Anime avatars are often a coin toss between (potential) comrade and chud, so it may be fun and maybe helpful to think about and share those in the place of that old bellwether for chuddery.
Mine is anyone with “.eth” as a suffix in their online name. I have yet to see a single person that does that that isn’t a chud.
It may even be cheating, but seeing an actual cryptofascist cartoon “original NFT do not steal” is a pretty reliable red flag too.
EDIT: Oh yeah, I almost forgot.
Marble bust avatar is a more accurate indicator of fash than anime avatar imho. With an anime avatar you’re rolling the dice between fash or transgender communist whereas 100% of marble bust guys are fascist.
While antivax stances do exist in liberal and even leftist spaces its huuuge within the rightwing and usually comes alongside some other rather interesting “opinions”.
I’m too lazy to scroll through this thread rn, but nothing non-chuddy has ever been posted on Twitter by someone whose username is just a first name and a bunch of random numbers. There’s even a funny tweet about this phenomenon.
There’s a pretty good chance that those accounts are feds, bots, or bots run by feds. So yeah, checks out.
I don’t think it’s as popular now, but there’s the classic white marble statue pfp
Your provocations are futile because I am a stoike
Stoicism is about getting really mad about emotions and the more mad about emotional expression, the more stoic.
Yeah, it’s still a thing.
Somewhat related is the "furry avatar doing a Dreamworks face or otherwise trying too hard to look jaded and intellectual.*
yeah I think marble or bronze busts in the room are a pretty good clue
also if they have large sections of non-fiction leather bound books that could be a tip off, see the top 10 bestsellers here for example
I have a room full of old vintage leather bound books because
Uhhh
yeah I mean I wouldn’t build a ‘Chud-o-Meter 3000’ around this because some people are collectors or want to be well rounded, but companies that print these usually choose from the western canon, so no radical stuff allowed, I have a few general history books bound in that classic style but nothing left-leaning except for the Eric Hobsbawm Modern History series.
I’m more thinking of people who show them off in the background as part of their online persona like some right wing commentators
It’s not about the content of the books for me. It’s about the smell
the smell is part of the experience
“The Art of War” is an express pass to Chudland.
Sun Tzu: ‘Have a plan instead of sending your whole army to die for no reason’
Chuds:
I think that’s more of an ”I’ve never read a book that wasn’t one of the required ones in school, but want to appear smart” thing. Which is admittedly at the very least chud adjacent.
’s list of recommended books was all shit like that and Orwell. At least Steve Jobs’ list showed he’d maybe read a book that wasn’t one of the Anglo ”every schoolchild has read this” ones.
I’ve found that to be more common with run-of-the-mill libs, where they also always mix up fiction with non-fiction. Chuds just won’t read or id they do read it’s like they try to read Julius Caesar’s auto-biograohy uncritically.
Hey now, the Art of War is great and everyone should read it. Most people have never really sat down and thunk about the whens whys and hows of getting 50,000 of your buddies together to slaughter those shitass wankers in Wu and it shows.
It’s still sus as some deliberate “look at me look at me” bookshelf display. It’s up there with Infinite Jest when it comes to douche mating signals.
The thing about “Art of War” is that it is incredibly short and can be read from cover to cover in a half hour. It is an interesting read, but when somebody is trying to position themselves as an intellectual and they name drop Sun Tsu, you can tell they aren’t very much of a reader.
: (
Should…
Should I take down my signed first edition copy?
I dunno. Is there other stuff up there in the lawyer foyer that draw more attention?
signed first edition
Where is your time travel device and why are you here of all times?
Well yeah I’ve got Clausewitz, Machiavelli, Marcus Aurelius…
Oh no…
Oh no!
It’s incredibly funny to me that the Art of War does contain some very useful insights, especially for the time, but everyone seems to be hell bent on repeating the most basic bitch conclusions from that text like they’re an ancient chinese secret.
The importance of logistics, flexibility, mobility, and so forth are things organizations and militaries fuck up to this day but all anyone wants to talk about is how winning without fighting is the best. Wow, getting what I want without being punched in the face is better than getting what I want but also being punched in the face? Ground breaking.
What if you use it as a guide to urban camping as a homeless person? That book saved my ass so many times when I was bumming around the USA
bro using spies will get you intel 🤯
bro it’s easier to win if you have the high ground 🤯
bro cavalry moves faster than infantry 🤯
bro don’t let your supply lines get cut off 🤯
bro you’ll lose fewer resources if you don’t fight 🤯
bro it’s expensive to keep people in the field 🤯
Hitler, after Operation Barbarossa:
Sun Tzu, from beyond the grave:
Statue avatar is a pretty reliable indication of a diehard NRx type or some chud aping the aesthetic without the theory. The chances of Bronze Age Pervert or Anissimov being a mutual is high, at least when they’re between bans.
“Centrist” as ever is a pretty reliable indicator of giant Fascist.
Crypto or AI can sometimes just be a particularly brainwormed Bazinga lib, though less and less.
Sorry off topic, but can I get a primer on just who/what Bronze Age pervert is?
A giant Romanian Fascist that grew out of Cutis Yarvin’s circle in the early 2010s, and LARPs as embodying the aesthetic ideal of a Homeric Hero. Vaguely ridiculous like all fash but no less dangerous for all that. His thesis is the standard fash shit of “Eternal irrational struggle vs nature and man for domination is the purpose of life, etc, etc.”
Basically, imagine if Evola had no talent and was a member of the 2016 era alt-right.
Fascist that grew out of Cutis Yarvin’s circle
But “Moldbug” said his cult can’t be fascist because he likes drugs too much and wants to seem high tech and hip and cool and with it. He even made “Urbit.” You heard of it? Probably not, because you’re not alt-right enough to understand!
Anyone who unironically uses the word ‘woke’
Anyone who is obsessed with punishing petty crime
Anyone obsessed with punishing kids
I’m gonna go with ‘selfie with a tobacco pipe’
Smoke what you want how you want, but if your pfp is a selfie with a pipe I can’t trust you
88 in usernames, or anything viking related
Car Selfie is a sign you’re in for a bad time.
+ sunglasses, a goatee, and looks like a thumb = get ready for the worst take you’ve ever heard.
I’m kinda late but using curse words in a nonpejorative context. Someone like catturd2 is a recent example but had a bunch of these. They are still using them but they aren’t as frequent these days.
this is piss pig discrimination
Hating furries
You’re right. If someone puts “hates furries” up front in any way, I’ve yet to see them not be a chud.
The last person I knew who hated furries, I actually had a good conversation with him about it. Convinced him it was a shitty and reactionary take
If you actually changed their mind, you may have found a unicorn. 🦄
I like to think I did. We haven’t really spoken in a while (no real reason)
‘Classical liberal’ for sure
Also idk if it indicates full chudness, but in my experience pretty much anyone who says they’re ‘socially liberal, fiscally conservative’ is a whole lot less ‘socially liberal’ than they claim
socially liberal
That usually means they are sex pests under pretense of “sex positivity” and like drugs.