#Also the entire Morrel family

[luckytreecomputer]

a (trans) man runs off with his lover to escape an arranged marriage and pursue their dreams of being musicians and is accidentally followed by his ex-fiance who's actually an escaped prisoner running from the law who was pretending to be a Gentleman (tm). Who is also in love with him(before he transitioned) still and doesn't know that "she" is a he.

Also this is from a novel written in the 1800s. It took me 1050 pages to get here, but this. this.

[kashilascorner]

Okay!! Done with The Count of Monte Cristo. That was a ride. I did not enjoy the ending in itself much. The final chapter felt a bit disjointed and while I can understand Edmond was trying to teach Morrel and Valentine a lesson that's more important than any treasure, I think keeping them apart was unnecessarily convoluted and, frankly, cruel, especially keeping Valentine in the dark about her family's demise.

That being said, compared to the 2024 movie, which was my gateway into the book (spoilers for the movie ahead):

I still think it was very well adapted and I generally enjoy the changes made.

In particular, Benedetto/Cavalcanti's storyline in the movie works wonderfully and his relationship to both Eugénie and Haydée was cute. I do prefer this Cavalcanti over book!Cavalcanti because he feels more rounded. However, the movie cannot top Villefort's demise in the book. It's extremely good and heart wrenching.

The movie utilizes Albert and Haydée in the end in a vaguely similar way to Morrels and Valentine in the book, which was appreciated. They close the circle their literal or adoptive parents started and Edmond sails off on his own and I think there's a lot of beauty in that too.

I disagree that the changes made to Haydée's character in the movie reinforce the orientalism. The movie did not even try suppressing (or addressing) the orientalism, I do agree with that, and believe things could have been handled better. But Haydée's seduction game is entirely premeditated. She's not alluring as a walking oriental femme fatale, she is rather explicitly made to look that way. She and the count play with that as part of the trap they are laying for Albert. This mirrors Cavalcanti's trap too. It is similar to the way "Sinbad the Sailor" metaphorically seduces Franz d'Épinay in the book when they first met. I'm not saying it was perfect though. I'd say the orientalism in regards to Haydee has more to do with casting choices, costumes and treatment of her background than with the narrative use made of her in the movie. Sorry, but revenge-seeking willing to seduce her way to her goals movie!Haydée that still has a filialish role to the Count is definitely more appealing to me than submissive (literally a slave), love-sick book!Haydée who most of the time only waits and pines. She does testify against Fernando on her own accord and free will and shows an absolutely amazing strength and I love book!Haydée for that but it's not often that she gets to shine like she deserves.

Making Edmond and Fernando childhood friends is actually good, I loved that! But making the Mondegos an already affluent and well positioned family by the beginning and making Mercedes/Edmond lowkey forbidden because of class difference was not so good. One of the most interesting things in the book is getting to see just how much their status improves -with Edmond being the price to pay.

The movie does go much easier on Mercedes, WHICH SHE DESERVES. The aspect of her being "unfaithful" is moderately prominent in Edmond's discourse in the book, even if Edmond tells her to her face she's a saint. Given her ending, I think the book narratively does punish her for that so-called infidelity which I personally believe to be absolutely unfair but. 19th century right.

Other book things I prefer over the movie: Fernando's ending. The final battle was super fun to watch but sorry. Fernando offing himself because his family left him adds a whole other layer of tragedy and gives him a sort of redeeming quality (even if in the book they don't really put it this way). In the movie he has no redeeming quality lol

Also. I get why Noirtier was not much there. Same happens with the Morrels and Valentine. But Noirtier is one of the characters from the book that fascinate me the most so I'll miss him

[eldritch-spouse]

All this talk of parenthood and babies on here recently made me want to revisit some of the old asks about the staff's parenthood shenanigans but I saw a few of them were gone. Namely the single parent s/o asks. Or maybe I just can't find them because Tumblr's search isn't the best :|.

If they are gone could we see single parent s/o dynamics with Morrell, Nebul, and Gallon (I think those were the people in the ask I don't remember)? I'm a whore for domesticated fluff 🥺

[It's very probable that those are gone anon. Not because I like deleting content willy-nilly, but rather the person who sent those asks had blatantly disrespected one of the few rules I impose here, and as such, I scrubbed them off the blog entirely. I usually keep backups of some of these deleted asks, but not always. I can't find the single-parent one, so I'll just remake it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯]

Morell's a family man. You already got a kiddo? Well that just saves him the trouble of having to work for one! Of course, there'll be more in the future, he assures you, but this saves you both some time. You already know what it's like to parent after all! Morell is super excited to meet the little one, and for such a big scary guy, he's good at making himself seem smaller and offering treats as greeting presents. The shroom has younger cousins who he entertains often with small wood carvings and dad jokes, so chances are this horribly dangerous cannibal will get on your kid's good side way too easily. Morell will hype ideas like camping trips to your kid and then pretend he doesn't have anything to do with it when your child begs to go camping with you and daddy. You can see the glint of victory on the shroom's eyes as soon as that word exits their mouth. Jackpot Piglet. Just wait until they meet the bobbles, the little one won't ever want to say goodbye!

Gallon doesn't really think of himself as prime father material, but he starts warming up to the idea when he realizes your kid is a piece of you, they were made by you, therefore, if he's to ever parent anyone, it should be the child of his cherry. The slime is good at making silly shapes, contorting or otherwise weaving his tendrils in patterns that might amuse the kiddo. What's more, the slime can definitely make kid-friendly drinks, so he can still show off and impress the two of you without having to risk your child wanting to get drunk. He's naturally playful and witty, being a barman means he's heard some of the funniest jokes around and also has some wild (appropriate) stories to tell- He's bound to keep your kid as engrossed in his tales as you. Unfortunately, Gallon does get anxious at times, having to set breaks aside so he can read on parenting. After all, he needs to know what he's doing! Otherwise, you won't even consider him as the great partner he knows he can be. And that won't do. The first time he's called dad or daddy, Gallon is so happy that all his tendrils curl in glee, probably making your kid burst out laughing while you sweat in anxiety.

//-//-//

[I did find a backup of a single-parent ask with Nebul.]

Hey, you didn't forget what I said in that ask, did you? "Looking forward to it, but not exactly dad material".

Nebul looks forward to being a dad in the same way a wildlife biologist looks forward to the opportunity to study a brand new animal. He's not interested in it from a genuine, wholesome desire to start a family, this is just another opportunity to learn. And, well, find out how he can manipulate you more easily by having this child (or children) take a liking to him.

Now of course, this apathetic, disturbing thought process is only the initial stage of his journey into impromptu fatherhood, and even if Nebul can be a very detached monster man, he's likely to come to love your kid like a dad would. Why? Well, quite simply, it's a mini you. It's you, but lite. And Nebul loves you, even if he's not the most "just" of partners, so even if he loves animals more than humans, it's really only a matter of time until he's decided that he'll be the best dad there is.

The ability to sense and influence emotions comes in handy with a baby and toddler, for sure, but it's not something he can rely on forever. Nebul knows the baby is upset, but not always how to fix it. Forcibly altering emotions doesn't mean he solved the problem, so there's still a learning curve. He's prone to talking to the kid as if they were an adult at times, using terms they likely won't understand, or telling them truths of life that kids honestly don't need to know (this mf will just straight up be a killjoy abut Santa).

On the plus side, you're dead on about the head mist thing, he's going to make a lot of silly shapes just to get them to laugh, and he'll even tolerate superficial touches to the more solid "orb" part of it. Oh, and guess who that kiddo's gonna have to deal with? Purpur. Purpur loves babies. So much. He's going to be the most hyper oddball pet ever! Your kid will always be entertained. Expect the two to get up to shenanigans. On the fluffy side, I can see Nebul taking you and the kid out to learn about animals and so on. He'd love to nurture some sort of interest for wildlife in the little bugger.

[sa7abnews]

My roommates and I share groceries. We all bulk shop for our apartment and save $300 a month.

New Post has been published on https://sa7ab.info/2024/08/11/my-roommates-and-i-share-groceries-we-all-bulk-shop-for-our-apartment-and-save-300-a-month-2/

My roommates and I share groceries. We all bulk shop for our apartment and save $300 a month.

My roommates and I bulk shop for our apartment and share groceries.René MorrellI'm a Chicago-based creative in the art world and restaurant industry.I have two roommates who also bulk shop and share groceries with me.Our system may not work for everyone, but it aligns with the values we were raised with.This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with René Morrell. It has been edited for length and clarity.Even with the nuances in our experiences, my roommates and I were all raised in households emphasizing the importance of community and resource sharing.This common value, which we've maintained as important in our adult lives, allows us to share our food and other resources in a cooperative and communal way.My roommates and I started sharing our bulk groceries around 2018, but my journey with sharing bulk groceries began even earlier. A couple of years ago, I worked for a nonprofit, and during my time there, I started a program where we gave food to families in bulk. That experience really piqued my interest in implementing bulk grocery sharing in my own home.We may have different titles, but we're all creativesI'm a creative with a somewhat split life between the food service industry and the art world. I work as a server in Chicago, where I was born and raised and still live. In 2023, I graduated with a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.My two roommates are fellow creatives, and we knew each other before moving in together. One of my roommates is a fashion designer, and I actually have a familial connection with my other roommate, who's a makeup artist. We've known each other since we were teens.Being creatives, sometimes we don't always have the money to compensate each other financially. I might log in to my account and find it's negative. To foster a safer environment at home, we've transitioned into doing more of a barter system over the years. The barter system not only makes sense for us, but it also helps us avoid creating food waste, which we all take issue with.We all contribute to our bulk grocery-sharing routineWe all participate in our bulk grocery shopping and sharing routine and shop at a few different stores, so there's variety in what we bring into the space. One of my roommates, a fashion designer, juices, so he buys a lot of produce in bulk at places like Costco or even restaurant wholesale stores he has access to. A lot of times, he makes juices for the entire house, but sometimes, he makes specialized juices just for himself.My other roommate, a makeup artist, gets bottled water and grains from Trader Joe's, Pete's Market, or sometimes even food pantries for the house. I'm the meat buyer of the house and tend to shop at more mainstream grocery stores.My last bulk grocery run was to Jewel-Osco. I honestly think they partially created their app because of me. I'm always giving feedback related to their customer experience. In the past, the app would not include accurate information on the items specific locations had in stock. The app has thankfully gotten so much more user-friendly compared to how it used to be, which is particularly important to me since I don't drive or have time to peruse around the store leisurely.Sometimes, I use the app for pick-up orders, or if I'm in the store, I can search the app for blueberries and see the different types of blueberries and the deals they have, so I know exactly which kind to grab. The last time I used the app, I saw they had great deals on filet mignon. It was marked down from $11 to $5 a pound. There was also an additional sale on meat that was around 30% off — I left with six steaks for around $30.Since we began bulk shopping and sharing our groceries, we save around $260 to $300 a month.Depending on how much we save in a month, some of our bulk shopping money will go towards collective household bills. For example, if I make a bulk purchase of meat and end up saving $60, I'll take that $60 and think of it as free money to be put toward our bills. Our system has shifted as we've figured out what works best for usSince starting, we have tried different methods of splitting our groceries and paying each other back to figure out what works best for us. Sometimes, we send each other money directly, but we'll often also do things like compensate each other with produce of an equal amount. For example, I really enjoy passion fruit, and sometimes, it can run $3 a piece, so if my roommate who enjoys juicing, wants to give me passion fruit in exchange for the steak I just bought, that would be fine.Although we primarily use the barter system, we do still make grocery purchases that are specifically for our personal use unless we check-in with each other first. Between our constant communication and learning more about each other's habits over the years, we're able to pretty easily identify when certain items are not for our bartering system. For example, I will sometimes make dishes with truffles, and my truffle products are primarily off-limits. My other roommate, the makeup artist, buys items that specifically contain prebiotics and probiotics to help with occasional stomach issues. In other words, when we open up the refrigerator and see truffles or a probiotic drink we all know who it's for.I realize our system would not work for everyone or every household. Some prefer to navigate life as more of an individual, and some like to work with others, but only if there are very clear-cut rules. It all comes down to your group's core values. Our core values lie in supporting our community and making sure we all have the resources we need, and that's what we try to model in our home.

[princeescaluswords]

Peter shouldn't be held accountable for murdering his own niece because he was "mad" yet we are supposed to take him at his word when in his ravings to Meredith he said Talia made them "weak" 🤔🤨

This question, and bear with me here because I understand how people could imagine this process is a stretch, made me think about intersectionality. Ever since I read Crenshaw's work on the phenomenon, it's been fascinating to me (I have that privilege). In Peter's case, I believe I can say that the fandom's treatment of his physical and emotional distress due to the fire is ableism. It's used to isolate fandom behavior from criticism and it works hand-in-hand with racism, sexism, and classism.

(In my mind's eye, I can see the pitchforks grabbed and torches lit.)

Ableism, as I have learned, isn't simply denying the value of a person with a disability. It's can also be reducing their entire existence to a function of that disability.

In this character's case, fandom's ableism manifests in the use of a character's trauma to simply ignore any attempt to question their approval of a character who's main activities are manipulation and murder. And they do approve, wholeheartedly. Those times in the show where Peter faced consequences for his actions are seen as injustices because they neglect the trauma he endured, even though most of the actions he undertakes are unconnected to either the event or the character’s ability to cope with the event.

The teenagers that Peter manipulates, assaults, and attempts to murder have nothing to do with his being burned and then enduring locked-in syndrome.  Even if they somehow believe that Allison should die because her aunt killed people when Allison was eleven or even if they believe that Scott is a bad person because he didn't care enough about Peter's pain to murder Stiles on Peter's command, Liam had absolutely nothing to do with anything that ever happened to Peter. They hadn't had a scene together before Smoke & Mirrors (4x12), but Peter's earlier incapacity is used to justify a plot that would have killed Liam just as dead.

The ableism manifests when Peter's physical and mental trauma is used by fandom to justify everything he has ever done, because it becomes the reason he acts that way without any visible link. They argue that he cannot be held to any standard because he was hurt.

Where does the sexism, classism, and racism come in? These other factors enable the fandom to use Peter's physical and emotional trauma to excuse his actions while being able to deny similar excuse to others. Take Laura. How many times have you heard fandom argue that Peter can be excused for killing Laura because she abandoned him (not that we know if she actually did. It was never implied in the show, not even by Peter.)? Laura's actions are criticized but her trauma isn't given the same weight -- or any weight at all -- just as Lydia's, Jennifer's, and Tamora's traumas aren't given any consideration.

On the other hand, Derek, as a member of Peter's respected, wealthy family, is treated as if he had the right to execute him and take the alpha power, because he's the sole remaining heir, but whoever sent Peter to Eichen House (if it wasn't, as I suspected, Derek himself) is wrong because apparently they don't have the right to pass judgment on the Hales? Even though Peter twice commented on the injustice of Derek's act, you never see fandom excoriating Derek for making that call.

And, of course, Scott even after all the trauma he endured (turned, mind-controlled, Berserkerfied) is expected to render flawless and uniform justice on Peter, taking into account his pain and suffering and ignoring his own. Why can they watch Peter murder ten people because of his trauma and demand he evade punishment but Scott can't even reject Peter's philosophy without deserving death?

(As an aside, it's always hilarious to me how Peter stans argue that Peter is treated unfairly compared to Theo and Theo stans argue that Theo is treated unfairly compared to Peter.)

But my point is that Peter's physical and mental trauma is given greater weight than the what others endured because of racism, sexism, and classism, and, in turn, the ableism -- reducing Peter's actions solely to a product of his physical and emotional pain -- is used to cover instances of racism, sexism and classism in the fandom.

If Lydia screamed the top of Peter's head right off his body for possessing her and then turned around and did it to Derek for sending his betas to kill her, would fandom have accepted that she went through a traumatic ordeal? You know as well as I do that they wouldn't. They barely recognize what happened to her as debilitating, even though she talks about it repeatedly throughout the production.

If the families of these hurt and dead teenagers sued the Hales and the Argents for the physical and emotional trauma they caused, would the fandom recognize this as a legitimate consequence of the Hale's actions?

If Scott had not been noble and simply tore off Peter's head and put it on the altar of Tezcatlipoca as a symbol that he was done with Hale Family Nonsense, would fandom acknowledge that he had a right to do so as long as he focused "only on the responsible ones?"

People who aren't white, male, and a member of a powerful and respected family don't get the same consideration for their pain as Peter and Derek. It always amazes me how Scott can be hated for "well, then they had a reason" after he had just spent an entire episode risking his life to save Derek only to have Derek shout at him. It amazes me how Jennifer's mutilation and quest to destroy the alpha pack can't justify the murders of innocents but Peter's attempt to kill Stiles, Allison, Jackson and Lydia in Night School in order to turn Scott into the killer he needs and the risking of Malia's, Kira's, Stiles's, and Liam's lives in La Iglesias seems acceptable collateral damage.

Of course, the answer is a combination of the Trauma Olympics (apparently, Peter's coma scores more points than Jennifer's mutilated face) and the feeble defense which could be made that Peter didn't succeed in murdering seven teenagers, so it somehow makes it okay? Why? Could it possibly be that Jennifer is a woman and not part of an aristocratic pack of born werewolves?

This is too long already, and I haven't even gotten into how fandom treats Alan Deaton, Marin Morrell, and Tamora Monroe. Or even how this confluence of prejudices similarly manifests in other fandoms (look at the way they use trauma and disability to insulate other characters from culpability -- see Kylo Ren and Tony Stark among others).

I'm more than willing to engage with good faith counter arguments.

[seven-oomen]

If You Are Going Through Hell, Keep Going

These are the words that Marin Morrell – Druid, Emissary, Guidance Counselor – says to Stiles Stilinski in “Battlefield” (02x11) And I think they suit his character just perfectly, because Stiles has been going through Hell all his life.

The Teen Wolf Fandom don’t talk nearly enough about Stiles’ traumas, so I’ll try my best to do it myself *I won’t even remotely touch on the Void Stiles, Dark Stiles, Donovan and the Nogitsune trauma though, because it’s extremely complex and deserves its own Meta*

It’s Canon that Noah was an alcoholic (as Rafael pointed out to Stiles in 03x11 Alpha Pact), that he neglected and lashed out at his own child (Stiles’ memory in 02x09 Party Guessed), and that Stiles was verbally, emotionally, and physically abused by his mentally ill mother, Claudia, throughout his childhood (there’s a whole magnificently acted, heart wrenching scene about it with flashbacks and all in 05x06 Required Reading.) It’s Canon that Stiles had to take care of himself and of his father before AND after Claudia’s death. And it’s Canon that Stiles – who was only an eight years old child at the time – was at the hospital with his mother when she died, nobody else:

[Teen Wolf Season 3 Episode 11, Alpha Pact]

CHRIS: You knew… I remember meeting you once, before you were Sheriff. You questioned me about a body. You knew something was up. You just weren’t ready to believe it.

NOAH: You’re right. There was a night eight years ago… the night my wife died. I was at the end of a shift, and a call came in. There had been a pile-up, and a young woman… she was a teenager, actually. She was trapped under an overturned car. We had to wait for the paramedics. We were never getting her out, but I was able to hold her hand. She knew she was gonna die. But I just kept telling her “No, no, listen. The paramedics are on their way.” And then I remember her hand suddenly gripped mine so tightly that I literally thought she was gonna break the bones. And she looked me in the eyes, and she said “If you wanna be with her, go now.” And I knew she was talking about my wife… But then that other part of my brain — the part that looks for clues, for fingerprints, for logical connections… that part told me that there is no way that this girl could possibly know about Claudia. And so I stayed. I stayed until the paramedics pulled her out. Until her heart stopped beating and they declared her dead.

NOAH: When I finally got to the hospital, I saw Stiles sitting in the waiting room with his head in his hands… He was with Claudia when she died.

NOAH: But I wasn’t. I wasn’t with her because I didn’t believe… I just did not believe.

It’s also Canon that Derek Hale is a rape victim and that the hunters slaughtered Derek, Cora and Peter’s entire pack/family (including humans and children.) And it’s Canon that Stiles immediately sides with the Hales and openly confronts Chris about what Kate had done to the Hales in 01x12, Code Breaker:

CHRIS: Let me ask you a question, Stiles. Have you ever seen a rabid dog?

STILES: No. I could put it on my to-do list, if you just let me go.

CHRIS: Well, I have. And the only thing I’ve ever been able to compare it to is seeing a friend of mine turn on a full moon. Do you wanna know what happened?

STILES: Not really. No offense to your storytelling skills.

CHRIS: He tried to kill me, and I was forced to put a bullet in his head. The whole while that he lay there dying, he was still trying to claw his way toward me, still trying to kill me, like it was the most important thing he could do with his last breath. Can you imagine that?

STILES: No. And it sounds like you need to be a little bit more select—

CHRIS: Did Scott try to kill you on the full moon? Did you have to lock him up?

STILES: Yeah, I did. I had to handcuff him to a radiator. Why? Would you prefer I locked him in the basement and burned the whole house down around him?

CHRIS: I hate to dispel a popular rumor, Stiles, but we never did that.

STILES: Oh, right. Derek said you guys had a code. I guess no one ever breaks it.

CHRIS: Never!

STILES: What if someone does?

CHRIS: Someone like who?

STILES: Your sister.

Unlike self-proclaimed hero and ruler of Beacon Hills Scott McCall, who immediately sides with the Argents and tells Derek Hale that his family deserved to be burnt alive by the hunters in front of his comatose uncle………..

-----

I feel like there is a lot to unpack on Stiles’s trauma. And I will go over these moments one by one, why they’re damaging, what I think the context of the scene is supposed to represent ft how people might take it. And what my personal thoughts are regarding Stiles’s trauma.

First of, I would like to say that the following words are my take on this. I am a 29 year old trans man of caucasian descend who is an domestic violence and abuse survivor. I am diagnosed with ADHD since 12 and diagnosed with CPTSD since this year. I understand trauma and I understand what it does to people. But I am not a professional. I am a fan, who’s responding to the submission of another, anonymous, fan.

You are completely free to have your own takes on this matter and your own headcanons. That’s what fandom is for.

That said, I would love to have a discussion if you can have it peacefully.

Stiles is a character who was (Unwillingly) neglected, emotionally traumatized and both emotionally and verbally abused by both of his parents. There is even evidence of physical abuse by his mother.

I think it does need to be said, that neither of his parents intended for this to happen. What happened in the Stilinski family was by and large a very traumatic event for everyone involved.

Noah is an alcoholic, as Stiles also confirms in the episode that Noah never really stopped drinking. His alcoholism is a result of his own traumas and possible ND mind and an unhealthy coping mechanism.

As a result of this, Noah most likely was verbally and emotionally abusive during his drunken tirades.

I personally think that before Claudia was diagnosed and got sick Stiles had a good childhood. His parents tried their best to be good parents for him and laid a good foundation for him. This is evidenced in the bond Stiles seems to have with his father in general. He’s not afraid of his father, he’s nervous about consequences. But he never gives off a vibe to me that truly says; I fear this man and I have to stay in line to stay alive.

Unlike Isaac and his father.

This also tells me, that unlike Elias Stilinski, Noah never lashed out physically at Stiles. He was trying to break a cycle of abuse but more than likely still fell victim to it himself when he could no longer cope with trauma and his neurodivergency and started drinking.

That doesn’t mean that he’s not guilty of abusing his own son. We know Noah can be neglectful and dismissive towards Stiles (even though he tries his best not to be) and has a tendency to low key insult Stiles from time to time. Whether or not he truly means to or not is up for debate, I personally think he doesn’t mean to do it, but Stiles is clearly heartbroken every time Noah accidentally lashes out. 

As evidenced by sentences: “I’ve never believed a word he said since he was born.” “Thank you, son I should have had.” (To Scott)

Stiles already has a deep founded fear that he’s not enough, that he killed his own mother, that he’s not believed by the people around him, and that people don’t want to take him seriously.

This is clear in every interaction he has with the people around him.

Which also brings me to what happened in 2x09. Now based on the context clues of that scene, I actually don’t believe Stiles saw a play-by-play memory. But rather, Stiles saw his greatest fear play out in a hallucination. 

Why do I believe that?

Because in the same scene, Allison has a hallucination about becoming her own worst nightmare (a huntress like Kate) and Scott sees a hallucination of Allison and Jackson making out. (Aka, losing Allison.) 

I think the scene both has fabrications and truths in it. The truth is that more than likely, Stiles saw his father getting drunk at his mother’s funeral and lashing out at people around him in his drunken stupor. (Which on one hand, one can understand if you take the pain and trauma into account, but it’s not a healthy or an okay thing to do, obviously. This is definitely where Noah fell apart.)

I also like to think one of the other adults put a stop to Noah’s behavior before he could get out of hand. But we never really see her funeral play out, so that is speculation.

The fabrication is the scene that follows. We know that Claudia was the one that actually said the words to Stiles. “You’re killing me, he’s killing me.” 

And that Noah was the voice of reason in that scene. “No, he’s not. You’re sick, let’s go back inside.” (Or something along those lines. I can’t remember the exact words.)

What I think is more than likely is that Stiles’s greatest fear is that his father actually believes he killed his mother. As that is what his mother said to him before she died.  And so that’s what he hallucinated under the influence of the wolfsbane.

Stiles’s greatest fear is losing both of his parents, no matter in what way that is. He also fears that he failed as a son, and failed to take care of his father. All of this is fueled by losing his mother and watching her die at a very young age.

And that is where Stiles’s trauma truly lies. He watched his mother die (at the age of 10) slowly while she lost her mind to a terrible illness. 

His father couldn’t handle losing his wife and not being able to help her and the previous traumas he endured in his own childhood. And Stiles had to step up to take care of him. That changes a child and leaves a mark. A mark that Stiles can’t shake.

We know Noah neglected Stiles by not being able to care for him as he should have, we know Noah tends to think Stiles has wild conspiracy theories and tends not to believe him.

Which traumatized Stiles even though Noah didn’t intend for that to happen. That doesn’t mean that Stiles’s trauma isn’t real though. It’s very real. This is also the reason why he immediately chooses Derek’s side in 1x12.

For Stiles, not being believed is a daily reality and he doesn’t want anyone else to go through that as well. Which is why he chooses Derek’s side. Because Stiles, due to his own trauma, is hard-wired to believe the victim and tends to defend them.

Now I think a lot of people take a lot of Stiles’s scenes literal because they identify with what’s happening on screen. Because Stiles isn’t being believed by the other characters, the audience tends to take his perspective at face value. Even in situations where it’s made clear that Stiles, like other characters, is hallucinating at the time.

And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, but I do think it’s something to consider.

Tagging a few people who might want to add a thought or two to this.

@mostly-vo1d @artemisa97 @msmischief101

[asterekmess]

S3A - E9

The last episode took me Hours to get through with all my notes, let’s hope this one doesn’t hurt my fingers so bad.

My fingers hurt too much to come up with a clever pun so Read More:

Thoughts:

This is a dumb first bullet point, but I love Tara’s hair. It looks like it’s braided or something, then in a bun at the back? I like it.

What exactly was the reasoning for her walking into the school alone like this? Let alone going That far into it? If it’s a 911 call that she’s so nervous about she has her hand on her gun, then shouldn’t there be more than one officer??

ALSO, that seems like Very Bad routine procedure? You got a 911 call (but we get no explanation as to what it was FOR) and the first thing you say when you see someone is “Why are you here?” shouldn’t you be asking “Who made the 911 call?” And then you tell them to leave, and to tell anyone Else they see to leave. When they could easily SEE the person you’re wanting to aim a gun at and TELL them to leave because there’s a cop in the school.

So I’m torn between Julia being just that sick and wanting to terrify each of her sacrifices (which...she talks about them like she’s Genuinely sad she had to kill them, but it was necessary to save the world, so that doesn’t sit right with me?) or fear being a Necessary part of the ritual, like, that the sacrifices Couldn’t be willing?

Honestly, Lyds, that’s so smart and reasonable. “I had to have the weird blackout to get here. YOU get to go find the body.”

What was the point of the staging in the shower room if she was gonna get thrown onto the sign?? Why move her at all?

ALSO if this is supposed to be a threefold death, then didn’t she do it wrong? She killed Tara by strangulating her, but didn’t do the head bash or the throat until after she’d moved her body, for some reason??? Don’t they need to happen like..near the same time?

No to mention that there wouldn’t be much blood bc her throat was slit After death, so the blood wasn’t pumping. Even laying her down wouldn’t render a large amount. But they’re going for horror, so...i guess i’ll let it pass.

Why does it feel like Julia is going after people close to STiles specifically? First Heather, now Tara? And then his Dad? That’s a weird coincidence when she’s got the entire town to choose from.

Also, sheriff, i love you, but ‘they’re not going to get away with killing one of our own.” is a REALLY fucked up line. Police getting pissed ONLY when other Police are the ones killed is SO FUCKED UP. Logistically, police are FAR more likely to get killed than citizens are, aren’t they? They’re the ones that’re supposed to be running into danger? Like, Soldiers don’t Only get pissed when other soldiers are killed, right? It’s literally like...your job to be in potentially fatal situations? that’s not even my point! My point is that your line implies that law enforcement was Half-assing it before a cop got killed. half a dozen people have died, so Beacon Hills should be Swarming with cops, but for some reason the big guns don’t come in until a cop dies? Your phrasing sucks, Noah. Were you gonna let them get away with it if they killed everybody BUT the cops? I’m being sarcastic on that last bit, btw.

I’ll admit, it’s nice to get some actual SUNSHINE in CALIFORNIA

Is Chris letting Allison stay home because she saw a dead body? FOr as long as she wants? I’m so confused, she’s seen Much worse things, shouldn’t it like raise an alarm that she’s choosing NOW to stay home?

Your badassery is tainted by the fact that you’re wearing a dress and fishnets, Allison. If you’re gonna go hunting put on some pants. or shorts AT LEAST. that’s just not Practical.

I love how blatant a lie Stiles is telling Julia in class. “do you play?” “No, my father does” when we Know he plays, and besides if his dad plays then stiles MUSt because that’s a two person thing most of the time? But no, he doesn’t want Julia to know Shit about him.

the loyalty of Lydia not going near Aiden after learning he killed Boyd is SO refreshing. I TOLD you, if she knew Aiden was a murderer she’d never have gotten with him in the first place.

NOt Derek. CORA. MY BABE BONDS FAST. (I mean, she was locked in a bank vault with him for however long)

FIrst off, I love Stiles losing his shit. Second, the acting here is so sub-par, and it looks like a writer’s mistake. okay, so, in acting, interruption is an ART. You have to let someone say enough to get their line across, but INterrupt them before they can finish in a way that looks natural. And you have to make sure not to come in late or you get an awkward pause (this is more common with newbies bc experience actors don’t stop their line, they keep it going until you figure it out.) So like The line is ...And shove it up your freaking--” Now, Scott needs to interrupt without being late, otherwise, unless Stiles Continues the line, he’ll pause after saying ‘freaking’ and it’ll be noticeable. here, the way scott interrupts him feels So Wrong, in part because he let’s Stiles get so far into his threat.

Also, I’m fucking pissed that Scott is downplaying how angry Stiles is. “okay, we get it.” is just...a garbage way to respond to a friend who’s hurting and clearly on edge, thinking Ethan is threatening him.

Exactly How do you “Know” Ethan didn’t want to kill Boyd? You weren’t there, fuckface.

Is this set after school? They’re shouting their heads off and no one’s coming? Even Stiles was shouting about wolfsbane.

THAT IS NOT HOW ACTUAL WOLF PACKS WORK YOU FUCKER. THAT’S A GARBAGE MYTH.

Hearing Cora’s little gasp as her head hit the wall hurt my heart.

Normally I’d be pissed about the girl standing back and not doing anything, but Lydia would be ripped apart and I do not blame her for shouting from the sideline.

I don’t understand what the hell is going on with the Chris stuff. Like, I guess he’s supposed to be looking into it on his own, but that still doesn’t explain where he got the information on this very specific ritual.

But I do understand Allison’s hesitance to outright ask her father what the fuck he’s doing, since last time that happened she was taken to a chained up derek in an underground tunnel system. Finding out her family are monsters is kind of her entire life, unfortunately.

Honestly, fuck yes. Cora go off. Though, I’m sad that no one is mentioning Erica, like At All. You realize she ALSO died at the hands of the ALphas, right? why does no one mention her when they talk about getting revenge?

I...am not talking about this scene.

I gotta say that I enjoy the fact that Allison called Stiles. That’s just...that’s p cool. BUT while it’s cute that her contact picture is from her conversation with Stiles in s2, it’s weird bc it’s a screenshot of the show, and we know that Stiles wasn’t taking pictures at that moment. But the effort is sweet!

I will say that it’s interesting that Cora doesn’t fight Stiles about helping him with his dad. She just finished yelling at Scott, Lydia, and presumably Stiles, and she’s clearly unhappy with literally everyone but Derek, but she’s been very humoring of Stiles. In every scene together, even when she’s snarking at him, she’s not an Asshole.

This conversation with Morrell makes...no sense. Scott literally said in the last episode that good liars wouldn’t have jumping heartbeats when they lied. Then he immediately went to ask Morrell if she was the killer and believed her (even though she’s sketchy as fuck) just because her heart didn’t jump. Wtf?

“But if I kill someone, I can’t be a True Alpha, right?” WHO SAID THAT EVER? WHO TOLD YOU THAT? SINCE WHEN? WTF?

I don’t know if it was intentional (maybe they mention it, but i haven’t gotten that far) but technically having this history teacher disappear leaves an empty class for Kira’s dad to fill when she shows up. Which is neat.

I will forever be angry that Aiden is touching Lydia here. He shouldn’t be near her. And that’s not even me being cranky! She IS PISSED AT HIM. She was avoiding him before today and even then the only reason she went near him was to act as a distraction.

Also, again, I am amazed at Cora’s PATIENCE with Stiles here. Seriously, they’ve clearly been there for a while as Stiles tries to find the words, but Cora didn’t just get pissed stand up and say “I’m a werewolf. People are dying. Help.” She continued to wait for him to talk.

When does stiles rearrange his room? I swear in the beginning of this season it was still in the previous formation with the corner bed sticking out and the desk under the window. Now the desk is facing a totally different direction and his bed’s up against the wall. It’s great, but like, when does it happen? Isn’t this literally the second time we’ve seen his room the whole season?

that’s such a weird text. “Mr Westover Missing” like I don’t know if it’s from Lydia or Scott, but you’re allowed to add some detail? Your keystrokes aren’t limited and there are no government agencies watching your texts for information.

Oh, poor Cora. I honestly wasn’t expecting to bond with her so quickly when I first saw her, but there’s something about getting to see characters being calm that really helps me vibe with them? Like, when they’re nothing but Fight Fight Fight it’s hard to actually relate in any way, but when you actually get to see them talk or relax, then you worry about that being taken away from them.

However much I hate Isaac and everyone else Constantly saying “But I want Scott here. We should ask Scott, blah blah blah” I will say that it’s getting REALLY annoying that Allison’s entire personality is “I”m going to run in with almost zero backup bc I want to be powerful and strong, but then I have to be saved bc I refused to ask for help in the first place.”

Wtf do you mean ‘i’m not that good at this yet’ Isaac? You’ve been a werewolf for literally like 5 months, only like two months less than Scott, and you were LIVING with a born werewolf for that ENTIRE time.

Chris you were shooting at nothing for like two-thirds of that time. That was an empty room. ALSO, if you’ve been there the whole time, why did you wait until he was dead to come out shooting?

Chris yells “help Him” and you go run to stand next to his body without bothering to pull him off the cord around his neck? You realize he might not be completely dead right? Or is his throat already cut?

Also, I wanna note, it was daylight when Cora passed out. Now it’s dark! He went to the ER with her and STAYED with her. I get that people say STiles is kind of callous, but he Constantly goes out of his way for near strangers, and I don’t think that should be overlooked.

No youfcking wouldn’t have Chris, you had tons of time while they were using the garrotte and you just stood there. They came in just before the kill was done, and except for Tara Julia has been leaving people’s bodies where they fall so she wouldn’t left right after. You were NOT ‘this’ close.

Yeah, yeah, and you’re both fucking guilty of being incapable of conversation. Chris you are the adult here, fucking act like it. You had a million chances to confront your daughter and you didn’t. Apparently that’s a habit she picked up from you.

What are they talking about, Scott healing himself?? He was thrown back, he wasn’t injured. I literally just went back and rewatched that scene. He falls backward and he’s completely fine. Stiles, there are so many better instances you could point to. For example, things that actually Happened.

That line is never gonna not hurt.

Stop touching Danny. Stop being near Danny. You are a literal serial killer, get your hands off him. GOD. your brother literally said he would murder danny if he saw you with him anymore, why are you putting him in danger? FUck you.

.....okay, lydia’s speech was meaningful until she fucking turned it into scott worship. Why couldn’t you have stopped at letting her say “maybe I’ll find them before it happens” Why couldn’t it be about HER for once? Why did you have to make it about how everyone thinks sunshine comes out Scott’s ass even though he’s literally not done a single thing to warrant it. He hasn’t Saved Anyone. He hasn’t done Anything to warrant all this trust. Lydia wasn’t there when he made Derek kill Gerard. SHE was the one to save Jackson. And Scott was the one who had to be saved BOTH when Allison had to stitch him up and when Stiles had to go after him in the gasoline. Jackson is the one who saved Lydia when Peter went after her. Scott Didn’t save deaton, that was Noah. He wasn’t the one who killed Peter, that was a combination of Stiles and Jackson’s molotovs and Derek’s claws. Scott wasn’t even the one to protect Lydia when Derek and the pack went after her, that was Stiles, Allison, and Jackson. SHe had no idea that Scott was even THERE until she ran out of the house. Scott didn’t stop Matt, that was Allison’s family scaring him off and then Gerard killing him. THe only possible thing that could count was him saving the two little kids while Boyd and Cora were running around in the woods, and Lydia doesn’t even KNOW about that. Scott has canonically done NOTHING worth all this faith and ‘leader’ nonsense.

were...were they hinting at a Scott/Lydia relationship before they brought Kira in? Holding hands isn’t really a friend thing...?

That....is the softest most broken little ‘hey’ that I’ve ever heard and I’m Instantly on the verge of tears, holy shit.

Derek, honey, what do you mean ‘not again’? You’ve never left Cora, unless you count moving to New York with Laura and Cora was in South America! This line would make so much more sense if they’d given us Any idea what happened to Cora after the fire.

Normally, i’d be annoyed that Melissa is just ignoring the laws about paperwork. I’d even be annoyed that she did it for the Sheriff. BUT, Melissa is in the know about the supernatural and she KNOWS that the murders are supernatural. I’m sorry but Supernatural needs trump human laws. Melissa is totally a boss for this.

EYYYY actual druid (specifically magician druids) thing they got right (though i’m not sure it was on purpose). Magician Druids were Very Well Known for their nature magic. For causing storms and droughts and high winds and fog. The building storm around the school is like, Peak magician magic.

God, it really....it really grinds my gears watching Isaac’s progression toward the most abuse he can find. You notice how, in season 2 when Derek was attacking the Betas on the regular and doing awful shit like breaking Isaac’s hands, Isaac was loyal as Fuck to him? (right up until randomly going to Scott to decide whether to leave town) Then, this season, we start off with Derek being pretty fucking gentle, there’s no indication that he’s been continuing the abuse. Isaac questions his command and Derek’s response is ‘do you trust me?’ to which Isaac easily says yes. In fact, Isaac asks Derek to be the one to hurt him for the memory seeking thing, and Derek refuses because he wants to do what’s Safer for Isaac.Then he throws the glass and Isaac bails bc it’s a direct reminder of what his dad did. Only he goes to Scott, who was incredibly violent toward him in the previous season. (And who we know will be violent toward him in the future as well) But the only time he lists away from Scott, is to go after Allison, who Tackled him to the ground and held a knife to his throat, and whose father inherently hates werewolves and is a constant danger to him. Yet he never goes in the direction of people who Haven’t hurt him. He could go to Deaton, who’d taught him the pain-drain thing and was nothing but kind to him in that short time. He could’ve gone to Boyd after Derek’s lashing out, his pack member, who would never hurt him. Hell, he hates Stiles’ guts, but he could still have gone to him. Stiles was the one to help Derek free him from Jail after all, and he’s not wanted anymore so Noah wouldn’t have anything against him. Stiles may have threatened Isaac to keep him from hurting Lydia, but he never personally laid a hand on him. But he went to Scott. Someone who’s beaten him bloody multiple times.

So, really focusing on the details here, but on Julia’s death record, her  ‘jane doe’ occupation is listed as “Child” Oh, and apparently there was Froth present on the body.

Okay, so I think I understand what they’re saying. The reason Julia lived after getting to the hospital was because the birds sacrificed themselves and their life force kept her holding on. Now, either this was a spontaneous thing, and the birds did it For her. Or she Made them, because we know she doesn’t need to Be There to control weird shit. She could’ve set it up before she left the Nemeton or passed out or whatever. My confusion is. If that’s the explanation for the bird suicides, then what the Fuck happened on the first day when all the birds came crashing through the window?? There was no reason for that to happen. She was totally fine! And doing it to frighten people doesn’t make sense because she set off the radars of everything supernatural in town. (And Stiles.)

This kind of mass mind-control is kind of insane and makes the situation with Derek just That much more awful. I am so sickened.

Now, on the subject of the chanting, I assume it’s part of the ritual since it’s present at the deaths so much. The question is, where did Julia Get it? THOUGHTS: This chant isn’t present at any of the virgin kills. It’s not there with Heather, and while we don’t see the boy at the pool’s abduction/death, Emily Also didn’t hear it during her hallucination. What if it’s part of the virgin sacrifice perk? Like, Julia could Only Use it after killing the virgins, because it’s got some kind of mind-control thing about it?

Wh--why didn’t Julia tape her arms down before she woke up? Why make the garrotte before ensuring her victim couldn’t Punch her in the face??

I thought you JUST said she wasn’t going to be a sacrifice?

Still confused. You didn’t sacrifice Lydia, so that doesn’t count as the third philo, but then the teacher who died onstage wasn’t a threefold death, or the hanging thing, they just got their throat cut and they were poisoned. So....what? Was that supposed to count as your sacrifice?

Nobody TOUCHES Noah, who managed to be the only fucking cop on tv i’ve ever seen follow sensible procedure which is to shoot them in the fucking leg when they walk toward you menacingly, rather than threatening to shoot them in the head and doing nothing.

Final Thoughts:

There was a lot in this episode that didn’t make sense. It’s very clearly an amping up for the finale thing, but it’s annoying that after all this time they’ve essentially made the Alpha pack a time waster. The whole thing with getting Derek in the pack is relatively meaningless now that there’s a Darach going after the Alphas. I dunno, feels kinda off.

Anyway, onward.

[outlanderfandomfollies]

This post was submitted by Anonymous:

Hi, I’m happy to see you tackling the Ross Morrell stories because it drives me mad when people take these datalounge trolls at face value. I have been doing my own investigating, searching for Ross and Ivan stuff from when it happened, and submitted the above post with a tweet to one of the blogs discussing the RM rumor. I want to pass this on to you so you can address it. 

It shows that before Ross was Ross, his account had a different name! I hope the photos are clear enough, but in 2012 “Ivette Kinski” responded to a tweet and when the name was changed to Ross years later with a new pic it was apparently still in his tweet history!

Meokeob was willfully ignoring this and pretending it meant that Ross had been around since 2012, and he was but with a whole different personality.

I don’t know if this is allowed so cross it all out if you have to, but to demonstrate how it appears to work and how long troll accounts can hang around, I looked at the notorious datalounge troll Arwen and you can see her old tweet responses to tweets with her old name now show up with her current account name and pic, just like Ross and Ivette. Thank you for reading!

____________________________________

Response by Outlander Fandom Follies:

Thanks for your submission Anon!

As you can see, I didn’t “cross it all out,” but I didn’t post the screeencap with the two detailed comments by a certain blogger because I didn’t feel comfortable doing so. 

It seems clear to me that “Ross Morrell” is a made up sock account. I would guess now that “Ross” stole an obscure Czech actor’s (Ivan L.’s) image and used it as a profile photo and then made up the “Ross” name. 

You definitely proved Anon that the name on the account was originally “Ivette Kinski.” She appears to have been a minor film producer based on the above screencap. However, “Ivette” was probably also a pseudonym because aside from the IMDb profile from years ago, she has no other Internet presence. 

This may have been an old dormant account of “Ivette’s” that she later revived to use as a sock account. Either that or a friend or family member hijacked the account and used it as a sock account. 

But whoever it was, they had an ax to grind. And yes, I think the entire story was made up to try to hurt S, or why use a sock account? 

And I would guess it was a woman, if it wasn’t “Ivette” herself. But again, who knows? With sock accounts one never knows.

[Updated 02.25.21]

[when-they-write-stuff]

I didn’t get all the way through the list, but I already couldn’t choose, so 55. “Sorry doesn’t fix everything.” or 75. “What are you talking about? You’re married!” or 80. “But you promised..”

Written for: “Sorry doesn’t fix everything.”

- -

“Tell me a story about how the sun loved the moon so much, he died every night to let her breathe.”

When Derek first left Beacon Hills, that’s what Ms. Morrell told Stiles to think about. He sat across from her just like he had nearly two years ago and picked at the hem of his shirt instead of his lacrosse stick. He hadn’t played lacrosse in a long time; not since the Nogitsune. Not since the return of Kate 2.0.

When Derek first left Beacon Hills, Stiles was told to look on the positive side of things. He was told that by everyone else, at least. Certain other people remained elusive. Certain other people who made Stiles so mad, he stopped going to counseling for an entire three months until his nightmares started waking him up in screaming fits and night-sweats again.

When Derek first left Beacon Hills, Stiles was told to think about the sun and the moon. And he was so fed up with everything sometimes.

He was so fed up with everything.

Like what they faced after Derek left. So many things. Stiles learned what it was like to be considered untrustworthy. He learned what it was like to be considered a real murder. To have blood on his actual hands.

He did this… thing when no one else was around. He didn’t tell Morrell about it and he didn’t tell his father. He most certainly didn’t tell Scott, but they hadn’t been talking that much lately anyway.

And if Stiles’s dad was to snoop around his bedroom one day, he might find a neat stack of letters. Ones that were never sent out, but always slipped in clean envelopes. Ones that were all addressed to the same initials, but there was never an address. Stiles didn’t think he’d send them even if he got an address; but it was a lot like the instance with Derek Hale’s number currently in his phone. He’d stared at it for hours before, debating making a call. A text. Something.

He never did though. Stiles thought he’d have a lot less control with the texts. So he wrote letters instead.

When Derek Hale first left Beacon Hills, the words; “Tell me a story about how the sun loved the moon so much he died every night to let her breathe” had circled through Stiles’s mind so often, he thought he was going crazy.

It wouldn’t be the first time.

When Stiles had gone into high school, he’d never expected to come out of it surprised he’d survived. They all made jokes years and years ago, yeah. But Stiles still couldn’t believe sometimes that he’d survived.

When he graduated as a senior, he’d stopped going to the counseling sessions. His dad had tried to bring up actual therapy but Stiles was at the point where he realized how Derek had felt when he first returned to Beacon Hills years ago. Once upon a time, when Stiles had been an idiot sixteen-year-old kid and Derek was nothing but tired and sad. 

For the first time, Stiles kind of wished he could go back in time and apologize.

Because hell, Stiles was tired. He was sad. He was tired like when Derek had buried himself in his childhood house and attempted to ignore the world. He was sad in that sometimes, he felt like he’d lived and died a dozen lives, and maybe he was just going through the motions these days.

He might have looked for Derek in the crowd the day they’d graduated. Because if Derek Hale was ever going to return to Beacon Hills, it would be then. When most of the danger had passed, when most of them had survived.

Most of them. Not all.

Stiles attempted to organize a vigil for those who hadn’t made it to graduation. A little ceremony. Something, anything, to remember that they all weren’t so lucky.

No one except for Lydia, Melissa, and Stiles’s dad had shown up.

They’d lit candles, murmured a few quiet words, looked over the graves, and Stiles wondered how much it had hurt Derek to lose so many of his pack. Peter had called it like losing a limb. Stiles sometimes wondered if the pain he’d felt when Derek had left was similar to that.

He hadn’t just felt like he’d lost a limb though. He’d felt like he’d lost so much more.

Stiles liked to believe Derek would have come to the vigil if he would have known. Maybe he would’ve taken a candle and stood by Stiles’s side as they overlooked Boyd and Erica’s graves. Surrounded by wolfsbane, because Stiles didn’t know if that was an actual thing, but he remembered seeing it around Laura Hale’s grave so many years ago.

He’d nearly gotten caught when he snuck out one night months ago to plant it. But there was over a handful of purple flowers growing now. Dancing across each grave. Crawling up the stones. Not in the perfect circle like it had been for Laura but… maybe it was enough.

Though, Stiles didn’t know how that could be enough if he hadn’t been.

He’d told himself he was going to leave Beacon Hills after high school. For good, maybe. Or at least for a few years. And Stiles had managed to stay gone for a solid semester, but then his dad had been shot in the line of duty.

Nothing fatal; a shoulder wound that put him in the hospital for six days and took him out of duty for another three months after that. But Stiles had driven straight back to Beacon Hills and hadn’t looked over his shoulder since.

Two years had passed and Stiles sometimes still wrote the letters.

He kind of thought it was stupid.

-

Hey, Sourwolf, remember that one time you left Beacon Hills without telling anyone? Yeah, well, I do too. And I’m so fucking pissed at you for it, I would literally kill to say that to your face. Which, funny story, wouldn’t be my first murder. Remember that time you said I’d be alright? That everything would be alright?

Yeah, well, that’s a bunch of bull.

  Stupid question, but would you pick the sun or the moon? That doesn’t make sense right now and I know, I’d be getting the ‘Seriously Stiles?” growly brows right now. But I’d really like to know. For… scientific reasons. Shut up, I’m probably not going to send this anyway.

  By the way, of the sun and the moon, which one of us is dying here?

  You think I would have had enough riddles to last me a lifetime at this point, but Morrell doesn’t seem to think so. Both her and Deaton get under my skin sometimes, you know? Like, is a straight answer really so damn hard?

It sure as hell seems like it.

  I’m supposed to be graduating and living my life pretty soon. I still can’t make a proper boiled egg and sometimes, I forget not everyone wants to hurt my friends or family. Funny, right? I’m fucking hilarious.

  I swear to god, I love you.

-

Stiles took this one class that talked about poetry and all the questions of the universe. He wasn’t sure why he took it exactly, but there was one thing that caught his attention from the beginning. One story about the moon and the sun; and the constant chase, the constant sacrifice that they made for each other. Over and over again.

He hated that class for all he was worth. He didn't think that was much anymore.

Stiles went to college for another year with no official degree in mind, but maybe he could be a history major or something? But then he got the call that his dad was planning to retire soon and Stiles found himself taking a few steps back. Turning away from the morning classes, the late-night parties, and all of those normal things, and applying to the police academy instead.

For some reason, he always thought Derek would’ve made a good deputy.

Stiles still looked for him sometimes.

He looked for grey-green.

-

I think I could track you down if I wanted to. You know, talk some sense into your little werewolf-y brain. I’d probably say something about ‘Having a plan B’. Because there has to be something else. We were always supposed to have a plan B, weren’t we? Maybe yours was leaving. Maybe it was not looking back.

I just wish I could’ve left too.

-

When Derek Hale first returned back to Beacon Hills, Stiles had friends at the local coffee shop, friends at the Sheriff’s station, and even a few friends from his old Uni days. He had them scattered here and there. He hadn’t written a letter in ages.

When Derek Hale first returned to Beacon Hills, Stiles didn’t actually know it until he ran into the man while grocery shopping. Derek had gone stock-still down the aisle, a basket held loosely in his hand, and Stiles’s milk had gone splattering to the floor.

When Derek Hale first returned to Beacon Hills, Stiles was told it was ‘a second chance’. He thought that sounded painfully familiar. He also thought, for a moment, he was going crazy again.

It wouldn’t be the first time.

Sometimes, he thought he could leave it all behind. Scott had long since followed the rest of his pack to New York City and Stiles had lost touch long ago. There was still the occasional supernatural baddie in Beacon Hills; but Stiles had a little bit more than a baseball bat now.

There was this… misfit group. Those that had been left behind. Stiles; when he’d become a Deputy. Lydia; when she returned back to start her own online company from the ground up. The few who had never left. Or never stayed gone.

Then there was Derek.

Stiles hadn’t planned on speaking to him ever again, thank you very much. He’d made a beeline from the grocery store and either Derek hadn’t followed, or he’d been too preoccupied with the newly spilled milk to give chase.

Stiles saw him later at the coffee shop. He turned right back around and suffered the station’s coffee for the rest of the week.

He saw him running in the early mornings when he left for work.

He saw the man in his sleep.

It had been so long since Stiles had woken up with the memory of blazing red eyes, or sharp electric blue underneath the moonlight, or the simple green-grey that gave him the saddest look before turning away. 

It had been so long.

Stiles made a bonfire in the preserve one night with a pile of his own kindling; a little stack of papers. But then he never went through with it.

One morning, there was a man in his apartment building.

Stiles had never thought his ‘fight or flight’ instincts would kick in when he was facing Derek Hale. But then the man was standing in front of him in nothing but sweatpants and an old t-shirt. He held a bag of bagels in one hand and his mail in the other and it took Stiles one second too long to realize the bastard was living in his building.

It took Stiles one minute too long to realize he was crying.

See, Stiles had imagined their future meeting over and over again in his mind. When Derek had first left and Stiles was still raw, he imagined he might scream a little bit. Maybe curse the man out.

Or maybe just beg him to stay.

Then as the months had stretched on, Stiles thought maybe he’d just give him a hug. That maybe, maybe if he could prove to Derek Hale that there was something left for him in Beacon Hills, he would consider staying around for a little longer.

Jump to three years later and Stiles was just standing here like an idiot, silent tears spilling down his cheeks. And it took him far too long to realize he was crying.

Derek was only a few feet away by the time Stiles snapped back to reality.

Some part of his mind was tempted to punch the man. Some part was tempted to turn and storm off. Stiles thought he could only be more pathetic if he dropped to his knees along with the tears.

Derek looked utterly torn. Stiles hated how little he hated him for a moment.

“Stiles—”

“Do you remember the day you left?”

Derek’s mouth snapped closed and Stiles’s words were trembling. The man made an abortive move forward as if he was going to reach out, but then he promptly drew back. Stiles’s heart twisted in his chest.

“Huh, Derek? Do you remember the day you left?”

“It was… a long time ago.”

“Yeah, asshole, it was. But I just want to know one thing,” Stiles said, and he hated himself for how pitiful he sounded. Because right now, he was pretty sure he hated himself more than he hated Derek Hale. If he even ever had. “Did you ever look back?”

Derek’s jaw ticked and he didn’t say a word. Stiles felt like his stomach had dropped.

“Did you ever think about returning?”

“I’m sorry, Stiles.”

And that wasn’t the answer Stiles had been looking for, but maybe it was the one he should have expected. Silently, he nodded, turning back away. He wasn’t trembling so hard anymore but he still felt like his world was falling apart at the seams.

“Wait, Stiles.”

Despite himself, he froze. Despite everything, despite knowing better. Derek looked shattered when Stiles glanced back and for the first time, he wondered if the man had possibly missed Stiles and much as he’d missed him.

But then Derek just ducked his head again and Stiles knew he was an idiot. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry doesn’t fix everything.”

Though turning away, eyes burning, Stiles sure as hell wished it did.

-

I swear to god, I hate you.

-

Stiles never asked to fall in love, alright? He never asked to look into grey-green eyes and find himself rendered useless. If someone had told his teenage self that one day, he’d been spending his life thinking about a certain leather-jacketed asshole, Stiles would have laughed them off.

If his life was a movie, Stiles thought Derek would have shown up on Stiles’s doorstep. Maybe with flowers, maybe with just an apology.

Stiles would have been careful, cautious. But he would have let Derek in. There would have been soft conversations, possible tears, maybe even a love confession. And then Stiles would have been alright again.

Derek Hale never showed up on his doorstep. Stiles still dreamed of grey-green eyes.

There was this part of him that sometimes still came to the shocking realization that Derek was back in town. When one of the deputies introduced Stiles to his new ‘good friend’ and Stiles had nearly had a panic attack at the sight of Derek’s face. When he went to the farmer’s market for the first time since he was a child and turned the corner to run face-first into a soft henley and firm chest.

Sometimes, Stiles had to stop and take a breath. 

And then like the snap of two fingers, suddenly Stiles nearly stopped breathing altogether.

He’d survived his teenage years. He’d survived psychotic werewolves and bloodthirsty alpha packs. He’d survived demon possession and being forgotten by all those he loved. Stiles had survived one thing after another. All of those dozen lives that he’d lived.

He took a bullet to the chest on a Tuesday morning. And Stiles was pretty sure he was finally going to die.

But when he came-to, it was in a hospital room.

Stiles felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to his brain. There was the faint sound of a beeping machine and someone was hunched over where he laid. Stiles managed to blink once, twice, a low groan leaving his lips, and then the person was jerking like they’d been shot.

Derek Hale made an abortive move to stand, looking like he’d been caught red-handed doing something illegal. Stiles focused in on his face slowly, confused for a second, and then he was pretty sure his heart stopped.

Slowly, Derek sank back into the chair at his side. “Stiles?”

“You’re not really here.”

The man’s face did something strange and Stiles was almost tempted to reach out and touch it. But he still felt like he was floating outside of his body, ears ringing, and this wasn’t real. Either he really was dead or they’d put him on enough drugs to make him see what Stiles usually tried to pretend was a bad dream.

Derek looked terrified. Which was funny, because usually their roles were reversed.

“Stiles, how are you feeling?”

“You’re not really here,” Stiles said again. God, why did his brain hate him? The man’s throat bobbed as he swallowed and Stiles thought that up close, his face looked a little less hardened than it used to. His eyes were a little less sad.

“Stiles, you’re in the hospital. You were shot.”

“I know that,” Stiles said, huffing despite himself. “But you’re not here.”

“I am.”

“No,” he said softly. “No, because this is all a dream. Or a hallucination. Or a nightmare. You’re not here because that’s not allowed. We’re not allowed. Someone told me and I’ve spent three years thinking so.”

Derek flinched. Stiles managed a weak chuckle.

“We’re not allowed, Sourwolf.”

And then Derek Hale took his hand. 

Stiles’s brain logged offline for a moment. His heart skipped a beat. Because Derek Hale— dream Derek Hale, hallucination Derek Hale, whatever— had his hand. And Stiles could feel the warmth of his skin. The steady beat of his heart. The callouses that lined his palm.

Derek took his hand, squeezing gently, and for a moment, Stiles just stared.

Then he yanked back like he’d been burned.

“No, Derek. No, Derek, no Derek, no! You’re not here! You can’t be here! Get out. Get your furry ass out right now or I swear to god, I’ll—”

“You’ll what?”

The words were asked gently. Derek raised a brow, glancing down at Stiles’s chest, and his features tightened a little as he looked back up.

“You’ll what, Stiles? Nearly die again?”

“Fuck you.”

“I…” the man's voice wavered. “I’m sorry, Stiles. But I’m not going anywhere.”

And wouldn’t Stiles have loved to have heard that years ago? Derek would have come back or maybe he would have never left. He wasn’t going anywhere. He wasn’t supposed to have gone anywhere from the start.

“Why?” Stiles asked. “Why now?”

Derek dropped his gaze, starting to pull his hand back. But Stiles latched on as if it was a lifeline. Grey-green eyes snapped back upward and Derek nodded, gripping his hand tight again. “I… I heard what happened.”

“Yeah, so I nearly died. I’ve nearly died plenty of times before, you know. You never showed up then.”

Stiles was pretty sure he was hitting every single point of pain. Because Derek looked more and more stricken with every word and if Stiles was a better person, he would stop. But suddenly, it was all spilling out of him. Because yeah, he could hate the man silently all he wanted, but that had never done him any good.

“Why did you leave, Derek? Goddammit, why did you leave?”

“I had to.”

“You had to leave Beacon Hills?”

“Stiles—”

“Or what, Derek? You had to leave the pack? You had to leave me? You had to scurry off into the night and never so much as call? I wanted so bad to hate you, dammit! How could you let me try and hate you?”

“Because that’s what you were supposed to do!”

Stiles froze. At some point, Derek had drawn away. He just looked at Stiles now, eyes blurry and jaw clenched. For a moment, Stiles was pretty sure he was going to get up and leave. But then the man just ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

“That’s what you were supposed to do, Stiles.”

“Why did you leave me, Derek?”

“Why would you ever want me to stay?”

There was this one letter Stiles had written asking himself the same thing. Why did he want Derek back? Why did he even care whether or not the man decided to suddenly up and leave?

Why Derek Hale? Why would he ever care about Derek Hale?

“Because when you left,” Stiles said shakily. “It felt like losing a limb.”

Derek made a soft noise at the back of his throat, shaking hands clasped together in his lap. His eyes were fixed on the floor and Stiles didn’t think he’d ever seen the ex big bad Alpha of Beacon Hills so fragile. But he was pretty sure right now, if he said the wrong thing, Derek would shatter.

“Because you were gone,” Stiles said. “Before you were even mine.”

Some part of him thought Ms. Morrell was wrong. There was no moon or sun. There was no chase, there was no sacrifice. Unless it was on both sides. Because dammit, Derek looked like Stiles had just said everything he’d experienced. The man breathed out shakily and nodded once more glancing up.

“I’m sorry.”

“Sorry doesn’t fix everything.”

“I know.”

“Are you staying?”

“... Yes.”

“For good?”

For a moment, Derek stared. Then he nodded. Stiles smiled a little and for the first time in a while, felt like he really meant it. He shifted, pulling himself into a sitting position and wincing a little at the stretch of his injury. Derek straightened and Stiles just waved a hand through the air, managing a small laugh.

Slowly, the man relaxed back. 

“Then me too,” Stiles said softly. “I'm sorry for trying so hard to hate you.”

Derek huffed, eyes shining. And it had been so long since Stiles had hoped he’d actually ever get to see that. He reached out and Derek took his hand, squeezing tightly. And it was all so real. The pulse point beneath his fingertips. The long fingers intertwined with his own.

It was all so real.

“I’m not leaving again, Stiles.”

And beneath Stiles’s fingertips, the heartbeat of the man stayed steady.

-

There’s this thing about the sun and the moon, Sourwolf. One can’t survive without the other. And it’s always been about survival between us, right? Sometimes, I’d love for that to all be a lie. I really would. But I need you to survive, remember? I need you to survive, which is why I haven’t let you go.

Which is why I might never let you go.

- -

I should really know better than to write at night bc nothing but angst ever ensues. Thank you so much for the prompt, Matt! I had fun with it <3

(if you enjoy my writing, consider supporting your student writer? You can also request a prompt if you’d like!). https://ko-fi.com/rh27writer

[portcadorpg]

Welcome to Port Cado, QUINCI ADAMS!!

Name: Quinci Adams

Birthdate and Age:  December 1st / 30

Preferred Pronouns: He, Him

Faceclaim: Trevante Rhodes

Profession: Animal Caretaker

Guild/Obsidian Syndicate: Service & hospitality Guild

Designation: Submissive

Claim: Unclaimed

Children: No

Neighborhood: Morrell Point

Sexuality: Bisexual

Kinks:  Bondage, body worship, sensory play, toys, begging, pet play, public sex, humiliation/ degrading, multiple/many partners, control, roleplay, discipline, overstimulation & more.

Anti-kinks:  Gore, vore, blood & bodily fluids

Biography:

It’d be fair to say that Quinci had a happy life or at least a better life than most people, so he had never been one to complain. He came from a huge family, lots of aunts and uncles, etc. Even in his own home, he was the middle child. Four older siblings and three younger ones, it was always what his parents wanted, a large family.

Sometimes though, he slipped through the cracks. It hadn’t been so bad when he was the youngest, his older siblings took up most of their parents time but as they got older, they could focus on him a little more and then he became a big brother and the cracks were a little more clear. He knew his parents loved him, they just didn’t have much time. It didn’t help that Quinci was a quiet one, he didn’t cause trouble. That changed when he hit his teens. It was a like a new boy had been born and acting out was his favorite way to get his parents attention.

It worked for a while but soon enough they stopped running after him. The problem was, when he did have their attention, it was always short term. Until the problem went away, he wanted it to be constant. And if he could find it anywhere, he’d take it.

Which lead to a few years of bad choices that he isn’t entirely ashamed of. There was a lot of drinking, partying and burning through his family’s money. Even drugs had started to become apart of his life. He realized he wasn’t lonely when he was to out of it to think about it. But it also lead to the worst choice he could’ve made.

Really, he was too young to realize what he was doing when he entered his trio claim. A couple that was already together and Quinci had it in his head that everything would be perfect. (Despite the clear signs and words he had very much chosen to ignore.)

And it ended badly, the only saving grace had been that they managed to keep behind the scenes. Some might say the blame was equally split but a part of him knew it was mostly his fault. Whatever he thought he was chasing, that wasn’t it and Quinci had nothing to do but fall back on his old ways.

It didn’t last for as long this time. His grandpa stepped in heavily. He couldn’t completely change his grandson. It’d take more work than that but he was able to curb his behavior more by steering Quinci in a direction of something he had always loved: animals. Throughout his life, he’s had a few pets, always there for them and always there to love him. It was grandfather that pushed him to work and help out at various animal shelters and since he loved pets so much, he got him into fostering pets that needed a lot of attention and work.

That had given him a goal at least and with his grandfather’s help, he opened his own animal shelter with his grandfather at the head but really, it was Quinci’s baby. And another goal was set for him to become the sole owner and win the trust of his grandfather. It helps most of the time, a less dangerous way of helping him cope. A part of him longs for a claim but he’s convinced he it won’t happen again for him. At some point, he’d become someone’s problem so he gets through it with jokes and some partying, as long as he doesn’t think about the loneliness then it won’t be real.

Despite that, Quinci considers him happy or content at least. Life isn’t what he wants but he has it better than other people right? Why complain about it.

[panharmonium]

How about Teen Wolf, Naruto and/or Stranger Things for fandom ask meme?

Ooo, I love it!  I got Naruto in another ask, so I’m gonna do Teen Wolf here.

[Also, disclaimer for everyone before I get started: I have only watched Seasons 1-4 of Teen Wolf!  I am definitely going to finish it, but for now I am scrupulously avoiding spoilers, so please avoid any discussion of future seasons if interacting with me here.  This includes personal assessments of how good you think various seasons were.  Thanks all! :D ]

My favorite parent-child relationship: hnghhhghhhhh my FAVORITE THING about Teen Wolf is the parent-child relationships; I love ALL of them.  I guess if I absolutely had to pick, I’d say Stiles and his father - I just - literally I don’t have the words for how much I appreciate that relationship.  There’s some talk from Jeff Davis in one of the episode commentaries about how he specifically set out to write parent-child relationships where the parents are allies to the children, as opposed to antagonists, and that comes through so strongly in this relationship (and with all of the parents, honestly) - but the way that like - Stiles isn’t a stereotypical teen in the normal “pushing parents away” stage of growing up, which even Scott displays a little of in S1 (even though obviously Scott loves his mama more than anything)- but Stiles has just had a different life experience so he just - LOVES spending time with his dad and like goes out of his way to have dinner with him in the cruiser or at the station even when his father is working, and they TALK to each other about everything and they both WORRY about each other and there’s never a sense of like...the parent being an obstacle the kid has to avoid.  Stiles’ entire arc in the first three seasons of Teen Wolf is about him NOT being able to tell his father something for the first time in his life, and about how guilty and upset lying to his father makes him because it’s not something he wants to do and it’s fucking up their relationship and uhh just - hoo boy, I haven’t written about Teen Wolf in a while and it is going to be VERY easy for me to fall into a hole here

My favorite sibling relationship: Almost everybody is an only child in this show, so - hm.  I liked Cora and Derek for the brief period where she was around, but she vanished after one season, so that relationship didn’t really get the development it deserved.  I also am VERY interested in Deaton and Ms. Morrell, but again, I don’t feel like she’s ever been fleshed out in a way that allows me to fully understand what’s going on with them.  She’s always been  one of the most confusing characters to me, honestly; I’m not sure I’ve ever really worked out her motivations.

My favorite family relationship (other): I am hardcore here for the McCall+Stilinski family unit...I think Melissa and Sheriff Stilinski have been co-parenting their children for years and years and I think they count as family even if they are not blood-related.  

My favorite friendship between two people: Actually impossible to answer.  I love EVERY friendship on Teen Wolf.  I guess like...Stiles and Scott?  If I really had to answer?  But I also love the way Stiles and Lydia’s friendship develops, SO MUCH, and literally every single relationship between the various kids, and Derek, too...

My favorite friendship between a group: Original McCall pack, baby.  And I don’t know if you could call this “friendship,” lmao, but the dynamic between the members of Derek’s original disaster pack (Erica, Boyd, Isaac) was just fantastic.  A MESS, but fantastic.

My favorite mentorship: Deaton and Scott!  Honestly, Deaton is one of my faves overall - I keep forgetting that there was a big bombshell dropped about him in the last season I watched, and now I’m like...curious to see where they take that).

My favorite rivalry: Not a rivalry, exactly, but just Derek+all the kids...how he’s kinda their friend but also they kind of hate him sometimes, and vice versa, and yet - he always comes through for them in the end, and they would never leave him behind to die.

My favorite hatred/antipathy: Allison’s mom + Scott lmao.  [And okay, as a bonus - I’m not gonna lie, I was LIVING for the antipathy between Papa Stilinski and Scott’s father in 3B...finding out what we found out about that whole thing was SO fascinating.]

My favorite potential relationship between characters who never talk in canon: I keep not being able to answer this question correctly, because I just never think about it when I daydream.  Instead, a potential relationship between characters who could have talked MORE - I think incessantly about Stiles+Allison in a post-Season 2 world and about the relationship I think they developed outside of what we saw onscreen...I am firmly convinced that the post-Season 2 period was where they became friends in their own right, as opposed to “this is my best friend’s girlfriend/this is my boyfriend’s best friend.”  

[eddisfargo]

CoMC Chapter 40

CHAPTER 40

The Breakfast 54 minutes

Only about 15 minutes in because my bluetooth headphones ran out of batteries, but there’s so much already! 

First off, Albert’s potential wife is Mlle. Danglars?? Whom he mostly sees as a human moneybag emoji, but he’s willing to overlook the fact that Danglars has no background to speak of because she’s a big moneybag emoji. Like, 2 million on marriage big. Also, haha, that makes a lot more sense that he was probably getting that scented letter from evil Danglars’s daughter and not his wife, who must be like 20 or 30 years older than he is. Hope baby Danglars is much much nicer, but come to think of it we haven’t really had any evil women in this book? I mean, Renee’s mom’s kind of a treasure (from her one scene at the other betrothal dinner) but she hasn’t actually done anything awful. 

Speaking of The Next Generation, little soldier Morrel (whose name I just misspelled twice but was able to look up from my previous posts) is at this breakfast! He saved another dude’s life on the anniversary of his dad’s salvation, which is apparently a thing he does every year on the anniversary, and he has no idea that THE SAVIOR HIMSELF is about to walk in! And, realistically, when he does he still won’t! (Also the dude miniMorrel saved, whose name I am not even going to attempt to spell and I don’t even remember it, once broke Franz’s arm in a duel, lolol). Except, hang on, coming back later, his sister was totally saved by Sinbad the Sailor and he might know that??

So Albert proceeds to literally recap the last few chapters for all his witty little friends, including everything he promised Franz he would NEVER EVER REPEAT, and swears them to secrecy to not mention it in front of the Count, which he then totally does himself anyway. The Count’s like “umm didn’t you promise never to speak of that?” and Albert’s like “What? No? Must’ve been some other guy you saved from bandits.” 

So there’s just a minute where it seems like Morrel Jr. put it together (“didn’t you violate your egoistic principles one time and be selfless?”) but it turns out he just meant Albert, not Morrel Sr. Oh man, the Count was so excited to see MiniMorrel he could barely hide it, and he asked after his sister to find that she’d married Eustace or whatever, just as Dantes promised she would, using the dowry Dantes provided, and is excessively happy. Dantes is obviously thrilled, although he can’t admit it. He does admit he wants to meet her. Just realized my narrative must be confusing how I just call him literally whatever I want. Edmond, Dantes, Sinbad, the Count, have I ever just called him Monte Cristo or MC? Don’t remember. 

Anyway, although Morrel doesn’t figure out he’s talking to the guy who saved his entire family, Dantes does accidentally namedrop the financial institution he credits with saving his whole family, which Morrel has been trying to thank for years with no success. Dantes promises to get him in touch with them or whatever. We’ll see, I guess! 

Oh hey, that dude I just said above I would never be able to spell? The guy who broke Franz’s arm and whom Morrel saved? His name is in the PDF! Chȃteau-Renaud. I would never have gotten that, good for me for giving up preemptively. If I’d tried it phonetically I’d probably have written like, Chadderuno or something. And that’s assuming I remembered it well enough to do that, which historically I have not. (Morrel -> Monterelle? How?)  

[thisdiscontentedwinter]

Something to think about, Prince exclaims, and then proceeds to demonstrate how he’s not qualified to do that. 

By the end of the show, we had met five Hales and one reluctant semi-Hale (Derek, Peter, Laura, Cora, Talia, and Malia).  We knew that they founded Beacon Hills, we knew they protected Beacon Hills, and they knew about the Nemeton.  We know they have ties to South America and New York.  We know what type of cars and tables Peter likes.  We know an amazing amount of information about the Hales.  

By the end of the show, we had encompassed the fates of all Argent family members and seen its founding.  We understood their philosophies, how they covered their hunting activities, and what their relationships to the other hunting families were.

By the end of the show, we had more information than we ever needed about Claudia Stilinski’s decline and death, we knew that Noah had been in the army, that he had defended his mother from his father, how they had come up with Stiles’ name.   We had met Elias Stilinski.  We knew the significance of Stiles’ stupid Jeep, we knew when and how they were able to climb out of their financial hole in Season 4, we knew how Stiles managed to get into a prestigious college program.  

By the end of the show, we seethed at Natalie Martin’s see-no-evil approach to Beacon Hills, we knew she went to high school with Bobby Finstock, we had watched her go back to work, because a counselor, become a principal.  We knew what Lydia and her grandmother did for fun, we knew Lorraine’s pet names for Lydia, and that her grandmother’s mental illness had a profound affect on Lydia.  We knew how Lydia’s grandmother’s lover died and what both of them did for a living in the last century.

Following me so far?

We know nothing about Vernon Boyd’s family except that his sister Alicia disappeared at an ice rink.  That’s it.

We never met or heard about a single member of Mason Hewitt’s family.

Dr. Geyer never figured out what was going on in Beacon Hills, and if he did, we didn’t see it.

We never knew why Deaton or Morrell had different last names.  

And then there’s the main character, who may or may not have living grandparents, we will never know, as they were mentioned only once.  Melissa McCall had no scenes in Season 5B about Scott’s recovering from a fatal wound – the only scene they had together in 5B, they were talking about Stiles and his shitty dad.  Stiles had more scenes or screen time with Scott’s parents in Season 3a, 3b, 4 and 5b than Scott.

All true, Prince, all true. And yet instead of blaming the writers of the show for failing the POC characters, you blame fandom which... I don’t know, held a gun to the writers’ heads or something I guess. 

Why do you never accuse the show of racism when it's the fault of the writers that we never met a single member of Mason's family, or never learned more about Alicia? The writers who killed off Boyd before we could learn anything else about him? Why is it the fandom's fault that they're more interested in the characters who were fleshed out more? Also, the Hales are integral to the entire world building and main storyline. Mason, sorry, was not. Boyd was not. 

You talk so much about how Scott is the main character, but how does Alicia Boyd affect him? She doesn't, but the Argent-Hale war certainly does. So yes, while the show is to blame for not doing more for POC characters, saying that the Hales are seen as important (by both the show and the fandom) only because they're white is bullshit of the highest order, and I do think that you’re actually smart enough to know this, just not intellectually honest enough to admit it. The Hales are important because they're the werewolves. In a show about.... werewolves.

You also forget that Mr. Martin (did he even get a first name in canon?) is exactly the same as Dr Geyer. Actually, he may know even less about Mr Martin--do we even know what he did for a living? All we know is he's Lydia’s dad... but he's white, so you didn’t include him in his analysis. We never met or heard about a single member of Paige's family, or or Heather's family, or of Corey's family. All white. And we don't know anything about Jackson's family except that his parents adopted him. That's it. If you're only choosing POC characters to show how badly the show failed them, at least have the honesty to point out that they failed white characters just as much. They just didn't fail Stiles or Derek specifically, and that's what really annoys you.

And your complaints are, as always, directed at the Sterek fandom. Gosh, imagine Sterek fans wanting to flesh out more about Stiles and Derek. I mean, who’d have guessed it?

As always you’re comparing apples to oranges, and complaining about how nobody wants to make orange pie. 

[sa7abnews]

My roommates and I share groceries. We all bulk shop for our apartment and save $300 a month.

New Post has been published on https://sa7ab.info/2024/08/11/my-roommates-and-i-share-groceries-we-all-bulk-shop-for-our-apartment-and-save-300-a-month/

My roommates and I share groceries. We all bulk shop for our apartment and save $300 a month.

My roommates and I bulk shop for our apartment and share groceries.René MorrellI'm a Chicago-based creative in the art world and restaurant industry.I have two roommates who also bulk shop and share groceries with me.Our system may not work for everyone, but it aligns with the values we were raised with.This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with René Morrell. It has been edited for length and clarity.Even with the nuances in our experiences, my roommates and I were all raised in households emphasizing the importance of community and resource sharing.This common value, which we've maintained as important in our adult lives, allows us to share our food and other resources in a cooperative and communal way.My roommates and I started sharing our bulk groceries around 2018, but my journey with sharing bulk groceries began even earlier. A couple of years ago, I worked for a nonprofit, and during my time there, I started a program where we gave food to families in bulk. That experience really piqued my interest in implementing bulk grocery sharing in my own home.We may have different titles, but we're all creativesI'm a creative with a somewhat split life between the food service industry and the art world. I work as a server in Chicago, where I was born and raised and still live. In 2023, I graduated with a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.My two roommates are fellow creatives, and we knew each other before moving in together. One of my roommates is a fashion designer, and I actually have a familial connection with my other roommate, who's a makeup artist. We've known each other since we were teens.Being creatives, sometimes we don't always have the money to compensate each other financially. I might log in to my account and find it's negative. To foster a safer environment at home, we've transitioned into doing more of a barter system over the years. The barter system not only makes sense for us, but it also helps us avoid creating food waste, which we all take issue with.We all contribute to our bulk grocery-sharing routineWe all participate in our bulk grocery shopping and sharing routine and shop at a few different stores, so there's variety in what we bring into the space. One of my roommates, a fashion designer, juices, so he buys a lot of produce in bulk at places like Costco or even restaurant wholesale stores he has access to. A lot of times, he makes juices for the entire house, but sometimes, he makes specialized juices just for himself.My other roommate, a makeup artist, gets bottled water and grains from Trader Joe's, Pete's Market, or sometimes even food pantries for the house. I'm the meat buyer of the house and tend to shop at more mainstream grocery stores.My last bulk grocery run was to Jewel-Osco. I honestly think they partially created their app because of me. I'm always giving feedback related to their customer experience. In the past, the app would not include accurate information on the items specific locations had in stock. The app has thankfully gotten so much more user-friendly compared to how it used to be, which is particularly important to me since I don't drive or have time to peruse around the store leisurely.Sometimes, I use the app for pick-up orders, or if I'm in the store, I can search the app for blueberries and see the different types of blueberries and the deals they have, so I know exactly which kind to grab. The last time I used the app, I saw they had great deals on filet mignon. It was marked down from $11 to $5 a pound. There was also an additional sale on meat that was around 30% off — I left with six steaks for around $30.Since we began bulk shopping and sharing our groceries, we save around $260 to $300 a month.Depending on how much we save in a month, some of our bulk shopping money will go towards collective household bills. For example, if I make a bulk purchase of meat and end up saving $60, I'll take that $60 and think of it as free money to be put toward our bills. Our system has shifted as we've figured out what works best for usSince starting, we have tried different methods of splitting our groceries and paying each other back to figure out what works best for us. Sometimes, we send each other money directly, but we'll often also do things like compensate each other with produce of an equal amount. For example, I really enjoy passion fruit, and sometimes, it can run $3 a piece, so if my roommate who enjoys juicing, wants to give me passion fruit in exchange for the steak I just bought, that would be fine.Although we primarily use the barter system, we do still make grocery purchases that are specifically for our personal use unless we check-in with each other first. Between our constant communication and learning more about each other's habits over the years, we're able to pretty easily identify when certain items are not for our bartering system. For example, I will sometimes make dishes with truffles, and my truffle products are primarily off-limits. My other roommate, the makeup artist, buys items that specifically contain prebiotics and probiotics to help with occasional stomach issues. In other words, when we open up the refrigerator and see truffles or a probiotic drink we all know who it's for.I realize our system would not work for everyone or every household. Some prefer to navigate life as more of an individual, and some like to work with others, but only if there are very clear-cut rules. It all comes down to your group's core values. Our core values lie in supporting our community and making sure we all have the resources we need, and that's what we try to model in our home.

[princeescaluswords]

Fandom *still* thinks that Deaton and Morrell are "sitting on their hands" because they refuse to accept the only reason Jennifer was capable of all those flashy feats was due to killing people for sacrifices and thus throwing the Balance outta whack. Deaton is supposed to I guess be cutting up Derek's food for him and wiping his ass when not playing archmage. But ya know, they KNOW that Jennifer was only capable of those things through murdering innocents. Yet how often do they portray "druid" Stiles able to do the same things and more overnight? And portray him as sneering at Deaton for "doing nothing"? I read a fic where Stiles demanded to learn magic from Deaton while thinking that Deaton is "privileged" to "stay in his clinic" while he's out fighting and surviving

The glib answer is, they’ve watched too many episodes of the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.   

The more serious answer is that they’ve missed several key themes in Teen Wolf.  The most important of those themes today is Balance, of which Deaton and Morrell serve as the primary examples: power must be balanced with responsibility to others.  

Every single villain in Teen Wolf neglects that balance.  They’re not antagonists because they have power; they’re antagonists because they use that power without regard to how it effects other people, especially those without power.  

Peter wants his revenge for his pain and he needs power to achieve it, even if it means deceiving and killing his own niece, even if it means deceiving and abusing his own nephew.   He kills allies (Nurse Jennifer), he kills innocents (the janitor), he terrorizes teenagers who just happened to stumble across him, and he even seeks to kill Allison, who had nothing to do with the Hale fire.  He does not allow himself to be bound by anything but his own desire; he barely treats his targets like individuals.   

Derek wants to rebuild his family so he can feel safe and loved again, which sounds like a nice pleasant idea, except he does it by dishonesty, manipulation, and violence.  He wants a pack, but he knows from Omega (2x01), that giving the Bite to teenagers puts them in danger from Gerard and then the Alpha Pack, which he knew was coming.  He treated Jackson abysmally because the teen annoyed him, yet everyone else reaped the consequences of Derek’s pettiness and disregard.  Season 1 and 2 Derek consistently put his own wants and needs above other people.

Deucalion and Jennifer are two sides of the same coin.   Deucalion was deceived and betrayed, so he essentially decided to burn the werewolf world to the ground to prove he was right.  Jennifer was deceived and betrayed, so she murders innocents in order to gain power in order to make it right.  See the pattern?

Now let’s look at Deaton.  Incurious viewers may believe that Deaton is ‘vague’ and ‘cryptic’ but what they’re really upset about is that he doesn’t pretend to have all the answers and he doesn’t feel obligated to share everything he knows.  On the other hand, when he does decide to help, it never ‘comes with a price.’  He never demands payment or even changes in behavior from those he helps, though he reserves the right not to act if he is morally unsatisfied, such as when he made it clear in Raving (2x08) that he wasn’t going to help Derek execute Jackson.  This doesn’t mean he’s weak or incapable.  It means he has set boundaries for himself and he keeps them, and those boundaries always involve respecting other people.  I always enjoy his behavior in two different scenes -- treating the de-aged Derek in 117 (4x02) and examining the chimera Tracy in Parasomnia (5x03).  You can notice that  he doesn’t give orders to the people helping him in those scenes, always asking if they’re comfortable with what he’s doing and focused on his patients.

Teen Wolf believed that maintaining the Balance didn’t have to mean that the character was nice.  Morrell played a dangerous game of trying to keep the Alpha Pack in check, working behind the scenes when any one of them could kill her.  Yet she also understood that she can’t manipulate them without having to sometimes ‘get her hands dirty.’  When Stiles is in Eichen house, she gives him amphetamines to help keep him awake -- something that could get her in trouble -- but she also makes it clear she’s not going to let the Nogitsune run rampant if a solution can’t be found.   People may not like her, but they have to admit she took action to limit the damage to innocent people and she doesn’t seem to get anything out of it.

Scott learned those lessons well.  He didn’t use his status as a True Alpha to get what he wanted.   He pursued his responsibility as Protector of Beacon Hills to protect everyone which included holding others responsible for their behavior and included standing up for people he might not like, such as Donovan Donati.  He couldn’t fulfill that duty if he let anyone -- no matter who it was -- do as they please.  

If we put aside the idea that without supernatural transformation, people like Deaton, Morrell, Jennifer and even the Doctors had to study for years and years and years for whatever power and knowledge they had, whereas Fanon Stiles frequently gets his power overnight, knowing ancient magics by chosen-one osmosis.  He doesn’t earn the power and he doesn’t respect the need for balance.  Indeed, if we go by fanfiction, fanon Stiles would immediately join the ranks of Peter, Derek, Deucalion and Jennifer, using his power without regard to other people if they weren’t important to him.

How many times have you read a story where Stiles kills, beats, or rips Scott’s power away from him because he doesn’t think Scott was using it right?  How many times has he tortured Deaton to death for not doing more?  How many times had he murdered the entire Argent family?   Theo?  Deucalion?   To these people, what’s the point of power if you can’t use it to destroy the people who made you unhappy?

Fanon Stiles would be the best villain for Season 7.  

Now, on the other hand, how many times in fandom, when the story has Scott or Deaton be the villain, have they possessed overwhelming power?   So seldom it’s hilarious.  In these stories, they never kill or hurt anyone important.  They are villains and they get destroyed, not because they hurt others for power, but because they deny a variety of good looking white men their deserved place as the rulers of the land, and it hurts the white men’s feelings a great deal.

Come on, find more than a handful of stories where Evil Dark Villain Scott isn’t painted that way without actually inconveniencing or even hurting a single white person?  He did make them feel sad, and for that he must be punished.  Their Evil Mastermind Deaton constantly schemes to deny the Hales their rightful place (why?  None of these writers seem to care).  Their motivations and actions are always just as incongruous as Archmage Stiles, and they never actually pose a real threat because they never really have any power -- Scott impedes people with moral authority (the fiend!) and Deaton does terrible, horrible things like not healing Peter while he was in the hospital and hiding Stiles’s Unlimited Powah until he doesn’t.

Teen Wolf proposed that villainy comes from the use of power for one’s own needs and wants without any recognition of its affects on other people, especially people that you don’t care about.  Privilege and connections and wealth and family doesn’t make someone more worthy of life than the people who audience didn’t care about or people who didn’t care about the main characters.  To the production, nameless extras have the right to live, too, which was the entire point behind Monroe’s plotline.  

Scott’s a hero precisely because he didn’t execute Peter, Derek or Gerard even though it would make his life easier, and because he cared about people like Donovan, people like the list of names on the Dead Pool, and people like those two children in the woods. 

Fandom missed it, like they missed so much of the story while trying to manufacture Sterek and/or Steter out of the ether.   Fanon Archmage Stiles is the ultimate expression of the power fantasy that what Stiles wants is more important than anything else.

[asterekmess]

S3A - E2

Here we go, Episode 2 of the rewatch. Honestly, even if you guys really don’t care about these, I’m gonna write them anyway, cus I need to get my FEELINGS out.

Anyway. Read More as a symbol of my love.

Thoughts:

Your pen is dry, honey. Try a sharpie.

So Stiles has literally known Heather since he was born? Nursery school is from 0 months to 5 years old, apparently. And Scott doesn’t know who she is? How does that even happen? It’s not like Stiles hasn’t seen her in ages, she recognizes him Instantly from across the room and he recognizes her back. So, Scott just never met her or asked about her or anything? Stiles never told him?

If anyone was curious, apparently Heather’s friend is named Danielle (according to Amazon Prime’s “X-Ray” thingy). She’s the same girl from Lydia’s birthday party, I think. The one who woke Stiles up? OHmygod that would be so fucking interesting. If he invited her and Heather to Lydia’s party. Maybe Heather couldn’t go, but Danielle showed up.

Awww, was Heather Stiles’ first kiss? Did they play winery as kids? Hide and seek? did they break a stupidly expensive bottle of wine?

I have personal issues with Stiles supposed canon age. I refuse to believe he’s not 17 and a year older than the others, because of repeating a grade when he was really young. I just refuse to believe otherwise. XP

PLS STOP making fun of girls asking for guys’ consent. This show would be awesome for like ten whole seconds if they stopped RUINING the girl’s asking for consent by having the guys laugh at them or treat it like a joke.

Allison, Scott’s not gonna have a single fucking clue what you’re talking about when only you hold out your arm to show the bruise.

Also. I believe in Big Dick Stiles Stilinski, bc he’s too smart not to know that wearing too big a condom is like the worst possible idea and can render it basically useless, and he wouldn’t have grabbed one (which we see he did in the next episode or something) if it wouldn’t fit. Therefore. XXL for our boy. XP

Hold up. So no one heard Heather screaming? Was she hallucinating the wine bottles breaking? Maybe it was an illusion, cus there’s no mess when Stiles gets down there? But still, the screaming is real. Scott should’ve heard screams like that even from outside the building.

Also, I feel p fucking bad for Stiles. As far as he knows, she bailed on him. What if he thought it was a prank or a joke or something? Or, even worse actually, since he’s known her for so long and she left her shoes down there, I bet he’d be worried instantly.

*snort* I looked up Derek’s loft set for research. They had to do so much editing to make it look grudgy and out of the way. This building is in the middle of town and it’s Massive and Gleaming. It’s a place where you can rent office suites. XD

I love everything about Isaac’s little venting session over getting Peter’s help, except the part where where he mentions Scott. Fuck scott. (whoops, now I need the tag. Like you didn’t see that coming?)

I find it hilarious that Peter’s intro is Rock Music. Also. “Fair enough.” I do love this man. (took me a while though.) Like, he’s honestly pretty simple to understand most of the time. He just wants people to be honest to him, say what they wanna say to his face.

Look at Peter, giving us one of the very few hints at werewolf history. Presumably, the ability was meant to be used to share memories with pack, locations of dens or images or even scents of other packs. And though mostly Alphas do it, clearly not just Alphas do it. This is fucking Interesting, I want MORE.

Aannnd, we discover that Scott’s been lying to Allison this whole time and letting her think that Derek just randomly attacked her mother. Love it. Also, I’m still not over Allison’s behavior in the last season? Waiting on an apology, hun, and it better be good.

OH. OH NOW You can sense the werewolves, Scott? SERIOUSLY?

Why do they make every single scene with Finstock have something to do with Stiles’ sex life? Like....it’s awkward. Stop. Also, can you imagine Stiles getting a rep around school for having a big dick bc of this? Is that something that actually happens in high schools? I had no friends, I would not know.

“No play.” The first time Scott decides that neutrality is better than actually doing something useful. I’m salty. *nods* yup. I am. I know what this scene does later on, and I hate it.

Also, can I just say that I literally hate that EVERY SINGLE time Stiles is having a good time, they make it Horrible? Stiles makes a lil joke about Derek being a Sourwolf? Derek gets claws through his lungs and spits blood. Stiles gets to play on the team?  Across town Erica and Boyd are being tortured. Stiles is about to have sex? The girl he’s supposed to have sex with is being traumatized downstairs. Stiles is about to play a stupid fucking game in class? He gets taken in for questioning because his friend since birth has been kidnapped. They literally refuse to ever let Stiles be happy without making him look like an idiot or an asshole for having a single good emotion. It makes me so MAD. You can literally measure the show! If Stiles is actually smiling, then someone’s about to die.

OH MY GOD. Really? Another moment we didn’t get to see? “Derek says it’s easier to turn teenagers” WHEN DID HE SAY THAT? I‘M SO CURIOUS. Also how does Stiles know what Peter and Derek tried to do to get Isaac’s memories back? Are they reporting to Stiles? Letting him know what’s up? STILES IS HALE PACK I WILL FIGHT YOU.

I’m getting really sick of Deaton somehow knowing more about werewolves than the two born werewolves. Like, it’s really fucking annoying? They know their own species, or at least they should? It was the same with Chris helping out on the hunt. He doesn’t know werewolves better than they know themselves and I’m fucking tired of it. Let Peter and Derek have their own fucking history and knowledge about their own fucking species.

*snort* i paused at just the right time and the water effect made Derek and scott’s foreheads Really big. XD

I enjoy Stiles getting distracted now that his job is done. I feel that in my soul. The only difference between us is that he has the confidence to just Grab the shit he wants to play with, and I never did so I just zone out staring at it.

I’m not stupid. I see them suddenly throwing in the work ‘risky’ everywhere. But I still appreciate Derek reminding Isaac that he doesn’t have to do the ice tub thing.

More reflections...what’s with the reflections in this season so far?

Also, is this how people sound when they’re hypnotized. I’m on Stiles’ side actually, giving this the side-eye with Isaac’s constant “They’re here” thing. It seems really weird and overdone.

God, this scene is such fucking bullshit. Derek would never put Isaac in danger like that. Isaac’s the only Beta he’s got at the moment. He wouldn’t do that and it’s fucking Stupid to make him be so vicious and scare the shit out of Isaac. I fucking hate it.

I think it’s sweet that Isaac looks to Stiles for answers when everyone’s acting weird.

Ten hours of research, and Stiles has a little pinboard on the floor, the prototype for his big one Awwwwww.

Papa Stilinski comes through ONce Again!

If they’re supposed to meet at 5 and get to work at dark. Why is it dark when they get to Dereks??? WORK WITH ME HERE.

WHY would they patch the wall (Which is stone, so wtf did they patch it with? Concrete?) if they closed the bank down right after the robbery???

IT”S THE SCENE *heavy breathing* “Big bad wolf, yeahhh, lookatdat” Peter looks SO DONE “I’ve been dealing with this for months, make it stop”

aaaand again. “Risk” Since when does Peter care about risk? I never understood this scene. We have evidence that Peter cares about family, and according to werewolves, pack is family. He flipped shit to find Derek when Derek was missing. This is exactly the kind of thing he would do. I just...I don’t get it. Don’t like it, either.

“Yeah, if you want me to come” “NOT you” I love this scene, because it shows not just that Stiles is fucking raring to go and help, but that he didn’t offer before only because he thought Derek wouldn’t let him. We know Derek doesn’t think Stiles is useless. He put Stiles in charge of researching this entire bank. Which means it’s not that he doesn’t think Stiles could help, it’s that he doesn’t want Stiles to get hurt. And apparently Stiles knows that Derek feels that way, and knows Derek is vehement enough about it that he didn’t even bother bringing it up in the first place. That’s some serious trust and understanding, and even respect right there that Stiles is showing. Understanding what Derek would feel before he did it, trusting that Derek knew better about what was too dangerous for Stiles to involve himself in, and respecting him enough not to bug him about it anyway.

personal preference, I hate how much time is wasted just showing people walk down halls with weird lighting effects, or showing Allison trip over debris and pull her coat closed. Like...it’s really not needed?

Sup, Morrell? 20 seconds to get hidden? Is that 20 sec before the alphas get in hearing range or 20 sec before they actually get there? And how did the Alphas know that Derek was coming tonight? As far as they knew they took Isaac’s memory away and killed Braeden.

KALI WEAR SOM EFUCKING SHOES YOU NASSTY.

Smart girl with the bleach. I mean, I don’t know why the sudden scent of bleach didn’t tick kali off, but sure, whatever works.

I’m not even kidding. When I saw this scene for the first time I fucking burst into tears. Just that little glimpse of Erica and I was a mess

I really love Stiles and Peter chatting though. Like, Stiles gives no fucks, and Peter sounds just so used to it. Also, Derek’s couch looks sooooo comfy. I wanna sit on it. And Peter halfway through calling Stiles annoying is just like “Shit. He’s right. Again.” and there’s no physical distance. Peter once dragged Stiles around by his neck all night and nearly killed Lydia. But Stiles has no qualms about walking right up into his space and helping him out. PLUS, when Peter realizes Stiles is right, there’s no insults. Not even frustrated ones. When STiles describes the walls of the loft, Peter doesn’t say, “No, you idiot, the bank vault.” or make a quip. He’s immediately looking to Stiles for the information and trusting that he has it and will know where it is.

Then we have Scott just...whatever the fuck he’s saying. I don’t wanna hear it.

Okay, that is way more space behind Derek and Scott than Stiles said. And how is the moonlight even getting in? They had to shimmy through a shaft in the walls, there’s no windows in the walls. AND HOW THE FUCK would the ALpHA PACK KNOW THEY EVen KNOW WHERE THE BANK IS???

Derek should be able to hear the phone call. Just. Yes. That’s how that works. Also, Peter, now is not the time for gladiator analogies.

And the tears are back. All it takes is one fucking word. “Cora?”

IT DOESN”T MAKE SENSE. HOW WOULD THE ALPHAS KNOW??? If Marin hired Braeden and told her to get a message to Derek about the bank they were being kept at, then that means that it was all this really dumb double-double cross. Her making it look like she double-crossed the Alphas by telling Braeden to give up their location, but actually doing for the Alphas to trap Derek and Scott. What the absolute fuck?

FINALLY Someone holds Scott accountable. THANK you Derek.

Also, hello Lydia, I’m so sorry honey but you’re about to enter a whole new nightmare.

Final thoughts: I’m very long winded, and very frustrated and very fucking sad. I am just so goddamn sad and the next episode’s gonna make me feel even worse so I’m taking a break.