciprocating saviorship following him through every other failed relationship not just through Daisy—trying to save her from having to be married off to someone she doesn't love but really just trying to undo the fact that that had, in a way, been done to him—but even to Nick, who is so unable to face himself until, possibly, when it's too late and Jay is dead) that by then, after so many years of his notion of love being clouded by want of Daisy, he's constantly on the cusp of admitting to himself that Dan abused him and he'd 'submitted to it' but he cannot fully accept that fact because if Dan didn't love him, and Daisy doesn't love him, and Nick never will—why the fuck is he even bothering?

Dan has a monument. A beautiful one, actually. A big marble tomb on the grounds of the home he used to share with Ella Kaye, bounded on each side by young willows and seasonal flowers and a plaque written by the woman who would have been his wife. The woman who killed him. Jay got to visit it just once, and spoke with Ella about what happened and why she took Dan from him, and he doesn't want to understand her reasoning because then he has to admit that he had it infinitely worse than her and never had the guts to admit it to himself. Never did anything about it. That tomb—it's a monument to his cowardice, to every opportunity he passed up in his desperation to find someone who loved him.

The photo is enough. Dan still shares a room with him just like he's still there in every 'old sport' and he's always there with his hands on Jay's shoulders any time he goes out on the hydroplane. Some things never change. Jay never stops being 17 and desperate. Nothing went wrong.

The photo is enough.

...

Also, Dan didn't die at sea. He died in Boston, likely either onboard the Tuolomee in the Harbor or, as I assumed, in the city, and Jay wasn't informed because no one knew Dan had left anyone but Ella behind.

[possessesnightshift]

i'm not an eloquent political speech person so im just gonna be direct about this

americans, please please fucking register to vote and vote for joe biden in november

and before you jump to whatever policy thing or weakness of his to counter this plea, just stop. it doesn't actually matter. trump is worse. trump is fucking so much worse

our job from here on out is not only to hold our noses and vote for biden, but also to convince all of our friends family and whoever else to also vote for him in spite of all of his flaws. yes all of them

we need to make the fucking argument that trump is so dangerous, the country would be better off with a drooling old genocide lover whose mental faculties are drying up faster than the sahara desert. we need biden voters to be keenly aware of his shortcomings and refuse to back down. there's no use in pretending biden is still sharp as ever or has this mass grassroots support (he does not). he sucks. he is probably the worst democratic candidate in the party's history.

don't care. trump is worse. he needs to be stopped from taking power by any means necessary. he needs to be STOPPED.

from a non-republican pov, democrats constantly leaning on the "but the other guy is worse" argument is frustrating as all hell. i certainly hate it myself. but what gets lost in the conversation is that the republicans are essentially so beholden to this principle nobody even notices.

i know plenty of small town midwestern republicans who were embarrassed to admit they voted for trump. they voted for him in spite of his nastiness and blatant buffoonery (not in spite of his racism bc they're likely ok with that) because he was on the republican ticket, and to them any republican is better than a woke liberal who wants to take away our gas stoves and force drag queens to read us stories at bedtime

so yeah i kinda don't fucking care at this point

biden is a laughably bad candidate for the election of 2024. any other time he could've run (including 2020) is completely different than now, when he's just too fucking old. so should we just roll over and let him lose? just for trump to finish his term, be biden's current age, and either run for a third term or just stay in power bc the supreme court is on his side and they've been preparing for this for decades? fuck that

actually i think a rotting, pulpy corpse would make a fine president compared to dumbass donald "reality gameshow host" trump. literally if biden dies the day of the election he's still got my vote because it is not for him

the left has to learn to have the tenacity that republicans have. we emulate the right in the worst fucking ways (e.g. closing the southern border for no reason) but we never emulate their pettiness. we never say 'i hate the republicans so much i will willingly vote for someone i kinda hate to spite their smug asses'

remember when trump used to be a joke? remember when he was a giant embarrassment? remember the memes about his illiteracy and his lack of awareness? (see 'covfefe' for more info) trump may have the means to become a brutal dictator, but he relies on people smarter than he is to pull it off

if trump continues to hype up his project 2025 and his fascist ambitions with the swagger and confidence of fdr running against herbert hoover, what does it signal to the rest of the world for that man to LOSE to a corpse with the stamina of a wet flounder? it could stop the fascist momentum in its tracks by associating it with weakness and incompetence (you talk up all this hype and you lose to THAT man?? i guess you must be full of shit huh)

these are fraught times. there's no way to get out of this without letting go of our ideals of a perfect candidate who responds to the political desires of the people. that candidate does not exist and never will

right now we have not just an opportunity to preserve our rotting democracy for a little longer, but something much more special. we can fucking put an end to the trump experiment once and for all. we can make trump wannabes like ron desantis scramble to dissociate their image from the toxicity of the trump administration. we can turn him back into a joke.

at this point im screaming into the wind. no person who isn't already voting for biden is gonna read this far. but i want these words to be here anyway because i think they have value. 2024, 2028, and 2032 are all going to be pivotal election years. we can't wait around. we have to act NOW.

vote rotting fish 2024. i will plug your nose with a clothes pin if you refuse to do so yourself...

[jewishrizahawkeye]

hello fellow members of the tortured poets department.

apologies for my absence from meeting, was being a little to tortured and not enough poet lately 😑.

but i would like to enter into evidence the songs for the days i missed. because it is late i might combine some songs together if they’re next to each other and if the idea for both over laps.

because of that this post will be analyzing fresh out the slammer and florida!!! but specifically how these songs start to explore more about the “american dream” theme that runs throughout the album. i’ve been waiting until these two songs to fully explore it as florida!!! is well… the most obvious place for me to start.

previous days: fortnight; THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT; my boy only breaks his favorite toys; down bad; so long, london; but daddy i love him

references to america are prevalent throughout the album. this does make perfect sense actually considering taylor had set up home base in london and even wrote songs mentioning certain spots (and even liking a boy from london). so taylor choosing to focus the next album on america and coming home after being away fits very well. taylor spent years away because she was afraid of people and moved to a different country to get away. but when she was left all alone and the relationship ended (so long, london) she had to go back home.

this is what we see in fresh out the slammer. the song feels more like a transition song, ie. moving from one location to the other. the song over all is not one of my favorites on the album as while it is nice i don’t feel like it adds as much depth. though i do think it adds more details to certain things touched on. specifically with taylor personifying london as her former partner transitions a bit to this song as she refers to him as a place and what that place did to her. it’s especially interesting to me seeing her refer to it as a prison at times considering in reputation there was also those motifs too but with fame and she felt more sheltered with her then partner. but now it is shown to be also caging her. she ran from one cage to another to protect herself, which is valid, but is now realizing that instead of seeing it as a safe haven.

the main part i want to focus on the song though is how she refers to her next partner viewing her as “the girl of his american dreams”. this is an interesting line and totally not referencing the 1975 as it paints a very distinct picture. the phrase “the girl of his dreams” means the person he thinks would be the ideal partner. this is shown in the media though as negative or in a overwhelming personification with the “manic pixie dream girl” archetype. so already the phrase is on shakey ground, but there’s nothing wrong with saying a partner is “your dream” partner. it can be a compliment.

however, taylor specifically adding the “american dream” to the phrases changes it entirely. she’s now evoking the idea of the american dream that’s the pull yourself up by your boot straps and end up with a house, a car, a wife, and two kids idea. i’m not going to sit here and dissect THAT cause that’s a whole ass lecture. but taylor saying this man views her as “the girl of his american dreams” is saying that she is the ideal partner to settle down with and start a life with. to have a family and get married. which is also noted on many other tracks as something a partner did to her but never followed through. which is ironically what the american dream is. it’s a lie sold to people to keep working and they can hope for a better future. but in actuality they have to keep working and climbing relentlessly to achieve it and never can reach it.

so by taylor saying she’s the girl of his american dreams, he’s selling her a false narrative that she desperately wants and craves but he has no intention on following through and will just use her until he’s done. it’s a very interesting word choice i really like.

and how that idea connects to florida!!!

florida is probably one of the most notoriously known states in america next texas and new york. it’s a hub for weird stories and hurricanes and just all together a chaotic place. but people still love it. in fact, it’s also another part of the american dream as the idea for a lot of people is to retire in florida after they lived their life. which is why i wanted to combine these two as they flow into each other.

taylor uses florida as both a place physically but also metaphorically (and technically as a person if we view it as the “miracle move in drug”) which ties into her using london as both a place and person. florida is the “state” your in post break up and leans into the chaoticness of the actual state. she uses the wildness that everyone has of florida to describe a post break up high.

there are MANY things she uses to describe this. but let’s first look at her referring to her partner as a “hurricane with her name/i got drunk and i dared it to wash me away/barricaded in the bathroom with a bottle of wine”. hurricanes aren’t a stranger to florida and have done extensive damage to the state. but taylor refers to it as a storm with her name, ie. he was made just for her and in this state he’s out to destroy her because of how much damage their relationship did to her overall. but she acknowledges that she did tempt it, she did let it get this far and she had to drink her way through while hiding just to make it out alive.

but this florida, no one asks for questions about why you hate your ex because no one else in this state cares. in fact, they’ll help you hide the body if you help them. so taylor can throw her former lovers who she considered her home town (a reference to london boy “home is where the heart is, but that’s not where mine lives”/“but god i love the english”) but he never considered her more than a passing guest or her feeling like she was arrested there, because of her love for him and wanting to make it work or him keeping her locked away is open to interpretation. so she’s pissed, she’s running free and wanting to escape it all and is in the one state no one cares because they’re going through hell to and can’t bother to care about you.

in this case taylor is referring to florida as the clarity of post break up and running wild and free. which also does tie back into my previous days post about but daddy i love him as that plays into the classic romance piece of a forbidden love. it’s a very quintessential american idea of trucks through fences and small town elders saying to stay away from the good girl. and taylor even introduces it in fortnight by refrencing florida and “another night lost in america”. she is actively introducing the listener on page one to the idea of her longing to run away from it all and have freedom, but freedom looks different there than in florida.

bdilh->florida!!! just screams the idea of american hopes and dreams and young love. it’s wild and loud and messy and destructive and doesn’t see the future. which then later gets wrapped up somewhat in i hate it here from the anthology tracks. because taylor saying “i’d say the 1830’s but without all the racists and getting married off for the highest bid… nostalgia is a minds trick if i had been there i’d hate it” which can be her acknowledging that the idea this man sold to her and the freedom she fantasized about wasn’t what it actually was and hates it in hindsight.

this post is disjointed, and i apologize, but the idea of the american dream running through has been something i keep going back to on relistens and i wanted to introduce it to the community for discussion. thank you again for letting this be late.

[bengiyo]

Boys Be Brave Eps 5 & 6 Stray Thoughts

Last week, Jeong Gi Seop continued his pursuit of Kim Jin Woo by altering himself to meet Jin Woo’s criteria, including feminizing his appearance and getting a tattoo of a mole. Jin Woo bumped into a woman that was his exact type, and he hers, in a library, and the two went on a date. However, Jin Woo was thinking about Gi Seop the whole time. It seems this young lady knows Gi Seop and hates his ass. Meanwhile, we learned that the sides were close in high school until Balgeum’s poverty got in the way and he ghosted Ji In Ho.

Episode 5: Someone I can like

Is this young Gi Seop? Was he a sickly child?

I see, he learned to fake it to keep his sister from worrying too much and then projected that onto everyone.

Kang Hye Jin is so valid. Gi Seop is ridiculously emotionally stunted and hurting people with his behavior.

Thank you, Balgeum, for telling this man to figure out his feelings and confess. He’s working my nerves.

They really wanted us to understand how poor Balgeum is by having this man use hold file cabinets for basic storage in his apartment.

I love pragmatic housewarming gifts like toilet paper.

This seems like a lot of food to order for Balgeum. He definitely wants this to go well. I’m touched.

I’d like to think Balgeum unconsciously left the socks out in the hopes that Ji In Ho would see them.

I’m really feeling Ji In Ho and the way he just wants to be around Choi Balgeum.

Kang Hye Jin joins the ranks of our Korean bisexual women holding it down in their shows.

The fact that Kim Jin Woo and Kang Hye Jin have switched swings from before feels significant.

Recognizing that they made their ideal type lists to spite Jeong Gi Seop feels like important growth for them. I also like that they were able to speak openly with each other because they feel so similar.

It’s kind of interesting how this show has put so many barriers between these two that I don’t even feel bad about this misunderstanding.

Episode 6: Realizing your feelings and confessing

I feel some kinda way about Kim Jin Woo feeling like he should have confessed. He observed Gi Seop disappoint scores of people who confessed to him.

See, this is the thing that bothered me from jump: Gi Seop knew he was leaving the country. Pushing Kim Jin Woo wasn’t a great choice. Why stir this man’s feelings just to bail on him?

This turn about recognizing that he can’t say no to people, but sees that he does like Jin Woo isn’t totally landing for me.

Hm, I am curious what they intend to do by drawing a line between the dad and Gi Seop.

I am having flashbacks to when some folks let me down and reserved tickets at the wrong theater and then didn’t tell us they changed the plan and four of us went to the wrong theater.

Oh nooo, Balgeum is embarrassed by his poverty again.

Thank you, Ji In Ho, for hugging this man and not just letting him run away again.

I wanna get Ji In Ho’s story. What feelings has he been sitting with this whole time?

Once again, trains playing an integral part in my little gay stories. Americans, take notes. Talk to your leaders. Fast and frequent buses and intercity trains will begin the process.

The episode title said this was about confessing, and only the sides confessed! This hug doesn’t count!

I am really feeling the relationship between the sides in this one. We don’t have to say gay between Choi Balgeum and Ji In Ho for me to feel it there. I am so invested in the two of them figuring out if they can work even if Ji In Ho has more prospects. However, the continued weirdness with the mains remains an emotional barrier for me. I am glad we finally got some answered about Jeong Gi Seop this week, and now I need to know what he actually wants for himself since I suspect he’s only agreed to study abroad because he was saying yes to his sister.

[deviousdevilx]

Ooh so I watched a video by a Youtuber I like, F.D Signifier titled, What really makes a man desirable?

And being my brain is stuck on CK right now.

I doubt it was the intent of the writers, Daniel for me represents a more healthy, balanced masculinity. He's also not the "ideal" man that MEN VALUE. He's short, slender, not the big macho tough guy and yet who has an amazing wife? business? nice house, two kids, is generally living the American dream without being the an "alpha" male?? DANIEL LARUSSO. He has it "all".

While Johnny was the dude suffering within toxic masculinity, he was an alcoholic, but slowly got his shit together, and (if the writers did his character justice), we'd see him embrace Miyagi-Do teachings more fully, or make his own (which they kinda do with his Eagle Fang), and let go of all that toxic Cobra Kai bullshit he was fed by Kreese.

And Kreese and Terry Silver(my wife), are prime examples of being "alpha" males; tough, macho, masculine, tall, rich, etc but they are essentially alone. Terry did kinda have the ideal life, but he dropped it all when Kreese came to him (and his obsession with Daniel but this ain't a Silverusso post lol). Like Terry's girlfriend was likely a shallow relationship, his Malibu life looked ideal but it felt hollow. Otherwise why did he give it up? and yet so many young boys and men are told to get rich, be tall, fit and you'll be happy and yet Terry Silver who embodies that isn't a happy man.

And Kreese? That dude is FUCKED UP. Sure Vietnam fucked him up, but his beliefs, ideals, his overall motto of no mercy, life is war bullshit, is pure toxic masculinity and what has it gained him? A life of loneliness. He could have formed a found family, he was able to connect with his students (he cared about Tory but only to a certain extent). He had TERRY willing to be his partner again but he went back to a hierarchal bullshit mindset. His hierarchal thinking ensures he will never connect with anyone in any meaningful way.

Also look at how Chozen once letting go all all that BS made him a happier man! Which is why he admires Daniel as much as he does. That twink kicking his ass, and bringing him so low, made him see the path he was on wasn't good, it brought him misery and he chose better, a new path forward. And Johnny to an extent as well, also is or was heading that same way (fuck you writers lol)

Like who is more desirable fora lot of female fans? My bet is Daniel, while it's more male fans who view themselves as Johnny (and why we get a lot of Daniel hate but like if you are a dude who wants to date ladies, be more like Daniel or Chozen and less like Johnny, or Kreese, or Terry, and yes we all thirst for Terry but I wouldn't wanna date a rich guy like that who'd likely not view me as an equal, and would drop me so fast over Daniel)

[lauralot89]

My dear, it never rains but it pours. How true the old proverbs are. Here am I, who shall be twenty in September, and yet I never had a proposal till to-day, not a real proposal, and to-day I have had three. Just fancy! THREE proposals in one day!

I mean I know the focus here is that she had three proposals in one day, because that is indeed nuts, but I'm over here astral projecting at "yet I never had a proposal till to-day." It gives the impression of Lucy pacing around her house all annoyed, thinking "surely someone's going to come by and propose today."

But, for goodness' sake, don't tell any of the girls, or they would be getting all sorts of extravagant ideas and imagining themselves injured and slighted if in their very first day at home they did not get six at least.

Amazing.

Dr. John Seward, the lunatic-asylum man, with the strong jaw and the good forehead.

you never heard anyone talk about good foreheads anymore, do you

Also I'm going to start introducing myself as The Lunatic-Asylum Man and see what happens

he looked very strong and very grave as he took both my hands in his and said he hoped I would be happy, and that if I ever wanted a friend I must count him one of my best.

I cannot put in words how happy my aroace ass is that Bram Stoker understands The Power of Friendship and the validity of platonic relationships

I sympathise with poor Desdemona when she had such a dangerous stream poured in her ear, even by a black man.

I'm just reading this book having a wonderful time and then I get punched in the face with the remembrance that it was written by a white guy in the 1890s who was somehow so progressive in his views of women, trauma, and mental illness, and so not progressive in LITERALLY EVERYTHING ELSE

but he found out that it amused me to hear him talk American slang, and whenever I was present, and there was no one to be shocked, he said such funny things.

Quincey is the ideal man and I do not take debate

Miss Lucy, I know I ain't good enough to regulate the fixin's of your little shoes

I need to find a Dracula audio book, preferably read by a Brit, just to hear how this sounds

I know, Mina, you will think me a horrid flirt—though I couldn't help feeling a sort of exultation that he was number two in one day

honey, three dudes asked for your hand in marriage, you can feel as exulted as you want

Lucy is the ideal woman and I do not take debate

Why can't they let a girl marry three men, or as many as want her, and save all this trouble? But this is heresy, and I must not say it.

LET HER SPEAK

My dear, I'm going to have a pretty lonely walk between this and Kingdom Come.

Well, OW

It'll be something to keep off the darkness now and then.

Again, OW.

She put the third proposal in a PS, I love her

I am very, very happy, and I don't know what I have done to deserve it. I must only try in the future to show that I am not ungrateful to God for all His goodness to me in sending to me such a lover, such a husband, and such a friend.

why must this story hurt me in this way