#they're not *bad* parents though

[anna-scribbles]

they should've been at the club(infertility treatment centers)

[littlebitofdnd]

Sandra-Lynn and Sklonda are having a "What Do We Do About Kristen" phone call as we speak

[jaytriesstrangerthings]

House and Pet Sitting

wc: 569, stranger things, steve harrington centric

They’re not bad parents. Not really, they were around most of the time and always made sure he had all his necessities when they went on their trips. Up until he was 16 and had his own license they always made sure someone stayed home with him. They paid for his gas and all the bills and they didn’t ask much of him. He’s always done his best to make them proud and once in a while they say they are. But it never feels genuine, always kinda feels like they’re following a script, like a friend said “you must be so proud of Steve,” and they had to think about whether or not they’d ever said those words to Steve.

They never hit him, he always had food, and they waited until he was 18 to cut him off. Even then he got to stay on their health insurance and they let him stay at the house rent free.

So no, they’re not bad parents. And they love him, in their own way. But sometimes it feels like he’s more of a convenience than anything else. It’s nice to have him around at the house when they’re away because he can keep the pool clean and the yard mowed and he can make sure the food doesn’t go bad and make sure their closets stay moth free.

There are worse parents. Sure there are better ones too, but there are worse parents. He should be grateful. They never hit him and they always made sure there was food, even if it was just cereal or frozen corn dogs, there was always something to eat growing up.

Yes his dad would make passive aggressive comments about his athletic performances and his eating habits, sure his mother would ask how school was going only to forget having asked and ask again. It could be worse. That’s what Steve tells himself, it could be worse.

“It could be better, though,” Robin argues as they cuddle on the living room couch one night in early summer. 

They have their own apartment now, still in Hawkins but it’s theirs and until they have a solid plan it works. His parents asked him to house sit for a weekend. They’ve been home a lot more and Steve sees them just as much as when they were constantly traveling despite being in the same town.

They need the pool taken care of and their new dog fed.

They never let Steve get a dog, they shed, and they’re loud, and they’re messy. But they have one now. A sweet border collie that sheds like nobody's business and barks at every passing squirrel and butterfly.

She’s a good dog, loves to cuddle and play and is overall very well behaved. She gets fed better food than Steve ever did, some fancy dog food that Steve would be willing to bet taste better than the frozen corn dogs his parents stocked the house with while he was growing up. It’s fine, Steve’s fine. It only bothers him a little that his dad is more aware of the dog's birthday than Steve’s.

Eddie keeps insisting that Steve should stop house sitting, especially if they aren’t going to pay or even feed him. But Steve doesn’t think he’d even interact with them if they didn’t need him from time to time. If he can’t be wanted, he’ll be needed.

[shannonsketches]

The way I will simply never recover from this page:

Vegeta's Panic and then IMMEDIATE affection for his new baby

Vegeta being excited to have a daughter

Goku assuming his wife Magic'd their children out of herself

Supreme Kai being embarrassed for Goku

Beerus getting wasted

Bulma saying she will raw dog her husband frequently and expeditiously with her whole chest, in front of god and everybody

Whis being like 'i gotchu babe 💅 but i gotta borrow ur man first or there'll be no more boning for anybody lol'

[missmolsa]

At it again with my favorite worsties!!!! Divorce when

[bolly--quinn]

I’m so curious about your headcanons of Diane, personality, her history with Rick, etc.

tbh I’ve been seeing content of Diane being “a sweet and gentle bimbo housewife with 2 braincells” and I grew tired of it…. So I thought of this!! For me I like to think that she was a cool and badass woman rather than a shy, timid woman… I also think it’s somewhat canon (according to the fandom) that she’s the breadwinner of the family (haven’t figured out her job yet) while Rick is a stay-at-home parent and takes care of Beth, also she’s intelligent!!! Not as smart as Rick though but like she’s not airhead.

What do you think ?? and what are your thoughts on Diane ? <3

I mean I knew Diane wasn't gonna be an airhead since we know Rick is attracted to power lol (like Unity says it's planning to become the universe, practically a god and Rick is like super into it so obviously Diane has to have some semblance of ambition and the ability to take charge lmao)

I'll be honest though I didn't love her depiction in Fear no mort (obvious reasons are obvious) but I did always picture her as a woman who could handle herself and is sarcastic and teasing (affectionately) and strong-willed

I actually wrote stuff in my notes app about their dynamic and made this little venn diagram about it

bonus: here's the personality traits that I think Beth gets from them

[tricoufamily]

a current day nils and a 90s college student nils who's way too intense about his internship walk into a bar

[claitea]

scarlet players please consider. ai sada leaving time capsules or something where arven can find them in the present to let him know how she was doing. to apologise for everything. to at least attempt to connect with him the only way left after all the tragedy

[lupins-hehim-pussy]

I wanna know ur Fontaine msq criticisms 👁️👁️👂I’m all ears

I'm not sure if you wanted me to talk about this secretly or publicly but! Here I go!

The TLDR: Fontaine MSQ aestheticised prison, poverty, child abuse, the justice system/court and didn't properly address any of it.

More:

Focalors/Furina has way too much of a sympathetic angle for a dictator who's lets people drown with her inaction.

Neuvillette feels Bad for sentencing some people to death/prison, but that's it. He's one of the most powerful people in Fontaine. If he felt like there are systemic injustices, I.E sending an abused Child to prison, he should be the first person to DO something about it, not just cry and be sad so the audience can be like aw, that's complex character writing isn't it? No it's not! And guilt doesn't absolve you!!!!!!! (These are stuff we deal with in OTCOJ read my fic now /j)

Meropide has children in it, both Sentenced there (Wriothesley) and BORN THERE (Lanoire), and this is just a quirk of the place. Not only that, Meropide accepts prisoners of all genders and crimes. There are abusers and abuse victims in one place. Do you know how bad that is? How much potential for crimes to happen in a place like that— oh wait, Meropide isn't under Fontaine's jurisdiction. If you are assaulted as an inmate it literally means nothing to the court.

Wriothesley had no qualifications when he took over. Depending on how long he lived on the streets, how old he was when he killed his parents, how old he was when he was first taken in by the orphanage, etc, the man might never have more than 4–5 years of formal education. Sigewinne probably had to teach him how to write reports. And do Meropide's spreadsheets. Edit because I forgot to elaborate on this one: This isn't a point brought up anywhere, which is bad, because when poverty and incarceration robs you of a proper education (and the rights to vote in many places too, too, by the way), it reduces your prospects for jobs, reduces many people's ability to get a home etc etc. Wriothesley was just, narratively, Given his position.

Meropide is an industrialized prison, and they portray this as a good thing. Prisoners are paid in coupons for their labour, and this is also portrayed as a good thing.

The One-Meal-A-Day reform was something Paimon gushed about being so great of a perk, that people might want to go to jail for food (could be interesting and reflective of systemic poverty if MHY had brains, but they don't, so I was just Pissed because essentially all Paimon wanted to say was "Prison isn't so bad, but still don't go to prison guys! Prison labour is really hard!"). By the way, in most real-world prisons they are obligated to feed you three meals a day. Because that's how much food a human needs. MHY went with one meal just so they can say "if you want to eat more, you have to work." And then the welfare meal is a goddamn gacha. So imagine you're a starving child who's too weak to work in the fucking robot assembly line, and you wander up for your first meal in 24 hours, only to luck in with a shit one. I'd kill myself.

They wrote Wriothesley, who's a victim of the system, into a guy who's say shit like "I'm the Duke I can do whatever I want" for a cool moment where he choke-slams an inmate (I know he was a bad guy. But also, in copaganda when cops are violent/disregarding protocols, they are always only portrayed to do that against bad guys, so what does our critical thinking tells us about this one?) They wrote Wriothesley, who was an inmate of a prison so bad, so notorious that it is the literal boogeyman of Fontaine, that has a legal (???) fighting pit, with an administrator who abuses his position to be unreasonable, to willingly stay in the place and become an Administrator who would choke-slam an inmate while saying a cool line about how he has the power to do whatever he wants. They wrote him, the guy who had to be fed on the streets by melusines, to think one-meal-a-day was a good enough reform (while he spends god-knows how much on his boat). This wasn't a victim-turns-into-abuser narrative either, they want all this to be seen as positive character growth.

And then, the final kicker is, they gloss over his entire abuse. You can only read about these shit in his profile, which most people don't because they don't Have Him or doesn't care to unlock it/read it online, and they jammed his entire backstory into a flaccid info-dump at the end of his character story quest. This man isn't Allowed to feel abused and neglected and show any reaction to it within the narrative of Fontaine itself, because if they actually Gave Weight to what happened to him, they'd have to confront THE FUCKING JUSTICE SYSTEM they had NO PLANS on criticising. I don't think they ever explicitly said the fucking Crime-Theatre nonsense was Bad either.

I could go on, but this is already so long. But yeah, I hope this gave you an idea.

[burningfaith]

next month me and my grandma are going to visit my godfather who lives in Spain, but instead of being excited (it's gonna be my second time abroad in my life) I'm anxious af, because even though I'm an adult I live with my parents and I need to tell my father about it. normal parents would - y'know - be happy that their children have opportunity to visit another country, but instead he's gonna be insufferable about it, because it's my mom's side of family and he despises my uncle. but what is he gonna do? kick me out of the house even though he promised that as long as I'm studying or working I don't need to worry about such thing, humiliate me as usual, tell me that I'm childish and spoiled or make my mom's life a living hell again? I'm aware of the fact that the longer I'm putting it off the worse his reaction is gonna be, but I'm just not mentally able to tell him that, because I don't know how he will react. I don't need any money from him, I don't have to use my phone during this trip (I dunno how the roaming and stuff work), I just want to be sure he's gonna behave like a proper human being towards my mom and my siblings when I won't be at home and not act like a total asshole while talking with me about it.

[smile-files]

i think the main issue in arguing with zionists is that, well, they believe in zionism! if israel did deserve to exist, then the genocide and injustice in palestine could be argued for (not like it should be, but it certainly could) -- and zionists believe israel deserves to exist.

i, unfortunately, have a large amount of experience interacting (personally) with zionism and zionists. most of those i've talked to feel for the palestinians, and the violence they are facing, but they fail to realize (or they staunchly deny) the very, very active part israel and the IDF have had in that -- and how it's representative of what the nation has always done.

at the same time, they focus more on israeli hostages than palestinian ones -- and i know, of course, that these zionist jews i've interacted with are either israeli or have loved ones in israel, and so have a very personal stake in the safety of israeli hostages (which may very well be friends or family members), but i find it strange how much emphasis they put on hamas' cruelty in taking hostages while the IDF is doing the same thing (in essence; the exact details of who's doing it worse are important to note, but not relevant right now, because folks should realize that their side is being at least as cruel as the enemy's).

recently i was drawn into an argument with an israeli zionist (who, unfortunately, is very close to the action and tragedy by being israeli), and she was incredibly offended by my anti-zionism and my opposition to israel's abject cruelty to palestinian citizens, as it seemed (to her) like i was bypassing the cruelty hamas has enacted on israeli citizens -- which is very telling. i've noticed that we as jews have the tendency, whatever the situation may be, of focusing more on our pain than the pain of others, even if we are the ones hurting them. that person has every reason to be scared and hurt, and i'd be lying if i said her response wasn't at least somewhat sympathetic, but her pain in this horrible, violent conflict does not invalidate the pain on the other side. jews, throughout this recent crisis, have consistently not talked in depth about the constant losses in palestine -- am i suddenly being callous by focusing on those losses, and not our own? (YOUR PAIN AND THEIRS AREN'T MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE, YOU DOLT! sorry...)

because it all comes down to believing in israel! my mom has always told me about how beautiful it is there, about her time living on a kibbutz... and sure, it might be nice. i can't argue with that. but why is it that our nationalism for israel is so strong, so virulent? i have not seen patriots as loyal for any other country. and when you criticize israel, israelis feel like you're criticizing their entire existence -- and many non-israeli jews do, as well. because zionism has been built so deep into the modern religion! it's made to be a necessary piece! belief in it is the default!

and, from the inside looking in, i can't be surprised that many jews take anti-zionism as being antisemitic -- because, to them, israel and zionism stand as the pinnacle of safety and support for the jewish people. it is impossible to argue with them about anything above that base layer, as the base layer itself serves as a foundation: so long as a jew thinks that israel is right, deserved, and necessary, no proof will sway them into hating israel. it's just impossible, and that's very frustrating.

for me in particular, i find it very frustrating, as this single idea has turned so many people i know to support a genocidal entity. they believe in and support israel, so they stand with it now -- even if they condemn its current actions, they neglect how those actions are just an extension of its inherent existence -- whether they think israel's doing the right thing or wrong thing right now, they don't really care at the end of the day, because israel, to them, is necessary in keeping the jewish people alive. they stand with it, thinking that jews can only stand at all if they do.

but a genocidal crutch is no crutch at all: it only breaks us more. zionist jews make me so mad, and the worst part is that i could never express that to them in a way they'll understand.

[tatsumi-rin]

Moral Orel doesn't seem 100% like a show I'd feel seen in if you don't know me but then I remember the episode with the special ed kids and underneath the usual satire on extremist bible belt religion it reminds me WAY too much of how actual special ed departments treated me and other kids growing up.

Like the writers must HAVE BEEN THERE IN LIFE, man. I'd kill to sit down with Dino Stamatopoulos and find out what the fuck inspired him and the other writing staff that day.

[susandsnell]

my hot take on Lizzie: the Musical is that the love story becomes infinitely more compelling the more actors/the production lean into Alice's flaws and selfishness rather than presenting her as some fragile little flower who's the voice of reason (tag novel below)

[fourfoldfires]

"greystone, eh? that's a name that wouldn't sound amiss belonging to one of my people." "it's not as glorious as you might think, master belanger."

(clementain belanger, wandering duskwight bard // aveline greystone, knight of house haillenarte)

[the-spooky-children]

Can't stop thinking about unhealthy co-dependent teen!fireskulls..

[doctorbrown]

MCFLY JULY ‘24 ⸺ 「 10 / 31 * RITE OF PASSAGE 」

June 11, 1978

It just looks like a normal building.

A little more run-down than some of the newer buildings around it and it looks more like someone just dropped the old garage on the side of the street and said good enough without any care or thought to how well it fit with everything else around it, but on its face there was nothing wrong with it.

Mad scientists planning to destroy the world or exact revenge on their enemies typically lived in haunted old mansions with perpetual storms raging overhead and thunder and lightning tearing through the sky; not in garages right next to Burger King.

“Come on, McFly.” Needles leans over the handlebars of his shiny new black bike that admittedly makes Marty a little jealous. It was almost the same exact one he’d been begging his parents for for months—it was the one thing he wanted for his birthday so he could keep up with his friends around town and not feel like he was getting left behind just because their parents had the extra cash to throw around. If he got nothing else all year but got that bike as a birthday present tomorrow, everything would be perfect.

Needles grins and Marty can’t help but think of some cartoon villain, fully aware that even before he says anything else, whatever scheme he’s cooking up in his head is only going to spell trouble.

Considering that he, Jake, Scotty, and Needles are all hanging out across the street from Doctor Brown’s garage, lined up in some sloppy half-circle across the sidewalk, there’s only one thing he can imagine will come out of his mouth next and it’s not trying to ride their bikes through the drive-thru at Burger King.

“You ain’t even gotta go inside—all you need to do is sneak over there, touch the wall, and look in through the window. Reeeal easy. You might even see him working on one of his experiments in there!”

Marty scrunches up his face in obvious distaste, shifting his weight and Linda’s old hand-me-down bike with it to favour his left side. “Or we could just leave him alone. Don’t you think he put the fence up for a reason? I bet the guy just wants to be left alone to do—whatever he’s doing in there.”

Which, admittedly, he had been more than a little curious about ever since he first started hearing the stories of crazy old Doctor Brown and his dangerous experiments. Doctor Brown was an unknown—an outlier—an object of immense interest to his young mind that fascinated far more than terrified. More than once he fantasised about this exact moment—stealing into Doctor Brown’s so-called laboratory to sneak a peek at all the things he was inventing in there, being whisked away to a world that might have been infinitely more interesting than boring old Hill Valley.

Once, he almost stopped him on the road to dispel all the rumours and hearsay for good and finally learn the truth about the man.

“Didn’t you hear what Max Gordon said last week?” Jake asks incredulously, surprised by Marty’s blatant nonchalance. “He did it too! And he said—“

Marty groans. “You didn’t believe all that, did you? Max Gordon’s an idiot and if you believed that stuff he said, you’re just as stupid as he is. I bet he just got so scared he passed out and thought the stuff he was reading in his dad’s comics was real. He already thinks Doctor Brown is some kind of evil space alien come here to destroy the Earth.”

Scotty snorts, leaning to his left to thump Jake upside the head. “He definitely believed.” Jake rubs the abused spot with a pathetic look on his face. “Maybe we should send Jake instead.”

“No way—my birthday’s not even for another couple months. I’m not doing it.”

“Chicken,” Marty teases, grinning fondly at them. Jake huffs, content to spend the rest of his days as a live chicken over a dead—or worse—lab rat.

“So what’s the problem?” Needles cuts in, jabbing a finger at Marty’s chest. “If you’re not scared, then just go up there. Even you can climb that fence, McFly.”

Marty swats the offending hand away with a frown, clenching his fists against the obvious dig at his height. “Because, Needles, unlike you I’m not a jerk and I think we should just leave him alone. I’d rather take my chances with Hell Hill.”