more and more i become of the opinion my dogs are not reactive to strange dogs but in fact it is unreasonable to expect them to NOT be reactive when the dogs we pass are unwalked, understimulated rural hellions that thrash at the windows of their houses, bark at us and follow us for entire lengths of properties, snarl at us, run at us with tense body language etc.
is this because a neighbor (who does skijor!) moved in half mile down the road from us a half a year ago with the most polite, unreactive dog that my dogs glance calmly at as they walk by? as it is unrestrained (no underground fence) on the property? absolutely is.
is this because a few years ago a neighbor's very nice pitbull mix got out and when it walked up to us with polite calm body language my dogs reacted just as calm and we were able to walk this dog home? absolutely is.
like i am a human woman and have lived in areas with much larger populations than i do now. i remember being followed by strangers, yelled at by strangers in aggressive ways. it made me tense and yes...reactive in those moments to ensure my own safety and needs were met. but was it my fault for having to react that way? To call friends and family and be on the phone any time that i walked alone? to check in when i got to where i was going? to bring pepper spray and iron knuckles to walk less than 10 minutes away from home? I don't think it is. Rather it's the failure that allows that behavior towards me which is at fault. i should not have had to carry those things with me. or call a single soul.
same with my dogs. my dogs aren't reactive, i'm just the only person who walks my damn dogs in my rural neighborhood. even though we can walk for 4+ miles either way on safe dirt roads out of our driveway before we reach pavement. nobody else. walks. their. fucking. dogs. yes i manage my dogs behaviors, it can be embarrassing when they get riled up, but know what? it is not their fault so many other dogs fucking SUCK. and it is not those dogs' fault that they suck either. i encountered more politely behaved dogs when i lived in the suburbs and city than i do now because those dogs at least had some sort of experience with being around other dogs (passing them on the sidewalk even) out of necessity. Rural people truly just throw their dogs outside and expect that to be enough. if you're lucky they install a little underground fence that will maybe keep fido in the yard (like uwu WE don't want to have a look at a fence and we're going to make all our neighbors GUESS if our dog might run into the road at them uwu).
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thinking about a no upside down au steddie fic where steve and eddie run into each other years after moving away from hawkins, and eddie remembers steve and his fall from grace as king, and is kind of intrigued to see what kind of person he is now
and steve doesn’t remember him at all at first, because, look, eddie changed his hair again, and steve’s had a few head injuries (no upside down but i imagine he still went thru some shit with the party and with robin), and he didn’t really think about eddie in high school anyway, and he’s trying to forget about hawkins as much as possible (besides the kiddos, but they’re all moved out for college now, anyway) (obviously he lives with robin)
but steve is different now, happier, more open, flirts with guys, flirts with EDDIE, and eddie….. well, he wants to know more! and he tells steve he knows him from hawkins, and steve’s sunny little smile flickers a little, but he just apologizes for not remembering him and mentions he has some memory problems
and they get to know each other, and eventually as eddie tells him more (and maybe with the help of some yearbooks) steve remembers eddie. and. well. they like getting to know each other. and they like each other. and then they get together
eventually they’ve been together for a while, and eddie thinks he wants to maybe introduce steve to wayne, and he mentions he’s going to go back to hawkins for a long weekend (as he’s done a couple times) and this time he’d like steve to join him
and again steve’s sunny smile flickers a bit, but he says he’d love to meet eddie’s uncle, and… they go to hawkins. and it goes well— meeting wayne, at least, but steve seems a little on edge the whole time they’re there, tense when they drive in, fidgety when they go to the grocery store, et cetera. eddie thinks maybe steve is nervous about staying with the man who raised eddie, which is ridiculous, because wayne LOVES steve.
it’s not til they leave the town altogether that steve relaxes, and eddie realizes it wasn’t “meeting the parents” but rather going back to hawkins. and speaking of meeting the parents, steve didn’t ever bring his own up, even though eddie knew they still lived in hawkins. and the way steve glanced around whenever they went in public, like he was scared of getting recognized
and he asks about it, and steve doesn’t really want to talk about it, but he gives eddie snippets of it. people he wanted to leave behind in hawkins, memories that resurfaced, things he wants to forget
eddie goes back to see wayne sometimes, and the first time he doesn’t know whether to ask steve to come, so he just mentions he’s thinking about going to hawkins for some weekend and steve immediately starts making plans with him as if the invite is implicit. they go back to hawkins several more times, steve still tense and pent up the whole time they’re there
over time steve reveals more and more to eddie. everything that made hawkins hell for him, from the things he himself did in high school to the things people did to him. stuff tommy and carol and billy said to him. some of it is just typical high school bullshit (and oh, the nancy thing.) some of it is the tragedies steve went through, the horrors he had to protect his kids from. the injuries he sustained. more generally the homophobia that permeated the whole town, keeping steve from being himself. the lack of support in the indiana public school system for a high school senior who’s had two concussions and gone through incredible trauma.
his parents. the reason why steve’s mail is addressed to ‘steve buckley’ now, not ‘steve harrington’.
(that doesn’t come out until much, much later, and eddie is kicking himself for ever suggesting steve come back to hawkins.)
eddie, who hardly had an easy time of it in hawkins, is absolutely blown away by what steve had gone through in the same town, right under his nose. the entire persona that steve was trying to leave behind — the cool as a cucumber, unaffected, douchey mask he wore to hide all that he had endured. the head injuries. the emotional tragedies he had gone through. the way he had to be the rock for the kids even as he went through the same things as them.
he tries to tell steve they never have to go back to hawkins again, and steve is having none of it. he tells steve wayne can come visit them in their new city, and steve thinks that’s completely unfair to the man who had raised eddie, seriously, you’re going to make him come all the way up here?
and well i don’t know exactly what the ending is but steve is so stubborn about trying to love hawkins because it was eddie’s home and he wants to be able to go see wayne because wayne deserves to see his kid and eddie deserves to see his uncle and steve doesn’t want to be the problem :(
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actually you know i bitch about shb!thancred a lot and how his whole arc in the expac (as well as in post-hw let’s be real) reduces minfilia to haunting the narrative and also he doesn’t always treat ryne great, BUT,
i would be lying if i didn’t say that his relationship with ryne makes me uh, fucking cry. the fact that his first instinct when he hears that she exists and that she is being locked away and abused by a theocratic dictatorship with the largest military in the world is to go free her as soon as possible no matter the cost makes me cry. the fact that even with all his butthurt and trauma and his flaws he has the presence of mind to eke out some semblance of family with her and urianger makes me cry. the fact that he teaches her how to defend herself first makes me cry. the fact that despite everything he fucking pulls his head out of his ass and learns to relate to her as a real father and child instead of a standin for someone he misses makes me cry. the fact that despite everything ryne keeps him in her life and in her heart makes me cry. thanks for coming to my ted talk
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okee good morning...answering this for real now lmao
Required reading for context first!:
https://www.tumblr.com/painted-bees/714138097261150208/lark-wren-lark-needs-to-drag-her-focus-kicking
https://www.tumblr.com/painted-bees/713687883290214400/thinkin-more-about-magritte-and-rafael-because-of
Raf and Magritte, before meeting Cortes, had become pretty iron clad as a pair. As skittish/paranoid as Raf can be, Magritte had proven time and time again that she adores Raf for being Raf, and not what he can be used for nor what she imagines he should be. He’s no longer waiting for that other shoe to drop with her, like he’s usually waiting on with literally anyone else. Magritte’s love, so far as he can tell--and deliberately elects to believe in--is completely unconditional. Raf has only ever had three...four people he trusts to see him as himself and do well by him: his grandmother, his uncle, Magritte, and Cortes.
Magritte, of course, genuinely does adore Raf, thinks he’s very sweet--thinks he’s got a -lot- of baggage and needs some proper patience and a gentle kind of love. But he’s very patient with her, doesn’t yell at her for forgetting things or forgetting to -do- things, and just seems to genuinely love having her around, and doesn’t get annoyed when she’s excited about stuff and it’s just...so refreshing.
Needless to say, Raf and Magritte are ride or die for each other. Raf is extremely protective of Magritte’s infectious enthusiasm, optimism, and her overall penchant to see the best in every situation and every person. Magritte just wants to see Raf have an easier time of things and find joy in the stuff that is joyful again.
Raf and Magritte met Cortes...strangely: https://www.tumblr.com/painted-bees/715850323888160768/the-water-between-the-discovery-islands-off-the
Cortes is their...adopted cryptid gf, they kinda have this inherent understanding that Cortes is more a force of nature than anything else. She comes and goes as she pleases, is wholly aloof to the world around her outside of Raf and Magritte (whom are the clear objects of her affection during her little ‘human-kind’ cosplay adventure). Sometimes Cortes is gone for a month or so at a time, with no indication of where she went or what she’s doing. But Magritte and Raf both inherently kinda...know...she’ll be back and she’s fine.
Raf and Cortes have a very quiet, chill kind of relationship--very low energy in the comforting way. The relationship version of “lowfi beats to study to” lmao.
Magritte and Cortes have a very playful, mischievous relationship and Cortes encourages Magritte’s childish impulses--both good and peevish lmao they are a chaotic duo...but they somehow always get away with what ever trouble they end up finding themselves in together.
Neither Magritte nor Raf (nor anyone, really) find anything unsettlingly strange or off putting about Cortes--she’s not even all that weird, really. Just a unique kind of charisma.
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I do not understand how some people have no concept of what a wild animal is or any sense of self preservation in approaching them. Like, it’s nice that humans can be well meaning and want to help or be kind but in addition to the fact that human help or kindness is sometimes the exact opposite of what that animal needs, nothing about that animal is going to behave the way a pet does and it’s unsafe to think otherwise. When I see videos of people picking up wild animals with their bare hands, or transporting them somewhere in their car—additionally—without having them in a secure and solid container….or hand feeding them or kissing them I’m just like……..this is how you get diseases and parasites. This is how you get bit. This is how you kill that animal. Maybe a combo of the three.
Once I saw a lady pull her car off to the side of the road and approach a moose trying to pet it. A MOOSE. It won’t eat you but it’ll absolutely kill you. Don’t walk up behind a moose with your hand outstretched to it. Oh my god.
Idk man I just see too many ‘cute heartwarming animal videos’ that have SOMETHING in them that’s ultimately dangerous to the animal and/or the person. I feel like I make this post (and the other that’s ‘stop being an asshole to your cat for fun’) all the time lol.
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