#And I don't have the capacity to have that conversation with her bc I know it'll turn it to her pointing fingers and making accusations

[terranatior]

I slept so bad last night bc I got all hung up on family issues and couldn't sleep bc my brain would not shut up and today just feels WEIRD ouughhh

[ofbreathandflame-archive]

stans are actually very funny bc they often time talk themselves into the weirdest corners.

the whole point of criticizing acosf and its handling of nesta's character is to prove the point that sjm...doesn't like nesta as a character. that's is literally THE point - that sjm often abandons her moral themes (abuse, trauma, assault, etc.,) for character's deemed as undesirable or villainous to a capacity - and its through the handling of those 'vilified' (i.e. main character opposed - not even villianous) that we can gauge the extent to which sjm actually believes the ideals of her story. like - it is alarming that the only tolerable, empathetic parts of the a court of silver flames were the moments you could tell where ripped straight from sjm's own life (the hiking, training, mind-stilling etc.,). any actual characteristics about nesta weren't explored...like at all. her relationship with feyre and elain, with her mother, her trauma from her sexual assault, her conflicted relationship with her grandmother, her life before the cabin, her life during the cabin. in 800 pages - i still don't know mama archeron's name. what was life like in the cabin? what did nesta do all day? what was the dynamic? what was going on between elain and nesta?i don't know anything about her and nesta, we don't know anything about nesta's human life, her conversation with clare bedor, her relationship with clare beddor, moments with her dad - not even touching moments with him (and part of this story is her finding love for her dad). mind you we read 800+ pages and we learned absolutely nothing about her.

we essentially read sjm's emotional journey in one part, and a taming of the shrew narrative in another. i think the only way sjm had genuine interest in exploring nesta's story is through essentially self-inserting herself and avoiding the actual plot-points she set up in the first three books. like did nesta have childhood friends? if losing the wealth so drastically affected her life wouldn't she reminisce about it a lot? would she yearn for her mother? who were her childhood friends, how did she function at court?

and the whole point of saying alll of that is to argue the misuse of these topics - serious discussions abuse are only reserved for certain situation, and others its completely undermined in a way that only reinforces the negative ideals to begin with. (i.e. nesta needs to abused bc..." "the intervention was harsh but" - pair that with discussion around what feyre needed in acomaf - and it makes much more sense).

nesta antis often jump between the fact that nesta is so favored that sjm nerfed feysand to 'redeem her' and arguing that sjm secretly does everything in her power to embarrass and secretly laugh at people who like nesta's character. (1) we've gotta pick one or the other (2) in my humble opinion - sjm would have always given feyre a pregnancy plot like this regardless of whether this was nesta's book or elain. its literally so sjm. im shocked people are surprised she pulled the pregnancy as she did.

as with the tamlin discussion we had under this post - i think the story undermines its discussion of abuse with feyre/tam by essentially insinuating that tamlin (when placed in the same victimized position as feyre) should have sucked it up and braved out his abuse with amarantha (and the same with rhysand as well - esp with the deliberate foil of rhysand's 'willingness' v. tamlin's unwillingness). and when we start to have a real conversation ultilizing our own irl analysis and standards we really see how harmful and rather sisyphean the conversation becomes. instead of engaging with these topics earnestly, they only engage in them to prove a point - which is how the issue began in the first place. the whole issue with rhysand isn't the fact that he engages with harmful, potentially villainous positions. no - its that the book wants to prove that tamlin is wrong by justifying rhysand's actions. so even though rhysand and tamlin almost always have the same written and expressed intentions in their abuse of feyre, the book flocks to justify one, and eschews the other. and thats why we get so much reactionary critcism of rhys that is surface: people only admit the problems because they know antis will, not because they actually believe their are issues in the story.

and perhaps im still speaking into a void here but i can tell there's tension between pro stans wanting to have these serious conversations but understanding they can only really introspect so far until the conversation begin to prod at the validity of the topics being brought forth. so stans have to jump between invalidating the romantasy genre ("its just faeries") and treating this book as a serious topic (cue: "sjm put a hotline in the back of the book"). this is also the exact reason why the racism conversations stall (i.e. why inherent superiority is always passively emphasized - despite cc1 + 2 centering human oppresion there is no human in the ensemble cast. despite the fact that illyrian women are the most oppressed - rhys has no illyrian women - or reg illyrians (not his brothers) in his inner circle. aelin 'sacrificing' her human body).

[sapphic-agent]

I really hope my ask won't be seen as mean, hope to word correctly....bc your last post about how Eri and Shig do share some common ground. I agree but it irks me how LoV stans use this to make shig sound not so bad.

Many fics and arts where "shig saved Eri" exists as Eri is an accessory for Shig and nothing else.

I do see the paralels here. I do wonder about the mother....did overhaul killed her?

It's very convenient for the heroes to label Eri's quirk as good ...bc if she had just decay...she would be label as having a bad quirk. Maybe the heroes wouldn't care much. (Makes me wonder where are the healing quirks or medical advancement in this world)

But while they have a similar backstory...how Izu would possible know? I sincerely ask here bc AM went radio silence regards Shig to Izu, same with Gran and the police did a really lousy investigation (I'm assuming is lousy bc we don't see what they did and whatever they did it was one time thing) and didn't share the infos with Izu.

Does Izu knows about the nomus?

Im even surprised he knows shig is TENKO...but of course, such reveal is underwealming as fuck and him and Nana don't take at all.

Izu is mistreated by the narrative and no one talks to him ever.

Not to harpy on your post bc I agree this could have been useful....but like how Izu would know anything about Shig? Unless Shig tells or Izu becames the best hacker ever...or reads mind...he can't know. Ever.

I've said this before, but the reason Izuku doesn't understand Shigaraki is because they haven't interacted enough prior to the Final War.

Their conversation at the mall was a good moment. It shows that a) Izuku has the capacity to resonate with a villain's intent AND disagree with their actions (Stain), b) Shigaraki at this point didn't have a goal or direction, and c) it IS possible for Izuku to understand why hero society is corrupt. It also highlights the differences between them, attempting to show them as complete opposites.

The mall scene was a great way to explain the dynamic between them. And it's something that should have been expanded on throughout the story.

Admittedly, I don't know how Shigaraki's backstory would come up. But I'm sure it wouldn't be a hard thing to do. Didn't All Might pull up Tenko Shimura's disappearance? Maybe Izuku figures it out on his own somehow. Idk.

But to me, it doesn't even specifically have to be Tenko's actual past. It could be an implied thing that Izuku learns from watching how people treat Eri. Hell, part of him already has a clue from his fight with Shinsou.

(One thing I actually hate about Izuku's character is his inability to acknowledge the corruption of society despite being a victim of it. He started off being able to do this with Stain, but for some reason that just went away. He studies under Endeavor, even defends him to Dabi and tells Todoroki he's ready to forgive him. Lady Nagant spelled it out for him and he just... Doesn't react. Doesn't even think about what she said. This is on Horikoshi's awful writing decisions, but it's the one criticism of Izuku that's 100% valid)

Eri shouldn't be used for Shigaraki's redemption. I honestly wouldn't want her around any of the LOV, that's putting her in danger to make another character look better. It's the same issue that I have with Aizawa making Bakugou watch her.

But I do think that Izuku's experiences with the people around him- which includes Eri- should give him a broader worldview. That's typically how development and growth work. If Izuku was going to reach out and try to save Shigaraki, it should have been with an understanding of how society failed Shigaraki.

Saving him also could have meant a lot of different things. Saving Shigaraki from AFO's influence/brainwashing wasn't a bad goal. Saving him from himself, though, is different. People have to want to change, you can't make them. You can give them support, but Izuku wasn't in a position to do so because he's, y'know, a sixteen year old who isn't even an official pro hero. Of course he wasn't equipped for this. Most actual pros wouldn't have been

[drpeppertummy]

ok this is kinda long & rambling & not really what i wanted it to be bc my brain was half hanging out the entire time & i was too impatient to wait for it to squeeze back in

[stuffing]

"Are you sure that's enough potatoes?"

"Shut up," said Alfie as he chopped up the last potato in the bag, and Marsha laughed.

"Hey, I just wanna make sure you're not gonna leave the table hungry," she teased, slipping her hand between the undone bottom buttons of his shirt and giving his soft belly a friendly squeeze.

"You're gonna be the one leavin' hungry if you don't watch it," he said, turning to plant a kiss on her cheek.

"Hey, you two, play nice," said Max, clacking his tongs at them. Marsha and Alfie exchanged a knowing smile, then engulfed Max in a double bear hug, drawing a grunt out of him as they squeezed him tight.

Some people might have supposed the chances of Alfie leaving the table hungry were slim to none, given that he'd eaten a few donuts at work not that long ago and lunch not long before that. Those same people would likely have been unfamiliar with Alfie's appetite. Marsha supposed he could have eaten half a bakery and still been hungry for dinner. Fortunately, there was plenty to go around tonight: a hefty chicken, a big pan of broccoli, asparagus, and squash, and an enormous pot of Alfie's famous mashed potatoes for good measure.

Despite his still-slightly-full stomach, Alfie's appetite was perfectly intact, and he put himself together a nice big plate before joining his partners at the table. His belly rumbled. He was far from starving, but mashed potatoes were a weakness of his, and he'd been thinking about them all day. Sitting down with a big scoop on his plate, he gladly dipped his fork into it and took a bite.

"You would not believe the idiot day I had at work," said Max, cutting a bite of chicken. "Somebody decided to let a live lobster loose in the hallway. You know who had to go wrangle it?"

"I like the mental image of you wrangling a lobster," laughed Marsha. "Get someone to record it next time, I wanna see."

"Please, it's probably all over Snapchat or whatever the kids are on anymore."

"Imagine that. Our Maxie, a star," grinned Alfie, patting him on the back. Max rolled his eyes.

"And what'd you all do today?"

"I didn't wrangle any lobsters but I did have to wrangle a cat," said Marsha. "This dumbass brought him in without a carrier. Like a cat's gonna sit patiently in a waiting room full of other animals."

"People are ridiculous," said Max, shaking his head. He turned to Alfie. "How about you, what'd you wrangle?"

"Just Leon's decrepit Nissan," said Alfie. "It broke down in the Dollar General driveway, he and that bitchy old queen he's always got on his arm had to shove it all the way up the little incline."

"He still has that thing? How has it not just fallen to pieces yet?"

"Because he keeps bringin' it to me! I am so sick to death of that stupid car."

"Hey, he's keeping you in business," said Marsha.

The three went on chattering away as they ate, and Alfie was so caught up in the conversation that he managed to clear his plate completely without even realizing it. He looked down at the empty plate, surprised, then, after a moment of consideration, got up for a sizable second scoop of potatoes. He was far from hungry now, but the food had yet to lose its appeal, and there was more than enough left in the pot; it only made sense to have a little extra.

"How are you not full yet? I don't think I'm even gonna be able to finish what's on my plate," said Max.

"Oh, do you even hear yourself? Alfie doesn't get full," Marsha teased.

"Well, take the rest of mine," said Max, sliding his plate over to Alfie. "I'm stuffed."

Alfie's stomach capacity was impressive, but the extra potatoes alone were enough to fill him up after starting the big meal on a not-so-empty stomach. He could feel the waist of his pants beginning to tighten around his belly, but that wasn't going to stop him from finishing off Max's scraps. It was only a little bit, after all; it would be silly to put them back with the rest. And besides, Alfie was never one to back down from a challenge, even if it wasn't really a challenge at all. Despite the heavy feeling swelling in his stomach, he went on eating.

It was rare for Alfie to really feel stuffed, but as he finished off the last few bites of Max's dinner, he found that feeling growing closer. His belly felt taut and packed, bulging out firmly now against his jeans. He was glad to be done as he scooped up the last little bite of broccoli, feeling utterly stuffed and ready to quit, when Marsha's plate suddenly joined the other two in front of him.

"I think I'm done," she said, leaning back in her seat. "You can have the rest of mine."

Alfie held a tentative hand against his belly. It pushed out impressively against his shirt, sticking out so far that it pressed against the table when he leaned forward to accept the plate. There wasn't much on it--Marsha's appetite was considerably bigger than Max's, albeit still smaller than his--but right now, those few bites of chicken and potato seemed like an enormous amount. Still, it was in front of him, and it was only a tiny bit. Reluctantly, he picked his fork up again and got to work.

Getting through Marsha's leftovers wasn't easy, but Alfie managed it. Each bite stretched his stomach just a little bit further, and the pressure building inside his belly was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. He was so concentrated on putting away those few little bites that he didn't even notice Max leaving the table to retrieve the gluten free cake he'd made the night before.

"Ooh, fancy," said Marsha, admiring the shapely dessert.

"Figured I oughtta put somethin' together since we were makin' a nice dinner." Max cut each of them a small piece and distributed the plates. Alfie's overstuffed belly let out a soft gurgle of dismay. If he hadn't been out of space before taking Marsha's scraps, he certainly was now. His stomach felt drum-tight, pushing out round and firm and straining the waist of his jeans, and he half-doubted he'd even be able to get up from the chair. Still, he couldn't resist at least a bite of the dessert. Max was an excellent baker, after all, and the slice was already cut.

The first bite of the cake, though delicious, went down hard, and his stomach groaned uncomfortably as it struggled to fit it. The second bite was even more difficult. Finally, after forcing down a third bite, Alfie set down his fork and leaned back in his seat, his round tummy bulging absurdly out in front of him.

"What, you're not gonna finish?" Marsha gave him a perplexed look. Alfie shook his head, resting a hand on his belly.

"I can't fit another bite," he confessed. Marsha looked surprised, then amused.

"Why, Alfie Shannon," she teased, pointing her fork at him. "I didn't think that belly of yours had a limit!" Alfie halfheartedly stuck his tongue out at her, then slumped down in his seat, both hands sitting atop his tummy.

It wasn't until the three of them finally got up from the table that Marsha and Max realized just how much Alfie's belly was sticking out. He felt heavy and sleepy, weighed down by the enormous mass of food stretching his stomach. Still, he helped clean up, albeit moving a lot more slowly than usual.

"Poor Alfie, look at that big belly," said Marsha, giving his distended tummy a gentle pat. "Go lay down, we've got it."

"I'm fine," said Alfie, but when she insisted again, he didn't argue. His belly was aching now that he was up and moving, and he wanted nothing more than to sprawl out on the couch, which he gladly did. His round tummy stuck straight up from his stocky frame, the lower half exposed between the undone bottom buttons of his shirt. With a soft grunt, he reached down and unbuttoned his pants. It didn't do much to relieve the pressure, but at least the jeans were no longer digging into his skin.

It didn't take long for the other two to finish straightening up the kitchen, and they were soon sitting on either side of their mouthy little partner. Marsha lifted his head to lay it on her lap, and he looked up at her, a rare softness in his dark eyes. She smiled down at him and placed a hand on his belly.

"Y'know, you're pretty cute when you're too full to mouth off," she said, patting his tummy. It made a heavy thumping sound, packed solid after the enormous meal.

"I'd say the same to you, but I don't think I've seen it yet," he said, nothing but fondness in his voice.

"Hey, watch it or I'm gonna start squeezing."

[zeep-xanflorp]

so at this point everyone is accepting that rick and diane never had a healthy marriage right??

like i think what everyone assumed (including me) is that they retconned all the things about rick not believing in love in the first two seasons when they revealed rick's revenge quest in season 6. like i thought that because rick was doing all of that for diane and beth, that it was indicative of a healthy relationship. but i don't think that's the case anymore after looking into some old episodes. i truly believe it was the intentions of the writers to make him have a bad relationship w diane since the beginning.

so here's what i've been thinking right.

"listen morty, what people call love is just a chemical reaction that compels animals to breed. it hits hard, morty, and then it slowly fades, leaving you stranded in a failing marriage. i did it. your parents are gonna do it. break the cycle, morty. rise above. focus on science." (rick potion #9, ep 106)

the situation he describes is so specific. he describes "failing marriages" and compared his marriage to that of beth and jerry's which is infamously codependent and toxic.

"i couldn't make [marriage] work and i can turn a black hole into a sun, so..." (the wedding squanchers, ep 210)

he talks about how little he trusts in marriage. because despite his intelligence, he couldn't be happy in his own.

so these are the two hints we get about rick's marriage before diane even actually shows onscreen. both of these quotes demonstrate rather clearly that their relationship was dysfunctional in some capacity. that it was "failing".

so if we're call caught up let's move onto the season 3 premiere.

"why don't i go grab beth and we can go out for ice cream?" (the rickshank redemption, 301)

that's all she has to say after rick says he's giving up on science - his passion. which is rather odd because it was clearly something he was working on for some time and he just says he's giving it all up immediately. which is odd, right? this well seeming remark could be far more insidious than it seems.

i'm not the only one to point this out but that's it. she dismisses his feelings. she invites him out to a place with their daughter (where, with her present, they would be incapable of having an adult conversation which would put more distance between them) and in this regard, beth acts as a physical barrier between them both.

i'm not saying that diane is in the wrong here. i'm not saying rick is perfect. but that's one instance of their relationship where something pretty major had just happened. and it's immediately brushed off.

(abcs of beth, 309)

there are plenty of hints that rick was indeed an absentee father, even when he was still living with his daughter. take the abcs of beth, where rick talks about all the toys that child beth had to play with. beth insists that she asked him to make those because she wanted to spend time with him. let me repeat, beth explains that she wanted to spend time with her father so bad that she asked him to make lethal weapons for her to play with. plus the whole froopyland thing - an environment designed to be safe so he wouldn't have to keep an eye on her. it's obvious she channeled her neglect in a destructive way - aka in a way that she got from her father. but i digress.

the point is, rick has always been absent from his family in some capacity. whether it was emotionally as we see with diane or physically as we see with beth.

there are also some hints at infidelity on rick's end. take mr nimbus, who is confirmed to have known diane.

then when diane and beth die, he absolutely crumbled. and this scene does break my heart watching it bc we know it's not just a part of a fake memory now. it was all real. the pain he experienced in that moment - the hope he had of living a normal life and making everything up to his family - just got ripped away from him.

so even though on the surface, rick appears to have a healthy relationship w diane when she shows up in the show, that doesn't mean that's all there is. it's very unlikely based on all of the information presented in the earlier seasons that these two were stable together and i think that the presentation of diane as a perfect loving caring wife is intentional. it either represents how rick remembers her - as someone kind - or is only a small part of the equation.

oh and let's not forget the ghost ai that rick made for his dead wife. he designed her to berate him, to wear him down. to never let him move on from what happened. like that's something super messed up wow. maybe

in conclusion, rick has never had a stable family or home life. that thing didn't appeal or satisfy him. it caused him to neglect his daughter and continues to impact the relationship he has with his adult family members. by no means is this an excuse and that's hardly my point. i feel it's important that we know the reality of ricks marriage to understand how that impacts him in the show we're watching.

ofc this is just my take on what little we have seen from the two of them. i rlly want to see more so i can maybe make a better assessment. but yeah. whatever went on there? not healthy. no way in hell.

[hertwood]

"I do find it interesting that ppl will ignore the many many times Taylor Swift has publicly supported democrats just because she was friendly to her boyfriend's coworker's wife"

the "many many times" in question being an entirely self-serving activism kick in 2019 and 2020... she hasn't even spoken up about this year's (arguably more consequential) election Imao if normal ass people can cut off their own relatives for being bigoted then white woman of the year can certainly avoid snuggling with a loud and proud racist. i'll also remind you that the "political arguments" in question that occur between trumpies and normal people directly affect the lives and safety of millions of people both in the States and abroad but okay! sure! not everyone has enough empathy to care about that! whatever!

if you want to believe taylor swift is a bad person, or not progressive enough, or a performative activist thats fine!! you don't have to like her and you also don't need to justify it with any "good enough" reason!!! you can just hate the bitch you're allowed!!!

the point i was trying to make is it is weird as hell to be making polls and speculating if she's a republican when she's endorsed joe biden in 2020 and many other democrats since 2018, it really seems like a bad faith fucking conversation to me 🤷 i think the people who are having these discussions have already decided that she's a bad person and are discounting very significant data points to present their opinions like they're reality. if you think it was self-serving activism, that is actually just your opinion :) that you are allowed to have but that does not change the objective truth that she has never been vocally anything other but liberal in her political views.

i also think its fucking weird that people who hate her so much won't shut the fuck up about her TBH!!!!!!!

also acting like i, a disabled nonbinary dyke don't know how politics affect real people?????? bitch i'm one of them. and you're right, not everyone has enough empathy to care about everything wrong with the world all the time. not everyone has the capacity to argue with every bigot they meet 100% of the time without getting burnt the fuck out. it is not sustainable and also not very effective to do! most of these crazy assholes are not gonna have their minds changed with an argument. caring for vulnerable members of our communities is a far more valuable way to spend your energy. getting young leftist people registered to vote is gonna be a much more viable strategy for change than arguing with trumpies.

i have also, for the record, been kind to bigots. so fucking cancel me too i guess. i've said hey i'm not gonna start an argument bc my siblings deserve a christmas without all that. i've heard coworkers say bigoted things and said hey i'm exhausted from the work day i dont have a capacity to deal with this right now. and if you think i'm a bad person for that? dont worry you can unfollow me i will still sleep easy at night :)

i also think it's worth mentioning that taylor swift recently had to cancel a show bc of a real terrorist threat. i personally think it's very likely she's being advised not to say anything in order to not increase risk of another tragedy like the manchester ariana grande attack. if this is true and you still think that taylor swift prioritizing the safety of herself and her fans dying over speaking up politically, thats your right to think so!! but i don't expect my faves to be activists 24/7 personally, for any reason. i dont think thats fair to expect of people who aren't politicians.

but that's just me!!!

[twistedastrology]

Hello there!

Can you talk more about aries mercury? so...not the fool card? Even though they don't "think things through" before speaking? It seems to me aries in mercury is either over-emotional, too forward, too logical, too passionate and so many contradictory things all at once. I would REALLY love to hear what you think about that. Please.

Btw, Capricorn Mercury seems to be the most 'useful' mercury in terms of external/social benefits, in the sense that they have a constant filter that makes them gain respect by others easily. I don't necessarily like their minds to be honest, and they're generally not interested in lots of topics but I have to recognise how handy it could come to people who don't get to wish to discuss/delve deeper in various topics.

I have multiple cap mercuries in my life btw including friends, colleagues and my dear mother with whom--even though she's a Gemini Moon--barely manages to have hobbies of her own or participate in games.

I feel like cap mercury is perfect on the outside, but overly influenced by society's standards, rules and appearance on the inside bc of that filter. Like they don't really "think for themselves"? They're much more focused on appearances than on the content of a text, speech and mercury matters.

Sorry for the ramble. Also, discovered ur blog today and I love the authenticity.

A;

love love love love LOOOOOVE this ask thank u so so much omg- mercury stuff is one of my absolute favorite things to yap abt in astrology and i consider it kinda my specialty bc im mercury dominant myself so 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

let's start with aries mercury- in my experience, people with aries mercury aren't necessarily impulsive when it comes to their thoughts or how they talk, unless the rest of the chart says otherwise (mercury square mars especially could do this imo)

my mom has her mercury in 25° aries (so an aries degree) and she's like 99% fire with a cap rising that doesn't do a whole lot bc it's SUUUUUPER intercepted by aquarius- Like literally her whole 1st house is engulfed by aquarius but her asc line is in cap so 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

she's the perfect example of an aries mercury in my opinion- she literally Cannot sit still for longer than like. an hour at best. even my gemini finds it slightly annoying but i just follow her around whenever we're talking 😭😭😭

she also has her sun and venus both in aries (venus conjunct mercury) so she's very aries dominant, and she's not very confrontational or impulsive at all- she's not really quick to anger either like stereotypical aries is, but she is pretty easily irritated id say 😵‍💫

in terms of mercury specifically, you can just See the aries influence in like everything she does- her organization isn't the neatest, but she has to have everything put away otherwise she'll lose her mind and she literally can't focus until the kitchen is clean or something-

her mercury goes a MILE a minute just like mine does so in talking to her, we can go from something very normal to the most out of nowhere conversation you could ever imagine- And we have mercury sextile mercury together (albeit a wide orb bc my mercury is 1° gemini 😵‍💫) so somehow we understand the other's chaos perfectly and actually manage to reel the other in without actually doing anything-

shockingly, where my gemini will get incredibly confused and overwhelmed, her aries will come in clutch- a good example of this is a while ago we were playing fallout 76 and if u dont know, in that game u have a stash box with limited storage capacity and it's inevitable that it'll fill up eventually so u have to get rid of a whole bunch of stuff to bring it back down-

i literally got so overwhelmed by that to the point of tears and my dad tried to help (his mercury is in taurus btw) and he literally couldn't bc i refused to open up to him tbh- so he went and got my mom and just her Being in the same Room with me got my mercury to sort its shit out- like she saw everything so clearly and directly, very aries, whereas i was overwhelmed by all the details, very gemini.

so i think aries mercury is actually a Really good placement especially if you have strong aspects to back it up- it can make you see complicated things very simply and clearly OR the opposite sometimes 😵‍💫 it Can make you overlook details and not understand something when it isn't perfectly direct- and i also notice that, at least with my mom, her aries mercury makes her a Little less good with people- only because a lot of people aren't as clear and concise as she would like them to be, and that's when i have to help her figure out what they mean 😭

i think aries mercuries do actually think things through before they speak, they just think so fast that it Seems like they don't- similar to gemini mercuries actually 😵‍💫

i also dont think they're overly emotional or hot-headed as per the aries stereotypes- i think they're actually a lot more calculated than we give them credit for especially since mars is the god of war, and to win a war you need strategy (personally i think aries rules the sun, but mars makes sense here so 😮‍💨)

ANYWYA in terms of CAPRICORN!!!!!

i have observed quite a few capricorn mercuries so i am extremely glad u brought them up-

i think what u said abt capricorn mercuries being the most useful in terms of social benefits is actually kinda real- i do notice that Most capricorn mercuries are similar to libra mercuries in that they are generally very respectful of the things they talk about, at least if they actually respect them 😵‍💫

i have 3 different capricorn mercuries that im using as examples in my head right now- jonathan davis, awsten knight and bill wurtz- if you've seen any of them in interviews, you'll notice they're all very different with the way they talk but i think jonathan davis and awsten knight are the most similar in the respect thing-

those two are both so charismatic and polite in my opinion- and bill wurtz is too but he's a lot more like what you would think an aries mercury would be like- he's very high-strung, at least in the interview i saw, and has a lot of nervous energy and talks So Fast and yet it still seems like his mouth cant keep up with his brain-

awsten is pretty similar, he's got adhd (same 😵‍💫) and talks pretty fast but his pace seems a little closer to a gemini mercury. it's slightly slower most of the time but the speed at which he talks and thinks seems to vary based on what he's talking about.

jonathan is very cap coded to me with the way he talks, and im silly for him rn so i have done extensive research 💔💔💔 But he seems very methodical, yet playful with how he talks and thinks- methodical but you can tell his brain is fully capable of that uranus level speed at the same time 😭😭😭

i think overall cap mercuries absolutely depend on the rest of the chart bc if u saw my beef with earth signs post (or newsletter!!), u'll have seen where i said earth placements are outlines waiting to be colored in by the rest of the chart-

so if someone has too many earth placements or like- a taurus-influenced cap mercury, i can Absolutely see how they could be someone who doesn't seem to think for themselves, or even thinks too Much about themselves-

i also think the smaller range of interests could actually make sense for a cap mercury because saturn is very much about mastery, so the mercury, unless influenced by another element that says otherwise, would hyperfixate on one thing until it masters it instead of a gemini or aries mercury which is more jack of all trades.

i hope this made sense and again thank u soooooo so much for this ask i really enjoyed this topic and if u have any other questions please feel free to send me them!!!!! i love when ppl send me questions it makes me rly happy 😭😭😭😭

[badscientist]

wip food questionnaire

tagged by @the-golden-comet. this is a real interesting one to me bc dead meat does have an emphasis on food and eating etc. i was a lot inspired by dungeon meshi when writing it, but the whole thing kicks off bc of an odd meal and that underpins the whole thing.

so the rules were to answer the following as your characters. ill write it kind of like they're being interviewed as a group.

what is one comfort meal that'll change your whole mood for the day?

NORMAN: My mother makes the best beef noodle soup. It always brings back fond memories when I make it myself now. BETSY: Yeah? I bet that'd be good! My mom cooked a lot when I was younger. She made the best homemade pizza. SANDERSON: Well, tea is hardly a meal, but I do enjoy tea with sweets. NORMAN: [Nodding.] Oh, tea pairs great with a lot of different meals.

what is an experience (good or bad) that has turned you off or on to a food completely?

BETSY: I don't wanna go into it, but I don't eat meat anymore. I was a pescatarian up 'til a few years ago, and then I worked at a seafood restaurant and, uh- well, I didn't work there long. They had a lot of live fish and lobsters- Got into a big fight with the owner over, ah, ethical concerns. SANDERSON: Sounds familiar.

if you could eliminate one piece of produce, meat, dairy or sweets off the earth what would it be?

BETSY: As strongly as I feel about meat, I don't think it should be eliminated or anything. Now, if you ask me. That 'blue raspberry' flavorin' in candy and stuff is downright unappetizin'. [Most in the room nod in agreement.] MINA: ...I think bacon is overrated. SANDERSON: Oh, certainly.

and dessert is normally saved for last, but if you could what would you order for your entree at a restaurant?

BETSY: Pasta salad and twice-baked potatoes! NORMAN: I really like egg sandwiches. [Laughs.] My guilty pleasure. SANDERSON: Oh, I'd love a big, juicy steak! BETSY: [Looking at Clive and Ankhanum.] For bein' big foodies, you two haven't contributed much to the conversation. CLIVE: ...Fine. We are omnivores, but prefer meat above all else. I second Sanderson on a 'big, juicy steak'. ANKHANUM: [Cackling.] BETSY: [Squinting at them.]

what food spot are you gatekeeping and why?

BETSY: Tish's Diner. CLIVE: Definitely Tish's Diner. ANKHANUM: Mm, all the food at the diner is very good! Miss Latisha only hires the best cooks. BETSY: Aw. Well, thanks, Buddy! Yeah, I've been workin' on and off for Tish since her mom owned the place. Sheesh. We were still teenagers back then.

cooking is a life skill, why haven't you started learning yet!?

[Almost everyone in the room stares at each other. They know how to cook in some capacity.] MINA: ...Food - and preparing it - has always been tricky for me. I try to keep my meals simple. BETSY: Well, hey, that happens. I can show you some tips and tricks, if you want? MINA: Ah- well...that could be nice, sometime.

is there a smell that reminds you of something you never want to remember?

BETSY: ...Yeah, I, uh- I don't like the smell of raw meat.

no pressure tags: @starstruck-sunshine @chubbymonstah @delusionsofspace

[fa-dubu]

hsr 2.2 braindump (spoilers included)

hope is a thing with wings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

where did acheron fuck off to after she cut embryo aeon-emanator sunday down? i get that she accomplished what she set out to penacony for, but (and i can't even say 'leave without saying goodbye' bc she did lol) she couldn't even hang around for the post-boss battle celebrations?

love acheron. i get that on one hand she's hoyo milking raiden mei nostalgia and fondness but there's just something about an avatar of nihility that actually believes in trying. even if it's meaningless, even if everything leads to the same murky place, it's the attempt, it's the walking forward, it's the 'i was here, i dreamed, i loved, and i lived' that counts, however short-lived that momentary burst of life is.

'i was here and i fucking mattered'

fucking love this space ronin

especially in combination with the 2.0-2.2 theme of 'shining like a short-lived shooting star (or firefly)' vs 'following the tracks someone laid for you with your eyes closed'.

sure our lives might be tied to one track or another but the freedom lies in having the ability to choose - choose to leave the track, move to another, choose to come back

goddamn, misha was a non-entity for me for 2.0-2.1 though i knew something was up with him. didn't even notice the trailblaze tag on his tie until we see him for the first time in 2.2.

cycles and circles != it's meaningless.

firefly.... something something undertale screenshot 'in the end it's still you' something something 'you are filled with DETERMINATION'

i know her banner is coming up so i'm not TOO stressed about her status but.... *glances at misha and gallagher*

also gallagher. admittedly i dismissed him as manbait, but damn... the loyal hound character. unlike misha, i'm 30% the history fictionologist behind this lie is still alive; just that 'gallagher's' story ended

i love harmony!trailblazer's style so fucking much. not looking forward to building it though since i still want to save that energy for robin (pls come home)

black swan: "To use such a method to document the past is interesting. It reminds me of a Memokeeper who also loves to record their memories on the camera..." - hint that march was a memokeeper???

did march do something that crossed her path/fuli and had her memories removed as punishment? or did she do it to herself for some reason?

2.2 ended on the ultimate boss showdown but now penacony is suffering from a power vacuum: the ipc is coming to make moves while the ruling parties are still trying to sort out what the hell happened/who was responsible/who they can throw under the bus/who can consolidate power/who's taking over now.

without the Order keeping things forcibly smooth, the structure of the dreamscape is now insecure. like robin mentioned, dreamers are now at risk of dying in the dream.

and we don't know what the deal is with sparkle's doomsday buttons. i've seen people theorizing her whole deal is a red herring which is in line with elation M.O.

but she knew from 2.0 what was going on. her interactions with aventurine in 2.0 hinted that she knew something was up and that the people who knew the truth couldn't share it for whatever reason while she wouldn't share it bc aha(hahaha).

unless she was biding her time, waiting for the penacony power vacuum? with everything up in the air, elation has the opportunity to mess with multiple parties.

hope this isn't the last we see of acheron because i enjoyed the conversation she had with sam. i'd like to see her interact with firefly in the same capacity.

also i want to see acheron and black swan dance again. we womenlikers deserve such eyecandy.

"heads up!!!! the wheels are spinning across the plains in valleys deep to dawn! the wheels that sing an unending dream/ heads up!!! the tracks are running across the plains where shadows hide/ we run, we stride"

[onehundredandeleventropicalfish]

this might be a controversial opinion idk, but i feel like a lot of people assign more intent to dream's ending than was actually there

like. yes his death was in part a suicide, i'm not saying it wasn't, and i've talked a lot about the reasons and motivations behind that already. but i've seen a lot of responses to my posts lately talking about how dream knew this would definitely happen and he had a plan and was doing [x] thing because he knew it would lead to his death (or the more gentle version that he didn't plan it, but saw it coming and did nothing to stop it)

which. doesn't feel like an accurate description of what happened?

because he tried to stop the kindly ones plot. he genuinely did

he knew that the furies wouldn't be persecuting him out of nowhere, that's unlike them, there's enough nuance in this situation that something else has to be spurring them. which is true. lyta invoked the furies for revenge against dream, and the blood debt is enough of a technicality that they had the power to back her

so dream goes after lyta - stop her, stop the furies. but he's met with thessaly, who predicted this, and has protected lyta inside a ritual circle, which dream can't cross. she taunts him about it (bc this kind of magic is one of the few places mortals have more power than endless), and when he asks why, she says she wanted to hurt him

alright. no stopping the furies. but dream knows they will have to meet him face to face if they want to do anything about this, so as long as they meet him in the dreaming, that's his seat of power, they won't be able to act against him in any real capacity. he'll just have to wait them out, until they tire of this or something happens to lyta

there's one more caveat though - if he leaves the dreaming willingly during their attack, he cedes that seat of power, he won't be the master of the dreaming anymore, it'll belong to them. and that's the last thing he wants, so he tells delirium when she asks that he can't go with her, he has to stay here

nuala is the breaking point. because he has still been dealing with suicidal thoughts for centuries, they're not new and they didn't go anywhere, he's just really good at ignoring those thoughts in favour of his actual responsibilities. and while he didn't intend to die here, he's more exhausted than ever, he's lost in grief over his son, and for the first time, doesn't have the strength to push those thoughts down. nuala calls him from the dreaming, because he promised her any request, and it's a good enough excuse and he's tired enough that for a moment his subconscious wins that battle

and from there he's stuck. he tries to go back to the dreaming and fix it, but it's not his anymore. so he's left with only two choices - leave, abandon all this, go somewhere far away and stop caring about everyone you left behind and what the furies may do to the dreaming in your absence - it's no longer your problem. or he can acquiesce to their demands, lyta's call for revenge

and given who dream is, that was never any kind of choice.

i think people assume he planned it all because of one of these lines

but that's the thing. when the only thing keeping you going is the fact that suicide would be the most terrible horrible act you could possibly commit (this is someone who values his responsibility over anything else! he is dutiful! the whole point is he cannot willingly abandon his post!), you definitely haven't made a plan, and you're never going to. it's an escapist fantasy that sits at the back of your mind, that's all

the things death is drilling him about here are his decision with nuala and the fact that he never chose to leave, even when he got in way over his head, that's all she questions him about in this conversation

and i don't think he's lying in his response to her

yes, he's been 'making preparations' for a while, but those are things like ensuring daniel's ascendancy, tying up loose ends with people, actions that don't lead to anything. he doesn't have to die just because he did those things, those are just emergency precautions. and they make him feel better to do, because he gets to indulge in that fantasy without doing anything about it. he can't be blamed for this, they don't mean he wants to leave, he's going to keep doing his job forever because he has to

but you know. just in case. he's just being smart about it. that's what he can tell himself, anyway

and the reason why this distinction matters so much to me is, dream really tried. we see as early as season of mists that this is what his internal monologue is like so much of the time, given the slightest excuse to give up, in this case literally just the journey between the dreaming and hell, and some part of him yearns to just abandon everything

but he tells it no. he's been telling it no for centuries. this has been a constant fight to stay alive and he's been doing it! it's not been easy, but he's been putting in so much unnoticed work to keep everything going, to not give up. and one moment of weakness that ended up being his downfall shouldn't get to erase that

and when we say that he planned this the whole time, or that he knew this would happen and let it, we're not really appreciating just how much he tried

[kingsephir]

I'm so sick of being in Japan- I hate it here. I hate being the other, I hate how most Japanese people treat me and stare at me. How they're always like wow your japanese is so good! And I supposed to say "no no no"? NO! FUCK YOU. I say "yeah, i've been studying for 16 years now"

Today I got laughed at (in a awe isnt that cute sort of way not making fun of) when I said "otsukaresama", like the rest of my coworkers. Like I do, to this guy, every FUCKING DAY? And today you wanna be like, "oh her japanese is so good! look you're saying otsukaresama" LIKE IVE BEEN DOING IT FOR THREE YEARS DUMBASS. We've had full ass conversations in Japanese!!!!

And another thing! My male coworkers can barely talk to me!!!! Makes me fucking annoyed and lonely. Like they can't even speak japanese to me normally they have that weird ass no eye contact, like i'm accosting them sort of look and i'm like BRO. I JUST WANT TO KNOW WHAT PERIOD WE HAVE CLASS IM GONNA FREAK OUT RIGHT HERE AT MY DESK IF YOU DONT SPIT IT OUT. And the aforementioned "oh look you can say otsukaresama" guy cant even speak a whole sentance to me. And it's not an english thing bc he will just drop the end of the sentance in JAPANESE TOO. HOMIE THATS WHERE THE VERB IS IDK WHAT YOURE SAYING BC YOU DONT FUCKING FINISH YOUR SENTANCES *skreech*

I'm tired of my students being scared of me/suprised. Barely being able to talk bc what? they're afraid of mistakes or something idk? But they can't hardly spit things out sometimes- even in Japanese. They just like have an error code and stare blankly. Like homie. I just want you to say my COWORKERS NAME. SHES JAPANESE AND YOUVE STUDIED WITH HER FOR 5 YEARS NOW. AGHHHHH!!!!!!!

"oh you understand kanji that's amazing!" "yeah i took chinese too" and we've had this conversation MULTIPLE TIMES BEFORE. Do you just forget everything about me the second I leave your sight?? "Wow she knows to take off her shoes!" WELL DUH.

I'm just another human being!!!! Please treat me NORMAL!!! They literally CANT!!!!!!! Like maybe a quarter of them can but like ???????????????

I want OUT OF HERE!! I wanna LEAVE THIS GODFORSAKEN ISLAND. With it's earthquakes, lack of meat at the grocery store, suprise at every single thing I do, commenting on everything I do. Like leave me ALONE.

I so hope I can go to turkey this summer bc that's the only way i feel i can survive without freaking out. I was on my LAST STRAW today. I'm going to Turkey this winter then leaving Japan next year for the US. And trying to go back to school. I'm not cut out for teaching either. I don't like it, i've never liked it. I don't want to do it anymore or ever again in this capacity. Training is ok. Teaching? Kids? NO.

I do generally like the kids but I really wish they would just spit things out rather than just like blue screening. It's not scary it's okay. 😭 Our school is so chill and nice the english teachers are so nice to the students. We make sure they know it's ok to make mistakes idk.

Dude even in Turkey- even when they know i'm foreign- even when tbey are suprised I know turkish (mostly they just take it in stride- maybe a comment at the beginning then they go with it). They treat me like one of them immediately. They're so warm and friendly. Sometimes intimidatingly so but that's better than here (for me). Their country is so full of immigrants and tourists and tbh I only go to Istanbul or a small vacation town on the Mediterranean but like. Even in Tokyo I have problems (mind you way less than here but).

AGH. Rant over- I feel a bit better now.

[ofbreathandflame-archive]

Why you care so much about what feyre and her stans are doing🤔

you know, im actually very glad you sent this in anon, though i know it wasn't sent in good faith. when i say feyre 'stans' - i am being 100% sarcastic. my argument is that i don't believe the people who peddle the idea that they hold feyre to be first actually believe that ideal. i also believe they end up purposely derailing actual conversations about abuse, feminism, and racism bc they don't want to actual critique rhys, so they end up selling much more intentional bs to avoid the conversations all together,

as to why that matters - i can explain.

(1) i think a lot of people who work under the idea that they like feyre 'first' believe that a female perspective = feminist. in theory, i believe a lot of rhys stans subconsciously (or consciously) understand that his actions are villainous (to some capacity). like they do understand that there's only so far they can actually support sexual assault. i think a lot of people use feyre to circumvent this issue: if feyre agrees or even likes the abuse, then it cancels out the implication of the it. and this partially because the book flocks to do the same thing - it never introspects about what x character's actions say about them as a character. think about it - even if we work with the idea that rhys doesn't enjoy the abuse he put feyre through, going as far as to reiterate that he feels shame -- we have to question why the story responds to that with plainly stating that feyre actually enjoyed the abuse and/or felt genuine attraction rhys in those moments. because then it (a) removes the idea of moral-greyness; rhysand never has to reflect because the story always believes he secretly justified. (b) there should still be a conversation about what that means. the mating bond operates as both a justification and a rebuke of feysand's actions (c) it puts into question what the story is actually arguing about feyre's trauma from utm. if feyre always secretly wanted rhysand utm...so much to unpack there. we're not genuinely rebuking abuse. and that's fine if you're drawing a scene or simply entertainment - it becomes worrisome when we considered that there is a lesson being put forth.

(2) people who use feyre as the scapegoat to often time sidestep conversations. feyre's narration is only considered when it validates rhysand's abuse - other times, the idea that we should consider canon wholly (analyze the information we're given v. what we're told) becomes nonexistent. so even though feyre has reiterated her boundaries to rhysand (and even though rhys is already aware of those boundaries via his mental snooping), there still this need to 'hear things from rhys side' - even though we know what feyre choice would have been. we know that feyre would have never wanted that information kept from her. its literally been her only consistent trait- don't lie. and as i said in this post: even the act of creating the intervention undermines three books of feyre's narration cementing her boundary.

(3) 'feyre stans' often hijack the conversations; the conversation about racism (and rhys's absue) always stalls because -- AGAIN -- there's only so much analysis they can happen before you realize the problem is both sjm's ideology and her obsession w/ rhys. at some point they always end up defending sjm (and her racism and misogyny). there's a struggle between actual unpacking rhysand's action and what that means for him as a character. they do want to have the serious conversations, just not in a way that detrimental or all-encompassing. selective reading, plain and simple.

i also believe thats why there so much overblown hate for tamlin (that in my opinion, backfired terribly esp over the last three years) is merely insecurity about the problems w/ rhys's charcater. morally, there only so many conversation we can have before the weirdness rears it head. we can't argue tamlin is abusive and then in the same breadth argue for the neccessity of the same form of abuse. we can't argue that rhys is morally-grey and then ignore the greyness area. we also cannot say rhys grows as a character if we argue that he never grows from the person we met utm. we can't say that we 'recognize' he was wrong, but then constantly uplift those very moments as moments of love. we can't say sjm has racial/moral in her story and then remove how that effects more favorable characters.

[f0point5]

Boy doesn't wanna hide her and she's not trying to hide him too. I don't think 2 celebs had terrible experience with their "fans" for their ex relationships would be so ok with showing their new rs to public. (They weren't even couple-ish too) and the way they both keep denying allegations and just dgaf about going vacations with friend groups and getting caught at cameras while skiing or driving around don't seem like a rs but friendship. I think other rumoured girls had something with him and it's pretty normal for young guys ang girls like them. Magui might did problematic stuff in past but it isn't the reason she gets hate VERY CLEARLY. Comments under her pics are "stay away from j/l" lmo 😒

Long story for short they seem like friends and she in fact looks like a funny person in friend groups. I say it bcs of her and her other friends' interactions are so funny. No reason to bully her ffs 😇

Yeah they just seem like friends. You’re not always laughing and having long ass conversations with your friends and especially not in public where you’re aware you’re being filmed. They clearly enjoy each other’s company in some capacity so…whatever.

To me they don’t seem like a couple but if they are and they want people to know, they will make it clear eventually

[msommers]

4, 16, 18 for maeve, meredith and jorina!

ok listen do NOT look @ me for this taking so long i WASN'T absorbed in laying in bed, staring @ the ceiling, constantly thinking thoughts but never writing them down. that's crazy talk. anyway thank u ily <333 // oc asks: childhood edition // placing the read more higher up than usual bc shocking nobody, i don't know how to keep answers short and i wanna save everyone's dashboards from this

4) How was your muse's relationship with their childhood guardians? Has it changed over time, and if so, how? Do they keep in touch?

so check it out. i read this question an entirely different way the first time i saw it and had different answers, doubted them for like 15 minutes straight, then redid it all upon realization. so now here we are

MAEVE — bad! not good!! never improved!!! i wouldn't even call Maeve's parents her guardians in any capacity because they were so horrible at that job. they started lowkey coercing her into developing her charm when she first caught a man's attention for being pretty because they wanted to get stuff out of it, emotionally neglected her the entire time she lived with them, made her feel guilty about the most ridiculous things on a regular basis, literally sold her to Carden the same day he voiced his interest in taking her away, etc etc add a dozen other offenses here. what changed over time would be Maeve having the distance and years to process how they treated her (mother straight up abusive, father on a lower level and mostly through his inaction), accepting it, and working on the struggles/damage they saddled her with. no contact at all, even if i did entertain the age old concept of her discovering where they moved to during her travels with a witcher or two, she wants nothing to do with them.

MEREDITH — so close to both parents, her father maybe a little more so due to extra time together but that didn't lessen the bond between her and her mother. Meredith and Bryce spent a great deal of time together as she was interested in following in his footsteps, and eventually being heir of the teyrnir, which required a ridiculous amount of educating (required is a strong term, but they both agreed it was excellent to have and she loved her lessons) and additional hands-on experience being at his side while he attended his duties. they knew how to make each other laugh, his hugs were her favorite thing in all of Thedas, and she was all but his official right-hand lady by the time origins came around tbh. Sometimes she'll make a snide comment that she knew he would have laughed at and it causes a physical ache how terribly she misses the sound. Eleanor was the one to initiate Meredith's rogue training to further her capability, and that's something she'll always be grateful for. Her mother taught her how to read maps, calculate numbers in a battle, properly host visitors, she was also the one to give her lessons in Alamarri to help preserve the language. They could soothe each other's nerves or irritation simply by being at one another's side, and held entire conversations through glances and expressions alone. Her mother's smile always filled her with warmth and she spends the rest of her life wishing she could see it just one more time.

JORINA — so much love was present, even in the times of trying to figure her out. she and her father were happy in their quiet art activities together, but she shied away from his affection when it became too overwhelming. her mother supported Jorina's fierce independence without question, but couldn't understand the introvert’s need to recharge and on occasion pushed her a little too far outside of her boundaries. they were most likely at the stage of classic moody arguments between a mom and teen before Wenna’s death and Jorina regrets that to no end. Renehn fell into a severe depression after Wenna was gone (plus some other events of the blight but who has the time to list) and it irrevocably altered he and Jorina's relationship as she was forced to step up in her mid-teens to provide for the family, but fortunately they get the time to heal from individual wounds and come together down the line to slowly rebuild their relationship with great patience and new understandings of each other. Jorina finding her own love helped an immeasurable amount with her coming to understand what her father went through because she doesn't know what the fuck she'd do with herself if anything happened to Aleksi. they kept in contact through Jorina's letters sent back home while she worked for the Inquisition (her siblings would read them to him until he was able to do so himself), and through the occasional visit when time was free for it. level of contact after events of trespasser depends on what happened there i guess lmao

16) If your muse could say one thing to their childhood self, what would they say? Would your muse want to meet their childhood self in the first place?

MAEVE — she would jump at the chance to meet her childhood self because the girl desperately needed love and attention that she’d be all too happy to provide, no matter how short their time together would be. trouble is!! this would likely be one of the rare scenarios where she’d struggle to find the right words, because her list of potentials would be so goddamn long she wouldn’t know where to start. she’d likely end up giving her a much-needed hug, a kiss to the top of the head, and telling her smth like “you are stronger than any deterrent that this world may try to put in your path, love. never doubt that.” bc y’know. soft girl gonna soft and not recognize the strength needed to endure all the shit she suffers to reach her happiness lmfao

MEREDITH — “never doubt your instincts. not even for a moment.” it was the doubt that Rendon could be up to anything truly horrible That EveningTM which led to Meredith holding her tongue, perhaps a gentle (or rather: intense as hell, calm down she's just a kid, mere-) nudge could alter that. could change everything, could change absolutely nothing at all, worth the shot tho.

JORINA — she wouldn’t want to meet her childhood self one bit, she'd get so depressed lol. even when she was young, Jorina was always trying to act older than she was and missed out on a lot of the youthful joy and activities she should’ve had because of that. she’d want to tell her to go play with the other kids, put down the chores for a few hours and just have fun, but i don’t think she’d be able to do it. she’d be too upset about the reminder incarnate of how she wasted her happy, full family years batting her mother’s helping hands away and insisting she could handle big girl things on her own.

18) What's one thing that instantly transports your muse back to their childhood? Why?

MAEVE — hearing a child being snapped at in a particular tone (most often by parents in the upper echelons of society) will, sadly, always send her back to being a little girl getting scolded by her mother. she can recognize later in life that she was being chastised for simply acting as an excitable child should, but falling back into those memories brings the shame of "disappointing" and "embarrassing" her mother back to the surface. 

MEREDITH — sometimes chatting with Delilah brings her back to their early teenage years, where they would trade gossip through whispers and giggle as they linked arms before gliding off to find a new source of information, or perhaps a private space to more openly discuss their findings. smth smth prime example of girlhood and she misses that innocent fun, wishes that it hadn't been taken by forces outside of her control. 

JORINA — counting her coin. whether it be checking what's on her person or what she'd been paid for recent scouting work, she'll sometimes flash back to the numerous nights she spent counting and recounting her limited household funds as if some extra money would magically appear and she'd be able to comfortably feed the family for the rest of the week.

[chirpsythismorning]

Willel truther anon here. Scary thought. Not Willel twin AND Vecna's children. Twins with powers and... and their dad is the dark wizard? I know this show is different but that plot twist would be TOO much Star Wars!! I'm all for Willel twin, Jane and William Hopper. Please, Duffers, be original🤞

Yeah I'm not a henry father truther, I think that the evidence pointing to it comes off as misdirect in the same way milkvan does. They gave them some superficial queues, and a lot of people picked up on it.

Henry's got like 3 identities rn as it is though. I do think that he is 100% due for backstory in s5 that will get the audience to sympathize with him heavily, and give us answers into how the lab's understanding of what's going down in the present, all goes back to the origins of the lab itself, specifically MKUltra and then the rainbow room. I also think it's possible that his familial relation is a lot more likely tied to the Wheelers, than the Byers or the Wheelers AND the Byers. I just don't see a point in connecting El to that as well along with Mike (beyond the cousin irony), regardless of Will being her twin brother or not.

Like this dude rn who is referred to as Henry/001/Vecna does not need the addtion of 3+ more titles. We have time for Henry in s5 and I do think he'll play a big role, but he's not the answer to every single revelation, with a different tie to all of them by blood.

There's too many signs pointing to Terry not being El's mother. And that means their mom has to be Joyce. And while I could consider Lonnie, there's a lot of signs he's also not quite what he seems and I think that just like Terry, he's a dead end. Terry was likely an ally in the past, and Lonnie was likely... not. I think he was an MKUltra experiment that was willing to lie and go along with anything for money.

And with them making a point to focus on Joyce and Hopper in the prequel, both 17 and presumably also alongside Lonnie and even Henry who was 13 at the time... It's very much giving Back to the Future shenanigans, ie. George and Lorraine vs. Biff fucking shit up in the bad timeline, taking the place of George their father... And yet, he's not actually their father....

I feel the need to make clear that, it's too confusing to have the same set of twins or even one child, be birthed from different parents, in different timelines. While I can acknowledge infinite universes exist hypothetically, doing something like this, by having El and Will be twins in one timeline and not in another and with different parents also, would go way beyond suspension of disbelief.

In Back to the Future, if the parents didn't kiss at the dance in 56', the kids weren't born, it was that simple! Marty and his siblings started to disappear in a photo together, knowing they would cease to exist by the end of the night if it didn't happen. And even though they do make it through, in the sequel directly following, Biff has taken their father's place. Now, that doesn't mean that Lorraine and Biff managed to birth the exact same kids as George and Lorraine in a different timeline. All that happened was, somewhere along the way, things got mixed up. And with the implications of MKUltra and Henry having ahold of time powers in some capacity, I think it would be easy to make a family or even a whole town cursed and tricked into believing anything (reminder this town is being listened to and referred to as being cursed A LOT...).

I could see maybe 1-2 more huge arcs for him. I do think that he had a a similar introduction to Joyce and Hopper into the lab (I talk about how I think they were involved here), but it's likely in his case, the lab used conversion therapy to take advantage of him and from his family that wanted to fix him bc he was 'broken'. I think it's likely his backstory is that he got out of there in his late teens early twenties, but ended up back in after a vulnerable experience in the world, and with Brenner and the lab taking advantage of it, luring him back in AGAIN.

However, I don't think this kid we focused on at 13 in s4, and who wer'e presumably going to see again at 13 in the prequel, is going to be revealed in s5 through 60s flashbacks of him turning into a sperm downer to birth a dozen kids, nor even just Will and El. I think he relates to them for obvious reasons being they are lab kids who think they are a mistake (queerness/otherness), and that was obviously being taken advantage of.

I guess I'd have to see what happens in the prequel to decide for sure how I feel. The prequel wasn't even announced when these theories started popping up after twelvegate. And so to have Joyce and Hopper be revealed as a focus was a little bit ironic to me.

It's canon which means that there are bound to be things that happen that have the potential to make us rethink/re-understand certain things we might have assumed up this point.

I won't rule out anything bc like yeah they could pull a Luke I am your father card (not literally, but you know what I mean). And yet, I do think there's heavy evidence for Hopper and Joyce and Will and El and Jon and them being watched from the very first episode, which feels more substantial to me given how this will all presumably go back to s1 and answering questions they left unanswered back then ie, Hopper in the shed lights flickering??

If the ending being beautiful and surprising was about found family, then that wouldn't exactly make sense, since every season has given us that impression, with it being obvious by s3-4. And so that's not surprising, as they've already been found-family in canon for years.

Whereas a family being torn apart by a lab via mind control and time implications, and seeing how despite that they still kept finding their way back to each other, that's beautiful and surprising to me.

I do think it gives Star Wars (+1000 other movie inspirations), but not entirely in the sense that it's going to carry out the most cliche trope connected to SW.

Seriously, I just rewatched Toy Story 2 the other day and that Buzz scene with his dad near the end had me dreading the prospects of Henry being El's dad. The I am your father revelation is treated like a big joke. It's like the first thing you think of when you think about Star Wars. The twin aspect on the other hand, is something that still causes a lot of debate and has created this sort of hilariously confusing element to the story, which ST, by using Star Wars as inspiration from the very beginning, means they knew about that twin revelation, and were able to subtly joke about it from the very beginning, making it even more epic in ST case than it ever was for SW.

I guess we'll have to wait and see.! Not sure when the prequel will for sure be available to the public, but there's bound to be a few important revelations necessary to be ready for what's about to come next.

[sllowshow]

🏡 + casey farb

this guy SUCKS. his kids should be allowed to murder him. he has 8 kids that he knows of, and his relationships with all of them are different. i think he has in the past tried to design like father's day camping trips and shit with as many as possible, but it just doesn't work out. gonna go in order of the elfbar post. and also put it under a cut bc its a long one.

starting on a strong note i do think titus is his favorite kid. and i think he like doesn't outright say it but there's some preferential treatment there. he's his perfect boy he gives off everything casey thinks he gives off, there's something insane and masculine that projects big about him. but even being loved by casey is a double edged sword, because it also comes with being most involved in his bullshit. like you're the number one kid he's going to call when he's in the holding cell, you're the one he's always trying to get involved in whatever crackpot scheme he's up to this week. in the long run, it may be better to be off his radar, but he won't shut up about how he sees so much of himself in titus (because he's a narcissist) and how proud he is of him.

karma is babygirl. she's the only daughter he's in consistent contact with, so he gets to put all of his "i'll kill any guy who tries to date you" energy into her. she probably gets away with the most with him because of that, i think he has a way higher bar for the boys, so whatever karma says goes as far as he's concerned (now perhaps whitney pulls the breaks on that. but he sure wont). again though i think it's double edged because it sure seems like he's just unilaterally more interested in the boys. which isn't fair to her. but i suppose the benefits win out here they probably have one of the more positive relationships.

i don't think he talks about jace. i think he still is not equipped to really unpack that loss. he isn't comfortable with the grief, and for that reason, he just leaves it unsaid. he kind of shuts down whenever it comes up. he disappears on the twins birthday.

i think his relationship with colson is really strained for a few reasons. first of all i don't think he knows what to do with them. they don't fit in any of the boxes casey knows: they're not a son he can place the crown of traditional farb man masculinity onto. they're not a cutie daughter he can spoil in his own fucked up way. they are in consistent contact with him, which is more than some of his kids can say, but it's more because they have a relationship with whitney that requires being around/getting along with casey. the elephant in the room though is always jace. casey's very much tried to avoid that conversation to a point where he's overlooking colson as well, even though they're separate people and colson is still here to have a relationship with.

mycah is not blood but is a farbling in that he made a huge deal about how she lived mostly with them growing up. their relationship is tumultuous: sometimes she gets to be another one of his babygirls, but there are lines she can cross where he throws the fact that he helped raise her into her face, like he didn't Have to do that etc. but i think she's just as good as dishing it back to him, and they are skilled at like having a blow out screaming at eachother fight but then they both cool down and move on. neither of them has the capacity to make it that serious.

i think he and skeeter see their relationship in different ways. casey looks at skeeter and thinks he's soft. he thinks this is a kid who needs to learn how to be a man (because who's gonna do it otherwise? his mom? his mom's lesbian lover?) so he's always made an effort to reach out and include him in things. but in my head skeeter is innocent little baby who just doesn't pick up on that as much as he could. like he's hearing the sermon and all and finds that annoying but is less upset by the fact that that's what their relationship is. kind of like a haha family can be crazy perspective when its like oh no that man is demented in some way. skeeter perhaps stop putting up with that.

mavrick really genuinely does not have many kind feelings for casey i think he's the kid who feels the most slighted/left out in the cold in his relationship with casey. multiple times in his life, i think he's tried to go no contact, and they make it a while without speaking, but casey will show up at his work or mavrick will make an effort to see one of his siblings and casey will check wind and crash. he's never let casey meet someone he was dating and he doesn't plan to start any time soon. the less this guy knows about his life the better. and i think he really does struggle with knowing that's half of him. i was joking about him sterilizing himself but ultimately i do think he's very conflicted about having biological children, because he doesn't want to look at his kids and see casey. if he does ever have a family, he wants it to be his own, and be one of the only things his dad can't taint.

the additional two known kids are both daughters (one grew up with her mom uptown. her mom told him she was pregnant and gave him a chance to be involved but eventually cut him out of their lives. they're not in touch now and none of his other kids have met her.) [the other he sees a few times a year. she's met at least his kids with whitney. she considers her step-dad more of a dad though. she calls him casey, never dad.]