going insane pls tell me anything about the unexplored sibling dynamics
i'm... literally so sorry anon. you probably didn't expect this monstrosity of text when you so innocently sent this ask but i wrote this late at night and i guess i had more feelings about these mfs than i thought i did... huh
the evans sisters?? stop and consider for a moment. they grew up in a lower middle class family, father was always out for work, mother stayed at home and took care of them and the house. lily and petunia were all for each other, sisters, best friends. and then lily's magic started showing. one year their mom's flowers hadn't bloomed like they usually do and their mom was understandably upset. petunia tried everything she knew about gardening in hopes of fixing the flowers and lily just willed them to open with the wave of a hand. she jumped up in excitement and ran to her mom to tell her what had just happened while petunia stared at the flowers in shock, trying to figure out what lily had just done so she could too. but it never worked for her like it did for lily.
their parents thought it was strange at first, a coincidence or dumb luck whenever lily pulled some trick, but petunia knew and she tried so hard to replicate it, to no avail. eventually the jealousy turned into resentment, curios questions turned into insults every time lily would do something. lily was so confused because she hadn't done anything? she tried to not do it anymore, even if she herself didn't know how she was doing it, but her magic only grew stronger and petunia's insults became more intense. when lily received her hogwarts letter, she was so excited to finally be surrounded by people like her. her parents congratulated her, her mother kissed her temple and her father promised they would take her shopping to get everything she needed. petunia only glared at her, muttering how she would finally be together with the freaks where she belonged.
petunia never sent any letters to lily while she was at hogwarts, at least not on her own accord. lily would send her birthday gifts every year, something she had made herself. a happy birthday card that was charmed to sing when it opened, a sparkling bouquet of flowers charmed to never close. every year without fail petunia would send the birthday gift back, either untouched or ripped to shreds. lily never gave up trying.
i genuinely believe lily's relationship with petunia fundamentally shaped her understanding of the world. the closest person to you, the one meant to protect you and love you, shunning you and leaving you to fend for yourself? it's no wonder lily clung to the first bit of kinship she sensed in severus and refused to let go of him even when everyone told her to. because he was always there for her and she wouldn't dare leave him behind (not like petunia had). also just a personal hc for lily, but i think she trouble making female friends specifically because of how her relationship with petunia had deteriorated. like in my head she had severus and no one else until like... fourth year maybe when she finally started coming out of her shell and became friends with mary and marlene
lily never stopped loving petunia, she knew harry would go to her and she still trusted petunia enough to protect her son. yet petunia did the exact opposite. i wanna put her under a microscope because how does it get that bad??? how do you let your childish jealousy take over your life to the point where you neglect and abuse an innocent child - your own nephew??? you don't stop being a sister just because the other half is dead, but i think petunia had stopped seeing herself as lily's sister long before lily died.
everyone talks about the black brothers but the black SISTERS??? arguably even more interesting bc you have more dynamics to explore bc they're all so different but in the end they're one in the same.
they were all raised to be obedient and quiet, their last name meaning nothing but an easy way to marry them off because continuing the bloodline was all they were good for. bellatrix was always loud, even as a child, because she was taught her family was superior and she couldn't understand why she wasn't treated the way she deserved to be. did her family name mean nothing just because she wasn't a male heir? did her extensive knowledge in magic mean nothing because the only way she could make her parents proud was by becoming a wife and a mother? why was she punished for the same behaviors her male counterparts were rewarded for? bella never thought to question blood purity as it was ingrained in her since birth, but the roles that she was forced to play didn't seem noble to her.
andromeda was quieter in comparison, but never far too behind bellatrix, always nodding along and eager to make her older sister proud. the seeds of doubt in her mind were planted later at hogwarts and she foolishly asks questions, only getting punished in response. when she's pushed away by her mother, she turns to the one person who would never hurt her for her curiosity but even her sister can give her no further answer than "father said so". frustrated and disappointed, andromeda closes in on herself and seeks her own answers, coming to conclusions that make the entire foundation of her family fall apart.
narcissa was the "perfect daughter", the one that would only speak when spoken to, the one that could walk into a room unnoticed and leave without anyone saying a single word to her. she was a slytherin, engaged to the malfoy heir at 16, she had practically completed all of her duties by then and proved to be useful. but she was also bella and andy's little sister, the one hiding behind them so no one could see her, the one tugging on their sleeves when she felt anxious, the one braiding flowers into their hair when she was bored, the one watching silently as both of her sisters drifted away and she was left alone.
andromeda leaving is such a heartbreaking moment to me because i think both bellatrix and narcissa knew it would happen, they had seen the signs but had never known the cause. i think bellatrix tried to to stop her from going through with it, tried to convince her to stay, to explain what was troubling her because bellatrix was her older sister, she could help, that was her job. and andromeda pushes her away because she knows bellatrix would never look at her again if she told her what was troubling her. when the truth is finally revealed, the only question bella can muster is: "do you trulu love him more than your own family?" and andromeda's silence is enough of an answer. she refuses to be like her mother, like bellatrix is soon to become, like narcissa will be forced to, a wife stuck in a loveless marriage with children she didn't want. ted loves her and she loves ted, that love means more than the conditional affections she was given in her family.
that action, the betrayal of choosing someone of dirty blood over her own sisters had surely left a mark on both bellatrix and narcissa. narcissa attempted to get closer to bellatrix again, tried to provide some comfort and familiarity but bellatrix was inconsolable. she fled england completely, choosing instead to focus on her magic as her mind slowly closed in on itself. and narcissa was left alone again, her only solace a marriage she forced herself to pretend would make her happy, would fill the void of what her sisters had destroyed.
and so many years later, you can tell the wound never closed. narcissa, who watched as everything unfolded without daring to interfere, looking the dark lord in the eyes and lying to protect her family because she understands andromeda now, nothing is worth losing the ones you love and the ones who love you. her son looks toward her for protection and she will provide it in any way she can, because her son's life means more than anything the dark lord could ever offer.
bellatrix, who has never dared to go against voldemort's orders, bending the rules and allowing narcissa to protect her son because somewhere in the back of her mind a voice whispered "what if she leaves like andromeda did? what if she chooses her new family over you too?" and narcissa did, she turned her back in the last battle and left without sparring a single glance.
i know people only made evan and pandora siblings out of convenience so they could give pandora a last name but YOU COWARDS! if you're gonna make them siblings then make them siblings!! i have an entire background on their family but that's too complicated to explain here but GIVE ME SOMETHING INTERESTING WITH THEM??? wartime rosier twins who never see each other but evan insists on writing letters bc he misses his sister so much?? pandora missing him too but she doesn't know what to do because the same hands that are writing these letters are holding innocent people at wand point and using unforgivable curses?? PANDORA'S REACTION TO EVAN'S DEATH??? helllooooo???
+ i know that the black brothers have been explored plenty but i still think their relationship has been softened?? ig. like we've stripped these characters down to their bare bones trying to make them good people when they don't need to be?? give me black brothers who love each other but hate each other all in the same breath. black brothers who strive to prove themselves better than the other. black brothers who see the other as a personification of their worst traits (sirius sees regulus as a coward (literally canon) and regulus sees sirius as a traitor). give me sibling resentment because i wholeheartedly believe they were pit against each other by walburga and orion.
sirius was smarter, better, more powerful, more charismatic than regulus. he was raised to he the perfect heir, the one to continue the bloodline of the most noble house, he was raised to think himself better than the rest. regulus was the spare, the 'worst case scenario' child, the one that struggled to live up to the fraction of his brother's natural talent and skill. give me sirius knowing he's better and throwing it in regulus' face. give me regulus manipulating sirius into leaving so he can be the true heir. give me regulus grieving for sirius only after he realizes what he has lost, but never reaching out, even when he finds the locket. regulus, who has spent his whole life trying to outshine sirius knowing it was a pointless battle, taking this one action into his own hands and doing the brave thing alone. give me sirius, almost two decades later, still bitter and disappointed as he passes by his dead brother's door refusing to even glance inside, because the resentment (and the grief of what could've been) never truly wears away.
anyone who read this far deserves a medal bc i would've taken one look at this post and said "i ain't reading all that" so thank you <3
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Between Dean and Sam: who prefers to be liked, and who prefers to be right?
there's def an argument to be made over different seasons and different ages, but generally i think there's an easy answer: dean prefers to be liked, and sam prefers to be right.
they're both pretty stubborn guys, but generally dean has the softer touch and sam has the desire to prove himself. sam also lacks dean's deep, inherent need to be loved-- he stands on his own just fine, thanks, except for when he's lying and actually needs a support beam-- but typically, if dean has his back, he's fine with making enemies and he's content not to go out of his way to get close to people. it's very sexy of him. one scene that comes to mind right now is him just hating that mandroid dude because he thinks he's stupid and ignorant, and when the guy says later in the episode that he hates him, sam's just like: "that's fair, idiot" hahaha
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Hey so remember how grocery prices suddenly jackknifed during lockdown and never went back down?
Well turns out the companies would have done that shit either way and had been steadily price-fixing for the last decade!
Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson just announced more than $40 million in court-ordained Fuck You money from massive swaths of food production companies are to be paid out to households earning at or below 175% of the federal poverty level ($25.5k for 1 person, $34.5k for 2 people households) before Dec 31st of this year. Happy Holidays.
"The bottom line here is that my legal team took on two large corporate price-fixing conspiracies that increased the cost for groceries for Washington families. We've prevailed, and as a result, we are sending checks to over 400,000 Washington households."
Cannot stress enough the extent of the conspiracies he's talking about here. 15 out of the total 19 chicken producers got nailed in this lawsuit. Not the total number of conspirators, mind, just the ones who left enough evidence for the AG to kick their ass in so expedient a manner. Make no mistake, all 19 were in on it. The court case against the rest of them has been delayed until October of next year, though. None of them are making it out unscathed.
Tuna didn't escape antitrust horseshit either, because the CEOs of Starkist, Chicken of the Sea, and Bumblebee Tuna had a fucking group chat where they complained that the price of tuna was "too low" and they agreed to artificially inflate the price.
“What’s so maddening about the conduct of these companies is the reason that they engaged in this price-fixing conspiracy was greed. They wanted to make money."
So anyway the AG who nailed their asses to the wall and continues to do so is running for governor. If you live in Washington, could be worth your vote when primary season rolls around.
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PSA: i keep seeing posts about staying cool in extreme heat that include advice like "gatorade is bad actually!" and "don't drink fruit juice it'll just dehydrate you!" and neither of these are true!
regarding fruit juice: there's apparently a misconception that Any Sugar At All will dehydrate you, and that's simply not true. yes, sugar will make you pee more when consumed in large amounts, but 1) the natural sugar in fruits won't do this to you 2) great news! a lot of fruit juices exist without any added sugar in them! 3) honestly even having a glass of the fruit juice with added sugar won't completely dehydrate you as long as you're also drinking water throughout the day. if its hot you deserve a cold treat of a drink!!! can't go wrong with fruit juice!!!
regarding gatorade: maybe this isn't an every day drink, but guess what: if it's 110F/40C or hotter outside, and you don't have AC, or you're moving around a lot outside of the AC, and you're sweating buckets: that's when you drink a gatorade.
gatorade exists to replenish all the electrolytes (salt) and glucose (sugar) that you sweat out. YES it is meant for athletes to drink during intensive work outs and not necessarily for people who aren't doing that kind of exercise. BUT GUESS WHAT! when you're sweating buckets because you had to walk to the bus in extreme heat, that's intensive exercise. please feel free to drink a gatorade after that! that's its intended use case!!!!
no: neither of these drinks should be a total replacement for water. but drinking a lot of water and then treating yourself to a fruit juice with lunch is a good idea!!! drinking a gatorade becuase you just had to walk for 20 minutes in the heat is a good idea!!!
Please Stop Spreading Misinformation About Drinks!!! It's fine if you drink things that aren't water!!!! Yes you should probably always be drinking water but drinking something else As Well isn't going to hurt you!!!! okay!!!! its fine!!!!!!
honestly so long as you are consistently getting Any (non-alcoholic) fluids in you, you're doing great!!!!!! okay!!!! i love you stay safe <3
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you're in the habit of denying yourself things.
if someone asked you directly, you would say that you love a little treat. you like iced coffee and getting the cookie. you drink juice out of a fancy cup sometimes, and often do use your candles until they gutter out helplessly.
but you hesitate about buying the 20 dollar hand mixer because, like. you could just use your arms. you weren't raised rich. you don't get to just spend the 20 dollars (remember when that could cover lunch?), at least - you don't spend that without agonizing over it first, trying to figure out the cost-benefits like you are defending yourself in front of a jury. yes, this rice cooker could seriously help you. but you do know how to make stovetop rice and it really isn't that hard. how many pies or brownies would you actually make, in order to make that hand mixer worthwhile?
what's wild is that if the money was for a friend, it would already be spent. you'd fork over 40 without blinking an eye, just to make them happy. the difference is that it's for you, so you need to justify it.
and it sneaks in. you ration yourself without meaning to - you don't finish the pint of ice cream, even though you want to. the next time you go to the store, you say ah, i really shouldn't, and then you walk away. you save little bits of your precious things - just in case. sometimes you even go so far as putting that one thing in your shopping cart. and then just leaving it there, because maybe-one-day, but not right now, there's other stuff going on.
you do self-care, of course. but you don't do it more than like, 3 days in a row. after that it just feels a little bit over-the-edge. like. you can't live in decadence, the economy is so bad right now, kid.
so you don't buy the rice cooker. you can-and-will spend the time over the stove. you can withstand the little sorrows. denial and discipline are practically synonyms. and you're not spoiled.
it's just - it's not always a rice cooker. sometimes it is a person or a job or a hug. sometimes it is asking for help. sometimes it is the summer and your college degree. sometimes it is looking down at scabbed knees and feeling a strange kind of falling, like you can't even recognize the girl you used to be. sometimes it is your handprint looking unsteady.
sometimes it is tuesday, and you didn't get fired, and you want to celebrate. but what is it you like, even? you search around your little heart and come up empty. you're so used to denying that all your desires draw a blank.
oh fuck. see, this is the perfect opportunity. if you had a mixer, you'd make a cake.
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