#(both literally and psychologically)

[mylittleredgirl]

when i hear "found family" in relation to an ensemble of fictional characters in media there's two different things that could be happening here.

often it's what i think of as forced family, which is like "i found myself in a situation with these people" but a key part of the trope is that, like most families of origin, they're stuck with each other and can't leave without taking extreme action. voyager's "found family" is a forced family. i'm watching m*a*s*h now and it seems that way too. in both cases there's an outside constraint where you literally cannot escape these people and so grow to love them as a result, often in a codependent or unhealthy way but you are closer to them than you will ever be to anyone who did not share this experience. you would sell some of them to satan for one corn chip but god help any outsider who tries to break you up or even understand the situation. sometimes you get lucky and there's a person or two in there that you would choose to spend every day with regardless of circumstance (but would you really? can you even tell for sure??). but also it's "i will never ever speak to you again as long as i live but i'm really bored so can you give me a ride to the 7-11 first."

meanwhile chosen family is more like star trek the next generation where they are placed in this group at random but there's no hostage element to it. any one of them could request a transfer at any time, but they never will because this community and group of people have become an inseparable part of their identity. in both cases they'd saddle up and risk their lives to save each other forever at any personal cost ("not to me, not if it's you") but forced family also contains the element of "i'll fucking do it but christ alive." not every ensemble fits into one or the other but i think it's fun to distinguish as a concept.

[feelingtheaster99]

Okay she has used Adaine's furious fist on Oisin's RELATIVE, now she's just gotta hit Oisin himself (not to kill Oisin, but she deserves to punch him for what he put her through)

[scoops-aboy86]

Top That

For the May @steddiemicrofic prompt 'top'!

wc: 510 | rated: G | cw: depression, weight gain as a sign of healing (and as a sign of caretaking)

It’s not that Eddie doesn’t notice. He’s aware that Steve is worried about him… Baffling as that is, given that Eddie is basically a forced house guest. And Eddie knows—god does he know—that everything was going along just fine as long as he was still injured enough to need help with everything and Steve had to look after him.

Then the doctor clears Eddie to take himself again, and something sets in him like concrete. So if he can’t, or forgets, or neglects to care, he just. Goes without. 

Which is fine. (It’s not. He feels shaky as hell.) It’s fine! Yeah he misses his meds sometimes. Sure he could eat more at every meal, but sticks to whatever Steve serves him instead of expecting more. And a fork is hard enough, no way he can operate a serving spoon. (Because serving utensils are what happens in Casa Harrington. No sharing the same carton of Chinese takeout here, no sir. Rich people don’t double dip like that, and Munsons don’t take hand-outs if they can help it.) 

The first night Steve offers him seconds, he brushes it off. The second night, same. The third night, Eddie starts to get annoyed. 

But instead of a fourth time, Steve looks over at him with a glint in his eye and just shoves an entire slice of pizza in his mouth. He can’t even close his mouth there’s so much in it, it’s ridiculous, and Eddie is already snickering at him before he can help it. (First time he’s laughed in a while.)

Steve keeps on chewing. They’re facing each other from either ends of the couch, watching… some movie Eddie wasn’t paying attention to. He finishes in three big gulps and grabs immediately for his Coke, chugging the rest of it in one go to wash everything down. Then he coughs, wipes his mouth with an entire long stripe of forearm, and says, “Top that.”

And look. It’s not that Eddie doesn’t know what Steve’s doing. It’s just… 

It’s permission. 

By the end of the evening he’s eaten his fill. 

It’s not that Steve thinks Eddie doesn’t know. Why he started it, or why he’s kept it up for so long—although it took Steve a while to figure out that second one himself. 

Eddie looks happy now. He takes better care of himself and asks for what he needs, what he wants. And he always—

“There,” Eddie grunts, patting his stomach with one hand and reaching for his Mountain Dew. “Topped it.” 

It’s been a year, and Eddie just finished an entire apple pie to Steve’s half. After a big dinner. The push of his belly against his t-shirt is par for the course, his jeans nearing the point where he’ll need to size up again. 

Steve isn’t as skinny as he used to be either, but Eddie still tops him there, too. 

It’s cute. 

“You sure did,” Steve says, and what he means—what he knows Eddie hears, by now—is I love you. 

Their first anniversary is only five short months away.j

Permanent tag list (to be added, just ask): @hotluncheddie @lawrencebshoggoth @tangerinesteve @sofadofax

[shadystranger]

this moment so fucked up💀

[onceinawhilemoon]

JON IS LITERALLY CRYING IN THIS ENDING SHERRY WHAT HAVE YOU DONNNE

[crimeronan]

eternally fond of writing princess luz and hunter's relationship because it's mostly just hunter going "honestly i'm really lucky. most people never find someone they want to kill and die for forever at any given moment. i don't know why i'd ever get upset about being so loyal to you that i will unquestioningly let you kill me to death" while luz is like [actively crying with gratitude] "you are so fucking crazy. stop being nice to me."

[creepyscritches]

Just finished another class on how to not put my foot in my mouth and it's soooo validating to know people have to learn these skills like anything else. I've signed up for uhhh I think this is like my 3rd or 4th? And experts on how to not sound like a dick will school me and 30 other professionals on how to not sound like a dick. Wiiiiiiild how much there is to learn on the intricacies of communication :O

[thebigqueer]

literally having the worst day ever and i cant ever be happy (has only experienced minor inconveniences today but they keep adding up)

[widowshill]

the locket, motherhood, & marriage.

139 / 139 / 136 / 136 / 191 / 191 / 191 / 142 / 134 / 143 / 143 / 144 / 144 / 139 script / 144 / 280 / 144 / 144 / 192 / 279 / 279 / 279 / 279 / 143

[gay-caesar-truther]

You know what I AM gunna post Caesar character analysis

I genuinely and fully believe Caesar does not actually believe half the things he's says he does.

He's a man with an ego, and a noted hypocrit- he says no tech no medicine, yet has an autodoc in his room, had is displacer fist, is more than happy to supply his legionnaires with automatic weapons in order to hunt down someone who pissed him off (The assassins he sends after the courier with low legion rep).

Which begs the question, why?

As I mentioned Caesar has an ego- everything he says and every rule he puts in place is about power and control. He bases his whole persona on a historically powerful and significant figure.

I feel he uses slavery as both a direct control tactic over women, but also an indirect one over his legionaires. He's given them someone to be better than- they're less likely to question his power if they have someone else to have power over.

I'm convinced he doesn't care about the general longevity or success of the legion as a long term empire. It's a vanity project to put him in a position of power over as many people as humanly possible. Once he's dead and gone? Why would he care.

I think this because 1) if you kill him Lanius is put in charge, and Lanius is a deeply unstable and violent man with no real sense of rational leadership OR planning for the long term longevity of the legion 2) his lack of heirs. Caesar harps on about legionaires needed to make more loyal soldiers for his cause, but has no wife or offspring off his own- no one else to take over and follow in his footsteps.

Ulysses (and the courier if you've killed Caesar before doing the quest "Return to Sender") brings up that with Caesar’s death the Legion is likely to dissolve back into tribes. This is pretty indicative of the legions overall lack of plans once Caesar is no longer in power- Caesar has done nothing ensure his own legacy, because once he's gone it'll no longer serve him and his ego.

I've got some mixed thoughts about why exactly he's so power hungry- it could be just because he's an egomanic with desires of grandeur but I feel its more to do with his upbringing.

He was raised as a poor kid, with no particular status in life, raiders kill his father and he and his mother took help from the followers.

He resents those who had power over him both physically (The raiders) and intellectually (The followers). He's desperate to climb above that, to be strong powerful and important and not be beholden to the help of others. Having to accept help, not being strong or smart enough to handle things in his own, and any type of failure feels deeply shameful and brusies his ego. This probably also explains his childish and angry reactions when he's reminded of his failures. His ego is fragile, and he has a deep need to be perfect and powerful,and in charge because he resents the fact he used to be a nobody who needed to rely on others.

[featherymainffins]

Currently getting chewed out by my friend for hanging out with both his gf and his ex (my friend since middle school). Apparently I am an idiot for letting them meet and talk. Now correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think there's any social rule that say that you shouldn't ever allow your friend and your other friend to meet if one of them is currently dating your third friend and the other one used to date him.

[rt-arts]

i like. omori (game)

[beannary]

If you want to talk about one of your aus, or au ideas, I'd love to hear about them! (*scoots my chair forward, looking hopeful*)

ok ive been wanting to answer this for a while but i kept on being so scared because ah! this is the one opportunity ill get to talk about my au! but then i realized that is stupid this is not gonna be my only opportunity to talk about my au

putting my ramblings under a read more because i ended up uh saying a whole lot about Donnie and his relationship with both Splinter and Big Mama

ok so basically ive been thinking a lot about the little prince au because it is fully my child and i adore it so much but ive been specifically thinking about Donnie and Splinter's relationship because I really want to write their relationship well

theyre gonna have such an interesting relationship. I know I havent gotten into how Big Mama ended up with Donnie but I am working on a comic for that so I'm not going to get into all of the details but Splinter does know that he left a turtle behind, he just thinks that the turtle he left behind died in the lab explosion, so over the years he has dealt with guilt because of that but overtime that guilt not necessarily faded but he comes to rationalize it because truly it wasn't his fault that Donnie got left behind, and truly there was nothing he could have done to save Donnie. But once he learns that Donnie is not only alive but that he's been living with Big Mama, Splinter's guilt is going to come back at full force because oh my god, not only is the kid that he thought was dead actually alive but he was raised by the woman who kidnapped Splinter and forced him to fight for years!

Splinter is going to be trying so hard to get Donnie to live with him once he learns that Donnie is alive, and he's going to be trying so hard to be the best parent for Donnie ever to like makeup for abandoning Donnie back in the lab explosion. or you know, not abandoning Donnie but that's what Splinter sees it as

I also want Donnie to have like similar reactions to leaving Big Mama that Splinter had. Like undeniably Splinter was incredibly depressed after leaving Big Mama, and like Big Mama turned this thing that Splinter loved, you know performing and being in the spotlight and entertaining!, and completely took away any agency that he could have to this thing that he loved to the point where he refused to take part in it just so he could have some sort of control over his life again

When Donnie leaves Big Mama (whether its by his own will or not I havent decided or figured out how he comes to live with the Hamatos yet) but he's going to go through something similar just a complete shut down where he abandons everything that he loved to do because he now associates them with Big Mama and her control over him if that makes sense? Like Donnie LOVES dancing and he loves playing music and listening to music! but these are activities that Big Mama actively encouraged and so naturally hes going to associate them with her.

I think one thing Donnie is going to throw himself into when he first leaves Big Mama is his inventing. Sort of like how Splinter would lose himself in his shows, I think Donnie is going to get into a sort of headspace where he just spaces out and doesn't have to think about anything while he's tinkering around.

Donnie and Splinter I think are also both going to want to try to prove themselves to each other? Splinter I think might end up being really overbearing while trying to makeup for all this lost time while Donnie is going to try to be the perfect son for Splinter just like he tried to be the perfect son for Big Mama

But like once they actually get to talking and once Donnie is more comfortable around Splinter I think these two are going to have a lot of heart to hearts just because Big Mama controlled their lives for so long, there's a lot of stuff to bond over and relate to

Idk Im not super confident in my writing abilities and Im trying really hard to portray Big Mama as a narcissistic parent but a lot of the stuff that I've read about how narcissistic personality disorder might portray itself in a parental role like centers heavily on the way that they pit siblings against each other and Donnie does not have a sibling! So I guess in a sense he would be both the golden child and the scapegoat which must make for a confusing existence. I dont even know if im portraying this well at all or if any of this is coming across in my writing but I sure hope that it is!

Another thing I want to get into is how Big Mama like reacts to Donnie's inventing because like having a super smart kid that can build you whatever you want is logically a very good resource to have and she does want him to keep building her stuff. But like inventing is messy! Science is messy! In an ideal world Donnie would be getting down and dirty working hard on engineering and botany, and like Donnie can sometimes get so focused on his work that he turns into a bit of a hermit till he comes out of that focused mindset and that's really the part that Big Mama doesn't like because like yes having a super smart kid does reflect very well on her, but having a kid whose constantly playing in the dirt or messing around with explosives and other dangerous devices and who occasionally goes completely MIA while working does not reflect well on her. So she's put into a position where she both wants Donnie to keep building her stuff but she also doesn't want all that extra messiness that comes with encouraging this interest of his.

Anyways im going to stop now because this has gotten WAY too long and I dont even know where im going with this! but it was so helpful to write this all out and just like getting my like thoughts you know written out so I can actually see if any of this makes sense asdklfjhsakdjh

[ssruis]

I can’t take it seriously when people are like “ena is abusive to akito because she scratched/pushed him” or whatever like ohh look at you never getting into physical altercations with your siblings aren’t you special

[rosenbergamot]

thinking ab goodtimeswithscar again. a man of so many masks, all with the same charismatic smile. a man who underneath those masks is so dedicated and loving and lonely and petty and chaotic and silly that it cant be contained. a man who watches and blends in and smiles and laughs, because thats the way hes learned to survive. a man who loves so much and so deeply and loyally that it kills him. a man who, when he stops loving like that, ends up winning his series. a man who is defined by trickster status but wants nothing more than to be defined by the friends he keeps. a man who fights against the want to love people and the want to survive. a man whose every interaction is transactional. a man who sells everything, his heart his soul his bones his blood, just to live another day.

[astranauticus]

not sure if this counts as an AU but.. thinking about the Per Aspera crew as horror game bosses like.. you are wandering through a forested mountain range and you know somethings wrong because the forest shouldn't be this eerily silent, this devoid of life, and then you hear the crash of falling trees and there is a hand that is half your size glowing golden in the night and it is grabbing you and its claws are digging into your flesh and you see the spines running down the golden arm that is far too long as it lifts you over a crater in mountain, over a coiled, serpentine thing with a visage that is not of this world, and if you look closely you can see the shape of a child curled at the centre of the thing, golden hair reflecting the glow of the creature and if you listen closely you can hear her sobbing, 'Don't hurt me, I don't want to do this'. you are sailing through the astral sea when you see an ephemeral, resplendent spelljammer cutting through the starry waters and you rejoice because you have been lost on the seas for so so long, so you board the ship looking for help, supplies, anything, and you are greeted by a blue fire genasi (you wonder, do those even exist? but you can't get off the ship now because where else will you go?) and she tells you she is the captain of this ship but as far as you can tell there is no crew on board, and if she is not appearing right behind you from a trapdoor you've never noticed she is always in the engine room 'fixing the ship' even though the ship seems to be sailing perfectly fine ('Where are we going?' you ask her once and she doesn't even turn to look at you, 'Don't worry about it') and if you are ever so unlucky as to damage the ship in any way, you begin to catch flashes of red and orange out of the corner of your eye, a fire genasi wearing the woman's face who whispers at you with hollow, angry eyes 'Don't you fucking dare hurt my ship'. you are sailing through the astral sea when you see a rotting, decaying spelljammer, so badly damaged it's barely moving although you have to wonder how it's even staying afloat at all, and out of some morbid curiosity you climb on board and the deck of the ship is in no better shape than the hull, the marks of hard-fought battle - scars in the wood from sharp blades and arcane energies, stains of blood and oil splattered about - still fresh but you know time doesn't pass on the astral sea so who knows how long ago this all took place, and as you climb below decks you start to notice the writings on the walls, pieces of parchment nailed to every surface and connected with fraying, rotting threads, or words etched directly into the wood, the deep gouges barely readable, and you start to hear the creaking and clanking of rusted machinery slowly moving about and you turn a corner to see a figure standing in a room facing the wall, slowly scratching yet more of that unintelligible writing into the bones of the ship, and it turns as the rusted dented mechanite stares at you with eyes ablaze and he asks 'Who are you? Where is my crew?' as sparks of arcane lightning begins to arc through the room. you are running through a feywild forest and you know, even without the figure chasing you, that you have made a horrible mistake, you should have known better, should have been more careful, should have kept your impulses in check, and now you are being chased through an unfamiliar forest and the figure, the Hunter pursuing you knows this realm like the back of his hand, knows every tree and shrub and vine that is slithering up to grasp at your ankles, and you glance back desperately to catch any glimpse of your pursuer but there is no pursuer, he has hidden himself with some arcane trick or some innate power or just the knowledge that this realm is his home, and you hear his voice even though you cannot see him as he cries out 'You should not have hurt my family. Prepare to face the Hunter of Hundkiln'

sorry no Vhas yet maybe I'll update with one for him once we get more of his whole deal