# Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[alexanderpearce]

ship ask meme 1. who is the duck, the duck all in the stream, and who became the waterdog and fetched them back again? 2. who is the star, the star all in the night, and who became the thundercloud and muffled them out of sight? 3. who became the rose, the rose all in the wood, and who became the bumble bee and kissed them where they stood? 4. who is the nun, the nun all dressed in white, and who became the canting priest and prayed for them by night? 5. who is the trout, the trout all in the brook, and who became the feathered fly and catched them with their hook? 6. who is the corpse, the corpse all in the ground, and who became the cold clay and smothered them all around?

[jackklinemybeloved]

[…]

Percy’s warning to fellow half-bloods in the audience, across different mediums.

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (2005) The Lighting Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical (2017) Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series Teaser (2023)

[joseigamer]

Interview with the Vampire Manga Adaptation (Yoake no Vampire) by Udoh Shinohara + DL Link

DL LINK HERE

Happy new episode of IWTV AMC day! Today though, I want to share something I've teased earlier on my blog, which is the Japanese manga adaptation of the Interview with the Vampire gothic horror novel. See under the cut for more details!

It came out in 1994, a bit after the movie, but it only referenced the book itself. It consisted of a single volume made up of three chapters, so events are condensed and abridged, and it skips Part II in Eastern Europe. The first two chapters were scanlated into English by a group named Trine and distributed on the aarinfantasy forums in 2007, but the third chapter was kind of lost to time, especially after all the links to the raw Japanese scans went down years ago. However, I discovered that a now defunct Portuguese scanlation group did the whole thing (individual credits included in the .zip), and I was able to recover chapter three, use heavily cross-checked and edited MTL (PT-ENG), and deliver the final product to you all. See more notes about this process or where to read the PT version in the readme file included in the .zip! It's not 100% perfect and I would not call it true 'scanlation' obviously, so if anyone can do a better job I welcome them to! I hope more visibility on this manga makes the raws become available again so a true JPN-ENG translation can be done on the last chapter!

This manga obviously has major IWTV book spoilers, but it does NOT include anything from later books in the series and is honestly quite faithful overall. It even includes Lestat's father. I might actually call it slightly gayer than the book, since Louis and Armand become more obviously in love. I would recommend it to anyone who's watching the series and hasn't read the book yet, as well as to anyone who enjoys the books alone! The art style is very 90s, but it has some really beautiful visuals sometimes, especially with Claudia. I hope everyone enjoys reading it!

[jaeausten]

I’m down for another Jane Austen adaptation, but why does it have to be from Netflix and why can’t it be Mansfield Park?

[mostlyvoid-partiallyflowers]

The most recent episode of Interview with a Vampire let's us see Lestat's side of the story and see how it compares to Louis' accounting of their relationship. As a result, it reaffirms just how unreliable of a narrator Louis is, but it also further illuminates elements of his character that the director and writers have been playing with since the beginning of the show.

There's this part in the episode where Lestat turns to Louis and apologizes and it's framed with Lestat turned to Louis on one side and Claudia on his other side. They're the angel and devil on Louis' shoulders, but who is the angel and who is the devil? And as my friend said, Armand and Daniel are placed into that same dynamic with Louis later on. We are being asked to decide who to trust, who's telling the truth, who's the good guy, but the fact of unreliability robs us of that decision.

This whole story is about Louis, he's the protagonist, though not the narrator, and he is constantly being pulled in two directions, no matter when or where he is in his story. He's a mind split in two, divided by nature and circumstance. He's vampire and human, owner and owned, father and child, angel and devil. He's both telling the story and being told the story. His history is a story he tells himself, and as we've seen, sometimes that story is not whole.

Louis is the angel who saved Claudia from the fire but he's also the devil who sentenced her to an life of endless torment, the adult trapped in the body of a child. He's the angel who rescued Lestat from his grief and also the devil who abandoned him, who couldn't love him, could only kill and leave him.

He's pulled in two directions, internally and externally at all times and so it's no wonder that he feels the need to confess, first to the priest, then Daniel, and then Daniel again.

He's desperate to be heard, a Black man with power in Jim Crow America who's controlled by his position as someone with a seat at the table but one who will never be considered equal. He doesn't belong to the Black community or the white community, he can't. He acts as a go-between, a bridge, one who is pushed and pulled until he can't take it anymore. He's a fledgling child to an undead father, he's a young queer man discovering his sexual identity with an infinitely experienced partner. He's confessing because he wants to be absolved, that human part of him that was raised Catholic, that child who believed, he wants to be saved. He wants to be seen.

Louis wants to attain a forever life that is morally pure, but he can't. He's been soiled by sin, by "the devil," as he calls Lestat, and he can never be clean again. Deep down, I think he knows this, but he can't stop trying to repent. He tries to self-flagellate by staying with Lestat and then tries to repent by killing him, but can't actually follow through. He follows Claudia to Europe to try and assuage his guilt. He sets himself on fire, attempts to burn himself at the stake, to purify his body, rid himself of the dark gift.

Louis is a man endlessly trying to account for the pain he has caused and he ultimately fails, over and over again, because he can't get rid of what he is. A monster. He's an endlessly hungry monster. He's hungry for love, for respect, for power, for forgiveness, for death. He's a hole that can never be filled. He can never truly acquire any of those things because he will always be punishing himself for wanting and needing them in the first place. He will never truly believe he deserves them and as a result, can't accept them if they are ever offered. He can never be absolved for he has damned himself by accepting the dark gift and thus has tainted himself past the point of saving.

[seefasters]

also one fun thing that the book does is that it initially presents aziraphale and crowley as these supposed enemies turned casual allies, like they weren't really feeling the whole enemies gig (mostly because they're very lazy) and much preferred going to restaurants together from time to time. and you accept that as the extent of their relationship more or less until aziraphale gets agnes' book of prophecies and it's noted that crowley suddenly feels very lonely when he's left by the angel. and you're like okay so there is something there. and then it turns out crowley is not only willing to go into a burning bookshop for aziraphale, he's distraught by his loss. and then it hits you that oh, the demon cares for the angel very very deeply actually. it changes how you view all of their previous and future interactions

the tv show, of course, is unable to do that because of tennant and sheen's a/c mooning over each other since day one so it would be kinda hard to sell them as just coworkers, but it also chooses to expand on their personal history and give them additional conflict re: their respective sides

both are great approaches, i'm just really fond of how the book takes you for a ride a little bit

[adaptations-polls]

Which version of this do you prefer?

Putting an extra text note on the poll too just because I'm seeing more of these types of comments on this poll than I have on many previous ones: Please read the pinned post of my blog and look at my original notes on this poll before asking why a certain version was not included. There are going to be more Robin Hood based polls later with another set of adaptations. If there's a particularly notable version- such as Men in Tights- that is not on here it is probably because it is going to be part of the second set. This is true of most polls I do where there are many many adaptations. They will eventually receive another poll and possibly eventually a compilation poll presenting all the most popular options from previous versions together.

[hinasho]

I'll tell you what people's problem with The Crow 2024 is — I'm a longtime fan by the way, I own the comics, I watched all the movies, so on.

The Crow 1994 managed to get the soul of the source material (comics). The Crow is a story about overcoming grief and acceptance of death — the author wrote Eric's story during his darkest periods of grief after his girlfriend was killed. So the story of Eric and Shelley have meaning, they are meaningful characters to a lot of people. Brandon's movie, while with some differences from the original story, still carried the same themes beautifully and the tragedy that happened during the filming made people (me included) turn protective over the memory of The Crow and it’s meaning.

There were three other movies after The Crow 1994 but they never dared to touch on Eric's character, instead they created new ones like Ashe Corven, Jimmy Cuervo and Alex Corvis. And those movies suck, don’t get me wrong, but people don’t have a problem with them because they didn't touch on Brandon's Lee legacy and di their best to stay on theme — grief and acceptance. They are their own thing, and that's that.

So did the comics. Eric story is the first main one, but no one took him and tried to continue it, he's pretty much untouchable, he has his beginning and his end. Instead, they created new Crows for their stories: Joshua, Iris Shaw, Mark Leung...There's a long list of existing Crows with their own stories.

The problem with 2024 The Crow is mostly that they called it a remake and took Eric's names to a character that doesn’t even resembles the original Eric — and I'm not saying in physical appearance, I'm saying his essence because the original Eric is a killer of bad guys, but he's also pretty charismatic; he loved life, he was gentle with the little girl Sarah he was friends with, he was kind, he was thoughtful, he even jokes around! Which, to many people, Bill's Eric does not resembles even a little bit of Eric's other than his name and neither does his story matches the themes and soul behind The Crow franchise.

The main gripe The Crow community has with the 2024 version is them taking Eric's and Shelley story, then changing it so much and losing it's soul when the easiest thing to avoid all this controversy and review bombing would've been just be like "Hey, we're making a new Crow movie, but we have created our own original protagonists for it!" just like people have been doing for years, because that's what 2024 Shelley and Eric feel like to people — original characters who just happen to share the names of the OG's.

Anyway, I watched the 2024 version and while Bill did a phenomenal job as always with what he was given and he looks so damn good, the story just...Didn't get me at all. There's not one bit of The Crow essence in there for me.

Hello, thank you for sharing your thoughts! 💞 I finally watched The Crow 1994 and City of Angels today (still need to watch Salvation & Wicked Prayer) so fortunately I now have a bit more context.

The problem with 2024 The Crow is mostly that they called it a remake

So to begin my breakdown: The 2024 isn't a remake of the 1994 movie. This seems to be a widespread misconception. But in all of the clips and trailers Lionsgate has released, they clarify that it's a "modern re-imagining of the original graphic novel". The movie never claims to be a remake of the 1994 film.

Now a fair debate could be how closely tied (or not) the '24 movie is to the graphic novel, which the two are remarkably different, but based on the reviews and comments I've seen, fans seem more inclined to keep comparing it to the 1994 adaptation despite Lionsgate never claiming they were trying to remake that specific film.

So basically, comparisons between '94 Eric and '24 Eric don't really hold up as valid criticisms in my opinion, because the director had no intention of adapting the '24 film from the '94 movie in the first place.

the original Eric is a killer of bad guys, but he's also pretty charismatic; he loved life, he was gentle with the little girl Sarah he was friends with, he was kind, he was thoughtful, he even jokes around! Which, to many people, Bill's Eric does not resembles even a little bit

'24 Eric is still a killer of killers. He only kills those that attack him first or had something to do with his and Shelly's deaths. He never kills needlessly.

In regards to him loving life, 2024 Eric does in droves! He actively hates having to kill so many people and takes no enjoyment out of it. The opera scene, while fantastic, wasn't a fun moment for him. Since her death, you can tangibly feel that all he wants to do is get back to his simple life with Shelly. He loves her and he loves the life they had.

As for him being charismatic, I can see your point there. In the graphic novels (from summaries I've read), GN Eric does have a morbid sense of humor and at times played around with his kills before finishing the job. His relationship with Sherri was brief but sweet and he gets a cute cat!! He continues to form relationships even after Shelly's death because of his charisma and kindness.

From a writing perspective, I believe all of these moments are intended to humanize Eric given the GN begins with him as The Crow pretty much immediately. We are introduced to him already in the throes of his grief and seeking vengeance.

In contrast, the '24 film paces the transition MUCH slower with the first act being about how Shelly and Eric meet, and the growth of their romance. I believe Director Rupert Sanders used those scenes to humanize the characters instead, which he accomplishes as both Eric and Shelly feel like they're just normal people dealt a shitty hand who only want to live their lives together. You can see the love they shared and how pure it was.

Basically, the core of the characters remain the same, just told in different ways throughout the story. In the graphic novel, James O'Barr humanizes Eric & adds levity in the midst of the carnage, while Rupert Sanders adds it before the carnage. Despite the timeline differences, both succeed in showing that Eric isn't a mindless murdering machine, and is just a regular guy who's been driven to the point of madness.

(It still would've been a nice touch for '24 Eric to adopt a cat for Shelly in the movie though.)

Bill's Eric does not resembles even a little bit of Eric's other than his name and neither does his story matches the themes and soul behind The Crow franchise.

From my understanding, the main themes behind the franchise are grief, the difficulty to move past it, and divine justice.

All three Erics suffer from visions of Shelly, who's memory plays on a feedback loop as they go about their spree. Something both the '94 and '24 films don't do, however, is touch on GN Eric's self harm tendencies. Which isn't a criticism! I'm merely discussing the different ways they show Eric's state of mourning.

The inability to move on is also still prevalent in the '24 movie. It's an active choice Eric makes when Kronos gives him the option to get his life back, and instead Eric submerges deeper and signs away his soul. He steps into it with his eyes wide open knowing he's damning himself forever.

Meanwhile in the graphic novel, Eric is already submerged. He is already a walking corpse, the embodiment of a heart so broken the only way to put himself back together is to weaponize the shards of his loss. I believe this is who '24 Eric develops into after the second act when he signs away his soul.

In the first act, he is human. In the second act, he is transitioning, and in the third act, he has truly become The Crow. Too deep in grief to escape it. The main difference between the '24 version and the GN version is that we see '24 Eric's journey to reach that final stage. It's the difference between character-focused narratives vs parable-like storytelling. Neither is inherently better than the other, just different.

And when it comes to divine justice, hmmm.....

In the GN, Eric and Shelly are killed and brutalized due to a completely random act of evil. The gang that killed them and assaulted Shelly had zero connections to the couple and were just some cruel, awful randos off the street. Based on what I've read, Eric nearly kills all of them without difficulty. Most of his hardship comes from his own bouts of depression and misery.

(By the way, by having the villains all be mediocre average goons, and majority of Eric's troubles be psychological, the GN focuses more on the danger of all-consuming grief, highly likely because of the trauma James O'Barr was experiencing when he wrote it. Meanwhile both the '94 and '24 films have Eric struggle a lot more during his fight scenes, elevating the danger of his physical opponents. But this is a tangent, back to what I was talking about!)

By all of them being average goons, the story gets across that: yes normal everyday people can and are capable of atrocious acts of evil, and yes they deserve to face the brunt of their crimes and divine punishment.

However in both the '94 and '24 movies, Eric and Shelly's deaths are not random and are planned crimes to silence Shelly. And both come up with a "big bad" for Eric to face off against. In the '94 movie, it was Top Dollar, a criminal kingpin, and in the '24 movie it's Vincent Roeg, a rich executive who's also a crimelord.

BUT what the '24 film does differently is that Roeg is also a supernatural being himself, who's made a pact with the devil to trade innocent souls for immortality.

This is probably the only area in which I agree with OG fans on that a central theme was changed. Because by making the main antagonist "unnatural", it's no longer about everyday, normal people committing horrible evils. It's about a supernatural entity on par with The Crow.

I think Rupert Sanders wanted to focus more on the supernatural aspect of The Crow universe. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing and definitely made for a fun movie, but I do agree with OG fans that the "grounded" nature of casual human cruelty was lost in that regard.

By implementing this change, the weight of Eric's vengeance is also changed. Because now it's no longer just personal. As the character of Kronos says in the movie, they need Eric to kill Roeg because he and all the deaths he's caused are unnatural and they essentially need Eric to tip the scales back into balance. While Eric's primary motive is still about doing right by Shelly, there's now an element of saving the world from an unnaturally superpowered tyrant, rather than the everyday cruelties of man.

So in this aspect, I do agree that a core theme was changed between the graphic novel and the 2024 movie. This still doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad story, just that Rupert Sanders had different intentions.

Because this still connects to the previous theme, the inability to move on and cope with death. Except now it's portrayed in the antagonist as well. His power is completely about his refusal to accept his own mortality. However, this does, like I said, detract from the normality of evil theme. So it's basically a gain and a loss 😅

(Plus, as I was writing this, I thought about how Eric's motivation is changed as well. In the '24 movie, Eric's goal is still to do right by Shelly, but it's to save her. Because if he succeeds, Shelly will be resurrected. This adds a noble spin to his killing spree, whereas the GN and the '94 film are solely about overwhelming rage at the loss of a loved one. There is no resurrecting Shelly. It's about enacting divine justice against their killers before traveling to the afterlife together. They're already dead and there's nothing GN Eric can do to change that, unlike 2024 Eric.

On the flip side, while this "nobler" take may feel like a negative change, I think it's countered by the fact that Eric succeeds in saving her, but is still dissatisfied because he's unable to actually be with her. GN and '94 Eric were able to find peace and reunite with their loves. '24 Eric only gets about 5 minutes before she's resurrected and he's stuck in purgatory forever.

At the end of the '24 film, both Eric and Shelly are dissatisfied as they can no longer be together. It's a bittersweet ending that feels more bitter than sweet. So while there is a "nobler" cause behind Eric's actions, the tone of the story is still very grim.

This is also why I believe the way the 2024 movie ended was with the intentions of a sequel where Eric does achieve his own peace. But that's a different conversation!)

...the easiest thing to avoid all this controversy and review bombing would've been just be like "Hey, we're making a new Crow movie, but we have created our own original protagonists for it!" just like people have been doing for years, because that's what 2024 Shelley and Eric feel like to people — original characters who just happen to share the names of the OG's.

Sure! I don't disagree. Well, I don't really think anything deserves to be review bombed unless it's content that's actively harmful. But I don't disagree with the original protagonists angle. Changing the names couldn't have hurt.

That said though, and I say this as gently as I can, Eric's character existed before '94 Eric and does not need to end with the '94 movie. I think it'd be one thing if the 1994 movie created the story of The Crow and that was the first iteration of Eric's character. But... it's not.

Multiple re-imaginings and adaptations of books / comics have been around since forever. The show Smallville and Man of Steel both adapt Superman in wildly different ways. Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew has had five different adaptations, and yet no one shits on 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) or Deliver Us From Eva (2003) for being modern re-imaginings. Awhile ago, me and my friend were discussing our favorite adaptations of the Little Women novel. Her favorite is the 1994 film while my favorite is the 2022 modern Kdrama!

I bring up all of these examples to say that there is REALLY nothing wrong with doing modern re-imaginings of older works, and tweaking characters and plotlines to reflect the changed style of the story and time period.

What's most important is that the heart of the story is kept. At the end of the day, The Crow is about an innocent man who enacts divine justice against he and his lover's murderers, while struggling to cope with her loss. Based on the graphic novel and what I've seen of the 1994 movie and the City of Angels sequel, the world of The Crow says that life can be fair and that no matter how high, or low, or cruel, or spineless, someone is, that karma is a bitch and it IS possible for them to reap what they sow.

I truly think the 2024 adaptation captured that feeling, even if it may look different than what people might be used to or expected.

Instead of being upset about how unexpected it is, try going in with an open mind and seeing the story Rupert, Bill, and FKA Twigs wanted to tell. I've read and seen a few interviews by now, and these three were genuinely passionate about the characters & story, and you can feel that in the movie.

And even if you still have no interest, the other parts of the franchise you do enjoy aren't going anywhere. The 2024 adaptation doesn't effect them in any capacity. The stories you love still exist and the new addition can't harm or take them away from you.

[abominandus]

making a comic about those gay xmen for my comics class. fav poses + expressions so far

[herbertpocketsfidgettoys]

Great expectations reference

[youremyonlyhope]

Bride and Prejudice is free with ads on YouTube!

Link if embed doesn't work.

As someone who has watched literally every single adaptation of Pride and Prejudice that I can get my hands on, this is my favorite version. Go watch it if you have not. It's a Bollywood version of Pride and Prejudice, what is there not to love?

(Directed by Gurinder Chadha who did Bend It Like Beckham, in case you needed an extra push)

[hanzajesthanza]

dandelion is indeed the worst but if he’s not present in the next book i would legitimately be sorrowful as the whole thing will become a slog . you basically cannot have the “short stories” era-of-the-timeline iteration of geralt without dandelion, it would be like eating unbuttered bread.

though it’s not like season of storms did them dirty, i wasn’t disappointed with it (… with regards to them), but since it’s literally been over 20 years since the saga was finished i’m trying to prepare for any potential reality

[cemetery-baccanal]

jinshi please give me a chance

[thewandererh]

🧊Symptom of Danger

| { [ ( a post-coma cccclinic story ) ] } |

for character references, visit here

please do not tag this as a ship

_…~^*^~…_ _…~^*^~…_ _…~^*^~…_

resting on a lounge couch, whole is trying to get some work done through his laptop. he's in his pajamas with a fluffy blanket settled over his lower half, and the 'puter on top of that blanket. ahead of him on a white coffee table is a freshly-opened sprite can, still fizzing and unfinished. nearby, mind sits in a comfy blue flannel robe, drape-y pants, and with his usual mask while reading a book in a grounded birdcage chair. he looks very comfortable, and is keeping whole company.

/weak cough hIC eaugh,,, great./

[you alright?] mind's gaze darts up from his book, protective.

/n-no. i still have a cough even after that cold, a..aHIC and now i have hiccups./ whole adjusts himself and brings a hand to his throat as he hiccups again, wincing painfully.

/aie-yai-yaiy...ouch./

[holding your breath usually works, right?]

/y-yeah, but it could hurt since i've been coughing all day. still on that medicine too. and, well...i don't like that method too much. hIcC...eaugh./

[hmm...] mind closes his book and puts it down on his lap. [are there other tactics?]

already on it, whole is leaning over his computer clacking away. he clicks the enter bar just as another hiccup rings through him.

/alright. i-HIC...excuse me./ he pats his chest briefly. /ow. uhm-paper bag, hugging knees close to chest, si-HICc...aheEm sipping cold water, granulated sugar, and biting into a lemon. there's quite a few apparently./

whole's voice grows a bit croaky near the end of his sentence, and he sputters out a few coughs. then a hiccup shoots through him right in the middle. hunched over, his eyes declare pain as he briefly thuds his chest and clears his throat. mind sits wide-eyed and anxious. whole can handle it—right?

/aHHeHm...mhm... i'll uh...go with the cold water./ he wheezes out another cough, massaging his neck and chest.

[how about...i...go get the water.] mind offers, never dragging his eyes away from whole's hunched posture.

/gh...ghood idea./

.-. .-. .-.

whole shifts in his seat, setting the computer aside, and huddles with his blanket close to his knees. comforting himself and trying a physical tactic out first. he stares straight ahead, glancing at the progress he's made on his computer, before closing it and his eyes to attempt some deep breaths. it's awkward with the hiccups, and his face scrunches up when they strike. he hugs himself and the blanket closer.

mind gets up to get the water, walking by whole's resting spot on the couch. he grabs a tall glass and fills it up on the cold setting with the fridge water filter, sighing. mind knows that he's very protective of whole, especially around soul. he's just...scared something could happen again. even going as far as fearing a certain someone could cause that. always scared some health issue or medical emergency could arise, and then they'd have to go back to that squeaky clean, endlessly tiled, rubbing alcohol-fuming place. whole—all of them—were there for so long. in headspace and in reality. it…changed them. in ways mind doubts he understands fully.

mind finds himself glancing over at whole, who is still hugging himself and trying to take deep breaths amidst the coughs and hiccups. an atmosphere of anticipation filled the room: the next hiccup, the glass to finish filling, or even something worse happing. the chances were never zero. mind stays vigilant for bad signs in case things got worse—but was that anxiety or logic? mind can’t keep his eyes of of whole. what even caused this whole hiccup thing, anyways?

he absentmindedly chooses ice before the loud clunky-splooshy sounds make him realize his mistake. mind looks back to the fridge, startled, before smiling to himself beneath the mask.

[my bad. uh. would you prefer no ice?] he calls out awkwardly.

whole manages /ice is fine, don’t worry./ in return after a hiccup. his hugging method wasn't working.

mind walks over, and whole turns and takes the tall glass from mind's hands. his hands shake as he tries to sip it slowly at intervals. afraid the hiccups would interrupt his sip. mind sits down beside him, hands fidgeting. his oversized blue flannel robe trailing behind him like a cape.

mind wants to guide him, to help in some way, but he bites his tongue. it’s painful to watch. why was it so painful to watch?

whole tries again, preparing himself with a moment of pause to help with nerves, and sips. some of the ice was fractured on the rim of the glass when mind hit the button, now swimming broken in the water. as whole lowers the glass mind hears a crunch. whole crushes up an ice fragment he sipped up, then swallows and smiles.

/it's always better with ice./ he puts the glass down, turning to mind.

[always.] mind nods knowingly, and both share a smile.

.-. .-. .-.

whole sips the glass a bit more before stopping. he wipes his hands on his shirt and then buries them in his blanket.

/my hands don't like the cold though./

he humors the mood and bundles himself up with his fluffy blanket. sighing.

/feels real refreshing feeling it go down. it's like a...waterslide. of cold comfort./ whole closes his eyes and smiles. mind pauses, staring into nothing. his eyes get wide.

[it's gone! your hiccups are gone.]

whole re-opens his eyes and waits.

/you're right!/ he pauses and assesses. /yeah! wow, thanks a bunch. we learned something new today./ whole closes his eyes and smiles. mind leans onto his blanket while smiling with his eyes. they rest for a moment.

.-. .-. .-.

eventually, whole resumed to his work and mind to his reading. whole finishes his scheduling and his tall glass of cold water, then celebrates with a nice snack for himself. mind joins him at the dining table behind the couch after finishing his chapter goal for the day. he snags a cheestick while whole readies a toasted pbj sandwich. he can never settle for the squishiness of the bread against the peanut butter and jelly. the bonus crunch was a must for whole literally always. sitting down opposite to mind after preparing the mini-meal, both whole's elbows collapse onto the glassy dining table. he takes a bite.

/…that hit the spot./ he mumbles out with a tired-eyed smile.

mind chuckles and undoes his mask to set in his lap. he sighs, and unwraps the cheestick to peels it piece by piece.

/woah. i usually just eat it in a few bites. i like your way better./ whole voices his observation after a big swallow.

[whaattt?? you've never seen me eat one if these? enjoy the little things, man. scarfing it down is a big thing—a big thing all going down all at once.]

he wags his finger as he makes his point, then goes to delicately peel his cheesetick as whole laughs.

/i think it’s more fun that way, too/ whole manages, finishing his sandwich as mind nods as a response.

/want anything to drink?/

[maybe some...ice water.] he smiles as he says it, finishing his cheesetick but keeping his mask off.

whole playfully smiles and rolls his eyes, catching the coffee table in his gaze. remembering the empty tall glass, he goes to grab it. something clicks in whole’s head when he spots the sipped soda too.

/uh... mind? i think i found the source of my hiccups earlier./ he grabs the sprite in the other hand, sets it down on the dining table in front of mind, then refills his tall glass. he could almost see the neurons burst with thought behind mind’s eyes.

[the carbonation must've sparked a negative reaction, of course! that kind of gas expands…—when you got the hiccups, how soon before had you sipped it? how many sips? where was this can placed?]

accustomed to this kind of thinking, whole replies as he finishes refilling his glass with ice water.

/yeah, stomach acid stuff./ he sets his refilled glass down on the counter, and grabs a fresh one to fill up for mind. /i tookkk two sips a minute before i started having my hiccups. and the can was placed.../ he leaned to look toward the couch and ergo coffee table /oddly out of view. like in a corner of the table. i think i was moving to sit down when i sipped it and didn't grab it again. then it caused some coughing as the hiccups came?/

mind's brain worked, his eyes laser-focused on the sprite in front of him. whole sets down mind’s water but remains standing beside him, and leans on the tabletop with his arm. mind barely notices the glass.

[that's…exactly what happened. yeah. you haven't had fizzy drinks in a while, right?]

he nods /that's right officer./

[well that’s a puzzle solved then! we have found the why: stay away from fizzy drinks. nice work detective.] mind remembers his water and sips in celebration. relief releases anxiety from his shoulders.

/you’re the one who can solve a rubik’s cube in a minute./ whole tilts his head silly-ly. mind makes a smug shrugging gesture.

[heh, yeah.] setting the glass down, he continues. [but uh, stay away from fizzy drinks in the future…i guess. how does your throat feel now?]

/i will. it feels ok i think?/ he presses a hand to it briefly. /a little leftover strain but that’s about it. the sandwich helped./ reminded, whole moves to clean up the kitchen.

[that’s good.] mind puts his mask back on and gets up to help whole. he feels more fluid as he moves, now unrestrained by tension.

.-. .-. .-.

there’s a quiet moment as they clean up the kitchen. mind is content that the problem is over, and his struggles are eased. but these struggles, this anxieties, are always there. he’s always fearing for whole’s safety. he’s always wary of every little detail. whole isn’t helpless—he’s finished his physical therapy procedures and can walk now. but they’re all getting used to life at this house that even whole hasn’t seen for a while.

mind tenses up: there’s this exhaustive need squirming to know everything’s ok. something could happen. someone could misjudge something. but then whole’s more used to life than any of them are, so he should know if he messes up…right? or maybe something happened to his brain in that place. mind’s brain. an altercation in his psyche. what i-

mind finds himself nearly dropping a plate as thoughts stampede. he sets it down in the sink.

/you ok?/ whole stands at a counter wiping it down with non-alcoholic spray. he turns, there for him.

washing his hands, mind takes a deep breath.

[do you think i’m overprotective?] he stops the faucet and turns to a whole. woefully unprepared and unwilling for this conversation.

whole pauses, but looks into mind’s eyes with a knowing gaze.

/i think that you care about me, and you’re worried something bad could happen./

mind lowers his gaze and nods.

/it’s nothing to be ashamed of. i worry for me too. i don’t want you to shoulder that worry—it’s my job./ whole…knows so much. it makes mind tense. was he that readable?

[i’m just…scared that…we’ll have to go back. or you ch-changed and can’t judge things correctly, or—] mind brings his right hand to his forehead, staggering with his words and demeanor. panicking. his metal arm tenses at his side.

whole recognizes the situation and walks up to mind. he gently grabs the metal hand. mind looks down at the handhold mellowly.

/i’ve…thought about it a lot myself. i have changed. we all have. we’ve overcome obstacles and learned valuable lessons. i believe i’m more…equipped for problems. with my health or my situation./

mind meets whole’s gaze. those knowing eyes spoke soundless comfort mind needed to hear. he knew what he was talking about.

[i’m so worried for you…all the time…] his throat burns as he says it, unwilling. tears well up. and then fall.

mind shivers in a breath, and falls gently onto whole.

they hug.

and it’s warm.

mind sobs quietly, thankful and relieved. he takes off his mask and it dangles by the straps, held weakly by his fingertips. arms dangling at his sides.

he buries his face in whole’s arm. so close that he can hear his heartbeat.

it’s steady and consistent. healthy. bold. and unparalleled in providing comfort.

whole is alive now. he’s ok now. they’re ok now.

whole holds mind gently.

/we’ve changed. and it’s for the better. we have hobbies and things that bring us joy. we have this house and the outside world. we have separate rooms and a backyard. we have grocery stores and style preferences. we have eachother. and we’ll always have eachother./

mind detenses all over, his face weak and wet. he adjusts himself in whole’s arms, and sighs whole-heartedly. eased.

whole draws in a long deep breath himself, sniffling a little. /you all mean a lot to me, mind./ he choked up and can’t continue.

instead, they cradle eachother in the kitchen. anxieties eased. breathing as one.

mind pulls back, wiping his face.

[th-thank you.]

whole smiles, blinking away tears. the sappyness got to him alright. he needs a moment before replying.

/w-well, thank you for getting me some awesome icy water./

mind chuckles, and looks back to his own unfinished ice water. [you too, heh.]

/oh man, i never finished mine did i? where’d it—/ he spins around, spotting it on the counter near the spray bottle. /ah./

mind smiles. he sets down his mask, grabs his glass, and sips while whole finishes his own. mind watches as he chugs the entire thing.

[that hit the spot?]

/big thing going down all at once. still very waterslide-y. hooh./

they share a gaze. and then burst out laughing. it’s reinforced when mind nearly spills his water onto his lap.

they die down gradually, the mood lightened.

[oh! my book. i found some really good literary devices in the last few chapters.]

/ooh, tell!/

mind finishes the last sips of his water and scampers off to the grounded birdcage chair in the living room. he pulls out his notebook (annotations defeat the immersion for him) and flips to today’s date. mind doesn’t wait for whole to sit down before he starts explaining the metaphors and foreshadowing he loves so much. whole is delightedly interested, asking questions and the like. mind’s explanations were always thorough enough that it felt like an experience of the book itself: surrounded by ideas and fantasies. he was so indulged in his hobby that it made whole smile. the hobby he found and enjoys with his whole being.

[boyfriendyke]

there r a lot of things about the myth of psyche and eros that makes me a little insane but one of them has always been the tasks from aphrodite and the unfairness of it. they're not intended to be possible. they're so obviously not meant to be possible, and psyche isn't fucking hercules, you know, she's not a demigod or whatever, she's mortal and these aren't mortal tasks!! it's why psyche has to be helped with each one, fucking by like ants and river gods and shit. and so like. idk. i know ppl see psyche and eros as like a story about love and shit which obviously it is but as a kid psyche and eros always felt like a story about being able to accept help

[zanysmurf]

TAILOR :D