Most Geminis are not stereotypically Gemini—they are too caring, too sensitive, and too grounded. There’s so much Gemini hate sometimes that Gemini Suns are reluctant to tell people their birthdays, hesitating before putting a disclaimer on their existence.

Most people know Geminis to be talkers but few recognize that Geminis listen twice as much as they talk. Most people know Geminis to be charismatic but few recognize that charisma is often protection against cruelty. Most people know Geminis to be social chameleons but few people remember mimicking another person’s colloquialisms and mannerisms is often an expression of love.

Geminis tend to say the wrong things at the wrong time not because they are unaware of the dynamics of how people interact but because they seek to challenge a room that is built on agreement on what we all take for granted. Put a Gemini in a room of sobbing people and they will crack a joke. Put them in a comedy club and they will say something tantalizingly profound. Put them in a job and you’ll find yourselves overthrowing the whole place altogether.

People often forget that a Gemini is incredibly interested in what you have to say—that they’ll always ask about it, whatever it is. For all their charm and beauty and brightness, a Gemini doesn’t have any second thoughts about centering someone else. Gemini is that happy extrovert who sits next to the quiet kids because they believe that everyone has some kind of story to tell.

And there are introverted Geminis the same way there are outrageously social ones—there are Geminis who are told that they rely too much on books when they are children, Geminis who prefer to drift off rather than stir up issues, and Geminis who prefer to daydream rather than talk.

Many a Gemini are told that they are too smart for their own good.

What really distinguishes a Gemini from the crowd is their brilliance. A Gemini is not idea scarce. A Gemini will always have something to throw back. A Gemini does not always seek accolades for their brilliance in the same way that a more dominant personality might.

Gemini is a Mercury ruled sign and, when you have your Sun ruled by Mercury, you are interested in the small things over the big. You notice the subtleties, the unspoken silences, and the questions that go unasked. What people forget about Geminis is that they are almost always champions for the tiny. They are incredibly uninterested in big names and big slogans. Instead, their capacity to predict the future lies in their recognition of sparks that have yet to burn.

Pay attention to what invigorates or depletes a Gemini—a Gemini is interested in ideas that have yet to take shape. They are not interested in fully formed things. They understand that their place is not to advocate for the things that everyone else is already looking at but that their perspective is built on the art of redirection.

Yes, Geminis are also shy. They know what it feels like to be talked over and they understand the pain of being seen as second fiddle. Remember—Gemini is a cadent sign and a sign in which no planet exalts. They’re not here to honor what is already honored like an obedient little child. They’re here to ask serious questions. They’re here to pull people around a question because they know that community only lives when it is ready to change.