On Heroism

There’s a meme that crops up a lot on a Reddit group I follow, designed to mock nerdy men who own samurai swords. You know the kind. Guys with pipe cleaner arms and girlfriend shaped pillows, or else fat guys in fingerless gloves who know thirty six magic tricks but not where the clitoris is.

The meme text from the meme is “While you were partying, I studied the blade. While you were having premarital sex, I studied the blade. While you were at the gym I cultivated inner strength. Now, with the world on fire and the barbarians at the gate, you come to me for help?”

I assumed this was a quote from some sort of anime, but having looked it up it turns out it might have just been made up specifically for pictures mocking men with trench coats, cheap swords and no upper body strength.

In this sterling example of the breed, you can literally see his mother taking the picture in the mirror…

I think they ship ill-fitting trilby hats free with the swords, but I haven’t looked into it.

It’s a perfect line, though. Self-important, judgemental, and implying that the weirdo with the katana is posessed of some secret, vital skills that will save us all. All these people are waiting for is the end of the world and then they’ll reveal that they were secret badasses all along!

Sitting next to these guys in the Hall of Shame are people who have bought weapons specifically in case of zombie…