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話說天下大勢，分久必合，合久必分
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User ID: 894
Closedshop
話說天下大勢，分久必合，合久必分
2d ago
What a writeup. Thanks for your input. I'm normally not a huge TTRPG player, but I'd love to get into them and tell a story.
Closedshop
話說天下大勢，分久必合，合久必分
3d ago
After watching the (Amazing) Cyberpunk Edgerunners show, I've decided to get into the TTRPG. I have the 2020 core rule book already, and in theory that's all I need, but can anyone with some experience in either Cyberpunk 2020 let me know what I need to write and run a campaign? Or should I start with Cyberpunk RED instead, since that's still being actively supported?
General TTRPG discussion as well.
Closedshop
話說天下大勢，分久必合，合久必分
4d ago
all it establishes is that Asian women are soulless statusmaxxers who will hop onto any bandwagon as long as it’s prestigious enough … and hop right off as soon as its fortunes change.
This is just Asians in general, but especially in Asia. If you’ve been exposed to Asian dramas, you’d be familiar the quite frankly psychotic social games being played there. I’m happy that I was able to avoid most of it.
Closedshop
話說天下大勢，分久必合，合久必分
4d ago
I swear this example is pertinent. In porn, there is a specific genre of race fetishism videos, where the main draw of the video is a woman of a certain race glorifying and fetishizing men of another race. The woman is generally of a minority race and the man is generally either white or black. This obviously humiliates the men of the woman's own race while elevating the fetishized race.
Asian-American dating content is essentially a softcore version of those videos on repeat. Asian girls are quite open about their preferences, and even if they weren't people have eyes and can see for themselves in real time. So much so that "Oxford Study" is a well known meme at this point. As noted before, Asian-American men are disturbed by the fact that Asian-American women both prefer and are preferred by whites (for an extreme example of this just go to /r/asianmasculinity). Based off of the videos I linked, there has been a lot of discussion, at least among Asian-American men themselves, about this and how to deal/cope with this phenomenon. It's also quite difficult to even discuss this topic as an Asian-American man without coming off as bitter and emasculated so discussion generally remains within our own circles.
As an Asian-American man, I personally feel the effects of this dynamic as well.
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話說天下大勢，分久必合，合久必分
4d ago
If, god forbid, you get divorced, you can always get a taste by moving to Thailand, Vietnam, or the Philippines in your old age. Just remember that every single one of those women really loves and values you.
Closedshop
話說天下大勢，分久必合，合久必分
4d ago
I have not had any personal experience with the Hmong population, so I can’t really speak to their specific dynamics. I’d say that I have noticed some differences between populations that came as refugees (Vietnamese, Korean) and populations that came willingly. A large one being that refugee populations are generally more insular. Even Koreans aren’t really a part of the refugee population anymore.
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話說天下大勢，分久必合，合久必分
5d ago
I must say that the beauty standards in Asia, even compared to the much stricter western beauty standards of 20 years ago, are completely psychotic. I'd say that Korea is the epicenter (just look at the plastic surgery rates) but China and Japan are not far behind. If the average American woman had to meet the Asian standards of today, they would kill themselves. Asian-American standards are more lax, but still far and above the current American standards.
Closedshop
話說天下大勢，分久必合，合久必分
5d ago
Asian-American women are not OK, at least if you go by what they write about.
Any Asian-American man would have told you this without you torturing yourself with Asian-American women diaspora books. Asian-American men are not OK either, but no one cares.
All the books the author read feature a difficult mother-daughter relationship, with the author giving a hilarious quote of "Chinese mothers spent a thousand years binding their daughters’ feet, so maybe there is some deep need to torture their female offspring, which can nowadays only find an outlet in forcing them into piano lessons and telling them they are getting fat. "
This is actually not even really gendered. Family dynamics in Asia (China specifically, since I'm Chinese) have always been like this. I myself, when visiting family, often go through the "You got fat," "Why aren't you married," and "When are you going to have kids" waterboarding, and without being female. I even went through ~7 years of piano that my parents tricked me into.
The books are mostly portraits of neuroticism. "Neurotic about not being attractive because they are Asian. Neurotic about only being attractive because they are Asian. Neurotic about being too Asian. Neurotic about not being Asian enough. Neurotic about taking after their mothers. Neurotic about not living up to their mother’s expectations. Three of the books feature visits to therapists."
This is actually just Asian women in general. I've found through personal experience that Asian women, as a group, are some of the most neurotic people I've ever met. Obviously, being a part of any diaspora does not help, but it seems that it merely gives them more topics to be neurotic about. Chinese women (especially southerners, I've found) and Koreans are especially prone. I have less experience with Japanese women, so I can't speak on them.
They're largely obsessed with white people, but in the worst ways possible. They think white society is a hair's breadth away from putting them all in concentration camps. They all have white boyfriends, which presumably fill the same niche that orcs do in hentai, with their physical characteristics (especially their height) always being brought up.
Asians in Asia are also obsessed with white people, but more as a curiosity than the neurotic fixation that you find in the West. And to try to disentangle the sexual psychosis present in the Asian-American community would require an amount of effort that I cannot summon up. The simple gist is that Asian women hunt for white men like a tiger hunts for deer. The average white man is obviously defenseless against such a pursuit, leading to an above average number of WMAF pairings in Asian heavy population centers like the SF Bay Area and LA. It obviously doesn't help that Asians are more neotenic in general, giving Asian women a leg up in terms of sexually selective traits while simultaneously giving Asian men a large disadvantage. This, in turn, causes a deep psychological disturbance in the Asian-American men population. This disturbance is amplified by the type and amount of Asian-American dating content available on social media (IYKYK). Each population deals with this differently, depending largely on their country of origin and where they ended up in America.
They think white people are just as obsessed with them. What might seem like a casual conversation to the white person feels like an intense struggle for racial supremacy that both people are obviously aware of to the Asian woman.
See above.
Overall, the article just confirms my suspicions about all of these Asian-American diaspora books, and Asian-American women in general. The entire thing makes me sad.
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話說天下大勢，分久必合，合久必分
22d ago
Most places near me don't give out samples without purchases anymore. Nordstrom still lets you make your own samples, so that's one way you can go. I'd suggest you go into your local department store or Sephora and smell a few that you're interested in. Bleu is one that is available in most major department stores. Don't smell to many at a time though, because you will get nose fatigue. I try to limit myself to 6 when I go to the mall. When you smell one that you really like, spray it on skin and walk around with it. The opening might be really good, but you need to test how the fragrance will smell on you after an hour or so to test the dry down.
Closedshop
話說天下大勢，分久必合，合久必分
23d ago
Responding to ping from @George_E_Hale
I'll suggest a few for colognes for some of the vibes you listed. A few things before I go on though. Everyone has their own tastes and preferences so please, please PLEASE sample before you buy anything, especially when the price tag is +$100. The last thing I want to do is to convinde you to buy a $300 fragrance that you hate. Further, for any fragrance
Businessman in a good suit: You can go a few different ways with this, but when I think of this type of feeling, I think about confidence, competence, cleanliness, and something traditional.
Aromatic fougeres are perhaps the classic professional/formal masculine scent profile. Colloquially, this would be the "Barbershop" scent. Common notes are lavender and oakmoss, and when you smell this family of perfume, you should think of a clean shaven professional. Most traditional aftershaves are of this family, so think Old Spice, Brut, or Clubman Pinaud (All of which are great scents by the way. If they made them in edt or edp concentrations, I'd buy them. I have a bottle of Brut edt and I quite like it).
A fantastic example is Drakkar Noir. Though it's old enough to be a classic at this point, the fragrance really holds up. It's got a list of notes that's longer than a CVS receipt, but Lavender, oakmoss, and vetiver are all traditional Aromatic fougere notes. It might smell like it's a little rough around the edges, but I think it actually adds to the charm. While the fragrance has been reformulated to hell and back over the last 40 years, I still quite enjoy the scent profile. When I smell it, I think about the crazy afterparties that businessmen used to get up to in the 80s and 90s.
Another great example is Sartorial from Panhaligan's. Though it's not technically strictly traditional, with a honey note that gives it a slight twist compared to the more clean smell of traditional aftershaves, Sartorial is one of the best examples of the aromatic fougere that's out currently. I think about formal work party, perhaps even a black-tie event when I wear this.
My personal favorite from this family is Beau De Jour from Tom Ford. Smoother and softer than a strictly traditional aromatic fougere, to me it gives off the man-in-suit vibe perfectly. It is pretty strong, so if you're going into the office, 2-3 sprays is quite sufficient. I didn't want to mention it first because it seems that it has been discontinued. You can still get bottles at a reasonable price, but not through any retail channels. This one makes me think of Don Draper from Mad Men leaving the barbershop.
Now for a few recommendations outside of purely aromatic fougeres:
Bleu de Chanel, and Blue fragrances in general. A more modern fragrance family, Blue fragrances were first pioneered by and named after Bleu de Chanel. Blue fragrances are generally clean, fresh, inoffensive, and mass appealing, and the perfect example is Bleu de Chanel edt. The opening is citrus and the drydown is musky and woody. Elegant enough for formal occasions, but also casual enough for every day wear, Blue de Chanel is perfect as one of your first fragrances. The internet consensus is that the edp concentration is the best of the line, my personal favorite is the edt. The parfum and L'Exclusive concentrations get a little further away from its roots, and become a little too heavy for me, but both are good for an older, more established crowd.
Green Irish Tweed and Aventus are two fragrances from the house of Creed that perfectly fit the bill of businessman in a suit. Creed as a house has a mixed reputation nowadays (I swear I'm not a Creed shill, I just like their scents), but their fragrances are undeniable in their influence. The two fragrances are completely different, but the feeling of masculinity is prominent in both. Aventus is probably the more famous of the two. It has a fruity opening and woody drydown, and there's a reason that it's the only niche fragrance that is on the top 25 sales list. You youself have probably even smelled fragrances that were influenced (or even directly copied) Aventus. This is probably something that Jordan Belford would have worn in his prime Wall St. days. Green Irish Tweed, on the other hand, is much more formal. GIT would be natural at a dinner party or black-tie event. In my mind, this is what James Bond would smell like.
Jazz Club from Maison Margiela is another way you can go. Instead of smelling like something that a man in a suit would wear, Jazz Club instead smells like the inside of a Jazz Club, somewhere a man in a suit might be. It has prominent boozy, tobacco, and smoky notes. Personally, I am a huge fan of it for fall and winter. If you're going to be in an enclosed space, however, I'd go lighter on the number of sprays.
A few honorable mentions: Eau Sauvage is a classic fragrance that smells professional and elegant.
Wood Neroli is classic Italian perfumery. The old Italian adage is that the cleaner the man, the sexier the man, and Wood Neroli is incredibly clean and fresh. When you smell this, think Italian cut suit in a beach house in Sicily.
Sandalwood:
Santal 33 from Le Labo is probably the most famous modern day Sandalwood fragrance. During summer, you'd instantly recognize it walking down the street in LA or Manhattan. It's clean, fresh, and quite mesmerizing to me. In fact, similar to Aventus, it's caused its own crop of copies and influenced by fragrances. Santal Cream from Nonfiction is one fragrance that was obviously inspired by Santal 33 and I'm actually quite a big fan of it. It's smoother and creamier than Santal 33, and while the opening is very similar, the drydown is a lot softer. A word of warning, however, a lot of people seem to smell pickles when they smell this fragrance. I've never gotten it, but that's also a good reason to try before you buy.
Sandalo from Acqua di Parma is a noticeably different take on sandalwood from Santal 33. To me it's much more of a winter scent compared to sandalwood. Before Santal 33, I'd say that Sandalo embodies the stereotypical Sandalwood scent. I'd say that to the average person, this is maybe a more challenging scent as it's not clean or mass appealing in my opinion. I quite like it for fall and winter, however.
Outdoorsy/Backpacker: When I think about an outdoorsy smell, I think about woody, musky, earthy, and maybe even a little funky. Personally, I'm less familiar with this feeling because I prefer a cleaner scent profile, but here are a couple that I think will fit the bill.
Antaeus from Chanel is one such scent in my opinon. It's named after a Greek demigod who was born of the earth, and was unbeatable as long as he was connected to the ground. I think it was well named, as it smells woody and earthy. There is an animalic funk to it but it's still nice enough for every day wear. I'd probably stay away from this for something more formal.
Wood Essence from Bvlgari is fresh woody. Instead of going for a forest floor smell, Wood Essence goes more for a pure wood smell. It's not a very complex scent, but I think it fits into the outdoorsy theme.
I've probably written more than anyone cares to read, and I hope I've given you a variety of different fragrances you can try.
If I were to intellectualize my feelings, I'd say that when this topic comes up, I feel a sense of inferiority and shame. The feeling is especially intense when I have to explain the WMAF phenomenon to a friend who is not in the know, and I end up sounding like a race fetishist. It is doubly humiliating if the friend is white, for obvious reasons. Generally, I've come to terms with it. I'm not going to pretend that I don't get a gut feeling sometimes when I see a WMAF couple. I made the comparison to race fetishism content earlier, and I'd say that if you were aware of the dynamic, it's just living in that world every day. You just have to accept it and move on. Like I said before, there's no real way to explain it without sounding completely pathetic, bitter, and emasculated. I can only imagine the mental picture you'd have of me if you judged me purely off of these posts.
There's also the specifically racial component. As we all know, Asians are "White adjacent" when it comes to racial politics, so it's perfectly acceptable to be openly racist toward them. One thing that bothers me is the nonchalance that you see in the Asian women when they say "I don't date Asian men." As if that's just no big deal. But that's just normal racial politics in The Year of Our Lord 2026.
Like I said, Asians can get really deranged and about it, and to be honest, I understand. Men are already suffering intensely in the current dating market, and to add a racial component to it definitely does not help. I might have even fallen into the rabbit hole had I been less successful with women. There but for the grace of God go I.
Just as a side note, you noticed the views that Asian women have toward their own father/brother/future sons. A lot of ink has actually been spilt on this. Believe it or not, there's actually intense discussion in some parts of the internet about the effects of having WMAF parents, as opposed to AMWF, with one theory postulating that the Asian female in the WMAF relationship would actively start to feel disgust toward the Asian part of their children, especially sons. For example, there are some that believe that if Elliot Rodger had been born to AMWF parents instead of WMAF parents, he would not have turned out the way he did, and that part of his psychosis came from the deep rooted self hatred instilled by his mother. Obviously it's all conjecture (and quite tasteless at that), but I can see why such a theory may be attractive.
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