Grain the 2nd: Fandom Trash for My Heart

I understand that’s done very intentionally in Wicked with the whole “no one mourns the wicked no one cries they won’t return” thing. But I like to imagine what would happen if he DID make it back. Observe:

I can’t do it. They’re awful. You are, you are awful. But… what are we going to do? It’s family. 

THE LAST OF US - #It’s just deer meat

Ed devotes himself to learning to cook, because he wants Stede to always have a full tummy. Stede takes up baking because of how much Ed loves sweet things. Ed doesn't like helping Stede in the garden (dirty, sometimes he accidentally touches a worm) but he gets REALLY good at flower arrangements to keep their home beautiful. Stede learns to knit because Ed's feet are always cold in bed and he wants to make him warm socks.

MY SUNSHINE MAN IN THE RAIN

Yeah - and so will Trump. Like, if you don't vote for Biden, Trump will win, and he will continue to send aid to Israel - in fact, he will likely send MORE aid to Israel. That's the reality of the world we live in.

And, to be honest, any US president will support Israel. Because the USA is Israel's ally. That's how foreign policy works.

So who do you prefer?

Biden, who has helped lgbtq rights, reproductive rights, infrastructure, the environment, lowered medication costs, supported unions, and done MANY good, progressive things,

Or Trump, who we already know is awful. Who we already know will destroy any human rights Biden managed to gain. Who will not help the environment. Who will not help trans people, or immigrants, or women.

The president isn't a king, and can't unilaterally impose his will on the country. There is not - and will never be - a candidate who can just wave their hand and only make the Good and Morally Pure Things you want to happen happen. That is not the system we have.

But things can get better, and things can get so much worse.

A lot of the time, we assume "ruthless" is synonymous with "unkind" or even "cruel." Stede's neither of those things. But what ruthlessness really means is having a very clear understanding of what it takes to get from Point A to Point B and having no qualms about doing what it takes to achieve that.

People are mean to Ed? Stede wants them humiliated. He does not care what happens to them after they set their own boat on fire. He needs to escape with his crew? He does not care about drugging the Red Flag's crew to make them pass out and stealing their wheel, potentially stranding them in the open ocean. Ned Low insulted Ed and hurt the crew? Stede doesn't care that he's won, he doesn't care that he's neutralized any threat Ned posed, he wants him to pay for what he did, so he kills him anyway.

But then Stede's gonna tell him more, and it'll be these terrible stories about how other boys used to make fun of his appearance, or maybe he overheard Mary complaining to her friends about how Stede wasn't her type, maybe that he's kinda goofy-looking, and slowly Ed's gonna have to realize that Stede doesn't just have low self-esteem or issues with his appearance, he's telling the trueth. He's going to realize that, to Stede, it's an objective fact that he's not attractive.