when two musicians sing into the same microphone and lean in very close to each other… like omg are you guys gonna kiss now to relieve the homoerotic tension?😳
Okay, but this is really important: Bruce Springsteen occupied this really weird place in music history. His songs were all from this pessimistic, nihilistic view of an America that had let him down:
Just like the anti-Vietnam War protest songs that we associate with the 1960s, or the early nihilism that spawned punk music in the 1970s. But he didn’t *sound* like a punk anarchist; he sounded like a country rock singer. When he released Born in the U.S.A. people completely misinterpreted (or possibly ignored) the lyrics in favor of the tone of the music.
Politicians used his music to promote their ‘Murica Yes! brand, and he had to literally explain that that was not what he was about. He’s over here asking when we’re going to have jobs and heathcare, not stanning the politicians who weren’t helping the people.
It was also kind of a big deal that he had an integrated band, because even as late as the 1980s music was still kind of segregated and MTV was straight up racist. They refused to play and promote black artists and then claimed that were no black artists in the first place. Michael Jackson’s record company had to threaten a boycott of their white artists to get MTV to play his Thriller video.
Plus, the first black/white interracial kiss on TV was in 1968 (OG Star Trek). Also it took us until the 70s to get sympathetic gay characters on screen, and the 90s to get gay characters to kiss onscreen. And all of those firsts were met with outrage.
So keep that in mind when you see Bruce Springsteen not just playing with an interracial band, but engaging in an interracial, gay kiss on stage repeatedly.
Passages from American Popular Music by Larry Starr and Christopher Waterman
I used to think that Bruce and Clarence kissing onstage was exuberance, showmanship, and telling racist homophobes to fuck off. Like, they picked up a certain kind of audience and went “Racist homophobes? Not in our house!” And started the kissing then but then I actually looked it up and
It was a story where… we remade the city. We remade the city, shaping it into the kind of place where our friendship and our love for one another wouldn’t have been such an exceptional thing. - Bruce Springsteen
It wasn’t about showmanship or rejecting bigots or anything it was just. Damn right that was one of the loves of his life and damn right he was going to kiss him onstage
It gets me a little that Bruce has had a divorce, that he’s been married twice, but he loved Clarence for the rest of Clarence’s life and will presumably love him the rest of his own
Clemons said in one interview. “Bruce and I looked at each other and didn’t say anything, we just knew. We knew we were the missing links in each other’s lives. He was what I’d been searching for.” In another version of the story, Clemons says “He looked at me, and I looked at him, and we fell in love.”
I’m having some emotions about it!
“He was elemental in my life,“ Springsteen adds, “and losing him was like losing the rain.”
Not just! I love you pure and deep and true but! I am going to love you like that in front of the whole damn world!
We have fewer narratives about taking risks and making statements for platonic love rather than romantic and supposedly it would be easier to downplay this onstage than romance and! They refused! They fucking refused! In front of hundreds of thousands of people, over the course of years! In the spotlight, in word and deed, I love you!
just wanted to say that you are cute and the fog is not coming. you are beautiful and you really do not have to worry about the fog because it's not coming. The fog wouldn't even be a problem if it was coming, it isn't though, and you are very pretty
it’s been two years, but i think that an icon like her deserves to be known about by more people.
her name was freddie oversteegen and she, at the age of fourteen, along with her older sister truus who was 16 and their friend johanna “hannie” schaft who was 19, was a part of the netherlands most famous all female resistance cell which was dedicated to fighting the nazis and dutch traitors.
among other things, they are known to have blown up bridges and railroads, smuggled jewish children from concentration camps and, as the tweet mentions, seducing nazis and then shooting them with guns that they had hidden in their bike baskets. freddie is quoted as having said that they “had to do it.” and that it was a “necessary evil, killing those who betrayed good people.”
though freddie and her sister truus were both lucky and survived the war, hannie schaft wasn’t. at the age of 24, hannie was caught and around three weeks later was executed by nazis, only 18 days before the netherlands were eventually liberated. she was shot with one only wounding her, and, before the final shot, hannie is quoted as having told the executioners: ik schiet beter, which translates to “i shoot better.”
though she didn’t survive, hannie is recognized as a national icon and a face of the dutch resistance, with her story even being retold in a movie from 1981 called “the girl with the red hair.” along with this, truus also founded the national hannie schaft foundation in 1992, on which freddie served as a board member.
freddie, at the time of her death, was 92 years old and the last surviving member of the resistance cell, with truus having died two years earlier at the age of 92.
though these women and all that they did played an important part in the dutch resistance, they are often overlooked in history outside of the netherlands. it’s important that they are remembered and that their work to save people isn’t forgotten. it’s incredible what they did, especially given how young they were, and they deserve more recognition than what they’ve gotten.
Only one question left. One question, and you’ll achieve your wildest dreams. The dream you’ve wanted for twenty years.
You'll be an astronaut.
You looked down at the application, trying to curb your excitement.
“Q: What makes you eligible for the NASA space program?¨
Oh boy. You don‘t have anything specific to share that would make you “eligible” for it, per say. Well, you have one story. It was a pretty long time ago, though. Not to mention that it would sound insane to anyone who’s even remotely grounded in reality. You try to find anything else that you could answer this question with, such as your actual credentials. You come up short.
Oh well. You’ve nothing left to lose. You pick up the pen and start writing.
ᝰ.ᐟ 🛸 ୭˚. ᵎᵎ
In the dead of night (or, what you hoped was dead of night,) you gathered your belongings on your father’s small living room floor. A flashlight, a walking stick, a bag of trail mix, and your helpful guide, B. Man’s Book of Deserted History. It's a big mission. One that, in all honesty, you’re not sure you’re ready for. You’re not sure anyone’s ready for it.
You grab the ripped newspaper clipping from the end table. On it, reads:
US SCARE ATTEMPT OR ROBOT GONE ROUGE?
Plane Driven By Artificial Intelligence Still Missing After Two Months
Yesterday, President Rotwright confirmed again for the uptteenth time that Courtship-17 is, in fact, still missing.. Authorities in the Dexter area, where the aircraft was last spotted, report that no…
You shove it in your backpack, unamused. Dexter is a little under 30 minutes outside of Roswell, meaning that most of the government officials looking for Courtship-17 are looking there. The AARO spent a little less than 18 hours here before packing their bags for a tourist attraction. But you know better. You know it’s in this town somewhere. You grab your dad’s keys off the kitchen counter and bolt out the door, excited to make your discovery.
After a few minutes of driving, however, you came up short. It turns out you were wrong. You park on the side of an isolated road, the moon shining off the sand and rubble. Your mind’s racing. Maybe it did land in Roswell? You don’t see why it wouldn’t have been discovered by now if it were. But maybe it’s hidden somewhere? Do AIs know where to hide? Or how? Did it hate its creators?
You exhale sharply and grip the steering wheel, then check the time on the dashboard. 2:32 AM. You’re out way later than you need to be. Placing the key into the ignition, you rush to dig your map out from the backseat. You try to find your place on the map by dragging your finger from home to the highway you’re on. But you can’t find it. According to the map, it doesn’t exist. You quickly start to panic, frantically turning the map and looking over it again. To no avail.
Desperately, you start the car and hit the gas, continuing down the road. You don’t know where you’re headed. Your vision becomes blurry and blurrier, until you can’t see much of anything. You press your foot down on the gas pedal. Suddenly, you hear a loud crack, and the car stops. Shaking, you slowly step out of the car. You were already lost. The last thing you need now is a breakdown in the middle of nowhere.
You notice the trail first. The trail of slime. It starts from the front left wheel and goes who knows where. You look under the car, only to find darkness. Darkness, and a pair of eyes staring back at you. You--you and that …thing-- stared at each other for what felt like hours. You don’t know what it is. Still don’t, honestly. But there it was. You backed up slowly, and a gloved hand popped out from under the car. Then a hairy spider leg. Only, it wasn’t. It was too big, about the size of a human. You ran away from the car in horror as it started lifting off the ground.
Out came… you still don't know what it is. A spider. A man. A spiderman.. In a banana suit. You went from horrified to confused. As it started working towards you, you walked towards it. It felt like gravity. It felt warm and nostalgic. It felt like you were coming home. You didn’t know where these feelings were coming from. Right when you were about to collide with it, your vision went black.
When you came to, you were at home, staring at the television in the darkness. The time? 3:17 A.M. A man in a yellow tux is hosting Haunted Horrors. You stared down at your hands. You were holding a half-eaten banana, only it had hair--human hair--all over it. Your mouth felt gross. You’ve never felt so lost and confused in your life. The audience on screen starts howling with laughter.
hobbies: writing, drawing/art, video gaming, archery, reading, and research!
genres i write in: fantasy, sci fi, contemporary, coming of age, and romance kind of (and fanfiction :] )
fandoms im in: utdr, wander over yonder, amphibia, dwd and ducktales
where else you can find me? discord, medium, pinterest ! (im also working on reviving my spacehey but im not super active there)
wanna be mutuals? yes :] my dm's are open!
DNI:
standard (racist, homophobic, transphobic/TERFS, aphobic,... please don't interact if you have anything against a group. thanks)
overly sexual/violent blogs, it makes me uncomfortable personally
(i block pretty sporadically, but if i do block you it's not inherently personal!)
MORE IN DEPTH:
anything else you like? good kid and arrows in action are my favorite bands rn :) also i do tech theatre! so that's cool
what's your current research project? a marketing case study on kahoot!
dream career (if money didn't matter?): librarian <3
any future plans? i graduate high school this year, and im planning on going to uni! ive already been admitted to a few schools :) I'm planning on studying marketing for my undergrad!
oh so you're a student! what's your favorite class currently? math
passion project? i have an idea for a video game thats pretty cool.... idk how to code yet tho :<
TAGS FOR NAVIGATION!
spitballin' - my "miscellaneous" tag. pretty much anything that doesn't fall under everything else
important - news and other important info I've rb'd
arson academy - my new writing tag for all my writing work!
(ill be double posting on Medium and other places, so if you see a duplicate it's probably just me on another site lol)
i'll have a masterlist of all my work soon once i start posting!
mayor of antville - my new art tag (anything before this post is under my art !)
other ppls art - what it says on the tin
keep in mind that im working on archiving some of my old posts and this blog is still under construction! (because nobody wants to see my posts from 2021. trust me on this)
Anyone who does not share this post is an accomplice to the genocide taking place in Gaza. Here is what is happening in Gaza, which has become a dangerous area, and anyone is exposed to death at any moment. Hunger has not ended, and death has become a normal thing. People walk like zombies due to the lack of food, and they do not know what to do anymore. The occupation threatens and says get out, but the people here cannot leave due to the costs of displacement. Therefore, please donate to me here.
I will never forget Spain, Tunisia, and 44 countries that participated in breaking the siege of Gaza. Thank you to everyone who raised the Palestinian flag. Share my post so it reaches everyone on Tumblr, and everyone who has something can donate, even if it is simple.
Disaster, disaster, disaster. What is happening, people? Where are you from these horrors that are happening in Gaza? Where are you from the Freedom Flotilla? Donate to us before it is too late.
Transcript and links to Reddit under the Read more at the end
I miss my husband so goddamn much
February 27th, 2025
I (35M) divorced my husband (36M) three years ago. And God, I miss him. I asked for a divorce for a few reasons, most of which being that his depression got exponentially worse day after day and he refused to seek treatment. Sometimes he wouldn't even go into work and ended up getting fired from his job. I stayed with him for so fucking long, praying that one day he would start trying to get better. It was all I ever wanted, but that day didn't come. I sobbed the entire time signing those papers, and when I handed them to him and asked for a divorce, he just gave me the emptiest, deadest look and signed them without a word. My heart felt like it had been shattered with a hammer, anger and sadness and fear tied together in the world's tightest, ugliest knot and inset deep into my chest.
I put on a brave face for my friends, tried to frame it as shackles coming off and a new beginning, but it was a lie. It just hurt, and it keeps hurting, and it will never stop hurting. He was my soulmate. I'll never love anyone like I loved him. He used to be so sweet and loving, so passionate and happy and every other wonderful thing a man could want from another.
They say each day gets easier, but it isn't for me. It's been three years and I'm still reaching over to the other side of the bed in the morning to pull him close, and it always stings when my hands touch fabric and not his skin. It's been three years and I'm still expecting to see his car in the driveway when I get home from work. It's been three years and my heart isn't any less broken than the day he left.
I've been stalking his socials, I'll admit. He's been getting back to the gym, started meds, and I see him smiling so genuinely in these photos. He looks so incredible. Maybe if I had just waited, he would have changed his mind and went to a doctor like he is now? Or was it me that held him down? Was I making it worse?
I hope not. I wanna go over to his place and just fall into his arms and beg him to take me back. Maybe he's wishing the same thing about me. If there's even a chance I could have my boy back I feel like I should try. I'll never know otherwise.
EDIT: One: I am a homosexual man. My husband is a homosexual man. I am not a woman. Yes, I know I'm effeminate and kind of emotional. Get creative.
Two: my husband was a binge drinker. He refused treatment no matter how much I begged. We got antidepressants but he wouldn't take them. I know he's started meds now because he's posted about them and his 2 yrs sober chip that he got last month.
Three: I never stopped loving him. I never loved him any less. Near the end of our marriage, I started drinking to cope. The second I realized I was, I realized he was dragging me down with him, and I couldn't help him anymore. I didn't dip the second it got hard. Many of you are being kind of rude. I'll accept that I wasn't the perfect husband, nobody is. But claims that I never loved him are just wrong and make me feel sick to my stomach.
EDIT 2: No, I am not the catalyst for this. His depression started when his young brother died terribly and unexpectedly. It's not because he just hated me so much. We were childhood sweethearts and had been together for years when this happened.
[UPDATE] I met my husband that I divorced 3 years ago
March 2nd, 2025
Well, with Reddit's advice, I did it. A few days ago, I called my (35M) ex-husband (36M) whom I divorced after 6 years when he refused to seek treatment for his depression.
I called him later in the evening. It was the first time we'd spoken since a bit of trouble he'd had while he was still drinking 2 1/2 years ago. He picked up on the second ring. Our conversation was a little stilted at first, as to be expected, but he said he was really glad to hear from me. We ended up meeting up for coffee yesterday as so many of you suggested. I'll admit: it was kind of hard to see him, but in a good way? He looked so much better than the last time I had seen him, but he looked exactly like the man I married. He had put off a ton of weight (he gained like 75ish pounds during his struggle with depression, and before some dick says so, I didn't leave him because of his weight gain), he looked way healthier and very put together. I'll just say it: he looked incredibly hot. What made it hard was that I couldn't kiss him hello like I used to. But God, the way his eyes lit up when he saw me, I barely needed to.
We got our coffee and sat, and he updated me a little on his life in the last 3 years.
What really turned his life around was in part the divorce but moreso a DUI (nobody was hurt, he was caught a few blocks from his apartment). He's since gone to rehab and AA, gotten his license back, and had to use a breathalyzer whenever he started his car for a while. He hasn't had a drop of alcohol since and I told him I was so fucking proud of him. He's also started antidepressants, and made a point of telling me that they're not SSRIs, but when I asked what that meant he got embarrassed and told me nevermind (???). Bottom line is that they've been helping him, he's back to being a gym rat, and he's almost completely turned his life around. This was around the point I started tearing up. It just felt so good knowing he was okay. Better than okay, he was *good*.
I also apologized to him for not sticking by him. He cut me off and said I had nothing to apologize for. He was a wreck, and I was being dragged down with him. That also felt good to hear. I apologized for not contacting him much during the last 3 years. That apology, he accepted.
He was dating someone for a few months, too. He broke up with him once he tried to get him to drink on New Year's. He seemed dismissive of the guy. Guess it wasn't too serious.
We got up and went on a walk after a few hours, and I think we both realized it felt like a first date. I had to stop myself from trying to hold his hand at a few points, I'll admit. We ended up sitting on a bench in a nearby park, and I confessed.
I told him I missed him more than anything, how I never stopped loving him, and how if he wanted to, I'd love to try again from the beginning this time. We'd go to couples' therapy, keep our heads above the water, and take it slow. He was quiet for a minute before he told me something. He said he was doing better now, but there may be a time where he sunk low again. Depression isn't easily cured, and he was far from cured. He still had bad days, but he said there would be one difference: he promised he would never stop trying to improve. He was never going to give up like he did before, and refused to neglect me like he used to. If I was willing to accept that truth, he was willing to try again. I agreed, and he pulled me into an embrace and snuck a kiss to my temple. You know when it's the first warm day of spring after a cold, harsh winter, and the soft breeze and basking sun hit your skin at the same time? It felt something like that, to the 1000th degree. After a while he walked me back to my car and squeezed my hand goodbye, and the second I got inside I started sobbing like a baby. Happy tears, though.
I'm currently sitting in bed, kicking my feet like a teenage girl, texting him back and forth to schedule an actual date. He said he'd plan everything, and try his best to make up for the birthdays and anniversaries he missed. He said it would "knock my socks off." What a dork. I love being in love. Not gonna lie, this is gonna be a bit hard to explain to my friends and family. Not looking forward to those conversations, but right now I don't care. My man loves me.
Thank you to everyone who had kind words to say, and all the people that messaged me with sympathy and advice. I hope we all find happiness, and love if we want it. I never would have made the leap if y'all hadn't encouraged me. Best of luck to all of you, and sorry for the overly flowery language <3
EDIT: we've scheduled a date for tomorrow evening. I'll let people know how it went two days from now in my final (unless something big happens) update.
EDIT 2: at his place presently. Shame me not, reddit.
[FINAL UPDATE] I went on a date with my ex-husband last night
March 5th, 2025
My (35M) ex-husband (36M) and I recently reconnected. I won't go over the details of why we split or our reconciliation since I'm sure the average redditor can click buttons and most likely read. He was the one taking me out, and promised that it would, in his words, "knock my socks off" to make up for his neglect of me. He sure as hell delivered.
A little backstory, we've been together since we were 15 and 16 respectively, and have never moved out of our hometown. This year would have been our 20th anniversary (of getting together, not marriage). We were dating secretly for about five years before our parents caught us one day during summer break. The fallout from finding out their son was gay actually made his parents split. His dad wanted to send him away to conversion therapy. He's seen his father maybe once per year on average, and every time he's incredibly cold towards me. Would never refer to me as his son-in-law, only my husband's "pal." I wonder why. Anyway, not what you're here to read. I'll get on with the lore.
He picked me up from the house and wouldn't tell me where we were going, but told me to dress warmly. He ended up taking me to the place where we met: a run down ice skating rink in our town. He used to do hockey, and I spent some time trying to learn figure skating until people started beating me up for it. Both sports would practice at the same time and I remember barely being able to keep my eyes off him. We went skating, I tried to pull off a few of the moves I remembered (he only had to catch me from falling on my ass once or twice, and I won't complain about an attractive man that I love hooking his arm around my waist), and we spent an hour or so there until our feet hurt. At one point I said that my face was getting cold, so he skated around in front of me and placed his gloved hands on my cheeks to warm me up. I just about burned a hole in the ice from how hard I was blushing, I swear to God.
He wasn't done then. We left and went to dinner, specifically the restaurant where we had our first date. It's a cheap hole-in-the-wall place, seeing as we were poor teenagers when we first met. We chatted and ate food that probably took 5 years off our lives, he was an incorrigible flirt, and even held my hand underneath the table like he did all those years ago. I know I said I never stopped loving him, and I stand by that, but I think I somehow fell in love with him a thousand times over again during that meal.
At the end of dinner, he asked if I had energy for one more simple thing, to which I agreed. He took me a while out of town to a dark sky zone park, specifically the one where he proposed to me ten years ago. He set out a blanket to sit on and another to cuddle under, and we went stargazing all bundled up together. You never know how much you miss the sound of someone's heartbeat until you haven't heard it for so long. We shared a bottle of sparkling grape juice in plastic champagne flutes and dumb, giggly kisses. It felt so similar yet so different. He told me in a moment of quiet that he loved me, and oh, God. It took everything I had not to cry. I barely hesitated before asking if he wanted to change venues. He seemed surprised, but eagerly accepted.
I ended up at his place, as some of you may have seen from my edit on my second post yesterday. I wanted to take it slower than this, but it was so hard to. I was so starved of affection and hadn't been intimate with anyone for just about six years. I'm gonna keep what happened at his between us, but all I'll say is that his medication was no issue and all of you should be jealous. I woke up in his bed this morning, reached over for him, and pulled him close just like I used to do. I haven't been this happy in a long time. We had a sleepy discussion and decided to get back together, but we're not using the term boyfriends. It just feels weird after all this time. So he's my partner, or my lover. He's mine.
Thank you, reddit. Wouldn't have done it without a little push from the internet. Let's see where all this goes.
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