#so it sees its original plant and it knows it once belonged. but it doesnt Fit anymore.

[orcelito]

Also my ex step family that I lived with from ages 9-17 or so but haven't really spoken to since reached out. They brought food to my dad's place today (we were going through & packing up his closet) and we all hung out for an hour and a half and chatted. And it was surprisingly nice, but also made me ache so very deeply. Bc for my adolescence, this was a family of 6. Then it got cut down to 3 from the divorce. And then I got a taste of how life was, except it was only 5, and also everything is different. I'm such a different person than I was at 17 years old. These people were my family, but I've grown beyond them. A part of me feels like a vulnerable little kid again with them. More of me feels like an assistant manager between jobs with too many exes and an IT degree that's been In Progress for almost 9 years now.

And above it all, my dad is fucking dead. It's an ache that colors everything else in my life right now.

[stealingpotatoes]

just watched mando s3 it’s great that we TOTALLY had a whole season about din coming to grips with being mand’alor & life without grogu and about dueteragonist bo-katan coming to realise she was only trying to lead mand’alor bc of her sister not bc she thought she was the best leader. and the whole season centred around the theme of accepting who you really are even if you’re certain you’re something else and was about how heroes and leaders can come from anywhere, they don’t have to come from a special bloodline (a sorta thesis against the skywalker saga) and about the uniting power of grief and oppression. isn’t it great we had that instead of a season with no plot 

isn’t it great that there were no mando cameos in tbobf and mando season 3 started with him on a bounty, cringefailing at using the darksaber and stabbing himself but he did the job and got paid in a nubian starfighter (he wanted a razor crest but he’s injured so he doesnt argue much) which he then used to find his covert on the canyon planet. then he revealed to the armorer and paz that he had the darksaber which after some time leads to paz duelling din for the saber (without telling the others bc they dont know din has it) and din wins but its revealed he took his helmet off. he’s made apostate IN FRONT OF EVERYONE (EVERYONE!!) with only one IMPOSSIBLE chance of redemption (nobody can go to mandalore anymore!!) and has to leave and now has nothing — no child, no clan. so he does the only thing he can think to and goes to a green planet we’ve never seen before. he lands safely but still injured from his fight with Paz and not fully healed from the original injury he passes out. and the episode ends with a kid running over and telling another kid to call master skywalker

and sure episode 2 was the fanservice episode but its disney! we have to expect a marketable plushie cameo episode — except of course that didn’t mean it wasn’t plot relevant! din wakes up and we realise he’s at luke’s jedi academy and this is great n stuff we finally get to see luke in his prime teaching a whole bunch of students! and we get to see grogu happy and having fun with his kind (which makes din happy but miss his own covert). luke notices din has a saber himself (despite it being well-hidden — luke can sense it) and din admits he can’t use it and that he doesnt think it even belongs to him while luke shows him saber forms (but pretends its for his own training and not din’s bc din refuses to learn). they have a discussion and din reveals he came here bc he got kicked out and has no way to redeem himself bc there are no mines left and even then the planet’s poisonous. luke spouts some jedi stuff asking din if he’s certain and says blind certainty is the enemies of hope and progress or whatever (setting up the larger theme of identity certainty in the season). luke also points out that if they imps r there then they have to have some way of getting around the environment they caused. inspired and knowing grogu is safe here, din is ready to go redeem himself on mandalore. he says he’ll come to see grogu again and luke makes it clear that while attachments can’t get in front of duty, din is always welcome here <3 

episode 3 of course had din go to the ruins of mandalore to redeem himself, inspired by luke’s words about certainty he goes to the ruins of sundari, where he knows there was once living waters (the other option is the one surviving and imperial-controlled city, but he’s not that dumb). also bc the imps only hang around the cities so that must be where it's survivable. there’s some imperials about the edge of the city (not many) and he does have to subtly fight them but he gets spotted. he wins but he’s panicking bc during the fight his breathing system got hit but then he notices a plant growing. and he realises he’s not dying — the air isn’t poisonous anymore or whatever! so he turns off his failing life support and goes to the city. he explores the city and finds many remnants of mandalorian culture there in the small parts that survived. ash-covered murals, mostly-burnt toys, something that could have once been a palace. he finds a memorial to a duchess satine kryze and thinks huh like bo katan? (because of course the show wouldn’t ignore bo’s motivations) anyway after some slow but meaningful exploring (its quietness eerie, unlike the quietness of the previous stealth section) he manages to make his way below the city. he finds the mines, reads the inscription and then goes in. except of course its no longer shallow and he falls and he falls and he realises well fuck he’s gonna die. his life support got hit earlier and he doesnt have his jetpack he’s going to sink. but then in the darkness, a great looming eye opens and before din knows it, SOMETHING is throwing him out that sinking water. it had to have been a freak current right? he was hallucinating. surely a MYTHOSAUR didn’t just save him… those are all dead, only to return with a new age of mandalore! he shakes his head, ignores it, and collects the water with something new to bring to his people

episode 4 reintroduced us to old fan favourite bo katan in her depression girl era bc din shows up to her empty palace ready to help her take back mandalore… only to find her in a depression pit and— oh my god is she drunk??! she drops that her ppl left her bc she didn’t have the darksaber and din’s looking at the depression pit like. right. bc of the darksaber. he briefly tries to convince her to fight him for it but she’s like no you’ll throw the fight it won’t be true comba— oh no! explosion nearby bc looks like din wasn’t as careful as he thought and the imperials followed him to bo’s place so both of them have to fucking skeet outta there and bo’s home’s destroyed so din’s like hey come on let’s go to my people we can take back mandalore with them or smthn. so they head back to the covert, din reveals he’s no longer apostate and that mandalore isnt cursed it’s breathable + you can successfully walk on the surface now. this is however interrupted by a beast showing up and trying to kill some ppl. it almost kills paz’s son but din kills the beast first in his starfighter. anyway back to the conversation (now within the cave) and din’s trying to convince his clan that they can take back mandalore (with bo as leader) but none of them want to follow her or risk what few numbers they have left. dejected, din and bo make to leave again, but paz follows them out and is like ?? din you literally have the darksaber why didn’t you use it to get at least SOME of them to follow you and din’s like i don’t want people to follow me bc of a legend, if they follow me it has to be bc they want to and paz and bo r internally like wow damn. anyway paz then says he’ll always fight w din if needed bc he saved his son but if he wants the people to follow him they should try get some of the other clans to help so it looks less dangerous. so bo and din leave on their quest. also throughout this episode, we’re introduced to some random civilian in the reintegration program. its implied they worked with gideon and that they’re preparing for something, but we don’t get much more than that. 

episode 5 is the bo episode, this is where we explore her character, have her arc, and ya know really cover her motivations (bc disney would NEVER make it so her motivation is invisible unless you’d seen two other tv shows). din and bo head to where her clan is. they just want to see the clan but they end up being dragged into a b-plot about helping the local pacifist duchess (& duke). din tries to say no but bo-katan says smthn abt diplomacy. this quest initially doesn’t seem plot relevant but throughout bo opens up about her own pacifist duchess sister and she comes to realise how much of this quest has been about trying to live up to satine and not bc she thinks herself the best mand’alor. the thing she said abt diplomacy earlier, she reveals, is just a quote from her sister. anyway they’re finally able to go to bo’s old clan and she, now reinvigorated in accepting and knowing who she is and what she wants (no longer depression girl) challenges axe for leadership of the clan. she wins and in a speech is like we’re gonna retake unpoisonous mandalore by uniting the clans!! most agree but theyre like HOW are we supposed to convince the other clans? and it descends into insane yelling UNTIL a low hum and a black-white light falls over the group. silence falls. everyone looks on. high above his head, din is holding the darksaber (proudly!!) and he’s like we’ll unite them with this. but axe has to constantly be chatting shit and getting up from the floor where he got his ass whipped he’s like really???? you wanna follow him???? he doesn’t even have any mandalorian blood in him!!! and bo makes a great speech about blood doesn’t make a good leader what makes a good leader is knowing when to use your power. and then she’s like he is my mand’alor amen and kneels before him. everyone else follows and din awkwardly stands there still not fully accepting his role 

episode 6 was the great prep episode. we start with din and bo helping and getting a new tribe on their side and heading back to Concordia we realise they’ve got this HUGEEEE war camp of mandalorians!! there are so many clans with them now (except one, which din is really missing)!!!!! this episode mostly focuses on mandalorian culture and them training/ planning and din and bo trying to keep the clans from biting each other’s heads off. but this is interrupted when a small group of imperials try to pre-attack them (like they did w bo’s palace) but the mandos all manage to fight back and take them down, which then leads to a whole speech from din and bo about how mandalorians are all fighting but theyre united now in their grief and with this they can fight the empire. the b-plot of the episode comes back to that random civilian from episode 4 and whoomp turns out their plan was to BREAK MOFF GIDEON OUT OF JAIL!! shitttt!!!! oh no!! he’s back now, that’s gonna make their very decent plan to take back mandalore harder but they dont knowww (irony!)

episodes 7 and 8 were the battle of mandalore, woo! it had to be two episodes because it’s a taking whole occupied planet and not a single base, a pretty damn difficult task that definitely can’t be done by two single clans in like 40 minutes! there’s all those mini tiny bases scattered throughout the planet on the ruins (like din encountered in episode 3) AND more importantly there’s the one domed city that the imperials kept alive as their main base — which means they have to be careful, bc they can’t do any sort of aerial assault or great deal of damage to the imperials without also destroying the one surviving place for them to live. so the plan is smaller strike teams to go the bases plopped around the planet as a distraction and to stop reinforcements to the city while the main force surround the city and take it. the first city team (with din and bo) has to open up all the ports and stuff to allow the HUGE armies to get in. unfortunately this is in the main imp base in the centre of the city so they have to get there. (they’d prefer 2 strike teams but they can only spare 1) MOST of the mini-bases r meanwhile being successfully captured. the strike team gets to the centre to de-activate the port shielding n stuff and GASP! IT’S GIDEON!! FROM JAIL!! and he’s surrounded by fucking MANDO STORMTROOPERS and IN BESKAR ARMOUR oh no!! ambush!! he knew they’d have to go here to allow a full-scale assault! the small strike team at sundari also gets captured bc there were some mandotroopers there (they increased security post episode 3). episode 7 ends on a cliffhanger bc all seems lost and the strike team’s surrounded 

episode 8 starts straight off the cliffhanger and oh no they’re all gonna die gasp WHEN BAM fighting noises elsewhere, everyone’s confused, when paz’s voice crackles over din’s comm like hey bro! BC DIN’S CLAN FINALLY SHOWED UP TO HELP AND THEY WERE ABLE TO MAKE THAT SECOND STRIKE TEAM and in the confusion din & bo’s team take out the mandotroopers, gideon gets away. din and paz and the armorer come face to face and paz calls him mand’alor or smthn bc he’s also accepted it and they’re like woo let’s go now we can fight fr!! din heads to help lead the battle ig but bo’s like nah i have to end gideon for what he did to our planet. and din’s like well he’s wearing beskar armour so you’ll need this and gives her his beskar spear WHICH IS SYMBOLIC BC he’s finally giving up his other weapon and is going to solely use the darksaber!! he’s accepted who he is and is going to lead their ppl!! so yeah instead of having din fight gideon, who he already beat once, bo fights him and its incredibly cathartic. at sundari that strike team who got captured is also not looking great but MYTHOSAUR EX MACHINA COMES AND FUCKS UP THE IMPERIALS THERE (its returned!!). so big battle and gideon’s down and the darksaber DOESN’T get destroyed yay! afterwards they all vibe and they go to the forge and the armorer relights it and they proclaim din mand’alor fr and he accepts it and throne. sure he's still a BIT uneasy (mand'alor the reluctant anyone?) but he's not saying NOO now loll. yayyy!! AND THEN final scene is din returns to the jedi academy like hii thanks for ur advice u were right being blindly certain abt stuff is meh and leaves no room for hope. uh could i show grogu mandalore i promise i’ll bring him right back and it ends on din showing grogu the planet finally bc thats cute and fanservice

anyway isn’t it great this is exactly what happened, it’s all canon and definitely not the stealingpotatoes sequels canon continuity rewrite! 

[bullet-rebuttle]

⧆ for any of them, go nuts bestie <3

Lets do them all

Naoko: His Chansey originally belonged to the hospital he stayed at his whole childhood growing attached to being around and taking care of him so that when he was let go, he was able to take her with him.

Raijin: He was abandoned and homeless on the street making friends with a thrown away Banette because they understood each other in that regard. Bannette is also the only one of his Pokemon who knows Raijins true personality

Kaori: wasn't around to have or own Pokemon with her father keeping them away from her...until a rotom broke in causing chaos making her laugh for the first time, which in return got her in trouble with her father and got her locked up for a day, in which the rotom kept her company and stayed with her.

Tsuyoshi: His whole team is for far more simple reasons. His meganium in particular was given due to meganium being able to revive plants which helps his gardening

Giichi: Keeping in line with his acting career, he was pressured to only have stereotypically beautiful Pokemon. He has had a feebas for the longest and was a gift from his mothers. he was reassured to release it by managers which he refused to do..however it ended up evolving into mitotic allowing him to keep her.

Yukino: ....I wanted to keep her team all ghost..but look I had to add Ursula. Her bunny is too important to her so thats why she has a buneary to represent that. I wish its shiny was black but ah well.

Ume: Ume used to be a lot closer to her pokemon before her sisters death. Her golbat in particular was close to evolving into a crobat due to their friendship, but once she became distant, it remained a golbat.

Takumi: Met his Zoroark as an abandoned Zorua in a dark alley when thieving a store when he was a child. While the Pokemon didnt trust him, after days of Takumi feeding it food he stole, he grew close to him becoming his Pokemon until he evolved. I just felt like good thieving buddies

Etsuko: A lover of cute Pokemon and a Pokemon gym leader or elite four member (haven't decided which) so her ice types reflect that. Got her alolan ninetails while abroad.

Akihito: While Akihito has a massive fear of ghost Pokemon, his mimikyu is an exception. Being a loner and really awkward made him a prime target for bullying, in which a mimikyu relating to him approached and while scared for the longest time, however after the mimikyu got him away from his teacher, he grew to trust and have it by his side.

Mizumi: naturally, Mizumi met all of her Pokemon on the ocean seas. Her Dhelmis in particular she met when it trapped her ship, rather than getting angry..which she was for a bit..she thought it was cool inviting it to the team. I couldn't not add the anchor Pokemon.

Rika: The sylveon she has is actually not her Pokemon. Its her siblings that gave him to here seeing how overworked and stress she was because of sylveons calming affects.

Shigure: ...Luvdisc is the love Pokemon..it's given as valentines gifts. Course he wants one and he doesnt battle anyway. Dotes on his Pokemon due to the point they are spoiled as hell.

Hayato: He always managed to like Pokemon who are protective, and finding two ralts as a child made him want to protect them seeing as when they evolved into Gallade and Gardevoir, it reminded him of himself and Giichi. Values their honor and protective natures.

Sumiko: all of her Pokemon have the same story being that they weren't Sumiko's. Rather, they were Oshias Pokemon before she died that Sumiko choose to care for even if she is inexperienced with raising Pokemon. Picked a lot of fun types.

Yamane: Her leavanny helps her with designing and sewing outfits..what else could a fashion designer want?

BONUS:

Habiki: Dog trainer? Fill his team up with dogs/dog based Pokemon! Only good with dog pokemon

Tsubasa: Whimsicott while cute is said to be a massive prankster like Tsubasa who always wanted one, but wasn't allowed to for the longest time. Since living with her uncle though..now she trained one to help her with pranks.

Rei: She has a slyveon and Wgglytuff for one reason, to keep her cute persona going as those are some of the cutest, yet threatening pokemon around. Though her true favorites are naturally poison type pokemon, but doesnt parade them around as they aren't 'cute'.

[vitaman-b]

infodump to me bestie . about anything . go go go

The owl house is a disney cartoon that is directed/created by dana terrace, who has a tumblr and twitter and maybe other socials!! the general premise is that Luz, the protagonist, is a human 14 year old girl. She’s a bit of a oddball, though, causing ruckuses all around and isnt all that popular with her classmates, especially since some of her stunts turn a bit scary, sometimes to the point of harm. at the stsrt of the show, we find her in the principals office due to her bringing in live snakes for a book report, that escaped and attacked other students. her mother proposes, due to how much this genersl stuff happens at school, that she goes to a summer canp thsts meant to… calm her down, and make her think inside the box. Luz is bummed out by this, but is set up to go anyways. She throws a book from her favourite book series, The Good Witch Azura, into the trash. That book is then taken by a strange owl, which luz follows in pursuit to try to get her book back. This leads her into a portal, which leads her into the demon realm.

The demon realm, otherwise referred to as the boiling isles, is a realm containing demons, witches, and other crestures that cant be found on earth. The tales of earth originate from a bit of the demon realm leaking into the human realm. The boiling isles is a land atop the dead body of a extremely large titan. You can see many of the bones of the titan towering above the isles. It is unknown if any other similar places exist in the demon realm. Witches are the main species you need to know about, they are human like, alot of them being almos the exact same as humans with pointed ears, though there are exceptions. Witches can cast spells, usually through the use of a spell circle. They do this through a sac attached to their heart, that lets them cast thier magic.

The boiling isles lives under Belos’s rule. Belos is the ruler of the area, the emperor of it. He rules with a iron fist, arresting people for the dumbest of things, such as writing fanficti9n anout food fslling in love. The most important rule he has to the story revolves around the coven system. To explain, before Belos became emperor, witches were wild. These were called the savage ages, and it was a dark era. Belos came along, and claimed that he could speak to the titan. the witches, desperate at this point, let him lead. Belos, with his rule, created the coven system. Magic was divided between 9 main covens, beastkeeping, bard, plant, abomination, illusions, construction, healing, oracle, and potions. There are smaller covens, though, but these are the ones that you’ll need to know, along with the highest ranking coven, the emperors coven.

Covens limit the amount of magic you use once you join one, they do this through little tattoo like things, that physically restrain you from doing magic outside of your coven, its unknown if this applies for smaller covens, like the artist one, but i assume not since its never mentioned wnd thwt would be kinda stupid. The exception to this is the emperors coven, the empoers coven consists of the most strongest of witches, and serves directly under emperor belos. It is the only known coven that can practice all forms of magic.

Some people try to escape this system, though. Their called wild witches, and their frowned upon and being one is against the law. All should be tracked down. One of these wild witches is Edalyn Clawthorne, or Eda, for short. Eda refuses to follow the coven ssytem, and overall is a scammer and doesnt follow the wall. She is accompanied by her allies king and hooty. King is a dog like creature with a skull for a head, he believes that he’s the king of all demons but… he’s a little too small and cute to make anyone actually believe him. Hooty is a owl tube. And the entire house eda lives in. Dont question it.

Luz stumbles through the portal, which just so happens to belong to eda. Owlbert, the owl, brings all the trash collected, including lux’s book, to eda, and eda deciees that the book isnt valueable and shojld be burned. Luz is not happy, and steals it back before realizing the portal isnt there anymore. She runs out behind the tent, in which is behind Eda’s stand. Eda finds her, and the two, after Luz helps Eda earn some cash with her knowledge of human tech and has to be rescued when the emperors covens comes to arrest efs along side her, decide that in order for luz to be able to get home, she needs to do something for eda first.

Eda wanrs Luz to help her sneak into the Conformatorium, a prision facility for those deemed unfit for society, to retrieve kings crown. Luz agrees, and after some fumbling, Luz realizes that the prisoners there are innocent, and just weird. The group of Eda, King, And Luz dont manage to get back King’s crown, but they do manage to escape, and free the innocent prisoners while doing so. Eda keeps her side of the deal, opening the portal for Luz to go back to earth, but Luz decides against it, wanting to stay in the boiling isles and learn magic under Eda instead of going home and to the summer camp, Eda agrees, and as such, the show kicks off

Anyways yeah theres a ramble about some of the worldbuilding and episode 1 of the owl house. bye.

[frangipanilove]

TRUNK RESURRECTION; PART 2

In part 1 of the Trunk Resurrection post I discussed how TPTB are careful to take any oppertunity to make creative choises that points to TRUNKS is any shape, form or fashion. Car trunks and tree trunks. Human torsos or elephant trunks, it doesnt matter. If it’s a trunk, it can be used by TPTB to say something about TRUNK symbolism.

In Part 2 I’m going to try to explain why this is so important for TD.

ETA: here’s a link to Part 1:

https://frangipanilove.tumblr.com/post/611940721067474944/trunk-resurrection-part-one

I’ve already mentioned that many of us, myself included, believe that after “Coda”, a situation somehow arose,  where TF had to leave Beth behind. It wasn’t by choise, we imagine that it was a matter of survival. The general consensus is that they were surprised by a massive horde, and couldn’t get away fast enough. They had to leave Beth in order to survive themselves, and they put her in the trunk of a car to protect her from getting eaten by the walker horde.

Like I mentioned in part 1, when Beth and Daryl hid from the horde in the trunk of a car in 4x12 “Still”, it was a forshadow of how she’d later be hid in the trunk of a car to avoid getting eaten. And similarly; when we watched the sequence of the abandoned cars from 5x10 “Them”, it served as a callback to events that happened off camera in those missing 17 days.

In “Them”, we watched Maggie find a car with a locked trunk. She located the keys and got it opened, and inside she of course found a beautiful, tragic figure. TPTB at one point confirmed that the Trunk Walker was supposed to represent Beth, and it’s one of the most haunting scenes of the entire series in my opinion.

And as I explained in Part 1 of this post, there is no shortage of exemples where TPTB use every trick in the book to bring attention to a trunk in some shape or form.

In Part 2 I’m going to analyse the symbolism around about seven specific instances where CARS and TRUNKS were front and center, both in a symbolical sense as well as in a literal sense.

And I’ll start with Officer Licari’s Dodge Magnum.

TRUNK RESURRECTION 1: OFFICER LICARI’S DODGE MAGNUM: THE ORIGINAL BLUE TRUNK



The reason I call this a Blue Trunk doesn’t have much to do with the actual color of the car, even though it’s dark blue or maybe back. When I say BLUE TRUNK, it has to do with the fact that it’s a car that belonged to the Grady cops, specifically it belonged to Officer Licari. Therefore, it’s a “Blue Trunk”.

The Blue Clues ultimately points to some sort of police reference. Because Beth at one point wore the Sheriff's hat and was named «The New Sheriff In Town», she’s a part of the Blue Clues. In fact, you could probably say she’s in the center of it.

But there are also other police officers worth taking notice of, and like I said,  Grady cop Licari is one of them. I’m going to explain why shortly, but first let’s revisit a scene from 5x15 «Try». Daryl and Aaron try to catch Buttons The Horse, but they fail miserably. Buttons falls prey to a walker horde, and gets eaten in the most gruesome way. Daryl and Aaron can only watch in horror.

However, as they were trying to save Buttons, TPTB served us up a few very suspicious scenes, such as the one where Aaron trips over a ram (!) that’s laying on top of a walker. If that doesn't seem super random to you, then I don't know what will. And it gets crazier. The walker manages to grab a hold of Aarons foot, almost managing to bite it, but fortunately, Daryl comes to the rescue. And Aaron gets free.




Now, a few things about this scene. I will get to the foot/boot part of it later. It’s obviously something we’ve seen time after time, season after season, and I believe I have a pretty decent interpretation of the foot/boot symbolism. But first things first.

That ram struck me as possibly the pinnacle of randomness! Even for a show that likes to put random details into random places, the ram from 5x15 was just too wild to not be significant. You just KNOW it hides massive clues.

And it did.

If you remember back to 5x7 «Crossed», we saw a close-up of the back of Licari’s Dodge Magnum as Rick chased after Officer Bob.

And there it was! The logo of the Dodge car brand is a ram! Their signature model is even called Dodge Ram!

The logo specifically sits on the back of the car, on the trunk, you could procably say, even if its not called that of this particular car. The whole sequence with the walker trapped under a ram that grabs Aaron’s foot, specifically points to the back of Officer Licari’s car.

That’s not the only suspicious thing about that car, @twdmusicboxmystery​ has written several posts about the cars at Grady, their licence plates and other weird coincidences.

https://twdmusicboxmystery.tumblr.com/post/127651055999/getkath-twdmusicboxmystery-the-foreshadowing

https://twdmusicboxmystery.tumblr.com/post/142791336629/the-aftermath-of-grady-and-evidence-for-it

Also, in 5x7 «Crossed, Sasha and Tyreese actually discussed Sasha’s sorrow over losing Bob right in front of the trunk/back of Licari’s Dodge Magnum. In fact, it is not entirely unrealistic to speculate that if Beth was left in the trunk of a car, it could actually be that she was left in this specific car, Officer Licari’s Dodge Magnum.

TRUNK RESURRECTION 2: THE JEEP CHEROKEE FROM 6X6 «ALWAYS ACCOUNTABLE»

In 10A, we watched a scene where Carol and Daryl were throwing acorns on a can. Carol found a «double-capper», and gave it to Daryl for luck. And look, I’m trying to stay out of ship wars. I’m a Bethyler and a Carol fan simultaneously, and while I’m aware that these acorn scenes have become significant for C@rylers, I respectfully want to offer my interpretation of it. It involves Beth (no surprise there). It also ties into the tree/three/trunk symbolism. I’ll explain how below.

Remember back to s2. Sophia was missing, and Daryl refused to give up on finding her alive. He took Andrea out to search for her in the woods, and while they were walking, he shared a story from his childhood. As a child, he lived under tremendous parental neglect. His father was gone, partying with some waitress, and Merle was doing another stint in juvie.

Daryl somehow got lost in the woods, and was gone for nine days before he found his way back. And he was fine, so in Daryl’s mind there was no reason Sophia couldn't also be fine. The only injury he sustained during those nine days was a rash due to wiping his ass with Poison Oak.

The interesting thing with this scene is that it’s the first time we get an «oak» reference. We get it in combination with a «missing/lost/gone girl reference, and interestingly we also get it in combination with an «ass» reference (Toilet Paper Theory, but that’s a post for a different day). What we actually can take from this, is that the acorn as a symbol is synonymous with the Cherokee Rose from season 2.

Remember the legend of the Trail Of Tears. The Cherokee Rose grew where the tears of the mothers had fallen, to provide «faith and hope» to people who had lost their loved ones. Daryl gave Carol a Cherokee Rose, sitting in a beer bottle, to offer her “hope and faith” that they’d find Sophia. Let’s break down the different parts of the symbolism here. The Cherokee Rose. The beer bottle. The Poison Oak. The acorn.

Acorns grow on Oak trees, so obviously they are synonymous. The beer bottle represents the beer/bear symbolism, which points to Beth through the Ursa Major/Ursa Menor symbolism (or the Big and Little Dipper if you will). I’ve talked a lot about that in several other posts.

In 6x6 «Always Accountable», we saw a Cherokee Rose growing on the back of a mossy walker. Daryl was able to kill it, and perhaps the sight of the Cherokee Rose inspired him to do the right thing by returning the insulin to Tina, Dwight and Sherry.

And it was an amazing thing to see another Cherokee Rose so long after the first one, and here's how we can tell that it is about Beth; it’s about hope and faith in that one day you’ll once again see your missing loved ones that you’ve lost along the way.

Both Sophia and Beth are part of «the missing girl» theme. We know what ultimately happened to Sophia, but we never saw what ultimately happened to Beth. The Cherokee Rose from 6x6 «AA» is as much a beacon of hope to us, the audience, as it is to Daryl.

But what most people don’t realize, is that there was a second Cherokee reference in that episode. Not a Cherokee Rose, but a Jeep Cherokee! And it ties right into the Trunk Theory. At one point we see Sasha and Abraham crouching besides a car, having a discussion on Daryl’s whereabouts. Their choice of words are important in order to properly understand this scene, pay close attention! Abraham says he believes that Daryl has abandoned them, because that’s what he did earlier in the episode. Sasha argues that he came BACK. He RETURNED!

It’s important that they’re having this particular conversation in itself, but the real significance is WHERE they’re having it: Besides the Jeep Cherokee!

The Cherokee Rose symbol was always there to give hope and faith to people who had lost loved ones. It’s not some token of love between Daryl And Carol. It’s something that represents hope and faith after having lost people. And in this particular case, the «hope» presents itself as «the trunk of a car»! It ties right into Team Delusional’s theories of Beth somehow surviving in relation to the trunk of a car. It represents “resurrection”!

So the initial Cherokee Rose in a beer bottle from s2 was always about Sophia and the missing/lost/gone girl symbolism, the Cherokee Rose on the walker’s back from 6x6 «AA» was about Beth, and we know that because of the convo Abe and Sasha has having while sitting next to it. They talk about getting left behind, about Daryl coming back, RETURNING, and finally, we see how Abe asks how they are gonna find Daryl. Sasha replies that they're not! They're gonna let Daryl find them. Then she plants her BOOT in the mud, the camera lingers on it for a moment. Then she says «Daryl is a tracker», they’re gonna let him track them down. And we see her boot print in the mud. I’ll talk more about that boot print later.

And we do know that the Trunk Survival theme applies specifically to Beth, because we did see her hide in a trunk with Daryl in «Still». We also saw a Beth-walker in the trunk of a car in 5x10 “Them», that was confirmed by TPTB to represent Beth. The “trunk theme” is inextricably linked to Beth. And here we also see it along with a Cherokee Rose and a Jeep Cherokee. And Sasha’s boot!

As far as the Cherokee Rose as a symbol is concerned, remember that Daryl placed a Cherokee Rose on Carol’s (EMPTY) grave back in season 3. Daryl believed that Carol was dead, lost somewhere in the tombs of the prison.

From a symbolism standpoint, the important thing is that the Cherokee Rose delivered on its symbolical promise. Its purpose is to provide faith and hope for people who has lost loved ones. In the case of Carol from s3, she was eventually found alive. And that’s why the Cherokee Rose is an important symbol for TD. Thats why it’s interesting that there was a Cherokee Rose in 6x6 “AA”, and that a Jeep Cherokee was involved in a scene where Abe and Sasha were talking about “being left behind”. And ultimatly, when Sasha placed her bootprint in the mud next to the car, it was a direct reference to the trunk/baggage compartment of the car! I will explain the boot/trunk connection shortly, but keep it in mind until then!

And the acorns? They represent Daryls convo with Andrea from s2, when they were out searching for a missing/lost/gone girl. Daryl’s Poison Oak story is evidence  that surviving being «lost»  truly is possible! When Carol gives Daryl the «double-capper acorn» in «Bonds», they’ve just had a conversation about Connie. And Now Connie (and Magna) is the Missing Girl, but most likely she’ll be OK. No way to tell for sure, because the symbolism is about being lost/missing/gone. Daryl was lost as a child and he turned out fine. Sophia resurfaced as a walker, but she resurfaced. Carol was found alive when she went missing in the tombs. Henry became a beheaded walker, but at least he wasn’t lost, never to be seen again. We don’t know yet what will happen to Connie, and Beth is still missing. But the acorns are synonymous with the Cherokee Rose, and represents «Hope and Faith.

TRUNK RESURRECTION 3: SILVER WING/MERLE HAGGARD In 5x4 «Slabtown» we heard Dr. Edwards say that he’d found a patient under a bridge along with a Merle Haggard tape and two packets of Bisquick. Then, in 6x10 «The Next World» we see two posters of a fictional brand of cigarettes; «Silver Wings».

«Silver Wings» is a well known Merle Haggard song, and therefore it’s natural to think of the two posters as Merle Haggard references, and that they tie into the MH reference from «Slabtown».

(Also, there was another Merle Haggard song, «Mama Tried»  being played in FTWD 4x2 «Another Day At The Diamond», and I’ll do a separate post on that one day. Hopefully.)

6x10 starts off with Daryl and Rick leaving ASZ to go on a scavenging mission, hoping to score some food, (and toothpaste, on Michonne’s request). They find a food truck in a Sorghum barn, but they also find a Jesus. Not Christ, but Paul Rovia. But for symbolism purposes, that works wonderfully.

As they leave ASZ, TPTB give us an excellent shot of the back of the car they’re driving. It’s definitely a Chrysler. We see the back of the car a few times, we also see how they stop and reverse the car, driving back into our view. An interesting creative choice by TPTB, where everything is about the back of the Chrysler. Or the trunk...

Why am I going on about the back of this particular Chrysler? Because the logo of the Chrysler brand cars are affectionately called «Silver Wings»...

And the logos are typically located on the back of the car, such as in this shot from 6x10:

We see the silver wings on the trunk of the car.

Also worth mentioning is that due to unforeseen events involving meeting Jesus, Jesus strealing their food truck, and other complications, the Chrysler got left behind. They planned to go back for it later, but it’s certainly interesting what type of car they eventually chose to ride back to ASZ in, with an unconscious Jesus in the back seat. According to the page walkingdead.fandom.com they chose to return to ASZ in a Jeep Cherokee..

A Jeep Cherokee....with Jesus in the backseat...

Oh, and in Part 1 I explained how the symbol “tree” in certain ways refers to the Cross of Christ, and therefore ultimately means “resurrection”. The symbol “tree” is of course also synonymous with the symbol “trunk”, both in the sense of “tree trunk” and in the sense of “car trunk”. We see an interesting illustration of that in 6x10, when Daryl says he rather would’ve left Jesus (Paul Rovia, not Christ) up in a tree, than bringing him home to ASZ. That is literally TPTB confirming the tree = cross connection. “Jesus up in a tree” is a TWD translation for “Cross of Christ”. And by confirming the tree = cross connection, they are at the same time confirming the trunk = resurrection part of the equation. And now is a good time to remind y’all of how Beth is a Christ figure!

TRUNK RESURRECTION 4: RICHONNE’S ROMANTIC ROADTRIP IN 7X12 «SAY YES»

In 7x12 «Say Yes», Rick and Michonne are out scavenging for guns. They come across an overrun carnival, and it is here they have the peculiar «Something serious happened here, these are serious rounds, there might be serious guns here» convo.

In an attempt to get guns off of zombified soldiers, they decide to use a car. And here is where symbolism galore ensues. First, Rick tries to remove a soldier-walker that’s jammed through the windshield. Grabbing his foot, his whole boot with foot comes off.

Later, when they try to push the car to where they’d ideally want it, Michonne must suddenly seek shelter from a walker accidentally shooting around him at random. She dives into the trunk of the car for protection, and as such survives the random bullets.

I’m not the first to point out this sequence. It was always obvious to TD that this was symbolical, and TD has always interpreted it as a representation of how things went down post-Coda. They eventually get out through the sunroof. I don’t have much to add to it, except one thing: the meaning of all the weird foot/boot references we’ve had over the years. Hang on, I’ll get to that in a minute...

TRUNK RESURRECTION 5: THE GREEN JAGUAR FROM 8X11

In my «Morningstar» post, I elaborated on episode 10x11 a little, and how tremendously important I expect it to be for symbolism reasons.

https://frangipanilove.tumblr.com/post/190946439370/episode-10x11-morningstar-sirius-the-star-that

(At the time of posting this, I haven’t actually watched it yet, as TWD airs Monday nights here, and it’s still only early afternoon.)

One of the reasons I expect it to be huge on Sirius symbolism, is that Noah’s t-shirt, with the “one one” text, kind of pointed towards it. And while it primarily pointed towards 8x2 and the Blue Heron painting, there was a huge symbolical takeaway from 8x11 as well. I didn’t know the full magnitude of the symbolism back then, but it’s becoming increasingly clear what an important episode 8x11 was.

It has perhaps gone somewhat under the radar, the symbolism in it is the kind that is slowly starting to shine as the seasons progress and we’re given a larger part of the picture.

We remember how Dr. Carson and FG escaped from the Sanctuary, and FG was in a less than stellar condition. He suffered from some kind of infection, and Dr. Carson was seriously concerned that he’d maybe end up loosing his eyesight. They find this dilapidated cabin in the woods, and go in searching for antibiotics.

Which they find, so FG only loses one eye, and this is how he becomes a Sirius figure.

Episode 8x11 turned out to be a virtual treasure trove of symbolism. The radio equipment (a Sirius reference due to the connotation to Sirius Satellite Radio), the «Sirius piggy-bank» parallel to the Sirius piggyback from «Alone». I talked about these things in in my recent post.

But there’s more.

In the opening minutes of the episode, we watch a walker, stuck in an animal trap, clawing his way towards the broken down car in which FG and Dr. Carson are sitting.

This episode is symbolism galore from the get-go. Guess what kind of car they’re driving?

A green Jaguar. And during the opening minutes we view the car from the walker’s point of view, and what we see, is the trunk!

Jaguars are cats, remember, and cats have nine lives. That’s the symbolic takeaway. The trunk represents survival through the nine lives symbolism. The trunk represents the way many of us believes Beth most likely survived. She was put in a trunk, which protected her from the approaching walker horde. When they went back to get her, she was «just gone». And this episode, 8x11, is filled to the brim with Beth-specific survival symbolism.

There’s the radio equipment, representing Sirius The Dog Star, the star that disappears from the night sky for some time but returns before dawn.

There’s the Sirius piggy-bank.

There’s the ham radio references (a reference to violet the pig, explained in more detail here:

https://frangipanilove.tumblr.com/post/183736635005/sirius-and-the-north-star-or-pigs-feet-and-frosty

There’s a suspicious clock! I’ve discussed it with fellow theorists, and they’ve come up with a few great interpretations. However I do feel like its significant that the hands of the clock points towards the 6 and the 3, which could indicate that it’s a reference to Glenns death fake out episode 6x3.

The clock appears as they find the antibiotics thas FG needs, and Dr. Carson says “This man saved your life!”, referring to the dead man that presumably lived there before. The potential 6x3 reference of the clock and Dr. Carsons statement suggests that the symbolic takeaway is something to do with survival.

And this is all related to Beth because she’s in the center of the Sirius symbolism!

A 6:30 clock was pivotal in Noah’s t-shirt theory, which ultimately pointed towards 8x2 (when we found the Blue Heron painting), but because of the «one one» text written on Noah’s T-shirt, I was aware that it could potentially also point towards 8x11. You could say there’s a 6x3 reference in both ends of the Noah's t-shirt theory. There’s a  6x3 reference in the episode that introduces the theory, and there’s a 6x3 reference in the episode that fulfills and bookends the theory.

There’s even a couple of «serious/Sirius» mentions. They’re sitting on the trunk of the green Jaguar while Dr. Carson examines FG’s eyesight. Dr. Carson is “Siriusly” worried.

We've seen Jadis paint a blue cat. Jaguars are cats. Cats have nine lives. We’ve also seen her sculpt a large replica of the Jaguar logo cat. There are plenty of blue clues around Jadis, and Jadis/Anne was the one who ultimately saved Rick. And the symbolism around Rick is symbolism we also see around Beth, so if Rick is alive, so is Beth.

The fact that the Jaguar is green just ties even closer to Beth, because her last name is Greene! And Beth is part of the “blue” symbolism because “blue” ultimately refers to police. Beth is part of that because she’s the New Sheriff In Town.

Ultimately, this episode tells us that the Sirius symbolism is still in play because FG becomes a one-eyed Sirius figure. It confirms that “radio” still is a Sirius symbol, there’s a Sirius mention as FG and Dr. Carson are sitting on the trunk of the Jaguar (”Sirius” reference in combination with “nine lives” reference). There are also plenty of references to «Alone», through» the animal trap callbacks. And keep in mind; Beth got her boot caught in an animal trap in «Alone». Dr. Carson got his foot caught in an animal trap in 8x11. Il’l get to the “boot” symbolism shortly, it’s important, so keep it in mind.

TRUNK RESURRECTION 6: THE FORD MUSTANG ON THE HIGHWAY IN S2

When Sophia went missing 2x1,  they prepared some foods and drinks for her on the hood of a Ford Mustang in case she made it back after they’d moved on to the Greene Farm.


She didn’t come back, but if she had, she would have found everything she needed to survive, along with a sign saying «we’ll come back every day». If she’d made her way back there, she likely would’ve survived. That Ford Mustang represented her way to survival. It was a «missing girl survival-kit». Unfortunately Sophia didn’t survive, but the Ford Mustang represents the first time we see the entanglement between the “horse” symbolism, the “car/trunk” symbolism and the “missing girl” symbolism.

Symbolically, there are a couple of interesting things happening here simultaneously. 
It’s a car, and it has a trunk, so there’s that. 
The name of the car, «Mustang», refers to a species of wild horses, that are known to be fast, smart and difficult to catch.


It’s a yellow car. Remember Beth’s yellow polo shirt, that covered her upper body/trunk? A very weird sentence to write, but 
I explained in Part 1 that TPTB use anything that has a connotation to the word “trunk”, also the human torso/trunk.

Remember the keychain from 5x10, the one that has a yellow seahorse on it? It’s a reference to Sophias “survival kit-car”,  the yellow Ford Mustang
. It’s a reference to Buttons  The Horse from 5x15 that died horribly. However, there was a ram involved that scene, and symbolically the ram ties Buttons to Sophia’s survival kit-car, via the trunk of Officer Licari’s Dodge Magnum.

When Buttons The Horse died, symbolically it’s ok because the ram points to the trunk of Licari’s Dodge Magnum, and trunks ultimately symbolize resurrection.
 “Horse” symbolism is tied to the “resurrection” symbolism through the “trunk” symbolism. It’s complex because it’s so intertwined, but that is how it works. And speaking of horses; remember this sign?

Right next to it, Morgan found a horse!

This all calls back to the yellow Ford Mustang that was equipped to help Sophia survive, and to the yellow seahorse keychain in the shape of a “3″, that eventually unlocked the trunk from 5x10 “Them”. The message for us is one of “survival”, or “resurrection”.

TRUNK RESURRECTION 7: THE JEEP CHEROKEE FROM «CODA» AND “SLABTOWN”.

Because yes! There actually was a Jeep Cherokee in 5x8 «Coda» as well! We didn’t really see it much, it was basically just sitting there in the parking lot outside Grady the whole time. There was that one scene in «Slabtown», when Beth and Noah almost succeeded in escaping. Beth is running full speed towards freedom, then slows to make sure that Noah is following her, and as she slows, we get a glimpse of this black Jeep Cherokee with a white cross on the back window, sitting next to Licari’s Dodge Magnum.

That Jeep Cherokee was there during «Coda» as well, and whether or not it is the actual car they left her in, it is undoubtedly a reference to the Cherokee Rose in the beer bottle from season 2, the one that symbolized “hope and faith”in the search for Sophia. It was a reference to Carol’s EMPTY grave from season 3, and because we see another Cherokee Rose in 6x6 «AA», along with another Jeep Cherokee, we can assume that the Jeep Cherokee from «Slabtown» and «Coda» are also there to provide faith and hope!

We can see it in the bottom left corner of this heartbreaking shot that ended the episode.

THE CONNECTION BETWEEN “BOOTS”, “PIKES” AND “TRUNKS”

In the “Tree Trunk Theory”,  I’ve explained why the words «cross» and «tree» are so intertwined. As I mentioned, it originates from the earliest written versions of the New Testament, and the fact that they were written in Greek. They used mainly two words for “cross”. One was the greek word for “tree” (and by extension “wood”), and another word they used was was «stavros» which literally translates to «pike»! “Wooden pike”.

Isn’t that just fascinating? While we know absolutely nothing about where Henry was buried, we know that the pike where his head was found has become his «grave marker», his “cross”. Not in a literal sense, but that’s what the pike represents to everyone. To us, the audience, and to Carol and the rest of the characters . The pikes are reminders of the gruesome killings of these innocent people.

In 10x5  something interesting took place. We saw that the border pikes had been moved, and Carol was not particularly happy about it. She was not on her best behavior. She was reckless and egotistical, something which almost caused her to step right into a bear trap.

It was a big, powerful trap. I could have taken her foot off, but fotunately Daryl came to her rescue.

Now, I’ve written plenty on why Bear symbolism is linked to Beth (it’s through the Ursa Major/Menor star constellations, or as you say in North America, the Big and Little Dipper). Also, I’m sure every member of TD remembers vividly how Beth got her ankle caught in a smaller animal trap in 4x13 «Alone». And I'm sure every member of TD took notice of the bear trap in 10x5. We all recognized it as a Beth symbol.

So what did Daryl do, after saving Carol from getting her foot hacked off by the bear trap?

He set off the trap by putting the pike through it! The wooden pike, the pike that is a symbolism synonym for «cross»! The wooden pike that acts as a grave marker for Beth-Proxy Extraordinarie; Henry.

And here comes the juicy part.

In US English, it’s normal to refer to the rear storage compartment of a car as «the trunk»

However, in other parts of the English speaking world, such as for instance the UK and Australia, the appropriate term for the baggage compartment of a car is actually….

The «BOOT»!

With that in mind, think back to some of the numerous foot/boot/dismembered limb symbolism we’ve seen so consistently over the years on TWD and even FTWD. I’ve mentioned a fair few of the exemples in this two-part post, but there are of course too many to recount.

Think of Beth getting her BOOT caught in the animal trap in 4x13 «Alone». Think about Rick pulling off the foot (with the BOOT) of the soldier in 7x12, and Michonne jumping into the trunk to escape the walkers. Think of Jadis stripping Rick naked save for his boxers/trunks, and then stealing his BOOTS. Then think of Daryl, setting off the bear trap around the pike that represents the Cross of Christ, that represents death and resurrection. Think back to «Crossed», when FG escaped his church and got his BOOT pierced by a nail! He was symbolically crucified in that scene. It was a stigmata reference! On the wall behind him there was written «You'll burn for this», which in terms of plot referred to how he saved himself at the expense of his parish. But on a symbolical level, that marked FG as a future Sirius figure (burn/fire is a Sirius symbol because Sirius means «scorching/glowing»). And sure enough, in 8x11, an episode that was foreshadowed by Noah's t-shirt, FG lost his eyesight on one eye, making him a Sirius figure like the one-eyed dog from «Alone» and the «dog with a star in one eye» from Robert Frost’s poems.

Take a look at the “boot” symbolism we’ve seen over the years with fresh eyes, imagine what a scene means if the feet/shoes/boots we see are references to the trunk that Beth was placed in, the trunk that means “resurrection”, the trunk that is synonomous with “tree trunk” and therefore “cross”, as in “The Cross Of Christ”.

Need more evidence? Here we have a scene from “Consumed”, where Carol has an unfortunate encounter with a 1995 Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon. It’s a car that has wooden panels on the sides, and they’re popularily called “Woody Wagons”. After she has been run over by the Grady cops, they place her on a gurney and puts her....in the back of the car! The wood reference of a Woody Wagon represents the wood/tree/cross and therefore “resurrection”. The back of the car, where Carol was placed, of course represents “the trunk”. This whole scene represents how even a dramatic accident like Carol’s can end with “resurrection”, if the proper symbolism is applied.

And finally there’s this:

This is of course Morgan, from 5x1 “No Sanctuary”. I’m sure it’s obvious where I’m going with this. It’s a tree. With an X (a cross). We actually see...guess how many...yes, three (3) tree crosses.

We also see Morgan in 5x8 “Coda”, literally seconds after we’ve watched Beth “die”. And we also see the same X (cross) on the threes in “Coda”.

It is resurrection symbolism on top of resurrection symbolism.

[rhodesmystery]

Omgg I have so many questions abt Natasha but to begin with - 7,8, 16. 27 because I was always curious about her magic. And 29 - about that breakup... Sorry if it's too much and take as much time as you need, tbh I'd like to send you the whole list haha 🌸

YOU ARE TOO KIND and I am VERY embarrassed but thank you SO MUCH!!!!!!

7. Socioeconomic background – and how it affects their behaviour.

So, her family is pretty well off. Both sides. Her father’s side has sketchy kind of results of money, as no one can confirm or deny if they’re tied up with illegal business but they’re also involved with like advertising and music so who honestly knows. Natasha doesn’t question it, obviously, also because like the more she spends away from her dad and that home, it’s just not really her problem? At least that’s how she sees it (unfortunately). Does make travel easier for her though.

As for her mother’s side, the Urquhart family does well on their own, even without connections to other pureblood/halfblood families through marriages. The Urquhart family raises and trains Sainglens - which are slightly smaller Abraxans, with solid black coats similar to Friesians (I made them up for something ages ago but am still fond of them so they stay even though the idea doesnt count anymore lol). Even with like generous gifts from her grandparents on holidays and birthdays, Natasha was very comfortable.

In saying all that, it’s really obvious it does skew her kind of. Understanding. Of everything. Natasha can catch herself a lot before saying anything but sometimes it gets out. She can buy gifts, and eats well, dresses nice, in both muggle and wizard society. Can casually buy Charlie a new wand. She’s not quite that level of “what does one banana cost? $10?” but there are times when yeah, she lets the ball drop, and there’s a bit of ire. Money doesn’t buy her happiness, though. Aquila, her uncle, at least encourages regular donations and activities here and there to keep her grounded.

8. Their family house – how does it look like? What’s the interior like, is there garden outside? Trinkets, furniture, books? 

The Rhodes family home consists of an apartment in Manhattan, that’s honestly a little isolating and cold, plus the family manor that’s outside the city limits, that is older than most people, and makes Natasha feel out of sorts. Both of her rooms in those places are actually surprisingly sparse, with the bare minimum of clothes, maybe a few plants, blue sheets on her bed. The walls have clear discolouration from posters being taken down, and some chips in the paint because of blutack. 

The Urquhart manor is pretty much her home. Her room is bright yellow and open windows with a squishy old armchair in the corner that belonged to her great great grandmother. There’s a few bookcases shoved up against the walls, the red wood clashing with the white vanity sitting next to it, that’s covered in beaded jewellery and stickers and photos that are laughing and dancing. There’s a footstool that Natasha is pretty sure walks on it’s on when she’s not looking, and she’s got her posters there now, papering one whole wall. Stuff is hanging and there’s paper cranes flying around her ceiling and there’s so many little things to find, from the crystal ball to the little dog figurine to several brooms and exactly twelve pairs of odd socks lying on the ground.

16. What’s their taste like re: interior design, art, gadgets? If they have (had) money - antiques or modern design? Ikea or whatever? Art collecting, fashion, wine? Pokemon cards in the 90s? 

Natasha is honestly pretty messy havoc with making things work if only because they have to exist. Her mother’s insistence on having minimalism didn’t take, because surprisingly it was her father who encouraged her to pick up and collect things, so she’s very fond of picking up rocks and feathers. As far as collecting goes… clothes, definitely. And magazines. Lots and lots of magazines. 

27.  MC’s magic – white, black or some shades of grey? Are they mainstream or do they push the envelope with niche stuff? Are they showy or subtle, systems oriented or intuitive? What’s their strong and weak points? Can they go wandless or wordless? Do they do tarot, divination or alchemy? NECROMANCY???

For the most part, Natasha has the white magic, except when its something like red sparks, of course. Very controlled and tight, however, with not overly large brushstrokes (thanks, Lyra). It works well for her, at least, because she isn’t throwing heaps of energy into her work either, so it gives her a little more stamina to work with too. Maybe it has her looking like she isn’t trying, which can be a serious downside when Natasha is seriously trying to duel, but people take it as her being slack.

Natasha likes the mainstream stuff, don’t get her wrong, but she completely has looked into other magics available. Whilst she’s not the most creative, or at least, not the most dedicated to creating, there have been a few spells made by her. Mostly in the form of waypoint stuff, just to help friends when exploring. Niche stuff that’s kind of whispered about, and she has delved into fancy hexes and jinxes that are frowned upon, especially some that were made by people unknown and just passed down through the years. Those are the showier magics though, the flashy bangs and noises that she gets into when she lets herself go. Which is why they’re very rare for her to perform, not because she can’t, but Natasha just hears her mother’s voice and disapproval.

She’s a strong dueller, by a long shot, with nice footwork and a good centre of balance. But she fights too tightly to her core. It can lead to her being exposed, especially if there is someone to defend. Suddenly having to throw out her barriers isn’t a strong suit, as Natasha has a long line of learning to defend number one, first. Not anyone else. 

There are some things she can do wordlessly, but they’re more lower level charms. As for being wandless, she can’t do it. At all. Natasha relies on her wand like crazy as that focal point. If anything, the only thing she could potentially do wandless is legilimency, but that’s a stretch. I’ve said before that if someone is open with strong emotions, she can skim them, especially with eye contact. But when it’s the spell and actually directed vocally, it’s a helluva lot stronger. And divination runs through her blood. She jokingly makes up stuff to freak out Trelawny, but sometimes she’s honestly not wrong. On certain days it’s a sneaking suspicion. On others, a heavy dream that plays out part by part. Natasha tells only her great great grandmother, and no one else. 

Don’t ask her to do potions. She’s absolutely shite at it. Charms and transfigurations are her strongest points, with defence against the dark arts pulling up the rear.  

29. MC’s close people dynamics – it can be anything from aromantic soulmates to romantic dynamics, the special people for your MC and how these relationships change over time? 

Bill is her life long nonromantic partner. Nothing will ever break them up. Ever. At one point, they joked about if they weren’t married by 30, they’d marry each other for tax benefits. Natasha is largely influenced by Bill, and doesn’t know who she would be without him. Even when Natasha seems to have disappeared from the world for a time, Bill always receives letters, updates. They keep in constant, almost regular, contact, and their letters are pages long, so that neither of them miss out on anything. 

Penny is a very solid point of origin for Natasha. It might’ve taken a while for them to get to that point, but Penny is a hallmark in the history of Natasha. Since first meeting, it’s just been a solid friendship, with lots of tears and late nights and like Natasha is open with very few people, and even deeper again with others… but Penny knows her. They may mess around and Natasha might be her guinea pig for potions, but if you need to find out something about Natasha, where she is, what she’s doing? Penny. Find Penny.

Tulip is another unlikely friend. For the most part, they seem the opposites. Tulip comes across as the perfect, ambitious, conniving Slytherin, and Natasha the studious, wise, careful Ravenclaw. Tulip’s parents are law abiding, hard on everything, please follow suit. Natasha’s parents flaunt the law where they can, only encourage strictness when it comes to protecting oneself, but let Natasha grow.They have joked more than once that maybe they were switched at birth. They fit each other’s jigsaw pieces. Their rough edges match, forming a softness only they understand. They don’t really talk much, but honestly they don’t need to. 

Talbott kind of influenced a shift in Natasha though. With him, not only did she awaken her animagus form, but it helped her reconcile a lot of her internal struggles with being in Slytherin, and who she should be as a person to her parents (especially so, when her form was that of a great eagle, which honestly broke her heart a lot more than she let on). Whilst they didn’t really solidify a friendship until later in their education, Natasha treasures Talbott. There might’ve always been a sneaking suspicion, of her telling herself to leap, but she doesn’t. Not that it stops them from being friends. Natasha made sure to friend Talbott hard.

And as for Charlie… it took a lot for them to get to a point, where they finally understood each other, and there wasn’t anymore confusion and stalled conversations and awkwardness. It took them breaking up more than once, going months without speaking, then spending a whirlwind six months together, but they got there. Charlie is her best friend, confidante, lover. Natasha doesn’t bother working out the math, of how they got from point a to point b, because it would be difficult to map out, let alone make people understand. Both her and Charlie are open, just as much as they are closed. Private people, who also crave a certain sort of company. And having to go from close quarter living, to their own spaces, letting themselves breathe, really helped. Might’ve helped them get level headed about what was actually happening, and how their lives crossed over. 

[nux-morbid-art]

Sole Survivor + Relationships

I felt like rambling, original post Here. For: Max

Some get-to-know your SS questions! I came up with these as ideas for future drawings, but I also love reading stuff like this about other people’s OCs.

1. Who is their best female friend?     Piper. She likes to talk, he likes to listen. He doesnt agree with all her views, but her hard head and big personality keep him coming by whenever he’s in diamond city. It doesnt hurt that she’s always got snacks and hot coffee, either.  He adores Nat and usually has some small gift in his pocket for her. He’s wary as hell when he first runs into Piper, because she read him like a book and started trying to turn pages too fast. He lets his guard down around Nat, who is the one to point him to Valentine. He and Piper rescue Valentine together, and it plants the first seeds of doubt around the Brotherhood. 

2. Who is their best male friend?      Deacon. He doesnt exactly like D’s compulsive lying, but understands why he does it, and where the truth in him lays. Deacon talks like a fable, not to be taken literally, but get at the heart of what he means.       He also appreciates Deacon’s sense of humor, and the two have fun back-and-forth and a hundred inside jokes, much to Danse’s irritation. He’s given up asking whats so funny when the two just break out in laughter. 

3. Who is their current romantic partner(s)?      Danse! In so many ways they are opposites (Rebel v. authority) but they find their broken edges fit together nicely. The overall theme I have for them is taking care of each other and keeping each other safe, physically and mentally. 

4. What was their late spouse like?     Maria was a firecracker, a stubborn, “do no harm but take no shit” rebel girl. They grew up together, getting into trouble, sneaking into concerts, and raising hell in their neighborhood. Max holds her as a saint, a guardian angel, she guides him through the wasteland and keeps him true to himself. Tho she’s more like, “pull your head out ya ass” than ur typical idea of sainthood. 

5. Which companion is most like family?     This is hard because Max puts everyone he cares about in the “family” category. Max came from very large, very close family, so being thrown out into the wasteland completely alone was... painful. He desperately wants to feel that sort of closeness, companionship again, so he collects people.   So, Preston, Sturges, Ronnie Shaw, Maccready, Deacon, Piper, Nat, Valentine, though it takes a looooong time. 

6. Which companion are they most protective of?     Danse, naturally, but the guy can fend for himself physically. Max wont allow trespasses on his on his character, either.  2nd to that its Maccready, who in my canon is 5′5 and 90lbs soaking wet, and Max is like “who does this sassy child belong to?? Noone? He’s Mine Now” The entire reason they meet is Max accidentally eavesdropping on Mac’s business in Goodneighbor, and sees these two giant dudes hovering over Mac and just being like. That ain’t a fair fight, I dont care whats going on, u dont do people that way

7. Who is their closest confidante?     Max tells Danse everything eventually, and mostly finds himself talking to Maria when he’s alone (or thinks he is). Max isnt really one to confide in others, he doesnt like talking, and takes the most comfort from physical contact. So he’ll go to Deacon or Mac and be like ‘dude i need a hug’ but thats it. 

8. Who do they get along least well with?    He’s initially very wary of Valentine, but I don’t think I’ve found anyone that max would just straight up not like or not be at least willing to get to know better, or who would dislike him. He’s very laid back, quiet, and doesnt talk much, so its hard for new people to form an opinion of him much less dislike him. 

9. Are any companions jealous of their romantic partner?     Mac has a mostly unreciprocated crush on Max (bc the ‘flirt’ options for Mac are stuff that max would say just. being friendly.) But I mean. Mac’s probably a little gay for Danse too. 

10. Which companion would they like to spend more time with?      Piper! They have one of those Adult Friendships where most of your interactions are saying “we should hang out more!” and then never being able to because of work and life in general. They get together once or twice a month for coffee or noodles. 

11. Which companions would they play matchmaker with?       Thats outside of what Max is comfortable with. If a friend expresses interest in someone, he’s just like, go for it dude just. go. do the thing. good fuckin luck.