#its not a perfect series by any means but I do very much love almost everything about it

[roger-paladino]

making that WF video was like. reminding me how much and how deeply Mo cared for Lee it hurts soo so so bad

[hotjaneaustenmenpoll]

Semi-Final Two

Propaganda...

Mr Knightley (2009):

Johnny Lee Miller as Knightley is JUST SO. I mean the way he says "if I loved you less I might be able to talk about it more" IS JUUUST. The dance scene. The tentative shy smiles. The fact you can see in his eyes the entire time " I am completely in love with this woman. She'll never love me back BUT I DO NOT CARE I'LL LOVE HER FROM A DISTANCE ANYWAY" IS JUUUUUUST

We need to appreciate Mr Knightley more for both his snark and for those soft eyes just so full of love for Emma

GIF by dearemma

I was just going to send in the actual dance but the little panic he has when Emma says she knows his secret is just soo charming. There was some thread on twitter a few years ago about how a romcom man's most important quality is knowing how to look at a woman and JLM is just the master of it in this Emma

I really feel like the pictures say it all. He stands there, head tilted to one side. He is listening to you. His posture is relaxed. His gaze open, frank, candid. He's not trying at all. He just is.And that's why he is Knightley.

GIF by night-unfurls-its-splendour

Some propaganda, not just for Jonny Lee Miller, but the general interpretation of 09 Knightley. I have some excerpts here from my review of the 09 adaptation:

What I really think is great about the 2009 interpretation of Mr. Knightley is what an easy and comforting presence he is, without being apologetic when he scolds Emma. I think this is communicated especially well by how often we are actually shown Mr. Knightley taking his almost-daily walks to Hartfield, how smoothly he comes and goes, and how happy Emma is every time she sees him coming up the path (usually, just at the perfect moment when she needs something to put her back to rights.)

Here is Emma, feeling lonely after Miss Taylor's wedding. And in the background, walking up to Hartfield--there's Knightley. He's always been there for her, and he always will be.

And also this Mr. Knightley is as understated as ever, but I wanna highlight this outfit and why I love it: This is Knightley’s first appearance in the series and it’s the perfect establishing shot that shows the viewer everything they need to know about Emma and Knightley’s relationship and how it has always been. He sort of materializes, out of focus in the background, but Emma immediately knows he’s there. And to accentuate how much Knightley is part of her home and scenery, his clothes (similar shades of pale tan, white and minty green to the wall behind him) almost camouflage him and make him seem at one with the moulding of her home.

Additionally, Jonny Lee Miller captures Knightley’s playful qualities, and his exasperation is so endearing

GIF by christophernolan

GIF by sashajames

GIF by christophernolan

I can’t be the only one tickled by this Knightley’s frustration with Emma! JLM FTW!

Jonny Lee Miller is mesmerizing in any role he inhabits. It’s 2009 Knightly all the way.

no but can you actually go vote for mr knightley he was FOUNDATIONAL for 16 year old me my favourite portrayal of my favourite austen man cannot fall at this hurdle!!!

He is my ultimate Austen Dream Man, I'm with him until the end. Honestly this adaptation is my very favorite of them all (P&P 1995 is a VERY close second) because it made me fall in love with Emma as a story? Honestly no other adaptation or indeed even my reading of the book made me love it quite as much. My crush on JLM goes back to 1995 and I do think he is one of the better actors of his generation - his range alone is just impeccable. The fact that he can go from Sick Boy to Mr. Knightley to Sherlock to Jordan Chase is really something. Of all the actors I know, his range is the most impressive. But i love how bright and sunny this adaptation is. The colors, it is as vibrant as Emma should be! The Kate Beckinsale Emma is dark and terrifying to me, not at all suitable an adaptation. I like the Paltrow Emma a lot, but it's got the same issue the 2005 P&P has for me -- it's just too short. This is tonally just right, and the casting is lovely, and JLM is just at his dashing best. His face is so expressive, he is so capable of communicating so much without saying a word. His open jealousy of Frank Churchill is delightful to watch. His face when Emma tells him his secret is out at the ball! JLM is maybe the most underrated actor of his generation and I LOVE that he has been multiple Austen heroes. I maintain that in a future adaptation of Pride & Prejudice, an older JLM would make an EXCELLENT Mr. Bennet. He would convey the right amount of grumpy but fond beautifully.

Look. Do people realize JLM hates wearing period clothing AND hates dancing? And yet in Emma he's sashaying around in pink jackets looking amazing and is THAT convincing? That's called BRILLIANT ACTING!!

A tiny bit of Mr Knightley 2009 propaganda but I love that they put in that bit from the book where he looks like he's going to kiss Emma's hand when he's saying goodbye but then he hesitates and doesn't and I just...it's such a tiny detail but conveys so much!

GIF by myforeverworldofmovie

It’s the only Emma adaptation that really hits the romance notes well. Knightley’s crowning moment of awesome really feels like it (when he rescues Harriet from humiliation) and his subsequent dancing with Emma does make you feel a shift in their relations. Love this adaptation. - This Knightley and Emma in particular are equals. They quarrel, not because he’s telling her off, but because they can have an argument because they know each other, trust each other and care about each others opinions, and there is never a sense of domination of one over the other. This adds so much fire to the romance, and it’s so unusual for a romance of that era (or even one written today!!). - Emma is rich, clever and beautiful and as powerful as a woman of her age and situation could be at the time and she married Knightley for no other reason but because he’s her best friend and his company for the rest of her life will enrich her. - He even leaves his house to move in with her!

Captain Wentworth (1995):

Ciaran Hinds has that perfect ruggedness yet friendliness to his face that makes him the perfect charming Wentworth. And all of the longing that he manages to convey in his eyes is so hot.

Wentworth may be angry/resentful with Anne but in general he is charming and the best friend you could ever have. Ciaran gets the pleasant parts of his character and brings them out, while keeping a guarded coolness (protective camouflage) with Anne.

GIF by molinaesque

I dunno if this counts as propaganda or not, but Ciaran Hinds has a face that looks like it was jackhammered out of a shale cliff.

If a line like 'I am half agony...half hope' comes out of a face like that you know that man has a soul for poetry.

I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight years and a half ago. Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant. You alone have brought me to Bath. For you alone, I think and plan. Have you not seen this? Can you fail to have understood my wishes? I had not waited even these ten days, could I have read your feelings, as I think you must have penetrated mine. I can hardly write. I am every instant hearing something which overpowers me. You sink your voice, but I can distinguish the tones of that voice when they would be lost on others. Too good, too excellent creature! You do us justice, indeed. You do believe that there is true attachment and constancy among men. Believe it to be most fervent, most undeviating, in

F. W.

I must go, uncertain of my fate; but I shall return hither, or follow your party, as soon as possible. A word, a look, will be enough to decide whether I enter your father's house this evening or never.  

This is propaganda for the next round because I need my boy to be a finalist! But this letter is all the persuasion I need to know that he is a winner

Ciarán Hinds in this is a whole other level of "a good man" He makes Anne's decision at the end so much more perfect.

[noneorother]

The secret timeline inside of Good Omens season 2 revealed, *part1*

Part 1 l Part 2

If you’ve ever watched a ballet or an opera, you know how the rhythm in the music is used throughout to determine not only the movements of the dancers, but also when lines are sung or spoken. This is almost unheard of in television, but what if I told you it was hidden in season 2 of Good Omens? If one were to, say, meticulously cut together only the scenes set in the present day into one big timeline, you would get one long video that is exactly 2 hours 22 minutes 00 seconds and 00 frames long. An ineffable cut that is so perfect it defies all logic. (I’ve burnt a timecode into this ineffable edit to help pick up the rhythm.)

Even though there are large swathes of the second season with no music, there is a constant tempo weaving its way through the show: What if the seconds ticking by in the runtime itself was the music? Here’s an example of what I found. Behold a supercut of every single time Shax shows up, or Hell is mentioned in series 2 in the ineffable edit. They always arrive on a 6 in the time stamp (ex: 00:XX:X6).

(SOUND ON is an absolute must here, otherwise you won't hear any of the triggers)

Shax rings Crowley on a XX:X6. Shax miracles herself into the car on a XX:X6. Shax knocks on windows on a XX:X6. Shax’s big scary moment at the bookshop happens at 66 minutes exactly (lol). Crowley calls out for Shax on a XX:X6. Beelzebub starts spewing flies on a 6. People mention hell and it’s always on XX:X6 etc. etc…(Bonus: I also left in Maggie flipping the damned the double-bird on a XX:X6) I’ve also left in the only appearance of Shax or hell at all in the whole series that isn’t tied to a six: the park bench scene with Crowley. Shax seems to be off by one line, showing up on a XX:10, then back to XX:X6 on her second reply: “Bills, mostly”. I can only theorise that this scene, while technically in season 2, is not supposed to *be* in season 2 (even just judging by the trees, sun and the overcoats, it’s not summer like in the rest of the season). And it’s not only sixes! Every time I go through I find more and more little beats that line up exactly with ineffable timings. I can only do one video per post, so I’ll have to cut it up into sections, but Gabriel, doors, car horns, bird calls, Aziraphale, food, drinks, Angels, dialogue, Maggie, Nina, jokes, clocks, bells… The list goes on and on. 

Neil called this season “The bridge”

Because we all know how much Neil loves double meanings and wordplay, I just have to ponder the idea that when Neil said this season was “the bridge” between seasons 1 and 3, he meant it double-literally. First, as in the bridge Aziraphale and Crowley have to cross in order to get them into position for the second coming. We even see the physical manifestation of this bridge leading everyone in the background of the opening credits. But this season is also a bridge in the sense that it’s a musical section that introduces new ideas or material in the middle of a song. This whole season is the music that deviates from the familiar, and re-contextualizes the chorus and the verses so we can appreciate them in a new way. 

Let’s not forget that 2:22 is also exactly the same timing as this (and only this) track from the good omens s2 album (read all about the soundtrack here):

Why is this so bonkers? I think GOS2 might be the first ever “Total” series of television.

Having everything in the series timed and choreographed would actually make it a very faithful adaptation of the Powell & Pressburger film The Tales of Hoffmann (read about the movie and it’s effect on all of s2 here). If you watch the tales of Hoffman, you will realize that the entire film is actually done more like animation, with the music and vocals all performed in a studio, mixed and edited first, and then the actors came back to act out their choreographed and lip-synched parts for the cameras afterwards. The result is "Total film": a movie that feels more like a ballet, with every movement, action, and line happening in time with the music. As far as I can tell, very few films have ever attempted this, with The Tales of Hoffmann and Playtime being the only two “complete” films I could find in this style. (The Red shoes has one section, and An American In Paris has a few)

“Why would ambitious filmmakers simply film an opera? Many admirers of the work of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger have assumed that their decision to make The Tales of Hoffmann (…) was in some way an admission(…) that they couldn’t go on making their edgy, over-the-top melodramas after the rejection and interference they’d suffered, (but) there’s a case for considering The Tales of Hoffmann as one of the finest and boldest works that Powell and Pressburger produced, so far ahead of its time as a wholly “composed” film... Late in his life, Powell himself said that he thought it was one of the best films that he and Pressburger had made.” - Criterion review, Tales of Hoffmann

Here’s a simple example from An American in Paris

If season 2 *is* scripted and choreographed to line up with specific timings, I’m pretty sure that would make this the first ever “total” or “composed” season of television ever attempted. Not only does this take an ASTOUNDING amount of planning, scripting and editing finesse, not to mention a completely controlled set, it takes a real understanding of how to perform as an actor using rhythm and metre, which would go a long way to explain why all of the main actors coming back for season 2, with the exception of John Hamm, are well regarded theatre performers, (especially of Shakespeare).

I’ll leave you with one last surprise I found in the discovery of the ineffable edit: remember Aziraphale’s smile at the very end if the credits? It happens on 02:23:03, as the first step off the bridge, and into season 3.

I will have much more in the next ineffable timeline post. Stay tuned…

__________________________________________

Thanks for reading all the way to the end. It’s taken me a solid month to get this perfect. There are so many hidden cuts and jumps to take into account, and I had a frame rate issue that kept exporting to 29fps instead of 25fps, but I’ve finally nailed the ineffable timeline enough that I am confident sharing in it.

Credits to @thebluestgreen and @embracing-the-ineffable for all the support and help with editing and just general good vibes. 

[gffa]

Usually, I like to finish reading a fic before recommending it properly, but I've been sucked into about five different STAR WARS fics recently that I've gotten far enough into that I'm willing to trust my heart to them because they're scratching a very specific itch for me--namely, that I want deeper explorations of both the Jedi Order and of Anakin's character. I want fic to punch me in the feelings over both of these aspects of the story. I want fic to sometimes set Obi-Wan and Anakin aside and focus on Ahsoka for awhile, really tell her story. I want Jedi themes woven into a story. I want an exploration of Anakin's mindset that reminds me of just how much I love him and have sympathy for him. And fandom has delivered for me.

DO YOU WANT FIC TO BLACK OUT TO AND LOSE AN ENTIRE WEEKEND OVER? HAVE I GOT SOME RECS FOR YOU:

✦ Out with Lanterns by SkyeBean, ahsoka & mace & jedi & clones & cast, 312.5k     In another universe, Jedi Masters Plo Koon and Depa Billaba decide a Padawan could do Mace some good. It takes a while, but he eventually agrees. When he takes Ahsoka Tano as his Padawan, Mace knows that he's broken through a Shatterpoint and changed the course of a life. How, he doesn't know.     This fic accomplishes several things that have sent me over the moon: 1) At its heart, it's an Ahsoka fic that shows her growing up as a Padawan, going on missions, learning lessons, and having character growth. 2) It weaves in so many other characters around her, that Mace is there in almost every chapter, serious but warm in the Force, just as beautifully characterized as she is. 3) The other Jedi get their moments of excellents, Shaak taking Ahsoka on her Akul hunt was wonder to read, seeing Obi-Wan show up for a chapter had me over the moon, Adi taking care with Ahsoka was lovely, Depa was a shining star when she took Ahsoka under her wing, Fox growing used to these strange Jedi and growing into himself through Ahsoka's eyes was wonderful. 4) The writing is that kind of solid that I don't mean as mid-tier, but the kind that I feel like can bear weight on it, I can pick it up and read for 30k and barely realize any time has passed, despite that I've gotten through an entire arc of the fic. 5) It does an incredible job of balancing that feel of The Clone Wars show, without directly copying anything, that it's like these are arcs that I could have seen on the show itself, the lessons woven in, but still with enough plot moving forward and action to make it exciting. If you want more Jedi-centric fic in your life (where they don't have to be perfect! sometimes they can be less than perfect and it's okay because they're still good! ohhhh, my heart warmed at that) or you want to read a lovely Ahsoka-centric fic in a different life, but still so recognizably herself, then this is one I want to shove right in your face immediately.

✦ Take it from the top and try again by mauvera, obi-wan & anakin & qui-gon & padme & mace & dooku & cast, time travel, 116.k wip     Five years into his self imposed exile on Tattooine, Obi-Wan Kenobi is gifted the chance to go back and bring hope back to the galaxy. With hindsight on his side, he fully intends to save his master, save his padawan, make some new and old friends again, prepare the Jedi for a war they’ll hopefully never see and begin to pull apart all the many tangled threads of the Sith Lord’s plans. Should be relatively easy. Right?     I got sucked into the first fic in this series (which is complete, if you want to read it--it's not the end of the story, but it's a good stopping point and feels like it should have some solid resolution if you don't want to get into a wip) and read the first fic over the course of about three days because I was sucked in so thoroughly. I can never get enough of Obi-Wan time traveling back to the past, where he loves the Jedi and they love him, and I love this one because he has to make genuine plans for changing things--things change and I have no idea how that's going to affect Palpatine's machinations! Exciting! But it's also a lovely look at Obi-Wan's dynamics with multiple characters--I found the Obi-Wan & Padme scenes a hightlight personally, their friendship really blossomed as they both flung themselves into trying to better the galaxy, even if she doesn't know he's from the future, that he's working so hard matched a lot of her energy and I really enjoyed that--from Qui-Gon to Mace to Padme to Anakin and, as the sequel progresses, Dooku as well. It's another Jedi-positive fic, it has me invested in the plot, it's a joy to see competent!Obi-Wan, and I would love to shove it at more people.

✦ Post Order 66 Exile AU by Livsy, obi-wan & anakin, 46k (wip-esque)     After a failed order 66, in which many Jedi still died but the Sith were defeated, an exiled warrior and a boy wander a distant planet and attempt to get along.     This is probably the shortest fic on this list but I'm including it because it genuinely felt longer than that, for how dense the emotional intensity of it is. It's an AU where the Jedi barely eked out a victory, still on the edge of extinction in many ways, and Anakin deep in the pits of the dark side, so Obi-Wan takes him to a backwater planet in exile for the both of them, traveling through the countryside and just trying to make it from day to day. What punched me right in the feelings place is that this fic doesn't shy away from the hurt and the anger on both sides, that both of them are allowed to be unreliable narrators that have their own points of view on what's transpired and what lays between them. It doesn't back away from the hurt they both feel, the despair they both feel, yet there's hope here. It's ultimately a story about clawing yourself back from the dark side, and it's beautifully characterized for both of them, that unkind things are said on both of their parts, but you understand why the characters are in the place they are. It's wrapped up in a lushly written backdrop, with some lovely Japanese feudal era details woven in, but also with a Star Wars patina spread across all of it. It's not necessarily a kind fic, but if you like fic that bites down on a wound, I enjoyed this series a lot and would love to see it continued--but, honestly, what's here is already enough resolution that, looking back on it after the initial "Noooooo, I need more!" feeling has faded, I'm actually very satisfied with. ✦ Men of Power by AlabasterInk, obi-wan & anakin & mace & yoda & jedi & palpatine & cast, 86.1k wip     When an old powerful man suddenly comes in and sweeps your underage Padawan away without so much as a by your leave, that’s the time to start asking questions.     I'm only about 20k into this fic, so I can't say what shape it will take later on or how much pairings might come into it, but I still had to come running over to shove this fic at people, because it's scratching the itch I have for Jedi-positive fic that explores the idea of Anakin's trauma from his childhood as a slave, that this is a child who is wound so tight and comes from such a horrible thing having been done to him, having been owned as a person, that I understand why he stays silent on some of the things I desperately wish he could talk about or he doesn't really believe some of the things the Jedi tell him. It's a fic that takes a lot more care with Anakin's character than I think canon ever intended, weaving in a lot of the heartbreaking stuff from Legends' supplementing the canon, and is creating something that punches me right in the feelings place for him, that he's such a bright, brilliant boy, but I see why he struggled and it's not about assigning blame in any direction. It's about deeply caring people who fate has take a few steps to the left and something shifts just a little--and I appreciate that there's something very delicate feeling here, that the Jedi just don't have any real reason to be suspicious of Palpatine, his actions make sense, they genuinely can't feel any ill intention from him in the Force, they discuss why it would make sense that he'd want to support Anakin, all while we the readers can see, in hindsight, where the shadows have been creeping in. If you want Jedi-positive fic that also leaves some teeth marks over Anakin's trauma being explored in a way that is entirely sympathetic to him, then I want to shove this fic at you, too.

[strangersmunsons]

💖 Eddie Munson x Reader Fic Recs 💖

I just wanna show some appreciation for a few of my all-time favorite Eddie fics! Here’s a handful of the series & oneshots that have really stuck out to me in all the time I've been reading - there's A TON of great writers on here who have posted really stellar work :^)

List under the cut!

june baby by @luveline - luveline jade u are a celebrity to me. this was the first Eddie story I ever read and it is so beautiful. it's tender. it's melancholy. it's realistic. it's gorgeous. it honestly makes me feel something I've never felt reading any other fanfiction.

oh, baby by @inknopewetrust - another one of my first Eddie fics! the feeling that this series invoked in me is what I aspire to invoke in others for my own writing someday. it's just so sweet and funny and made me nostalgic, in the same way that watching '80s teen films do, except it's even better because Eddie is in this one. I wanted so badly to just dive into the story and really experience it for myself.

hoping I'll find [a glimpse of us] by @inknopewetrust - this smashed my heart into 1000 pieces, and then promptly glued it very sloppily back together and I've reread it like six times just to reinflict the pain. I love rockstar!Eddie stories that maintain some realism about what that type of relationship would look like, and this fic does that SO perfectly. masterclass in angst right here.

dancing with myself by @ambrossart - this one hits close to home! and even though it hurts along the way, there's a happy ending that it builds so nicely towards! it's beautifully paced & the reader is very funny. you can just tell that the her backstory & relationship w/ Eddie was so carefully thought out, it really feels like this was written with so much love! and I LOVE that it doesn't paint Chrissy as a villain.

10 things I hate about you by @spideyanakin - so glad that we all collectively agree that Patrick is Eddie-coded. and in this fic the parallels are there, without Eddie sacrificing his own unique character - that part is handled really beautifully! and the ST characters are worked into the original movie's narrative so well. it's the perfect mix of fluff and drama!

freaky friday by @jo-harrington - I adore this series! I love this version of Eddie so much I could cry, he is so sweet and selfless, I want to give him the entire world. and an Eddie & Steve body swap? 10/10. lindsay and jamie lee, eat your hearts out.

to know you're mine by @blueywrites - oooohboy. I almost didn’t read this one (just because I would normally avoid swinging/cheating in a fic) but I'm so glad I did, because it was like being on the homer's odyssey of 18+ ST fanfiction. it’s wild. bluey girl u were insane for this. and i mean that as an extremely high compliment. i was so damn invested!

i will wait by @abibliophobiaa, @blueywrites, @breddiemunson, @myosotisa, @fracturedarkness - there's three chapters, it's on hiatus, I don't care, I will literally keep reading these three chapters over and over again and just fill in the blanks myself if I must. it's that good. you guys are amazing. I am totally enthralled.

rumor by @msgexymunson - this is what turned me on to older!Eddie. I love him, and I desire him carnally, and specifically this version of him. when I daydream about Eddie sweeping me off my feet, I think about Eddie in this series. he's everything to me. I even wrote my own older neighbor Eddie fic because of this!

trapped under ice by @munson-blurbs - the iron grip this fic had me in...I'm still going back and re-reading my favorite parts. it's beautifully developed. this version of Eddie is so real and believable. Harris is my favorite kid he's ever been given. an all-time, truly, I can't sing its praises enough.

siren!eddie by @parkermunson - a monster-ish Eddie fic! I'm a sucker for anything that incorporates mermaids and sirens and the like, so I really love this concept. it's a great story, I love our protective, doting fishboy, and hope to see more of him!

use me by @reysorigins - simultaneously the nastiest and sweetest fic ever. smut, but it's interspersed with these moments of such deep-seated love and yearning between Eddie and the reader that it made me want to cry! incredible piece.

mine and yours by @muertawrites - ahhhh this one is so so sweet! dating is so fucking hard, I think we could all use a comforting, reassuring moment with a sweetheart like Eddie, who is especially kind to us in this fic. I love the way he’s written here.

our patron saint of the arts by @storiesbyrhi - I love an artsy, crafty reader! I feel like Eddie would be sooo into someone who’s creatively-minded like him. this is the dream relationship, basically, these two are adorable together! (and Eddie in a dress! 😗)

And this is just a sample of what’s out there! Some of these are fics that I read very early on, even before I started this blog. I was more shy then, too, so I feel like I never showed them the appreciation I should have! You guys are all so talented, these works are very inspiring to me.

To readers: I encourage you to let the writers know how much you enjoy their work! Reblog! Leave a comment, even if it’s just in the tags! Write a reply, or send them a message, even if it’s on anon! I’m trying to get better at doing these things myself, too 💖

[angstics]

3.3k words summarizing queliot if you've never seen the magicians. or if youve seen it and you want to indulge in my insane criticisms. lord touch his mind

okay so the magicians was a tv show about a bunch of post grads learning magic in magic university then discovering that the fantasy world from a kids book series was actually real and the Beast of that world was out to get them. WHO GIVES A FUCK. the crazy people were focused on the relationship btwn main character quentin coldwater (depressed, heart on his sleeve, surprise sex maniac who is new to magic and loves those books) and gay best friend eliot waugh (substance addicted (big surprise!!), gay trauma, named after evelyn waugh oh you know…) they form a friendship and it’s weirdly touchy and close. eliot keeps trying to seduce quentin but it’s never serious. i dont even think quentin notices. anyone remember the “lets not talk” scene? he was about to fuck that sad man. anyway this tension was actually fulfilled by the end of the 1st season with a drunk threesome including the two and their best friend margo. they at least kiss and cuddle and MAYBE sucked dick if the ghost of his girlfriend who haunts him later is to be believed (which i do #cockinhismouthsunday).

at this time articles that were like “THIS SIFI SERIES IS PROUDLY BISEXUAL” were coming out which. lol. lmfao! quentin never had any sort of queer identity. not even a hint of it. the homophobia of the show started with the regurgitation of the “sad drunk lonely sex-crazed” gay man trope with eliot, then the “everyone is fluid but no one actually has same sex attraction” trope, THEN by sidelining and killing off almost every gay or trans character, THEN THE QUENTIN THING. and the quentin thing turned people insane. let’s see why.

so after the threesome, eliot and quentin continue having a good friendship. there is some tension that isnt present with margo which sure is a choice… but it is resolved by a heartfelt crowning ceremony nd hug. oh theyre kings of the magic land now btw. eliot and q are pretty much separate from this point on xcept for certain episodes/moments. it is strange they dont have any storylines together. but love finds a way. at some point a version of eliot sacrifies himself for quentin. if u look at the scene it is on instinct it is crazy. then they reunite at the end of s2 but it’s all business really. the show was really involved w its nonsense plot.

anyway season 3. hahaha. so like i said theyre separate most of the show past s1. this is true in this season xcept for episodes 305 and 313 (with some notable moments in between). the plot of this season is that they have to go on quests to collect keys. the creature that gives eliot this plot calls quentin his “brother of the heart”. ok! when they see each other for the first time in a while in 304, they hug in a very sweet way :) look at this photo from bts during that scene :) i have it framed

after a series of other quests, 305 turns out to be the Eliot and Quentin quest! finally a story with the two! the quest is for the “time key”, which is fabled to be given to whoever solves the mosaic puzzle in fillory (magic world). the puzzle? they have to arrange 100s of tiles in a way that depicts “the beauty of all life”. quentin is very excited about it. eliot is happy to hear him infodump. they eventually get pushed into fillory to solve the mosaic. turns out they were also sent DECADES in the past. there might have been a way out but they were dead-set on solving the mosaic and getting their key. so they get to work. they live in a cottage attached to the mosaic and they spend hours, days, months on it. just the two of them and the mosaic. this episode is called “a life in a day” which is so perfect you wonder why the writing couldnt be that good within the show.

at the 1 year anniversary, quentin kisses eliot. and eliot kisses him back. and you wonder woah what does this mean?! well keep wondering girl because this tv show does not care to explore any of that. it chugs on and eliot and q fight about “living their lives there” and quentin gets a Wife and has a child with her and then she DIES (leaving her as a narrative incubator rather than an actual character, which is very in line with the sexism of the show). and they grow up and decades pass and the child grows old enough to leave and it seems eliot co-parented him but (again) the tv show doesnt care to show you that. and this whole time theyre working on the mosaic. years and years. eventually they grow old. it’s just the two of them. until eliot dies. quentin goes to bury him in the mosaic plot and he finds a special little tile. he places it in the mosaic. he gets the key. the puzzle is solved. “the beauty of all life”. but quentin is alone. his life companion is gone. and that’s the last we see of him.

we go back in time til before they enter fillory. their friend stops them and she has the key through time shenanigans and they never live that timeline. UNTIL!!!!! they do. they remember it all. what does decades (50 yrs btw) of living happily together mean for them?!? FUCK ALL APPARENTLY!!!! because the next episode (306 if yr keep track) they mention it ONCE AND NEVER AGAIN. and there is so much beneath the surface with the looks and the line that mentions it (“go be life partners with someone else” eliot says jokingly in a manner that shouldve been the catalyst to quentin’s magic-induced suicide spiral later that episode).

ok quentin does mention it once more to his dying dad. but nothing about his Male Life Partner Of Fifty Years. Nothing. they dont even talk about it with their best friends, leading one to believe they just kept it a secret . which. okay.

okay. so theyre apart til the last episode of the season. and quentin decides to sacrifice himself by locking himself in a cage with a monster for all of eternity. he says the quest prepared him for it which is yikesss. eliot refuses. but quentin insists. they travel to the prison (he gets back together with his gf during this trip btw they had been apart that season after some shit. one of their worst writing decisions i hate this stupid ass cockroach relationship). quentin almost exchanges himself. then eliot shoots the monster. dooming them all.

so the monster doesnt die. instead he possesses eliot. and that becomes the story for season 4. at first quentin and co think eliot is dead. and it’s devastating lol. an interesting thing is that the monster was so. touchy with quentin. unbearably so. it’s such a perverse reflection of eliot’s touch. which is sorta pointed out by quentin in this quote (paraphrase) “i know it’s not eliot. but he has his face and his eyes…”

anyhow 405. hahahahahaha. so this episode it’s revealed eliot is alive but trapped in his own head. and to get out for a moment and tell his friends he’s alive, he needs to confront his most terrible most shameful memory. the whole episode is him trying to figure out what it is. meanwhile, quentin and co are setting up a plan to kill the monster. and quentin breaks up with his gf (lol). in a deleted scene that WAS shown in promo they argue about the monster. and quentin says “im team eliot”. lol

anyhow, eliot’s hit a dead end. he cant figure the worst thing that’s happened in his life. then his memory of quentin (theyve been hangin out) says he’ll “sacrifice” himself if he had to. eliot smiles and says “i know youre just a memory… but youre a very generous one.” and quentin says— (im reciting this from memory btw all of this has been from 4 years of NON STOP thinking about it) quentin says “well you sacrifice for the people you love” and he gives eliot a VERY pointed look. and then it dawns on eliot. and the guilt is instantly palpable.

hahahahha. hahaha. hahahahahaha. okay so eliot goes to the memory he knows is the worst thing he’s ever done. his most traumatic memory, after a lifetime of violent homophobia and bad choices. the person possessed before him described this memory as being “the day he left home”.

the memory? the day they remembered their past lives. did it happen? fifty years. it happened.

theyre sat under a wedding arch (that was the b plot of the episode lol). it’s beautiful. eliot watches the memory play out, standing in front of the seated figures. the guilt. the guilt.

outside, the tension is building. the plan to kill the monster is in motion. quentin has to coax him to a certain spot. he has to look at him as he kills his best friend.

eliot doesnt know this but he gets anxious watching it play out. there is a certainty that this is it. the first time viewer has no idea whats going on. we never saw the direct aftermath of them remembering. we always assumed there wasnt anything.

well a year after 305 aired, a yr after thinking THAT WAS IT, they recontextualize Everything.

it is worth saying here that in the promo interviews leading up to season 4, quentin’s and eliot’s actors were sussing it UP. quentin’s at some point talks on q’s queerness, saying it was the one aspect of his life he didnt feel anxious about.

well

what happens is that quentin asks eliot for a relationship. remember how it was quentin who first kissed eliot? it happens again. heart on his fucking sleeve. i can recite this scene pretty well so im going to fucking do it:

did it happen? fifty years. it happened. it was sort of beautiful. it really was. i know this is gonna sound dumb but … us. i mean we work. we know it cause we lived it. who gets that proof of concept? (eliot smiles uneasily) we just got injected with fifty years of memories so i get that youre not thinking clearly. no im just saying… what if we gave it a shot, would that be so crazy? (eliot looks down, worried and thoughtful. quentin smiles RADIANTLY it is BLINDING) why the fuck not?

editors opinion: quentin is such a beautiful person. to be so truthful about something so scary is unthinkable. especially in context of him being so hopelessly and quietly in love his childhood best friend, and his whirlwind romance with previously mentioned gf, and all the tragedy he endured with these two. but this is someone who loves with his whole heart. what was he supposed to do? contain it?

then eliot hardens.

i know you and you arent… whats the matter? dont be naive it matters. (pause) q i love you but… that isnt me and that definitely isnt you. not when we have a choice. (quentin looks away. he wipes his eye) oh. okay. sorry.

and silence. the real eliot, the eliot who isnt the memory, looks on. tired and angry, he speaks to himself:

what the hell is wrong with you? what the hell are you doing? someone Good and True… Loves you. yeah it was a little crazy but you knew. you knew this truly mattered. and you just SNUFFED IT OUT.

then he looks to the memory of quentin. soft as the clouds:

q. im sorry. i was afraid. and when im afraid i run away.

then he kisses him. and he hits you with the thesis of the episode:

if i ever get out of here q… know that when im braver it cause i learned it from you.

well

thats his most traumatic memory. he is granted passage to consciousness. what is the first thing he sees? quentin. the real quentin.

q? (smiles) q (laughs) it’s me. it’s eliot. ok come on no games. it’s eliot. i said no games. (eliot looks around, worried as all hell) fifty years (he walks towards q) who gets proof of concept like that? what? peaches and plums motherfucker (this is the symbol to their mosaic life) im alive in here. (eyes as wide as saucers, heart in his throat) eliot…

and he ruins their plans of killing the monster. “eliot’s alive.”

then the episodes keep rolling. “eliot eliot eliot. why do you care so much about him?” “because i do.” and “wow i love that plan. except the part where it doesnt save eliot.” quentin gets back with his gf for reasons only the devil knows. but fine ok whatever quentin and eliot will HAVE to talk post-saving. even if the writers ignore it once more they have some kind of relationship. and they do save eliot in the finale! you know who they dont save? lmfao

quentin dies. in a manner that many including myself found weird and unsatisfactory and suicidal. and he never gets to know how eliot feels. never. he’s just gone. their story means nothing 💯

editors note: this ending broke me. i was using the show as a depression crutch, so a fate so hopeless ruined me. cant blame the show for my mistake but being so technically bad certainly didnt help.

well when the show came back for its next (and final lol) season, they did attempt closure for eliot and quentin. for some reason this was all contained in 3 episodes, most of it in the third (503) but what the fuck ever. it has its moments.

the episode is basically about eliot and alice (q’s gf i dont think ive mentioned her name. sorry alice) going on a mini quest up a treacherous mountain for grievers to return a piece of quentin’s soul back to the underworld. their fights are soooo funny. toxic lover vs almost-lover.

alice at some point says “well he was MY boyfriend this is MY pilgrimage and you just TAGGED ALONG” and (blood obviously boiling) eliot goes “right, because he meant nothing to me”. and this highlights something so sneakily homophobic about this whole affair. quentin and eliot’s relationship never mattered to the narrative as much as all the other straight relationships, especially quentin and alice’s. like i said, they would separate for entire seasons. you will be happy to know that not 1 episode goes by without quentin and alice conflicting and making up conflicting and etc. i dont understand how quentin and eliot’s relationship wasnt important enough. they were best friends, they kissed multiple times and had sex AT LEAST once if the mosaic subtext isnt considered. and the mosaic… it isnt just that they lived together for 50 yrs and raised a child and were happy, something they couldnt quite grasp in their old lives… they achieved the beauty of all life. that is a monumental achievement that shouldve changed not only their lives, but their stories.

the thing about the confession is that it wasnt planted in s3. talking about 405, the writers said they came up with it while working on that episode. it was essentially a retcon. though its inclusion explains why they didnt talk about it literally, it doesnt excuse the narrative outright ignoring it. it DEFINITELY doesnt account for why it ignored the rest of the SAME SEASON it was ESTABLISHED IN. if this was quentin and alice, they would be talking about it nonstop. and guess the fuck what when they get back together it is *non stop*.

SO. 503. they are on their pilgrimage. tensions build. eliot hallucinates quentin’s voice (it’s a soundbite from the mosaic when eliot dies which is depressing). they meet another traveller who is grieving his long dead boyfriend.

the traveller asks who theyre grieving and alice goes My Boyfriend and eliot looks away and says he knew him as a friend and it’s so sad it makes me want to die. why did they invent new exciting ways for gay people to be ashamed of who they love. i hate this show.

anyway the traveller talks about his boyfriend and how he was a magician who died young and how his dreams were haunted by him. and eliot is listening so intensely you want to jump hale appleman for being so good at this acting thing. alice goes to sleep and leaves the two alone. then they really start talkin:

(the traveller asks) have you ever had love? (eliot smiles small, hesitant) love…? yeah love. (pause) the friend we’re putting to rest. (traveller is delightfully shock) wasnt just a friend.

truly truly truly cant describe to you how much it physically pains me that it took 2 seasons and for one of them to die and a conversation with a stranger to get to this point. why wasnt this always part of the narrative. why does this only matter now after 2 yrs of fans badgering you about why this isnt part of the fucking show despite BEING PART OF THE FUCKING SHOW! it is dead obvious this was never the intent so even with something that should feel right feels wrong because the show never wanted it. it never wanted quentin to be in love with eliot. but it doesnt make sense if he isnt. i hate this show.

the convo continues 🙄:

does she know? oh god no. a torrid secret affair. (eliot looks away) no, nothing like that.

and i wish eliot was given a proper story. i wish i knew what was going on in his head through all of this. i wish i wish.

so it is revealed that quentin and eliot “had love” and that eliot is keeping it a secret (a revelation considering they werent intimate on screen past the 1 yr anniversary, they were only ever referred to as best friends by cast and crew, AND even what they were was obscured in the confession scene. and their feelings didnt matter past 405 fuck this world). this is huge. it should be huge. eliot’s first arc is about how he cant fall in love until he does and gets his heart broken. quentin’s stories are so wrapped up in alice that having another love interest should complicate that entirely. it doesnt.

the climax of the episode is when eliot expresses difficulty of letting go of quentin and alice says “he was your friend” and eliot replies (quick as if not meaning to) “he wasnt just my friend.” and wowww. how cathartic. the first time in the history of the show they talk about it. 5 seasons btw.

and eliot tells her about the mosaic and how “we loved each other for a really really long time.” and how he told him to fuck off and how he died for him and how he was never able to talk to him again. he just died.

and that part is supposed to be cathartic too. it feels cathartic for eliot the character at least. but to me the Viewer. i was sick of how they were trying to appeal to MY thoughts of what he should be feeling. as if trying to placate me. cuz if it was soo important it wouldnt just been solved after this episode. he DGAF about quentin after this. i dont get it. why cant they write a proper story.

well one line that stuck with me and i truly felt was this:

alice: he was pretty in love with you eliot: i wouldnt say that alice: .. i would

and then eliot looks at her the most devastated a man can look.

thats it. that’s quentin and eliot. a heartfelt and final fuck this show. the fic goes crazy esp the 2019 shit.

[victimsofyaoipoll]

Round 2

Propaganda Under Cut

Elizabeth Midford

She started as just a cutie fiancée trying her best, turns out she's also a swordfighting genius, very under pressure to perform feminity in the Victorian Rose type of way. Fandom crucifies her bc she's Ciel's fiancée and they want him to be with his butler, Sebastian, the demon he sold his soul to for revenge

anime was a shitty canon divergent adaptation that butchered her character down to her "cutesy silly girly" persona, which obviously made the 2008 anime fans hate her with a passion (nothing wrong w being girly I'm just saying the adaptation made her super one dimensional) anyways fujoshis used to treat her as a villain because she's the fiance of Ciel,, who as u might know already was HEAVILY shipped with his butler, Sebastian back then (now it's kinda looked badly upon, nice tbh that ship sucks ass xD) She's a bit similar to Misa Amane from death note in the way she was treated. (Like an obstacle the yaoi ship must overcome rather than a person)

she's my silly little rabbit! i could gush about her character but i'll keep it short and just say that she's really well written and one of the best characters in the series. anyways she's ciel's fiance and she's like, rightfully annoying as any other 13 yr old girl would be but the fanbase fucking crucified her for even existing. she gets demonized for being 'annoying', but then ciel gets yaoishipped with an even more annoying guy. there is 100% an argument that lizzie/ciel is weird bc they're cousins (i personally don't ship it) but that falls flat when her detractors then ship the 13 yr old ciel with an eons old demon who Canonically looks like his father. the anime also never reached her main character development until years after its peak and that was only in a movie, so she really got the bad end of the stick here. not me though i had a giant crush on her when i was 12

Katara

Katara is constantly mistreated by the fans in favor of the Zukka ship (Zuko × Sokka.) They make her out to be mean, homophobic, and completely out of character just to add drama to the Zukka ship. In reality, Katara is very compassionate, and would never act that way toward anyone. 

Zutara was a popular ship but when zukka got popular over covid during the atla renaissance there were a million posts about how zutara was problematic while zukka was perfect usually for racist reasons. Meanwhile katara and sokka are siblings so it didn't even make sense. They did not have to be so illogically rude to her to ship zukka and it was weird

Katara is FANTASTIC I fucking love her to pieces she is so cool and yet the entirety of the ATLA fandom treats her like garbage because she “talks about her mom dying too much” (even though she BARELY does & also was parentified from a young age due to her mother’s death) and, of course, because she’s a more feminine women when compared to her counterparts. Even in the show itself she’s mistreated: she’s ALWAYS shown cooking for the rest of the gaang, doing their laundry, any ‘womanly’ task. She ends up with the guy who kissed her twice without her consent & who she never showed any real attraction to and apparently (despite being a badass warrior-doctor!!!) after the show ended she just… settled down in the South Pole and had a bunch of kids and never did anything else. She didn’t even get a statue :( Anyways during the ATLA renaissance, despite Zutara actually not being canon, people felt that Katara threatened the sanctity of the new almost entirely baseless yaoi ship, Zukka. Unfortunately for them, due to the fact that Katara and Sokka are siblings, the usual anti-Zutara arguments didn’t work as well. So they resorted to just… slaughtering her character. If she was lucky, they’d just make Katara a background character, wingwoman, &or throw her together with her canon love interest. If she was unlucky they’d do anything from make her homophobic (??) to killing her off! Fuck’s sake, she never even got a token spare-the-pairs wlw ship! Sorry for getting so heated, that whole debacle made me FUMING MAD.

[hallowpen]

The plan was to start watching The Sign by divvying up the series into two episodes per day until I could finish. Well…that plan went completely out the window and I ended up binge watching the entire thing in one go. So, as I try to gather my thoughts, I wanted to sort of get my feelings out there on what I thought was an incredible show before I finally unfilter the tags (as to avoid any outside influence on my opinion).

Let me preface this by saying that this is going to be an incredibly bias opinion given my cultural upbringing and background (I'm half-Thai and I've spent almost half of my life living in Thailand), so please take that into account before reading any further. I metaphorically removed my western-lensed glasses while watching this series and preferred to watch as a Thai viewer, which probably made the more confusing or difficult parts of the show a lot easier to swallow. So, yes, I will admit that the show was not perfect by any means, but I was able to overlook a lot of its shortcomings given the parts that had been done so well and what this series could mean for Thai QL media going forward.

My goddess, where do I even start…

I'm a sucker for the reincarnated/fated lovers trope, so the show had me before it even started. What I absolutely loved the most about the romance and the A+ chemistry was that it didn't dominate or singularly drive the story, which was refreshing to see. It gave room to explore the fantasy/mythological elements of the show, the investigatory plotlines (which we'll get to later), and the relationships of the characters surrounding the "main leads".

Episode 3, my beloved, was what solidified my trust in this series and served as the foundation for the personalized experience I curated in my continued viewing. First off (and a bit of a side note), seeing Yoshi show up as Sand just made my heart super happy. I've been following her off and on since 2018, and she was one of the only things I actually liked about หมอ มือ ใหม่… but I digress. Behind the main story (and maybe even because of it), this episode was, for all intents and purposes, a love letter to Thai culture and its religious mythology. Which, when you consider how much international draw a BL series can hold, is truly momentous. International viewers got to experience the Bang Fai Phayanak (the naga fireball festival) that occurs every Wan Ok Phansa (the last day of what is considered Buddhist Lent) and the significance it holds over Thai history and culture. Using this as the stepping stone to establish the importance of the series' reliance on naga folklore…brilliant! The episode was also the viewers' introduction to the Buddhist idea of the cyclical intermingling of karmic fates. How the implications of an interdependence on one fate more than the others would later define the relationship between Phaya, Tharn, and Chalothorn…genius! All of this!? In one episode…of a BL!? I was overwhelmed by a sense of cultural gratitude and pride, that I still can't quite shake. I think Saint knew exactly what he was doing when he chose to adapt this series and I love him even more for it.

Aside from the cultural dependency and relevance, the show delivered so much beyond that as well. The production quality sailed high above previous BL standards and, in turn, lent itself to beautiful visuals and cinematography.

The casting! Billy and Babe's chemistry was just so *chef's kiss*. I knew Billy would absolutely smash it in the role of Phaya, but I often forgot that this was Babe's first ever acting role. It was an undertaking, that you could tell, he did not take lightly. Heng!? Wow! What a performance! He's been a staple in every Idol Factory series thus far, but he really nailed the purely villainous role of Chalothorn. Gap as Yai? No notes. He was able to flesh out what could have been a very one-dimensional character. Tack and Poom as Khem and Thongtai were a welcome levity inbetween, what was otherwise, a more weighty plot.

If I had to address any gripes I had with the series, there were only two that really stood out:

1) I wish the moments/conversations between Tharn and Chalothorn that eventually led to Tharn's return hadn't happened off-screen. There was a lot left to be resolved that could have been explored in that instance. But using my own inference based on Tharn as a character, his relationship with Chalothorn, and the core of his personality, I could kind of piece together how that ending came to be.

2)The lesser intriguing elements of the investigation storylines were shaky, at best. (If you were looking for the show to have a firm western-influenced ACAB agenda, then I'm sorry to say you were setting yourself up for disappointment. As much as I selfishly wanted it to be, this series was never going to be that show, it's a Thai drama.) From a Thai perspective, it made sense that the "copaganda" aspect of the series focused on the incompetency and inefficiency of a police force where justice is often informed by wealth and greed. I got an idea of what the show's stance on the matter was supposed to be but the overall plot and its consistency got lost somewhere within the final execution.

Other than that, I was left feeling satisfyingly content with where the series landed and I will continue to highly recommend it. It's easily one on my top five favorite Thai BL dramas and just Thai dramas in general! And…

There is such a rich history of mythology and folklore left for the show to still sink its teeth into: the garuda of it all, the pre-existing feud between the naga and garuda and why that is… Aside from a few minor specificities that were missing from naga folklore (their exclusion didn't really detract from anything, but it could have served to benefit non-Thai viewers), all of that could be addressed in a second season. Which, at this point, seems pretty likely 🤞🏾🤞🏾🤞🏾 and would be HUGE in the BL world.

PLEASE, LET IT HAPPEN! 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾

[psalmsofpsychosis]

"#Alfred basically catches a lamb and goes

#''you're a beautiful wolf; i know you are; now you're gonna bite my hand until you draw blood so we both believe it;

#because that's the way we know how to be men.''

#and then 10 years down the line he looks at Bruce and he whispers in horror; ''that's a wolf''

#GIRL YES HE IS; YOU MADE HIM ONE. IT WAS YOU"

Your tags are so- Idk I don't have the words. No wait I DO-

THIS IS FREAKING BEAUTIFUL OMG

The way Bruce wasn't born with sharp teeth and claws to defend himself against the world. The place he was born into removed any need to grow them, but at the same time the place he was born into was the catalyst for him to turn into stone. Hard, unyielding to pressure and with its own jagged edges that you can hit until your knuckels bleed.

But the thing about stone is that you can chip away at it until it looks like what you want.

So Bruce was a lamb at the beginning, possessing talc for a heart, easy to rub to dust, but after the murders, he was molded into something different. He grew teeth and claws so big and strong it became difficult to be gentle, his heart was rubbed to dust and reformed and compressed and rubbed to dust and reformed and compressed until it turned into a diamond.

Alfred taught him how to be a wolf but didn't account on what would happen once Bruce's claws were bigger than his own.

CAN YOU TALK MORE ABOUT BRUCE AND ALFRED'S DYNAMIC PLEASE? You're literally rearranging my brain chemistry as I'm typing, wow. This feels so freaking strange. Thank you so so SO much

I wish you an AMAZING day

GOOD MAD MONDAY NOON TO YOU ANON YOU'RE KILLING ME. Like i'm over here lying face flat on the ground, head fucking full 99 thoughts per second this ride is going straight to hell—

You actually made them sound a lot like the Pygmalion myth, which is so right and true and also a very delicately apt interpretation of the way Bruce and Alfred's dynamic unfolds, particularly in Bruce's childhood, and particularly as portrayed in the Gotham series (which is my all time favourite Bruce&Alfred dynamic anyway, so excuse me for being annoying and immediately nosedive down that rabbithole)

See, to me the thing is, i dont think Bruce and Alfred understand each other at all. They're cut from very different clothes, and Alfred doesn't understand what Bruce /is/, but he understands what Bruce /can become/, maybe even what he's supposed to become, Bruce is the fifth element to him. Combine that lack of understanding and all the love and affection Alfred holds for Bruce and of course he makes a project of perfection out of him; Alfred molds and makes Bruce. Batman as a persona and as a purpose precisely exists *because of the way Alfred raises Bruce*, this is something that Gotham TV puts extra emphasis on. In many ways Alfred does carve Bruce into an idea of perfection, *his* idea of perfection, and Bruce lets him too. This is where stuff get a bit complicated though; Alfred is someone who struggles with his own humanity and darker side. He's so loving and loyal, but he's also bitter and mean with a vicious bite and he handles Bruce with such cold hands sometimes, and he hates every second of it, he hates his own humanity. So he pushes Bruce to get rid of his too, and they have this constant push and pull because Bruce has those exact traits. they're similar not in what they own about themselves, but in their shadows, when the sun shines on them their flawed humanity has the exact same shape and they both don't want a shadow; eventually the way they resolve this is by standing back to back and protecting each other and now they share their shadows and it's not so scary anymore. The Pygmalion myth as a parallel interpretation of their narrative fits so darn well because you are right, Bruce is made into stone and Alfred sculpts him to something beautiful and almost horrifying, almost inhuman, he sometimes forgets that Bruce is a person and not an idea, and it shows. But Bruce breaks mold, he always does, he forces Alfred to live with his own humanity and Bruce's, and this brings up a lot of grief for Alfred, but he loves Bruce so he finds a way to live with it and he does.

The Lamb/wolf metaphor is a different face to this same transformation process; in the early years Alfred has little space for Bruce's terrifying softness, but neither does Bruce. Bruce is scared of his own vulnurability and tenderness, this lamb *wants* to become something else, something less weak and helpless, something that could've saved his parents. He doesn't want to become a wolf persay, but the thing is, he has the makings. This is the reason Alfred can bring it out of him; he very much has the makings of a wolf. to juxtapose it with the pygmalion allegory; you cannot carve out of the stone what is not already in it. (this does bring up the question wether Bruce was ever a lamb at all, but that's a different topic for another day✨️)

anyway yep, i love your mind Anon, and thank you for the question! Hope you have an absolutely wonderful day too ❤️❤️

[siflshonen]

Heya man huge huuuuuuge fan of your acount so i would like to say a few things i feel like mha has so many wasted characters like class b and most of the plf like i know the main cast is going to get most of the focus but its like... so much potential is wasted to me. What is your opionon on this?

Shonen cast bloat’s a bitch. This is true of many series, but ESPECIALLY this one. However, I have an almost opposite opinion from you: in many ways, I wish many of the side characters weren’t there at all because they, especially with how many there are, sometimes draw away from the main and primary supporting cast, which is what this story is about.

Well-used side characters do what they came to do (which means they sometimes explain the moral or theme to their intended audience of younger readers), and I feel like most of the characters do that. And if they don’t, I’m very much a Bakugo (or a ShigAfO) about it when it comes to this series: I don’t care about the potential of extras. If they don’t do their job, my only desire is that they get cut from the story for a stronger final draft.

I have a terrible confession to make in the case of 1-B: outside of Monoma, Kendo, Mushroom gal and Honnenuki, I don’t really care about Class 1-B. I also don’t feel like we really need to. They were there as functional adversaries-of-the-week and did their job very well and got to be fun little western superhero-and-eastern shonen reference characters through their powers and appearances at the same time.

So, no, I don’t feel like they have that much potential to waste.

My feelings about many of the characters outside of 1-B are pretty much the same, but I feel like I should point out a couple notable examples:

Mt. Lady - had an arc. Wasn’t a big one but was nice. I didn’t need any more.

Ms. Joke - did what she needed to do. She might be fun to follow for like a TUM volume, but I really don’t care that much.

Aizawa - his full story got told in Vigilantes and I LOVED IT. Would have been fine sacrificing, like, the entire Class 1-A vs Class 1-B arc and maybe some PLF setup to have the real estate for it instead in the main series tho

Grand - he did what he needed to do. I don’t care about his potential, only his goals and resolve, and we saw that by the end.

Fatgum - I fucking love this guy. I would watch a whole series about him, but I don’t need it. He said what he said.

Shiketsu/Remedial Class kids - did we need everything we got? No. Would I trade it for anything? No. Did I feel there was more to tell? Absolutely not. Would I read more if it was offered? Absolutely would.

Class 1-A - This is my second dirty little secret: the Hero Academia is my LEAST FAVORITE PART OF MY HERO ACADEMIA. (The Endeavor arc is my favorite part because we get to ditch the class and teachers and focus on the main cast sans Toshinori.) I actually would be happy if the class was significantly smaller. We do not need all those kids. However, I found all of them charming and cute at minimum so I was not upset by their inclusion - I just found much of it unnecessary. I don’t see it as potential that has been wasted, though. I see it as a waste of story real estate.

My Villain Academia - Geten, ReDestro, and the PLF did what they came into the story to do. I do not care about any potential they might have outside of that, and they did a great job setting up Dabi/Toya to have one of the best moments in the series.

The previous OfA users - dude. I do not want to sit through the detailed life and times of all eight of them. I am happy to ignore anything that isn’t immediately relevant to the story at hand.

Wash - this is the most crucial character of the cast. He is perfect and perfect in the amount we’re given. Do NOT @ me.

[sickeningly-sweet-letters]

hii, how are u? I've been watching so many movies and series that i came up with this idea

What about a actor reader with yandere fans? Maybe a actor reader with toma of fans and everybody likes her, idk how this idea came up to me but i wanna see how you would elaborate this idea.

That's all, have a good day/night😄

hello!! im doing alright, thank you! ^^ i hope you’re doing well! also- i love that idea! i’ll do my best to give it justice lol

have a good day/night too!!

🌻 yandere fans x gn actor!reader!

- an actor as popular as you are is bound to have plenty of fans, even if some of them are.. more devoted to you than others. but who cares, right? you love all of your fans! you proudly declared, yet did you really know what you were signing up for? your “fan club” pretty much took that as a challenge to show that they loved you most.

- honestly, these fans bonded over their shared love of you, but what else did they have in common? er.. not much. they all showed their love and devotion in different ways but somehow, they managed to create a perfect group to protect you from any haters or rivals and pretty much everyone! everyone but themselves, of course.

- these guys could probably be private investigators if they wanted.. they’re learning pretty much every much everything about you that they possibly could. from your home address, to your routine and even phone number. no matter how many times you change your number or anything, they’ll find it again and again.

- they actively sabotage your love life, its because nobody is good enough for you! you’re nice to everybody, but that means anybody is a potential suitor, regardless of if you like them or not. even your friends get chased and scared off! how dare they even walk the same floors you do?! expect a lot more “accidents” or disappearances near areas you frequent. they’re just trying to protect their precious star!

- all of this is you! your super fans all united for your sake! some of them stalk and take pictures, some just constantly send you gifts and homemade baked goods, and then some look up every bit of information to give everyone almost daily updates.. of course, theres the bold ones who get their hands a bit dirty, they’re the most in love with you after all.

- you’ll never be truly alone. your house is bugged with cameras and microphones in every room, theres at least one or two lurking outside. even when you go out, theres bond to be some fans just running into you and begging you for an autograph, a photo, anything! and god forbid you’re seen with a random guy, expect to see the poor guy on the news the next day.

overall, you’ve gotten quite famous. you make a lot of money and your fans are very generous in their love for you.. isn’t this what you have been working for? so what if you’re isolated? you can always rely on your fans to keep you company! they’ll always be there to support you.

[honeym4rk]

another mark friends-to-lovers au lol

part of the same storyline as my previous post !!!! where mark and oc are best friends in the same friend group in high school and oc starts falling for mark even though he likes to play into the running joke that they're some perfect couple.

i think i might make this another series of oneshots bc i... am not ready to write a whole full blown fic yet AHAHAHAH we'll see lol but i just wanted to put this up in case i never touch it again

here's the previous post!

---

It’s almost as if Mark wants to continue proving you wrong. Because as much as you think there’s already so much about him that’s attractive, endearing, hot, whatever; he seems to pile on even more labels and traits that make you want to melt into a puddle of nothingness. It's like he's aiming to become one of those... multi-hyphenates that the teachers in school like to talk about.

He got his stupid Driver’s License. 

And to be honest, you never really thought it was hot that people could drive- it’s literally just operating an automobile, a routine of turning the steering wheel and hitting pedals- so what about it could possibly ever evoke any sense of attractive quality to it?

Maybe you’re just biased because it’s Mark who’s driving right now, after so long of boasting about how he got his license and how he’s already “reeeaaalllyyy good”. You sit in the passenger’s seat as he drives you back home from another day at the Library, and you buckle your seatbelt just a little tighter, holding onto it in fear as he starts the car to pull out of the parking lot.

He punches at your shoulder lightly, “Hey! I promise I’m fine! Look, I can do the one handed thingy!”

“Literally, don’t. Isn’t it dangerous, or something?”

“I mean, kinda, but I swear I’ve got it down. See?”

And got it down, he does- and you can’t lie and say it wasn’t cool. Maybe even hot. His hand on the steering wheel, he turns around to look behind the car, leaning in a little closer to you, and you have to will yourself to look away from the concentration on his face, and how good he looks with his hair out and not hidden by a cap, his circle-rimmed glasses resting on his nose. Your eyes land on the knife of a jawline he has, and then they naturally travel up to his lips that are so incredibly pink and plump-

“Cool, right?” He manoeuvres successfully, and makes a straight to send you home, and you gulp, staring straight at the street in front of you. It’s almost as if his stare has a weight of its own, crushing you, pressing you to squeeze into the car door. It’s so embarrassing that you’re secretly harbouring all of these feelings, they’re so…. strange, and maybe even inappropriate since you’re just friends.

“Okay, fine, it is pretty cool. Now you just have to get me home in one piece.” You laugh, and just pray, that for the love of God, you can just get through another day without getting flustered over something stupid like this.

“Oh yeah, I wanted you to listen to this! Unlock my phone and go into my Spotify, it’s the top playlist.”

He hands you his phone, and continues, “You remember Phony Ppl, right? They had that song you liked with Megan Thee Stallion? Well, I found one of their new songs and someone in a YouTube comment said it was sampled on the first song in that playlist, but I swore it sounded like this old 5SOS song.”

Huh. Funny. The very first song in the playlist is titled ‘I Didn’t Mean To Turn You On,’ and you literally want to punch yourself in the face. You press play.

It’s a funky disco-beat- Mark’s recommendation playlist for you has been full of these songs lately. 

“Hmm, it’s fun! I love the synths, they’re going crazy. Also, love your car’s stereo? Wow!”

You’re starting to really like it, it’s groovy, it’s fun, and then she starts singing, so you look at the lyrics on his phone- they’re not synced to the song, so you just scroll, skimming through in curiosity. And in huge, bold, white letters, almost to mock you,

You read me wrong. I wasn’t trying to lead you on. I want a friend. I didn’t mean to turn you on.

Haha. Oh my God. Hahahaha. You nod your head in awkwardness, but then try to play it off by looking like you’re just doing it to the music. 

“Right?! It’s such a bop, man! And yeah, sometimes I have to stop myself from playing the music too loud. If not I can literally feel the vibrations in my fingers. Okay, anyways, the song itself is like, seven whole minutes, and gets kinda repetitive at the end, so you can just skip to the next one. Just listen to the intro!”

‘Nowhere But Up’ sounds pretty similar to the previous song, it’s pretty clear they did sample it, yet they’ve definitely made it their own since the vibe is completely different, and the lyrics are still on the screen, and Wow! They do not get any better.

So, like hold on, you, you wait, so you want me to chase you through this song? Huh, you sound crazy, you sound crazy. The last thing I remember is you said that you want me.

You chuckle sardonically before you can even stop yourself, and you should’ve seen this coming, but he asks you what’s so funny and you have to come up with a lie on the spot.

“Oh, no, the bass is ridiculously good! That part in the intro? It’s so good. This part.” You replay the part, and he agrees, “Yeah! Their bass lines are always so sick.” There is a moment of silence shared just to listen to the music, and the suffocating feeling of his eyes on you is back for a brief moment before he continues to tap the rhythm on the steering wheel, head bopping to the beat.

Then his phone buzzes, the ping interrupting your moment of solace, and you see the text message notification from Karina before he can even ask who it is. 

[karina ☺️, 2002] heeeey wru

Your heart drops to your stomach- it’s almost as if this is the perfect storm of events and it’s not even just your confirmation bias, almost as if he did play those songs to unknowingly reject you, no- almost as if he knew you how you felt, almost as if he was deliberately trying to shut you down. 

“Ooooooo! Karina just texted you.” You wiggle your eyebrows and try to force as much excitement and curiosity as possible for someone that just got their life and soul sucked out of their body. 

“Oh, um,” Mark, too, looks pretty shocked. “Can IIIIIIIII open it?” You stare intently at him, waiting for his answer, stare right at his face like he has something to explain to you. Which, he doesn’t, not necessarily. But you still feel this way anyway. He licks his lips, as if in contemplation.

“Yeah, sure. What’d she say?” 

“She just asked where you are. Are you supposed to be anywhere right now?” Hands clammy, you click on the notification. At first glance, it does look like they’ve been talking quite a bit- they even texted each other ‘gn’ three days ago. Everything is sending you into a frenzy, and you’re trying to convince yourself it’s just a normal thing people do. Friends do. You’ve texted Yeonjun ‘goodnight’ before, and it doesn’t mean anything. Where does he have to be? Are they supposed to go on a date? Where could they be possibly going on a Saturday Night? 

His voice cuts off your train of thought- “Oh, shit!” His voice cracks, and there’s just so much panic packed into the tiny space of his car, “I’m supposed to be in some Zoom Call right now, it’s for the project we’re doing. Uhhh, tell her I’m on the way home right now, I’ll be there in 5 minutes.”

You type away, and all the fear that struck terror in your soul seems to have deflated, yet it’s left your heart palpitating. You feel so stupid for feeling so worked up about this, it’s crazy. Never in your life had you thought you’d be overcome with jealousy, even if it was for a tiny moment, but you suppose that it’s really just the uncertainty that spurs it all. 

You know, since you don’t know how he feels about you. No clue at all about whether or not he reciprocates whatever stupid crush you have. He literally just recommended two songs that were about turning someone down. But then again, when has he ever sent cryptic messages through his song choices? It’s totally unlike him, and your leaping-to-conclusions- brain is just incredible at making complete nonsense of anything that’s happening. 

God, you need to convene with Minji and Ryujin again. Your hand is itching to whip your phone out to send a text, why in front of Mark you’re not too sure, maybe the desperation really has gotten to you.

“Can I take the call at your place? It’s only going to be, like, thirty minutes max, I think.” He’s come over multiple times, it really isn’t that big of a deal. It’s fine. Your mom likes him. Haha. 

“Yeah, sure, I think my mom’s home and she probably wouldn’t mind.”

The next song has started.

“Great, thanks! Oh, this was the last song I wanted to show you, the 5SOS one? Do you hear the similarity? Like the chord progressions, and the rhythm? It’s not the same synth sound, I mean, duh, it’s a guitar, but yeah.”

When you’re talking to your girls, do you talk about me? Do you tell’ em that you love me the way that I’ve been loving you?

You are seriously going to punch yourself in the face later.

---

LOL yeah um let me know what i should do with this fic should i try to flesh it out and write a whole story that really flows or just post the random scenarios agashgahee

also the songs are: i didn't mean to turn you on - cherelle nowhere but up - phony ppl girls talk boys - 5sos

go have a listen!!! they are such boppy songs lol.

[twochildreninamoteldemo]

Hi Maven!! Same q to everyone this week: what are your top 3 wincest episodes, and why?

ok im gonna cheat and do this in 2 ways hehe

a) top 3 sam/dean episodes

3. A Very Supernatural Christmas: has the samulet (their engagement ring, obviously!), you can palpably feel the isolation, the neglect, it's very two-children-in-a-motel-esque. and of course, the final scene, where i think, if there was any point in the series aside from the barn scene in which they would have said "i love you," it would have been there. the deep long stare, the watery eyes, the fact that they both know dean will be gone within the year, and then... "do you feel like watching the game?" ahhhhhhh drives me nuts

2. Swan Song: their love literally!!!!! saves the world, i mean come on. it has the whole wincest montage that you could literally set a richard siken poem to, or a taylor swift song to (look i know those are vastly different things but. bear with me), and it would just feel right. dean finally lets sam do things on his own. he lives because sam tells him to. sam manages to revoke his possession consent because of how much he's in love with dean, even as his fist is smashing dean's face into a pulp. ok i have to stop or i'm going to start crying in this goddamn airport.

Playthings: obviously. gothic horror episode of all time. picture-perfect family in the outside, secret sibling hidden upstairs. the way sam and dean's codependency is paired with that of the grandmother and her ghostly sister. the face-stroking. the almost kiss. god i swear it always looks like they're gonna kiss. sam writhing on the bed. dean staring at him like that. the subtext was about to bust through the screen, what with the acting and the way the plot and the meta-plot fit together perfectly. catherine tosenberger said it much better than i can, go read her article in TWC about wincest if you haven't!

b) top 3 family-horror-what-the-incestuous-freudian-fuck-is-going-on-here episodes

2. Devil's Trap: azazel uses john's body in a sexual manner against both sam and dean--primarily the latter but sam gets it, too. it's a chilling scene and really cements that this is what spn is about: never being able to escape the family. sam learns partly of azazel's plot, dean gets his daddy issues flayed onto him, and all through the eyes of the father. it's so well done.

3. Skin: imo the most damning thing the shifter says is, "i will be sorry to lose this skin. your brother's got a lot of great qualities. you should appreciate him more than you do." uh...what? the way he ties up sam and plans on torturing him also aligns with the shifter's pattern of turning into the husband and beating up the wife. another HMM moment actually comes from dean himself, when he tells sam that none of his friends will ever understand him and that dean's the only one who can...it's very isolating, kind of abuser tactics, and just. whew. this was episode SIX!!

In the Beginning: come on you knew i was gonna say this. aside from the obvious moments of "mom is a babe" (and remember, dean invokes sam into this moment as well..."sammy, wherever you are..."), samuel!azazel leaning over dean and smelling him, and samuel!azazel kissing mary--passionately returned(?), may i add, the plot itself sets up the winchester family as this enclosed, inbred unit. mary's kiss with her possessed father seal's sam's fate as part of azazel's army. the sexuality she shares with her father makes her son's blood diseased and cursed. the family line is tainted by incest. her kiss is what allows sam and dean to grow up that way, to become so codependent, what allows the moments of avsc, swan song, and playthings to happen! in the beginning. this begins the cycle of selling and saving souls--mary for john, john for dean, dean for sam. it's literally THEE spn episode, perhaps even more than playthings. even though sam's barely in it, his fate hangs over the whole episode, and this is full house of wincest at its finest.

[lovelively]

🐉Fears of a Prince🐉

Why hello there! My lazy being has decided that after all this time, after receiving a couple of very encouraging comments by a lovely person, I should probably upload one of the things I have had in mind for quite some time...

If ur interested, go ahead! Here's the prescription love, please take your reverse comfort pills with care. Now on your merry way you go. If you have any questions or concerns please request an alteration or a prompt. Thank you very much for choosing the Lively pharmacy. Hopefully I'll see you soon ♡

Pairing: Malleus x Yuu

Genre: Reverse comfort / Angst

Tw: PTSD, description of gore, blood and war, sad boi malleus

Summary: it's the middle of the night. Your having a peaceful slumber, until a panicked night creature comes knocking at your front door...

Story under the cut

It's a normal night at Night Raven College. The lights are out in every Dorm. The only thing reflecting off of the beautiful ornaments of the Ramshackle Dorm is the full moon shining in the black night sky. Yuu was sleeping soundly in their bed. Tucked in nicely and dreaming of their boyfriend: Crown prince Malleus Draconia, of the Valley of Thorns. To them he was perfect. Always so calm and collected around others but letting loose with them. Laughing, giggling and pranking was always apartof the couples scedule when they were alone. As few of a time as that may happen, with Malleus almost always being followed by at least one of his friends/watch dogs. Not to mention how handsome the fae prince was, his strong body, the sharp jawline, his hair falling into place perfectly everytime, his green eyes glowing brighter everytime he lays them upon your smaller frame. Perfect. That was all your sleeping mind was able to produce in your dreams. I mean, how could you not dream of someone as perfect as him? He is flawless!! Or so you thought...

Time: 2:37 am

A knock. Wait, a knock? Who would be knocking at your Dorm at such an ungodly hour? Hmmm. Mabye it was just your imagination. Its probably best if you just fall asleep again...

Another, much louder series of knocks. Ok, mabye it wasn't your imagination last time. This time, it definitely isn't. Getting out of bed you quickly put on your robe and head over to the stairs. As you decent from the stairs you hear another series of knocks, this time you can hear the desperation, even panic in the knocks. What was going on. Was somebody hurt? What could put a NRC student into such a state of pure desperation as to knock on your front door as rapidly as they do? As you arrive at the door you swing it open quickly, only to reveal a scared and (as usual) sleepdeprived Silver. "What happened? Is everything alright? Silver?" You asked with a worried expression as you eyed the breathless boy infront of you up and down, looking for injuries. "Yuu" Silver takes a deep breath "it-its Malleus... h-he-he's having a panic attack. Its horrible! The entire Dorm is shaking and a thunderstorm is raging outside. The wind is so strong, It's almost a tornado!" Upon hearing this you fell into a state of shock. Malleus? Panic attack? Snapping out of your trance you looked Silver dead in the eye and decided that you would have him find Lilia, who you assumed was not present seeing as he had come to you for help, whilst you would try to calm your beloved down. With this plan in mind you grabbed Silvers wrist and dragged him towards the Daisomnia Dorm, telling him what you had in mind on the way. Once you arrived at the Dorm you said you goodbyes and goodlucks to one another. And with that the human boy had left you in front of the shaking Dorm, surrounded by storm clouds, looking as if it was a scene right out of a horror movie. And you were the idiot main character, now making your way into the haunted house...

Once you made it inside, you went straight for Malleus's room, ignoring the screams of fear making their ways out of the other Dorm members throats. Ignoring Sebeks pleads to let him come with you, that he had sworn to protect the prince, even if that meant he had to protect Malleus from himself. Yet you left sebek standing outside of your boyfriends bedchamber. Once you had entered the room you immediately layed eyes on the weeping creature in the far left corner of the room, rocking itself back and forth, grabbing at its hair and horns, pulling at the body parts. Secretly hoping that nobody would see it in this state...

Yet here you were, standing right in front of the door, looking down at the broken man that you once knew as your perfect boyfriend with the most pityfull expression your face ever held. Slowly you made your way towards the 'young' prince as to not scare him. Once you stood before him you kneeled down, putting your hand atop his, entangled in his hair. The sudden skinship startled him, forcing him to look up at you. But the person looking up at you wasn't Malleus Draconia, it was someone else. Sure he still looked the same, except the tears rolling down his pale cheeks and his reddened, puffy eyes along with his stuffed nose, yet the look in his eyes told you that his mind wasn't at NRC right now, nor was it in the Valley of Thorns. It was far, far away from the peace and quiet that you had here, even with all of the overblots happening at the moment, the place that this man's mind was in, was far worse, far more dangerous and was flooded with the blood of innocent men, far more blood than the grounds Night Raven College will ever see...

Terrified was probably the most accurate word you could find for the look in you lovers eyes. Terrified of the things he had seen, Terrified of the things he might see in the future, Terrified of anything and everything. At this very moment, Malleus Draconia was in his weakest, most vulnerable state. Some would have taken advantage of this situation, the Crown Prince, on the floor, defenseless because of his emotional state, right at their mercy. But not you. You could never do something as cruesome as that to him, never. You heart wouldn't allow it. So, instead of gaining blackmail material, robbing him or assassinating the fae prince you hugged him. As simple as that. You didn't ask questions you didn't tell him to stop crying. You just assured him that it would be ok, that HE would be ok. So you just held him in the safe space that were your arms. As close to your chest as you could, hoping that hearing your slow heartbeat would help him calm down, at least a little bit. And it did. After another 10 minutes of him clutching your robe and crying into your shirt he had calmed down enough to form correct sentences again. But when you asked what happened you heard an answer that made your heart drop all the way to the very core of the world. "I had a nightmare" Malleus stated with a shakey, quiet and raspy voice " I was back. Back on the battle field. Back with all of these dead bodies loosing their lifes to save the life of my younger sister. All of those innocent men, lying on enemy territory, gutted, bloody, completely messed up. All of these men, who will never be able to see their wife and children again. All of those men that never had a proper burial because of those Bastards from Arendelle (pls dont hate me for this, I didn't know what else to pick). Only because their stupid king believed that he is the only one which is deserving of Mallania's hand in Marriage! (psst! Mallania is Malleus's younger sister) Abducting her like that! The things I had to see because of that son of a bitch! The things my poor innocent sister had to see..." and with that he broke down again. Hot tears streaming down his fair skin dropping on his lap once they reached his jaw. You were shocked. Not because you couldn't handle the situation, but because you would have never guessed that Malleus had gone through so much already, having to save his little sister from a Narcissistic King, watching innocent men and friends die... not only was that a lot to take in, but also a lot for one person to handle! How was he able to bottle that memory up for so long? All of that didn't matter when Lilia barged into the room. "Yuu? What are you doing here? You shouldn't be here. It's dangerous to be around him when he is like this. His emotions have taken over, he's not controlling his magic right now, his emotions are. You should leave, NOW!" Lilia demanded of you, but you couldn't. You couldn't leave Malleus, not like this. Not only because you didn't dare leave him alone like this, but also because the fae prince had a firm grasp at your wrist, not willing to let you go, not now, not yet. He needed you and you knew that. Seeing the way you two looked at each other Lilia knew instantly what was going on. So he agreed to let you stay. "What you are about to witness isn't for the light hearted" the Vampire stated "I will now lock away Malleus's memory's of the war again, leaving them to only faintly stay in his mind. For that I have to replay them in the open, which means you will see all of these horrid pictures Malleus has been tortured with for thousands of years now. Do you understand? You can still Back out if you want to..." But you shook your head. "I can handle it" you replied, confident that you could, infact, handle Malleus's past. Let me cut this short. You couldn't. You started weeping 2 minutes into the first memory. The things this man had seen were unbelievable.

Men and women, gutted like fish (Oclavinelle Members looking real scared rn). Their insides all over the battlefield. A liver there, a loung hanging out of the body of a woman. Blood as far as one could see. And Malleus, your Malleus in the midst of it. Covered in blood, mostly that of others. Gashes, scars already forming, blood running down his usually oh so gentle features, now putting up a face of rage, disgust, bloodlust. His eyes showed that he would make his enemy pay, that he would spill three times as much of enemy blood as they had spilled of his kind.

Snapping out of your trance your eyes fell upon a very concerned Malleus. "My darling, are you alright? You looked as if you would cry..." The fae prince proclaimed with a worried expression on his handsome face. "Oh, don't worry. I'm ok. How are you? Is everything alright?" Malleus looked at the floor. Shame rose in the usually so calm and collected prince.He had let his lover see him in his most vulnerable state, they had seen him cry and worst of all they had seen the things he was capable of. The thunderstorm, created by his negative emotion, the war. Oh god, the war... His innocent Rose had seen him kill, torture, frolocking in the sight of his enemies fall and their blood tickling down his body. What do they think of him now. Can an Angel like Yuu even love a Monster like him...

....aaaand this is where I'm gonna end it! Let me know if you want a part two! I really enjoyed writing this and I hope you enjoyed reading it just as much. Alright loves. This is where your prescription ends. Mabye you can get a new one? Who knows... but this is all the Angst pills you'll get for now.

Love, Lively♡

[anonymityisfunwriter]

Battle of The Babysitter

Request from ValerieQ on AO3 : "Awesome!So sunshine is babysitting this 8yr old boy. (her and bucky arent dating yet.) and the little boy has a massive crush on sunshine(she thinks its funny.) one day she brings bucky along while shes babysittg and let me tell you. this child hates bucky witha burning passion. not cuz the kid knows who the winter soldier is. but because the boy likes sunshine. t the end of the day poor bucky is half full of rage cuz whenever mc's back is turned, this CHILD is MAKING FUN OF HIM. And when confronted about it bucky accidentally lets it slip that he likes sunshime."

Part of The Grumpy Sunshine Series

"Okay, you can do this, you can do this," Bucky chants under his breath. "It'll be fine, you can do this. Just ask. You can do this."

Today was the perfect day, Bucky reminded himself.

If he didn't do this now, he never would. He could barely remember the last time the two of you both had an entire day off together.

Actually, he could.

It was seven weeks ago.

And he chickened out then too.

He swore it was probably easier to get all the planets and stars to align than it was for your missions and assignments to coincide. He had to wait for almost two months before everything lined up all over again, and now, he had to do it.

He'd seen firsthand how other agents used their best pick up lines on you, their most obscenely flirtatious banter, it really was only a matter of time before someone captivated you like you captivated him.

It solidified his resolve. After all, there was no time like the present.

You were just sitting there in the common room, tying a ribbon around a perfectly wrapped gift box.

Bucky briefly worried that he accidentally missed someone's birthday, but he shakes off the concern knowing that you would tell him something like that.

You were always so considerate of him, even if you were slightly oblivious to the massive crush he'd been harboring. And you were good friends, so he wasn't sure why he couldn't summon the nerve to move his feet from where they were cemented on the tiled floor.

"James?" you call, looking up at him with a quirked eyebrow. "You're lurking again."

It was a little joke between the team, that Bucky just lurked around the entrances of rooms, crowds of people, any social gathering really. The first time Sam made the joke in front of you, you made it your job to not let Bucky lurk.

Sometimes by standing with him. Sometimes by grabbing his hand and bringing him into the conversation.

He feels a slight blush warm his cheeks at the thought of how kind and warm you were to him. His crush was clearly getting out of hand, which was another reason he just needed to gather the nerve to just ask you out.

He rolls his eyes, a humorous scoff leaving his mouth, "I'm not lurking."

"Don't worry, you didn't miss anyone's birthday."

He sighs in relief, "Good, Sam gave me so much shit last time."

You chuckle, finishing the bow on the gift box. "So what's wrong?"

"What?"

"You only lurk when something's bothering you."

"I wasn't- " he stops mid-sentence, figuring that now was as good of a time as any. "I actually just - I wanted to know if you had plans today? I thought maybe we could - Like the two of us. Together. Did I say today already? I feel like I should say today-"

'James," you try interjecting as he continues stringing half phrases together, "James, are you okay?"

"I just wanted to know if you wanted to maybe, kind of go out with me. Today," he finally blurts out all in one breath. 

"Oh," you slightly frown. It doesn't take any time for Bucky to process the frown. Rejection. He can feel it in the very pit of his stomach. In the awful tugging sensation in his chest. "I mean - I'd love to, but I actually have plans today."

"Plans," Bucky repeats, mostly convinced that you're just trying to let him down easy. He wouldn't press it any further. He knew you didn't owe him anything. And still, that acknowledgement didn't make it hurt any less. "Right."

"Why don't you come with me?" you abruptly offer, wanting to do anything to get the dejected look off of Bucky's face. 

"You want me to come with you?" he dumbly repeats. His eyebrows furrow. A rejection he could process. An invitation seemed to make all gears grind to a halt. "Like right now?"

"Yeah! Come with me!"

"Uh.." he lilts, hoping his brain will catch up with his mouth. He clears his throat and slightly shakes his head, "You sure? I don't want to impose or anything. You don't have to-"

"I want you to come," you assure him. "It'll be fun. Promise."

--

"So where exactly are we going?" Bucky asks as you both finally exit the subway station.

He vaguely recognizes the streets and some of the buildings, but nothing gives him any clue of where you're taking him.

"We are going to an orphanage," you finally reply, holding a tray of cookies in your hand as Bucky hold onto the gift box. "One of the last ones in New York actually."

Bucky quirks an eyebrow, "We're going to an orphanage?"

You chuckle and take his free hand and guide him in the correct direction, "It's actually a lot of fun. The kids are all really great. I usually spend the day there, playing with them, talking to the older ones."

"And why are we going to an orphanage?" he prods.

"Well, today I'm really just going to see one kid for his birthday," you explain, gesturing to the box tucked in the crook of Bucky's elbow. "But I usually go a few times a month. Mostly when I have the time. Nick keeps us pretty busy."

It takes everything in Bucky to play it cool when you don't drop his hand as you walk down the distantly familiar streets of Brooklyn. It was already going so much better than he thought it would've. You're holding his hand as you walk the streets of his old borough - it was already shaping up to be a pretty good day for him. 

"So you're telling me that on the few days we have off, you haul yourself from all the way upstate down to down Brooklyn to babysit kids all day - all of your own good will?"

You dismissively wave your hand, fighting the shy smile on your face, "It's not that big of a deal."

"Trust me, it's more than the rest of us do."

"Don't you go the VA to hang out with retired veterans with Sam and Steve?" you point out. 

"Yeah, but that's not so much charity, just hanging out with people my age," Bucky jokes. 

"So what do you call hanging out with me?" you ask as you finally reach your destination.

A date, he thinks to himself. A date, he tries to verbalize.

By the time his mouth catches up to his brain, you're gesturing to the building at the very corner of the street. There's a look of slight disappointment on your face when Bucky doesn't answer your question, but you shake it away. "That's our stop."

"This is it?" Bucky asks, stopped in front of the building.

The old brick building has to be at least as old as Bucky. Cracks and crumbling bricks line the exterior. The red brick color has now faded into a grayish beige. Definitely underfunded. Most certainly dilapidated and in need of some major repairs.

"I know," you frown, a little disappointed by Bucky's reaction. "But they do what they can with what they have."

"I didn't mean..." he rushes out. "I think it's great, what you're doing."

You turn to him with a warm smile, "Thanks."

Without another word, you both make your way inside. You approach the front desk with a smile. You don't even have to wait a moment before one of the staff calls your name with an exuberant beam. "I'm so glad you could make it today!"

"I wouldn't have missed it for the world," you easily reply. 

"And who's this?"

"This is my friend and colleague, James," you say, gesturing to Bucky.

Bucky has to fight the visceral urge to frown at the descriptors: friend and colleague. "Just Bucky is fine."

"A fellow Avenger," the staff member commends, shaking Bucky's hand. "I'm sure the kids will love you."

"You're back," an unfamiliar little boy exclaims, barreling out from the large, almost obscenely empty playroom just off to the side. 

The staff member chuckles with a warm smile. She ruffles the hair on top of the little boy's head as she tells you, "Jake hasn't stopped asking when you were coming back."

"Sorry, buddy, duty calls," you explain.

"You said duty," Jake snickers with a toothy grin.

"How's my favorite guy?" you ask the little boy. Before he answers, your eyes quickly flicker over your shoulder to Bucky, "No offense." 

Even as your attention shifts away from Bucky and onto the little boy, Bucky can't help the fluttering sensation that floats around the pit of his stomach at the mere thought of being your favorite guy, or at least, favorite non-child guy.

And it was only then that the excitement lighting up the boy's face fades as he finally bothers to notice Bucky standing behind you.

Jake's face drops, and though you'd never seen a child's mouth purse in distaste before, that was really the only way to describe Jake's reaction to Bucky.

"Jake, this is Bucky." You gesture to Bucky, still standing beside you. "Can you say hi?"

Jake rolls his eyes, grumbling under his breath, "Hi."

"And we brought you something," you quickly add, diverting the attention away from the awkward exchange, "Happy birthday!"

"You remembered?" the little boy gleams.

"Of course I remembered! It's not every day you turn 8 years old!" you gleefully exclaim, handing the little boy the gift box. "Hey, why don't you go show Bucky your other cars? I think he'd really like them."

The kid sighs, his shoulders slumping like he'd just been sent to do his least favorite chore, "Fine."

As Jake begrudgingly drags his feet back over to the open playroom with Bucky following him, Bucky shoots you an anxious glance over his shoulder. You wave your hand, reassuringly nodding and ushering him to follow the little boy. 

Watching from your peripheral as they take a seat in front of Jake's little toy cubby, you turn to the staff member with a warm smile. "And these are actually for you - and the other staff, of course," you say, handing her the large tray of cookies that you'd baked the night before.

"You're too kind," the staff member, Allison, compliments. 

"Anything to help," you offer. "How's everyone been?"

"Excited since they found out you were coming. Practically bouncing off the walls," she chuckles. "Jake's had a bit of a rough time, so we're all just happy to see him happy."

You remorsefully sigh. The little boy Allison was referring to was one of their older kids. Even at a mere 8 years old, he was too old for most couples to seriously consider adopting. The last time you were here, you'd heard of a couple that was halfway through the process of adopting the little boy. Your heart broke when you got the call that he would be celebrating yet another birthday here. "The adoption fell through?"

"They wanted a baby," she sadly explains with a shrug that tells you this situation is one she knows all too well. "There was nothing we could do."

"I'm so sorry."

Allison gently pats the top of your hand, "You really do make their day. I can't thank you enough."

"Any time, just let me know if you need anything else," you offer once more. "I'll do what I can."

And while you finish your conversation with the gentle staff member, Bucky remains awkwardly seated in the seat that was much too small for a fully frown adult, let alone a super soldier. The silence between the child and Bucky made it all the more uncomfortable.

"I don't like you," Jake states out of the blue, finally breaking the silence. 

Bucky immediately tears his eyes away from you and back to the kid, "What?"

"I don't like you," Jake easily repeats, pulling out several of his toy cars from his cubby. 

Bucky's mind immediately jumps to the Winter Soldier reasoning - a lot of people didn't like him because of that. "Why?"

"I'm her favorite guy. Not you," Jake coldly declares. 

A slight smile tugs at the corner of Bucky's mouth. He leans in a little closer to Jake, his elbows coming to rest on the play table. "I see what's happening here, does someone maybe have a little crush?"

"Yeah, you," Jake pointedly scoffs.

Though Bucky knows he's talking to a kid, an incredibly jealous child that doesn't know any better, he sputters, "I - I do not have a crush."

"And you're a liar too," Jake mutters under his breath.

"That was not very nice," Bucky admonishes.

"Lying isn't very nice either, Ducky."

"Bucky," Bucky corrects.

"Whatever you say, Ducky," Jake flippantly remarks.

"Bu-cky," Bucky emphasizes.

"Du-cky," Jake cheekily repeats. 

"Everything okay over here?" you ask, suddenly beside their little table. 

Bucky plasters a wide grin on his face. "Just great."

"Well, then, we should probably get a move on," you gently usher Bucky and Jake from the table. "I was thinking-"

Bucky nods along as you continue giving some suggestions on what birthday activities you three could partake in. But as Bucky stands, Jake kicks a toy car in front of Bucky's path.

And while Bucky would consider himself a fairly agile person, he didn't really think he had a reason to be totally on guard in a children's playroom. He immediately knows he was wrong as he unknowingly steps onto the toy car kicked in his path. His foot slips on the toy car and out from underneath him and sends him flat on his back with a pained huff. 

"Oh my God," you exclaim, immediately checking on Bucky. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, you okay, Ducky?" Jake asks, hovering over Bucky's fallen frame.

"Just great," Bucky wheezes, more from embarrassment than any true injury, squeezing his eyes as he imagines what the rest of the day has in store for him.  

And though his day started out better than he could've imagined, it was morphing the most agonizing day he could've imagined. 

Your first stop of the day was a little ice cream stop just around the corner. And for the shortest of moments, Bucky starts to think that maybe things wouldn't be so bad, that maybe the incident in the playroom was really just an accident. He even hoped that maybe he could win the kid over somehow. It was clear coming here meant a lot to you, and that meant it meant a lot to him too. 

But his hopes were dashed the moment you three all had your cones of ice cream in hand. As you grab a handful of napkins for the table, Bucky starts walking over to one of the empty tables in the ice cream shop, blissfully unaware of the scheming little boy walking on his heels.

Just as he's about to take a seat, he feels a dull shove into his back paired with a distinct crunching sound. Bucky gasps, whirling around with wide eyes to find the little boy standing behind him with an over dramatically apologetic expression.

"Whoops," Jake shrugs, the remnants of the smashed ice cream cone still in his hand. You sharply inhale from at the sight of the ice cream cone smashed into Bucky's favorite leather jacket. "I'm sorry, Ducky. Didn't mean to."

Bucky clears his throat, doing his very best to school his expression. He grits his teeth, pulling a pained smile onto his face, "It's fine. No harm, no foul."

"But that's your favorite jacket," you point out. "Here let me help you."

Bucky's eyes narrow as Jake deviously smirks at him the second your back is turned. You take the napkins in your hand and attempt to clean off the little shards of waffle cone and cold liquid now dropping down his jacket. He's a kid, Bucky keeps reminding himself, just a kid. 

Once the mess is mostly cleaned off of Bucky's jacket, you figure now would probably be a good time to shift gears for the day. 

"Who's up for the park?" you eagerly suggest, the only one of your small group still wearing a smile. 

After that, Bucky just thanks his lucky stars that the walk to the park just a couple blocks down goes without incident. Although, he's pretty sure it's you holding the little boy's hand down the street that appeases Jake rather than Jake having any actual mercy for Bucky. 

When you three get to the park, you take off with Jake, playing on the jungle gym, pushing him on the swings, sliding down the slides as Bucky stands off to the side. 

And though it'd sort of been a terrible day, Bucky can't help but smile and chuckle to himself as he watches you playing totally carefree. It was a nice reprieve from what was a chaotic and draining way of living. 

With a flushed face and wide smile, you make your way back to the park bench beside Bucky almost an hour later.

You immediately notice Bucky standing there off to the side. You pat the park bench beside you, gesturing for him to join you. A smile tugs at the corner of Bucky's mouth as he takes a seat beside you. He sighs in relief as Jake running around the playground finally gives him time to relax ever so slightly. 

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, you shyly turn to Bucky, "I just wanted to say that I know this probably wasn't what you had in mind for today, and I know that these kids are really good at pushing people's buttons. They're just not used to people trying. It sorta freaks them out, so they act out. I guess I just wanted to say thank you for being patient. It means a lot to me."

You reach for his hand, lacing your fingers with his. Bucky smiles to himself, relishing in the warm, comforting feeling radiating from your hand. 

It's only a few minutes later as Jake comes barreling over to the park bench. His eyes flicker to you and Bucky's intertwined hands. "Ducky! Come play with me!"

"Me?" Bucky doubtfully gestures to himself. 

Jake excitedly nods, gesturing for Bucky to join him by the swing set. 

"Okay..." Bucky hesitantly agrees, unwillingly dropping your hand as he stands up off of the park bench. "Sure."

A sense of unease washes over Bucky as Jake settles on the swing set with Bucky rounding the set to push him on the swings. Just then, Jake looks over his shoulder at Bucky with a devious smirk and a calculating glint in his eye.

Before Bucky can even process the look, Jake launches himself off the swing, landing on his knees in the wood chips that coat the floor. Immediately, Jake lets out a bloodcurdling bellow that makes all parents and guardians snap their heads in Jake's direction.

Bucky gasps, his jaw dropped in shock. And the situation only worsens itself when Jake loudly cries, "He pushed me!"

"What?!" Bucky frantically shouts.

"He pushed me," Jake screams again, the tears flowing down his cheeks only adding to Jake's performance. You rush over to the kid, dropping to the floor beside him. And to really seal Bucky's fate, Jake sobs into your shoulder, "He pushed me!"

"What? I didn't - I only pushed you on the swings because you asked me to! I didn't actually push you!" Bucky frantically stammers.

You gently shake your head, resting your hand on Bucky's shoulder to let him know that you believe him in the midst of all the chaos. 

"Aww..." you coo, gently prying Jake out of the crook of your neck and shoulder. "Sweetie, I'm sure James didn't mean to."

"He said he hates me!" Jake wails.

"What?" Bucky squawks. He sputters, "I- No -I never said that - I - what?"

"Okay, okay," you gently interject. "I'm sure that no one hates anyone else. Let's just take all take a breath."

"Ducky said that you weren't going to see me anymore! That you're only going to see him."

"I never - He's only lying because he knows I like you!" Bucky blurts out. 

"What?" you ask, eyes blown wide. 

"What?" Bucky repeats, the realization of what he just said hitting him like a ton of bricks. 

"You just said-" you have to stop mid-sentence as you recall the injured child seated before you. "Okay, let's calm down and get you cleaned up, okay?"

The walk back to the orphanage thankfully isn't very far, and Jake doesn't utter a single complaint about walking - though, once again, Bucky figures that has a lot to do with the kid walking hand-in-hand with you. 

When you've finally reached the orphanage, Bucky falters, stopping just short of the entrance. You look back at him with a curious, worried expression, "You okay?"

With a furrowed look on his face, Bucky nods several times, "Yeah, yeah, I'll just wait out here. You go ahead."

"James," you apologetically sigh. 

"Seriously, I'm okay," Bucky reassures you. "I'll wait for you right here."

"Okay," you reluctantly agree. 

It's only ten minutes later that you finish applying the last bandage to Jake's mildly scrapped knee in the nurse's office.

With all the excitement finally died down, there's a tense silence in the room. Jake stares down at his hands with a dramatic pout as you toss the last bandage wrapper in the garbage. 

"Jake," you begin with a knowing tone, hands on your hips in disproval. "Did James actually push you?"

He refuses to meet your eyes, the same dramatic pout still on his face.

"Jake," you prod.

'No," he admits with a sigh.

"So why'd you lie?" you gently question. "You could've gotten him in a lot of trouble. And you made him feel pretty bad back there too."

"Why do you care so much about him?" Jake grumbles.

You take a seat on the table beside the little boy. You lean over, nudging your shoulder with his, "Jake, what's going on?"

"Do you like him more than me?"

"What?" you softly chuckle, a little unsure of how to answer the unexpected question. You knew Jake, more than any of the other kids, had grown attached to you, and you certainly didn't want to hurt his feelings. "Of course not. I like you guys in different ways. It doesn't change that you're my favorite little guy."

"Yes, it does!" he angrily accuses. "And you're gonna like him more than me and then you're gonna stop seeing me."

"What are you talking about? Who said I'm going to stop seeing you?"

"Everyone stops seeing the big kids," he bitterly mutters, crossing his arms in a huff. 

It all finally clicks into place for you. "Sweetie, is this about the adoption? Listen, I'm so sorry that happened, but you're going to find a family-"

"No, I'm not," he interjects. "I'm 8 now. No one's gonna want me anymore."

"Sweetie, that's not true," you try to assure him.

"Yes, it is!" he insists. "No one wants a big kid."

"You are going to find a family that'll love you so much-"

He cuts you off once more with a pleading expression and frantic excitement coating each of his words. In the little boy's desperation, you see tears beginning to well in his eyes, "Why don't you take me home? It'll be so much fun. When you're not doing your duties, we can play all the time!"

"Buddy," you sigh, crouching down to meet Jake's now teary eyes. "We've talked about this before. You know I can't."

"But why not?" he pleads. "I promise I'll be good! I'll even be nice to Ducky if you want."

"It's not about you being good."

"Then why not?"

"Well, for one, my job is dangerous, I'd never forgive myself if you got hurt," you calmly explain, even as your throat begins tightening at the discussion. It was a discussion you had before. Several times already. Truth be told, you'd take all the kids home if you could. But you knew better than most that these kids all deserved a real family. Someone who would be there more than once every few weeks. "And because it wouldn't be fair to make you wait for me all the time. But mostly because you deserve a real family. A family that can look after you, love you, that doesn't pop in and out of your life. And I know it feels like that it won't happen, but it will, you're going to find a family that loves you so much, and they're going to give you so much more than I could. And when that happens, you're not even gonna remember little ol' me."

"I think I'm always going to remember you," he whimpers, throwing his arms around you in a tight embrace.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," you tell Jake.

He peels himself out of your embrace to meet your eye, "Promise?"

"Promise."

You nod, clenching your jaw tightly through a warm smile. You reassuringly run your hands over the kid's arms as you stand from your crouching position. "'Happy Birthday."

He throws his arms around your midsection, squeezing you as tightly as he possibly can.

You gently smooth the hair on the back of his head as melancholy tugs at your heart. Your eyes squeeze shut as you attempt to keep the emotions at bay, or at the very least off your face.

By the time you manage to leave, Bucky awaits you outside, leaning against the old brick building in the cool early spring air.

Bucky jolts up at the sound of the door swinging open then shut. He's not sure what he expected when you walked outside, but it certainly wasn't the distressed, heartbroken look on your face. He watches as your eyes squeeze shut with a deep inhale followed by a shaky exhale as the cold breeze hits your warmed face. 

Though he's not one for displays of affection, Bucky envelopes you in a secure embrace. He murmurs into the top of your head, "You okay?"

You shake your head, allowing the tears welled in your eyes to finally spill down your cheeks. "Just wish I could do more."

"You do plenty," Bucky offers.

"Sorry," you sniffle, pulling away from Bucky's embrace. You wipe the stray tears on your cheek, "It's just a sensitive subject. Probably an orphan thing."

"It's not," Bucky retorts. "It's because you have a big heart - because you care."

You weakly smile up at him, "Thanks."

"You want to talk about it?"

"Are you asking me if I want to talk about feelings?"

He awkwardly chuckles, "Yeah, first time for everything, I guess."

"I don't really want to talk about it."

"Okay."

"I care about you too. I hope you know that," you unexpectedly offer. 

Bucky's hear almost stops right then and there. His throat constricts as a goofy smile plants itself on his face. "Really?"

"Of course I do," you chortle. 

Bucky clears his throat, a hopeful expression lighting up his face, "Do you - you happen to have plans in about seven weeks from now?"

You look down at your wrist, no watch in sight, "I've got a little time today."

Grumpy Sunshine Series AnonymityIsFun Masterlist

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[faerywhimsy]

Vamptember Day 24 -FREE DAY

I am a huge fan of book to TV adaptations, so much so that a portion of my Honours thesis was actually dedicated to that particular portion of media.

The Hunger Games books and movies offer a perfect example of so much of what I love about it; a series of books that are from a limited 1st person perspective, then expanded out into a series of not just three but four movies to make room for perspectives that are hinted at within the books, yet given no explicit voice given the nature of the perspective choice.

But even a faithful adaptations can turn sour is when enough of the central themes of a story get overturned over the course of a longer running series. I’m thinking Game of Thrones here. That first season was almost a play by play of the first novel. Things like the Red- and Purple Weddings later occurred more or less as expected, though timelines of surrounding events were fudged. There were some really cool graphics made on this topic back in the day.

And then... well, we got the last 3 seasons, didn't we? What a disappointment (sorry Jacob, you're an actor capable of doing things that are very subtle, but that show let you down).

Reimaginings can likewise be good or bad, but they have built into them a bit more leeway. Where these usually turn sour is around the time they fully abandon the source material. This is mostly your ‘loosely inspired by’ stuff. It’s putting a name on the door that’s generated to sell tickets. I’m trying to think of a good example of this, but the stuff I haven’t liked doesn’t tend to stick in my head because I’ve usually moved on by then. At their strongest, reimaginings bring well thought out and updated content to a fandom.

BBC's reimagining in Sherlock was innovative when they brought Conan Doyal's characters into the modern day. They succeeded in doing that because what they kept sacred, at least to begin with, was the relationships between the characters and the overarching themes that came from that. By doing only those two things, they were able to reinvent satisfying ways to touch on the main plot points of the original stories.

That team also, sadly, offered a cautionary tale of what happens when such a project deviates too far from its source material.

The reimagining in AMC's Interview with the Vampire is far more ambitious and therefore complex in what it proposes, with an equal half of its story existing in a space that will be close to what was written in the books. I genuinely hope they end up succeeding with their ambition. Part of that is that it's not pretending to be any sort of directly faithful adaptation.

The first hint? The entire premise of S1: It’s 2022 and Louis invites Daniel for a second interview. That just didn't occur in the books.

This one change brings the story straight into the modern day, which is easily arguable as something needed for a series that released its first book in 1976. While I love a nostalgic- or period piece as much as the next person, I’m not disappointed by this.

This is the kind of change that’s a deal breaker. It stands to give new watchers the introduction they need into the world at the same time as giving something entirely unexpected to old fans. In other words, it’s narrative gold to someone like me.

The reasons I love it are completely different to what draws me to a straight like for like with added scenes adaptation as outlined above in Hunger Games. By changing the timeline and beginning straight out of the gate, it means that you can change everything.

And, god, they do.

Okay, obviously not everything. Character names, places, even dates on their own aren’t enough to hold the narrative cohesion of a reimagining if it doesn’t hold tight enough to the central themes of the source material to maintain that the original plot points still make sense to come to pass. WHICH S1 DOES.

I have so much interest in dissecting how they’ve so far kept hold of (most of) the themes and yet, in only 7 episodes, have already told a story with so many different details. And, if I’m gonna be totally honest, TVC is perfectly primed for exactly this kind of adaptation simply because, as a collection, these books have never been consistent (thank you, Anne for this dubious and ongoing gift).

There has been a single possible inconsistency with themes that did give me some cause for concern, but it’s also not the one that most people seem concerned by. So, let’s get into the analysis!

Armand:

I’m beginning with this character, because a supercut on YouTube I finally got around to watching made me realise we got a total of 15 minutes of Assad on screen in the 7 episodes of S1, and less than 5 of those are of him in the named character. So it’s an easy place to start.

Obviously, there is little difference that can be pointed to in those fewer than 5 minutes other than the differences in physical appearance than described (17 y/o, red hair, brown eyes) in the books, and that’s what I’ve seen a lot of discourse on thus far. That, and what on earth this Louis had on him to convince him it was a great play to pretend to be Rashid in front of Daniel. (He is a theatre kid, I guess…)

There is however a short detail in The Vampire Armand after Armand goes into the sun, however, that briefly describes his eyes as being orange (maybe amber?) as he starts to heal, and therefore the choice on making Assad’s eyes this colour in the series becomes an interesting detail to me.

Also, let’s be honest – if you’re gonna make the creative choice to have both Sam and Jacob in these luminescent contacts, but leave Assad’s natural throughout… well, I mean, what is being said on that side of the coin if that’s the choice being made?

On the side of details they kept AND CHANGED at the same time, my favourite for this character continues to be the below image that shows the physical resemblance between one Assad Zaman and, yes, a different Botticelli painting than any referenced in the books, but ultimately a Botticelli painting all the same. We're good to go!

Louis:

I don’t really want to focus too long on the obvious differences between Louis the slave owner (books) and Louis the pimp (series) except to say they are there. As are Louis’ signature green eyes.

However, that is where the resemblance ends. And I’m not just talking about physical.

In Louis’ case, the biggest difference I clocked and remarked in DMs up till now that—as a fanfic writer of both books and series fandom—Louis’ was the voice that consistently gave me most trouble to move between. I literally could not convincingly write him in any series fic at the same time as I was writing my mammoth long fic How They Get to Trinity Gate.

And it was not the fact that Louis was white in the books that tripped me up.

Another big thing is the change to when Louis and Lestat meet. This changes things for Lestat's character a bit as well, but I think it's more clear at this point the ways in which Lestat being set up as that much stronger and older than Louis on first meeting has had an impact on their story. Armand will be that much older than Louis as well, but what's a difference of a handful of decades when Armand already was that much older than Louis canonically?

As a linguist, I remain most fascinated by the dialogue changes that have been given to Louis’ character, particularly in historic New Orleans scenes. When reading Interview With the Vampire, there’s not a great deal of difference to the voice of Louis in the present vs the past that he gives to the boy interviewer. In the series, however? The difference in character from past to present is as unavoidable as it is riveting. To me, that alone offers so many details about who Louis is as a person, the disparity between Louis and a Lestat who obviously still gets to keep his book canon French accent.

In terms of how these changes effected the story as Louis relates it to Daniel, however? I mean, for the most part, the Louis I watched was equally convincing as he hit the main plot points his character needed to hit to stay true to the source material. That makes it a successful update to me!

Daniel:

Daniel is a laugh, both in the books and in the series. But, though the series has held on to the aspect of his sense of humour from the books, that humour is depicted in a completely different way.

Self deprecating, for the most part, or actually laugh out loud funny is what we see of Daniel in the books. Occasionally his anger gets the better of him, but for the most part he’s more docile—or possibly just as drunk—as many of us would be in similar circumstances. Apart from, say, when he’s calling Armand an immortal idiot.

The humour we get from Daniel in the series, though? That’s cutting. Yes, aimed to slice others up, especially when he’s deflecting from himself, but also the stuff that's made to cut through bullshit.

He’s had another 50 years to hone it, and none of them were lost to madness or absence from himself. No, this Daniel has been present every year of the 69 that have been given to him, and it shows. His wit has grown up with him, because he has grown up in a way he never got to in the books.

Something else to consider, however, is the fact that this Daniel is half David.

Actually, it's more than half. We got less of Daniel in S1 than we got of Armand. When I say this, I mean the only parts from the book canon we've got were in a couple of flashback scenes and the recording Eric listens to, then plays in Dubai in Episode 1. Only Luke Brandon Field has so far shown me anything close to a faithful version of Daniel, and I've no doubt this actor is destined to continue to follow that trajectory throughout future seasons.

That leaves me with wondering who we've got in the present from Eric? And that's David Talbot who, it turns out, is another canonical interviewer within The Vampire Chronicles. You may remember him as the guy who interviewed Armand, a version of which we're also set to see in S2.

David, when we first see him in Queen of the Damned, is someone interested in vampires not as puff portraiture but as a reality. He’s an older man coming to acceptance he’s near the end of his life and career. And he does not want to be made into a vampire.

Louis: A still hand, time to watch your daughters marry. Daniel: And divorce. And die.

Sound familiar?

Let me explain something of what I suspect went into this decision behind the scenes: The character of Daniel is underdeveloped in the books to say the least, something I’ve written about already during Vamptember. There was never going to be enough of the book character of Daniel in AMC's version to satisfy every book reader. Anne simply didn't give us enough of him, and fandom remains wildly divided in how to interpret him.

By contrast, David was a character readers got far too much of because of Anne's attempt to shoe horn us into a different romantic interest for Lestat. He's just not as popular. Imagine for a second the reception if the early promotional material had named Eric as playing 'David' instead of 'Daniel'? It's a marketing mislead, and one that's paid off.

When setting up the core "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf"-esque central cast, the creative team over at AMC did something very clever, I think. They pulled over characteristics of another underdeveloped character from the same canon in order to flesh their version of Daniel out. We'll almost certainly see a body swap, and that's where the David, and Eric's, part of the story will end.

In conclusion, I will absolutely eat my hat if we see someone called David Talbot walking around in this series ever ever. And, when it comes to the eventual plot line of making Daniel a vampire, they've set up three good options in front of them (and another example where we old fans have no way to expect WHICH WAY IT WILL GO):

He'll be coerced into it (David, canonically by Lestat, but in this universe almost certainly Armand)

He'll change his mind and demand it again (Daniel in true Devil's Minion style)

He'll almost die and someone will have to turn him (Daniel, yes, but also Jesse)

Two of these methods of becoming a vampire from the early books canonically turn a Talamasca character, and I definitely have some on-a-tangent theories there, given the presence of Talamasca characters already in Mayfair Witches.

The only thing they’ll need to change from the books here is Armand being Daniel/David’s foil, instead of Lestat. And, look, they’ve already positioned Louis right there as the love of his life in the face of the love triangle that’s sure to follow in the series, as in the books.

Fareed (bonus):

This is further to my passing body swap comment in the last section, but I really wanted to add:

Why include this minor character front and centre as early as S1? Why then have him explicitly say he is not there not once but three separate times as part of his only dialogue?

Fareed: That is not my voice. And I'm not here. [...] I am not here. [...] I'm not here. [...] Pleasure never meeting you, Mr. Molloy.

Is this not explicitly designed to have the same effect as telling a person not to imagine a pink elephant? Not to mention, it's as meta as fuck. That's Schrödinger's Vampire right here.

So why do these things if not to bring to the front of people's minds not only that the entire of Anne Rice's canon is free game in this reimagining? But that Fareed in particular is a character who's the first of his kind in the Chronicles; a scientist who can and does invent a clone?

A clone that might just end up looking very much like Luke Brandon Field?

Why, also, spend so much time and promotional material on another actor we see for about the same short space of time within S1? Minute for minute, I reckon we get about the same amount of screen time here with Gopal Divan as we do with Luke.

That, and they both happen to appear for the first time in Episode 6. Just saying.

In terms of canon deviation, if there was a physical description of Fareed in the books, I honestly don't remember it. He was just one of Anne's many, many characters that were a) created to function as a plot point, and b) forgotten beyond the original purpose he was created for.

As long as they manage to keep Fareed interested in the vampiric sciences, I honestly don't see there being any problems.

Lestat:

Saving the best till last, am I right?

Lestat is Lestat is Lestat, isn’t he? The blond hair. The blue eyes. The arrogant swagger. Both the father’s anger matched with the uncontrollable laughter raging within him at all times. Completely out of control. Hedonistic, definitely to a fault. A Byronic hero in the package of an immoral vampire.

I hated Lestat and, when I read the books as a teenager, it was despite him.

I was ready to go into the series doing the same. The stories, the themes, the history, the characters (minus Lestat). There is so much richness to love in the world of the books, despite so much of it being told by Lestat. And there was no doubt we were gonna get less of The Lestat Show in a show that’s not told from his PoV and has three other main characters vying equally for that attention.

I will amend this statement now to acknowledge he does get less obnoxious by the time we hit the final trilogy, which were obviously not out when I’d made the judgement call of despising him. (Hell, Tales of the Body Thief wasn’t yet out…)

In Lestat's case, the changes that have been made aren't so much of appearance or characterisation, so much as moments. And I understand why. Lestat is iconic and, in many ways, impossible to change in any meaningful way because of it. So the choice of changing moments here and there becomes the perfect way to cast a new spin on Lestat's character.

ESPECIALLY when you have Armand right there behind Louis the whole time, almost certainly controlling the narrative.

Obviously, there was That Scene in Episode 5. That particular scene is one that never happened in any of the books. But Lestat’s aggressions, micro and otherwise, are a well known particularly in early canon, and Louis is certainly not exempt from them.

Nor is Claudia. And who among us haven’t put up with less when it’s aimed towards a person we love than what we’ll put up with aimed to ourselves?

Despite it not following an actual canon event, it held intact location, characters and central themes all together – the summation of most important aspects when we have an adaptation and hope it will continue to hit the major canon plot points in its reimagining.

We saw Lestat, Louis and Claudia all moving towards an event we all knew was coming, and what ended up being the climax of S1.

What I don't see being talked about anywhere near so much is the beginning of Episode 3, as Louis begins to commit himself to becoming a nuisance to the feline life of New Orleans.

Lestat: Say we come upon a murderer planting a flowerbed, thinking only of flowers. How long do we wait before his bloody deeds reveal themselves? Louis: As long as it takes. Lestat: You haven’t thought this through, Louis.

The charitable view, of course, is that Lestat is just not wanting, in this moment, to encourage anything Louis wants to say. If so, it would hardly be the only time Lestat shuts Louis down. Louis says he doesn’t want to feed on humans anymore so Lestat’s immediate response is to push as hard in the opposite direction. I would be satisfied with that.

Equally, I would be satisfied if, come S3, Lestat is revealed to remember this conversation completely differently. It would make sense. Of COURSE Lestat wants to feed on the evil doer and only the evil doer. What else are monsters like them supposed do? This would speak perfectly to their being many things in The Vampire Lestat that are different once Lestat takes the reigns of the books and supposed pen name.

The more I think about it, the more I won't be terribly surprised if they decide on one of these—or even a secret third option (Armand, I'm looking at you)—being the way this moment washes out later. The repercussions of deviating from Lestat only feeding from the evil doer are far too detrimental to the canon they seem intent to create.

Basically, their Lestat holding fast to this opinion for any longer than this scene would leave them struggling to hit more than one major plot point in future seasons.

Anyone who's read the books knows Lestat has already come across Marius before he meets Louis. He's heard Marius’ treatise on only eating the evil doer, and understands why his mentor holds to that tenant. Likewise, Lestat has prior to that come across Armand—something that has all but been confirmed for the series, again in the S2 trailer—and, after meeting both fledgling and maker, Lestat is able to pull together for himself an ethical stance he will take into the rest of his immortal life.

Lestat doesn't have to figure out what his code is gonna be, or whether he's gonna have one, like he way that's depicted for Louis in Episodes 2-3. This ethical stance informs him and carries through from there to the time in the future where Lestat’s made Prince of all vampires.

We'd have a very different looking future seasons ahead of us if Lestat were to abandon that code. It would make Episode 5 look tame.

But Sam knows those books. Rolin knows those books.

I love these monsters. As unreliable as Anne was with her famous lack of editing, this was something even she never flipped back and forth on. And a bunch of monsters with a code is still what we are seeing in S1 just from the fact that Daniel has survived this far into the interview in 2022.

They were and continue to be monsters, her characters, but they aren't that monstrous. There's a line for these serial murders. Honour among the thieves of mortal life.

That’s what makes them so enduringly interesting in all the variations we see for them.

@vamptember