#and my grandmothers

[mirrorofliterature]

here's an opinion that i don't necessarily entirely agree with but i think it has great points and i'm curious to hear your take on it:

while molly weasley was very far from a perfect mother and made many mistakes, it's as good as a human person can do under the circumstances she grew up and lived in (two wars, losing her brothers and many friends, her husband and kids constantly being in danger, living under constant threat of war, financial status, treatment by other families etc.) and the fandom judges her way too harshly while characters who were much worse parental figures and were plain out horrible and neglectful (especially men) get off the hook very easily

strongly agree | agree | neutral | disagree | strongly disagree

I agree in part - this may surprise some people, because I do not like molly, nor am I her biggest fan - however.

I think it is important to remember, when criticising molly's parenting (as I do frequently) to not forget the pressures she was operating under - trauma, patriarchy and rigid social structure. And people do often treat molly more harshly than other subpar parents - which is why I make sure to criticise arthur as well, as it takes two to tango and whatnot.

The only part I mildly disagree with is 'as good as a human person can do', because I think that molly could have done more by listening to her children. I don't think that molly or arthur are to blame for their family's low socioeconomic status - poverty is a social construct, and whatnot. What I do fault her for her is her misogynistic treatment of other characters, like Fleur and Hermione, and her treatment of Sirius in Grimmauld Place. That was needlessly cruel.

So in short - I'm not naive. I think the key issue is that a lot of people view Molly as a saint, so a lot of people swing heavily back into painting her as the devil - whereas, as a lot of things in HP, the true answer lies somewhere in between. Molly was good intentioned as a parent and was hampered by a lot of things, particularly trauma and money. She loved her children, undeniably. But this provides an explanation for her behaviour - it doesn't excuse it.

I think that other characters should get similar levels of scrutiny - as I do with arthur, but I don't think that necessitates us giving her the excuse of 'oh, it's okay that her children felt conditionally loved because she was traumatised!' [Which I don't think this opinion is suggesting, but something to be careful of]. I understand why molly is the way she is - she grew up in a socially conservative time during a war and lost a lot. But. If I am writing from the perspective of a Weasley child, they are going to have complex feelings about Molly, and Arthur.

So, in short: I agree. I think molly is a deeply flawed mother, shaped largely by her environment, but that does not mean she cannot be held accountable for the hurt she caused. I think the fandom's laser focus on her is at times misogynistic, but it's not particularly unique. Also, not every criticism of a female character is necessarily misogynistic. Molly often takes a lot of flack because she is presented as this paragon of motherhood quite overtly in the books, compared to others - so she's a bigger target than a lot of others.

I like the take, but I personally would veer away from saying she couldn't have done any better. She is a realistic mother: that doesn't mean she couldn't have done better.

[rosa-maltz]

The Midwestern Princess

[silvermoon424]

For the purposes of this poll please just stick to birth names! I'd like to do another poll for names people chose themselves later in life.

[narwhalsarefalling]

my mother taught me to crochet when i was young. she was left handed, so she taught me how in the bathroom mirror so her hands would be in the right position.

she learned to crochet from her grandmother, who was right handed. her grandma was the one that originally used the bathroom mirror to teach her granddaughter properly.

i find something poetic about that. here in this bathroom mirror, through generations, we adapt to our young who have a different way of learning and interacting with the world

[strangefa11]

now jon gets to be evil too >:3

edit: some minor colour adjustments and stuff :P

[fandomsandfeminism]

Grief is so fucking wild. It sinks into your muscles, forces itself to be felt. It steals your appetite, floods your brain with cortisol. It makes you so, so tired.

If someone you know is grieving, telling them "just let me know what I can do" means nothing. They can't. They don't know. And the small things are too embarrassing to ask for.

Bring them a cheese platter. Pre-Cut fruit. Peanut butter pretzels. Protein shakes (like slimfast) Food that requires no prep and does not create dishes.

Do the dishes. Take out the trash. Sweep the floor. Vacuum the carpet. They won't ask you to do this, but it will help.

A bottle of acetaminophen honestly might help more than flowers. Grief really can cause muscle aches.

[grandmother-goblin]

Reblog for bigger sample sizes. I know there are LOTS of types of teas out there, and I tried to cover most of the ones I could think of (I split up herbal because there are so many different flavor profiles!)

Also, I know the names might vary based on where you live and there are a lot more subcategories than what I listed. If there are any that I haven't listed that you love, please let me know!

[benjingle]

Based on this post by yours truly

[thunderc1an]

how to love a stranger

[seheartz]

born in you, along with all this strife, is the power to restore balance to the world | kofi

[verawhisk]

assigned female by the children

[sadclowncentral]

one true fact about me is that i never buy clothes i just trust that they will find their way to me and they always do. every single time i think well i might not have enough clothes somebody hands me a box of them and it all works out. it might be a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy because everyone around who acquires clothing items in large quantities around me goes "well i know someone around this size who absolutely would take these off my hands without asking any questions" but it works.

i have been living like this for years. its a bit macabre but many of the wardrobes belong to dead family members which gives me an air of distinguishness despite my lack of initiative which i think is great! the only downside is that when someone compliments my outfit i have to go "thanks someone's grandfather died and they didn't know what to do with his clothes so i stole his drip" which is far more jarring than saying second-hand store even though it's the same thing! i just cut out the middle man

[blakbonnet]

as an indian person, my favourite thing is seeing what people who aren't from here have done with my food; i'll go to an indian restaurant in a random corner of the world and they're putting oregano in their palak paneer or a balsamic wash on their naan and it's like "yes good tell me how you folded your culture into mine and came out with something new and lovely, we're holding hands across oceans bestie"

[zipsunz]

the garden of basil rowan moore 🌿

art by me, script by @sunkitty143! (we no longer allow comic dubs!)

some notes:

aside from basil's parents' general design and the implication that they're busy and rich, everything else about his family outside of his grandmother is cat's headcanon!

the flowers assigned to each family member are olive blossom (oliver), dahlia (dahlia), sea aster (oliver's father), goldenrod (elijah), rosemary (rosemary), and azaleas (basil's grandmother)

the flowers in the last part represent the people (new and old) in basil's life!

dahlias are in the same family as daisies and sunflowers!

basil's dream of his family tree/garden is inspired by the meadow in headspace

spirit mari takes the form of her 15 year old self to basil, as he never wants to turn away from the truth again

thank you again for the patience and encouragement as we worked on this!! i honestly wouldn't have gotten through this much work over the months if i wasn't in love with what cat wrote, so i hope you enjoy it! 🫶

[zegalba]

Majd Arandas: 'My Grandmother' (2022).

"Palestinian women knew where they lived by their embroidered dresses that distinguish each city from the other,"

[sems-diarie]

death is insane. wdym i’ll never see my grandmother again