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Josh & Anna Smuggar: A Series of Unfortunate Events


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The basket of firewood next to the fireplace is just decoration, right? That’s not an actual fireplace, correct? There’s no chimney. Maybe the firewood was just for the holiday photos, otherwise why waste valuable space with it.

I suspect the kids spend all day, most days in the TTH. 

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27 minutes ago, OpieTaylor said:

The basket of firewood next to the fireplace is just decoration, right? That’s not an actual fireplace, correct? There’s no chimney. Maybe the firewood was just for the holiday photos, otherwise why waste valuable space with it.

I suspect the kids spend all day, most days in the TTH. 

Yes, its not a wood fireplace. In one of the photos you can tell how slanted the floor must be, because the fireplace looks to be leaning away from the wall. Farther away than the baseboard would put it.

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7 minutes ago, Fostersmom said:

Is Anna pregnant again? I saw a pic of her decorating their tree wearing a giant sweater and she looked a good 4 months pregnant. 

I wondered the same thing, but the skirt she is wearing underneath seems to be fitting pretty normally, buttoned as far up under the sweater as you can see it, so I'd say it's probably a combination of the sweater and an unflattering angle.

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1 hour ago, Jynnan tonnix said:

I wondered the same thing, but the skirt she is wearing underneath seems to be fitting pretty normally, buttoned as far up under the sweater as you can see it, so I'd say it's probably a combination of the sweater and an unflattering angle.

I thought that too. But then I thought the skirt could have a pregnancy panel like maternity jeans. 

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On 11/14/2020 at 5:49 PM, iwantcookies said:

Definitely no windows. What if there is a fire? How will they get out? 
 

 

Windows, Smindows..... God will provide, you just have to have faith. 😇

 

Edited by Joan of Argh
SpellingK
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On 11/14/2020 at 11:42 PM, awaken said:

Haha. At first glance it looks like smuggar is sitting his fat ass up on the table! The black area in front of him looks like bent knees and legs handing down!   I laughed. 

I thought it was one of those always-blurry Bigfoot sighting pix.

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There's some serious cognitive dissonance at play here - Anna is raising her six children in a large, open-floorplan windowless room with a molester for a father, and yet her kids always look clean, shiny, color-coordinated and photo ready.  I suppose Anna pours a tremendous amount of her time into making things seem lovely on the surface to make up for the emotions she's surely feeling but can't acknowledge or speak out loud.

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Wow, Jessa looks rough. I almost wonder if she has some sort of low-level depression. I'm not saying one has to be in full makeup and heels to go thrift store shopping, but her appearance and demeanor come across like she's slowly giving up on life. 

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I don't think Jessa is anywhere near as smart as she thinks she is. But I do think she occasionally shows some flashes of shrewdness that her other family members can lack. It wouldn't surprise me if she looks so bad because she is legitimately frustrated with her life and prospects. Ben finally finished school, but for whatever reason, it seems like she's not talking about what he's doing. I don't know if it's because she's embarrassed or been forbidden, but either way, I doubt she is very happy about some of her siblings getting more limelight than she has.

She's basically done what she's supposed to do--churn out kids and generate content--and nobody really gives a shit about the fact she finally had one of the granddaughters to show off or about her forced Sayings of Spurgeon compared to Jill's estrangement or Jinger's fake life in California. Jessa seems very afraid of new experiences and Ben seems to have had whatever ambition he had whipped out of him, so I don't think she's ever going to be able to tout sending one of her kids to school or moving to another state or do anything else that would legitimately intrigue people or get them talking. It wouldn't surprise me if she's picked up on this--probably without much self-reflection or desire to change, admittedly--and become bitter. 

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4 hours ago, emma675 said:

Several thoughts enter my mind seeing this picture. 

1. Jessa looks rough and the petty side of me enjoys that.

2. Dumbasses. Pulling your masks down for a stupid pic completely negates wearing one. They are breathing droplets into the air and breathing in others droplets, plus I'm sure their hands are filthy and now they've touched their masks and faces.

3. Josie, the most immunocompromised of the bunch, doesn't have a mask in sight. Idiots.

Saw the picture, scrolled to your post and thought to myself, WTF, Emmie is in my head sharing my exact thoughts.

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I was pissed off at Anna and Abbie for being in a picture together with their masks pulled down at Rhea Lana. But I think these photos are actually a promotion for Rhea Lana, who wants you to know these people shop there. Notice in both photos there is no one besides the Duggar women and girls, which again points to it  being a promotion. At least they have masks, which hopefully they put on after the photo op. 

5 hours ago, emma675 said:

3. Josie, the most immunocompromised of the bunch, doesn't have a mask in sight. Idiots.

Yeah that's not good. I hope Josie has a mask, and is just doing the photo opt with everyone else. 

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3 hours ago, Snow Fairy said:

I almost didn't recognize Jessa. She needs to chop some of her hair off

Yeah it completely overwhelmed her! And poor Josie looks like a ragamuffin, especially with the leggings. Mac looks slightly better since she has boots on.

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Josie has always looked like an unkept child. Also... they act like Josie doesn't have any issues because of her prematurity. Why aren't they protecting her?  I'd love to see a Duggar girl with a bob. Their hair is probably so damaged. 

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Jessa looks like she’s at the point where she’s thinking, “Is this all there is?” and that realization of the mundanity of her life is hitting her hard. 
Ben is largely ambivalent about making things better for them and lives off the Duggar dole and seems perfectly content. I’d be depressed living in the mold house with no end in sight with three kids and a shiftless husband. 
 But at least, he’s not a molester/cheater like Josh and seems to delight in his children in a more authentic way than Jessa to bring it slightly more on topic. 

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11 minutes ago, Kiss my mutt said:

Jessa looks like she’s at the point where she’s thinking, “Is this all there is?” and that realization of the mundanity of her life is hitting her hard. 
Ben is largely ambivalent about making things better for them and lives off the Duggar dole and seems perfectly content. I’d be depressed living in the mold house with no end in sight with three kids and a shiftless husband. 
 But at least, he’s not a molester/cheater like Josh and seems to delight in his children in a more authentic way than Jessa to bring it slightly more on topic. 

Yes, she just turned 28, and she's been married for 6 years now. My friend circle doesn't have the same life experiences, but when we were at that age (after we'd graduated from college and been in the real world for a few years), many of us talked about having this dawning realization of "Oh? Is this what the rest of my life is going to be like? I'm kind of bored. Shit, am I going to be this bored for the rest of my life?" I could see her having her own version of this where she basically realizes that she has years of this to look forward to and she doesn't look forward to it. And she doesn't even have fond memories of a better time because her own experiences are so limited and her options for breaking out of that rut are also very slim. 

Edited by Zella
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Maybe Jessa is disappointed with the way her life has gone....

But here's what I wonder-- If she is ..... what the hell was she expecting that she's now disappointed about?

She saw firsthand her mother's life pre-TV. It was the same as her life now, only worse--more deprived, more crowded--in some ways.

And unlike lots of women (maybe even most) in her cult and her religion, Jessa's got a man she can order around instead of one who expects her to wait on him hand and foot and obey his every utterance. I would think she'd like that or at least prefer it to the fundie/Gothard alternative. Bin actually seems to cook at times. Whereas I'm not convinced that the father/husband Jessa grew up with has ever made so much as a peanut-butter sandwich for anyone else...or even for himself. 

Is she so stupid she doesn't realize that to get anything better from what her parents' world provides she would have had to learn things, meet new people, work for a living, try new things, attend school, travel without mommy and daddy, move somewhere, etc.? 

This something more that she supposedly imagined she would have .... where did she think it would come from? 

And if she's disappointed now, does that mean she'll stop doing this thing she's been doing even more often than usual in the past year--making commercials for how great and perfect her family's life has always been and how it's created adults like her who are the happiest, the bestest and the total creme de la creme of this universe? Because that would be nice. 

Edited by Churchhoney
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3 minutes ago, Churchhoney said:

Maybe Jessa is disappointed with the way her life has gone....

But here's what I wonder-- If she is ..... what the hell was she expecting that she's now disappointed about?

She saw firsthand her mother's life pre-TV. It was the same as her life now, only worse--more deprived, more crowded--in some ways.

And unlike lots of women (maybe even most) in her cult and her religion, Jessa's got a man she can order around instead of one who expects her to wait on him hand and foot and obey his every utterance. I would think she'd like that or at least prefer it to the fundie/Gothard alternative. Bin actually seems to cook at times. Whereas I'm not convinced that the father/husband Jessa grew up with has ever made so much as a peanut-butter sandwich for anyone else...or even for himself. 

Is she so stupid she doesn't realize that to get anything better from what her parents' world provides she would have had to learn things, meet new people, work for a living, try new things, attend school, travel without mommy and daddy, move somewhere, etc.? 

This something more that she supposedly imagined she would have .... where did she think it would come from? 

And if she's disappointed now, does that mean she'll stop doing this thing she's been doing even more often than usual in the past year--making commercials for how great and perfect her family's life has always been and how it's created adults like her who are the happiest, the bestest and the total creme de la creme of this universe? Because that would be nice. 

I don't think it's uncommon for people to incorrectly assume their life will be different even if there is no evidence for it. Just based on what I have observed, it seems to be a pretty common trait, actually, even in otherwise intelligent, well-educated, non-fundies ("It will never happen to me!")

I think the biggest difference is most people are able to process that and in retrospect realize they were wrong. I am not sure Jessa ever will. Jessa doesn't seem to be very self-reflective at all, and she has shown herself to be quite averse to new experiences, so I doubt she will ever change. She also seems to have a tendency to double down out of spite. I've made fun of this with her social media posts, but I think it's really indicative of how she thinks. She doesn't think, "Oh people are making fun of #SayingsofSpurgeon. Maybe it's a dumb idea." Instead her thought process seems to be, "Well, fine, fuck you! I'll give you even more! Huh, they really don't like that. Well, fuck you, here's the same thing with my other kids!" 

I don't like Jessa--her personality really rubs me the wrong way. But in some ways, I do kind of feel sorry for her. This is basically a recipe for some very poor mental health, and I am not sure she will ever get any help for it. I doubt even whatever therapy Jill is getting (whether it's from her church or an outside practice) would ever be something Jessa would consent to. 

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10 minutes ago, Zella said:

I don't think it's uncommon for people to incorrectly assume their life will be different even if there is no evidence for it. Just based on what I have observed, it seems to be a pretty common trait, actually, even in otherwise intelligent, well-educated, non-fundies ("It will never happen to me!")

 

Yep, I think you're probably right. I suppose this is common. In most people I tend to chalk it up to all the media and advertising and department-store windows and such that we're exposed to and that shows us stuff that we never could be or have -- partly because nobody can really be or have it! 

So, that being the case, I'd actually think these fundies would be less likely to have this  disappointment-fostering delusion, since the world they're in promises to be a conservative world and to hold on to the virtues of the past that they currently embody. So if you stay in that world, I'd think you'd actually be hoping for it to be unchanged and based on the great unchanging values that you embrace. 

That's the game Jessa talks, too. So I might be able to feel sorry for her if she weren't so stubborn and arrogant about pushing her status quo. Because if somebody's busy advertising that they love and deeply honor the status quo, seems to me they oughta be happy with the status quo.

I still do feel sorry for many of the Duggarlings, at least on occasion. But I doubt I'll ever feel sorry for Jessa again. She's worn right through my last nerve! 

Edited by Churchhoney
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I don't see Jessa as unhappy or regretful. I think she thinks her life is awesome as a famous Fundy. I'm guessing she thinks others are impressed with her and haters are judgmental assholes. I don't know if anyone has done the math, but I think she gets more positive feedback than negative.

She's living the life she has prayed for, and really, the only life she is equipped for.

I don't know how happy she'd be if they didn't have the TLC income though. Struggling financially with 3 dependents might wake her up in ways she hadn't thought of before. 

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1 hour ago, GeeGolly said:

I don't see Jessa as unhappy or regretful. I think she thinks her life is awesome as a famous Fundy. I'm guessing she thinks others are impressed with her and haters are judgmental assholes. I don't know if anyone has done the math, but I think she gets more positive feedback than negative.

She's living the life she has prayed for, and really, the only life she is equipped for.

I don't know how happy she'd be if they didn't have the TLC income though. Struggling financially with 3 dependents might wake her up in ways she hadn't thought of before. 

I'm inclined not to see her as unhappy or regretful either. I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees it that way, because I was beginning to think I would have to feel sorry for Jessa, and I'm definitely not inclined to do that! 

I don't even see her looking worse than I would expect, actually. Except for her honeymoon, when TLC seems to have outfitted her, I never got the impression she cared much about fixing herself up.

I think she liked being the purported beauty and hot girl. But I also thought she just considered that as her natural attribute, not something she had to groom herself for. But now she's got three kids and she's getting older -- and, hey, at that point even the most natural of beauties and hottest of hot girls have to put effort into their looks to maintain them. 

Edited by Churchhoney
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2 minutes ago, Churchhoney said:

I'm inclined not to see her as unhappy or regretful either.

I don't even see her looking worse than I would expect, actually. Except for her honeymoon, when TLC seems to have outfitted her, I never got the impression she cared much about her fixing herself up.

I think she liked being the purported beauty and hot girl. But I also thought she just considered that as her natural attribute, not something she had to groom herself for. But now she's got three kids and she's getting older -- and, hey, at that point even the most natural of beauties and hottest of hot girls have to put effort into their looks to maintain them. 

Agree. Immediately prior to her wedding and for a few months after, she seemed to put a little more effort into her style and make-up. She's always has put thought into her hair, for the most part. But as you said, she's always thought she was the pretty one. Jessa being sandwiched in between Jill's and Jinger's extended awkward phases, only reinforced that.

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58 minutes ago, Kiss my mutt said:

Although I think she may be unhappy and/or regretful, I’m still not inclined to feel sorry for her. She’s much too haughty for that!

Agree, and she’s depriving her own kids now of any education and indoctrinating them into the same cult. Unforgivable.

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On 11/21/2020 at 2:43 PM, emma675 said:

Several thoughts enter my mind seeing this picture. 

1. Jessa looks rough and the petty side of me enjoys that.

2. Dumbasses. Pulling your masks down for a stupid pic completely negates wearing one. They are breathing droplets into the air and breathing in others droplets, plus I'm sure their hands are filthy and now they've touched their masks and faces.

3. Josie, the most immunocompromised of the bunch, doesn't have a mask in 

Abbie has on pants. 

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I just realized that Anna and Jessa are the only two female adult family members who have an unhealthy co-dependency with the TTH. Lauren, Kendra and Claire prefer their families, Joy has Carlin and her in-laws, Jingle and Jill do their own thing and Abbie probably stops by, but doesn't plant herself there like a tree. I wonder if there's some sort of correlation between that and their level of happiness (or lack thereof)?

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38 minutes ago, BitterApple said:

I just realized that Anna and Jessa are the only two female adult family members who have an unhealthy co-dependency with the TTH. Lauren, Kendra and Claire prefer their families, Joy has Carlin and her in-laws, Jingle and Jill do their own thing and Abbie probably stops by, but doesn't plant herself there like a tree. I wonder if there's some sort of correlation between that and their level of happiness (or lack thereof)?

Magic 8 Ball says: “All signs point to YES!”

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I actually think Josie would look cute in that picture if she were wearing jeans instead of the infamous Duggar skirt/legging combo. C’mon, if Abbie can do it, surely little sis-in-law can... just kidding, she may be the miracle but of course she can’t. 

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