#my daughter said so
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My three year old daughter came home with a Minnie Mouse figurine, distraught. The plastic toy was missing an arm, and my daughter insisted she couldn’t play with it because it was broken.
I told her that she could still play with it! That some people were born without an arm or that they might get hurt and lose an arm, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t still play or have fun. I explained that some people might get a prosthetic or just have a stub. And she asked what a prosthetic was. I showed her a picture and she was like, “oh! A robot arm!”
When my husband came home, she thrust the toy at him and told him, “Minnie needs a robot arm.”
He was very confused, but he prints and paints miniatures from various table top games. My daughter refers to them as “daddy’s statues.” She knew he could help Minnie. So he dutifully printed her out a robot arm from a warhammer 40k model on our 3d printer, and then they painted it pink and purple together.
All of this to say, look at Minnie Mouse and her new prosthetic!!
[Image description: three photos of the abovementioned Minnie Mouse figurine. One hand is the classic giant gloved Minnie Mouse hand: the other is a robot arm, palm upraised toward the viewer, clumsily painted the same bubblegum pink as the rest of the figurine. /end ID]
Image ID courtesy of @wanderingthunderstorm
Here’s a post about how to create smoother miniatures for the anon. It’s about your printer. (Includes more typical examples of my husband’s miniature painting).
#Minnie mouse#warhammer 40k#prosthetics#for toys#Minnie needs a robot arm#my daughter said so#teaching my kids about disabilities#physical disabilities#cute story about a kid
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Nico referring to his mom as "Mama" implies he most likely at least used to refer to Hades as "Papa" and i 100% headcanon he still does but mostly in the manner of him having the entire Underworld wrapped around his finger for being the baby of the family
#pjo#riordanverse#nico di angelo#headcanon#my art#nico flexing youngest child privilages by pulling out the most pitiful expression he can manage#anyways i find it fun to explore character word choices#cause yknow no two characters are going to select their words the same way#or even necessarily think about it to the same degree#i like to think Nico thinks about his word choice a lot#so of course every time he uses ''papa'' he fully knows he's pulling the Baby Of The Family card#Hades definitely knows this too but falls for it every time anyways#cause Nico hasnt called him ''papa'' regularly since getting his memory wiped - just detached ''father'' or at best ''dad''#so it just reminds Hades of How Much He Just Wants His Children To Be Happy Like The Old Days#and how much poor Nico has been through and he's just the baby of the family and-#cue Nico smugly staring at the camera cause he knows how much power he holds#also i say Nico is Hades' only son cause mythologically even when Zagreus *is* Hades' son (rarely) he's. dead.#a major part of Zagreus' mythology is that he died#and im p sure every other deity said to be Hades' children are all goddesses and also are like 50% of the time not his#theres also only like 3 of them. and as far as we know in riordanverse canon one of them is implied to not be his daughter#so Nico is Hades' only son and also youngest in the family (cause Hazel is older by a month chronologically or 1 year biologically)#(and everybody else is a deity if children of hades at all)
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Sandra-Lynn and Sklonda are having a "What Do We Do About Kristen" phone call as we speak
#dimension 20#dimension 20 spoilers#brennan lee mulligan#fantasy high#fantasy high junior year#d20 fantasy high#dimension 20 fhjy#d20 fhjy#fhjy spoilers#fhjy#sklonda gukgak#sandra lynn faeth#riz gukgak#fig faeth#kristen applebees#like kristen IS a good friend and she DOES appreciate riz and fig but she is a mess#like as mothers of two deeply troubled children it makes sense they're comcerned#if my daughter the self-sacrificing ticking time bomb said she was ignoring a CURSE because she was busy with her friend's campaign???#or if my son needed me to pull over to take a nap because the SAME GIRL was stressing him out so much??#i think because we live outside the universe and love kristen it's easy to forget#kristen went from being the 'good kid' that the bad kids corrupted to the bad influence that worries their mothers#thinking about ally saying that kristen this season is when chaos is no longer cute#speaking of which this scene did make me realize how little the Thistlesprings check up on gorgug#ik they're trying though so imma give them a pass#like kristen has NO proper guidance on how to enter adulthood#i GUESS jawbone but Jawbone isn't raising her so much as he is housing her#What Kristen REALLY needs is to have one singular adult want to be her parent#She doesn't HAVE a proper sandra lynn or sklonda checking in on her#she has her ex-girlfriend's uncle#if kristen had someone looking out for her we wouldn't BE in this situation
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I just remembered that up until 5th grade, all of the sports teams I was in weren't separated by gender. I played basketball and baseball with boys. And we did just fine.
It wasn't until 6th grade when they segregated it by gender. It didn't make sense to me. I was now in softball because of baseball, because "softball is for girls" and "baseball is for boys" (which confused me bc my dad was on an adult softball team).
Now, my brother's all-male team didn't win a single game. My all-girls team won every single one.
They presented the boys' team with this HUGE trophy, and if you wanted replicas of it, they were $30 each.
My team was presented with a very small trophy. Extras were $5.
That's when I decided gender-segregated sports were bullshit.
#my mom went off on my brother's coach for that#said that it wasn't fair that my brother's team got to celebrate more than us despite actually winning#(it was through the same sports program)#she said she wasn't gonna pay $30 for a trophy whenever he was a horrible coach#bc the boys he had when they were on my team with my coach did just fine#their coach was this horrible egotistical guy who would scream at tbem for not doing good enough#when he didnt even KNOW HOW TO PLAY and was just there bc his kid was praying#my coach was this cool ass dad that was very calm and gentle with us#the coach was like ''oh so you don't think your son deserves to celebrate?''#my mom was like ''he should but he needs to learn that he can't be rewarded for losing while#my daughter is barely rewarded for winning and i don't want to teach him that gender inequality is okay''#(my mom is cool af sometimes)#we both quit playing after that
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do people who have listened to taz balance but not graduation Know that it was HEAVILY IMPLIED that lup and barry eventually adopted a lil sorcerer child who got disowned by his family for his natural necromancy magic, and they taught him how to use his powers for good and were overall great parents that he looks back on fondly
(and said child grew up to be a dimension-hopping lich, caretaker of the dead, and very sweet adoptive father of a major npc)
#eliot posts#taz#the adventure zone#taz balance#taz graduation#lup taaco#barry bluejeans#blupjeans#like they never specifically say ''my parents are barry and lup'' so it's left up to interpretation but#he says he came from another world other than nua (nua is the name of the grad world like faerun is the balance world)#he says both his parents were highly skilled necromancers that ''travelled'' a lot because of their work#he says that inter-planar travel runs in the family#and he likes to bake#also travis apparently said on a livestrean that he got something carved by magnus for his daughter#it's a fun little easter egg for balance enjoyers but kept vague enough where it's like. you don't have to know about balance to enjoy it#anyway tho it's adorable cuz he talks about how much of a positive impact his parents made on him#and how he wanted to emulate them when raising his own daughter#and he's a good dad and his daughter loves him (also she is an absolute delight i love her#and like the only older adult to look at our college-aged protagonists and be like#''yeah it's messed up that you have to deal with all of this you're so young you're the same age as my child i will help however i can''#like balance easter egg aside gordy is one of my fav graduation npcs (behind his daughter rainer who is my fav)
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tgcf book spoilers, but one mu qing and xie lian snippet that I think about a lot is this one, at the start of xie lian’s second banishment when he’s surprised to hear mu qing being described as generous and kind:
as opposed to this memory from before his first ascension when mu qing started giving out cherries to the kids in the city:
I think it just really goes to show 1) how deeply mq’s actions truly affected xl and what he thought of him, but also 2) just how different mq and xl are fundamentally in the way that they think and approach things.
I don’t have a lot of commentary on xl that hasn’t already been said, but bc we get the story from xl’s pov, we see a lot of mq’s actions being framed as selfish or suspicious (which is fair, bc again, we know how much his actions hurt xl), but we also see a lot of misconstrued kindness, like in book 8 where it’s revealed that he knocked out fx in order to save him. it’s also pretty obvious how much mq still cares abt xl, with how quickly he volunteers as fu yao and the lengths he goes to protect him when he deems hc a threat, so I also think it’s very likely that mq leaving the trio first was exactly what he said it was — that he thought becoming a junior official, ascending quickly, would be the best way to take care of not just his mother, but also xl, fx, the king and queen, and himself, and so in a way, him leaving was him acting on his kindness. but ofc it doesn’t work out, and he spends the next 800 years fighting w/ fx about it, defending himself, his decisions, and his kindness, and nitpicking the accuracies of his statues while he himself remains completely misunderstood by the two people he probably cares abt the most.
and idk, I guess I just think that’s probably a really lonely way to spend 800 years.
#idk where I was going w this actually#but misunderstood mq who cares so much abt how he’s perceived is smth that I think abt a lot#really resonates w my eldest daughter scapegoat of the family trauma tbh#also to be clear I don’t think xl was in the wrong for chasing him away either#I think they were both just twenty year olds doing their best in a situation that twenty year olds shouldn’t have to face#that said I do think it’s hilarious and incredible that fq spent 800 years beating each other up instead of having one (1) conversation#anyway! I love all three of them! I’m glad they get a happy post canon!#oh also I think mq deserved more than just a ‘just so u know dianxia never thought that poorly of u! just be normal!’#i think he deserves an apology actually#tgcf#tgcf spoilers#mu qing#xie lian#feng xin#xianle trio#yams thoughts
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The year was 1997 when everything changed. Wayne got the call a few minutes before 5am. It had been years since he regularly worked night shifts - thanks to Scott’s financial stability, he had managed to move on from his job at the plant and instead worked as a handyman now, with his own van and a logo designed by Eddie - but getting up at irregular hours had become part of his DNA so when Scott was still groggily mumbling in bed, attempting to rub the sleep from his eyes, Wayne was already at the phone. They had been anticipating this call and Wayne basically pulled Scott out of bed and into the car.
They arrived at the hospital around 5:40. Wayne would never forget that first sight when he opened the door of the hospital room: Steve and Eddie both cradling a tiny bundle of blankets in their arms, their limbs practically merged together, their heads resting against each other and matching overjoyed smiles on their faces. And right in their corner, as always, the true hero who made it all happen: Robin Buckley.
Eddie looked up at him with a look of complete awe on his face. The look of a father. Wayne felt a lump in his throat and he grabbed Scott’s hand as they walked over to the boys and the tiny little humans in their arms.
“Meet your granddaughters,” Eddie said, his voice hoarse but unmistakably proud. Up-close, Wayne saw the salty traces of tears on his face.
“You wanna hold them?”
Wayne started stuttering something unintelligible, but before he knew it, one of the babies was placed in his arms. The girl felt too small, too breakable, for hands as big and boorish as Wayne’s. But Scott was resting his hands on Wayne’s shoulders from behind him, always the calming presence he needed, and the baby made a tiny, but clearly contented, sound.
“This is Maya,” Steve said in a low voice.
“Hey, Maya,” Wayne whispered to the girl. Her eyes were closed and she looked peaceful, completely different from how Wayne remembered Eddie as a baby. That boy had been a loud, audacious troublemaker from day one.
“And this is Kate.” Steve turned to Scott. “You wanna hold her?”
An unsure look crossed Scott’s face. “I don’t - I -”
“Go ahead,” Eddie interrupted his adorable stuttering. “You’re just as much their grandpa as Wayne.”
The smile that started shining from underneath Scott’s mustache was almost more beautiful than the newborn baby in Wayne’s arms. Scott cautiously took the little bundle from Steve’s arms, cradling the little girl against his chest.
Wayne cautiously handed Maya back to Eddie and sat down at Robin’s bedside. The girl looked pale and exhausted, but the grin on her face was brighter than ever.
“Congratulations, grandpa.”
“I’m proud of ya, kid,” he replied. “What you did for my boys is...” He paused, trying to find the right words to describe what that was, but coming up empty. He had never been good with words - but Robin seemed to understand what he meant anyway, tearing up a little bit as Wayne gently squeezed her shoulder.
“It’s what they deserve,” said Robin. “I mean, just look at them!” She nodded towards the scene at the end of her bed: Steve gently rocking one of the twins - Wayne already lost track of who was who - in his arms, with Eddie and Scott right beside him fussing over the other girl together. The baby was tucked safely in Eddie’s arms, with Scott’s hand on Eddie’s shoulder, and with the matching overwhelmed smiles that had completely taken over both their faces, a stranger would never guess that they weren’t actually related to each other.
Scott looked up, into Wayne’s eyes, and his gaze was even softer than usual. It made Wayne’s breath catch, as if they hadn’t been together for ten whole years by now, as if Scott’s smile was still something new. And maybe right now, it actually was. Everything was new. Everything was different. Everything had changed, in the best possible way.
#i needed clarkson becoming grandads so here we are#apparently steddie are twin dads now because i said so#i was planning on giving them a daughter and then suddenly there were 2 idek how that happened lol#don't mind me rambling about stranger things#steddie#steve harrington#eddie munson#robin buckley#wayne munson#scott clarke#clarkson my beloved#wayne munson my beloved#fruity ficlet
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Song of Oblivion
#ooough my poor cataclysmic bird daughter#she loved so much and destroy everything for it#she denounces existance because to exist is to suffer- and suffering is her enemy#not realizing that in doing so she breeds so much of the suffering she hates#several of the fallen stars only fell because her question spurred them into a self-absorbing path#and then... and then the one singular meteia that realize her folly... who could be convinced of lifes meaning#by seeing you continue ever onwards even with your dearest friends' deaths on your shoulder#by seeing how everyone accepts oblivion for another tomorrow- even if they had suffered so much. even if they wanted to die#no matter what they fought. they fought and died and kept marching forward even in death#they loved life enough to sacrifice it. how could she not accept that?#and the realization that the reason she came to the conclusion she did was because she was flawed- bc hermes was flawed#as hermes said- he gave her wings to fly but did not teach her how to tread the earth#she was given freedom to experience the feelings and emotions of the world- but not the groundwork to understand it#she could see. she could hear. but she could not comprehend#she has knowledge- but without context it gets misinterperated and warped#OUGH im going to scream. i miss her.#meteion#endsinger#final fantasy#final fantasy 14#final fantasy xiv#ff14#ffxiv#art#my art#xanders art#digital art#fan art
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I wanted to redo my attempt at drawing Dess Holiday. But she seems more "stereotypical deer person" here, so this may just be a practice on anthropomorphic characters.
#art#my art#sketches#dess#dess holiday#deltarune#I have thought way too much about Dess Holiday in 5 minutes than I ever have in my life so I am going to give you my two cents in the tags#since its never confirmed if Noelle's mom was absent from their life after Dess' disappearance it could be said she was hardest on her-#eldest daughter. So Dess may have played a “protective” role to Noelle against their mother. This saying Rudy wouldnt have stepped in...#WHO KNOWS?!
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Not me as somebody who crochets on the reg getting criticisms/unwanted comments about everything I make:
"You always use the same colors" :/
Me: can't help it I'm a thalassophile and therefore I must always use beige, khaki, turquoise, teal, aqua blues, whites of all shades. Let the coastal creations commence!
"Nice bag. You know, that looks perfect to use only for holidays like Easter"
Me: ...my coastal bag is to be used every time I feel like it. What are you talking about.
"Those oceanic colors don't match with your current outfit so don't use it."
Me: it's not about what looks nice TO YOU but what feels right and fun to use FOR ME.
"Why don't you add (whatever) to your creation. It'd look great if you add (whatever). And, how about next time, you actually use a leather bag bottom instead?"
Me: I don't want to.
"You sure can't take a comment or a slight criticism. Why are you like this?" :/
Me: you sure can't mind your business.
"Why are you doing 2 projects at once. Finish one and start the other I don't get it."
Me: oh you sweet summer child ohohoho...you just don't understand the mind of a crocheter do ya?
"You know, if you make something for somebody it sure won't be coastal themed or whatever. You have to try something different."
Me: who said I'm making anyone ANYTHING? They don't want to pay the correct price for a hand-made creation so that won't be happening. Anyway, ONTO THE COASTAL THEMED SCARF!
#crochet#crocheting#knitting#knit#fiber art#fiber arts#yarn#yarn crafts#yarnlove#crochet art#usually those criticisms and comments come from my mother#lol#other people in public while I'm working are shocked that people still crochet#they're all OMG THAT'S A LOST ART EVERYBODY LOOK#mom on the other hand is all wow can't you try to idk do something else like use more pinks and purples#or my favorite: when are you gonna finish your last project#my mom even got mad at me once at one of my projects and said I didn't raise a daughter to look like a clown so#don't make things that won't match with your wardrobe#🤪🤪🤪🤪#family members get weird when they notice your hobbies#btw my mom doesn't have hobbies#she says she doesn't need any#she says Jesus is her hobby#that's fine but Jesus was a carpenter you know#Our Lord and Savior DID stuff on the side y'know 😂
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Arlecchino is confirmed to be cursed and we know hilichurls are cursed humans. Caterpie had similar cursed arms and legs. Not saying they have same curse but it seems to be implied it's similar. Considering her real name, Peruere, is eeringly similar to Perinheri from the latest book, I think Arlecchino's ties to Khaenri'ah are possible.
What is still left to be explained is, why does she glitch so much in her idles (as per the update trailer), what's up with the girl who looks like her dead friend Clevrie's child look, and how does Freminet fit into all this. He said he knew the previous Knave. And we know how the switch happened now. Was Freminet conveniently away at the time? Do Lyney and Lynette get adopted to the orphanage shortly afterwards?
I hope we learn these next week.
#genshin#genshin impact#genshin spoilers#discussions#peruere#arlecchino#clevrie#the knave#house of the heart#fatui#etc etc etc#I am so intriqued#also this all fits into the whole wolf in sheeps clothing as said by scara#she may seem nice but she is dsngerous as fuck in actuality#scara knows what she did#he possibly even knew previous knave#oh my#oh and clevrie was the prev knaves biological daughter according to cn dub#easy to miss in english dub
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I just find it funny how any interaction between Poseidon, Hecate and Athena in smartwatermagic context in my mind always ends up with undertones of all of them thinking "I am a better parent than the other two" without fail
Athena and Poseidon by viria and Hecate by CarolMylius on deviantart
#pjo#athena pjo#poseidon pjo#hecate pjo#alabaster torrington#percy jackson#annabeth chase#<- bc this is about their relationship with their godly parents#smartwatermagic#percalabeth#poseidon: I do not base my interactions with my son on a basis of how proud he makes me#<- only claimed percy out of desparation#athena: my daughter has never failed me unlike certain people (released typhon/got the rest of his siblings killed)#<- disowned said daughter#hecate: my son actually talks to me out of his own volition.#poseidon: ...#athena: ...#<- her children fight to death and kill eachother just so they can call themselves the strongest *for centuries*#THIS IS VERY MUCH OF A JOKE POST BTW PLS DON'T COME FOR ME#Just pjo godly parents being godly parents ok
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Amity Park: US MOST HAUNTED!
Amity Park: The Faceblind City!
except the westons
#like#if Danny didnt want his parents knowing then he’d just have to keep silent around them and hope they dont notice his body shape and language#which- in this specific idea I had -I think they would actually notice over time#I miss me some Accepting Parents TM#also this idea started from a wild ass dream I almost fell into#where Ellie is being cared for by a homeless children’s shelter and won’t release her to Phantom because clearly that isn’t his daughter#they look nothing alike! but then Bruce Wayne is in town and is like I’m Sorry Maam Whats the Problem? cuz he overheard#and was baffled when she confirmed taht she said that#like he’s seeing a child who looks identical to this man with exception of minor features and the costume her dad’s wearing#he is SO confused#which does lead to Red Robin on a rooftop somewhere like#what the hyuck. the entire city- except for this poor guy -is faceblind!#is that genetic? and then he becomes hyperfixated so Oracle has to take over the actual operating part of their investigation as RR is gone#dpxdc#dcxdp#didnt intend to tag this as that actually but like ill just make a separate post for the non-crossover one#also 100% allowed to screenshot-reblog and transcribe my tags cuz I’m too tired and too far in
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"Mister", she said. Dad, she meant.
The constellation who doesn't yet have a name. Shin Yuseung was well aware of who it was referring to. 'Mister.' It was only a gaze but in fact, many people died because there wasn’t a 'gaze' at an important moment. In that sense, Shin Yuseung was lucky.
[The constellation who doesn't yet have a name is nodding.]
Shin Yuseung received the attention of only one person in the world and stepped forward.
for @chocolatemalt (took the excerpt from the comments don't worry im not spoiling myself on the novel!)
#they make me cry#i love them so much#kim dokja#shin yoosung#orv#webtoon#webweaving#omniscient reader's viewpoint#my scrungly wet rar man and his adorable daughter#and a husband that pushes said daughter (and her brother) into the damn pit#how could you huh?#yoo joonghyuk#answer your crimes!#(jk)#ahh apparently tomorrow is kdj's bday?#i should have posted this tomorrow#hindsight#joongdok#orv manhwa#manhwa
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I have big visible arm tattoos and my septum pierced but this afternoon I was stopped by a little old man and asked to please help him work the fancy parking meters and oh did it make my heart happy
#not to judge the elderly but they can do judge me and I was delighted he didn't#he could have waited for someone more respectable looking#his name was Peter and he is a retired nurse#and he has three daughters and he said I should keep men's boots by my front door and a radio playing a talkback station so I'll be safer#critter rambles
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hi. welcome to my mary shepherd-sunderland post.
what will follow is who i think she is as a character, what she means to the narrative of sh2, and why people should think and talk about her more bcs me and the 4 other mary fans are dying out here.
DISCLAIMER BEFORE WE BEGIN: a lot of this post will be enmeshed with interpretation and headcanon that draws from me analyzing the text of sh2. this is My Post about mary. stormy mary post. please understand this.
the foundation of mary's character is an exceptionally strong one, and for someone like me, i enjoy making inferences about her person before the illness, during the illness, and near the end. the personality she has in sh2 is flexible enough to allow what i imagine her to have been like in my mind's eye.
i do not want this post to be read as the Definitive Canonical Interpretation of mary. i am just doing my best to inform my analysis of mary with the text as well as building from that set foundation given to us as the audience.
with that out of the way, please enjoy.
PART ONE: MARY AS A CONCEPT
what exists of mary is filtered through the lens of memory before the cumulative letter in the respective endings we receive it. throughout sh2, her status and state of being is re-contextualized as her husband moves closer and closer to the truth of the matter. she is an individual wrapped in idealistic fantasy that is slowly and surely stripped away the longer the game goes along, and the more we actualize her as the person she once was.
this element of conceptualization and fantasy is a through-line in sh2's narrative. mary is everywhere james looks in his version of the town. she's in the rot and rust on the walls, she's in the monsters he fights and runs from, she's in the places he goes, her face and voice is maria's, and she even has some of her memories and personality traits. it is truly understated how much mary just... IS in sh2, in spite of her not being physically present.
there's also this dichotomy i've been thinking about in the inability for mary and james to exist outside of one another, thematically speaking. for fundamentally being two different people, they are inextricably tied to one another in a really unfortunate and tragic way. james grafts himself to mary's memory before her sickness and slowly begins to resent the woman she's become out of anything but her own volition, and mary grafts herself to james because... she has to.
she's sick, she's dying, she's largely bedridden and in constant pain. she cannot rely on herself anymore; she has to rely on the people around her to take care of her, and when she inevitably goes home to live out whatever time she has left... it's james she has to rely on. and while i think james finds immense comfort and pleasure in living in the past they had while refuting the present, mary is thoroughly imbedded in the present and resents the past by means of something that she can no longer have. neither of them can, but i've always interpreted mary to be a very pragmatic and proactive individual.
she discusses in her letter how pathetic and ugly she feels, how she waits in her cocoon of pain and loneliness that's been grafted onto her unwillingly while she waits for james to visit her, and it's clear to me that she is the kind of individual that puts so much emphasis on being a useful and beautiful woman. that is what gives her worth as a human being within the society in which she lives (late 80s usa in my opinion). canonically, she is a housewife, and while that certainly coheres, i'm of the belief that she was a woman who worked outside the home as well, but also someone who did not do enough unpacking to really get away from gendered roles expected of her.
i really do believe that she feels she failed james spectacularly as a partner, but also as a wife; therein, as a person in his life. both of them dealt with their own baggage regarding gendered expectations, but mary in particular's is incredibly potent and crushing if you actualize her as someone who, in turn, wanted to be the perfect wife to james. kind, patient, nurturing, submissive, etc.
of course, as we all know, the perfect wife/woman/whatever you want it to be, is an unattainable concept, because how can anybody human like mary exist within such ridiculous, reductive parameters?
PART TWO: MARY AS A PERSON
so, in that case, who was mary, then? who was she, if not this idealized vision of a wife long lost?
as i've alluded to before, i envision her as a very pragmatic and proactive person; in the video tape of her, she seems very playful and outgoing, but also contemplative, appreciative, and straightforward. i've always seen her as a very different person from james in regards to how she navigates through life.
she's comparatively much more outward and readily emotional, but seems to retain a level of quiet interiority that meshes very well with james' very inward attitude. a very typical "bubbly wife and stoic husband" sort of situation on the surface, but i've always thought that mary greatly appreciated having james as an emotional anchor of sorts; somebody who can soothe the more keyed-up aspects of her personality, given how quiet and easygoing he is.
given how she mentions how angry she was all the time at the advent of learning of her incumbent death, i view her as somebody who really does not like being out of control of her own life. she has an idea of how she wants things to be and she wants them done the way she has already since chosen. (do not interrupt her routines. she will get very irritated.) she's very particular, and i think she's had to learn how not to just take the reigns from somebody else if she perceives them to be going about something "incorrectly" because this particular flaw has led to some arguments/falling-outs with loved ones in the past.
in that particular vein, holy fuck is this woman a fixer. she needs to fix everything she possibly can. the sink's busted? don't worry, she's had a lifetime of fixing shitty plumbing in her childhood home because nobody else bothered. need a couple more bucks for gas? don't worry, she always keeps a few extra dollars on her because she knows what it's like to be a few short and not have anyone else to turn to that you can trust.
you've been deeply traumatized and scarred by your adverse childhood experiences and it's left you with maladaptive and dysfunctional coping mechanisms? don't worry, she'll be there for you, in sickness and in health.
to me, mary's the kind of person that likes seeing the fruits of her labor, too. she takes great pride in being as self-sufficient at she has been, and does very much enjoy sharing that with others as much as she can. genuinely, i think she's very giving and compassionate, but jesus, when it came to james when he was struggling (before she got sick), it certainly got a bit dire. using your wife for free emotional labor is one thing, but when that wife welcomes it for a while because she has a pervasive desire to fix everything, including you? yeah.
also, of course, mary felt a pertinent obligation to doing such, being The Wife and all, but she's also a human person and got exhausted dealing with the amount of baggage her husband had, and their relationship got pretty rocky because of james' unwillingness to seek professional help (stemming from trauma with the laughable us-healthcare system) and mary's unwillingness to recant over and over again what she has in her toolbox.
which is where silent hill comes in. a belated honeymoon of sorts, mary and james take a trip to take their mind off the doom-inspiring monotony that is domestic life, and it's great!
until it isn't.
PART THREE: TERMINAL ILLNESS
so, the nature of mary's illness has never been clearly stated canonically, but we know that it gave her a persistent cough, rendered her bedbound, made her hair fall out, and made lumps grow all over her skin. i'm of the belief that she had hansen's disease, but cancer is also incredibly plausible too.
hansen's disease is one of those things that can lie dormant for years, and it can sometimes take a decade for symptoms to surface, so i don't think it was really a matter of mary catching anything from silent hill, per se. (i do think toluca lake has just the most godawful brain-eating bacteria in it but that's aside the point.) it's definitely a curable disease, but perhaps the strain mary had was a particularly severe variant. point being, however, is that this thing ruined her inside and out.
in the beginning stages, (year 1 or so) i do think she was pretty touchy, emotionally speaking. she tries to keep up appearances as much as she can and is able to, but it's clear that something has shifted for the worst. she's much more somber in the moments of quiet. her contemplative nature turns to brooding. she smiles, still, but her smiles are undoubtedly laced with a wry, bitter sadness.
she's now toiling with thoughts of dying as a way out, too. it'd be easier if they'd just kill me, she laments at one point. simultaneously at the crux of wanting freedom from one's pain in death but terrified of said death as being eternal, too.
it's something you can't ever undo.
now... i'd say a pretty controversial aspect of mary's character during this period of time is whether or not she was abusive towards james during her illness. cases have been made, it's a fairly ambiguous situation as presented in-game, but i think mary's anger that she expressed was quiet, overall. she tried to keep it quiet, at least, and when she did lash out, it was almost always in part due to her newfound level of self-loathing. when she's yelling at james in that hallway, she's yelling at herself more than she is at him.
she's no longer a person, to herself and to others around her that treat her like a dying animal than the woman that she is; the woman that she used to be. i'd be livid if i were her, too!
she also mentions in her letter that she "struck out at everyone she loved most." i have very strong reason to believe that she loved laura, and that unfortunately, she too was caught in the crossfire of mary's mood swings/outbursts. i also think that the guilt mary expresses when we're listening to the hallway conversation is genuine; i don't think her outburst and subsequent apology was a manipulation tactic to make james feel bad.
i think she's genuinely suffering. she doesn't know what to do with these compounding negative feelings. she has nowhere to put them. james comes in at a bad time and becomes the target. after the damage has been done, she realizes this and crumbles immediately. she's hurt james. she needs to do damage control however she can.
of course, none of this is to say that women can't ever be abusive/abusers and we can have conversations about the nuances of that all day, but... it's disquieting to me to see a consistent reading of a terminally ill female character's torment and anger be read as "abusive" to further exonerate the male character's deed of murdering her. like, i think we should consider that for a bit. i think we can hold that mary's behavior was not the best, but james' wasn't, either.
mary waited for him, but he never comes. he stays away, festering in his own grief, mourning her before she's even passed. i see james' aversion to seeing her in large part as a trauma response due to past abuse while growing up; when she shouts at him like that, it drags all of those ugly feelings and memories up.
it's a relationship i see as something that was mutually declining. it was something that was left to die. much like mary was, in a lot of ways.
mary was terrified that james hated her. that she disgusted him with her appearance, that he pitied her for being ill and effectively useless to him. that was something plaintively out of her control, being in the hospital. james could've ripped the bandage off and braved seeing her. he could've talked to her. he could've rekindled what was deteriorating. but he didn't.
again, mary's proactive nature of yearning for james, wanting to see him, wanting to talk to him and talk about them and what to do when the time comes. she wants to figure this out as best she can.
but james doesn't, and he still never comes.
mary poured everything left in her that she could muster in that letter. she profusely apologized for everything, for things that weren't even her fault to begin with. she told james that she loved him in that letter, because she couldn't say it to him to his face any longer. she didn't know if she would have any time left to do such.
but she does. and however long later, he kills her.
mary isn't a perfect victim, nobody that's a victim in sh2 is supposed to be. but she is still an individual that deserves compassion nonetheless, and i think the game does its due diligence in getting that across.
PART FOUR: MARIA
i think have to at least touch upon maria a bit if you're writing a post about mary. i think that's just the way it is.
maria, as we know, is a manifestation created by silent hill as a means to confront/interrogate/"punish" james by emulating mary but with very... choice character design changes.
she's clad in leopard print and a cropped red blouse. she's a dancer at heaven's night. she has bleach blonde hair with the roots peeking in. her face is all done up. she still extroverted, but far more provocative and alluring. she's a fantasy; something unattainable.
but she could be yours in whatever way you want her to be!
maria is utterly fascinating as an interrogation of james' character, but also as a reflection of mary, too. in born from a wish, she expresses her fear of pain and death, of being alone in town with no one else around, while also toiling with suicidal ideation. (sound familiar?) she seeks out companionship in whatever form it takes, and jumps on it when she does find it in ernest.
how much of mary is maria has always been up for debate and forever will be, but i think a lot of mary lives within her. the obvious, being the memories that she has of laura and the video tape left in the lakeview hotel, her hot and cold behavior with james, but also in the existential misery she feels in born from a wish. that desire to die to escape the pain of feeling alone, but also wanting to be with somebody else more than anything, and how death would undoubtedly take that away.
i also think her dyed hair isn't even hers; mary had that haircut and dye job when she first met james at that house party all those years ago.
i think maria's standing as a sentient individual is true, but in the sense that she is the combination of both mary and james' baggage made sentient. she never truly existed for herself, as her own person. she'll always have a little bit of someone else in her, someone she doesn't even really know, and that's... utterly tragic.
i think she realized this too when she points that gun to her head. but she chose james anyways out of that same desire for companionship. maybe she could be his new mary. maybe she could be better than mary. it's truly all so fuck.
PART FIVE: CONCLUSION
mary is the reason why sh2 happens for james. full stop. you cannot have sh2 without mary. there is a foundation laid for you to examine and explore. she is as infinitely fascinating as james is, if not more so. join me.
this post is sprawling and probably a bit confused at times because i wrote it on a whim, but i HOPE that i was able to get across the larger ideas of why i love mary as a character and who she could've been before her illness and death. i didn't touch upon everything i possibly could (mary and laura's relationship deserves its own post, i think), but this post is already long enough. i'll edit it in the future, undoubtedly.
thank you so much for reading all the way. listen to her final letter and cry with me.
#mary shepherd sunderland#james sunderland#maria#maria silent hill#silent hill#silent hill 2#sh2#stormy shouts#like i said in the conclusion i think mary and laura's relationship is deserving of its own post#i would've loved to get into it here but uh. this post is already very long.#that's where interpretation plays too#talking abt silent hill... showing laura all her photos... loving her like her own daughter... ugh it's so heartrending#anyways. this one's for my maryheads
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