#ik its rage bait

[gengarpng]

Game ad: I tried 1874 times and I still can't beat this level!

Me:

[struwberrii]

suna headcanons 𐙚 ‧₊˚ ⋅

here are my silly sunarin headcanons!! hope you guys likey

ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧ (also is mostly relationship stuff but not all)

has the craziest sleep schedule like he stays up all night, falls asleep at 5am, wakes up at 8 am and just goes to school fine

buys you snacks from the vending machines daily

teases you a lot but is really flirty about it

probably most active at night and invites you out when it’s dark, he just likes how much emptier everywhere is

has the best music taste and always puts you onto his music

nonchalant dread head of japan

would probably sneak into your house through your window just to see you

says the funniest things with the most deadpan expression which makes it 10x

if you dont reply to his messages fast enough he hits you with the "why do you hate me"

he’s too honest sometimes and has a bad habit of saying things that are rude when he really didn’t have to

randomly tackles you and play fights

bros the type to pick you up and jump into the pool with you

does the bare minimum with all his school work

starts talking like you and using your slang when you guys hang out long enough

he’s the guy people talk shit around bc they think he’s quiet and a loner but he’s lowkey a shit starter and shares what he hears

slacks/lazy in most things but he carries you guys in fortnite

his bed is covered in stuffed animals from you, even all the cute sanrio ones

ur his profile pic online

i feel like he’d use discord and get paid as a mod on some server 😭😭

calls you stupid as a term of endearment

he can always tell when something’s wrong, like he can sense if something’s off with you

probably wears a lot of sweat pants

always smells really woody and fresh (yk like generic men’s cologne idk 😭)

very touchy, loves having an arm around you waist :3

allergic to drinking water, ik his piss is acid (honestly same here….)

his sister loves you so much

lowkey the worst at soothing you/cheering you up so he just hugs you

let’s you do skincare on him, he thinks it’s relaxing

i feel like he’d own at least one of those stupid tiktok fidget toys that he swears works but everytime he uses it he can’t stop laughing thinking about how stupid he looks

has a bad diet only because he’s too lazy to actually cook

burps SO LOUD and SO OFTEN like hold it man

has a tiktok account that he rage baits people on and reads the comments to you pretending it wasn’t him who wrote them (smh)

tries to teach you volleyball so you guys can kinda play together

i feel like he’d know a lot about the stars and like the constellations

i also feel like he’d really like coke floats (ice cream + coke in a glass) a lot for some reason

acts like he doesn’t really care but he cares so much

he’s only vulnerable and emotional with you

randomly attacks you with kisses

i feel like he'd know some really good unknown dessert spots all around town

i feel like hes an adidas guy

says out of pocket stuff on purpose with no reaction just to see you panic (he thinks its funny)

[milkbobatyun]

save your tears

pairing: jiaoqiu x gn!reader

genre: angstober, events

summary: you were bitter enemies, from the start and for eternity. nothing could repair your relationship

word count: 770

a/n: proud jiaoqiu haver since he first came out, i have started to build him now (finally, ik) this is lwk similar to a jiaoqiu piece i'm working on in my drafts rn...

it was no secret that you and jiaoqiu were bitter enemies. when it all started, you forgot. maybe it was when you had butted heads during a lesson during your younger years. maybe it was the time he had put dirt and leaves in your sachet during break. maybe it was when you had purposefully tugged on his hair.

the fights were too many to count on one hand, so eventually, you stopped.

when you had heard about jiaoqiu again, it was after the both of you had graduated, you setting up your own pharmacy and him becoming the famous doctor of the merlin’s claw.

despite your rivalry, jiaoqiu still came to your shop the most often, to collect herb supplies. perhaps he hadn’t yet shaken off the habit of vexing you, for the herd of fangirls who swooned and fainted in front of your shop doorway every time he entered was enough to give you a pounding headache.

however, after the brutal war, you took notice of the absence of an annoying fox, with his sly smile and fluttering fan.

it was only when feixiao paid you a visit on behalf of her doctor that you learnt the news.

the bundle of herbs fell from your grasp, the paper crinkling as it hit the floor. without a glance back, you ran to jiaoqiu’s house.

jiaoqiu’s head turned towards the direction of the door as he heard it open with a creak.

the soft footsteps padded into the room, before the person froze.

“feixiao?” jiaoqiu’s voice wavered, uncertainty tainting it. “is that you?”

you saw how his eyes were covered with bandages, his ears twitching, trying to catch a sound. behind him, his tail swung restlessly.

“jiaoqiu,” you breathed, your voice caught in your throat.

“you,” jiaoqiu’s voice changed immediately, ears flattening against his head. “get out.”

you were startled by the tone of his voice, but instead, you stepped closer. tentatively, you reached out your hands, fingers gently brushing his face, tilting it in all kinds of directions as you muttered under your breath.

jiaoqiu’s hands swatted at yours, as though you were a fly or a bug.

“get away from me.” he snarled, unwelcome evident in his voice.

hurt, you withdrew your hands.

“what happened?” you whispered, sorrow saturating your tone.

“hoolay.” jiaoqiu’s curt voice broke the silence. “used myself as bait. can’t see now.”

jiaoqiu waited for you to respond, arrogance in your tone. the prolonged silence unnerved him. he was used to your sharp cutting remarks, not this heavy, suffocating silence.

the sight of his bandages tore at your heartstrings. where was that confident and sly foxian you had known in your youth? in front of you sat a broken healer, one who knew his future in the field of healing was bleak.

a sniffle and rustle broke the silence.

anger flared up within jiaoqiu, coursing through his veins, his fists clenching at his sides.

“if you’re going to cry those crocodile tears,” jiaoqiu growled, baring his fangs in your direction with anger, “then get out.”

when he didn’t hear your footsteps departing from the room, jiaoqiu’s hand wandered blindly across the tabletop before it came into contact with the teacup that sat atop its saucer, drained of the tea it held.

jiaoqiu aimed the teacup in your direction, throwing it in a fit of rage.

with a clear tinkle, the cup shattered against the floor, at your feet. the porecelain pieces scattered, scuttling across the floor, hiding in the nooks and crannies.

wiping your tears with your sleeves, you bent to pick up the pieces. it was just your luck that one of the shards sliced into your palm. a pained hiss escaped from your lips.

jiaoqiu’s ears stood up in alertness as he spun his head towards the source. reaching out his hands, he searched blindly for where you were.

“are you hurt?” he questioned, voice laced with concern, hands outstretched helplessly. guilt hit him like a wave. you were only trying to be caring and a decent person, but his actions were too hostile this time.

swallowing down the pain and tears, you weakly mumbled an answer that jiaoqiu didn’t quite catch. you cupped the shards in your hands, discarding them into the nearby bin before fumbling out some apology.

“...i’ll leave.” you excused yourself before scuttled out of the manor, the sound of your footsteps fading in the distance.

silence settled like a thick, heavy blanket, jiaoqiu’s sole companion.

in the quiet which was only disturbed by the quiet ticking of the clock, jiaoqiu sat, wrapped in his thoughts. had he pushed too far?

∧,,,∧ ( ̳• · • ̳)  © curated with love by milkbobayun 2024 / づ ♡

[alwayschoppedtaco]

hate is a strong word, don’t you think ll m.v.

pairing: max verstappen x driver!reader

warnings: some angst? not super angsty, mentions of a crash on the track-no one is hurt- (mercedes v red bull), mentions of alcohol and partying, google translate dutch and french (in this, you can speak french) it’s mostly just fluff

summary: you’ve never gotten along with max, but that can all change after an action filled day leads to some late night conversation

word count: 1.0k

my masterlist

“What a fucking idiot!” the crackle of the team radio comes right after you hit the barriers, informing the team that you are both okay and angry. “He knows that he should have left space, what a sore loser!”

The anger doesn’t subside on your walk back to the Mercedes garage after you brush off the marshals who direct you to the medical area, instead it is left to bubble up in your stomach, thoughts of the podium and just how close you were to it acting as a catalyst for your rage.

Your anger doesn’t pass as you watch the blundering idiot who caused your little crash cross the finish line with enough of a lead that his five second penalty does absolutely nothing. Instead, it is left once again to fester inside you as you go through the motions of post-race media duties, trying to patiently answer all of the clearly baited questions in a professional way.

It doesn’t dissipate as you change out of your sweaty race suit, slipping into a clean pair of pants and a shirt that is branded with the Mercedes logo. It only slightly lessens as you look at your teammate and his second place trophy, deciding to be happy for him and the team.

That’s the reason you don’t say no to Lewis when he invites you to an after party with the team to celebrate the first podium of the season and all the hard work put into this weekend.

You’re already three drinks in by the time Max strolls in, Daniel and Checo coming in with him. You have to physically restrain the urge to roll your eyes as you watch the Red Bull drivers walk in, downing your drink and motioning for another.

Max makes eye contact with you as you get your drink, a smirk making its way onto his lips. Your eyes narrow at him, turning your back to him as anger floods in again.

It takes everything in you not to walk over and do something you would regret, instead moving away from the bar and over to where your team is situated. Lewis motions for you to sit next to him at the table, some of the team members making way for you to sit there.

You only reason you got up from the booth where you were sat was to grab another drink. Excusing yourself, you make your way towards the bar.

“I will have an-” your interrupted before you can finish your sentence.

“daar is ze!” Max stumbles over to you, his drunken Dutch words not making sense to you. “Ik was je aan het zoeken!” there you are! I have been looking for you!

You scoff at his words, automatically assuming he was poking fun at you in his native tongue.

“Max, just leave me alone.” You roll your eyes and turn away from him, heading back over to the Mercedes table. Max is left alone at the bar, watching your retreating figure.

The rest of the night passes you by in a blur. Flashing lights and the deep reverb of the bass, along with the multitude of drinks, prompting you to pull Lewis onto the dance floor. Your hips sway to the music, letting your thoughts of the podium and incident leave your head, instead focusing on whatever terrible remix of Lady Gaga is playing.

You feel his eyes burning into you as you sway to the music, locking eyes with him. His blue eyes stare into your own, not breaking eye contact as he makes his way over to you.

“Y/N!” Max starts, yelling over the loud music. “ik wilde zeggen dat het me spijt” I wanted to say I’m sorry

“Max!” You are more open to conversation with him now that you have significantly more alcohol in your system. “I can’t understand Dutch!”

 The laugh that leaves your mouth has Max hooked. The both of you drunkenly stumble out of the club in hopes of having a real conversation, the loud music still audible outside.

“I said that I am sorry, Y/N!” Max is still shouting, causing you to giggle louder and place your finger on his lips with an overexaggerated “shhh”

“No need to shout, Maximilian.”

“That’s not my name.”

“Its close enough.” Your drunken giggles continue as you talk, forcing the mumbled words out through your laughs. “Why did you not leave any room?”

“I didn’t mean to ruin your race, Y/N.” The way he says your name has you sobering up a bit, and the intense way he looks at you has you forgetting why you were ever mad at him.

“Oh mon dieu, pourquoi as-tu besoin d'avoir de si beaux yeux?” Its your turn to say something he doesn’t understand, the French going completely over his head. Oh god, why do you have to have such pretty eyes?

“What was that?”

“I said that you have really nice eyes that need to stop looking at me like that!” He is speechless after you admit it, letting a tense silence blanket the two of you.

He slowly reaches out towards you, one hand coming up to cup your cheek.

“You have really nice eyes too.” The admission from him paired with his hands on your face have you forgetting everything about the race, the only thing on your mind being the man in front of you.

“Max.” His name rolls off your tongue, a silent dare for him to do something.

He takes the dare, his other hand coming to cup your neck as he leans down, his lips ghosting over yours. He finally connects your lips together, the taste of gin lingering on his mouth. Your thoughts are drowned out by Max, your arms coming up to wrap around his neck pulling him closer as you continue to kiss, cliché butterflies erupting in your stomach.

You only pull away when you need air, moving away from Max but still keeping eye contact.

“You have no idea how long I have wanted to do that.” The words catch you by surprise, never knowing Max felt like that.

“I always thought you didn’t like me.”

“Never.”

~

[mikuhats]

Ik its just rage bait but the post that says "fictional characters cant be objectified or disrespected bc theyre not real" makes me feel like ghis post

[jjk-theories]

Ig the goal here is to run through my main blog @hermitw to find my personal theories, and those I've read from other people that shape the way I interpret JJK, to organize them into masterlists and sort by whether I would die on that hill or if it's just as thought.

I've had so many theories but they kinda build on each other and sound insane out of context, so this is an attempt to be organized and more easily link to sources, etc.

My credentials are:

I've been through JJK 12 times (only on my third full manga read to be fair, and have yet to read the light novels). I love JJK because every time I notice different things, foreshadowing, connections etc, but this also means that I see things leaning more on different characters' perspectives each time.

Turning 25 has cursed me with media literacy (honestly it's so different to watch movies etc. now compared to previous years, idk how much is related to brain development but all I can say is that I have more awareness now than in the past. Like I can see the forest from the trees better.)

Super autism (jujutsu kaisen has been my hyperfixation/special interest since last year. Ik it isn't that long, I was rly trying to wait until it was completed bc I generally hate waiting between episodes but at this point I fiend for manga leaks), noticing patterns and just. Thinking about this all the time.

I also try to consume several translations, to get a fuller understanding.

Tbh I started out as an anime-only, but kept asking my friends too many questions (so I could write canon divergent fics where redemption arcs happen lmao, but I needed it to be Lore Accurate) and they couldn't answer without giving spoilers.

I think it took 5 watches for me for feel like I understood JJK - in that time I looked up to whatever analysis or theories I could find, but over time began to realize that a lot of them don't hold up. At this point I get rly excited when someone thinks more than me, shares their deeper understanding, especially when it relates to cultural or historical elements that I missed before.

So I'll try to sort things out by whether they're hills that I would die on, or how serious they are, and providing context for whatever might come across as rage bait or polarizing on its own.

Idk though I'm not great with being organized online hahaha

[writer-of-worlds]

His Smile

[therewas-a-girl]

I was watching s1 of Arrow, bc it's on Netflix here (FINALLY) and... what happened to Laurel? She was so good in s1. WHAT WENT WRONG AFTER S1???????

Short answer - the writers think women are interchangeable, not really deserving to be treated as people and, really its easier to replace them (with the added bonus of the story they can squish out of their gruesome deaths), than say, spend brainpower to write them as humans, and allow the audience to built connections and empathy with them… and not just the whoever they are there to prop up. 

long answer… is longer, and a mess:

one of the ideas i have - one of them - is that, the whole idea behind the end of season one was that tommy’s death would affect both oliver and laurel. oliver by getting him not to kill anymore and laurel by being the ‘tragedy/loss/pain’ that would push her into becoming the Black Canary. 

(this is my intuition just from the way their journey was going, like, by following the narrative etc, and by knowing how these writers think, a little. like, what to them is the birth of a hero: death, loss tragedy. it bores me, generally, sure, but i know it when i see it.) 

i dont know what happened, but they seemed to change their minds - maybe halfway. or after s1 ended?… idk. and started casting calls for the Canary. tore laurel down to the freaking bone - and used her character to prop other characters, general at the expense of her development. or rather, her opportunities to bond the audience with her, build sympathy for her. because all those opportunities were used to build sympathy for whoever she was facing against.

(seriously, they gave laurel in s2 some emotional reactions to stuff that are so far from human emotions, i can hardly conceive of it. and im not talking about her cleaving at sara or oliver by the way. i think she had all the right in the world to feel all the rage in the world. im talking about how all her emotional reactions were framed as wrong/bad/over the top! as opportunities for oliver to act like a self righteous dick, his behavior framed by the story as ‘right’ and ‘just’. 

(i will never be over the fact that he said, to her face and utterly unironically, ‘i am still standing here, i have loved you half my life but im done running after you’ like it was an accusation, while she, and everyone else, had just found out - in laurels own home… at a dinner he was not invited to… - that he and sara were boning. like… “im fucking your sister, dropping you neck deep into the shit that is one of the most gruesome deja vu experiences in the history of ever, but how dare you be angry, you dont know whats happening in my life right now!!!! that’s obviously more important than YOUR feeling!!!”   meanwhile, im standing here o_O ???? is this walking dick foreal????), 

laurel framed as selfish? opportunity for her to apologize to sara instead of, idk, both of them forgiving each other for the fucked up things they did to each other???

[lmao i still laugh my ass off at how, in needing to frame sara less negatively for the whole ‘sleeping with her sister’s boyfriend’ thing - a gross device they used in s1 to to build sympathy for laurel; the writers did a whole ‘i saw oliver first’ thing with her, like that somehow means sara ‘planted the flag on him’ and that means something??? or gave her some sort of ‘get out of jail free card’ that essentially turned LAUREL in the boyfriend-thieving sister. LMFAO  how the tables turned!!! 

one of the most gross things arrow has done is the relationship between sara and laurel and the way they were pitted against each other - with oliver at the center. and im not saying that’s how i think of it - i like to think their issues went deeper and had fuckall to do with oliver’s dick, but that’s how the show framed it]. 

like, if there were scales, laurel would always be put on the lower one - you could tell they didnt respect her character much, because they always sacrificed it to make someone else look better. using laurel as the ‘bad guy’ to buy empathy/sympathy for some other character?) 

so, what went wrong? 

im fucked if i know. 

maybe nothing. plenty of people love laurel the way she is. including me: beautifully fucked up and flawed and, this is my idea, angry as fuck but still good. or trying to be. or maybe this is my version of laurel. as i have a version of all the characters i love - essentially everyone on the show, with the notable  exception of merlyn. 

maybe s2 was meant to be laurel’s ‘island’ - because according to arrow thats the only way to birth heroes. 

fake, that sounds. but okay. 

or maybe they thought nobody liked laurel and she wouldn’t work as the black canary anyway. so her replacement was premeditate, her journey, as some say, only a fulfillment of contractual obligations towards katie. 

or maybe the s2 journey/breakdown had been planned from the beginning?  

i don’t know. 

whatever the answer is, the result is still ??? and fucking stupid.

because the mantel was passed on from sara to laurel. sara gave laurel the proverbial jacket and went on her own way, without harm. having made up with her family, having gained her freedom (and then compromised it), having made up with her sister, redeemed herself in her own eyes and in the eyes of those she loved and who loved her. having started to see herself as a hero, and believe , finally , that she was one. or could be. 

regardless of the reason for sara’s existence, sara was and IS beautiful and so is her journey, because to me, hers is a journey of homecoming and hope.  

BUT - in s3 they killed sara regardless ??? 

even though the ‘hero mantel’ had been already passed…. and here is where i get utterly lost because, why? i dont know. i honest to god dont know.  these people put two canaries on our screen but couldn’t keep them there? neither one can live while the other one survives, apparently? there was absolutely no need for sara to die - and the shameful way she did die - NOW THAT’S WHERE I START GAINING INSIGHT - because it exposes the true nature of the writer’s hypocrisy and reasons: a woman who said the iconic line ‘no woman should suffer at the hands of men’ was murdered by a girl being controlled by a man to get TO another man, while sara was shoved into a trashcan and then a literal fridge.

this ^ is where it starts to get transparent.

like, maybe they didn’t try so hard with laurel because, they don’t try that hard with women in the arrowverse in general. 

maybe, they didn’t really know how to write laurel like a person, out of the archetype she was built to be. a woman written by and FOR the kind of people that think its important to give her stuffed bras to puff up her breasts does not bode well for her future.

i would however like to take a moment to point out the fucking hypocrisy of them reinforcing, in dinah, this whole ‘defender of women’ thing that they had going with sara AFTER WHAT THEY DID TO SARA ^^^ !!! they are trying so fucking hard to copy paste the traits of the ‘successful canary’ (whom they still killed) onto dinah, (perhaps even as a way to distance her from the ‘unsuccessful canary’) – but every time dinah says something like that, i cant help but be reminded of sara and what these same writers did to her AND HOW HYPOCRITICAL THAT MAKES HER LINES SOUND, KNOWING WHERE THEY COME FROM. like, generally the reaction i have is  -

WITH YOUR FUCKING VILLAIN MUSTACHE! 

I SEE YOU!

ps: i do not like the trend i notice that heroines are more easily accepted as heroines in arrow, when they mirror Oliver’s journey to heroism.  sara did; then her latest reincarnation - dinah - mirrored sara’s. (they tried to do it with Laurel, Felicity. in a kind of way even with diggle - though that might be a stretch)  it’s one of the reasons, i think, that sara and dinah are more successful with the fandom? they fit the mold more easily. easier to box in, pin down. their reasons, internal pushes, are easier to grasp - because they mirror the hero’s. and the hero gets plenty of exposition, and we are also basically programmed to empathize with him.

while its seems harder for people to accept that other kinds of journeys for women - not because it is harder, but because then they’d have to figure out the internal workings of these women who are DIFFERENT from the hero. people would have to really THINK about it, and generally, i find that’s not a natural inclination , when it comes to the internal worlds of people who are not the white male (presented as straight despite various queer!baiting flags) hero. 

There are other forms of journeys, motives - that would be just as brilliant as Oliver’s - or generally the ‘tragedy-born’ hero’s. And that would fit the personality of the characters better, individualize them more, make them stand out on their own. Like Laurel’s need to do good, her disappointment with the system and want to fix it, keeping a different moral code from the others. Felicity’s plain need to make an impact, do something with her life, just because. No need for ‘dark arcs’ cause that’s just how she was born as. 

But that’s a journey that would require energy to absorb, something one would have to figure out for themselves, whole watching, oftentimes even making it up, imagining it. and yeah, most ppl just dont bother. 

[justjessame]

Diamonds Are A Boy’s Best Friend Chapter 23

My triumph over my father was short lived.  While I had flashes of rage, always seemingly directed at him, he had the expertise and thrust to watch pain flash across his prey's face.  The next afternoon, as I lay sunning myself on the lounge chair he’d been reclining in while I told him the darkest fantasy I’d ever entertained, I could hear him talking to Bel as his barber trimmed his hair.  

I heard them mention ‘Doug’ and ‘Judi Silver’, but nothing really caught me as all that interesting.  He waxed on about some television program ‘Queen for a Day’ and why the woman playing some game wouldn’t win, even though she had a traumatic and heart rending backstory.  Her dental work was lacking.  So insightful, I thought, flipping to the next page.  

He had other visitors, men who came and went.  Some handing him envelopes, some chatting for a moment or two and rushing away.  I paid no mind.  It wasn’t my business and I didn’t feel like participating.  

I felt too warm to be comfortable after hours in the sun, but as I stood up, he called me to him.  I knew that he would goad me about something I didn’t know, but I had no idea that he was planning on planting the largest seed of doubt inside of me yet.

“Elizabeth, you’re looking very parched.”  He gestured to an uncomfortable looking Bel, and the cigar chomping man stood to grab me a drink.  “Seltzer water, Bel, my daughter hasn’t been feeling well.  Have a seat, sweetheart, something just arrived that I think you need to see.”

I sat down with a sigh, but was pleased that I was in the shade now.  I felt even better when Bel handed me an iced glass of the bubbly water that I was forced to drink, if only to be able to keep it down a little longer than anything else.  He dismissed Bel, who shot  me a look of regret as he left.  

“Now, I want you to know, Liz, that I didn’t set out to catch Ike in this position.”  I waited, taking a sip of my drink, thinking that his act of contrition was getting a tad better.  “Here,” he handed me a manila envelope.  “These were taken earlier, and processed fast because of what my guy witnessed.  I'm sorry you have to see this, Elizabeth.”  So sorry that you look like you're ready to burst into giggles, I thought.

Flipping open the flap, I pulled out the snapshots and felt my world spinning.  It wasn’t because he was meeting with Meg Bannock.  I knew he’d made a deal with her, so being in her company was to be expected, but one snapshot in particular cut me like a knife.  It was Ike, holding open a towel, as the consecutive shots showed just like he had for me at the Miramar pool.  

“I never imagined that Isaac used the same bait for every woman he wanted to catch.”  Was he impressed?  “You have to admit, Liz, that looks very familiar.”  

I swallowed down the feeling of my water coming up for as long as I could, but tossing the photos down, I had to rush to the nearest washroom.  And as the last soda crackers and the seltzer water burned its way back out, I felt like I couldn’t trust anyone.

It felt like I’d only been on my bed for minutes, but I could hear the rain pattering on the window when I opened my eyes and realized it was hours later.  Thinking the rain woke me, I rolled over and realized it was the knocking on my door that yanked me from the only peace I had.  I considered ignoring it, I did, but then Lily’s voice called for me and she sounded desperate.

“Liz?”  I wanted to know what she’d offer before I opened the door.  “It’s about Ike.”  Oh, is that all?  I started to settle back into my pillow, but her next words chilled me to the bone.  “He’s been taken into custody.”  

When I came down the stairs, Lily hot on my heels, I could hear my father in his office.  He was celebrating, because of course he was.  I steeled myself against the onslaught that he was undoubtedly ready to launch at me and walked in with my head high and my back straight.  

“Ah, there she is, my darling daughter Elizabeth.”  He gestured to the chair in front of his desk and I realized we were alone again.  No Lily, no henchmen, just the two of us.  A private torture session then.  

“Lily tells me Ike was arrested,” said as though I was tearing off a bandage.  “I guess you’re ready to gloat now?”  

He nodded, smiling bright.  “The King is dead, sweetheart, long live the King.”  I raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.  “They handcuffed your darling Isaac and read the charge of first degree murder out in front of a team from CBS before his pitch even began, but never fear Liz, because his wonderful wife was there to save the day.”  Another slice, more internal bleeding.  “Are you alright, sweetheart?”  He was studying me, looking for a crack, but I said nothing.  “I realized, Elizabeth, a tiny flaw in my plan for you and Ike.”  I waited, my eyes never leaving him.  “Our last name.  You see, Vera was a showgirl,which is a hard enough sell for the upper crust.  But you?  You’re a DIAMOND.  That last name, the implications of your ‘associations’, you’re not as perfect as I thought.  Our name is infamous, clearly NOT good enough to marry and act as the queen to his tiny kingdom.’  Slice, cut, stab.  “If you want, I can find someone to take care of your ‘little’ problem.”  His eyes glanced at my still flat abdomen.  “No man wants spoiled goods, Liz.”  

I stood up and turned to go.  I didn’t have to sit through any more.  And I refused to let him see how deeply he’d cut me.

“You’ll let me know,” he called at my retreating back.  “The world doesn’t need another Evans.”  

Lily wasn’t far off, probably eavesdropping.  “You.”  I pointed at her and gestured for her to follow me upstairs where I grabbed my purse and a pad of paper.  “Write down Sy Berman’s number on this.” I thrust it into her hands and tossed her a pen.  “It’s time I spoke to my bubbe.”  

[topworldhistory]

Though silent in public, President Dwight D. Eisenhower worked behind the scenes to discredit Senator Joseph McCarthy and his red-baiting tactics.

Though they were both Republicans and briefly campaigned together in 1952, President Dwight D. Eisenhower “loathed [Senator Joseph] McCarthy as much as any human being could possibly loathe another,” according to the president’s brother. Yet Eisenhower refused to criticize McCarthy to the press, telling aides he would “not get into the gutter with that guy.” Instead, Eisenhower opted for a clandestine campaign to stamp out the senator’s influence.

Far from appeasing McCarthy, as his critics asserted at the time, Eisenhower played a major role in effecting his fellow Republican’s downfall.

Joseph McCarthy Rides Red Scare Wave

The Red Scare Started Before the McCarthy Era (TV-PG; 1:46)

WATCH: The Red Scare Started Before the McCarthy Era

Not long after World War II, anti-Communist paranoia swept through the United States, prompted by such events as the explosion of the first Soviet atomic bomb, the Communist takeover of China, the outbreak of the Korean War and the trial of the Rosenbergs.

In February 1950, at the height of the so-called Red Scare, McCarthy rose to prominence by falsely claiming to have a list of 205 known Communists working at the U.S. State Department. (When pressed for details, he later changed the number to 57.) The Wisconsin senator’s anti-Communist crusade only intensified from there, as he railed against allegedly subversive activity within various government entities.

“There were spies, and it was a real issue,” says David A. Nichols, author of Ike and McCarthy: Dwight Eisenhower’s Secret Campaign Against Joseph McCarthy. “But there’s no evidence I found that McCarthy ever caught one. It was all political bluster.”

McCarthy’s sway further increased in 1953, when he became chair of the Senate Committee on Government Operations, a position he used to subpoena witnesses, hold hearings, and make wild accusations against those he perceived as disloyal, many of whom lost their jobs and reputations.

McCarthy even attacked George C. Marshall, the architect of the Marshall Plan, not to mention Eisenhower’s former boss and mentor, essentially accusing him of treason. He also held up key Eisenhower appointees, most notably the U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union, for allegedly being soft on Communism.

Eisenhower's Silence Mistaken for Approval of McCarthyism

President Eisenhower (right) initially maintained silence over McCarthy (left) and his red scare tactics. 

In public, Eisenhower wouldn’t even mention McCarthy’s name, thereby depriving him of the newspaper headlines he craved. When reporters asked about McCarthy, the president would answer, “I never talk personalities.”

“[Eisenhower] believed that if he gave McCarthy presidential attention, it would only encourage him, it would only elevate his prestige even more,” Nichols says, pointing out that Eisenhower’s predecessor, Harry Truman, constantly lambasted the Wisconsin senator to no ill effect.

Eisenhower’s opponents initially regarded his silence as tacit approval of McCarthyism’s excesses. In actuality, however, Eisenhower was biding his time to bring down McCarthy, whom he deemed a polarizing threat to both his presidency and the nation as a whole.

The president, a five-star general who led the D-Day invasion of Europe during World War II, became especially incensed in late 1953, when McCarthy accused the U.S. Army of harboring Communists. By January 1954, Eisenhower decided to fight back.

Meeting in the attorney general’s office on January 21, 1954, trusted Eisenhower aides learned of sensitive information they felt could be weaponized: Roy Cohn, chief counsel to McCarthy’s investigative subcommittee and a leading proponent of his boss’s anti-Communist actions, had with McCarthy’s help secured special Army privileges for G. David Schine, an unpaid consultant to the subcommittee. (Nichols believes that Schine and Cohn were lovers.)

With Eisenhower’s backing, aides started preparing a report on what would become a major scandal. Meanwhile, on March 9, Ralph Flanders, a Republican senator from Vermont, denounced McCarthy—assuredly, Nichols says, having received White House encouragement to do so. “To what party does he belong?” Flanders declared on the floor of the Senate. “One must conclude that his is a one-man party, and that its name is McCarthyism.”

That same evening, broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow launched his own legendary anti-McCarthy diatribe, saying “the line between investigating and persecuting is a very fine one, and the junior senator from Wisconsin has stepped over it repeatedly.” “We will not walk in fear, one of another,” Murrow added. “We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason.”

Schine Report Ensures McCarthy's Downfall

Sen. Joseph McCarthy (center) seated beside Roy Cohn (right), chief counsel to McCarthy’s investigative subcommittee.

With Democrats ramping up their attacks as well and McCarthy now on his heels, Eisenhower stuck the knife in further. On March 11, he surreptitiously greenlighted the release of the Schine report, which documented how Cohn (who later served as Donald Trump’s personal attorney) repeatedly threatened to “wreck the Army” if his and McCarthy’s requests regarding the recently drafted Schine were not approved.

“It was pretty brutal politics,” Nichols says, referring to Cohn and McCarthy, as well as the White House response. “We think our politics is brutal now, but it was in those days too.”

As a result of the scandal, 36 days of televised hearings were held, running from April to June, during which McCarthy continued raging against his perceived enemies. As Nichols points out, though, “TV was not kind to him. It showed him to be a bully and hurt him a great deal politically.” In one particularly poignant moment, a lawyer for the Army asked him, “Have you no sense of decency, sir?”

Just weeks after the hearings concluded, Senator Flanders introduced a resolution to censure McCarthy for conduct unbecoming to a senator. That December—with Eisenhower’s behind-the-scenes support—the Senate condemned him by a vote of 67 to 22, after which “Ike” praised the chair of the censure committee for doing a “very splendid job.”

A few days later, McCarthy publicly repudiated Eisenhower. But by then, McCarthy, who just a year earlier had been one of the most powerful and popular politicians in America, had lost nearly all of his influence. According to Nichols, his fellow lawmakers wouldn’t even sit with him in the Senate dining room or listen to him on the Senate floor.

To the end of his life, Nichols says, “Eisenhower never admitted that the White House was behind this.” Yet he couldn’t help but gloat a bit in private. On at least one occasion, he reportedly repeated a joke that “it’s no longer McCarthyism, it’s McCarthywasm.” 

from Stories - HISTORY https://ift.tt/38kLbzm March 04, 2020 at 09:05PM