#what it means to love someone vs what it means to be responsible for them

[winepresswrath]

beloved nemesises.

#ballister looks so wet #with his (sidekick's?) Pepe Silva wall and his puss in boots eyes #ambrosius thinks I'm a murderer??? #I hope this movie is as big on tumblr as it deserves to be #I mean I hope it gets global recognition #but this is the gay childhood bffs and rivals are now enemies who love each other movie #tumblr!!!!! #come on #lol ok it's actually the blackheart and nimona movie but honestly that's better? #sometimes we live unexpected lives! #i am too sick to really get to the heart of what I love about nimona #something about the possibilities of change #what it means to love someone vs what it means to be responsible for them #the project of being a decent person who is good to the people around you #also the art is so much fun #it sparks joy

[the-moogle-of-your-nightmares]

i gotta say that i'm grateful for food metaphors because a) they make What Codependency Actually Is way, way easier to explain, and b) they give enough of a buffer to explain said things without delving too much into gory details of one's personal experiences

#moogletalks #i am in the process of writing up a very long post about this. some highlights are: #a) codependency is not loving commitment. it is the opposite of loving commitment #codependency is not about being more than the sum of your parts together; it is not about keeping each other fed #it is about cutting off parts of yourselves and each other; it is about depriving yourselves and each other of food. #it is inherently about making you and your relationship /less/ #b) codependency is a huge spectrum of traits; features; power imbalances; intentionality; toxicity vs abuse; and direction of the abuse #but what all of it has in common comes down to that. #c) codependency is care and support in the same way that crunch is productivity and love for videogames as an art form #d) why the fuck would you /want/ to do that to someone you love. why would you want to be a part of that process #e) on the flipside: why the fuck would you /want/ to taint someone's love for you by making it into a runaway train #and forcing them to watch helplessly as you park your car on the tracks in front of them and call it love #which. i /do/ know why. it fucking sucks so much and it's so hard when it feels like that's what love is. i've been there. #it's not. i promise you it is not. you deserve better and your loved ones deserve better; and better exists #f) people are unbelievably fucking cruel to codependency survivors and their allies who try to speak up and educate about the harm of this #because they want to sound cool and edgy and counterculture; and coo about their ships #and get clout off of dumbass '''profound''' aesthetic posts about devouring each other and living in a bog because it's Romance or whatever #instead of actually taking any responsibility for knowing what words mean and thinking about the things they say #because they didn't like the tone of some survivors who called them on it and therefore everyone who does is ~cringe~ #g) the irony of this is that you stupid motherfuckers sound like people saying 'teehee i stepped on a leaf the intrusive thoughts won!!!' #there is zero difference here. none. you are being that guy. #and it is not any less harmful /or/ embarrassing when you are doing it to codependents instead of people with OCD #you're just embarrassing yourself on tumblr instead of tiktok #i am begging you. learn to take correction. just take the L #and admit that getting all your life advice from bogposts on tumblr is as dumbshit as doing the same with buzzfeed mental health listicles #abuse cw #ableism cw #codependency cw

[aficionadoenthusiast]

*me, with tears of frustration in my eyes* rick didn't include annabeth's crush on luke or luke's pseudo-crush on annabeth for no reason! it is not something that needs to be cut because it's 'gross'! it serves thematic purpose! it adds to characterization! guys! please!

annabeth is twelve, and luke is the guy she's looked up to since she was seven. she not only has that bond, but she has the admiration from him getting his own quest. she has a lot of hero worship going for him, and it's really not unreasonable that she would like him or even that she would think of him as more than a sibling. beyond that, it's a great example of how a person who has never received real, unconditional love can become unhealthily attached to someone who is not good for them just because they've been shown a modicum of respect. if you want to look at it from a percabeth perspective, it could even tie into how her character has to learn the difference between love and kindness from a place of love and respect (i.e. percy) vs love and kindness from a place of obligation and manipulation (i.e. luke as kronos' vessel)

on luke's side, especially with him calling her his little sister now (in the show) and him literally turning into kronos later, it's symbolism for how he's being pulled farther and farther onto the dark side. as kronos takes over his body, he sees her less and less as a sister and more and more of something else, something that would be considered dark and unhealthy by anyone not on the dark side (for good reason), until eventually she has to remind him of their years on the run when he considered her a sister: "Family, Luke. You promised."

you're supposed to be grossed out by it! that means the theme is working!

you're supposed to see a traumatized 12 year old with a crush on her 19 year old mentor and think, "hey, that's weird! i wonder if her not getting any love or attention until she met him plays a role in their relationship?" and eventually see a 24 year old get a villain-induced crush on a 16 year old and think, "hey, that's really weird! i wonder if his turn to the dark side and how that turn happened twisted his view of her?" and ultimately think, "i wonder what that says about the type of trauma that develops in kids who grew up thinking they were unloved, especially since the author specifically wrote the book for his son with disabilities, the author who used to be a teacher, a profession that regularly encounters kids that are actively being abused and neglected?"

anyway thanks for coming to my ted talk

edit: this post is not speculation! i'm not trying to say i don't think they're going to include annabeth's crush! i am perfectly aware that we are only two episodes in! this post is in response the people i keep seeing say they're glad because they think Luke's little sister comment means they're not going to include the "gross stuff from the books" (other's wording, not mine), and I was trying to explain why including it would be a positive. sorry, i really thought i made that clear

#annabeth chase #luke castellan #pjo #percy jackson #percabeth #pjo fandom #pjo show #pjo tv show #percy jackon and the olympians #rick riordan #percy pjo #percy jackson and the olympians #pjo hoo toa #pjo series #pjoverse #riordanverse #rrverse #tw abuse #tw neglect #tw child neglect #character analysis #analysis #pjo analysis #annabeth pjo #annabeth percy jackson #annabeth chase analysis

[dotster001]

Leech Vs Morality

Summary: Jade x gn!reader When paired off with Jade for a class, the two of you have a debate about morality.

A/N: dedicated to my pookie wookie @tiyoin who has Jade leech brain rot right now. I present you with one of the few moments you will ever fluster Jade Leech 😁.

You were paired up with the second years in potions today. The love potion you would be making was extremely complex, so Crewel had thought it safer to have an older student guide you.

You winced as you watched Floyd bouncing off the walls while Jack stared straight ahead. Poor guy got stuck with a rough partner.

Meanwhile, your partner was a little too good at this potion. But you weren't going to think about it.

“And done. Excellent work, partner,” Jade beamed at you. It had taken ten minutes to complete it, and he'd finished like it was nothing. All your classmates were still on step two. You weren't going to think about it.

“Thanks for the help, Jade,” you sighed, slouching in your seat.

“It was no problem.”

You sat in silence for a moment, until Jade broke the silence.

“You look like you have something you want to ask.”

You thought for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah. Why did we make this?”

“Love potions are an important staple in potion making.”

“But why?”

He laughed lightly, “I'm not sure I follow.”

“Well, aren't love potions unethical?”

He froze, the atmosphere between the two of you becoming tense.

“Unethical?” He laughed hoarsely.

“Yeah. You're forcing someone who wants nothing to do with you, to love you.”

“I wouldn't use the word unethical, perse..”

Was he sweating? He looked clammy.

“Why not?”

“Well, a love potion doesn't last forever. So if you want the object of your affections to love you, you either need to invest a lot of money into making potions forever, or you need to figure out how to get them to love you in the time limit. Simply put, it is getting your fin in the door.”

“But it's still a love born on lies, and the abuse of free will!”

He slowly pulled out his phone, his expression had long since turned back to normal, but his typing was hurried.

“They're quite common around here. If someone were to use one on you…” he trailed off, his brow quirked in amusement.

You stared at him, not nearly as amused as he was.

“They would never have a chance of me even speaking to them once it wore off,” you said firmly.

“Hmm.”

His phone rang, and he stood up.

“That's Azul. I have to take this.” Without waiting for your response, he left the room in a rush, hurriedly saying something in a language you didn't recognize.

“What'd you say to upset Jade so bad?”

You shrieked. You had been so focused on Jade leaving, that you hadn't noticed Floyd take his seat.

“I didn't say anything! And what do you mean upset, he looks fine!”

“Nah. He's upset. I can tell. Absolutely devastated,” Floyd grinned excitedly. “So, spill! What was it?”

“All we were doing was debating whether love potions are ethical or not!”

Floyd burst into laughter.

“What's so funny?” You snapped.

“You're just so adorable, Shrimpy. Gotta be careful about that, or some shark is gonna eat you up-”

He was yanked from the chair, and you started as Jade held him an inch off the floor, by the collar.

“Fufu, Floyd,” his tone was a warning. Of what you didn't know, but you were a little too scared to ask.

“Jade,” Floyd responded with a giggle.

“Don't you have your own partner to assist?”

“Just lookin out for my brother, that's all!”

Jade set him down, and Floyd threw you a wink, before skipping back over to Jack, who mouthed you the word, ‘help’.

Jade sat in his chair, and scooted closer to you.

“So, Y/N. If someone were to win your heart, without a love potion, how would they do it?”

....

Tag list- @eccedentesiast-sapphic @leoll @pikeru565

#twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland x reader #jade leech x reader #jade leech

[chrisevansonly]

𝐦𝐨𝐦 & 𝐝𝐚𝐝 𝐩𝐭2 | 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥 𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐨

✯social media au

✯daniel ricciardo x female reader

✯the nickname mom and dad finally has some ‘true’ meaning behind it 🫶🏻

✯ah this was a request so thank you so much!! this was very fun and cute to write, i hope you enjoy<3

part 1 part 3

ynricciardo

liked by landonorris, lilyhme, danielricciardo and 1M others

mom and dad really are about to become mom and dad, baby ricciardo coming soon🤍

tagged danielricciardo

see 98,000 comments

username IM SOBBING

username im so happy for my parents 😭

username someone check on lando

lilyhme congratulations you two!! can’t wait to meet them!❤️

landonorris i need 4-5 business days to recover😭

>ynricciardo me too, wanna come watch cheesy movies with me🥹

>landonorris on my way 🏃🏻

username lando and y/n kill me😭

danielricciardo i love you, so excited to have a little terror around!!!!

>ynricciardo if they are a terror, that’s from you babe😚

ynricciardo added to their story!

*comments are disabled*

danielricciardo

liked by ynricciardo, redbullracing, landonorris and 2M others

that is one hot mama, and she’s all mine😁😁

tagged ynricciardo

see 167,000 comments

username HOT MAMA😮‍💨😮‍💨

username oh she looks so beautiful!!!

username look at that bump!

redbullracing baby danny incoming!!!

>ynricciardo ❤️❤️

landonorris what size is baby ricc this week mom?

>ynricciardo they are about the size of an acorn squash apparently😂

>username lando calling y/n mom😭

ynricciardo

liked by danielricciardo, scottyjames31, francisca.cgomes and 989,000 others

this is life recently, all baby wants is gelato right now, which i won’t complain about. daniel and lando are like my full grown children half the time, and baby is the size of a cabbage now…which i feel the weight of 24/7🥴

tagged danielricciardo and landonorris

see 100,000 comments

username cabbage ricciardo!!

liked by ynricciardo

username ou gelato sounds so good rn

username lando and danny being actual kids in adult bodies 💀

landonorris i was your first child remember that😌

>danielricciardo yeah idk why we agreed on that

>ynricciardo are you saying i was stupid to agree that lando was our first child? 🤨

>danielricciardo NO never, you’re the smartest baby, i love you!!

username HAHAHAHA smart response daniel

username im dying right now

danielricciardo added to their story!

*comments disabled*

ynricciardo

liked by landonorris, kellypique, redbullracing, danielricciardo and 2M others

how the night started vs how the morning ended up, a very surprise welcome to our little girl Mila Grace Ricciardo. You are so special to us, mommy and daddy love you so much already❤️❤️

tagged daniel ricciardo

see 205,000 comments

username oh i’m sobbing rn

username Mila🥹🥹🥹

username I LOVE HER NAME SM

redbullracing welcome to the world little Mila!❤️

liked by ynricciardo and danielricciardo

landonorris im still crying

landonorris i can’t wait to meet her

>ynricciardo we’ll be home tomorrow so come over whenever ❤️

username lando crying is so me

danielricciardo my girls forever❤️

landonorris

liked by ynricciardo, mclaren, quadrant and 1M others

i’m not crying anymore don’t worry, just couldn’t help but introduce Mila as my god daughter. i can’t thank y/n enough, okay i guess daniel too, for trusting me with this title. i love Mila so much already

ps. i’m moving in😁

tagged ynricciardo, daniel ricciardo

see 99,000 comments

username omg lando and mila😭

username why is this making me sob so hard rn

username lando is the best uncle and now godfather ever🥹

ynricciardo you’re family lando, Mila loves you so much already, you always have a home with us🤍

>username ‘you always have a home with us’ i’m unstable

>danielricciardo she means the garage

>ynricciardo 🤨🤨🤨

username HAHAHAHA this is sending me

mclaren welcome baby mila 🧡🧡

liked by ynricciardo and landonorris

username lando getting all the mila angles 😭

#daniel ricciardo fake social media #daniel ricciardo x you #daniel ricciardo #daniel riccardo imagine #daniel ricciardo fluff #daniel ricciardo x reader #daniel ricciardo x girlfriend reader #daniel riccardo x reader #daniel ricciardo x female reader #daniel ricciardo x fem!reader #dad daniel ricciardo #formula 1 masterlist #formula one #formula 1 #danny ric #rueswrites #ruesanswers #ruesanons<3 #ruesasks

[antiqua-lugar]

Tumblr refuses to let me reblog a post referencing Wyll saying that as a child his father told him that their dead love ones were always watching over them and Wyll's reaction was to be scared. He thought he was haunted.

The idea of Wyll being genuinely scared of wide-eyed ghosts in response to what probably was his father's attempt to console him over his mother's death is. His loved ones not as a consolation but as a reminder, as an audience - possibly as someone judging him, because ghosts cannot move on until their unfinished business is resolved. Especially because his mother also haunts the narrative, in her own way? She's first defined by her absence, Wyll doesn't talk or think of her much because she died giving birth of him. Except he reveals that he has been thinking of her recently, specifically contrasting her to his father. He's been thinking about how his life could have been different had she been there. Wyll is always very adamant that he doesn't regret anything, he can't, because it means regretting all the good he has done and all the lives he has saved. Is his mother's death one of the things he is not supposed to regret, because had she been alive then none of this would have happened and he would still have been in Baldur's Gate with his family, not a hero but happy and whole...but then dozens of people would have been dead and dozens of devils would still be living? Are his good deeds, like his dead loved ones, haunting him? Especially since he keeps contrasting his father and mother, public vs private, duty vs personal happiness, throught the whole of Act 3, culminating with his romance scene in Act 3, where his mother's memory is directly tied to his proposal. I know some people said the writers just straight up forgot he never met her, but I just assumed he is simply recalling what his father used to say abut her, just like he always repeats his father words, which instead are curiously absent from the whole thing. We are never told why his father never married his mother while Wyll will marry the person he loves no matter who that person is - Bhaalspawn, vampire spawn , Great Liberator of the Githyanki people, former Sharran with a degree in torture and interrogation - and it would have been so easy to bring his fathers' words in his romance, to say anything at all about duty, but no, only his mother's words matter in his romance. I know this probably IS a result of the rewrite, but the complete absence of his father in favour of his mother in his romance arc, which is the ONE arc that is entirely all about Wyll's personal desires? Like The Blade of Frontier is a hero from the legends, Wyll Ravengard is someone who wants to be in a romance. It's perhaps his only indulgence, to have a love story as he wishes. On some level he compares it to his childhood dreams, and he says it's his greatest wish, as if the idea of the person he loves staying at his side forever cannot possibly be something he actually gets to keep. And not only then he does, but his romance scene only triggers after Ansur after he (in his good ending) has just refused his father and the world of politics to remain the Blade The themes in his arc. don't get me started on mizora being a dark mirror version of his mother

#antiqua plays bg3 #bg3 #wyll ravengard #bg3 meta #i am rambling. i have so many thoughts.

[writingstoraes]

part two of charles leclerc/fem!verstappen!reader pls your first one was so good!!!

red vs red 🚥

pairing: charles leclerc/fem!verstappen!reader

type: instagram imagine/social media au

notes: thank u for loving the first, anon! hope u like this one 🤍 and thank u for requesting heheh, also formatting may look weird in ios devices idk this app wont let me fix the errors in bold letters 😭

summary: no peaceful race when there's banter between your boyfriend and your own brother, might as well just join the ruckus they cause!

reading the first part isn't necessary, just provides context! but if you want, read part 1 here!

ynverstappen

liked by lilymhe, charles_leclerc, pierregasly, and 870,445 others

ynverstappen happy race week, everybody! glad to be back in the paddock supporting my favorite driver ever ❤ goodluck, my baby love charles_leclerc! will be waiting for you after quali with lots of kisses and hugs :)

ps. spending quali in ferrari because i am on redbull duty tomorrow 🙏

charles_leclerc Always happy you're by my side, amoúr. Je táime 😘

maxverstappen Will never get used to this 🤮

ynverstappen we've literally been together for 3 years

maxverstappen And by favorite driver ever, you mean me, right?

charles_leclerc Are you the one in the picture? Then no 🙂

scuderiaferrari Red is your color, Y/N! ❤️

redbullracing Absolutely not, we do not think so!

scuderiaferrari Respectfully, no one asked you.

lestappen16 Love how even the team admins are in their own playful feud 😭

pierreluvr someone give y/n a break from dealing with charles and max lmaooowjwjsjsj

maxverstappen Why are you making it sound like supporting me at redbull is a responsibility and not something you want to do? 😔

charles_leclerc Because it's not.

ynverstappen jesus i just want one peaceful race is it so hard to ask for

ynverstappen

liked by maxverstappen, arthurleclerc, isahernaez, and 780,223 others

ynverstappen watching today's race from the redbull garage! wishing my dearest brother the best today, please stop believing the rumors he spreads re: me hating red bull. he is overdramatic. anyway, here's a selfie of max and i at quali yesterday! 🤍

tagged: maxverstappen

charles_leclerc You're not in our garage? Okay that makes me sad then 💔

ynverstappen will still root for you, don't worry 😁

maxverstappen Not under my watch you're not

maxverstappen My own sister wearing a ferrari jacket beside her brother who races for red bull. The betrayal is just so.

charles_leclerc Deserved.

f1fann NOT CHARLES SAYING DESERVED?@?@*@*

redbullracing We love having you here, Y/N 🖤

scuderiaferrari 😒

ynverstappen

liked by pierregasly, redbullracing, scuderiaferrari, and 450,221 others

ynverstappen my boys have done it again! congratulations on the podium, men who continuously pester me at every race weekend ❤️

tagged: maxverstappen & charles_leclerc

charles_leclerc My biggest fan ❤️ Je tàime, baby!

maxverstappen That's literally my sister

charles_leclerc She's literally my girlfriend

maxverstappen #1 supporter! Love you to bits, sister 😄

ferraredbull LESTAPPEN WINS ONCE AGAIN

vers166 y/n should get an award for dealing w charles and max everyday

ynverstappen amen sister 🙏

landonorris Leave them and support me at McLaren!

charles_leclerc ??

maxverstappen No.

----------

tagging: @slytherheign

notes: ig imagines take sooo long 😭 lmk what u guys think!

#writtenbyrae #charles leclerc #max verstappen #charles leclerc fanfic #charles leclerc x female reader #charles leclerc x reader #charles leclerc x you #charles leclerc insta au #charles leclerc imagine #charles leclerc social media au #charles leclerc instagram imagine #charles leclerc fic #charles leclerc fluff #formula 1 #f1 #f1 x reader #f1 x oc #f1 imagine #f1 fanfic #formula 1 insta au #formula 1 social media au #formula 1 instagram imagine #formula 1 imagine #f1 instagram imagine #f1 instagram au #f1 social media au #f1 fluff

[cryptocism]

Since I think about clones like I’m getting paid for it, I've been rotating those alternate universe "what if Bart and Thad were actually raised together" scenarios in my brain, with Thad either post-redemption-arc or pre-villainy. Because adjusting Thad's character to fit an ally role while still keeping true to his core motives and personality is so so fascinating to me.

Like I think there's an immediate first instinct to slot Thad into a "bad" twin category: ie rebellious and prickly, doesn't get along with people, mean lil shit. And obviously it's not wrong bc we're outside the realm of canon, but the reading still feels a little left of center.

Because Thad is mean and prickly in canon. In the Impulse comics he belittles Bart and Bart’s friends/family constantly in his appearances. He loves to goad, and monologue about his own superiority and intelligence. He’s very Not Nice, and he causes many problems, and he even does it on purpose.

But, I think it’s important to consider the context. From the jump Thad knows very little about anything except which team he’s on and who he’s playing for. He gets his orders from an unseen authority and he carries out his tasks because success means his team wins.

For all his self-aggrandizing talk, everything he does is in service of an end goal that doesn't actually center him. He's trying to get revenge for grievances he's never personally suffered, retribution for actions never committed against him. Everything he does is on someone else's behalf.

Thad sees in black and white, us or them. Up until the final few issues of Mercury Falling, Bart and co. are Thad's enemies, of course he's not going to be nice.

So Thad's motivation seems pretty simple: Thawne Supremacy™.

But it’s in Mercury Falling where this starts to fall apart, and the real core of his motivation gets revealed. Thad pretends to be Bart and suddenly Helen is nice to him. Bart’s friends think he’s funny. Bart’s teachers are impressed with his grades. Max ruffles his hair and gives him hugs and tells him he’s done a good job.

If he was actually an inherently mean and standoffish character, if Thad actually had significant personal stake in the Thawne VS Allen conflict, the weight of such tiny acts of kindness wouldn’t completely break him the way that it does in canon.

Thad thinks his goal is superiority and revenge and Thawne Supremacy™, but he's chasing validation. Thad doesn’t have a personal stake in the Thawne VS Allen conflict. He wouldn't get much satisfaction if he actually destroyed Bart and his family. Thad's personal victory would be the recognition after the fact: the praise and attention from the other Thawnes (a group of people he has literally never met) for his success.

He wants validation. That's basically it. And the fact that he gets it so easily from Bart's family and friends doesn't align with how he's told himself things are supposed to work.

Actually tangentially, Bart and Thad’s respective relationships to authority is so diametrically opposed and tbh kind of subversive in a superhero narrative. Where the hero is the one carving his own path without regard to social or societal rules, no fucks to give what anybody thinks of it. And the villain is a chronic people-pleaser.

Just based on Thad’s reaction to simple praise and affection from Max I really think Thad’s motivation has more to do with the response he gets than whatever the details are of any given task. He has no actual personal convictions beyond getting positive attention, and whatever he did have crumbled as soon as Bart’s friends laughed at his joke one time. Which of course leads into the core of his whole conflict at the end of Mercury Falling. He cares too much about Bart’s friends and family now, he doesn’t want to kill them, but worse than that, he’s faced with the sudden realization that he’s on the wrong side.

The Allens gave Thad everything he actually wanted and needed, but his conception of himself is inexorably tied to the Thawnes: who gave him jack shit. These two facts are in opposition to each other, and he can’t reconcile the reality of it.

Anyway all this to say, in an AU where Bart and Thad are raised together or Thad gets an actual redemption arc etc etc, I think my personal take on Thad’s personality whether it be pre-or-post-villainy would be one that is extremely socially conscious. He is much more of a people-person than Bart. Whether he's actually accurate in assessing people's feelings and how to respond to them can be hit or miss, but he wants to behave in a way that gets people to like him.

Pretending to be Bart isn’t remarked upon as, like, a difficult task for Thad. In his internal monologue he’s literally bragging to himself about how easy it is. But what’s especially notable to me is where his act differs from Bart's typical MO. Everyone notices, and lots of people comment, and presumably if Thad didn’t have the excuse of Max’s illness to “motivate” Bart to do better he would’ve been found out immediately. And those things are, specifically: paying attention in class, doing his chores, staying on task, and being helpful around the house. The one thing about Bart he chooses not to emulate is Bart’s rebelliousness.

Thad wants to prove himself, constantly, to whatever authority he respects (probably Max in this scenario) and will do whatever it takes to make that happen. In contrast to Bart, who only listens to authority when the shit they're saying actually makes sense to him. It’s excessively difficult to convince him to go against his own interests. (And I think a key part of that is Bart’s security in knowing that no matter how much he fucks up or doesn’t listen, the people he loves will always love him back.)

Thad’s got the people-pleaser in him that has to deserve whatever he’s given. It’s why he’s happiest when he’s given a clear goal or objective to complete, because it gives him an opening to prove himself.

All this to say that if we are quantifying Bart and Thad as a "good" or "bad" twin, in the eyes of every authority: Bart is the bad twin. Bart is the bad twin, Bart is the bad twin. Bart is the one who doesn’t care about school and whose grades vary wildly depending on his personal interest. He’s the one who goes off to do dangerous shit for fun and gets in trouble constantly and doesn’t do his chores and is thoroughly unconvinced by any authority figure trying to sell him bullshit. 

Thad is the one who needs to know all the rules just so he can experience the joy of following them. Relentlessly obedient. He'll put all his effort into doing all the right things that’ll endear him to whoever he wants to impress - meaning he’s the asshole who reminds the teacher about the assigned homework. Bart might be the most popular boy in school, but Thad is a pleasure to have in class.

Like Thad can (and should) still be high-strung and short-tempered and sarcastic and edgy and mean, because he is. But he can’t be doing all that without rhyme or reason. Colouring every interaction has to be that one-zero binary of ally or enemy. He needs to have somebody he’s proving himself to: a team he’s on and a team he’s against. He’s not an inherently rebellious character. He can go up against The Enemy, whoever he deems as such, but it has to be in service of a hypothetical future in which somebody eventually tells him he did a great job.

And in the interest of continuing to beat a dead horse, it connects to their respective upbringings. Thad and Bart were both raised in VR, but Bart’s experience had the side effect of basically hard-wiring him against insecurity. His world was a playground tailor-made for him, and he was never made to feel bad or insufficient about any aspect of himself. His first interaction with a real human person was Iris moving heaven and earth to save him, without him knowing her, without her knowing him, with no reasoning for the act needed beyond Being Her Grandson. Which is probably a significant factor in why Bart moves through the world with frankly atomic levels of autistic swag.

Thad’s VR upbringing installed self-consciousness in his psyche before any other personality trait. As in: he is immediately made conscious of himself and his relationship with everyone he will ever encounter. He’s told two things: he’s a clone of someone else (inherently derivative, lesser) and that he was made to be superior (a status to achieve). Which is such an instant clarifier for Thad’s everything. Where superiority is a condition that everyone either has, or does not. It’s the one-zero binary again: are they better than me or am I better than them. Being above others is mandatory, and if his superiority is ever challenged by hard evidence or god forbid nuance Thad’s brain physically cannot take it. He needs to be better, to be worse is unthinkable, and there is no other way to be.

And this status of better or worse is, crucially, not up to Thad to decide. He needs The Authority to validate him. Bart never tries to prove himself because he has nothing to prove. Thad’s entire identity hinges on the self-worth he gets from doing a Good Job.

It is such an inherent part of his motives in the Impulse comics canon, which is why it always feels a little off when he’s interpreted as a jackass indiscriminately.

Like I don't think he needs everyone to like him. But I do think he has either one person or a set of very particular people that he needs to like him. Everyone else is either in that circle or outside of it.

(Which is why Bart is such a great foil for Thad tbh. There is no set of words or behaviors that’ll change Bart’s opinion of Thad, because Bart is unaffected by obedience or charm. So ironically Bart is probably one of few people that Thad doesn’t bother to put on even a little bit of an act for.)

While Bart goes with his instincts, his personal beliefs and convictions at all times, Thad is hyper-conscious of big-picture goals. They balance each other out that way. Thad's keeping track of whatever expectations he has placed on him, and how his actions reflect on him and the team beyond short-sighted solutions. He's a team player. AND he's an asshole.

#soapbox #dc #thad thawne #thaddeus thawne #inertia #bart allen #impulse #like he cannot be mean indiscriminately... u must interrogate WHY hes mean and to whom #if hes being raised with Max and Helen he would not intentionally do anything to make their lives more difficult #if hes being raised by Meloni same situation #he needs to be trying to get validation from SOMEWHERE u know #and of course he'll mess up and hurt the people he loves or wants to impress he is a human being #but while that can sometimes be the result #that is never the Goal u kno #not his Core Motivation #i feel like the more i talk about this the less sense im making

[levyfiles]

some people are mad at steven for a moral issue, tbf. regardless of your thoughts on watcher’s streaming service he did still say he has racist and homophobic friends. he still goes to a homophobic church.

I absolutely recognise that you must have been recently introduced to The Pod Clip that the twitter teens who hate him preserved to break out whenever it's a fresh moment to rally hate against him, but I would advise anyone just receiving this clip from August 2020 being passed around with the angle that Watcher tried to hide this. I and many others were there and just know that I have a zero tolerance standard for people who show no remorse or growth when they uplift racists and bigots.

Mine and other fans who were startled by the statement hoped publicly that it would be an opportunity to clear the air for Watcher because the current political climate was just finally examining anti-blackness in everyone's biases and as someone who is mixed-African growing up in an Asian household, I know that anti blackness is and has been a normalised mindset in the Asian community.

But the thing is, months before this, Steven platformed Tammy and her colleagues to discuss how all of us can work together to stop Asian hate and one of the conversations I highlighte back then was how very clear Tammy was that allyship from the Asian community to the African-American community was tantamount to moving forward. That the us vs them rhetoric has and continues to be harmful for both parties. Ryan and Steven were very involved in this discussion and agreed wholeheartedly.

Having said that, the narrative around the podcast ep never had a chance to be discussed rationally. It really ended up skewed because Steven's response to the backlash from that clip was this

I hope that's legible to you. Many people who felt uneasy about what he said felt a lot better and his intention to say something at the top of the next episode would once again, unfortunately, get derailed because Twitter users (some who are particularly loud about loving and supporting Watcher yet constantly join in on the throng of bullying as soon as the tide turns) were adamant that they needed Watcher to post the clip and Steven's apology publicly on their youtube front page and on the main socials, to literally advertise it when the reality is that not many people were watching/listening to the podcast. For what reason would it be intelligent or good business practice to broadcast this hurtful moment so that more people could get hurt by it?

Watcher's response amid the harassment was to release a full podcast episode where they all discussed what they would do going forward to show that they are allies, not just by not being racist or homophobic but by being anti-these things. They showed that they cared about their impact. It was emotional and devastating to watch and by that time, we knew the pod was likely going to wind down. 2020 was already a miserable time and it was made worse because no matter what Steven or Watcher said at the time, the "stans" on Twitter wanted the man fired, they posted memes saying the world would be better if Steven Lim didn't exist, they wanted him shamed by his staff, and for Ryan and Shane to publicly disavow him. Many of these so-called devoted fans raided the server to yell about how Steven's alleged homophobia hurts them, most of them were white and pointedly talking over people of colour telling them "it's not your apology to accept!". It was a blood bath.

And I see waaaay too many of the same faces utilizing this completely neutral move--that of COURSE could have been executed better--to terrorize Steven, to make petitions to get him fired, commenting on his wedding photo telling him that Tammy should leave him, posting those same damn disgusting memes because you see, a whole bunch of people forgot how disgusting and evil this vendetta was to the point where even watcher's socials started to FOLLOW some of these genuinely mean-spirited individuals. They didn't give a shit about a movement or activism.

What kills me--what absolutely THROWS me--is that these same people expect to be able to return to interacting with the staff, attending live shows, buying merch and sending fan mail as soon as the hate tide winds down. All these people so concerned about a statement referencing faceless hypothetical racists and homophobes that Steven never named nor attributed any context for--as he was never given the chance--are so quick to dehumanize and caricaturize real human beings to their faces and they think this is a normal and acceptable behaviour.

You'll have to excuse me, as an older fan who has seen my fair share of normalised homophobia and racism in these communities, if I disagree.

#watcher #steven lim #discourse

[fumifooms]

Laios Touden and autism; admiring the non-human

Do you think people exaggerate when they scream about Laios being autistic? Do you feel like it’s weird that so many people including autistics are so set on Laios, the problematic (but incredible and kind) king TM, being the most autistic that has ever autisticed? Why do we cheer on autistic people wanting to be monsters?? Isn’t that weird?

Well, of course it depends on the way it’s done, it can be done quite offensively, but long story short Kui blew it out of the park. The thing is, autistic people really do like monsters and animals and robots. Nonhuman does not mean subhuman, it just means Other. Feeling a connection with them has been shown to be an extremely common autistic experience for that very reason.

Because some people don’t understand why we autistic Tumblr Laios stans cheer “autism! Autism!” whenever he talks about monsters and feeling alienated to humans so! Here’s a post about how yes even research papers are analyzing the special connection we form with animals. I’m not even joking but Laios Touden & the mass cries of relatability with autistic people he gets and all the love for him could be used as study material and evidence for future papers because the link is that strong. Oh also I think it’s notable that being autistic and undiagnosed vs diagnosed makes a huge difference. In my experience as someone who was undiagnosed up until 18, it’s even more alienating to not know that there’s a reason why you’re different, being gaslit that you’re ‘normal’ and you just need to try harder and get with the program, etc. Personally when getting diagnosed I went through the 5 stages of grief because the thought of having been fundamentally different all your life (a difference which you will never be able to change) and mistreated for it when you weren’t “wrong” all along makes you unload all the anger and sadness and loneliness and sheer trauma you’ve built up over time. Like it’s world shattering.

So! Back to seeing dogs as family. Also I implore you to value experiential evidence when it comes to autism and other neurodivergences because brains are complicated and neurotypicals not being able to understand us well even with scientific research is like, a whole thing even though we’re right there speaking about how we feel and being right every time because the topic is literally us and how we experience the world. 

Disclaimer for this whole post that, of course, no group is a monolith and everyone has different experiences or can diverge from the norm of the group, and that doesn’t diminish the validity of either side! Like, I know autistic people who have trauma with dogs and hate them. But, trends do happen, and in this case... Autism is very “My experiences with humans make me feel dehumanized in a bad and lonely way so instead I’ll dehumanize myself in a good and inspiring way”.

“I was treated like a failed human my entire life and you’re surprised that my response was to become a dog.” -Patricia Taxxon

It’s literally well recorded that autistic people relate to animals more than humans globally. With this post, besides spreading autistic Laios truthism and explaining why the portrayal hits so deep for so many,  I want to show in what way this is a very specific experience and not looking at his character through an autistic lense really misses a lot of why he’s everything that he is. (Tacking allegedly onto here for legal reasons, different interpretations are valid etc etc /gen). This honestly isn’t super long though.

To define an important term, anthropomorphism in the studies and in this post means to attribute human traits to the nonhuman, which not only includes anthro furry designs but also animals irl, inanimate objects, and animated media as opposed to live action, to humanize them and empathize with them.

Paper: https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/aut.2019.0027 

“Dogs taught me how to hunt and socialize and work in groups”, Laios having internalized body language... So real so real. I, too, make a great dog impression. And I want to emphase the part that it helps greatly develop a sense of emotions and relationships! For Laios, he didn’t get along with kids his age, it was him, Falin and the dogs against the world. Since it’s a group of dogs too, it taught him group dynamics and social hierarchies (like with Falin being considered as being below the dogs in authority according to the dogs rip), and the importance of group coordination when hunting.

For me, I cannot like, concisely explain just how much animals were important to me developmentally. I also grew up with dogs, but like I vividly remember encounters with like hamsters as well just radically shaping my understanding of boundaries, the importance of giving something space and the way you interact with them and respect their side of it. Unlike humans they don’t really mask how they feel, it’s direct cause-effect reaction and data gathering. There are no words involved, so the focus on having a perfect phrasing and tone is gone, leaving just pure interactions. 

There’s also no reason to mask how you feel either, and you don’t have to feel silly over wanting to form a connection and it showing, what, is the dog gonna laugh at you because you obviously want to make friends with it? Toshiro or Kabru might, but dogs and cats will just tell you to fuck off and leave it there worst case scenario. I often say that I think one reason Marcille is special to Laios and he feels comfortable around her is because she emotes INTENSELY, she gestures, she puts her whole body into it, her facial expressions are pretty exaggerated and her ears even emote too- like with a dog’s ears!

I think there’s def also things to be said about how he gravitated towards Izutsumi at first, all excited, was eager to sleep in the same bed as her, but in the Izutsumi sleep rating chart we see they really just casual and chill so it’s not a Laios talking to Shuro deep into the night situation just a “I like sleeping besides animals” situation and that is enough to hype him up. I love how he pet her in the extra about why Chil let her sleep with him too. He’s just so transparently eager to befriend her, even if in the end they weren’t all that compatible and he accepted that.

There are honestly so many examples I could give for this. Like Grandin the famous cow lady.

More about autism & empathy:

https://www.spectrumnews.org/news/double-empathy-explained/ (Also mentions a study in which groups of autistic, allistic then a mixed group played a game of telephone and both singular groups had similar levels of information retention, but the mixed group was significantly worse. As an autistic person yeah duh, obviously autistic people are different from one another and can have plenty of interpersonal issues, but communicating with other neurodivergent people feels pretty intuitive and straightforward and comfortable. One of the reasons why neurodivergent people tend to naturally gravitate towards each other I suppose.) 

^ Paper: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5932358/  For good, extensive summary of why we relate to animals so much you can go to the “anthromorphizing and asd” section of the paper. This paper extends to our widespread liking of cartoons and robots as well. Ok so this is a whole thing I won’t get into here but this is a big reason why a lot of autistic people are agender leaning as well. Genders and queerness in general is a lot about social constructs, and being queer is being marginal to these, not fitting into boxes or challenging those social norms and conventions. Queerplatonic relationships are a great example of this, where the framework of the relationship is platonic but the intangible nature of what it is exactly is the point, not familial not anything but everything at once too, just adoration, I like to say having pets is a bit like it as well, bc obvi it’s not romantic and often not fully familial, very platonic but also sooo much cuddling and adoration and kissing and whatnot that you wouldn’t typically do with a friend or family member. I’ll talk about qpr and labels another day though.

I got carried away but queerness in Dunmeshi is something I 100% want to make a big post on one day. Experiencing the world with different guidelines and not registering things to have the same boxes, sigh. Personally I also relate to Laios on a gender level, “cis by default because I don’t care all that much but if I were to dig deeper I’m probably otherkin and I want to be socially associated with traits of monsters and animalistic rather than man/woman” sighh hard to be a cryptid in this day and age. I wish we had a term like furry but for monsters, I want to be in the fantasy or folk tale genre ty, like changelings. Goshh changelings... You know, the irl myth where people said their neurodivergent kids were fairies’ children instead of human. Diminished physical sense of self means I see myself as some unknowable black  void aesthetic wise, but like in a way that simultaneously makes me feel seen. Like becoming a monster, losing your sense of self but also somehow just being simplified and seen for what you are, it’s weird to try and explain. This post is more about relating to the nonhuman than about seeing yourself as such, but like connect the dots right, that IS an important point of Laios’ character. It’s because our brains literally work different than allistics which makes us feel as other, but also because of social ostracization and functioning in a different way than society at large, living in the margin of society, being weird and non-conforming.

Meanwhile, animals and social norms... Like ok, showing your neck and rolling on the ground to show that you’re friendly and harmless and play biting might not be proper. But have you considered that it’s also fun and feels very intuitive. Play with a dog in the dog’s way I promise it is so nice and freeing. Play tug of war and growl back when they growl. Hiss at your cat to tell them they do something wrong, engage with them on their level.

Autism made social life hard, but it made animals easy. Do you have anyyy idea how good it feels to mask all day every day and feel constantly misunderstood or like you’re doing a performance but then you can just, drop all of that in the company of animals and they understand you. They understand you. You form an understanding and rapport so easily.

And this whole thing with Laios is so explicit too, with the Winged Lion saying “You’re sick and tired of the human world”. Notice the choice of words. Sick and tired of the human world. Exhausted from the constraints, sick of the mind games. It really isn’t as much about loving monsters as it is about loving the nonhuman. Relating to them because you feel that you can actually understand how they work and think, and feeling like they could understand you back as well. Animals are safe.

Like I could go on about how Laios admiring even just demi-humans like orcs is because they’re socially seen as non-humans more than any true physical thing, that they’re not bound by human society and its rules and live with their own lifestyle. But it would deal myself 1000 points of psychic damage and I am not ready to cry today. It’s idealization 100%, and like, Laios DOES want to be treated as human, to be valued, but it feels like an unreachable thing meanwhile becoming a monster is instant gratification and freedom and a sense that now no one will be able to hurt you in a way that reaches you, never again shall you be defenseless, and then if people dehumanize you then that only strengthens your sense of identity as a monster and UGHH ugh ugh.

And like. This post is a mess at this point but if you want to kinda delve into the more “why” then I recommend this Patricia Taxxon video essay. It starts out on a very different topic, but it’s all about autism and finding comfort in the inhuman. Long story short is othering made us like this also animals are just simpler to intuitively get along with.

So when I post this

I mean it. I really mean it when I say he’s me. I have never felt so seen. So many conflicting emotions all wrapped so concisely yet so intangibly woven into the whole storyline so subtly. 

Not being depicted as a monster of an human being for feeling/having felt that way?? The manga understands you. The world can understand you. Other humans can understand you. You can bond with them. You can. And I think that’s a big part of Dungeon Meshi too- Laios opening up to others about how he really is and his interests, and all the bumps on the way but how it was the only way to truly get to know each other and bond. With the climax being Laios confronting head on his complex with monsters and humans, and his monster-loving side and animalistic side being exactly what saves the whole world, what saves humanity. Because Laios does value his friends, does think humanity has beautiful sides to it, he wants to help it thrive and eat and become more accepting, carving out a kingdom for misfits and demi-humans. At the end of it, transforming into a monster and being free is a daydream fantasy, and the reality of it is that Laios does belong in the world as he is, and does receive and give out love.

If you enjoyed this you’ll probably like some of my other Laios analysis!  Here’s an analysis of his succubus and what it says about his relationships with other humans. And here’s an analysis about his relationship with Shuro from his perspective.

#dungeon meshi #delicious in dungeon #laios touden #character analysis #i guess #dungeon meshi manga spoilers #spoilers #autistic laios touden #asd #autism representation #meta #draft so old it uses the old Tumblr post editor #it would be much better if i could put them side to side rip #i also wanna do an analysis trying to pin down his level of social awareness #i love that the monster story epic saga about misfits and your place in the world on an ecosystem level is just sooo autistic so perfect #this post has a weird structure but hopefully it can showcase some things and make ppl understand and others relate! I know we're out there #hiii therians how we feeling today. Brain chemistry is weird but ours is just wired different not broken #feeling self-conscious bc even with studies this is the equivalent of going 'trust me bro I get it' which usually doesn't go well with us #Humanity is beautiful <3333 Humans are social animals broski love yourself!!!

[lovemyromance]

SJM: I thought it was obvious??

AKA - No analysis needed. The clues are there. Things are already happening.

Please keep your 80 page PowerPoints and highlighted words from your “8 books of canon” (none of which are actually from ACOTAR, btw) to yourself.

“I thought it was obvious” = no deep dives needed. No extrapolation or analysis necessary. The words are already on the page. You don’t have to work harder than SJM to come up with your own theories (*cough* see HOFAS crazy hype theories vs actual book)

“I thought it was obvious”

The ONLY couple currently mutually attracted to each other is Elriel. They have had moments since ACOMF. ACOSF did not end them, it gave them the setup for the next book. They are set up for the greatest tortured forbidden romance of the series, how can you dispute that? Why would you WANT to dispute that love story? I don’t want ACOSF 2.0 which was all physical and no substance. I want an angsty, slow forbidden romance. I want to fall in love when the characters fall in love. Elriel will give us that.

“I thought it was obvious”

The other ships do NOT exist on the page at the moment. Elucien, I will give credit to because they are still mates so that COULD happen still. But right now, where ACOSF ended, they had barely even seen each other in a year. The only romantic coded interactions have been between Azriel & Elain thus far.

“I thought it was obvious”

Elucien & Gw*riel have not shared any romantic moments. There is no romance between them at this current time in the series. I am not talking about “what could happen” or “what could Sarah be setting up” because she said it was obvious. That means it’s there already. There’s no reason to hypothesize and theorize about ships that don’t currently exist in the book. Because - and say it with me-

“I thought it was obvious”

What is obvious about elucien? Other than the fact that they are mates. That’s it. That’s all they have. Not even a conversation on the page. Not even a shared shy glance or brush of their fingers. It’s the equivalent of an arranged marriage neither of them seems to want. Analyzing 20 sentences about flowers and sunlight, going out of your way to prove feyre is an “unreliable” narrator when she questions the bond (but Cassian, fashion police of Velaris, is a very very reliable narrator)-Why? Is any of that obvious to the casual reader? No.

“I thought it was obvious”

I’m not even going to spend many words talking about Gw*nriel, as I don’t see it as anything more than a crackship. They have like 4 platonic interactions. Friendly. Banter, sure. But not all banter is a clue that people are predestined soulmates. Most people who read their interactions are not going to overanalyze spark and glow and shadow behavior. They shouldn’t have to because - again - none of that is obvious.

“I thought it was obvious”

Shy glances and subtle scenes in the background wasn’t enough for those who claim to be reading experts. So SJM released a bonus chapter where in clear black and white text, you see both Azriel and Elain desperate for each other. This man is willing to BEG on his knees for a taste of her/ the end. Why would you even want him with anyone else after that?

“I thought it was obvious”

All these characters I’ve mentioned have been supporting characters this entire series. Nothing concerning them is going to happen in someone else’s book-but the seeds have been sewn. Any scene with Elain could have been written with Lucien or her sisters instead of Azriel - but it wasn’t.

Ex: when majda says, “if anyone can figure out what’s wrong, it’s a mate”

Lucien is THERE. Feyre is THERE. Nesta is THERE. But who figures it out - not her mate, nor her sisters - Azriel.

Lucien could’ve shown her the garden, feyre could’ve sat with her and listened to Elain’s garden plans till 3am - but no - it was Azriel.

And this man is the only one in the NC I’m convinced that has an actual job and responsibilities. So he is choosing to spend what little free time he has with ELAIN. What’s not clicking, folks?

“I thought it was obvious”

Sarah-we love her-but she is Queen of cliches. Her writing is not some insane thriller level that has you gasping every page turn. She likes threes, she likes happy endings, she likes her male LIs desperate for their female counterparts. The answer to Amarantha’s riddle was LOVE. CC had “through love all is possible”.

You really think she wrote the line “hoped love would trump even a mating bond” and it meant nothing?

SJM doesn’t do anything easy. But she said it was obvious- because it IS.

#elriel #pro elain #elain archeron #elain x azriel #azriel

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Malleus, Deuce: Like Mother, Like Son

BRO'S STILL MAKING THE "ARE YOU LOST BBY GHORL" FACE … Malleus’s birthday hits different knowing what I know now 💀 ALSO THE FACT THAT DEUCE SAID "THAT" ABOUT MALEFICENT VS THE HUMANS IS... (trying to keep this wording vague so as to not spoil people who haven’t gotten there yet)

It’s nice to see Malleus and Deuce in the vignettes, I feel like they don’t get to interact that much (which is a shame because I think their dynamic is cute). They had a chapter together in the manga anthology too! I’m glad they could hang out some more.

A Tale as Old as Time.

The princess and her prince were picture perfect in the painting.

The woman, with golden curls that tumbled down her back. Her cerulean gown spilled to the polished floors like a fabric waterfall, the tiara in her hair catching the soft evening light. She gazed up at her lover's warm, twinkling eyes, and smiled.

The man, brunette, locks falling loosely across his forehead. He was handsome in a red tunic with a high black collar, a crimson cape billowing out behind him with each step he took. His gaze was locked with the princess's, his one and only.

Onlookers gathered in a ring around the two, spellbound by how they danced, bodies twinning like threads bound together. It was something precious they dared not disturb, even their breaths clutched like pearls to prevent their escape.

This was happily ever after, a dream come true.

It should have been.

Yet Malleus frowned. His brows drew together and his mouth pursed, a brewing storm settling over his face.

“Draconia-senpai?” Deuce called to him anxiously. “I-Is something wrong? You look a little scary…”

The first year glanced at the portrait of the royal couple. He jumped. “D-Don’t tell me, did this painting piss you off?! Er, I mean... Did it offend you?"

“No, nothing of the sort,” Malleus replied. He rested an index finger against his chin. “It sparked memories of my own days in court. As the crown prince to the Briar Valley, it goes without saying that I've attended a number of occasions similar to what is depicted here."

"Oh, for real? That makes sense, you being royalty and all. What were those events like?"

"Most are rather solemn affairs. Grandmother, the senators, and other politicians gather to discuss diplomacy, trade, and national policies. For certain occasions, there are traditional rituals that must first be performed. A royal birth, for example, must be blessed before the festivities can commence. If it is a knighting, then all the royal guard shall be present and a speech of one's accomplishments read."

Deuce blinked a few times, as though shedding sleepiness. His mind struggled to grasp the enormity of a prince's duties. He dropped the smartest sounding response he could: "That sounds tough."

Malleus lips slightly lifted. "I do not mind it. There is pride to be had in conducting such work."

I don't have a reason to doubt what he's saying, but... Deuce clenched his fists at his sides. If Draconia-senpai really feels that way, why does he still seem so pained?

The fairy drew out a sigh, as if dissatisfied with the silence. "... Ah, but how strange. When I look upon this painting, I see many people present... yet the princess touched by diurnal fae and her prince take no notice of them. They have eyes only for each other."

His words were velvet-lined, soft on the ears. Beneath them, a pang of longing rose like a fine mist at daybreak.

"What must it feel like to be so beloved?" Malleus wondered. "To have someone who considers you the most special being in all the world?"

Vines twisted in his gut, thorns prickling his insides. Frustration and molten discontent pooled. For all the power that he wielded, he failed to attain such a basic thing.

Love.

"Do you understand such a feeling, Spade?" The inquiry was pure acid.

"H-Huh, me?!" Deuce startled, not prepared for the demand in Malleus's voice. "Well... uh, I guess my mom calls me her big, strong man. Does that count?"

Malleus's brow furrowed. "I'm afraid I don't follow. Is it customary for children of man to refer to their offspring as 'big, strong men'?"

"I think that's just my mom's thing." He shrugged. "I'm the only man in the house, so I try to help her out if I can. She jokes about it when I do."

Malleus made a face. It was difficult to discern the emotion he wore.

"Moms, right?" Deuce gave a nervous laugh. "They can be embarrassing, but they care about us a lot."

"I never knew my mother."

"... Oh." A rock dropped in Deuce's stomach. He hurried for an apology as dread rippled through him. "Shit, my bad! I didn't mean to..."

Malleus held up a hand in an elegant dismissal. "Be at ease. I harbor no anger."

There was no point, he told himself, in rage expressed for a woman he had no bond with. Her face, her voice--they were all a mystery to him. She was but a stranger adrift in an abyss.

Still, a part of him sparked at the thought of her, of someone he had yet to meet--would never meet. The thrill of fates closely intertwined, the tenderness of a parent's love.

Malleus went quiet, lowering his hand.

"Grandmother and Lilia have done their utmost to mentor me in her stead." He sounded hollow, insistent. Like he was trying to convince himself as much as he was Deuce.

The Heartslabyul student swallowed. He placed a firm hand on Malleus's arm and squeezed. "... It's not enough, is it?"

He received no answer.

“Your mom is thinking of you, wherever she is.”

Malleus pulled away, presenting his back to Deuce. "Dead fae do not tell tales," he said simply.

“That doesn’t mean she loved you any less,” Deuce stubbornly protested. “Right up until her last breath… she must have been so happy to have you, thinking about what kind of person you’d grow up to be.”

Dreaming of the day when she can, at last, meet you.

Blink, and his eyes were wet. Blink again, and his vision blurred. Heartbeat hot and quick, galloping upon coals.

Did my mother truly…?

“She’d be damn proud of you too.” Deuce flashed a wicked grin. “Believe me.”

“… Hah.” Malleus chuckled dryly.

The longer he considered it, the more appealing the idea became.

A woman in his likeness—or was he made in hers? Papery kisses, fond embraces, words of affirmation. Fire that burned strongly, warding off the darkness.

Wouldn’t that be something?

"I love you, Malleus," whispered that she-phantom. Sweet nothings that sated his starved soul. "Forever and always. My dear son, my pride and joy."

The carefully constructed stone fortress around his heart faltered. His desire burned like a falling star.

He took a breath, and fell from the heavens with his wish.

“Thank you, Spade.”

Just for this moment, let me walk once upon a dream.

A single tear slipped down Malleus’s cheek.

And what a wonderful dream it was.

#twst #twisted wonderland #Malleus Draconia #disney twisted wonderland #disney twst #spoilers #Malleus birthday takeover #something no one asked for #twst imagines #twst scenarios #twisted wonderland imagines #twisted wonderland scenarios #Deuce Spade #leave it to me to turn Malleus’s deranged groovy face into family angst

[tower-girl-anon]

4th and 10th house: how we act in public vs how we act on private

Hello!! After a long pause, I came back with another post that will focus in the IC and MC axis so it could describe how we act in public (in terms of job and career settings) vs how we act in private places such as our home or with intimate friends acording to the signs rulling the cusps of these houses.

I will write this with opposite signs which means that I will start with Aries/Libra dinamic, then Taurus/Scorpio and so on. For those who don't have opposite signs just look at the signs ruling your IC and MC, and then look at both in the list below.

As always, I apologize for any mistake, I hope you enjoy it and don't copy or repost this post without giving proper credits to the owner.

Aries in the IC/Libra in the MC: for those who have Aries as the rulling sign of your IC, they tend to be a very active, fierce, athletic, and action oriented person. These people can't stand still in their home environment or private setting. They must do something that's why doing sports to burn that energy can be a common thing for these individuals to do once they are at home. For woman, their family or closed ones tend to see them as a tomboy. With Libra rulling the opposite house, in career settings people tend to look at them as someone fashionable, fair, loving, charming and atractive. In general, they know what to say and exudes a calmer energy in contrast to their active, masculine, fiery, and sometimes agressive energy at home.

Taurus in the IC/Scorpio in the MC: with Taurus rulling the IC, these people tend to be pretty much calm and relaxed in their home environment or with their closest ones. They are seeing as hard working and money oriented (this can be seen either as a good or bad trait) due to their need or having enough material comfort. They tend lo like to keep relationships peaceful in their home and they don't have much problem unless they feel that they lack financial or material support. With Scorpio as the rulling of the MC, these natives makes carry a lot of power, magnetism, intensity and mysteriousness in a public setting related to their work. It seems they had a prestigious position in their field due to the powerfull energy they exude, and most of the time they like to keep control of everything they do, which can be a huge contrast to their private self.

Gemini in the IC/Sagittarius in the MC: these natives tend to be really chatty in private settings. They are curious about everything and question everything they can think of. For them, it's easier to ask questions, share their thoughts or share their visions at home or with close friends rather than in works settings. That's because they like to give the impression, with Sagittarius rulling the MC, that they know and understand everything in just one lesson. They can feel stupid at times when they ask something or doesn't know an answer to a question. In their family or close circle, they can appear chatty and curious but, in public or working settings, these natives exudes an energy of natural knowledge, wisdom, and may even appear as they have strong beliefs.

Cancer in the IC/Capricorn in the MC: these natives exudes a caring and nurturing energy on private while, in public or working settings, they appear hard working, serious, and responsable. They have an emotional side that they keep private from prying eyes. Only those who their trust such as their family or close friends are able to see this side of themselves. They like to collect pictures, videos or any memory that connects with their emotions, and tend to be very motherly to those who he/she cares about. In their bad times, they can be moody or possesive. Meanwhile, their co-workers sees their natural responsable, professional and serious aproach of these individuals to their work. They don't joke around. In job settings they display, all the time, this hard working persona.

Leo in the IC/Aquarius in the MC: these individuals could be seen as the star within their private circle of friends or family. The energy of this group talks about self-confidence (that can turn into ego problems sometimes), creativity, connecting with their inner child and playfulness while, in public or work settings, they tend to display not only intelligence, a unique vision or aproach to work, but also a caring and humanitarian energy. In private, they like to do things that makes them feel good about themselves, that lets them connect to their inner creativity or inner child, and only a few are allowed to see these side of them. Meanwhile, they tend to present yourself as someone original who cares about the wellbeing and success of the hole company so you apport with original ideas that shows their intelligence.

Virgo in the IC/Pisces in the MC: on their own, these people tend to be very practical, hard worker and organized. Sometimes they may look even as a controling figure or a overly critical one due to their need to check every single ditail of their personal life and home environment. They like to makes things done in a practical way that may look overly perfectionist to those closest to them. Meanwhile, in the work environment they act or appear as if they had a mystical aura around them. People will tend to proyect a certain idea of who this person is in real life but, most probably than not, their proyections will tend to be wrong or, at least, not entirely true. These natives may appear distant, empathic, mysterious, distracted, sleepy, somnolient, confused or lost in their own world in work environment. Maybe even on drugs.

Libra in the IC/Aries in the MC: this part is similar to the aries/libra dinamic but in the reverse. These individuals have an inner caring, loving, and peace-maker energy when they are alone or with close ones but, in career settings, they carry an intense and masculine energy that may appear aggresive at times. They put a lot of energy, leadership, movement and action in their work environment. Meanwhile, once they are alone, in their home, or with close ones, these individuals are the most caring and fairest people in general. They are calm and want everything to be harmonic with their personal relationships.

Scoprio in the IC/Taurus in the MC: these natives seems calm, composed, hard working, practical, and loving in every work setting. They work hard for their success, they gradually and steadilly build a legacy or rename in the company they work for. They seems more open than their true and private nature reveals. Because the truth is, with Scorpio rulling the most intimate part of ourselves, these individuals are extremely private with their intimate life. Only a very few people, family and friends that they can trust are allowed to know their deepest part of themselves, their pains and shadow self. They can be caring in their workplace but this doesn't mean that he/she is close or intimate with their co-workers. For that to happen there must trust and a lot of time of knowing each other before these natives allows you in their life.

Sagittarius in the IC/Gemini in the MC: these people act chatty, intelligent, knowledgeable and open to any kind of conversation in a public or career settings. They are smart, whitty, adaptable to any situation, and quick so they know how to answer any kind of question. Despite the intelligence and knowledge they show on public settings, this people tend to have an inner yearning to learn more things, either by studying more or travelling to other places to learn more things, even though it may seem as if they know a lot already. Along with this, they could have an inner belief system within themselves about God or humanity in general that could surprise people and an humorous side that they only show in closed settings such as their home or with friends.

Capricorn in the IC/Cancer in the MC: this is the opposite of the Cancer/Capricorn duo. In these cases, the individuals who have Cancer as the sign rulling their MC are seen in public or career settings as someone motherly, someone who is emotionally invested in the work he/she does in the company or in their own proyects. It affects them deeply when they make a mistake or are not able to fulfill perfectly the work they are asked to do. On private, they are very serious and responsable. They work hard behind the scenes in everything they do because there is a lot of responsabilities for this natives. That's why they are very private with their feelings even with his/her friends and family. Only a small selection of them are allowed to know their intimate thoughts and feelings.

Aquarius in the IC/Leo in the MC: people with Leo in MC are, in general, very popular or they tend to become well known in their jobs pretty fast because a lot of people tend to admire their aparent charisma, confidence, talent, warm, and bright personality a lot. Some people could see them as egocentric or self-centered due to this but, on private settings, they can be the most caring people of them all despite that they doesn't like as nurturing or caring as a water o earth sign. In private settings or, on their own, they prefer to socialise or try to help other people through social media, working in humanitarian causes, and, most probably than not, they have an intelligent, revolutionary, and "weird" side to them (in the best way) that they don't display on public. Only to their closest ones.

Pisces in the IC/Virgo in the MC: these natives are very down to earth, hard-working, practical, grounded, and detail-oriented in a work setting. They put all their effort in their careers, they want every detail resolved so everything can be perfect which, in extremes cases, can make them look overly critical in the eyes of their co-workers. Because, in many cases, they don't like others, or themselves, to commit a mistake. Maybe it won't look like it to others, but in private they are very dreamy, imaginative, emphatic, and sensible. In private, they tend to let their sensible and imaginative side take course so he/she can escape a little bit of the harsh reality of life. They could enjoy reading, listening music, drink or, maybe, doing some spiritual practices that helps them to connect to their intuitive side and helps them to recharge.

#ic #mc #midheaven #imum coeli #aries #libra #taurus #scorpio #gemini #sagittarius #cancer #capricorn #leo #aquarius #virgo #pisces #astro notes #astrology #astrology placements #astro observations #astrology observations #astro community #astro placements

[schrodinger-swriter]

Heyoo!! I was wondering if I could request A, D, F, K, L, P, Q, T and X for Angel Dust x reader for the Hazbin fluff alphabet? Thank you!!!💕

A, D, F, K, L, P, Q, T, and X for Angel Dust

I hope this one is okay, I feel Angel may be another character I'll have difficulty catching right, but nonetheless I hope you enjoy, Anon!

Apologies for such a short note, I'm getting another headache coming on.. I think I will write out this post and rest.

For the Tunes segment I would like to apologize for having a trash taste in music, I naturally gravitate to songs I already know with these kinds of questions..

ATTRACTION:

This one is very tricky, given that Angel throws himself at any guy he sees. Though, that's because he feels it's what is expected of him, is it not? At least gathering from his wiki as well as his actions within the series... Pinpointing his type is a little difficult and what he knows he's attracted to. But what about subconscious attraction? He needs someone who's willing to deal with his sarcasm and meanness, but won't totally blow him off. But he also needs someone he can just unwind with, you know? Very hard to say, and comparing how he acts with the rest of the cast is offering little idea.. Definitely going to need to be patient with this one, too, but that's not exactly an attraction thing.. hmm..

DATES:

A club may be his first go to, especially if this before he starts taking the redemption thing seriously. Though, that's not exactly the best date idea now is it? You go there to get drunk or take enough substances to not think straight for the next week; or to fuck. Sure, you can bond with someone over a shot, but is it really.. genuine? Add in he might be stressing over you like he did with Niffty if this is within the second half of the show's current timeline, and you get drunk before he can.. No, my mind keeps wandering to the two of you simply having an at home date. Together, at your place or yours. If it takes place at the hotel he takes you to his room. Less of a date as it is a hangout session, and he might try to initiate sex.. More experienced with intercourse than the romance side of things, so that's going to take time too.

FAMILY:

Sinners can't have biological children of his own, but Angel Dust is fine by that. Perhaps he feels responsible for a moment and admits (likely internally) that he can hardly keep an eye on himself, how can he keep an eye on a child? There's also some level of fear that the kid would follow in his foot steps and end up in a nasty situation, Angel knows he's not exactly the best.. role model. He's more likely to ascend than be a father.

KISSES:

Oh he loves physical affection. Sure, a lot of it is going to be sexually charged. Diving into the romance vs sex side of things, it may take him a while to fully get a grasp on the difference between lustful feelings and romantic ones and how to act them out. Not all kisses and cuddle sessions need to end in intercourse. He loves giving you quick kisses, long kisses, kisses with tongue, kisses without tongue. He's not picky at all. His favorite place to kiss you is really anywhere on your face... but if you give him the chance he'll say his favorite place is more... down south

As for receiving, I think he stands at around the same.. point.. Yeah, point! Not picky when it comes to him getting affection!

PETNAMES:

He calls you everything under the sun. From schnookums to Honey, you've heard it all. He defaults to Baby and Babe, though. Tends to replace your name with something endearing unless there's something serious going on or he's trying to get your attention. Similar to the above segment he's not picky about what you call him, but he does seem to get this look in his eye if you call him something rather sweet and innocent.

QUESTION:

Oooo this ones tough....

He asks what your favorite position is/j

No, but real talk, I think if you two were alone and you're in his room... perhaps in one of your hangouts... he might let his walls slip a bit, ask you some real.. personal stuff, perhaps seeking some sort of validation or even reassurance. This is more likely after a rough day and after a drink or two.

TUNES:

Perhaps I'm biased because I've been getting back into Maneskin but I can imagine you two absolutely BELTING it to this song! Not exactly a "couple song" per say, but definitely a song that you two vibe with together!

As well as this song, for the same reasons above

Though I'm also picturing the Reader and Angel drunkingly singing Tally Hall's version of Just A Friend (while the pair are giggling and getting way into it, you know just having a good time!)

XRAY:

It depends on how long you two have known each other. Are you guys a quick fling that fell together fast, or were you both a slow burn? If your relationship formed quickly, he may be a little stumped on reading you.. which can sometimes lead to him being a little insensitive to your feelings and vibe. Or awkwardly standing there unsure of how to approach you, likely slinking away to let you handle it on your own. But in something that had left more time for the two of you to get to know one another, he's going to let you vent and complain to him. He can tell somethings off with just the tone of your voice or if your wording is a little off. You two aren't totally in sync, but he's not as clueless as the former.

#hazbin hotel x reader #hazbin hotel x you #hazbin x reader #hazbin imagine #hazbin hotel imagine #angel dust x reader #angel dust x you #angel dust imagine

[ladykailitha]

Do You Know What Shovels Dig? Graves Part 6

And this is it. The last part of a short little idea that kept me up all night that turned into this beautiful story that is one of my favorite stories I’ve written.

WIP Wednesday allowed me to finish this up for you before I went to bed. I got a job that I will be starting on Monday which will slow my writing down some, but I will still try to keep up on the stories I have. I love writing these stories for you guys and wish I could make it my job. But alas, capitalism.

Also this is for all the people that wished to see what the Corroded Coffin boys would say and for all the people that wanted to have Erica actually apologize. I was like “if you guys can get her to apologize, great, because I couldn’t!” But then I realized that there was someone who could get her to apologize. Robin. So here you go.

Thanks to that anon for the barbecue idea. That’s here too.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

*

After Max, Lucas, and Erica had gone, Steve sat with Eddie, El, and the Byers boys.

“I think all in all,” Eddie began, “those were some pretty good apologies.”

The other three nodded.

Steve sighed. “It doesn’t change the fact that it took an actual honest to god intervention to get them realize they were wrong.”

“No it doesn’t,” El said. “Which is why I told them that they’ve been grounded from Steve for two weeks.”

“Uh...” Eddie said, “what now?”

“It means,” Will explained. “That if they want to hang out with him they have to do on his terms, not theirs. No begging for rides, no stopping by for food and then bailing, and just no taking advantage of Steve.”

Steve blushed. “Thanks, guys. I mean it. It was nice knowing that there were people that weren’t going to threaten me and took this whole seriously.” He gave Jonathan’s knee a squeeze. “I’m not sure what would have happened if you hadn’t stopped by. But I’m really glad you did.”

Jonathan squeezed his shoulder in response. “Me, too. I hope they learned their lesson.”

“That is the hope,” Will said.

Steve scratched his cheek. “Why don’t we have barbecue at your guys’s place after the two weeks and see how they fair?”

Will brightened. “I like that idea. That way if they are still having problems we can talk to them about it.”

“Do you think your mom will go for it?” Eddie asked.

Jonathan grinned. “Hell yeah, she would. She’s been wanting to show off her new house to everyone for awhile now.”

El grinned too. “We have a plan, then!”

*

Steve was pleased to see that the Party actually started to make actual changes in how they treated him.

Lucas invited him out to play basketball at the rec center and biked himself there. Steve offered him a ride home after, which he happily took as they were both sweating afterwards.

Dustin made sure that Steve knew he was joking when he was making comments. And Steve made sure to snark right back unless it really bothered him and then they would talk about it.

Robin and he had a longer talk about the gay vs bisexual thing. She admitted that she had been wrong to assume that because Steve was bisexual that it would be Eddie getting his heartbroken and not Steve. She had some ingrained biases that she had to get over and was really sorry she didn’t have his back when he needed her to.

There were a lot of little changes but the final major change came a couple days after the intervention when Jeff, Gareth, and Brian all walked into Family Video together to properly apologize to Steve.

“Hey, Buckley,” Jeff said, “can you give us some space?”

Robin straightened her spine and wiggled her shoulders. “Steve has had apology monitors to ensure that it’s an actual apology, and as Eddie or Will or Jonathan aren’t here, it’s going to have to be me.”

Steve laughed and shook his head. “Apparently there are certain people who think I’m too nice,” he explained to the other boys, “and let people get away things that I shouldn’t so they took it upon themselves to be my guard dogs to make sure it’s an actual apology.”

“Have they met you?” Gareth asked, incredulous. “You’re the original bitch.”

Steve laughed again. “Who let Tommy and Carol walk all over me. I tend to roll over for friends.”

They blinked and then nodded.

“Yeah, okay,” Brian said. “That tracks.”

Steve just smiled. “So how can I help you fine gentleman today? May I interest you our latest releases?”

That got a couple chuckles out of them.

“No, man,” Jeff said, “we’re here to talk about the whole shovel talk shit.”

Steve leaned against the counter and folded his arms. “You do know I don’t fault you guys for that, right? You guys are Eddie’s best friends. I didn’t really fault Wayne, either. But the execution of that one...” he winced when Robin gasped. “Poor choice of words, sorry.”

“What he do?” Jeff asked.

“Borrowed Chief Hopper’s shotgun and cleaned while we talked,” Steve said with a grimace.

“That ain’t right...” Brian said, shaking his head.

Gareth looked at Jeff and then back to Steve. “Yeah, but here’s the thing about our shovel talk...”

“It wasn’t necessary,” Jeff finished for him. “We’ve had time to get to know you before you and Eddie started dating. We knew that you two would do anything for each other even without being a couple.”

Brian nodded. “It’s just...something we thought best friends did. The whole ‘break his heart, we’ll break your knees’ kind of thing.”

Robin looked down at her feet and cleared her throat.

Jeff sighed dramatically. “Please tell me she wasn’t one of the ones that gave you the shovel talk. Because that’s messed up, man.”

Steve looked over at her and then back up to Jeff. “Yeah, she knows.”

“By the way,” Gareth said, waving his hands, “Eddie doesn’t know we’re here. So I don’t want thinking this is a forced apology or anything.”

Steve raised his eyebrows. “Really?”

Brian cleared his throat. “I mean he did threaten to kill off our characters if we were mean to you, but he didn’t tell us to apologize or anything.”

Steve laughed. “That sounds more like the Eddie we all know and love.”

“But we would have come anyway,” Jeff said. “Because our shovel talk added to a heaping pile of bullshit that you didn’t need. And definitely didn’t deserve.”

“So this is us saying we’re sorry that everyone you knew decided that you were going to break Eddie’s heart,” Gareth said. “And that we made you feel like you weren’t worthy of dating Eddie. Because you are, man. Like seriously the only guy Eddie’s brought around that we actually want to be friends with.”

“Hell yeah,” Brian said. “You’re so cool and you love to take care everyone. We’d want you to stick around because we like you, too.”

Steve’s eyes blurred and he cleared his throat. “Thanks, guys. It means a lot to hear you say that.”

They all came up and gave Steve a hug, blocking him from outside viewers so he could cry. Once they were sure he was going to be okay, they let him go.

They said their goodbyes and walked out, leaving behind a stunned Robin and grateful Steve.

*

Just before the barbecue started Robin brought over Erica to Steve by holding her ear.

“Ow! Ow! Ow!” Erica was yelling as she was half dragged over to him.

Robin sat her down and said, “I learned that this little hobgoblin didn’t properly apologize for her shovel talk. And Eddie let her get away with it.”

“God, what’s your problem?” Erica huffed up at Robin. “They understood. Why can’t you?”

Robin grinned. “Green ooze, little girl. Green ooze.”

Erica’s jaw snapped shut. If Sherlock Holmes had his phrase for humbling him when he got too proud, this was Erica’s. She was going to drink it before it turned out to be acid. Like literal acid.

She turned to Steve. “Shovel talks aren’t right and no one should be giving anyone shovel talks because it’s a pointless exercise in latent hostility. So I’m sorry I contributed to an archaic practice used by bullies and abusers. I won’t do it ever again.”

Erica looked up at Robin, who gave her the thumbs up. Erica hopped up and ran off to play.

Steve blinked up at Robin in shock. “Like how the hell did you manage that?”

Robin just batted her eyelashes and said nothing, walking away with a whistle on her lips and a swagger in her step.

Eddie came up to him in shock. “Did I just witness an actual apology from Lady Applejack?”

Steve nodded mutely.

“I think I’m more afraid of Robin, now,” Eddie muttered and Steve could only agree.

*

Eddie was starting to see a trend. One that made him laugh the third time it happened.

The first, though? Claudia Henderson.

“Eddie!” she greeted warmly. “I haven’t seen you around much. How have you been?”

Eddie smiled at her. Even before the Upside Down, Claudia was one Eddie’s favorite people. She was bright and happy and loved her wacky son with all her heart. Something that Eddie could absolutely get behind. “I’ve just been busy. But name the date, and I’ll be there.”

She smiled back. “That’s sweet, dear. You know you have an open invitation. But why don’t you and your uncle come over for Sunday dinner. Steve has already said yes for himself.”

“Sounds great, Mrs Henderson,” Eddie agreed.

“How are you and Steve?” she asked gently. “Dusty was telling me that Steve hadn’t been doing well lately.”

“We’re good,” Eddie said bobbing his head. “Things got a little rough a couple weeks back, but we’re on firmer ground now.”

She patted his cheek. “You really need to be taking better care of that boy. He looks tough on the outside, but he needs someone who can take care of him, yeah?”

Eddie smiled. “Of course. Taking extra good care of our Stevie is my number one priority.”

She nodded and went to go make sure Dusty was eating enough.

The next one was Karen Wheeler of all people. Ted was suspiciously but expectedly absent. She came up to Eddie and introduced herself.

“You must be Eddie!” she said with smile that reminded him of that Dustin Hoffman film.

“Oh hello,” he replied a little confused.

“Nancy has told me all about you,” Karen said with that same smile. “She’s always going on about how Steve finally found the person he was meant to be with and what a great person you are.”

Eddie smiled back. “Nancy’s a great girl.”

She sighed a little, her smile turning into something a little more genuine. “I miss having Steve over. Jonathan is great boy for my Nance, but Steve sparkled where Jonathan only shines.”

“I won’t argue with you on that one,” Eddie said. “But then Jonathan isn’t my type.”

She swatted at him playfully. “All I’m trying to say if that Steve is a good boy and deserves only the best. So you’ll take good care of him, won’t you?” It was sweet and sincere, but a hint of steel. And suddenly Eddie knew where Nancy got her backbone of steel from.

“Always,” Eddie promised, hand over heart.

“See that you do,” Karen said and wandered off to compare brownie recipes with Joyce.

The third was a squirrelly looking balding guy with thick glasses and far too knowing stare. He had come with Chief Hopper and had spent most of the night watching Eddie. He had asked Nancy who he was and she said his name was Murray Bauman and he was a conspiracy theorist. Which really didn’t clear anything up for him, but this rag-tag group of rebels and fighters were all a little weird.

He wandered over to Eddie and looked him up and down. He said in a clear voice, “I have seen things you wouldn’t believe, I’ve done things that would make your hair curl on end,” he stopped for a moment, “make it curlier and I know where the bodies are hidden. If you hurt Steve, you’ll be the next one.”

“Murray!” Hopper yelled. “What the hell was that? Why would you say that?”

Murray blinked at Hopper and then tilted his head. “Because we love Steve?” He says long and slow like he’s talking to a stupid person.

Eddie burst out laughing.

“No, no,” he said between giggles. “It’s fine Hopper. It’s all fine!”

Murray looked him over again and then nodded. “Yes, you’ll do.” And then he wandered off back into the house as if he had done what he had come to do.

A few minutes later Steve came up and sat next to Eddie. “I’m sorry, I don’t even know what that was.”

Eddie giggled and bumped their shoulders together. “It’s fine, sweetheart. It’s actually kinda adorable.”

Steve frowned. “What is?”

“That it’s the moms plus Murray here,” Eddie said jerking his chin in the direction Murray had wandered off to, “that are the most protective of you. Both Mrs Wheeler and Henderson have told me under no certain terms am I allowed to hurt you and that I’m supposed to take care of you.”

Steve blinked and searched the crowd for Claudia first. She spotted him looking at her and she waved at him. Steve smiled and waved back. Then he searched for Karen. She didn’t look at him directly, but merely winked and went back to talking to Wayne about something he couldn’t quite hear.

“Oh.”

“But don’t you worry, darlin’,” Eddie purred. “I’m gonna take very good care of you.”

Steve kissed him, slow and deep. “And I will always take care of you, Eds.”

“Perfect.”

It really was.

*** 

Tag List: @justforthedead89 @zerokrox-blog @ihavekidneys @didntwant2come @thelittleclare @liorereshkigal @estrellami-1 @swimmingbirdrunningrock @telidina @stevesbipanic @paintsplatteredandimperfect @a-little-unsteddie @jonesn4coffee  @resident-gay-bitch @obliosworld @croatoan-like-its-hot @evix-syne666 @emly03 @wonderland-girl143-blog @bookworm0690 @mysticcrownshipper @i-must-potato  @pnk-lemonades 

#My writing #stranger things #steddie #jonathan and steve are friends #ladykailtiha writes

[bombshellsandbluebells]

Jamie’s anger at his dad motivating him to be the best vs. Nate’s hurt over his dad’s apparent lack of pride in him keeping him from ever achieving his best 

Jamie remembering that his mom only ever wanted him to be happy, not the most successful, being the thing to push him in the direction of growth vs. Nate learning that his dad never wanted him to be the most successful, just wanted him to be happy being the thing that allowed Nate to leave a job and environment that wasn’t good for him EVEN if on paper it looked like a big achievement 

Jamie’s relationship with his dad causing him to become selfish and mean and only care about himself as a defense mechanism vs. Nate’s relationship with his dad destroying his self-confidence, keeping him from ever trying to stand out

both of them becoming self-centered and unhealthily obsessed with what the public thinks of them as a response to how they grew up, learning to be mean to others so they don’t feel so small themselves, caring more about their individual achievements being recognized than the good of the team, and needing to let that go 

both of them needing to find the joy in football again - for themselves, just because it makes them happy - when it no longer becomes about being the Most Important or about their relationship with their fathers

the team learning to forgive Jamie and welcome him back after he apologized for what he did and made a big gesture to show he’s trying to be better likely paving the way for the team to approach Nate and ask him to come back after he apologized and made a big gesture to Will

the fact that a father who doesn’t love you and treats you terribly and a father who does love you but doesn’t know how to show it can both fuck you in similar ways, the ways that not truly loving yourself because someone in your life made you feel small and worthless can lead to an unhealthy version of self-esteem that hurts the people around you, the fact that it’s clear with the both of them that you DO need to love yourself, but you need to love yourself for who you are, not because you’re the most talented, and that you need to learn to love yourself outside of the validation of others 

the ways that Jamie and Nate’s situations seem so different but are all wrapped up in the same issues  

#if no one's gonna talk about jamie nate foils / parallels I WILL #no idea if i'm wording myself well this is just a lot of unroganized thoughts #jamie tartt #nathan shelley #nate shelley #ted lasso #ted lasso spoilers