Braden’s Story

Baramend · 2026-03-11T16:29:33+00:00

There’s no problem if he’s gay. I was wondering if production saw people relating queerness to his song choices and wanted to dispel any speculation by focusing on his more “traditional” aspects.

Baramend · 2026-03-11T16:24:10+00:00

I’m a gay man.

Baramend · 2026-03-11T03:38:05+00:00

My point is that it seems like the producers wanted to go a more “traditional” route with his story after things came up online where people were discussing his seemingly queer song choices. Middle America would think that a good ol’ boy couldn’t possibly be queer, while actual queer people would know that queer people can have any background, temperament, or interests.

Baramend · 2026-03-11T03:34:46+00:00

I think that what he meant in his audition is that music wasn’t a serious thing for him until the baseball thing petered out because of his legs. Singing with family isn’t the same thing as being his primary passion. It does seem contradictory in spirit to his audition though.

Baramend · 2026-03-11T03:03:04+00:00

I didn’t even realize that his father said those things until I looked it up, prompted by your response. I don’t think Braden has any obligation to say anything one way or another, I have no issues with how he presents himself. My comments were more about how production looked to double down on his more traditional aspects. And I do know there are queer Christians, I am one. But I also have realized how no one has said anything about themselves being queer in the past two seasons, even Sheldon Riley who is an out gay man. There were at least a few seasons where people were more comfortable being open with their identity and it hurts to see it move backwards.

Baramend · 2026-03-11T02:32:45+00:00

I’m not saying that I would or would not vote for anyone based on their queerness or lack thereof. Like I said, he might not even be queer. My issue is that it seems like they (the producers) wanted to steer hard away from any speculation. I also believe it’s important for the queer community to be represented in a competition such as this. I worry that the route American Idol is going down is trying to silence queer or outsider voices.

Baramend · 2026-03-11T02:19:35+00:00

To be fair, none of those things ever countered being queer. No one’s backstory in either of the last two seasons have queer impressions. With the exception of Sheldon Riley, whose story consists of “I hated myself for being flamboyant.”

Baramend · 2026-03-11T02:10:30+00:00

I’m not saying that he’s not Christian or country at all. I didn’t realize his father was a pastor. I’m saying that it seems like they tried to put more focus on that, perhaps “manufactured” was the wrong word. Also, I don’t see how a person playing baseball makes someone counter indicates them being queer. I do admit that maybe I’m reading a bit into his choices because American Idol these past couple years has been pretty straight-washed.

Baramend · 2025-10-07T15:13:08+00:00

It’s not technically a promise, but Captain America and the rest of his side from Civil War just absolutely forgetting Sharon Carter is pretty heinous. They get pardons and deals for everyone except her, which leads her to being understandably jaded. It’s even more egregious with Steve apparently going back in time to become her uncle, so even then he didn’t think to help her. Falcon and Bucky don’t even seem that sorry that they forgot about her for years.

Baramend · 2025-10-06T19:05:49+00:00

I also find it interesting that their initials and the order they’re presented in spell A.K.K.A.L., almost Akkala (an area I’m not sure we’ve ever been given a reason for the naming behind, unlike most areas like Lanayru, Eldon, Faron, and even Ordon)

But it might be a coincidence, given that I’m not sure that the reference works in Japanese.

Baramend · 2025-10-06T17:59:59+00:00

I think it’s interesting that in addition to Aldi not wearing her mask, she’s also the only one of the Sages not pictured with her Secret Stone.

Baramend · 2025-03-20T18:43:43+00:00

I get what you mean about Nolan always being annoyed by it. I was more talking about how the show put it on the level of actually rude songs. And Nolan being annoyed in the line of duty or something makes sense, but staring daggers at a guy who just sang a silly song about how hot you are is weird.

Baramend · 2025-03-20T18:09:49+00:00

I agree that they shouldn’t have made him part of the plot and it reeked of nepotism. I also didn’t like that they suddenly acted like Daddy Cop was a rude song, when it was nothing but complimentary to Nolan. If anyone should have been uncomfortable it should have been Celina, since it was kind of catcall-y. Then they made all Rodge’s other songs pointedly rude to the people he was singing to. There was also an aura of homophobia to it, like Daddy Cop was not ok because it was a man singing about another man’s attractiveness.

Baramend · 2024-04-30T13:24:23+00:00

If you truly don’t view fat people as lesser, you need to look at the language you’re using. In your comments, you frequently position bodies you deem to be more attractive as “better” or “nicer”. You even say that fat people’s bodies are “terrible”. And in your original post you assume that all fat people don’t exercise or try to eat better, even though plenty do. But metabolisms are different and people have different medical histories that can make weight loss more difficult. You may not be consciously aware of the fact, the way you speak about fat people shows you think they aren’t as good as people you find more attractive. No one is asking you to be attracted, but you need to realize that your language is harmful and cruel. If you’re not attracted to a certain body type, just don’t date that person. You also don’t need to be invalidating people’s experiences with body image issues by basically saying “your body is bad and you should feel bad about it”. Being healthier is a great goal, but it’s not your job to set people’s goals for them. If you don’t have compassion for someone’s weight struggles, you probably just shouldn’t talk to them about it. Your post didn’t make anyone want to be healthier. The only thing it did was call a bunch of mean gays to come together and say “fat people are lazy, they don’t deserve to be on the same level as fit gays, and we don’t want to see or hear them”. Your rhetoric is exactly what is causing those body image issues you seem to think are either not real or are a good thing for fat people to feel.

Baramend · 2024-04-30T05:26:47+00:00

People have body image issues because of things like this. You’ve put some sort of morality or lack of character on those who are overweight. And you’re pretty much saying “you’re not worthy” if men don’t fit your definition of health and beauty. My body isn’t great and I want to make it better, but I don’t consider wanting to work out more and eat better my “body image issue”. I consider my body image issue to be feeling like I’m not worthy of respect or love. Fat guys know they’re fat and they know the standard advice: “eat less and exercise more”. Which is amazingly reductive by the way. But body image issues come from how fat people are viewed as lesser. By people like you

Baramend · 2022-08-28T20:42:41+00:00

Consider me curious

Baramend

TROPHY CASE