It's Not Slander If I've Got Proof 🤓

Are fedoras really that bad?

YES YES THEY ARE

I'm fascinated by the way that the french manage to put their frenchness in everything they do. From the art to the way they'll design tram lines, every time I see something that makes me think "hmm, this has french vibes" and look it up, it's french, by a french designer, creator, builder, photographer, etc. Like you can't picture the most french possible way for something to be before you see it, and once you do, you'll just think "yeah, that's about what I should have expected." The most french possible way to light a cigarette, or train a dog to do a trick.

This one time me and my boyfriend were at his parents' place, with the TV on in the background, and showing some quirky detective show. It was in french, with an overwhelmingly white cast, but there was something about it that kept scratching my brain. Not in a negative way, but making me go "hmm" nonetheless. Not quite like uncanny valley, but close. Turns out the show was Belgian.

Much like the uncanny valley is about the unsettling feeling of seeing something that looks exactly like a person, but lacks the spark of something that would make it human, I was experiencing the fascinated feeling of witnessing something that was entirely in french, but had an uncanny absence of frenchness.

Le temps est bon

Le ciel est bleu

Pourquoi traduire des memes anglais quand on a mieux

PLEASE JUST SHOW ME THE CASSEROLE RECIPE

Idk who needs to hear this but if you like this you'll like One Piece.

And I know. I know. You wouldn't think so. Maybe you think it's too long. Maybe the art style is off-putting to you. Maybe you think it's just a regular shonen. But I promise, from someone who was in your shoes a few months ago. It's good. It's really good. Infuriatingly so. In my opinion, quality-wise, it's closer to Fullmetal Alchemist than it is to My Hero Academia or Naruto.

One Piece has been running for so long there's a 99% chance any trope you can think of has been in there at some point.

Red and blue gays? You know it. Silly little guy being just as tragic as the brooding guy? It's there. "The love was there, it didn't change anything, but it mattered that it was there"? Literally an entire arc. Found family? The whole plot. Cyborgs, mermaids, zombies, skeletons? All there. Canon queer characters? Most beloved. Anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist, anti-war massage? Check, check, check.

It's all there. And it's SO good.

Start with the Live Action. Start with the manga. Start with the anime. It doesn't matter how you start, it's incredible. Some people plow through the whole manga in a week, others watch the anime over a few months. There's literally so many ways to consume it.

media: the very serious brooding asshole character is actually super deep and complex

me: ok

media: the dumb joke character is actually super deep and complex

me: ghhogoohhh. ohhhh oh mygod. oh m. oh. are you kidding me. oh i am going to throw the fuck up over this

I know most people don't care about anything unless it has to do with the U.S. but can we please start talking about the Canadian election.

Please don't vote for Poilievre. He's basically the Canadian Trump and plans to put in place laws that harm trans youth, and lots of other shit.

Please vote istg this is the only way anything will get better. Poilievre has been kissing millionaires and billionaires asses. He'll make life even harder, and he loves Trump.

Reblogs are appreciated, especially if you aren't Canadian.

Op is absolutely right and to anyone who doesn't speak french/doesn't get the subtleties I once described the weird uncanny valley feeling french people get from Pierre as that feeling an American would get from a Midwesterner acting like he's from Florida. He's like if a dude from Northern Ireland really acted like a Londoner for some reason. Le mec est né à Rouen et se comporte comme un Montpelliérain. Bref.

Meanwhile Esteban just seems like a really sweet guy. Not that Pierre isn't nice of course! But to french people I guess Esteban is just more... Down to earth maybe? He's really a guy you could definitely run into at like a boulangerie getting last minute traditions for his mamie's birthday lunch or something. Meanwhile Pierre is the type of guy you only run into if you're on the same yacht as him (again this is all my opinion).

I have a somewhat interesting theory about some people disproportionately HATING Esteban but liking Pierre.

To me, being / not being Francophone heavily influences how people seem to perceive them.

I am French (ew exposing myself Ik) and I absolutely ADORE Esteban. He’s really sweet, authentic and hard working. Pierre on the other hand is like the epitome of a French fuck-boy to me, overly confident, showing off, and not genuinely caring for people that aren’t his friends. I actually think he’s a great driver but his personality gives me the biggest ick.

People who aren’t Francophone (especially Americans and Brits) seem to think completely differently. They see Esteban as undeserving because he’s had scraps often (NEWS FLASH: THEY ALL DO) and not being a strong driver despite he holds his own against his teammates for a long time . And Pierre is idolized like crazy despite fumbling a red bull seat and only having 2021 as an actual impressive performance. He’s seen as super cool, confident and having good looks and apparently that’s good enough.

It must be a cultural mistranslation/mismatch because to me it’s SOOO obvious Esteban is a great driver and a great person who obviously cares about the sport, not being a ‘celebrity’. While Pierre is too often glorified despite causing many accidents himself and also seems obsessed with his image. NGL him talking about Michael Jordan being bigger than his sport and him (Pierre) wanting to recreate that gave me a huge shift in how I see him.

Esteban is just a more humble guy in my opinion, and he’s getting an un proportional amount of hate for the actual situation.

Again, I don’t even hate Pierre that much, but the way people seem to punch down Esteban so much while praising Gasly makes zero sense to me.

Those are my quick thoughts! I’m willing to discuss other people’s opinions as along as we stay respectful to each other 🫶

goncharov