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Kryptogal (Kate, if you like)'s avatar

Every Army knows that it doesn't matter how advanced or sophisticated one side is: you can't beat the bum rush.

What's even better about chuds is they don't mind being the army, or the meat for the grinder. They like it! That is an impossible thing for an intellectual to comprehend. They will invent psychological complexes and social theories to try to explain it, because it is so inconceivable to them that they just actually like it.

I know it's lame but I do feel the need to "not all AWFLs" and say we don't all smell bad or avoid showering. But yes it's also true that if you go into any professional office you are 100x more likely to find scent diffusers and candles in the assistant secretary's cubicle than in her boss's office. And also affluent white guys are just the same and less likely to have showered that day or to put on cologne or use hair products than the guy who delivers his Ubereats.

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Theon Ultima's avatar

The best thing about chuds is their authenticity. They simply are; when asked, "Why do you like football?" the answer will be a simple, "I just do." There's no integrated performance to their behaviors.

Meanwhile, I'm going through a mini-existential crisis in regard to my "love" of Literature. I didn't start seriously reading until I was around 18. I consciously mapped that enjoying Literature was high status around this time, and this was the primary mover for my introduction to fiction (I first read Don Quixote).

Now, I can't square the internal circle of the question: is my love of Literature rooted in a performative want to code as high status, or do I actually just authentically love Literature? When I ask myself that question and reminisce about some of my favorite novels (Infinite Jest, Blood Meridian, The Unbearable Lightness of Being), I clearly did love them... but did I? The delineation isn't entirely clear to me, and I question if my "love" of Lit was simply a performance, one done so well I even tricked myself (I imagine this is how Modern Art largely works).

Where does my performative and authentic self bifurcate? The obvious answer is it doesn't; we are all some blend of the two, hopelessly jostling, grasping in the dark for our "true" self.

I imagine a chud would think everything I just said is gay and continue watching the game. I envy him this luxury. There’s a purity there—a guy, his game, his team. No smoke and mirrors, just pure fandom.

"Go Vikings!"

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