#you don't need to worry about who travis is btw

[kvetchinglyneurotic]

For the word of the week: team, friend, Dad and/or Mum

Thank you!

Team (and also Dad) from Through the Desert Repenting

He shook his head. “I can’t just fuck off, the team needs me.” Only they didn’t, really. He might be spending less time on the bench than he had before Richmond, but he wasn’t a regular starter, still had the 51 plastered on his back. Probably get traded keeping on the way he was, dad had taken to saying; Richmond had made him lazy, wanted to be on top somewhere it was easy instead of working for it, was that it?

Friend from Wrong Answers Only

“Yes, sir indeed,” Ted said. “Hey, maybe I should text him. Good food makes everyone feel better.”

He picked up his phone, idly — he hadn’t seen Travis since university and was relatively certain he didn’t have a current number — and did a double-take, blinking down at the screen in surprise like the letters would transmute themselves into a different shape. But nope, there it was plain as day: a message from Jamie Tartt. Short and sweet: can we meet up? Ted had made a point, back when he started coaching, never to delete any of his players’ numbers, no matter the havoc it wreaked on his address book. Had more than a few take him up on it over the years, whether for a friendly drink or a minor emergency, and he’d never regretted making the offer — but if he were a gambling man he wouldn’t’ve put any money on this one, no sir.

Mum/Dad from Through the Desert Repenting

Mummy’d never had much taste for dating shows after all the shit she went through with dad, but he and Keeley had watched three seasons back-to-back not long after they started dating, when one of ‘em had caught the flu off the other and they spent a week in bed all fucking gross and drippy and sweaty. It was one of his favourite memories, just sitting there with her feeling fucking miserable, debating over who’d win between sips of tea.

#fic: wrong answers only #fic: through the desert repenting #you don't need to worry about who travis is btw #he's from one of ted's “person i knew back in kansas” stories #i can't believe i answered all the asks for an ask game the day i got them for once #kvetch oc

[taylortruther]

If those pages tracking her flights actually cared about her jet usage and emissions as they always claim, they could post with a 24 hour lag. They do not need to know both takeoff and landing for when the specific emission is taking place. This fall he was posting to ig stories about upcoming chiefs games? Daily mail plainly posted screenshots from IG in their articles? (When did paps become that fucking lazy btw) Another suggestion from a bunch of worried people was also to limit comments on his page, because those comment sections is the most unhinged and obsessive ive ever seen (and ive seen a lot of weird shit). Never happened. Another argument sweeney use is that they track the planes, not the people. That also fell through when he tracked Travis’ plane to Argentina and now people are desperately looking for her chartered jets. I totally agree that celebrities should be held responsible for their private jet usage and the engagement is not as wild for the other celebrities he’s tracking (who use their planes WAY more than ts btw, but nobody seems to care about that..), but this fall that taylor page gained a lot of traction because of her travels to kc and it completely went to sweeneys head.

he could do that but he clearly just feels he has a purpose and also obviously likes the attention (i say this in a neutral way.) i understand why many people want to hold the wealthy to account for their climate crimes, i also want that. i just think tracking jets feels really gross, and it always has, even when it was just tumbler users trading the info. i don't have any better solutions (except, as you said, posting them on a delay, but that would be his personal discretion and not a change to how the information is posted initially) so it kinda all around just sucks.

[jollyreginaldrancher]

Yellowjackets S1 E7 thoughts

Oh no, I'm getting attached to them. This is no longer teen slasher vibes.

If Van and Taissa don't get that soft pretzel together I am going to die

I'm sure he's trying to let her down gently so she doesn't stab him but the coach X Misty thing still feels super wrong

She really used Randy as a cover though? I'd sooner tell Jackie it was her dad that knocked me up

Did they really have to make us sit through that whole scene with Travis and Nat though?

Jackie has better timeline awareness than the entire pretty little liars writing team. She is a walking, talking, Shauna historian. She caught her out immediately. I'm not saying it's cause they're in love but...

Are the girls about to get attacked by wild animals?

That Sandra Bullock movie is good btw. It's called "while you were sleeping" and it's about a woman who manifests a relationship with her crush while he's in a comma.

If the reporter is tied up in Misty's basement then either she has a partner or she's not part of the blackmail plot. It could be one of the girls we haven't seen yet. Like maybe adult Lottie or Van...though I still think Lottie dies.

Reporter really overestimated how much Misty actually cares about Travis

Why is Shauna so secretive with that diary? Tell me she wasn't dumb enough to write who her baby's father is in that.

The blackmailer is definitely a guy. At least from the back it looks like a guy. Is it Jeff? It feels like everyone they know is trying to get the truth out of them.

How did they keep going after the red river?

Genuinely asking cause that can't be a good sign.

How did they see a whole red river and think that's not enough of a sign and decide to keep going until maybe they encounter the red smoke?

Is Shauna doing that at home or in some motel room or whatever? Cause I'm worried about her getting caught. Also by not checking if her husband is covered in glitter we can't confirm or deny his involvement, so I'm not convinced he's innocent.

Misty continues to carry the group.

Also considering there's no mention of his brother, and since they didn't immediately go looking for him after he died, I'm gonna assume he died out there too.

He should have hid under the bed. What if her husband wanted to change clothes?

Also Jeff is sooo shady. Like I feel like they want us to believe he's out sleeping around and that's why they showed him rent a hotel room with another woman, so we wouldn't suspect he's in on the blackmailing thing, but if I've learned anything from pretty little liars, itf someone has an alibi; no they don't. He could be in England and still be A somehow.

Do they have another hamper in the bathroom or does Jeff just wear his undies in the shower? Cause he was taking everything else off.. I bet he was hiding glitter in his undies. I bet that's why he left them on. That or some sex thing. He's definitely hiding something.

Natalie is probably self-sabotaging here. I'm guessing it's to show she really does like whatshisname. I'm still rooting for her to get with Misty anyway though so I'm glad if that thing is ending.

TELL ME SHE WAS NOT STUPID ENOUGH TO REVEAL THE BABY'S PATERNITY THROUGH A FUCKING DIARY ENTRY

Those were definitely wolf sounds

IS VAN BEING DRAGGED AWAY BY A WOLF? 😮

HOLLY FUCK IS VAN GONNA DIE?

Oh, I get it. Red smoke = flare

Oh shit oh fuck oh no her face!

Wait, is she fucking dead? Did they just kill her? She can't be! She can't be dead right? Oh god, why isn't she moving? I can't even go to sleep now, I need to watch more

I mean, on the upside: they have some food now. But at what cost?

Misty's there. Misty can save Van. Misty could bring her back from the jaws of death. House has nothing on Misty. In Misty we trust. Please Misty don't let me down.

#yellowjackets #mine #thoughts #speculation

[cameoamalthea]

I think it's interesting how many people were wanting Jester to leave Artagan and go with the Moonweaver (who is awesome btw). I can't properly convey how relieved I am that didn't happen and that their already strong bond was made stronger and they both grew from it. Because that is how good relationships work and people are capable of changing for the better. Finding new faith worked for Fjord, but I don't believe it would have worked for Jester the same way. What they have can't be replaced.

If Artagan was forcibly taken from Jester it would have been traumatizing for Jester. 

What the Mighty Nein, and perhaps a portion of the fandom, don’t understand is that Jester is a depressed lonely person who hides it. She puts on a mask of always happy and fine, it’s ok. She’s not ok and they don’t see it. Jester is also afraid of being alone, which plays into her fear of being disliked and abandoned. 

Whether or not anyone else likes Artagan, Jester LOVES him and she has some serious attachment issues so just ripping him away from her would be super harmful.

There’s a scene in C2E19 where the party sees a shack and wants to investigate it. Jester suggests turning Frumpkin into a bird to go check it out since it’s like a mile away. Caleb does not like the idea, but then playfully says for you Fjord I will do it. Jester responds by being dramatic and pouting about him shooting her down but being willing to do it for Fjord. 

LAURA: Can Frumpkin be a bird? 

LIAM: (reluctantly) Yeah. 

TALIESIN: For a bit. 

TRAVIS: I want to check out the shack. 

LIAM: All right. For you, Fjord, I will make Frumpkin a bird. 

LAURA: Not for me, though. Caleb hates me.

SAM: We could just walk over there. It's a hassle to turn him into a bird. 

TRAVIS: Yeah. Keep your cat. 

LIAM: You are more sensitive than I would have imagined. 

LAURA: I want people to like me.

Caleb is extremely observant and although this is a light, playful scene, says something that cuts really close. “You are more sensitive than I would have imagined.” She’s being over the top and dramatic, he criticizes her, and since what she was joking about what is actually some real insecurity she kind of deflates, her voice gets real small and she says “I want people to like me.” 

It’s a blink and you’ll miss it moment made harder to catch by the fact everyone is talking at once and Laura is eating pizza (role-playing with your mouth full - this is not to shame her for eating, she is entitled to that pizza, but it might make it harder to pick up on the moment). However, I think this touches upon something important. 

Jester is in fact extremely insecure about being liked, and you see this with her relationship with the Traveler. Worrying that he might not like her now that she has other friends at first, and constantly needing reassurance that she’s the most important. 

There’s a brilliant thread on reddit that sums up Jester’s character as follows:

“She's a people-pleaser because she's afraid to lose people. She grew up with the only 'low resource' being people - caring, loving, laughing people. She had her mother, who definitely loves her, but that was it. Most children have scores of people, and other children! to play with. Jester didn't.

And she's afraid to lose that, at any cost. Even realizing she was manipulated, keeping Artagen is more important than standing up for herself or showing her disappointment, because she can't lose him.

Onto - Artagen. What we know:

He's openly admitted to being manipulative and selfish

More importantly: he's openly admitted to never wanting to be bored and never wanting to 'get into emotions'

This REALLY matters. Why?

Because Jester is afraid of losing everyone so she can't be what those people don't want.

Jester can't be upset in front of Artagen because he might get bored with all of her emotions and leave.

It's crazy important for her to be his favorite because, as she is helping him leave all of his followers (her biggest fear) he keeps saying he won't leave her.”

Jester has pretty serious abandonment issues. Children need the attention and support of a caregiver. RedditTotalWar made a great point on that reddit thread: “A significant withdrawal of attention is often enough to cause a child to develop abandonment issues. Children don't have the capacity to realize that some things aren't about them since they are the centers of their own universe.” So the fact Jester’s mother, who clearly loves her and is a good person, did not always have time for her and required Jester to keep her existence secret is damaging. 

Note, this is not to suggest that Marrion is a bad person or was intentionally abusive. You don’t have to be a monster to hurt a child. Disney example: In Tangled, Mother Gothel isolated Rapunzel and was an abuser who just wanted to use her. In Frozen, Anna’s Mother and Father isolated Anna out of a desire to do what they thought was best for their other daughter Elsa and to protect Anna from what they saw as the threat posed by Elsa’s magic. Anna’s parents were not intentionally abusive and loved their children, but Anna was still neglected and isolated and harmed by their actions.

To Jester, the message she got growing up was ‘Momma loves me, but she’s busy and I can’t get in the way and no one can know I exist’ which could easily be taken as ‘Momma loves me, but I’m not the most important thing to her’ or even ‘Momma loves me, but my existence makes her life harder, so maybe I’m not completely lovable since I’m a problem’. 

And while you may think, if she was that worried why would she act out and play pranks and cause trouble, the fact is that children who are insecure about being loved may self-sabotage with caregivers. You see a high rate of disruption in foster children right before adoption because the child starts exhibiting behaviors. Perhaps faced with the fear of, maybe my parental won’t love me if I cause trouble, it feels safer just deliberately causing trouble because then at least you’re the one in control rather than walking on eggshells terrified that messing up could mean abandonment. 

The fact that Jester’s prank on Lord Sharp resulted in her having to leave the only home she’s ever known and never come back under threat of death and that her Mother could not (or in her mind, would not?) protect her may have made her abandonment issues a lot worse. 

Jester is terrified of being left alone, of being abandoned. Taking away the one person who has been a constant in her life and who she has felt safe with all at once would not be good. As Laura said on her playlist “he’s always been the one person she could show her insecurities to” and losing that stable, trusted person would hurt. 

 I don’t think her relationship with Artagan is entirely healthy (it’s not healthy for a child to grow up with only one other friend and her attachment to him extreme and also he’s a selfish, manipulative Archfey - I don’t think Artagan thinks this relationship is entirely healthy). However, I do not think it would have been better for her to have him ripped away like that. Especially given the fact that the whole Moonweaver thing was her idea and she would likely blame herself for what happened. 

How devastating would that be for someone with Jester’s level of insecurity? 

The Mighty Nein, and again a portion of the fandom, may have preferred it if Jester broke up with Artagan and moved on or found a new god. Fjord’s relationship with Uk’otoa (Uk’atoa) was toxic and abusive, so the Mighty Nein are very wary of that sort of relationship. Fjord if projecting and thinks that any relationship with a powerful being that isn’t a god is dangerous. 

The truth is Jester’s relationship with Artagan isn’t really like one of cleric and god. It’s more like a personal relationship where he happens to give her divine powers.

LAURA: I take a bite of my caramel apple, and I go walking down.

MATT: You hear a crunch sound and your handshakes for a second and you look down and a mysterious secondary bite was taken out of the apple.

LAURA: (gasp) I lick the spot.

(groaning)

SAM: You're making out with your god? Gross.

MATT: They have a special relationship.

A special relationship indeed, Matt. It’s intimate, she talks to him about her crushes and asks him for advice on boys then casually confesses love to him.

LAURA: You're not jealous, are you?

MATT: "No."

LAURA: You'll always be my number one love.

MATT: "I know.”

Fjord is an orphan who was looking for parental figures. Vandren was a mentor and father figure, and it was through Vandren that Fjord gained his connection to Uk’otoa. The Wild Mother felt Motherly to Fjord and in Talks Travis said that when Matt first described the feeling his thoughts were on like have I found my Mother somehow. To Fjord religion is a divine parent, an authority figure who provides guidance and direction, and in the case of the Wild Mother love and support for him. 

Jester has never seen the Traveler as a ‘dad figure’. He’s just her best friend and based on her behavior towards him and jealousy towards his other followers, and the number of love songs on Laura’s playlist, I’m pretty convinced that Jester is IN LOVE with him. 

(I don’t know if that feeling is required. Given they grew up together with him in the form of another child and the fact Artagan is actually ancient, I think he sees her more like a little sister. This might be why he was so confused when she grabbed his face and leaned in like she was about to kiss him despite the fact that like she’s flat out told him that he’s her number one love and requires constant reassurance that she’s his favorite and acts like a schoolgirl with a very obvious crush)

And again, all of this may not be healthy or ideal for Jester. She might get hurt. However, I think in order to grow the relationship has to run it’s course no matter what happens. Artagan not only acted completely selflessly by kicking her off of him rather than face the possibility that she’d have to choose between him and or friends or be banished with him but like - he apologized to her. 

An actual, real, non-manipulative apology. He admitted he was manipulative and he’s sorry and when she tries to play it off as it’s fine, he says he doesn’t want to defend himself. He’s sorry.

That’s growth.

#artagan #jester lavorre #Critical role spoilers #critical role #critical role meta #meta #essays #Anonymous