#travis harrison

[kayleigh-83]

A few miscellaneous shots from Travis and Starla's round.

[chrishemsworthsbitch]

God i love men so much, god really outdid herself on those they’re so pretty

[nottodayjustin]

Bonus this week: Hockey twitter meets the Superbowl

From What Chaos! Podcast

[baby-girl-aaron-dessner]

Travis Kelce Does Not Judge Harrison Butker For His Sexist Speech. Should We Be Surprised?

It’s incredibly disappointing yet predictable that Taylor Swift’s boyfriend, Travis Kelce, would defend Harrison Butker.

Kelce has stated that said he doesn’t believe he should judge his teammate “by his views.”

“I cherish him as a teammate,” Kelce said on the Friday episode of his “New Heights” podcast. “He is every bit of a great person and a great teammate."

As Danielle Campoamor writes, Kelce’s defence of Butker “betrays a specific kind of ignorance”:

For context, let’s revisit Butkers extremist views:

Butker called on those in the audience to “stop pretending” that IVF and surrogacy “are normal.”

He claimed birth control is not “natural.”

He attacked the “bad policies and poor leadership” of Democrats for protecting access to abortion care.

He urged his audience to reject Biden’s “church of nice” Catholicism, especially when faced with “the tyranny of diversity, equity and inclusion.”

Butker also directly called out LGBTQ Americans ahead of Pride Month, slyly calling queer pride a “deadly sin.”

Importantly, his speech was not calling for free expression or a polite and productive exchange of diverse perspectives. Instead, it was a call to action. By his own admission, Butker wanted the young graduates before him to go out into the world and champion leaders and policies who will pass bills and push for cultural shifts that align with and further his extreme viewpoints: "I am hopeful that these words will be seen as those from a man, not much older than you, who feels it is imperative that this class, this generation, and this time in our society must stop pretending that the things we see around us are normal," he declared. "Make no mistake: You are entering into mission territory in a post-God world, but you were made for this."

“Maybe Kelce, Mahomes and Reid truly believe Butker’s views are harmless. But that says more about their own privilege than anything else. It’s easy to compartmentalize and wax poetic about diversity of thought when your rights and freedoms aren’t on the proverbial chopping block.”

[justinssportscorner]

Shruti Rajkumar at HuffPost:

After over a week of silence, Kansas City Chiefs’ kicker Harrison Butker publicly defended the controversial commencement speech he gave earlier this month at Benedictine College.

During the “Courage Under Fire Gala” hosted by the Regina Caeli Academy on Friday, the Catholic football player doubled down on remarks he made in his speech at the Kansas college that were criticized by the public as homophobic and sexist. “If it wasn’t clear that the timeless Catholic values are hated by many, it is now,” Butker said Friday evening at the address in Nashville, Tennessee. “As to be expected, the more I’ve talked about what I value most — which is my Catholic faith — the more polarizing I’ve become. It’s a decision I’ve consciously made and one I do not regret at all,” he continued later. On May 11, the Catholic football player’s commencement speech dove into a ring-wing, bigoted rant, during which he slammed abortion rights and dogmatized “dangerous gender ideologies” and the “tyranny of diversity, equity and inclusion.” Butker also called LGBTQ+ Pride Month “a deadly sin” and suggested that female graduates “embrace one of the most important titles of all: homemaker.”

“I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you,” he said in his commencement address. “Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.” [...] On Friday, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce weighed in on his teammate’s remarks during an episode of his podcast “New Heights,” saying that he believes Butker is “a great person and a great teammate” who he has seen treat others with “nothing but respect and kindness,” but that he disagrees with his views. “I can’t say I agree with the majority of it, or just about any of it, outside of just him loving his family and his kids,” Kelce said about Butker’s speech, but added that he doesn’t think he should judge Butker’s views, especially his religious beliefs. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes backed Butker, saying that he didn’t agree with all of his teammate’s conservative views but that he is a “good person.”

Chiefs K Harrison Butker continues to double down on his hateful and bigoted commencement speech remarks he made at Benedictine College that impugned women and the LGBTQ+ community.

[kelcemenow]

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Li Zhou at Vox:

NFL kicker Harrison Butker is facing widespread backlash after giving a college commencement speech that casually dabbled in misogyny and homophobia. Butker, who has won three Super Bowls with the Kansas City Chiefs in recent years, delivered the address at Benedictine College, a private Catholic institution in Kansas, on May 11. In it, he criticizes everything from women prioritizing professional careers to Pride Month to abortion access.

An outspoken conservative who is close with leading right-wing figures including Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), Butker’s speech closely echoed Republican rhetoric and fixated on issues that have been popular fodder for conservatives as they try to mobilize their voters ahead of the 2024 election. “I think it is you, the women who have had the most diabolical lies told to you,” Butker said in his speech. “Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.”

The Chiefs have not commented on Butker’s remarks and the NFL league office distanced itself from them. “His views are not those of the NFL as an organization. The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger,” Jonathan Beane, the NFL’s senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer, told People. Butker’s speech advances the same agenda that the GOP has been pushing not only in its rhetoric but through policy. At least 21 Republican-led state legislatures have approved laws that ban or restrict abortion access and at least 20 have approved bills that curb access to gender-affirming care for minors. Butker’s remarks — which emphasized people “staying in [their] lane” — are the latest attempt to weaponize religion to achieve the same goals.

The backlash to Butker’s speech, explained

Butker joined the NFL in 2017, and is considered by some analysts to be one of the best kickers in the league. In recent years, he’s also been vocal about his support for conservative causes. On his Instagram page, Butker is pictured alongside Sen. Hawley, a darling of the religious right. He was previously photographed with Mark and Patricia McCloskey, a white couple that pointed guns at Black Lives Matter protesters in 2020. And during the Chiefs’ visit to the White House in 2023, he wore a tie expressing his opposition to abortion rights.

The Chiefs have been in the cultural spotlight not only for their on-field success but also thanks to tight end Travis Kelce’s relationship with pop star Taylor Swift. Butker referenced a Swift song lyric in his 20-minute speech and described Swift, a music mogul who is one of the most famous people on the planet as “my teammate’s girlfriend.” (For the curious, Butker cited the Swift lyric, “familiarity breeds contempt” in order to criticize priests who rely too much on parishioners for adulation and support.)

Kansas City Chiefs K Harrison Butker made a commencement speech at Benedictine College last weekend that drew lots of controversy, including his sexist and antifeminist view on women in careers, his anti-LGBTQ+/anti-trans statements, and his anti-abortion extremism he espoused in his speech.

He delivered small kick energy and heapings of hate.

[kvtnisseverdeen]

travis kelce's bullshit ass response to harrison butker's commencement speech is exactly what i expected from him and i am disgusted taylor girl you can do better

[lonelystarbuckslover13]

I really don’t like Travice Kelce’s response to Harrison Butker’s misogynistic speech. Like I know he briefly said that he doesn’t agree with Harrison, but it was so unnecessary to go on about how nice of a guy he is and then go on some bullshit spiel about “respecting different views”. Like yeah man I’m sure he is nice to you because you’re a MAN ! And I’m sure it’s easy for you to look past his misogynistic views because you’re a MAN ! Travis was given an opportunity here to call out toxic male behaviour and hold Harrison accountable and he chose complacency. The most frustrating part is that Harrison is not going to listen to the thousands of women who have expressed hurt and offence over his speech because he doesn’t respect us enough to, but he might have listened to Travis because, once again, HE’S ! A ! MAN ! Honestly really disappointed

[allwomenjointhe4bmovement]

STOP GIVING MEN☕ MICROPHONES!!!

I honestly don't know why they didn't immediately boo him off the stage!

This man really stood in front an entire audience of graduating students (who are probably all 10x smarter than he is), singled out the female graduates and basically told them they've wasted their time and should go back to the kitchen and make babies!

His mother, a physicist, would have been a better candidate to make this speech. I hope she whoops tf out of him for this!

This man is apparently married! I hope his wife is embarrassed af, cuz imagine being dumb enough to marry a man like this!

He's also friends with Travis Kelce. That's another red flag with that man! First we find out he's a serial cheater, then he gets ragefull outbursts on the field while playing, now he works with misogynistic homophobes! I hope Taylor dumps him quick!

Everyone loves to judge women by the company they keep, so they better bring the same energy for Travis!

Who wants to bet that people are gonna start using this as an excuse to hate on Taylor Swift!

Sign the petition to get Harrison removed from the team👇

[dressedlikeadaydream13]

The way I would kill to see killatrav’s group chat with his circle about the fucking speech Butker made. Like mr. “kneeled during the national anthem” and “became the face of vax commercials” would’ve been pissed and annoyed anyway but bringing Taylor into it? using her lyrics to say that being a “homemaker” should be every woman’s top priority and only referring to her as “my teammate’s girlfriend?”

Andy Reid is somewhere fucking exhausted

[kayleigh-83]

Starla has all her witch paraphernalia set up and dives into it with enthusiasm!

[jewishbarbies]

ahh the irony of it being the Chiefs' kicker saying women have been lied to about education and should instead be mothers at home worshiping god during his speech at a college graduation

[jinx-on-mars-19xx]

Happy five years I Think I'm Okay 🩷💚🖤

[baby-girl-aaron-dessner]

Can I just say something that has really been bothering me? I hate how Taylor has aligned herself with the NFL, I get that it’s good business but it is so full of misogyny. Did you see the kicker from KC’s teams college commencement speech? All about how women should stay home with kids instead of work and then gave a Taylor swift song quote!!! I get that she obviously likes Travis or whatever but I’m so over it. All I see on line are young new swifties that are obsessed and think it’s the dream relationship and I feel it sets such a bad example. I know Taylor is not responsible for setting an example like that but for someone who songs “the man” every night I just hate it. It also feels so money hungry for both her and Travis how they have been marketing themselves 😞

I did not know who Harrison Butker was until his graduation speech controversy occurred and I’m upset that I’ve had to learn about him. I will try to rid my brain of this unnecessary thorn.

For those who do not know, here is a a headline by billboard which sums up the issue:

The most important takeaway is that it’s severely disturbing to hear an NFL player so proudly tell women to "stay in their lane," serve their man and make babies.

Not to mention comparing Pride month to a "deadly sin" and attacking the trans community.

It’s also important to mention that there seems to be a double standard present: Colin Kaepernick gets blacklisted from the NFL for advocating for black lives, but Harrison Butker can give a misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic speech without a peep from the NFL. All this lamenting and winging from the conservatives about how they are getting “cancelled” seems even more ridiculous now.

This is why it’s annoying to see Taylor associate herself so heavily with the NFL.

I understand that it’s fantastic marketing that is mutually beneficial for both parties (i.e. the NFL and Taylor Swift) because they get exposed to each others audience which are demographics that haven’t been penetrated successfully in the past by either party. The concept of market saturation is important here. The NFL benefit heavily from being exposed to the Swiftie demographic. It’s been successful for Taylor Swift too. She has penetrated the NFL market demographic and we see that when (for example) boyfriends rock up with their girlfriends in Travis Kelce costumes.

You’re completely right. It does feel money hungry and you can always vent here, sweet anon.

But Taylor has been very honest about wanting money. This is why I always encourage people to closely and critically listen to the lyrics in The Man or even the things she says in her interviews when it comes to trying to understand her financial ambitions.

A person who owns eight mansions, a billion dollars, and a private jet is the type of person who is money hungry.

To leave on a more positive note, here is Gaston playing the role of Harrison Butker.

[wealmostaneckbeard]

Critical Role Plays Lancer (hypothetical)

What if the core cast of Critical Role played the table top Mecha role playing game Lancer? Here are the CR cast members paired with the most entertaining mechs for their style of play:

Travis Willingham in a HORUS Balor

In the major D&D campaigns Travis has shown a preference for melee combatants who engage with dark unsavory powers. The Balor is a huge mech that eats other mechs using nanite swarms. Those same nanites probably contain the consciousness of freedom fighters-turned-terrorists-turned-into-a-hive mind. It's a perfect match! If the Balor is equipped with an A.I. called a Non-Human Person then there is a possibility that Travis's pilot-character could get eaten by his own mech!

Laura Bailey in a Harrison Armory Barbarossa

Laura apparently likes long-range damage dealers and typically those are very delicate and agile characters. It would be intriguing to see how she'd handle the Barbarossa. The Barbarossa is a tanky behemoth armed with the APOCALYPSE RAIL, an anti-warship weapon that requires the user to stay still in order to charge. It would be very interesting to see if the pilot that Laura creates would fire into a melee scrum and potentially kill her allies to achieve victory. She could play around with the anxiety her pilot would experience while screaming "Get Clear of the Blast! Firing!" Or she could role play as someone totally ruthless who justifies friendly fire with the fact that dead pilots can be flash-cloned and mechs can be salvaged.

Marisha Ray in an IPS-N Tortuga

Marisha Ray is from Kentucky. The Tortuga has Shotguns. The synergy is naturally there, you guys. Joking aside, the Tortuga would give Marisha a lot of role flexibility, she'd be able to defend her friends from enemy advance or she could push into the fray headfirst. If her pilot is tech-savvy, she could even engage in some cyberwarfare which the Tortuga is kind-of good at. Plus the Tortuga comes with a really boring A.I. that could act as the straight man for whatever jokes Marisha's character would come up with.

Talesin Jaffey in an SSC Mourning Cloak

Mr. Jaffey would probably go with a homebrewed mech if given the choice. Since I cannot imagine the Eldritch Mechanism he would craft, I am forced to prescribe him a Mourning Cloak. It is one of the few mechs capable of teleporting, which it doesn't do very precisely. There is a slight chance that Talesin might roll poorly while determining teleport distance, causing his pilot and mech to go... someplace else... and only reappear after the scene is over. He and the game master could have a lot of fun with that.

Liam O'Brien in a HORUS Goblin (warning: robo-codpiece, or maybe you like that kind of thing, IDK)

In tactical table top action, Liam shows a propensity for complexity. And nothing is more complex than the little Goblin which contains more electronics within it than is physically possible. The Goblin can hack allies to make their systems better, hack enemy systems to make them much worse, and even hack reality to make Things happen. Liam could reprise some of his favorite shticks like "I'm just a little guy, give me uppies," and "This goblin is named Nott and is my best friend."

Ashley Johnson in a Harrison Armory Genghis

In the first two major D&D campaigns Ashley played melee damage dealers and then branched out into a wildfire druid in the third. So a striker type mech that plays with fire would be consistent with her previous choices. Enter the Genghis, the carefree pyromaniacs choice of mechanized chassis. The mech builds up heat from weapons like it's Krakatoa flamethrower or a GMS Thermal Lance and then releases it in a blistering-blinding heat cloud. Incendiary damage continues burning victims until they douse themselves so Ashley can just set and forget. Finally I'd love to see what kind of pilot Ashley would come up with who would use a mech that's just as terrifying as the Balor.

Sam Riegel in an SSC Swallowtail (oh gods... please excuse the terrible mspaint job... hopefully this looks funny in a good way)

In D&D, Sam seems to like playing as unconventional back-line characters. He's been a tricky bard, a sneaky goblin/halfling rogue, and most recently a literal healbot with rage issues. So I think the Swallowtail would be a good fit for him. It's less of a mech and more of a high quality holographic movie studio on legs. It can make simulated stunt doubles of allies, use it's cameras to focus in such excruciating detail that invisible subjects are revealed, and even turn itself and everyone nearby invisible so they don't mess up the film shoot. Sam's pilot character could be some kind of propagandist or movie set manager who is infuriated by how messy actual warfare is.

Finally, Last but not least:

Mathew Mercer in an IPS-N Lancaster

I would be automatically fascinated by Mr. Mercer's interpretation of galactic human society in the year 5016u and the journey he would take his players on. But if he was a player then it would be interesting to see him controlling a Lancaster, the apex of mobile field repair platforms. Anything bad that can happen to a mech (damage, burning, hacked, immobilized) can be undone by the reliable Lancaster and it's limited pool of resources. I'm confident Mercer would be able to manage those resources wisely although it would be funny if he didn't. Role playing as his pilot, we'd get to see Matt do his best futuristic tow truck operator impression, which I think would be a very gratifying experience.