hi i'm sorry i'm late - i didn't get much sleep yesterday so i kept going unconscious making this. it's the morning afternoon after rn
This is more an analysis post and will be divided into two sections: the literal meaning of being made of stardust, the element or whatever, as well as its symbolism/not-so literal yet also literal? meaning.
I'm not an astrophysicist nor do i have much information/knowledge about it, so i pulled these from r/astrophysics, one of the ask threads, and the lovely people there! it's an interesting read.
Section A might not be so actuallynot-heavy, but think of it as the base for the purpose of the post.
SECTION A: Literal Meaning
How are we made of stardust, even? Well:
u/Jumpy-Brief-2745:
"What it means? Almost every atom in your body comes from stars, literally"
u/setbot:
"You are made from atoms that are larger than hydrogen. The only way those larger atoms can get made is by getting a bunch of hydrogen atoms crammed together in a star due to its massive gravity. Of course, you don’t live inside the star today, so that means the star exploded at some point. Those atoms flew through space until they eventually became you."
u/tirohtar:
"[...]the dust part is more poetic, but it is also accurate - when stars die and eject material back into space, the heavy elements condense into molecules and dust particles . Those dust particles eventually coalesce into asteroids and planetary embryos in proto-planetary disks, and eventually form into planets. We still find these ancient dust particles in various primitive, undifferentiated asteroids and analyze their isotopic composition to determine what kinds of progenitor stars produced the materials for the solar system."
SO if anyone tells you you're not a star/you have no talent, hit them with these facts okay- but getting back on track. When stars explode and die their atoms float off into space and into the world and into you!
SYMBOLISM/things that just seem pretty poetic:
mymythos.org describes the symbolism of stardust as:
"silence before creation. It is the dust from which planets, life, and consciousness itself can emerge, symbolizing a state of pure, untamed potential."
nandabussers.com:
"To me, they symbolize tiny particles relating to one another, sometimes still, sometimes connected, always searching for form."
> "sometimes still, sometimes connected" is very actuallynot. They are those tiny particles, that are sometimes still/maybe separated(think back to actually's 3-day absence, or their distance from eachother considering they havent met yet), yet sometimes connected through communication and conversation, as well as their bond. Always searching form, i don't know, if we wanna get really far down this analysis rabbit hole, can be their searching of a form of deeper connection *cough* aka relationship *cough*. Or always searching for one another, yep, that's better.
It's a fascinating thing, though. It's like when stars and their brightness and 'potential to become something' dies and floats off into a world that's brimming with potential, you take that form!
Pure, untamed potential sounds a lot like the potential Actually and Not have together, by the way. Since they're saying/implying they're 'not together yet'.
SECTION B: How Merriam-Webster Defines it
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines stardust as, and I'm not even kidding:
" a feeling or impression of romance, magic, or ethereality "
Now, maybe Not meant it in the literal way and not this one, considering he is into astrophysics, but that's genuinely one hell of a coincidence. This coupled with everything Not has had to say about romance existing when she previously said it was a scam? Before he met actually, too?
*btw im gonna go into depth about the whole love is a scam thing and how it ties in with actually in the masterpost if i can ever finish it
Not's post was even made before Actually posted the picture of the stars. Foreshadowing, much? In a literal sense, we're made of stardust, but that stardust can also mean the feeling of love/mysticism/magicality etc., and Not's feeling of stardust comes from Actually.
It's even more fitting if Not said what he typed in that post to Actually, and she posted the stars because of it. Oh, look at this symbol of Actuallynot's love for each other. Look at Not saying she's made of stardust because he's in love with actually. Look at Actually, through zero words, reciprocating that with a picture. Like yeah those are stars, you and Not are made of those stars, the stardust.
Agh and I so believe they watched the stars - the very things that brought the other person into existence, and therefore bringing them to one another - together. Like, HELLO TOP THREE DATE IDEAS??
This is the corniest and most delusional thing ive ever typed into existence. yet im standing by it. i dont even like being in love what is this.
In conclusion, ActuallyNot was written in the stars and that's an objective truth. Written by the stars, moreso. Thank you to stars for giving us these two wonderful and amazing people.
But hey, that's just a theory... an ActuallyNot theory! Thanks for reading and sticking around!^^
my heart threw up and did twenty backflips making this. hopefully i was coherent and not just a blabbering, shipful mess.
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