#idk if preachy is the right word

[spacenintendogs]

Sorry for the ask. My brain craves HTTYD-based interaction and the shadowban on my sideblog won’t be lifted for at least a month.

I think the first movie is so special in comparison to everything else. Not only because of Hiccup and Toothless, but because of the dragon riders. They all act so different — like Snotlout is sort of like the leader, Astrid gets along with the twins over the idea of getting a scar in training.

They all just seem to be pretending to be something to all fit in with one another (except, maybe, the twins? Maybe?) and I think one of the main reasons they reject Hiccup is not only because he’s a complete clutz (two left feet, that’s why he lost one) but also because he, too, is pretending… just not well enough. (This mostly goes for Astrid and Snotlout and a bit for the twins, arguably the only one nice to Hiccup is Fishlegs but he’s also pretending to hate dragons, so… I guess this also applies to him.) (I suppose the only one who ever never really dropped the act was Snotlout, which would be why he’s suddenly put in the underdog’s position in the group, even if it’s mostly just seen in the TV shows.)

(Plus, it’s the only one I haven’t got on DVD and I only rewatched it today when it was on TV exclusively for that minute long scene of Snotlout taming Hookfang because I couldn’t find a clip of it on YouTube. Really says a lot about me.)

Yeah. I just think the group dynamics in the first movie are very special. It (from dynamics and atmosphere) just feels so different to the rest of the franchise, including the other two films.

hi! sorry for taking so long! i'm not used to being asked for questions abt this kind of stuff!! i'm usually the one doing the asking or i lurk a bit akdjsjdks

but no u have points abt the dynamics between the gang in the first movie. smth i noticed while rewatching it with some friends is in the beginning when snotlout is making fun of hiccup for messing up the raid through his wrecklessness (tee hee), snotlout after he gets shoved down by gobber, gets back up, and laughs, and looks to astrid. she was also smiling at him, as was fishlegs, as he & the twins made fun of & laughed at hiccup. and then they all just. move on & snotlout deflates

this tiny little smile says SOOOOOO much <3

smth tho i noticed u said is that snotlout is kind of the leader, however the film has astrid be at the center & front of the gang or them all looking to her or making sure she is the one they listen to bc she is the leader of the gang. she's THE ideal model viking bc she has to be. snotlout is the most vocal & the second best by far in training, & similar to how he is in the shows & other films he's pushing himself towards the front when he can to get the attention of others & be taken seriously or to be seen as another model viking (like impressing astrid)

there's an intimacy abt astrid & the gang in the first movie that just hasn't fully shown in the other two films or even the shows with tiny details of them fiddling in the background or even the foreground of a scene when someone else is talking & u see them interact. the great hall when tuffnut is playing with his knife before saying "wait? you mean READ?" astrid is amused by him playing with the knife.

but what you said abt them all pretending: they are. fishlegs is still seen as weird but he's friends & in with the gang. he loves dragon knowledge & knowing abt them, but it's for the art of the kill instead of simply knowing them as creatures. the twins love destruction but with all the talk of being on a team & working together with other vikings they bicker more with each other & end up not getting as far bc they get focused on their own shenanigans. snotlout is trying to show astrid he's the model viking & be a flirty teenage boy at the same time lmao. astrid is the one who changes first when everyone saw her as the most steadfast in her ways. The Viking Way™️.

snotlout in the shows becoming the "underdog" is bc he's not astrid, who learned & changed herself but now is such a tryhard she applies herself to the fullest extent in the opposite direction (i love her). fishlegs can actually enjoy dragons & learn abt them without having to fight them (he's the most skittish of the gang), the twins now have direct ways to blow things up & do their shenanigans (after also having learned to work in a team!!!) without worry of there being a war against the dragons (now just other ppl but ppl can't breathe fire... right? lmao). hiccup is the newest edition of the group, the circle, & now he's just?? the leader. they look to him now after snotlout did everything to get astrid & others attention. astrid is by hiccup's side 100% now & bites back at snotlout when she didn't before. snotlout has changed & loves hookfang, he loves dragons, but he doesn't want to change the Viking Way™️ he's known & tries to force the Old Ways™️ and New Ways™️ together in a way that moreso clashes. he wants to still be at the top but forces instead of working to his advantage. his jealousy of hiccup grows to a point where he's basically self destructing in acting out & causes (unintentional) harm to others but then brushes off the consequences of his actions. & then he learns. he's slower to the take, similar to the adults, but he's also got it more quickly than they ever could. he just hasn't stopped pretending like the other kids.

smth i love abt the first film is the explanation as to why the gang all have american/canadian accents (bc of jay baruchel lmao) vs the scottish accents of the adults. to show the generational difference. they are different from the adults & a very clear distinction is made by the accents of their voices. you can almost say hiccup having the most jarring of everyone's voice (so nasally & distinct) ties in with hiccup being the leader. he commands attention but not in the way that's expected. even "the more viking-like teens" (as gobber refers to them) have distinct voices & even if they're acting how the village expects.

it's not rlly them, is it? not fully at least.

guess sometimes you need a little guidance, & it can come from the most unexpected places. maybe someone who's been in a leader position can give you a little extra push

& even if you're afraid & don't adjust to the change 100%, you can start coming out of your shell & stop pretending. some stop pretending easier than others, & some ppl are stuck in a lot of their ways. but they still feel they can relax abt smth & stop pretending abt that.

it makes everyone happier, right? :)

[16-jarrah]

barbie movie was kinda bad to be honest.

if you're super attached and sentimental abt this movie you might not wanna read this bc i don't really pull punches with this one. but here is my first impressions rant lmao. i might come back to it when i've collected my thoughts more and let it stew a little (and maybe see it a second time just by myself at home?)

the way the movie ended was really bad and it left a sour taste in my mouth (📌), but even from just earlier in the movie i already felt like smth was off. and i mean, it's not like i wasn't excited for it even if i tried to avoid a lot of the stuff to not overhype myself (and i usually like going in blind anyway). but even as the movie started i already got the feeling of, oh this is what kind of movie it's gonna be. and for the most part it proves that initial assumption right.

and by "this" i meant like.. a really shallow preachy "feminist" tone. y'know, those kinds of movies/shows that pretend like they're going to say something meaningful about a mature topic but they end up just being shallow and mostly filled with platitudes and such. it's just kinda weird cz i expected more. but it felt like the movie was just using every character as a direct mouthpiece to the audience, and it could still work i guess if they actually had something to say. i think the movie was kind of a mess. i don't know what kind of lesson i was supposed to take away from it at the end, especially when they just start word vomiting at you. at some parts of the movie i wanted to turn my brain off but i still paid attention in case it was gonna pick itself up but like, it really didn't.

i think the rest of the movie was ok. the cinematography was enjoyable still, but the writing was just. so shallow that i couldn't bring myself to fully say i had a blast watching it. it felt like it was more interested in going through a checklist/outline of feminist things to say without being interested in elaborating any of it. it felt like they had too much they wanted to talk about that it just felt scattershot; i feel like it would've had stronger writing if they had just picked a topic to focus on and spent more time with it. they had the chance to explore something more—heck, they had this pretty diverse cast, why exactly did it still need to be focused on "stereotypical barbie" if they really wanted to explore something else? plenty of movies have been successful with an ensemble cast... it wouldn't fix their issue of splitting themselves amongst multiple things they wanted to talk about, but it could help with the focus. maybe have one barbie deal with one topic or throughline then another barbie with another topic, etc. idk. i also found it weird to make a snarky comment about how "if the movie wanted to make a point about barbie not needing to be [conventionally pretty] then they shouldn't have cast margot robbie for this" and like?? you're right lmao. you don't get to be cheeky by saying "guess we were wrong about this one :9 shrug". if they weren't interested in addressing this issue then they shouldn't have just called attention to it in the first place. it just makes it worse. feels like saying "ha! you can't criticize us for this decision because we already did it first."

i also have a problem with the thing near the end of "how about normal barbie? barbie doesn't need to be extraordinary! why can't she just be a regular person?" umm. the point of barbie wasn't to make women feel like they should be extraordinary to be accepted?? the point of barbie is that anyone can BE barbie. you ARE barbie no matter what kind of path you choose. it's kinda like spider-man in a sense that, "anyone can be under the mask." ANYONE can be barbie. i feel like the movie made a strawman out of misconstruing the original intent behind the "empowerment" of barbie. the point of multiple versions of barbie and the different playsets and shit comes from the appeal that she can be ANYTHING you want her to be. who are you fighting against, movie?? that type of misogyny where women should excel otherwise they don't matter certainly exist in the real world but like, i feel like it's a bit disingenuous to pretend it's what the barbie franchise wanted to convey as well. (i am by no means a barbie toyline history expert so i'm open to be corrected on this.)

and the whole... storyline with ken/the kens?? like i get what they're trying to do, have "the boys get a taste of their own medicine", but it's just. It's Just Weird. what did they wanna accomplish with it? i feel like this movie suffers from a shallow understanding of how sexism and misogyny and toxic masculinity actually works... like "oh teehee what if men were the ones oppressed by women instead and women were the ones oppressing men?" but they didn't do anything interesting with it, they just switched sexes and that's it. it's still the same except you just switched the men and women label now. (and the movie has a very black and white view of sex and gender. but that's another point to discuss entirely.)

what makes it worse is that the kens rise to power because they craved more appreciation from the barbies, but then they get knocked down a peg by the barbies and they "lose" like they "deserve". like, what is THIS meant to convey if we try to use it as a parallel for real world feminism, if kens = RL women and barbies = RL men?? that women shouldn't demand to be seen and appreciated more by men and that if they try to take on equal footing and power they should get pushed back down the hierarchy or something??? like WHAT??? and even if you could argue that the kens lost because of their egos/pride/toxic masculinity, it still feels off. because yes, there is a certain "masculine brand" of being too prideful but like. anyone is susceptible to getting too egotistical for their own good. idk??? the way they just handle it is so messy. it's not even like, ambiguous in the "open for interpretation, there are multiple readings of this possible that all try to say something different" kinda way. it's ambiguous in the messy, "we don't know what we wanna say" kind of way.

another thing i wanna talk abt is the teenager character. and the mom character too. i feel like they could've done more with them tbh. they hardly feel like actual characters—the mom got more than her daughter, but the daughter is so stereotypically rebellious "i hate feminine stuff" teenager. so much of this movie feels like telling instead of showing. the mom feels undervalued and depressed and she's struggling. yeah, but so what? we don't actually SEE any of that. even if you can argue that the movie tries to tackle stiff happening IRL so it doesn't need to show any of that any more, that's just bull. you still have to establish the setting in your movie's universe and you still have to do actual character work for your characters even if they're meant to represent real people. ESPECIALLY if they're meant to represent real people. like yeah, we do get some flashbacks of her daughter not appreciating her near the start, but that's it. they're just flashes. and that wasn't her only problem that she mentioned. why didn't we have the mom try to pitch ideas to the executives early on, have that be her introduction scene? have the executives belittle her ideas bc they're misogynistic chauvinist asses? like yeah, from context clues of the whole boardroom being men we can see the irony there and we can tell they don't value women enough to give them positions that high up the ladder. but still, implying the lack of something is not as good as actually demonstrating the lack of something. i feel like it wouldn't have been that hard to include at least one scene of the mom pitching her ideas, and then cut to her scribbling sadly on the desk like she was when she was introduced cz they didn't listen to her.

the sentiment of "they hardly feel like actual characters" extends to the rest of the cast, too. like, i wouldn't expect something substantial and be disappointed if they weren't marketing themselves like "all barbies are important :) this is an ensemble movie :)" like no... not really. none of the other characters matter that much and they didn't get a lot of actual distinguishing features aside from their actual job titles. which just feels reductive lmao. maybe that's the point. maybe they're all just meant to be bit characters. but it just adds to the shallowness of the movie i feel like. just bc the point is they're bit characters doesn't give it a free pass for not going anywhere w any of them. i saw someone say they felt like all the other barbies and kens were mostly just there as set dressing and you know what? that's undeniably true. which AGAIN i maybe wouldn't have as much of a problem with if it weren't for how they marketed this movie.

the previous paragraph also ties into what i mentioned earlier abt the quip they had abt casting margot robbie (and by extension, ryan gosling) as the lead(s). like... why did the lead HAVE to be the "stereotypical barbie"? why did the white, blonde, presumably cishet* barbie (and ken) HAVE to be the leads? hell, the mom and daughter characters are women of color and they don't even do anything with them (aside from some jokes abt how the white dad sucks and is very inconsequential?). i'm just saying... it feels like the diversity casting (not just when it comes to being people of color but also in other areas, like having a barbie in a wheelchair and a pregnant "barbie" (even though she's not barbie) and whatnot) of the other barbies and kens was just that. Token Diversity. fodder for The Typical White Leads. idk. i'll say this again but if they didn't advertise themselves the way they did with all those barbie and ken posters making it sound like they were actually gonna give a shit about any of the other colorful cast of characters then maybe i wouldn't be this harsh with them. this didn't feel like an ensemble movie to me at all.

*(bc i don't think this movie was made with any genuine queer intentions behind it lmao. and ik people latch onto the aroace "coding" of the characters and like. if you're aroace and you like it then power to you. but i think this is more of a "technicality"/"by semantics" type of """coding""" so i honestly don't think it counts, speaking as someone who's some flavour of aroace)

idk i feel like I'M word vomiting now too. maybe i'm picking on this movie too much. but tbh it's just. eh. it just feels shallow. it's a shallow nothing movie tbh. it just feels like a movie filled with quips without any interest in exploring any of the topics they bring up. i wanna list specific examples but tbh it's hard to remember them because of just how overloaded it is, like they just keep shooting talking points at you but there's no meat to any of them. i wouldn't be this harsh on this movie if it didn't hype itself up so much. like, i WANTED to like it coming it. i WAS excited for it ever since it was announced, even though i wasn't a super fan and wasn't buzzing about it as much as most people were online. because it had a lot of potential behind it, but it ended up just. being a mess.

📌 i think it's funny that the ending (as in the last scene of the movie) left most people confused, but the most interesting thing abt it is the takeaway i got from my cis mlm cousin where he's like, "oh barbie chose to be a mother at the end and she's pregnant and that's why she ended up at the gynecologist". like. I Guess??? that can be your take??? but it's a weird scene to end your movie on.

like idk what i'm supposed to feel about it. she's a real human now because she has genitalia?? the genitalia was the last crowning step for her to achieve the "human" status? that's kind of reductive. she's a real woman now because she has a vagina?? that's just straight up transphobic. like. what am i supposed to get as my takeaway here with the last scene??

[idkwhatimdoingbutslay]

on vi's enforcer arc; i personally have my reservations about it because it seems kind of sick and twisted for vi to join the people who abused her for 7 years. but personally i don't understand the whole "it sucks because they're cops!" reasoning. hear me out: arcane's world is built around real principles and morals from our own world which makes it feel realistic, tangible, complicated and nuanced much like our own, but arcane isn't taking some big political stance based on contemporary politics, and it's not being preachy either, it's just telling a story. i feel like people should disconnect arcane from modern politics a little bit. i feel like i worded this poorly but idk how else to say it

YOU ARE RIGHT !!!

I made a slightly joke-y post before about how we can’t properly analyze Arcane through the lenses and only the lenses of modern politics.

I also totally get it being completely sick and twisted to make Vi an enforcer but we have to remember that Vi won’t just be joining the enforcers to join the enforcers. There’s a story behind it, there’s emotion behind it and there’s a goal. That goal (I presume) isn’t copaganda. It’s about moving forward, changing the system and coming together as one while still respecting individuality and the past.

How could we expect Piltover and Zaun to get along and grow if they continue to be separated and distant ?

[ninboyfriend]

(this wasn't prompted by anything — i've been meaning to send this ask for a while)

i know you catch a lot of flack in your inbox and i've seen some bitter people say some insane shit to you about how you're basically committing a fucking hate crime against depressed people by talking about your own progress and success . . . so

i just want to tell u that i love u a lot. i love seeing u on my dashboard. i love hearing u talk about yourself and ur boyfriend and how much better ur doing now than you were a few years ago. u give me a lot of hope. i'm not currently in a position where i can get my fucking shit together (still learning how to overcome trauma and depression; still living with my parents) but u reassure me that i someday will be. thank u for that

u r very cool shepard and i am very happy for u and all the progress u've made in ur. recovery? i'm not sure if that's the right word, english isn't my first language, but i hope it's close enough for u to know what i mean. waaa have a good day

ANON I FUCKING LOVE YOU THIS IS SO NICE WTF...

If it helps you at all I am currently about a month away from moving away from my shitty family/living situation and pursuing therapy and meds for my mental health problems and without going into too much detail, if I can do this I am positive you can figure it out as well. It can be difficult and humiliating to be an adult and feel like your problems are holding you back from actually doing adult things but there is always a way to get there even if it’s hard. Being in a sort of “mid point” myself in which I am better enough to recognize what I need to do but not always well enough to do it I have come to realize this is the part that doesn’t get talked about- Recovery is pretty much always seen as a linear Point A-Point B progression when the reality is you won’t just wake up one day and be better and know how to clean your room and keep yourself healthy and hold down a job or schooling or whatever you need to do, you have to keep making small choices every day that get you where you need to be.

This is really hard at first for everything but I’m getting to where I don’t remember why it was ever hard in the first place for me to like brush my teeth every day or make my bed or whatever because I’ve just learned how to do it now. And you will get to that point yourself someday and it’ll keep happening with most things that are hard for you now. Not being able to get your shit together right this second is not a bad thing nor is it abnormal honestly! Sometimes things don’t have to be good, they just have to be better. And maybe that’s an overused and watered down sentiment, that whole “it gets better” shit, because nobody ever tells you how or have anything else to say on the matter at all just that it’ll be ok or you should buy a bath bomb or whatever. It feels like putting glitter on a dumpster fire. It doesn’t actually put out the fire at all! So for me it’s easier to think of it all in the present tense. Things are bad right now, so how can I make RIGHT NOW slightly less bad? Usually the answer is simple shit like eating something or cleaning up or taking a walk or a shower or changing your clothes or your bed. If you spend enough time making right now less bad, you’re going to get used to right now being less and less bad every day until you can keep these habits up. No more pushing off being slightly less miserable to an unidentified “later!!!”

Idk I don’t wanna sound preachy I guess I just like. I myself do feel like a fuckup at the best of times and seeing that I’m someone else’s like. Recovery inspiration or something. Makes me feel like the shit i’m doing is actually working and I wish to share that. Because a lot of the things people tell you to just get up and do (getting a job making friends etc etc) are just not things you can do immediately and even if you know that will help it doesn’t feel worth it at all to pursue a “later” you think you’re still gonna be miserable in I guess???

Anyhow. This makes me really happy. I hope you’re having an ok day today and I hope anything I said here can help LOL. Love you

[noramoons]

I HOPE THIS DOES NOT COME OFF AS PREACHY BUT I JUST WANTED TO SAY don’t force yourself beck <333333 nowadays I only write self indulgent stuff bc I just prefer to. and if you prefer not to write maybe just know it’s okay and take it easy. you may decide to write again at another time or maybe just take a long break but I hope you don’t feel pressured by yourself or anyone else to keep writing. I feel like sometimes we feel like we have to do smth bc that was smth we tagged to like our internet identities. but things change and it’s still a loss of course, but I just hope you don’t beat yourself up over it or anything. I hope this doesn’t seem like idk uppity?? I just wanna give you a big hug and let you know it’s alright to take a step back from writing. 🫂🫂🫂🫂🫂

🥺🥺🥺 ily izzy !!! this doesn’t come off as preachy at all oh my god you’re the absolute loveliest :(( thank you so much for this. i feel like i’m having a hard time shaking this idea that there’s a schedule for some reason?? like it’s been x amount of months since i’ve posted a fic and there has to be a countdown for when i have to post again but like…there literally isn’t LOL it’s my blog and i can do whatever i want i suppose! you’re absolutely right that there’s no need for me to pressure myself so i’m just going to try to work on decreasing that feeling i think before i try writing again. and i’ll do my utmost to be kind to myself in the process too! so thank you for all the support and your wonderful words they truly mean the world to me 😭🤍🤍 i’m giving you a big hug right back !!

[hirazuki]

What do you think of the specific type of found family where the parent is a villain and the child that person raises ends up working against the villain?

Hmm, I'd say this ranges between a B and D tbh XD

It really depends on the characters involved, the context, and how the particular author handles it. If handled with nuance, it can be magnificent and complex and I will lap it up. But I feel it can easily slide into a pretty simplistic, black/white moralistic view that comes off preachy. It's hard to put into words, but it's the same kind of vibe that ultimately drove me away from series like BNHA.

I'm personally much more into scenarios where the child either seeks to work with the villain parent in a compromise that meets their ideals/viewpoints half-way (something akin to Orochimaru and Sasuke's relationship during and after Shippuden, perhaps?) or where the child has a worldview and moral system that operates outside of the binary of good/evil or they have a very different scale of right/wrong and so their parent being a villain isn't really a consideration for them (like Rin and Sesshomaru).

Idk, it seems like it could too easily turn into villain-bashing, which I am very much not a fan of, so, yeah, I might give it a go or I might not, depending on the details and the specific author involved. I would definitely give the fic tags and summary a very thorough look before diving in.

Give me a fanfiction trope and I’ll grade it: A: Love it. Spend my time combing AO3 for it. B: Like it. Not one of my bigger cravings, but it can scratch a certain itch if I’m in the right mood. C: Neutral. A good author might be able to sell it, but a bad one will kill it deader than dead. D: Not my favorite. I avoid it if I can, but it won’t necessarily put me off reading something. F: Hate it. Will immediately make me nope out of a fic.

[gracemyface]

Daryl: The Professional (Daryl Dixon x Young! Reader)

Chapter Five

Key:

Y/n - Your Name

Y/l/n - Your Last Name

Y/e/c - Your Eye Color

Y/h/c - Your Hair Color

Y/f/t - Your Favorite Thing

Series Masterlist | Previous Part | Next Part

Summary: After a whole lot of arguing, the men return to Atlanta to retrieve Merle and the bag of guns. The Reader is left behind again, and they decide to help some of the women do some laundry— Ed Pelletier gets in the way, though, and Shane is acting strangely…

Warnings: Canon Typical Violence, Domestic Violence, Strong Language.

A/n: lol sorry this took so long? idk.

wow… Shane’s acting… a little suspicious…

be prepared for Daryl and the Reader’s relationship to take a drastically sweet turn in the stuff leading up to and after the CDC (including the quarry camp getting attacked, Jim getting left behind, and then Carl getting shot) ;).

Please like and reblog if you enjoyed this!

Word Count: 2.6k

Later on, when Daryl isn’t quite so inclined to murder, the two of you wander back to camp. There’s no discussion of what happened in the tent— of the way he grabbed you and then scurried away as if you’d burned him with your words— other than a wordless reminder to carry your gun. It rests heavily on your belt, the cold metal digging into your skin, and it makes you nauseous. Sure, you could rationalize shooting that man back in Fontana, but the idea of carrying one around on your person with all these unarmed people at camp made you feel odd. Alienated, even if nobody but Daryl knew.

Rick and Shane are still bickering by the time you two get there. You wonder bleakly how this is going to work now— if they’ll ever be friendly, or if they’d tear themselves apart over Lori.

If Rick even knows about Shane and Lori, that is.

“Could you just tell me why?” Shane sounds exasperated, and you don’t quite blame him. “Why would you risk your life for a douchebag like Merle Dixon?”

Now if that isn’t the question of the year.

“Hey, choose your words more carefully.” Daryl warns from behind you.

Both men turn to face you two, Shane not missing a beat.

“No, I did. Douchebag’s what I meant.”

“Hey.” You grumble, tacking a sigh onto it as you step to the side to block Daryl as he steps forward, challenging the man who just kicked his ass. “What are you guys, twelve?”

The redneck glares at you and backs down, sulking as he sits on the log just behind you. You cross your arms, rolling your eyes at him and turning back to face the two men.

Shane runs his hand through his hair, wetting his lips with his tongue. A nervous tick.

“Merle Dixon— the guy wouldn’t give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst.” He continues, still unable to wrap his head around it.

No. He wouldn’t. Or, at least, he’d mock you until you were at the brink of passing out, and then nearly drown you. You’re not saying that he probably killed kittens as a child, but you are pretty sure he did.

“What he would or wouldn’t do doesn’t interest me.” Rick says impassively, prepared to die on this hill even if it’s really not the right hill to die on. “I can’t let a man die of thirst— me. Thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being.”

You resist the urge to groan because, aside from sounding like some preachy cowboy hero, he’s kind of right.

“Oh, man. You’re really gonna do it…”

Rick cocks a brow at you as his best friend gestures to you, using your disbelief as proof that he’s not crazy. Daryl throws something at you— an acorn or a pebble or something— and you hiss.

“Ow!” You rub the back of your head, whipping around to glare at him only to find that he’s already giving you a look. “I suppose this is where I’m s’posed to tell them all about how, despite the fact that he’s an evil shitbag, your brother helped take care of me. Add to his cause n’ all that. Right?”

Daryl narrows his eyes. “Wouldn’t hurt.”

You roll your own, again. Sometimes you wonder which one of you is the adult and which one of you is the child.

“So, you and Daryl— that’s your big plan?” Lori, despite her seemingly having volunteered her husband for this, sounds pissed off as she asks.

As you stare at her with a bemused expression, Rick’s eyes slowly drift up to Glenn.

“Oh, come on.” The younger man whines.

Poor dude. He’s always getting volunteered for this stuff.

Rick automatically starts defending himself.

“You know the way. You've been there before… In and out, no problem. You said so yourself.” His voice softens. “It's not fair of me to ask… I know that, but I'd feel a lot better with you along. I know she would too.”

You’d never seen him go in person— because Shane had laughed in your face the first and only time you asked about contributing to camp by going to the city on runs— but you’ll take Rick’s word for it. Glenn was a pizza delivery boy, after all, so he had to know some stuff.

Shane’s about to blow a gasket.

“That’s just great. Now you’re gonna risk three men, huh?” He scoffs, hands on his hips.

You kind of hate how he acts like everybody else in camp is useless. If he’d just teach them a bit, they’d be pretty good.

“Four.” T-Dog tacks on out of nowhere.

Now, Rick being willing to risk his skin to get Merle you can believe. Glenn? Not really— but T-Dog?

Daryl huffs from his seat, wiping down his arrows with one of his handkerchiefs. “My day just gets better and better don’t it?”

You turn to face him, hands held up in a ‘what the fuck, man?’ gesture.

“Will you stop?”

He half-sneers at you.

“You see anybody else here stepping up to save your brother's cracker ass?” T-Dog scoffs, getting the attention off you again.

“Why you?”

Yeah. You echo Daryl internally. Why you?

“You wouldn't even begin to understand. You don't speak my language.”

Well, apparently you don’t speak it either, because you’re still confused.

“That’s four.” Dale says sourly.

“It's not just four. You're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that, Rick.”

An argument breaks out: at first it’s Rick, Glenn, and Shane, and then it’s Lori and Rick. There’s talk of guns, more talk of how Merle is someone you just shouldn’t risk your life to save, and something about radios. You get lost in it all because nobody’s really talking to you and they’re all talking over each other, but eventually Rick, as he pulls away from his wife and son, addresses you personally.

“Hey, kid?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you watch Carl for a moment? I need to speak to my wife?”

Sighing shortly through your nose, you nod. “Already on it— c’mon little man.”

Carl walks up to you as you extend an arm out to him, and you walk him further into camp and away from the arguing adults. You’re not sure what to say to him— because what do you say in a situation like this?— but he doesn’t open up any questions, doesn’t act all curious, so you don’t feel the need to talk just yet.

Your path intersects with Amy’s. “Hey, me and a few of the other ladies are gonna do some laundry later. Mind helping?”

You shake your head because, really, doing laundry is better than doing nothing. Amy smiles brightly and nods, running off to tell someone.

“Can I go back to my tent? I wanna lie down.”

“Uh, sure.”

Before you know it, he’s running off, too.

The men take about forty-five minutes to get ready to leave, and you suck it up to bid Daryl goodbye. He’s sitting in the truck, anxiously tapping his foot as the other men take as long as humanly possible to get their stuff into the vehicle, too. Knowing that he’s in a sour mood, you tread carefully.

“Hey…”

“What?” He grunts, gaze harsher than the Georgian sun as it turns to you.

“Don’t die.”

Daryl snorts softly, shaking his head. “You don’t gotta tell me twice.”

You leave him with that, flinching when he honks the horn and yells at Rick to hurry up.

──────────────────

The water at the bottom of the quarry is cool.

Alongside Andrea and Carol, you sit on rocks in the water with your pant legs rolled up, the liquid providing you reprieve from the sweltering heat. Your guys’ job is to wash the clothes, scrubbing them with brushes and washboards, while Jacqui and Amy dry them. They’d created some sort of mechanism to help them along— it looks like a makeshift drying rack.”

When in crisis, make do, you guess.

To your left, Shane and Carl fool around in the water. You remember something about frogs.

“I’m beginning to question the division of labor around here.” Jacqui scoffs, and Andrea agrees.

At first, you wrinkle your nose because the little boy deserves to have fun sometimes. And then you turn to one of the women who’s drying things, a wet shirt in hand, and feel an ache in your back— that certainly changes your opinion on things.

Shane’s voice drifts over in the silence. “All right, we've got to start over. Come on, let's find this bucket.”

“Can someone explain to me how we wound up doing all the Hattie McDaniel work?” Jacqui complains again, wringing out the shirt.

Amy, ever playful, chimes in. “The world ended. Didn't you get the memo?”

You laugh under your breath, afraid of Jacqui.

“It’s just the way it is.” Carol says softly, voice meek like it usually is.

Your eyes automatically wander over to Ed, the man who drove you all down here. He’s smoking a cigarette, up by the car, and makes eye contact with you. There’s a dangerous expression on his face. He reminds you a lot of Merle— cold yet uncalculated, reckless and cruel. Especially cruel.

Immediately you turn back to your clothes, swallowing weakly.

Carol breaks the silence after a beat. “I do miss my Maytag.”

Yeah. A washing machine would be great right about now.

Jacqui sighs longingly. “I miss my coffeemaker with that dual-drip filter and built-in grinder, honey.”

“My computer… And texting.” Amy’s nose wrinkles as she speaks.

All eyes turn to you and you sit there for a moment like a deer caught in headlights.

“What about you, Y/n?”

“Uhh.” You think for a moment. “I guess I kinda miss y/f/t…and showers. I miss hot showers.”

My parents…

A few of the women murmur in agreement with what you said. There’s a shower in the RV, but there’s no water heater, so everyone has to shower with the freezing cold quarry water. It’s a bit nice on the hotter days, but it’s surely not nice any other time, and it often gives you headaches.

Headaches suck.

“I miss my vibrator.”

The women laugh and turn to Andrea as if she’s just said the most scandalous thing they’ve ever heard. You can’t help but snort a bit too— you know what a vibrator is, you’re sixteen, not stupid— because that was so out of left field.

“Me too.” Carol unexpectedly says, the words sounding strange in her soft voice.

The laughter gets louder, becomes raucous. All of you are smiling, and it feels good to really smile and laugh after everything that’s happened. Of course, with the group things are better now, but there’s still an air of tension— the fact that this is the end of the world hangs over your heads like the pendulum and it makes things rather depressing in the long run. So genuine laughter is rare, and you’ll savor it like it’s manna.

But then Ed wanders down, that cigarette still in between his fat fingers, and the joy stops.

“What’s so funny?” He asks.

Andrea speaks for the rest of them. “Just swapping war stories, Ed.”

It’s eerily silent as he paces behind you all like a predator, puffing his cigarette. You fidget every time you hear the sound of his feet on the ground, direly uncomfortable as he waits for someone to challenge him like he’s some big bad lion.

“Problem, Ed?” Andrea snaps, annoyed with the pacing rather than fearful of it.

“Nothin' that concerns you. And you ought to focus on your work. This ain't no comedy club.”

“Ed, tell you what…” The blonde continues, getting up and walking toward him. “You don't like how your laundry is done, you are welcome to pitch in and do it yourself. Here.”

She throws the wet shirt at him and he catches it, throwing it right back.

“Ain’t my job, missy.”

Carol tries to reason with Andrea, tries to get her to stop. “Andrea don’t.”

You’re torn between agreeing with her to make it stop and letting Andrea tear Ed a new one. You settle for grabbing Carol’s hand.

“What is your job, Ed? Sitting on your ass smoking cigarettes?” Andrea scoffs.

“Well, it sure as hell ain't listening to some uppity smart-mouthed bitch. Tell you what… come on. Let's go.”

He reaches for Carol but you all block her away.

“I don't think she needs to go anywhere with you, Ed.”

“And I say it's none of your business. Come on now. You heard me.” Ed grabs at his wife again.

“Carol.”

“Andrea, please. It doesn't matter.”

Your fingers twitch, the reminder of the gun in your belt ever present right now. You kid yourself with the notion that you could shoot him, that you could put an end to all of this. The more that Ed reaches for his wife, the more you all attempt to beat him back, and the minute he slaps her everything goes to hell. You’re not entirely sure how you wind up on your ass in the water, your face stinging, but you’re sure the man is the culprit.

Holding your face, you peak around Amy as she cradles Carol to watch Shane grab the man.

“Get off me!” Ed demands that the man get off of him.

What happened to Carl and catching frogs?

“Ed?!” Carol cries, the other women shushing her.

Shane begins to beat the abusive jerk to a pulp, his repetitive punches spraying Ed’s red blood across the ground. The other women start begging him to stop and you scramble to your feet, your voice caught in your throat.

Are you in shock?

Does Ed even deserve to be saved?

The sheriff’s deputy stops, grabbing the man by the front of the shirt and mumbling something to him. After that, he punches him once more before standing, and delivers a final kick to the gut before he backs away. Carol immediately breaks free from the group, going to cradle her husband’s head and apologizing to him in sobs— the rest of you just stand there, not sure what to do.

Shane turns to you, snapping his fingers. “You. C’mon.”

Swallowing nervously, you start to follow him, unable to tear your eyes off the vulgar display. Grabbing your shoulder roughly with a bloody hand, the man turns you to face forward. He’s silent, which is something you’re used to, but Daryl at least communicates well non-verbally. With Daryl, you can tell what he wants you to do just by the look in his eyes.

With Shane, you have no such luck.

“What happened?” Dale asks, vaguely horrified as you walk up to camp. “What did you do?”

Shane provides him with no answer, but you stare at the old man with wide eyes. He brushes past you both and the dark haired cop drags you into the RV. You sit, silent and watching his every move as he cleans his hand with a rag. When he’s done with that, he leans toward you, pausing when you flinch back.

“Hey, hey— you’re just bleeding a little, that’s all.”

You’re too confused by his statement to flinch away the second time he reaches forward. You hadn’t even noticed you were bleeding.

“You alright? He didn’t get you too bad, did he?”

You shake your head and mumble a “no.”

Shane’s always been a nice guy, sure, but there’s something odd about the way he’s treating you right now. Childishly— and for reasons you can’t quite name— you find yourself missing Daryl as the cop corners you and fawns over you like you’re some injured puppy he found on the side of the road…

──────────────────

tag list (lmk if you want to be added/ if you’re not actually being tagged you might have to check the settings on your page):

@strawvberrymilktae / @vilaneiie / @letxhyng / @fnicolpcab / @redneckstrash / @dixonarchives / @howlerwolfmax / @spenciepoo338 / @luvelyxp / @quietly-scrolling-through / @btsiguess-kpop / @littledxve / @mich1551-blog / @anunstablefangirl

[mercurytrinemoon]

Another post on Moon signs you can drag me for

Before we get into the actual thing, I'd like to say this post initially started as something else but ultimately, what I tried to put across is, sometimes Moon signs aren’t that easy to decipher. It’s easy to grasp overall characteristics of the signs and then learn how to identify their specific traits. But what people seem to forget it that Moon represents the deepest side of us & our inner world - it’s uncommon to really see someone’s side of it unless you really pay attention. Sometimes I’m surprised to see what someone’s Moon sign is even if I know this person well. Meaning, people usually hide that part of them - or they just simply process it internally and others can’t see their emotional reactions. It’s also uncommon for folks these days to fully express their emotional needs so it gets even trickier to pin-point their Moon characteristics. I don't think I have to mention this but, of course, your entire chart should be taken into account, as well as house placement, aspects. Personally, I like to also look at Moon's dispositor.

Let’s start from my friends, Gemini Moons, who, I feel, get a bad rep for not showing their feelings and scanning every emotion like an AI. Nah-ah. I know this one Gemini Moon whose immediate emotional reactions aren’t very cerebral in the sense of processing everything in the mind and intellectualizing it aka, what people like to label as being un-emotional. Instead her reactions are often fast (air energy) but physically expressed through Mercury (Gemini Moon’s dispositor) and Sun (overall identity) – she has them both in Aries. She’s a crybaby who can burst into tears in a matter of seconds. So she’s not something that would stereotypically be assigned to a Gemini Moon. But what I did notice is that all Gemini Moons tend to have this weird look on their face when they’re processing stuff. As if they were about to have a brain malfunction; they stop and have that specific worried look. They also like to either gossip or tell stories (either real or made up lol); they’re great with words - they can talk for hours if they feel comfortable with you. They just crave interaction and mental stimulation. Their quick reactions tend to make them effortlessly witty. Even if they’re a withdrawn Gemini type, they make up for it through social media and technology or just a quiet exploration. My shy Cancer pal with Moon in Gemini is now a brand/website designer and an instagram queen who travels the world. This is great energy for content creators in general. And don’t forget that Geminis need to have their fingers in many pies. It’s because they always have a backup plan… and they get bored easily so they need that chaos around them to feel at home. They like to have options in everything, which is kind of funny cause it’s hard for them to make up their minds and actually choose something. And they store a lot of information in their brains… I feel like it must be exhausting, no? 

On the other side of the axis, whenever I see someone with a Sagittarius Moon, I can immediately say “yup, a Sag Moon indeed” (probably thanks to my Sag stellium), meaning, they all seem the same to me. Sag Moons often find comfort in exploration - best if it’s literal travel. They always seem to need to free themselves from their surroundings, family, roots or their own culture to discover something new and exciting, even if it’s only in the imaginary words - through books, movies and other medias. Their happiness always lies somewhere else from where they currently are. Like, I think all Sagittarius Moons that I know have left their parents and went their own paths early on. And they have this yolo attitude. Just like Sagittarius Suns, they’re massive dorks, probably also obnoxious… sometimes in a REALLY annoying way. They’re either a) very wise and curious b) lil preachy and stuck up c) just plain dumb clowns with no filter. But they’re all funny. And they take things lightly, with a natural ease. This means sometimes they may offend other people just because they assume everyone’s as chill as they are; „relax! I was just kidding!” - that’s a phrase you’ll hear from them often… I mean, unless you’re a jokester yourself and you’re unmoved by their sarcastic or teasing words. They have somewhat spiritual or philosophical nature so besides making you laugh, be prepared for deep monologues. They want to believe everything will eventually fall into place. It’s also hard to bring them down - or I should say, it’s hard to make them acknowledge that they're feeling down - they always try to distract or cover it up with a joke, usually a self-depricating one. If Sagittarius Moon (or Sagittarius in general tbh) is telling you that they’re unhappy, then it’s serious.

I’ve noticed there comes a point in life for a Libra Moon where they just have enough. They’re too nice for everyone and one day they wake up and yell about how they have to do everything for everyone and everyone wants something from them and bLah bLah. Makes me think of when Bieber was this overly nice kid and then he was like “I’M NOT TAKING PICTURES WITH FANS ANYMOREEEE AAGhJFJFUWIUq”. Yup, a Libra Moon, everyone. They know how to charm and appeal to people, I think overall they’re easily liked by others. Sometimes it’s simply because they like to kiss people’s ass just to avoid being rejected. That’d be a Libra Moon’s nightmare. They like other people’s company too much. And they thrive in relationships and in a big circle of friends. What they hate is confrontations (like every other Libra placement omg). They may be good mediators when it comes to other people but if they’re involved in an argument they get sooooo passive aggressive. They just don’t know how to handle conflicts - it’s as if their nervous system wasn’t designed for emotional outbursts (because, you know, everything needs to be peaceful and harmonious Venus-style). A fussy or angry Libra Moon will suddenly get loud as they blame someone for something… and then they’ll leave the room cause they’re scared to even hear the other side of the argument. Or, alternatively, they’ll make a doormat out of themselves just to stay quiet and avoid causing any rift. And making decisions? I think it’s common for them to have two different romantic interests and feeling so dramatically torned between them *Alexa play Agony from Into the Woods*. Then when they decide, they have problems breaking the bad news to one of them.

On the other end we have Aries Moons. *deep breath* Listen, I think I’ve said enough about having Moon in Aries (or rather purely dissing it) but last time it made a bit of controversy so why not wreak even more havoc. I have a good description for this one: I will punch you but be gentle with me cause it’s easy to break my fragile heart. So basically, imagine putting Buttercup and Bubbles into one person. And honestly, I need to say this, women with this placement are just hot badasses, look at friggin Angelina Jolie. The queen of badass. The queen of hot. People say because Aries folks move quickly (literally and figuratively lol), they often get bored with whatever got them excited last week... or yesterday. Ha, yeah, right. You get their heart to open up and they’re going to have their eyes for you ONLY, like a lil puppy. Give us treats and we’ll build our world around you. But NOT in a clingy way by any means, we need our space and independence after all. My lil niece is an Aries Moon and ever since I started playing guitar with her, she became my #1 fan or something. That’s the energy. But we get easily bored with day-to-day stuff so yeah, there’s that. Innocent and clumsy yet raw in their emotions - so there’s potential to make mistakes sometimes (or a lot of times) or having this tunnel vision, like „I want this and I don’t care about anything else!”. And then excusing it with some „but the heart wants what it wants” crap (looking @ ya, Selena Gomez). They experience constant inner movement and turbulence that needs a physical outlet in order to feel satisfied. WE NEED PASSION IN OUR LIVES, OKAY?!?!?? now leave me alone

Aquarius Moons aren’t as cold as you might think. People like to describe them as if their Moons actually disappeared from their charts: dEtaCheD, uNeMotiOnaL, tHey fEeL nOtHinG. It’s just they don’t sit and dwell on things, they find solutions to the problems. If something doesn’t make them feel right, they just leave that situation. They do care about other people’s well-being, they’re very sensitive in that regard, they’re humanitarians after all. Yeah, they detach, but from their own emotions - in order to make sense of them. They may seem like snow queens sometimes (and this comes from an Aqua rising) but they’re really friendly and if you pique Aqua Moon’s interest, they’re going to be curious about you. They like new exciting things so if you’re cool enough, you have their attention. Usually they’re pretty progressive as well and can’t stand injustice. That’s why you’ll see them standing up for those who are in need. Uranian energy gives them a specific type of sharp intuition and wit. Idk they’re just cute in a quirky way. But this buzzing, fast energy is a great recipe for anxiety, over-thinking and frequent changes of heart. Similarly to Sadges, they need constant exploration and stimuli. Intelligent, people-oriented (but not people-pleasing! Look to Libras for that), individualistic. They definitely need their own space and independence. Their decision-making is fast and it’s easy for them to just say „screw it, I’m doing this”. My Aquarius Moon friend just casually decided that she’s moving to Turkey cause nothing in our city (or even country) seems interesting or helping her expand… So she was like, see ya suckers, I’m leaving.

Leo Moons shine from within. You’ll spot them from a mile away even if they’re on the shyer side. They’re all lil stars no matter their profession. Very expressive people & easily excitable. Art galleries, live shows, theater - they love a creative environment even if they don’t pursue that lifestyle themselves... One of my Leo Moon friends is an art junkie – suggest taking her to an obscure play at the local bar, a music festival, a weird museum – she’ll say yes in the blink of an eye. And she loves discussing these things. A Leo Moon may not see themselves as artistically inclined, but usually sooner or later they at least try dipping their toes in music, arts, acting, dancing... you name it. They’ll learn a simple 3-chord song on a ukulele and then play it to you in excitement. Imagine a lil kid making you a puff piece and being super proud of it. Sometimes they just need some encouragement. Remember, Leos feed off of praise, that’s their fuel. Doesn’t mean they’re all proud, egotistical people but what it does mean is that they need a lil assurance to gain their self-confidence. I lived with a Leo Sun/Moon for almost 15 years (who’s a musician btw so yeah, a classic creative Leo type) - he did have some issues lol but ego wasn’t one of them. Drama followed him everywhere but I’m pretty sure he disliked it himself. BUT, with that being said, I feel like Leo Moons tend to dramatize themselves internally. People say it’s something Virgos or Geminis would do - because of their tendency to overthink, but Leos can just go straight to a worst-case scenario in their heads simply because they exaggerate everything. So don’t be surprised to see a Leo Moon feeling down and anxious. On the bright side, be their cheerleader and they’ll give that to you in return. They need sparks and dullness kills their upbeat spirit. They need to feel their own heartbeat so the feeling of excitement is crucial for their well-being. Romantic, giving and kind. They’re fixed fire so once they’re set on something or someone, they give their all and are rather loyal.

I feel like my chart low-key tells me I should dislike Taurus Moons but I just want to melt in their arms and just stay there? Like, forever? Low maintenance but a bit slow-moving and stubborn. They won’t settle easily, at least not officially, so you need to have a lot of patience with them. They need 3 things to feel secure and at peace: physical stimuli, time and a stable place they know they can always come back to. And it’s not like all of them are total lazy homebodies, they may be active spirits & travellers but they are going to have a reallyyyyy nice cosy flat somewhere near their childhood place (gotta be be close to their moms, you know). Not necessary materialistic but they may have one thing that they collect throughout their entire life and they won’t. ever. get. rid. of. it. There needs to be at least one constant in their life - like you know when Elton John decided to go to therapy but one thing he stuck to was shopaholism? Very Taurus Moon of him. Also, they’re very affectionate. In fact, may have issues differentiating between affection and passion - this is actually something Taurus Moon and Aries Moon have in common. Pro tip - and this is in regard to all Taurus placements - don’t smell bad when you’re around them (I mean, don't smell bad in general, no one likes stinky people lol). They have a sensitive smell. Doesn’t help that they like to smell everything. EVERYTHING. I swear, Taurus, stop sticking your nose in every single thing!!! You don't need to know how that piece of utensil smells like. Jeez.

Scorpio Moon (shoutout to those who remember me accidentally calling them sporpio last time I made a post on Moons lol). I honestly don’t know what to tell you... I feel like all you hear about Scorpio Moon is 100% true, there’s nothing to debunk here. It’s the Moon of extremes. Prone to jealousy and surpressing emotions; severe trust issues; they’re instigators. I was low-key bullied by a few Scorpio Moons when I was in school so there’s that. Very secretive and private. Scorpio Moon will be like “I’m in control of the situation!!!!” and you’ll just look at them and think, yeah, right, looks like the situation is controlling you. But keep being in denial, sure. Like, don’t get me wrong, Scorpios in general can be TOTAL SWEETHEARTS OMG but ya’ll have issues. Even celebrities who have this placements... Think Beyonce or Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus... I feel like they have issues lol, especially with control and the need for everything to be perfectly the way they want it to be. To be fair, that’s probably why they’re all so influential and high status: it’s either their way or highway. They need constant reinvention; they’re the ones to wake up one day and decide they’re going through a spiritual awakening blah blah. They also like to talk about dark and shocking topics while having casual lunch with you... So like, be warned that you may end up with a depressed mood after talking to them for 10 minutes. And their mood swings... don’t even get me started on that.

I don't know where to start with Virgo Moons... I feel like they're very calculated and nit-picky but they're a lot warmer than Virgo Suns. I think I called them softies in my last Moon post. Very sweet people but prone to anxiety. You gotta experience seeing them having a heart attack over someone mixing bananas with milk or messing with their stuff that’s been put in a perfect arrangement. I saw a Virgo Moon once literally squealing shouting "YOU'RE GONNA RUIN YOUR LAPTOP WITH THAT SUPERGLUE!!!" Highly entertaining to watch, not gonna lie. Gordon Ramsay has his Moon in Virgo - it’s conjunct Uranus and Pluto so that’s an extreme but I think him being fed up with people over small inconsistencies in their food prep is a perfect example of this energy (btw his chart is hilarious, it literally explains EVERYTHING). They're VERY picky with their food as well, just as Virgo Suns tend to be. Like, they’ll only have a specific type of single origin coffee or they’ll be vegan or something. Self-critical over their work, which is a plus... except for when finishing a simple task takes them a few hours because they want to make it perfect. They take everything seriously. This of course doesn't mean they're total bores - on the contrary, Mercurial energy gives them witty approach and a talent for choosing the right words at the right time. Tho they can be a bit awkward or shy with it. Can be as bubbly as Gemini but the grounded earthy energy gives them more practical and almost nurturing nature - earth signs are providers after all and Virgo is the sign of service - helping others is like their second nature. I’ve noticed they often find comfort in devoting themselves to a choosen task - this is why if they pursue something, they’re really good at it. They’re also very likely to dissect their emotions.

I’m not a fan of water Moons in general but Pisces Moon is the best water Moon in my opinion. Maybe because I like Pisces overall. I think it’s like a tweaked Sagittarius Moon - just more internalized, withdrawn & gloomy. But unlike Sag, who has a tendency to be an adventurous optimist, Pisces likes to focus on the negatives instead. Obviously, they can be very upbeat, they’re Jupiter-ruled after all, but there’s somehing whiny about them lol. Just like Sadges, they dream big and have their standards put up sooo high but if there's not much active energy in their charts, they’re often too passive to actually fullfill any of that - or I should say, they’re stuck daydreaming about it, believing it’ll just magically manifest for them... OR they do everything with an apathetic approach. What I do like about them is that they’re funny. And really chill - sometimes to the point of coming off as confused or hazy. I feel like a lot of them would just love to sleep all day... or sit by the lake and just think about the world. Most of them are also compassionate folks - again, maybe a bit too much. Hey Pisces, you don’t have to take everything to heart, it’s okay. On the bright side, they have big imagination and the ability to disconnect and just create. I have a few Pisces Moons in the family: one’s that sleepy artistic type with grand visions, one is an asshole-ish but funny entrepreneur with a questionable work ethic and one is a witty IT guy who’s actually a workaholic and likes to shut in his own world of computers and numbers or whatever he does there... So there’s this factor of tunnel vision, escapism and, on the more negative side, being kinda iffy and almost addicted to the way they want things to be. Once they set their eyes on something it’s done deal…

My issue with Capricorn Moons is that they're often trying to be sooooo mature omg, like, loosen up a bit. It usually starts when they're in their later teens... They can be the most rebellious kid that likes to have fun and suddenly they'll be like "I'm too old for this ugh grow up" *judgmental stare*. My 18-year old niece once literally roasted my sister that she's in her 30s and still doesn't have her own place (well so do I so I guess she also indirectly roasted me as well???). And she was SO deadpan with it. Because she herself wants to be independent and start a family before turning 25. This is classic Capricorn Moon energy. They suck out joy out of everything lol. Of course, OF COURSE, it depends on the whole chart but I feel like worst-case scenario is that at one point in their life (or maybe even a few times throughout it) they go through a massive shake-up that makes them change their attitude and re-evaluate their structures. There's this multi-instrumentalist Yvette Young - she's a sweet, funny Cancer/Leo mix but her Moon is in Capricorn. She used to be a competitive pianist but the pressure that was put on her has led her to severe health issues. Like yes, she’s now an extremely talented musician - thanks to family’s expectations & a rigid schooling system (Saturn) but it did cost her a lot. She has recovered since then but I think it's a perfect example of this energy. It’s very ambitious and hardworking but emotionally demanding in the sense that you have to actually put your emotions aside in order to deal with the rest. Another thing, because Moon can be associated with family, there's often a weird dynamic surrounding this topic. I don't think I've met a Capricorn Moon that had a completely healthy and happy relationship with their fam or one of the family members. Or, alternatively, there can be a strong bond between one of them but usually created in the atmosphere of hardships.

Last but not least, Cancer Moons. I had three school friends with this placement and all of them made this sad, whiny face as they said „oh I don’t knoooow anymoreee”  when they were feeling torned or frustrated. To be fair, two of them are water Suns so for them, it added to the mushyness. All Cancer Moons I know are family people or better yet, baby people. One of those school friends is now a guidance counsellor, working with kids; the other turned her instagram into a gallery of her own child after she gave birth. So much kid content, omg. There’s also something very indecisive about them… or I should say, hesitant. They’re not very fast at making decisions. Also, what’s interesting, they’re kind of like walking libraries, they remember a lot – so they store a lot of information in their brains just like air signs but they process it in a completely different way – emotional, obviously. I think this also makes them hold grudges a lot. For them it’s more of a question of „how does it make me feel?” rather than „how valid is it?”. There’s certain stubborness in them in that regard because they don’t keep their minds open. It’s also hard for them to walk away from people and situations, like a crab pinching you with its claws – it won’t let go. Sensitive but not easy to open up; very protective of themselves and their loved ones & they tend to shut down in their crab shells. But they may crave connection and the feeling of belonging. Also very caring and with a big imagination. They’re very receptive of their environment so mood swings are a thing for them.

[your-villainous-neighbour]

what post ru talking about

there was one under the gulshan devaiah tag. day ruined instantly

but also I was referencing just this trend I've seen of people starting off their posts/opinions about the movie with "it wasn't perfect, but-" or "It had its Several Flaws, but-" which is. fair. and all.

But why does literally the rest of bollywood not get the same treatment, yknow? Why is Indian queer content held to impossible standards, not even just queer content.

And this is not me making concessions for shit movies just because they're Woke™. This is about movies that actually delivered. Like badhaai do.

People who genuinely disliked it are literally so free to do so (I disagree, but to each their own).

But it seems to me like even the people who did like it are kinda being guilt tripped into saying it lowkey sucked. Which is. :/

Now I could've just encountered a disproportionately high number of people who said something along these lines. I'm probably generalising too much.

That being said

I can say with utter confidence that it was better than SO many Hollywood movies/Korean media out there.

And yet, there's such a weird system of internalised racism in place from growing up on an annoyingly fucking US/eurocentric internet that. We literally hesitate to shamelessly hype our own movies. Even the ones that have actually done well and have done right by the queer community.

Is that not tragic?

It's like we start off on this assumption that Bollywood = Terrible and then fight tooth and nail to hold onto that entirely baseless idea, just for the sake of.

What?

Ego?

Being "Not Like Other Indians I'm More Woke Because I Hate Bollywood?"

What is it?

Sorry about the rant. I'm just really sensitive about this because, hell man our movie industries get shit on and mocked by nondesis enough without us adding to it.

It's pretty much a given that movies featuring sensitive topics like this one will NOT be perfect. It doesn't have to be said unless it's a legitimate review- I've seen personal posts on here freaking out about badhaai do that are so self effacing it hurt my heart.

So. Annoying preachy PSA to everyone: next time you talk about queer content in Indian media, and the first words out of your mouth are something along the lines of "idk it wasn't great but personally I liked it idk" when you're more than allowed to say "it was FUCKING GREAT ACTUALLY."

Maybe ask yourself where it's coming from.

We're allowed to be proud of our own culture. I promise.

[cryptvokeeper]

mind your damn business this overly long media dissection is for my own records

I was hanging out with a Friend the other day and somehow got roped into explaining dream smp to them a little and why I personally stopped watching (As a side note he said my favorite thing ever which is in regards to wilbur “you could’ve been hamlet and instead you‘re bobs burgers“) and i feel like i didn’t do a very good job so it’s just been lingering in my brain trying to make a better explanation.

and I think some of it hit me just now seeing that post about how tragic characters work because their tragedies could be avoided if they were any other character, but because they are themselves you know they wouldn’t make any other choice. Tragic characters are static. they very rarely learn lessons or grow and change over the course of the story because if they did, the tragedy could’ve been avoided. often if a character does learn some sort of lesson or come to any realization it isn’t until the end, when it’s too late To change their fates.

and i Feel like whenever I try put my frustrations with the shift back to less optimistic storytelling into words it comes off as whiny, Yknow? Like wah I wanted a happy ending and that’s dumb because the storys a tragedy. But I think what that post helped me to verbalize is that it wasn’t so much the tone of the story going back to tragic that bothered Me but what going back to tragedy meant the story lost Character-wise.

like, I’ve talked before, about how Wilbur’s Pogtopia arc can be mapped onto a classic Shakespearean tragedy, and how a large part of that is that his character doesn’t change that much, except for the worse, which can be seen as just his circumstances highlighting his already-extant characteristics. I think there’s a fair argument to be made that characters in and around Pogtopia arc were static.

And then the subsequent exile arc subverted that by actually like having lots of characters grow and change And learn from things that happen. Not everyone does, but enough to allow them to avoid a tragic end. And from there for a solid couple weeks to months you didn’t have tragedies. Maybe you had stories with unhappy endings, but characters weren’t static, they were still learning lessons and growing, even if not always in positive directions. Stuff like the disc finale to the hotel to snowchester and nukes to Sam nook to warden Sam doing questionable things to enderwalk to eggpire stuff to niki and jacks revenge plot to niki joining the syndicate to jacks detective agency (which I MISS)

and then at some point they just…stopped? like they decided to go back to a tragic structure. It’s like someone called a pause and went “ok wherever your characters are at right this second, that’s where they’re gonna stay for the foreseeable future!” and just like, went back to tragedy. Not just story with an unhappy ending but tragedy. That’s how we got excessive Tommy misery that was just kinda uncomfy to sit through at some point, that’s how we got warden Sam being a stubborn piece of shit who does a bunch of bullshit, that’s how we got puffy driving me up the wall with the preachiness without actually listening to others, thats how we got the eggpire festival thing feeling contrived and stilted, that’s how we got las nevadas Quackity gaslight gatekeep girlbossing but not really feeling interesting. I also feel like it resulted in a lot of those interesting possible character directions getting dropped or abandoned because continuing them would either require or cause the character to grow and develop a certain way that would deviate too far from where they already were. And idk whether that was the pacing being a mess that left everyone hanging around until the next big story beat or if they were just throwing shit at the wall to see what stuck or whether they just thought this was genuinely a good delibrate choice but it drove me fuckin crazy. like there’s nothing more frustrating to me than a story establishing a precedent by doing something subversive and and then walking it back. That really sucks.

and this Isn’t the sole issue I had with the series and I’ll probably continue to find ways to verbalize them as dsmp continues to circle the drain in my head, but I came to this realization and wanted to get it down somewhere so here we are.

[sapphicsaro]

24, 14, and 6 for the writing asks!!

6. What character do I have the most fun writing?

oh man this is a toughhhhhh one. i think my favorite thing i’ve gotten to write is olivia on the edible because we never get to see her just unhinged (literally every other fic i write is just so introspective bc she’s such a thiiiiiinker)

but overall character? it depends. i absolutely love writing flirty elliot, like xmas episode style bc that man is a frat boy who just really wants to makeout with olivia

olivia is great to write when im having a day because i feel similar to her character (or at least my version of her) so i get to spend the day processing her thoughts and it’s kind of cathartic

currently have a WIP thats a loooooong oneshot about noah and he’s fun to write as a lil sweetie

ig what i’m saying is each fic i have a diff fave to focus on depending on the story? if it’s happy, then it’s usually elliot bc i like him being all touchy and lovey towards olivia — if it’s angsty, i love me some olivia has to think about this and her “do i love elliot idk if i’m ready for this but he looks at me like that and i just wish he’d talk to me” phases.

guess i have no faves lmfao

14. At what point in writing do you come up with a title?

oooooohhhh boy. right as i’m about to publish, and sometimes it’s the reason i don’t post right away lol

35 steps, a delectable disaster, trapped in an elevator, at her door, come home with me, three strikes, damaging the sun, here at the park… all popped in my head before clicking post! i don’t really have a method, just try to pick out something important in the fic that is the overall takeaway or theme

so 35 steps was a callout to the quote “35. It would take 35 steps for him to be in his (he likes to call it their) bedroom, open up the drawer where he kept all his gym clothes, find the red shirt that was torn, unravel it, and reveal the hidden ring he knew she did not want (yet).”

but something like “delectable disaster” is just fun because olivia is a flirty, but mess high lol

come home with me was SO hard to name for no reason (it was almost named clementine? but that’s being used for a oneshot i’m writing now!) — in my google docs it was called “kissy kissy” and trapped in an elevator was called “mom and dad hotbox their hearts rip”

so moral of the story, i just use a goofy name, write it until i know exactly what i want the reader to feel or remember about it, then try my best to make it fun lol

24. Would you say your writing has changed over time?

YUPPPPPPP. gd every single fic i change. that’s why fanfic is here! (well for some people)

it’s a great avenue for me to learn my voice and play around. fuck, i’m a script writer so the dialogue only ones are my faves but they’re hard fics to be read by people bc it’s such a different format. i literally think in forms of acting, so when it gets to narrative i legit have to write something, sit on it, reread it, fix it, and keep changing it until the picture in my head is painted in the words i feel the action as.

its fucking hard ngl. some people have this beautiful ability to describe things but it takes me time. i’m a visual person. i wish i could hook up a wire to my brain to depict things sometimes, bc i’ve legit had to act out the scene in my room to figure out how tf two people hold each other and a baseball bat lol

i love writing fanfiction, and i hope my writing gets stronger with each new fic. i never would say i was a bad writer, but i think everyone can improve!!

also not to get preachy, but im in a slump rn with writing and i need to hear this — write what’s ready to write and the rest will follow!! just get it down and you can play with it when you’re ready to!!

ask me anything (i have four WIPs and idk what to do with em lol)

[mimiatmidnight]

Um i feel nervous for admitting this but I never liked Meghan or Harry and didn't quite believe them, and I would hang out on all these anti-sussex blogs quite frequently, and while I would see objectively racist stuff (like publishing George Floyd's toxicology report as if any amount of drugs in his system would justify his death at the hands of a police man), I was so convinced that I wasn't being racist in not believing Meghan because the more overtly racist stuff these people posted 1/

Would always gross me out and I could tell it was objectively bad. I kind of had my wake up call of "bitch ur sliding down into alt right bs" when I saw people spreading QAnon conspiracies and actually started believing that shit. I took a break from all that and started trying to see the other side so to speak, of blogs pro-sussex and man, I had never realised just how little context there was for the shit that I believed wholeheartedly about her 2/

It is so incredibly racist and terrible of me to have just discounted her account especially since I'm a woman and POC myself. I should know better I've been through the similar shit. And now William and his fucking horrible comments about how "normalised violence is in Africa" just made me realise how right she was to leave and I just, idk I can't believe I defended them for so long 3/

I don't mean to throw a pity party or I'm sorry if anything I saw sounds like an excuse for my racism–nothing can excuse it and all I can do is grow from it but fuck dude, I feel so bad, and I deserve to tbh. Anyway thank you for letting me rant, and your blog was actually one of the first ones I saw in my pro-Sussex hunt, and a lot of posts were instrumental in changing my views, so thank you so much for what you do 4/

Answer below the cut

Wow. Thank you for reaching out and sharing this. It obviously is not my place to excuse or forgive anything at all (I know you didn't ask for that, but it warrants disclaiming). I wouldn't do such a thing even if I could. The pain and shame you are feeling now is important and good. It means you are doing the hard work of reprogramming. You are challenging your own world view and recognizing your own failures. I say this not to congratulate you or pat you on the back, but to encourage you to continue the process. I know from experience how difficult it is.

And it is a continuous process, too. Every day, I have to put in the work to confront myself and keep myself in check. Pause, and question everything, even the people you trust, even yourself. Especially yourself. I try to always ask myself, "Why was my first instinct to feel this way? What other people would benefit from me feeling this way? How have I allowed them to influence me in this direction? What have I taken for granted that led me to this conclusion, and do those beliefs warrant closer examination?" These are the challenges I constantly try to place on myself, and it has led me to some rather remarkable paradigm shifts.

I hope you understand that I don't say this to sound preachy or like I know better. In fact, my point is that I don't. Though our experiences are very different, I recognize the pain you are feeling, and I want to share with you that I am still working on my own painful process of self-reflection. But these are good things. Discomfort is essential for growth.

You are so right that all you or I or anyone can do is continuously put in the work to learn and change for the better. We must remain accountable for our past, and understand and accept that the people we have harmed might choose not to forgive our past. That is their right. For us, let's invite that pain of self-examination in, let's welcome it, sit in it, and understand it, and let's have it inform us as we continue forward. It will only make us healthier and more aware in the future.

I am very touched (and frankly astounded) that anything I have said on here might have helped you in anyway. Thank you so much for your kind words. I'm sending you all my encouragement as we all try to grow, every single day.

[unofficialadamtaurus]

I’m gonna kinda copy other anons question because I’m unoriginal and curious.

What do you do to write for Team RWBY? I struggle to write them in any meaningful way because the show just lacks any characterization necessary for me to really write them in any satisfactory way that doesn’t come off as headcanon. But in Hollow People you write them genuinely amazing and I am in need for some cheats for my own fic. And, because I’m superficial, can you order the team from least worst to worst (is that how you word that??? Idk) and why? Only if you want to though.

Thanks a million!

The thing is, I struggle to write them in any meaningful way. And I don't say this to downplay my own writing or brush off compliments (thanks, by the way!); I genuinely have to spend more time on team RWBY than, say, Adam, and I often second-guess the decisions I make with them. This might just be a byproduct of having written for them less, but it’s nevertheless worth mentioning.

Full response under the cut since it got a bit long.

I'll start with my least-worst to worst ranking (for canon characterizations) so we all know my biases: Weiss, Yang, Ruby, Blake. Ruby and Blake are more or less tied for worst in my mind; canon Ruby is holier-than-thou, preachy, and too busy getting yanked around to make Plot happen to have a comprehensible personality. Blake, on the other hand, is barely even a shadow of what she once was. At least Weiss and Yang are somewhat consistent, but they have (serious) problems of their own as characters.

My general line of thought when I’m trying to write a character is as follows: what’s their core motivation (ie adam running from his past), what’s their immediate motivation (ie adam hunting cinder), and what are they willing/unwilling to sacrifice to achieve one or both of those motivations? Then there are sub-considerations like how much they value their friends, their emotional state, etc. (in general, more emotional = more driven by core motivation than sub-considerations)

I’m going to be talking about how I write them in HP since it’s really the first time I’ve written for the whole team in any detail.

In order of acronym:

Ruby: I see her core as living up to her much talked about never seen mother. A proxy of this is also fulfilling the silver eyed warrior legend. Her immediate motivation is staying in the fight against Salem (with a bit of a self-sacrificing savior complex). She is unwilling to sacrifice anyone or anything if she can help it; she doesn’t want to lose anyone like she lost Summer. She’s particularly in tune with Yang and wants to help her, but is by far the most empathetic on the team and the glue that holds everyone together. She’s insecure at her core, but the key is that she’s trying.

Weiss: at her core is the need to be free of her father’s influence. Living independently was one step, but until she finds a way to redeem the Schnee name, she’ll be in his shadow. Her immediate motivation in Atlas is getting stronger with Winter and avoiding her father. Now that she’s in the same city as her father, she’s feeling self-conscious all over again and is leaning on her friends and their bonds more than ever for guidance and reassurance that she’s on the right path. She’s scared of what’s coming but wants to be part of the solution, and she’s not going to lose anyone in the process if she can help it.

Blake: her core is that she wants the world to be an equitable one and, at one point, she was willing to sacrifice just about anything to get there. In Atlas, she’s motivated by the desire to both save the world from Salem and improve the lives of the Faunus while bearing the burden of being a Belladonna. She’s a bit awkward with her friends while she figures out the dynamics after their reunion, but them having her back is exactly what she needs. As a side note, Blake is particularly tricky in HP because of how I have to acknowledge and then redirect her canon characterization.

Yang: Yang is fun because I see her core as having shifted. Initially it was what she told Oobleck: she wanted excitement, she wanted an exciting life. Then Adam cut off her arm and she internalized for the first time how dangerous this gig really was, so her core shifted to protecting Ruby as the Big Sister, since she doesn’t want Ruby to lose her too. Her core and immediate motivations are almost identical; she’s in Atlas to have Ruby’s back against the biggest bad in the world. At the same time, she’s reconciling with Blake and starting the slow process of figuring out who and what she wants to be beyond Ruby’s sister, an arc that can only take off properly if Salem is stopped.

These are all my own characterizations, of course. Find your own! You can use these as a base if you’d like, but immediate motivations should shift based on circumstance, and even core motivations can change over time. When writing actual scenes, ask yourself why a character is doing what they do, and if the answer goes against their motivations, either change the answer or figure out why they would compromise their goals in that circumstance.

A good check of your own characterization is whether you can picture the characters you’ve written doing what they do in canon. Granted, this is most effective for canon divergence stories.

So, to sum up my process: identify the core, which should at least rhyme with what’s hinted at in canon; identify the immediate motivation, which may or may not overlap with the core; identify who or what they value most, and then build the character out from there.

A final tip: if you want real emotional/psychological angst with lasting character consequences, attack the core motivation.

[jinruihokankeikaku]

End of Evangelion spoilers so like. don't look if you don't wanna see those

- the whole thing makes A LOT more sense upon second viewing. except for that last scene, which i think makes LESS sense this time around. idk. i'll probably have to watch it again after i finish the rebuild.

- that said, I feel like I understand Asuka's perspective in both the "dream sequence" and the final scene a bit better this time around.

- i watched with headphones and the brightness turned up and it's a completely different experience, much more jarring and anxiety-inducing and therefor just. better, especially during the first half, which is supposed to be the more painful, i think. i didn't notice the first time around but in stereo the sound design is fucking aces. just wonderful.

- i think i said before that it reminded me a LOT of an acid trip and i knoww that's a cop-out / hippie wastoid talk / facile / cheap etc. But i don't just mean that it's ~weird and trippy~ because. aside from a few specific shots i can think of the imagery isn't all that psychedelic. i mean to say, on a cognitive level it reminds me a lot of trains of thought i've ended up on while on various psychedelics - specifically the sandbox/swingset scene comes to mind. very familiar in a slightly disconcerting way, which creates a potent illusion of the barrage of images as somehow targeted at me, the viewer - which (i think) seems to be the intent.

- i love Rei and Kaoru's role in the film; they're maybe my two favorite characters altho one of the things i love about this franchise so far is that?? it's hard to even have favorites? everyone is so sympathetic that even when they're doing awful things to themselves and others and humanity as a whole, I can't help but feel. yeah. sympathy. i don't hate anyone in this show i want them all to be okay :/

- that said, Rei and Kaoru needed more character development, especially Rei. I've heard that this is somewhat better in the rebuild tho, so I hope that's the case.

- i watched the original English sub this time as opposed to the more recent Netflix translation; the one i watched today reads more naturally/smoothly to me but like, not by a huge margin. i was never confused as to what was being expressed with either translation so that's cool ::::) honestly there are only a few spots where i noticed a difference. i like the original subtitle font MUCH better tho i'm always partial to humanist-ish fonts.

- this is another observation that's probably been made too many times but . watching EoE after watching NGE over the course of ~3 days felt a lot like watching Fire Walk With Me right after finishing Twin Peaks. There's a marked tonal contrast; even tho EoE is in a two-act structure so as to vaguely mimic two episodes of a show, it's stylistically pretty far removed from the serial format, which in turn makes the atmosphere & sensory-emotional ambience very different. The show felt like a kind of slow-burn of dread building up over the course of the roughly ~7 hours, which made the show's ending (the "Take care of yourself." one) feel like more of a relief, whereas the movie's atmosphere-cum-pacing was so breathless and explosive that the ending felt more like. passing out mid-stride than like gradually falling asleep, yknow?

- I'm surprised I'm not angrier or at least more frustrated? I knew it was controversial going in and i normally have trouble connecting to works that I'm philosophically at odds with cos. they tend to make me feel like i'm in an argument where i can't get a word in edgewise. But especially after the second viewing, I can't say I have any quarrels with the "message", insofar as there is one? (I mean, there's definitely a moral, but I'm inclined to thing that it's more of a psycho-aesthetic one than a normative one. Again, reminds me a bit of Twin Peaks, especially FWWM and The Return.)

- I don't get the position I've seen in a couple of threads and reviews where people call it "preachy" or assert that the conclusion feels like self-help/self-improvement-type-stuff. Sure, there are a lot arguably sanctimonious uh. directives? maxims? moral exhortations? presented to the viewer preddy bluntly but I think reading all of those at face value as a) the views of the author and/or b) the main theses promulgated by the show is uh misguided. The anti-escapist pro-social messaging is THERE, sure, but I don't believe it's the point of it all.

might add more later but these are my initial thoughts.

(@woeworld im taggin you in this cos i think i reme8er you sayin i should letya know when i get to the End)

[dollsome-does-tumblr]

it’s the final jane eyre thoughts! (cue ‘final countdown’ music)

a) I wrote to Moor House and to Cambridge immediately, to say what I had done: fully explaining also why I had thus acted. Diana and Mary approved the step unreservedly. Diana announced that she would just give me time to get over the honeymoon, and then she would come and see me.

“She had better not wait till then, Jane,” said Mr. Rochester, when I read her letter to him; “if she does, she will be too late, for our honeymoon will shine our life long: its beams will only fade over your grave or mine.”

like, i don’t even have time to get into all the things wrong with our boy eddy -- and we know them well enough already, seeing as they are deeply hard to forget -- but one thing that i really love is he is ALWAYS ready to be absolutely wild with affection and praise for jane. does he ever imply that she in any way has a single flaw, except inconveniently being a good person in moments of devastating temptation?? he does not! he thinks she’s the best, and he’s gonna give many perplexing speeches on the topic, and honeymoon the rest of his days away with her!!!! (possibly on the literal moon, knowing this dude and his previously-described-to-adele honeymooning plans.)

“She’ll happen do better for him nor ony o’ t’ grand ladies.” And again, “If she ben’t one o’ th’ handsomest, she’s noan faâl and varry good-natured; and i’ his een she’s fair beautiful, onybody may see that.”

like: awwwwwww!

b) the bit about jane going to rescue adele from her terrible school -- being the guardian angel that she herself didn’t have! :’( -- and then them loving each other forever and being like mother and daughter really GETS TO ME, okay. i also love that jane sneaks in the burn of “don’t worry, we cured her of being french.” okay, ye great british weirdo.

c) i have always wondered why the novel ends on the words of dying st. john being weird about jesus; i think maybe it’s to contrast jane enjoying her earthly life and the people she loves with st. john never being able to enjoy anything about existence because he’s so fixated on his calling and on never being enough until he’s dead? and maybe saying that it is divine to love your time on earth and make a wonderful life for yourself rather than accepting that if you meekly suffer through all your days like everyone always told jane she should, you’ll eventually be rewarded in heaven and that’s enough so don’t kick up a fuss, little girl? idk! what he says kind of echoes how jane and rochester called to each other and heard each other across the distance and that’s what brought them back together, so i guess it’s like ... jesus is to st. john as  jane and rochester are to each other?? and jane and rochester are frankly probably having a lot more fun?????

d) i also kinda liked the idea that rochester accepting religion at the end is -- rather than this book just getting real preachy -- showing that he’s kind of healed from raging against the world and is finally in a place where he can try to live in harmony with it.

e(YRE)) i think there should be a tv adaptation of that spinoff book series where jane and rochester solve murder mysteries together or whatever (this exists, right? i’m not making it up?), and ruth wilson and toby stephens should star in it, and it should be the best thing to ever hit television. rochester can have a hook hand like buster bluth. it will be INCREDIBLE!

f) oh book, i’ll miss you! thanks for being the best pal a girl could have.

[dogin8]

Also if you want to tell me your ramble about the quotes feel free to!

- quote anon

Ayo dope, here's my completely irrelevant off topic rant about quotes and meaning

I don't really have many thoughts on the whole "sieze the moment" thing but I think so many people just say "sieze the moment" that nobody really cares or wants to hear it anymore, i feel like if enough people are saying a thing it gets boring so you need to use different words to give it meaning again if that makes sense? like the term "yolo" is boring and kinda weird at this point, like if u say yolo people will cringe but people are saying things that have the exact same meaning as yolo just with different words and nobody is calling them cringe

Okay like, obvs I don't have a degree in anything or like any genuine knowledge but from personal experience a lot of these phrases sound *so so so much* like "Bootstraps" (Basically the classic phrase "Pull yourself up by the bootstraps" used by diehard capitalists to say something along the lines of "work harder, never ask for help simply work harder and you will be able to achieve anything", the irony is in how the metaphor of "pulling yourself up by the bootstraps" doesn't work because you can't go anywhere by pulling on something that is attached to you, BUT I DIGRESS) like it sounds so preachy to hear somebody who is obviously *not* in your shoes, who does not know what you are going through, come to you and give some half-baked advice that you have heard a thousand times, like saying "just live in the moment" to somebody with anxiety, they have probably heard it a million times and if it was helpful the first time it sure as hell isn't now

So, what am i saying? A mix of a bunch of things: 1) If you want to make an inspiring quote, BE ORIGINAL, this is very important because if you actually want to impact people, they have to know that you mean it, and if you put in just that much effort to change the words even a tiny bit, maybe they'll feel like you care (adding onto this, if somebody has never heard something before, they might actually think about it a bit more)

2) It has to come from the right person, movies are great for this, because as much as you can watch it (and not to get too far into the parasocial copypasta lmaoo /lh) you can never really know them if that makes sense, so lets say I struggle with anxiety (Full disclosure, I probably don't) and somebody i don't particularly like says something that could easily be a motivational quote, It definitely won't mean as much, also for the previous analogy, if it's somebody who has never struggled with this problem and hasn't taken the time to understand what you're going through, it won't mean shit to hear them say some quote (Probably something to do with how people love to associate memories, for example I know songs that are bangers but I still don't like the song because i associate them with somebody i don't like)

3) Idk about a third thing but in essays, speeches, books, speaking in groups of three is always more appealing to the brain, But I actually thought of something now so let's keep it going: SPEAKING OF how it's better to use groups of three, that's like, one of the big rules of writing stuff to be punchy, so I guess maybe 3) is "make it punchy" actually nah I'm not a fan of that, I'd rather talk about how language changes, even in really short time frames, like, I have no idea when the first person said "yolo" but it can't have been more than 20 years ago right, and even in such a short time *language has genuinely changed* the way people talk now is (even if only ever so slightly) different from how it was then so like, if somebody were to tell you something like "I think we only get one go and that's it, we're done, so we might as well make this one the best we've got" (paraphrased quote from iirc the inbetweeners) the word "yolo" doesn't feature at all, but it's exactly the same message.

So i guess point 3 was about making sure what you're saying translates and doesn't feel dated

Anyways hope you enjoyed my thoughts, this has got to be the messiest essay I've ever written and I didn't even figure out what it was that I was trying to say half way through but I always love to talk so there's that