this is sort of pathetic, but when you were younger, you were sort of puzzled by the cartoon representations of fathers: how a kid would be outside with a mitt, waiting to play catch.
it's not that your father never played catch with you, but you also didn't like when he did. something about a hard ball coming quickly towards your face doesn't seem exciting. not that you'd ever say you don't trust him. you trust him, right?
it's not like he never tried to teach you anything. or never tried to parent. on rare days, a strange person would walk in your father's skin. bright, happy, magnificent. this version of your father was so cheerful and charismatic that you would do anything to keep him. and this is the version of your father that would laugh and gently coax you try again. this is the version of your father that would break down the small elements of a problem and point them out so you have an easier time with them.
as a kid, those days happened more often. but somewhere around 11, you started being too much of a person, and he was often cross about it. when he'd try to sit you down to learn something, you spent the whole time with your shoulders around your ears, nervous, uncertain. terrified because you didn't immediately understand how to navigate something. worried you will run out of his goodwill and then you will have the Other Father back, and you will have ruined a good day for your entire family. something about you being visibly afraid - it just made him angry. he would accuse you of not wanting to learn and storm away.
on tv, it's not like there's a lot of versions of men-who-are-mostly-fathers. they can be good dads, but usually their stories are not told in the household. so it's normal that your father is there, but he's never around. you know he was in the house, somewhere, it's just not that you guys ever... "hung out". he just seemed to get kind of bored of you, annoyed you weren't made in his perfect image. frustrated with how much energy it took to raise a kid. over time, you kind of adopt a bittersweet band around your throat - he knows nothing about me. he says at least i never abandoned my family.
and it's technically - technically - true. he was there for you. sometimes he even made an effort and made it to the big moments; the graduations and the dance recitals. he grins and tells everyone that he taught you. it almost erases the days in between, where he complains because you need a ride to school. the weeks that go by where he doesn't actually ever speak to you. the times you say i am struggling and he says figure it out on your own. i can't help you.
and that's fine! that's all fine. you can call him if you are having a problem with your car. or if you need a ride to the hospital. he loves playing hero, he just doesn't like the actual work that comes with being a father. and you've kind of made your peace with that; because you had to, because you don't want to live your life like he does; the whole world at a managed distance, a little rotating and controlled orb he can witness and take credit for but never truly love.
as an adult, you are rewatching some dumb cartoon - and again, the child standing in the rain, with a mitt, waiting for their father to come play catch. as an adult, there's this strange creeping dread - this little thing? this little thing, and their dad can't even show up for that? oh god, holyshit, it's not about the mitt, is it. oh god, holyshit, your father spent most of your life leaving you hanging.
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Cant stop thinking abt Marcia. about the wake and the funeral, how gross everyone treated her from start to bitter end. And she went out of her way to be kind to shiv in her very last scene, and while she is so WOW for taking the high road…..that would NOT have been me.
But I guess that hurt shiv the most lmao. she was fully braced for some cutting remark and Marcia doesn’t give it to her. Cuz Marcia is done. Shiv cannot comprehend why she chooses to be gentle and empathetic for once because she is so full of resentment and she assumes Marcia is the same. She expects Marcia to be an enemy, it’s easy. It’s something that’s safe and it’s that mentality her own father leans into to provide false loyalty in the episode vaulter. But Marcia only sees her as a broken sad child forever chasing a man whose approval was on a whim. She isn’t even worth contempt. And shiv doesn’t know if she should be angry sad or confused.
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Skelly, I just watched your 'Hell Yeah' video on here and eight years later it still makes me LOL! I was curious if you have posted a picture of yourself since (I know you have been on T since and I was curious to see you now vs. then). Thank you. - Mollie
mollie i never take photos of myself so this is the most recent one i have where i look very ANGRY for no reason and an extra picture of my cat elliot/ellie/smelly/smellyalot because why not. thanks for such a nice message :^)
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Detco really needs to focus on cases and basic character development and stir away from nuanced topics. Because what do you mean life is precious and you cant kill yourself because it doesnt BELONG to you? What do you mean killing your abusers that almost killed you is the wrong thing to do? What is wrong with you???
The only thing a person have from their birth is their life and they try to go and make it deep and steal it from them.
Like how conan always stop ppl from commiting suicide etc despite himself being the one that pushed them to that point and he KNOWS it. He's a really selfish guy, stopping people from ending their misery because it makes him feel like a villian, and im fine with that but when i see fans agreeing with it it just makes my skin crawl because like. To rob someone of the only thing they have in this world, their choice to continue to keep it or end it. How cruel.
One of my inspiration for my Forsaken fic is how lives aren't precious actually. It's just is. It's just. Is. Life exist, precious or not is a matter of perspective.
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based purely on vibes of other humanized designs ive seen (i havent watched mlp since i was like 7 and it was on tv)
also i ran out of space LOL. and put less effort into everyone after rarity
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this is a bit of a weird or maybe personal question but. okay so my baba (ik baba means dad, hes my grandpa but irl i call him "baba [name]" so) is from iraq. he wanted to raise his kids (my mom + aunts) as american as possible. because of that me and my mom have always been seperated from our culture. do you know how i can start reconnecting with that? if there are any authors or movies or anything to help me connect?
hii not weird!! glad to see you trying to reconnect. tbh my story is similar to yours. my mom did live in iraq for a good portion of her life before immigrating here, but she never put effort into teaching us the culture (which i don’t blame her for!! she was a busy single mother of two, so i get it). my bibi also didn’t really try to teach us much, aside from cooking iraqi cuisine haha (i will always die by that iraqi cuisine is the best cuisine). i’m basically hopeless when it comes to iraqi media. i literally only know about kadim al-sahir (famous iraqi singer, would absolutely recommend him) bc my mom probably continues to have a crush on him to this day.
what got me to reconnect was visiting baghdad last summer by myself. i just made the spontaneous decision and went w it, rather than get pushed by anyone to do it. i still have relatives in iraq, so that’s why it was feasible for me to actually go (i kind of hopped between jordan and iraq bc i have family in both countries). it was a magical experience honestly, still super surreal to me. people speaking arabic on the streets, arabic music playing in restaurants, even got to see so many iconic landmarks… actual dream come true. but i haven’t put much effort into exposing myself to iraqi media yet, so that’s the next step. i think im just gonna start w a history fiction novel or nonfiction history book of some sort tbh. i’m more interested in iraqi culture beyond islam than i am in the religion, so im probably not a good reference if you wanna know more about the religion too.
w all that said!! i’ll ask my mom/bibi and let you know if they have any movie recs :) my bibi is a literal cinephile, so i’m sure she’ll have many actors/singers up her sleeve lmao. so cool of you to be putting effort into this 💕
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