#gotta support larry because :) rejects

[theboxfort]

Me enjoying the chaos on my dash right now :)

[merrysithmas]

hey I first wanted to say I love your analysis of tgf, I think it's really incredible how you can write out such long, well thought out answers to asks. What do you think about the parallels of Boris and Tom Cable as influences in Theo's life?

thank you! I love TGF fandom it’s small but supportive and everyone contributes such amazing analyses, illustration, memes, and whatever else. and we inspire each other!! we’re a such cool group of art thieves i gotta say 😄

Tom and Boris are paralleled through the novel in some ways. Tom gets Theo into smoking and stealing. Many people forget Theo was already smoking cigarettes/weed and breaking into people’s houses and stealing things way before he met Boris or his mother died. But Theo and Tom’s theft is meaningless fun and harmless acting-out. Theo details how Tom was part of the cooler crowd but still peripherally hangs with Theo and they get into trouble together (even though Tom was on the edges of the social crowd of kids who used to beat Theo up and tease him). Theo talks about how he - a scholarship student - has taken to skipping assignments and falling behind in school and blowing things off ever since Larry ditched he and his mother. Theo was a slacker, a stoner, and a thief way before Boris — with Tom. (That’s important — Boris didn’t ever “corrupt” Theo).

In fact, if you didn’t know Theo was talking about Tom right here: My friendship with [him] had always had a wild, manic quality, something unhinged and hectic and a little perilous about it, and though all the same old high energy was still there, the current had reversed, voltage humming in the opposite direction — you’d swear it was Boris he was talking about.

After Theo’s mother dies, Tom becomes distant and strange and ignores Theo, sometimes quite callously, if I’m remembering correctly — an affront Theo can’t abide and he gets very angry and upset to the point of confrontation. Theo tries to provoke fights with him: now instead of horsing around with him in study hall I wanted to push his head in the urinal, yank his arm out of the socket, beat his face bloody on the sidewalk, make him eat dogshit and garbage off the curb. Tom likely feels guilt, drawing the conclusion that his misdeeds with Theo created the gap in time which lead Theo and his mother to the musuem that fateful morning. In the end, it is Tom who “steals” his comphet relationship with Kitsey — by betraying him again and cheating with her. Tom is a “bad influence” who the Barbours do not accept because of his alleged criminality.

Now compare this with Boris — a friend he also steals, smokes, does drugs, and ditches school with. A friend who is also seen as “cooler” at school than Theo but who wholeheartedly is devoted to him. A friend who tries ardently to heal the wound his lost mother left even though he never knew her. A friend who never shies away from or ignores Theo’s pain, nightmares, or depression — but deals with them head on by cuddling, calming, and saving him from dark urges. A friend who also steals with Theo and teaches him how to steal not meaninglessly — but for survival. Food and medicine. Not rich people’s nonsense from the Hamptons like with Tom. Like Tom, Boris also “gets in between” Theo’s comphet engagement but in a manner we as readers know is clearly caring in nature — to stop Theo from doing something he knows will hurt him. Boris too betrays Theo by stealing the painting (Boris has a connection to the museum now like Tom does) - but wades through a decade of heavy guilt until he can get it back and return it to Theo. The person who he credits with saving his life. Tom never addresses his guilt over the museum with Theo. It can be surmised that the Barbours would not approve of Boris either, what with their rejection of Tom for his likely at worst white-collar crimes. But Theo doesn’t care in this case— and in the end choses Boris over the Barbours. (Not to mention Theo himself is a mostly remorseless criminal, and sees the hypocrisy of his relationship with the Barbours).

It also stands to mention that “criminal” Tom and “criminal” Boris are the love interests of Kitsey and Theo — the two people who are deluding themselves into a Business Marriage together for the sake of the delicate Mrs Barbour and stagnated in their own fears against pursuing their own lives and wishes when faced with how others will perceive them (Kitsey worried about social status and likely her general future, Theo worried about social standing if he is outed as queer/kicked out of the Barbours social circle/loses his fake mom Mrs Barbour). Theo and Kitsey have a conversation about being “in love with the wrong person” before they both finally painfully see eye-to-eye and agree to their fake wedding. They are enabling each other in their grief and guilt - Kitsey over Mr Barbour and Andy, Theo over Mrs Barbour, his mother, his father, and his sexuality.

Theo wants to make his mother proud, gain a new stand-in Mom because he is stymied psychologically, distance himself from his father by becoming “high class”, and convince himself he isn’t queer. Kitsey wants to mute the grief of her guilt over the death of her brother and father and her heart which tells her to love Tom opposed to her father’s wishes for her. Kitsey even mentions once how Theo “straightened up” since being with her which Theo is startled and offended by — (gay paranoia) before Kitsey waves it off. They know each other and they know what they are doing. They see one another as allies and fear acknowledging what they feel is their mutual cowardice.

Theo also does not see Tom for many years — another parallel between Tom and Boris. He is surprised on the street to see Tom making out with Kitsey, only to return to the street and find... Boris, excited and elated to see him.

There’s also the symbolism that Theo mentions between he and Tom pressing their cut thumbs together in Tom’s backyard. This is to represent their childhood oath of brotherhood which has practically fractured in every way possible by adulthood. The very next sentence Theo narrates the image of Boris seizing his bloody knuckles and pressing them to his mouth— a memory full of disconcerting allure to him. It is juxtaposed to Tom and Theo’s childish cut thumbs to illustrate the difference between Theo’s relationship with Tom and Theo’s relationship with Boris — Boris and Theo are not just friends. They are not brothers and their chivalrous oath and hand kiss are not childish or breakable by time. It is different with Boris. We are meant to see that as readers.

I think Theo and Tom are supposed to represent a “normal” friendship for Theo. Silly, meaningless trouble and fun as kids — and then crossed wires and distance as adults. It is supposed to show us how different things are between Boris and Theo versus any other relationship in the book — highlighting how Theo acts when he is just bros with another boy for real (Tom). And when he is “JUST BROS I SWEAR” with Boris — but actually quite obviously in love with him.

As adults Boris and Tom are juxtaposed again in the context of the Theo/Kitsey dynamic. Tom is a “criminal” like Boris — but Tom was privileged and Boris was not. Tom meanders in his bad reputation while Boris thrives in it. Tom goes behind people’s backs whereas Boris confronts people and himself. Tom does not take responsibility for his misdeeds and Boris does. Tom is content to cheat with Kitsey whereas Boris asks Theo come to Amsterdam with him at his own engagement party. Out in the open. Cards on the table. Honesty. Tom is likely not a “good” person — Boris, despite outwardly having some of the same labels, is.

Boris and Tom mirror each other just enough to let us see the difference between Theo’s feelings towards friends vs. more than friends. Boris is Theo’s real friend (he supercedes Tom in every area) — and leaps the fence of Theo’s emotions, falling squarely in the “more than friends” category. Something that is much different than we see from Theo’s embittered bro dynamic with Tom.

[italicwatches]

Animal Sentai Zyuohger - Final Episode

Let’s finish the fight.

-PREVIOUSLY ON Animal Sentai Zyuohger, the crew rejected the idea of isolation, choosing to fight for a brighter tomorrow! And now, that fight has come to them…

-As PRESENTLY ON Animal Sentai Zyuohger, Genis is more amused than anything else, ready to play this game out to the end…His bloodlust, his desire for destruction, is near overwhelming…

-And with his usage of Cube Whale’s data, he can draw from the Earth. This planet, is under his ownership, Zyuohgers…

-They make a charge, a furious war cry burning forth, as the final battle begins!

-Final Episode: Earth is our Home

-And the fight is on, but Genis is too damn fast and strong, able to outplay and overpower them…Gorilla’s strength, Tiger’s speed, none of it is enough, and then they’re swept up into darkness!

-Into a pocket dimension, as created by Genis. A space where he controls the rules. As Eagle tries to figure out a plan…And he realizes something, as he looks in deep…This pocket space is made up of mook coins! And Genis, seeing what they’ve figured out, bombards them…

-The pocket space collapses, their armors fail…And Naria, barely alive, staggers her way up to the battlefield.

-While Genis, Genis is furious…Because Yamato figured it out. Genis is nothing but a collective mass of mooks! A bundling of fury and hate! And Naria sees his shape collapse momentarily, when the hatred becomes too much…

-As Misao puts it all together. Genis hates himself. The bravado, the attempting to be above it all, the Blood Game…Fuck, why he picked Misao to turn into The World, over any other human on the board! It was because Misao hated himself in turn, and Genis knew how to use that!

-The others rally around Misao…You are nothing like him. You care so deeply for others. You seek nothing but others’ happiness. You are a good man, Misao, and there’s nothing of Genis in you, no matter what that piece of shit claims to have seen.

-Naria leaps in, choosing to stand with him to the end, her loyalty overwhelming…And Genis…

-Genis shoots right through her as the others transform, shattering their transformation and destroying their Symbols in their moment of vulnerability. He had a chance to be different, to turn away from his path…And he cast it aside. He killed the one person in the entire fucking universe who could actually care for him…He fires upon the wounded crew, trying to kill them utterly, to take them off the board…

-But they endure! This fight’s not over! Their lives aren’t over! You had a chance to back down, Genis…You had a chance to become more than you were. But now? Now, they’re going to take you down. For their planet. For their friends. For the people they love! For everything awaiting them!

-They charge forth, without even their armors…But they begin to glow, as the Earth itself responds, pouring its raw energy into their Symbols, into Misao’s Light…! The Earth has chosen. The planet itself has decided, that you are its champions!

-And thus, Instincts Awakened! Champion of the soaring sky…ZYUOH EAGLE! Champion of the surging waves…ZYUOH SHARK! Champion of the savannah…ZYUOH LION! Champion of the forest… ZYUOH ELEPHANT! Champion of the snowy drifts…ZYUOH TIGER! Champion of the world, ZYUOH THE WORLD! Animal Sentai, ZYUOHGER!

-Their planet, is under protection! Beast UNLEASHED! By the strength of their will, these six enter the fray, and it’s a totally different game now…Genis is powerful, sure, but the Earth itself has rejected his presence, and they have too much will to be stopped! Even when he manages to push them back, they rally, unique, as the Earth’s power comes aglow…

-And Eagle manages to do as The World does. All, Beasts, UNLEASHED! His muscles swell, wings spread from his back, and the Whale Cannon straps itself on! The power is overwhelming, terrifying, as he takes to the sky, forcing Genis to face him in the air!

-This planet is his home! These people are his precious friends! And this power, is the gift given to him to protect them! He’s able to blast Genis into the ground, shred his wings, and rally the whole team for a hyper-charged, prismatic ZYUOH FINAL shot! No coursing up and down, no splitting, just a single straight beam right into Genis’s fucking chest…

-Shattering his memory unit full of Cube Whale’s data, and blowing him through! His connection to the Earth is destroyed, and the whole crew just about collapses…

-But then he gets big. And they’ve got to call in backup. Complete Animal Combination! ALL TOGETHER! WILD TOUSAI DODEKA KING! The fight is on, against a reduced but embiggened Genis…Without his connection, he’s back in his life support chair, running on fumes…Against the strength of so much.

-Zyuman power, the raw life force that fuels their strength. Human will, that can bind and forge connections across impossible gaps. The planet’s will and strength at their back! Their Zyuoh Cubes, these ancient totems of power that have chosen them! And their own connection, their refusal to abandon each other! You don’t face one, Genis. You don’t even face six. You face everything!

-ZYUOH DODEKA SHOT! Their blast knocks Genis back, opens him up, as they pour it all in…ZYUOH, DODEKA, GRAND FINAL FINISH! It is an orb of energy that fires forth, the planet itself in micro, the strength and hopes of all that has ever been born on this planet, of every sunset and every love, of all that still shall ever be…And it all tears him apart to nothing.

-It’s over. It’s over so quickly…And that leaves them with what’s a much harder job. They protected their homes…Now they need to change them.

-Everyone’s fucking exhausted by the time they return to the Link Cube…And this is goodbye, for a short while. They need to return. They need to explain. And they need to bring about change on their end. But make no mistake, Yamato and Misao…This is not the end.

-But Misao is still close to tears, and Yamato admits, with more candidness than he is used to, that he’s going to miss them…They’re more than friends. They’re family. And he’s going to be thinking of them, until the very moment they reunite.

-Then comes their time…All the Symbols, and the Grand Champion Symbol, are locked into the Link Cube, as it glows bright…Its damage is healed by all that energy…And then? It starts to spin wildly and rise into the air…!

-Its energy courses through the planet…As cuboid towers start to emerge in the cities! From the cabin, to the hospital, to the middle of the city, zyumen find themselves amongst humans?!

-The Link Cube…Something happened. When they reforged the Link Cube, with everything…It reset the Link Cube back to zero. It undid the initial severing.

-The Link Cube vanishes, as the Symbols come back down to these Champions…And now…Now they’re left with a lot of questions, and so much uncertainty. …But one thing is certain. This new world will need their help. To help guide people through coexistence. To stand by them through difficult times. And if a threat comes upon them once again? To fight.

-Of course, they have so much to see and to do…Each has to reunite with their families. Sela finds her brother and parents by the water. Leo finds his whole pack taking up residence in a park. Amu returns to her mother, who’s started a little restaurant…And Tusk finds his father, and needs to talk.

-As things slowly settle, Misao and Larri find themselves becoming ambassadors and educators, and Misao, Misao finally finds peace, as he’s helping craft a world that the three whose lives were thrust into him would be proud of…

-Mario ends up making friends with the three who appeared in his cabin. And Bard spends a brief time with Yamato’s father, as both have made decisions to see what’s important…Bard wants to see this world, wants to travel and see its beauty. And Yamato’s father…He’s realized he needs to connect with his son, and do what he should have done so long ago. Both are a little gentler, a little kinder, and a lot wiser, than they were when they met last…

-And as for Yamato himself, well…He keeps doing what he’s been doing. Trying to live by the creed his mother taught him. That all things are connected, and all deserve a hand outstretched in aid.

-Credits!

-Aand the handoff.

Okay, we gotta talk that ending. Because that was fucking great. Zyuohger, like a lot of Super Sentai shows, had its problems with spinning its wheels in the middle…But that right there, that made it all worth it.

I would have liked to see more of Genis’s whole Deal, maybe by revealing it more explicitly sooner, if only to the audience. It’s such an interesting angle, that it’s a shame that we don’t get any more time to examine his actions in light of it.

But man, that whole ending, the sheer hope it contains with how we can forge new connections, and those connections can make us better than we were…There is so much to take in there, and it is a delight.

Like, I had a whole thing I was gonna talk about with the critiques of the show, but that…Damn, that just knocked so much of what I had to say out of the park.

But, okay. Let’s get into it. Right out the gate, I gotta say, the character beats and storytelling were this season’s absolute strength. It nailed the “out of suit” stuff better than a lot of Super Sentai. Even within the limits of being a comedy-action show for young children, they were able to bring a lot of depth, and a lot of real weight to the characters.

So where’s the weak point?

The “in the suit” stuff. Ultimately, it’s not even that a lot of the fights were bad…It’s that they were the same thing I’ve seen before. And sure, yeah, I’m well outside of the target demo, but a typical kid’s going to see at least a few seasons of this damn show before they age out of it.

The mecha fights, especially, were rough and really felt like contractual obligations more than anything the creators really wanted to do interesting stuff with. Particularly because, I mean, you have this whole idea that everything starts with the Cube forms, which inherently can be put in any order. I know that wouldn’t work as well for play, but it’s a serious shame that we saw so little of the idea.

And, to the same token, the on-foot fights were…I mean, they weren’t bad, but they had too few elements to work with. Four members of the team only have a gun, a sword, and their Beast Unleashed power…And two of them effectively have the same power!

While I can see the argument that, from a narrative perspective, you want to show humanity as being uniquely able to hold zyuman power from more than one form, hold multiple lives within them…I feel like if the others had gotten secondary forms like Yamato, it would have done so much to improve the show.

The best Super Sentai fights, generally, come from the choreographers being able to do crazy things and change the circumstances. I think it’s telling that some of the best fights in the series history came out of ToQger and Gokaiger, and it was almost entirely because of how often they could flip the rules of the fight.

So, yeah. If it were me and I were retooling this series from top to bottom, I think the one big thing I’d do is introduce a new set of forms for the four. Something from the smaller Cube Animals, perhaps, like armor that could strap on, or some way for a zyuman to grant some small fraction of their power as a ‘blessing’ to the Symbols (as opposed to the large scale transfers to save Yamato’s life and build Misao into a human weapon). And then like I said, reveal Genis’s deal sooner, at least to the audience, so we can watch him front and struggle and know that’s what we’re seeing.

But overall? That was damn good.

So what’s next? …Real talk, I need some light fluff right now, so I think we’re diving into a comedy. Come back and see that next time, with a new episode ONE! Wait for it!

[junker-town]

The best ever basketball fight was Duke vs. UNC in 1961

When Duke played UNC in 1961, we got pettiness, punches and cowering referees. It ruled.

With a title like “The best ever basketball fight” you might be expecting me to discuss Malice at the Palace. That one was a truly great fight, with unexpected twists and turns— mainly Metta World Peace twisting to see who threw a cup at him, and then turning his first toward that guy, or someone who seemed like that guy.

But I’d argue that basketball history holds an even better, more exciting fight. One that’s so very petty you can’t help but enjoy it. (Oh, wait, am I a bad person? Nah, I’ve given to charity before, I’m covered.)

In 1961 UNC and Duke engaged in what I’m declaring as The Best Ever Basketball Fight. Not just because the fight itself was ten minutes of chaos involving players, fans, coaches, and the scorekeeper. Nor is it because in the old days fans wore suits to games, so this brawl looked very fancy. It’s a combination of these factors and more that raise this fight from great to greatest.

Lemme set the stage for those of us who aren’t super familiar with the state of college basketball 60 years ago. UNC and Duke had been nurturing feelings of hatred for some time.

Yes, being basketball powerhouses located just eight miles from each other created some rivalry. But real bitter emotions between UNC and Duke were born of affronts more personal than merely hating your neighbor.

In 1960, the NCAA put UNC on probation for “excessive recruiting entertainment,” which sounds like they hired exotic dancers, but I’m pretty sure coach Frank McGuire was just handing out money very liberally to potential recruits instead.

But even cash isn’t a foolproof recruiting technique. In 1959, New York high school standout Art Heyman committed to UNC … but then Heyman reneged and decided to go to Duke. So here McGuire is, being punished for illegal recruiting tactics that don’t even work. Not to mention how embarrassing it is to be publicly rejected by a high school kid.

Thus UNC had an enemy, perhaps exacerbated by the fact that as a freshman Heyman was really good. Back then, freshmen couldn’t play on varsity teams, but Heyman was averaging 30 points a game on the freshman team.

The UNC freshman team wasn’t about to let Heyman embarrass their school again, and came up with a way of stopping him: Dieter Krause punched him in the face so hard he needed stitches. While I’m sure that fight was exciting, it doesn’t come anywhere near the category of best. Someone got actually hurt, which is not really the kind of thing I want to see. I’m not a sicko. I just like excitement and pettiness. Plus there was only one punch so … I mean ... does that even count as a fight?

The next season, on the varsity squad, Heyman was averaging 26 points a game. But then he played North Carolina and Doug Moe held him to just 11 points, which I think must have hurt more than the Krause’s punch.

After the game, apparently, Heyman put a picture of Moe up on his dorm room wall, never letting himself forget the humiliation and who had caused it. See what I’m talking about with the pettiness? This is good stuff. I didn’t know that kind of thing happened outside of TV and movie montages.

The rematch was set for early February. Duke was ranked fourth in the country with a record of 15-1 and UNC was fifth at 14-2.

The game kept teasing fans with the possibility of a fight. At one point, Frank McGuire yelled at a Duke assistant trainer for talking to UNC players. At halftime, a male UNC cheerleader gave Heyman one of those athlete-butt-pats, for encouragement, but Heyman, perhaps sensing a little sarcasm, shoved him.

Moe and Heyman got in a little dust up because in Heyman’s words. “He spit on me. Everytime I went to take a shot, he spit on me.”

You gotta hand it to Doug Moe. That is very clever. Is a ref gonna see you spitting on someone? Probably not. And even if they did, I bet Moe was being clever about it, maybe spitting while yelling “shot” or “I got ball” so it looked like an accident. There were no HD cameras to catch you back then. Nobody had any idea he was spitting on Heyman, except the lightly moistened Heyman himself. The downside to Moe’s literal dirty play (apart from the whole being really gross thing)? It wasn’t even a little bit effective.

Heyman had a great game and with 15 seconds left in the game, he’d scored 36 points and Duke was up by five.

With a last push, future-NBA coach Larry Brown drove to the basket where he met Heyman, who went ahead and fouled him, hard. Brown immediately chucked the ball at Heyman, benches cleared, and fans rushed the court. The score keeper jumped over the table and got a UNC player in a headlock. Fists were flying in every direction. After more than ten-minutes the ten policemen Duke had brought to the game managed to calm things down. Nobody was seriously injured (so we basically don’t have to feel guilty at all about voyeuristically enjoying it) and only Heyman was ejected.

There was such chaos it was hard for refs to see what happened exactly. Heyman later claimed Frank McGuire, the adult coach of UNC, kicked him. Though to be fair to McGuire, Heyman did later admit to punching him in the groin,

It was largely reported that Heyman threw the first punch, mostly because that’s what referee Charlie Eckman said happened. But uh-oh Charlie, these games are taped.

Duke Coach Vic Bubas called a press conference where he played the tape, or as it was adorably called in the 1960’s “the movies,” of the game. Brown threw the first punch, then UNC’s Don Walsh tackled Heyman from behind, THEN Heyman started punching people, in the groin and elsewhere. Oh, and the tape/movies also revealed why ref Charlie Eckman recounted events wrong: he didn’t have a great view of the fight from where he was hiding behind the basket.

The ACC commissioner suspended Brown, Walsh, and Heyman for the rest of the season. But one UNC alumnus was still angry. A lawyer — named Blackwell Brogden in case you were wondering if he was a villain or not — swore out an assault and battery warrant against Heyman for shoving the cheerleader at halftime.

The cheerleader didn’t want to be involved, presumably because it was a ridiculous case. But Brogden subpoenaed the cheerleader. Blackwell must’ve really loved going to UNC to be such an ardent/aggressive supporter/attacker. I hope the alumni association hit him up for donations cuz I have a feeling he’d be a soft touch.

The case was dropped pretty fast, but not before headlines that failed to mention the cheerleader was male made the rounds. With headlines like “Art Heyman Accused of Assaulting Cheerleader” Heyman looked like a monster.

Though fans were involved in the fight, Duke resolved to not to make any changes to seating arrangements or add barricades or do anything at all. The University released a statement saying “It is our duty to preserve the fine rivalry between North Carolina and Duke.” What a perfectly Duke way to say “we’re ... gonna ignore this.��

Oh, I almost forgot, Duke ended up winning 81-77. A close game is the cherry on top. This brawl had everything, from spitting and low blows to cowardly refs and a lawyer being a baby. I think I’ve made my case. The 1961 UNC-Duke fight is the Best Ever Basketball Fight.

Every week we’ll be writing up a fun historical sports story that we enjoyed. We find a lot of these while researching, but if you want to make suggestions on a thing you want to read about, let us know in the comments.