#I like that people feel comfortable talking to me but also. sometimes I just feel like you're talking to my audience instead of me

[stardust-thief]

look after you

an: this my first x reader fic LMAOO, i needed to write smth and this spencer was on my brain :// i am in the middle of a rly long donna fic but i cba this was much easier. also i absolutley have not proof read this sorry

synopsis: you get hurt while hunting down an unsub, after some reluctance (and kind words from papa rossi) you let spencer take care of you, 1.7k words

cw: descriptions of violence, panic attack, spencer swears and can drive (the most un-canon thing abt him) umm italians..., the rest is just fluffy, hurt/comfort, x reader but no y/n

masterlist

The unsub had his gun pointed at you, the cold press of the barrel against flesh. He was ranting and raving about needing to be seen and understood, having spent his childhood in emotional neglect. Teachers and parents failed him at every turn, it’s not his fault that this happened but he can fix it if he just drops the gun. Rossi tried to tell him this over and over, but he only got more angry, pushing the gun in harder and harder. 

If you were to open your eyes, you would’ve seen JJ and Luke there too, guns trained on the unsub. Their eyes glancing between you, the unsub, and the gun. But you didn’t. Not until the bang went off and you could breathe again. 

The flashing lights of the ambulance do nothing to dissuade the pressing headache you feel coming on, the movement of people helps even less. You watch as the EMT’s cart the unsub away on a gurney, sheet covering him. 

“You okay, kid?” Rossi asks from beside you, he had been hovering ever since the ambulance arrived. 

“I’m fine, just need a good night's rest. I’ll be good as new.” You hummed half-heartedly. 

David Rossi always knew when someone was lying to him, part of that talent comes from his job as a profiler, but it’s mostly because of some ancient Italian magic. “I’m gonna pretend you didn’t say that to me. Look, Hotch is on his way with Reid and Emily. They’re gonna be taking some witness statements, but I imagine Boy Wonder will be a little distracted. I want you to let him take care of you, ok? You’ve been through hell tonight kid, let him worry.”

Italians never lie, although you wish they did. Spencer had very obviously caught feelings for you, everyone on the team could see it. Unfortunately, so could you. Spencer Reid was one of the kindest, most genuine people you had ever met, always putting other people's needs before his own. A voice in your head kept telling you that there is nothing you have done to deserve someone like him doting all over you? You had only brought trouble to the people who loved you. Eventually you learned that it was better to just keep everyone at a distance; if you don’t let them in, they can’t get hurt. Which worked well, up until Spencer.

He had such a wormy way of getting into your brain at the worst times; whether it was when you were alone in your kitchen, or at slightly dangerous, very inappropriate times on a case. You couldn’t stop thinking about him and his stupidly cute (and sometimes ill-timed) facts. Some part of you wanted to let him in, in the end the stubborn side always took over. 

Before long, you heard the worried cries of Spencer trying to find you in the chaos. Rossi called his name and gave you a pat on the shoulder, “Remember, you deserve to be looked after too.” and left to find Hotch.

“Oh my god, are you okay? We tried to get here as soon as we could, but they managed to take down the unsub right? What happened, did he hurt you? How did you get so close? Talk to me are-” Oh, how he rambles. 

“Spencer, I’m fine. I just need to… rest, you know. He didn’t hurt me that bad, just a sprained wrist, couple bruises. Could’ve been worse.”

He spluttered, “Could’ve- you know, that doesn’t make this any better, I was so worried about you. He had a fucking gun to your head, I was going insane thinking about what could’ve happened. What did the EMT say about your wrist?”

“Just to rest it, and use an ice pack if it starts to swell or hurt.” You couldn’t look him in the eye, he was so worried about you. It made butterflies dance in your belly, but there was a twinge of guilt there too. He was so busy, he worked so hard and then went home to look after his mom. He had too much on his plate, how could you add more to it? “Spence, I’m really sorry about worrying you. I should be fine to leave now, so I’ll just head home and sleep it off. Have a good night.” You pushed yourself off the ambulance, eyes focused downwards, restless fingers fidgeting with the already frayed bandage.

“No- wait what are you talking about? You’re gonna drive yourself home in this condition? I can’t let you do that, even thinking about it makes me feel sick.” He lowered his head to yours and spoke softer this time, “Please let me take you home. I don’t have to stay, I just want to make sure you’re ok, ok?”

Fuck that voice did things to you. Leaning from side to side, you thought about what Rossi had said earlier. Maybe, it was ok to let someone in? It would be cruel to let him suffer more, not knowing if you were ok or somehow got in a car crash with 5 other vehicles on your way home. Just this once, you think.

Looking up into his soft eyes, you give a small nod. His lips immediately turned up into a smile, his hand comes up to cup your head, fingers stroking your cheek. It felt… nice. His thumb was calloused but he still moisturised enough for it to feel smooth, and he smelled like lemongrass and ginger. His hand fell to the small of your back as he guided you to his car. Ever the gentlemen, he opened your door and softly placed his hand over your head as you got in. Manoeuvring himself into the driver's side, he pulled out his phone and typed something, then quickly stuffed it away into a pocket and turned on the engine.

The sky was dark when you woke up. The unsub had a gun to your head at dusk, and Spencer was walking into your apartment when the moon was out. He took off his shoes and the door, and walked into your living room.

“I’ve never been here before,” he mused. “I like it.”

He looked at ease wandering around your apartment, his shoulders had relaxed and he let out soft musings as he perused your photo collections.

“Oh Spencer, not that one, it’s embarrassing!” You tried (with not a lot of effort) to pull him away from the frame.

“No this is cute, was this when you were at University?” He asked, wrapping an arm around you.

Oh my god. “Yeah, um- those were some of my friends at the time. I try and keep in touch but, you know.”

He hummed, pulling you closer into him. Finally content, he looked down at you. “How’s your wrist?”

“It’s ok,” you shrugged, “just a little tender now.”

“Where’s your kitchen, I can get some ice.”

“Spence-” you wanted to tell him no, to go home and look after himself. But his body was so warm, having him so close to you melted your brain, leaving you unable to think of any good reason as to why he should leave. “It’s the first door on the right.”

His grip tightened for a moment before he swiftly navigated you to the sofa, and turned to leave for the kitchen. The cold of the apartment rushed to get you as soon as he unraveled his arms. You hadn’t been alone all day since the unsubs attack, it somehow felt more claustrophobic. His hand on your throat, squeezing the air from your lungs. The way he grabbed your arm, contorting it so he could throw you to the ground. The gun, pressed into your forehead. The knowledge that the only thing between you being alive, and you being in a ditch, was a madman's finger on the trigger. Reality faded as each memory pressed further and further into your mind. You weren’t in your apartment anymore, you could feel the cold concrete beneath your hands. The thick air in your lungs, Rossi and the unsub shouting.

A hand on your knee, a soft voice bringing you back. There was no unsub, no gun to your head. You were alive. You were alive and Spencer was in your apartment, wiping the tears that had fallen down your face.

“You with me?” His voice was so soft, you couldn’t recall ever hearing Spencer raise his voice in anger. He was so gentle when he touched you. 

The floodgates burst, choked sobs made their way past your lips. Your shoulder shook as you cried, pressing yourself into Spencer’s arms. “Oh honey,” He murmured, pressing his lips into your head, softly rocking you back and forth as you sobbed and sobbed and sobbed. It was too much. You could have died today. Very nearly did. You weren’t ready to die, not yet at least.

As your cries softened into hiccups, you pushed yourself back from Spencer. “I’m sorry, that was so disgusting. It just all- I don’t know.”

 “Hey, you don’t ever have to apologise to me ok? What you went through was really scary, I’d honestly be more shocked if you didn’t cry.” His hand moved to draw soothing shapes along your back as you leaned back into him. “You want to watch something to calm down? I brought you some water and an ice pack for your wrist.”

He would be the death of you. You nod and push yourself back into the sofa, moving your wrist to rest in your lap. Spencer gently places the ice pack across your wrist and grips the tips of your fingers. He leans forward to push your cup of water towards you and grabs the TV remote, then turns and leans back so your side is pressed into his front. Truthfully, Spencer didn’t seem like the type to watch cable TV but he navigated the menu with somewhat ease. 

“Look at what’s on! It’s your favourite isn’t it, you want me to put it on.” He said as he nudged your shoulder.

He remembered your favourite film, of course he would remember it he has an eidetic memory. You hummed a yes as you relaxed your body further into his, finally content. Maybe Rossi was right, having Spencer close really wasn’t so bad after all.

[mayakern]

In light of finding out that there's actually people out there being jerks to you in your inbox, I wanted to tell you how much joy you've brought into my life without even knowing about it! My girlfriend introduced me to your art and your clothing and I've been a huge fan ever since! Your art makes me feel more comfortable in my own skin and see beauty where I hadn't thought to look before, and watching you succeed puts a smile on my face. I wish you and your wife a long and happy life full of joyful memories and interesting stories!

aw thank you, this is so incredibly sweet 🥺🥺🥺

we did have a couple ppl being weirdly combative at the combo of me asking why ppl hadn't purchased from the canada store (this was a genuine question to see if there were issues we didn't know about, which there were) and then me talking about what a rough position the business is in currently, but largely people have been nothing other than extremely kind and supportive and wonderful.

i think it often comes down to the sad reality that when a small brand like us, which is more expensive than fast fashion in large part because we use certified ethical labor, talks about our financial/sales issues in a time when most people are struggling, people sometimes get defensive.

even if i am not being aggressive or mean or blaming our customers--i am also a non-wealthy person who lived through 2024, i have not at any point been unaware of just how difficult things have gotten and i don't blame anyone for their financial situation--because of the type of business i run, seeing me or the business fail can make people feel guilty. because even tho a lot of people try not to think about it, when you buy a fast fashion shirt for $5--or when you buy several, knowing that they'll fall apart after just a few wears--there are so many "invisible" costs. knowing that you can afford a shein clothing haul because someone was, at best, paid pennies to make the garments wears a person down. knowing, too, that that piece of clothing that was made by exploiting other humans is going to end up in the trash relatively quickly also takes its toll.

for a lot of people, fast fashion is all they can afford. and also for a lot of people, they have convinced themselves that buying a higher quantity of cheap garments that will fall apart quickly is more affordable or a better deal than saving up for one more expensive piece that will last them multiple years. after all, buying a single garment that you'll wear for years doesn't give you nearly as much of a dopamine hit as getting an entire clothing haul that costs the same amount up front.

and i think because of this--because a lot of people make this choice and do not feel proud of it--when they see me or my business struggle, they project their own feelings of guilt and assume that i must be blaming them personally. that i am figuratively breathing down their neck and haunting their closets.

the truth is, i know the path i have chosen is not the easy one. i could probably make a lot more money and live a lot more comfortably if i operated on a business model that more closely resembled fast fashion. but for as long as i can afford them, i would like to stick to my ideals. and i don't blame other people for not being able to do the same.

[genderqueerdykes]

I saw a post fairly recently about how trans men can't reclaim the t slur because it's not directed at them. Trans mascs rightfully got in the comments and called them out for it, talking about their own experiences with getting called. Op clapped back with "think about when the average person here's the term they're thinking of a trans fem stereotype."

A piece of me wishes I could've snapped back with, "the same could be said about the word trans itself." I've met far too many people who are hateful talk about how it's so interesting that "men want to be women" but it's not the other way around. Never mind the fact that I a trans man who lives stealth was sitting next to them. Trans men are so far removed from the conversation that by that logic Trans doesn't belong to Trans men/mascs because the average person is going think of trans women a majority of the time unless they are active in the queer community or have a loved one who's a trans man.

yeah that's bullshit because trans men get called ugly tranny dykes literally all the time. people are so proud to admit they've never once tried to look into transmasculinity and transmasculine history period. like i'm calling people out on their shit. you know nothing about transmasc, trans male and butch history if you seriously think we're not affected by tranny. we're also tranny fags to others. we constantly get called tranny faggots. i'm not sure why people think transness only applies to transfeminine people. like. people DO catch on to the fact that transmasculine people are on hormones sometimes or are presenting as men and call us trannies.

like once people do catch on to the fact that there are transmasculine people and trans men, they call us trannies all the same. it also affects trans men and mascs who are perceived as trans women and transfems. it affects intersex people. it affects nonbinary people. it affects genderqueer people. it affects drag kings

I've met far too many people who are hateful talk about how it's so interesting that "men want to be women" but it's not the other way around. Never mind the fact that I a trans man who lives stealth was sitting next to them.

say it. it's just way too common. that's how uninformed cishet people view transness and i don't know why we're propagating it inside of our own community. some people want to control the narrative so bad, it makes me wonder if the reason people are attempting to silence transmascs is literally for that exact purpose. like transness comes in multiple forms.

testosterone is also a hormone. HRT is not synonymous with estrogens. changing your body with testosterone is transsexuality/transness. masculinizing is transness. presenting as a man is transness. we have to stop associating trans with purely feminine. this leaves out SO many butch trans women. so many masc and genderfluid trans women. it leaves out so many people on all sides.

there's not one way to be trans. trans men still face transphobia, and yes, including transphobia unique to transmasculine experiences and those interpreted to be transmasc.

the trans community is not the trans woman/transfemme community. that is the trans woman/transfemme community. those communities are plentiful and right there.

we have to let go of whatever this control freak desire is to shut other people out but it's not hurting us to exist alongside other people and not police their language. you're not literally being harmed by being exposed to transmasculinity and trans manhood. can we as trans women and transfems exist alongside other trans people WITHOUT telling them what they do and don't experience, and policing their language.

this is so old. stop it. there's no reason to be this hostile. we don't own transness. it's a diverse spectrum. you're literally holding yourself back by feeling this way. it's not helping you toward feeling comfortable as a trans woman. you're making your entire life about your suffering and nothing else. you're not more legitimately trans than other people because you're very oppressed. transness is not on a scale of least to most oppressed in terms of legitimacy. let go. liberate yourself.

[call-me-casual]

I’ve been thinking about them so here’s a Scott Tracy [TAG edition] headcanon dump:

1. This is a bit of a retcon of an older headcanon, but Scott is 26 at the start of S1, just at the edge of turning 27, and 29 on the brink of turning 30 at the end of S3. I originally put him as 27, but I will die on the hill that Alan is 17 in S1 based on the uk driving age and I think I’ve seen somewhere that an old magazine or something said the age gap between Alan and Scott was 9 years?

2. Probably not going to be very popular but I headcanon that in the world of TAG, Scott was never in the military or GDF. No bereznik, no nothing. Instead his possible “militaristic” behaviour comes from Jeff’s training and Scott’s tendencies to copy his father.

3. Scott may have the colouring and significant facial features of his father, but actually has a good amount of his mother’s traits, such as his lanky build and personality. He loves his dad dearly and aspires to be like him, but also appreciates the little things his mother gave him that didn’t leave him a simple clone of his dad. He also inherited a few traits from his mother’s side in general.

4. Scott’s behaviour is often him attempting to act like Jeff for the sake of the others. It started as him trying to figure out how to lead, but there was also an underlying factor of him wanting things at home to stay as similar as they could. This is “Commander Scott”, whilst his real personality shines when he banters with his family, expresses his own interests and feels more comfortable.

5. Linking to headcanon 2 is what I like to call “The silver prince of Tracy Island”. Scott is a valuable asset, and people know this. Even before iR, organisations and militaries were scrambling to try and get hold of the firstborn of the legendary Colonel Jeff Tracy. They think that the kid who wants to be just like daddy will be easy to manipulate. But Scott always turned them down out of a desire to stay with his family and his incredibly pacifist nature. One of these organisations was the GDF, at the time run by a not so nice man. Not long before the Zero-X, they attempted to basically kidnap Scott and force him to serve, but were stopped by an irate Jeff who came in and saved him. This incident lead to the man in charge being investigated and replaced by Colonel Casey not long after Zero-X. (This is partly influenced by an old thread that I can’t find for the LIFE OF ME-)

His brothers know what happened, they know that there are people who want Scott Tracy for their own gain, and they are determined to protect him as he’s protected them. Sometimes, one might find a brother or two sitting vigil over their brother’s rare instances of sleep. His royal guard.

6. Scott’s pacifist nature comes from the fact that his earliest memories include the fresh Conflict of 2040. He became aware of the destruction through Jeff’s own experiences and hearing many, many news broadcasts and conversations. Scott may have been young, but he understood the gravity of what adults talked about following the conflict, when it was fresh in everyone’s minds. Whilst he doesn’t remember this, it was monumental in forming who he is today. He’s not a TOTAL pacifist (as seen when he attempts to punch evil Indiana Jones-), but he is determined to never take a life. He knows his father’s regrets, and promised to never repeat them.

7. Scott is stronger than he looks. Yes he’s light as a feather and could almost be called a twink, but he’s actually mostly lean muscle. iR promotes training for strength rather than show, so Scott isn’t very buff looking. He does however, lack a lot of body fat and can sometimes struggle to warm back up. His uniform is thickly woven and padded inside as a result, and on windy days at the island, Virgil will attempt to swaddle his big brother in blanket-thick towels post-swim.

8. Despite only stating “looking up at the night sky” (ouch) and “swimming” as his hobbies in that interview, Scott does have a few things he enjoys! Flying is obvious, but he also enjoys playing football (the REAL one, where you KICK the ball), hiking, model making and using burner accounts to wind up the bigots of 2060.

9. Scott has some variation of separation anxiety, even if he’ll never admit it. If a brother comes home after a close call or particularly long/dangerous mission, he’ll essentially wrap himself around them and refuse to let go. Because he’s mad at himself that he couldn’t protect them more, scared of what could have happened, and needs to assure himself that he hasn’t lost his baby brothers the way he lost his dad.

10. When there’s a particularly annoying or just frustrating board member at Tracy Industries, Scott will perform a series of secret pranks to get under their skin without any real consequences. The investors fear the coffee machine after it got filled with non-toxic washing up liquid found its way inside. He sits with Gordon to brainstorm new ideas.

11. If picked up from under the armpits or grabbed by the back of his shirt collar, Scott will go limp and one can perform the cat “temperament test” on him. Beware that this only occurs when there is a level of trust, otherwise expect resistance.

[born-in-neverland03]

Hellooo, so I just stumbled over your blog and saw your plea for help, so if I my questions have already been answered I'm sorry😅

With that out of the way, here I go with my hc asks!

What do you think is each CoCs member love language (receiving and giving if they're different)?

What is each happiest memory?

What about their coffee order? :D

I'm living for headcanons! So let's go!

The Coven's Love languages

It's already have been obvious but Rio is receiving gifts! We'vre already seen it with Agatha in the show but I also have the headcanon that she always when she came home she had a flower for Agatha with her. And the same later when they had Nicky. Always when she saw him she had something new. It doesn't even has to be a flower, sometime it was also something he can do music with or something else. And since they have a new real coven she also sometimes brings some knifes with home when she thinks these are something Alice would like.

I struggle with Agatha between recieving gifts and physical touch. I can see the first one with almost everyone. It probably has something to do with the fact that before Rio she doesn't really know how to handle feelings and all that stuff very well. But she watches the people around her. She sees and hears everything even when no one noticed so she knows what the people actually care about. So it's easy for her to find something for them. She wants to show her love? Gift! She doesn't really know how to handle a situation? Gift! She was wrong with something and actually is the one who has to apologize? Gift! It maybe doesn't fix the problem but it makes them happy for a minute and that's defently something.

But with Rio she defently loves physical touch too. That's also something she never had in her past and when Rio came into her life she was literally starved for it so she loves it to hold her hand or just be in her near. Everytime they sit anywhere there's always one body part that touches the other one. The shoulder, the knees Agatha having her cold feeds under Rios legs when they're sitting at the couch, doesn't matter. Or just Agatha playing with her hair, doesn't matter. She needs it to feel comfortable. (btw the only other coven memeber where she feels like it's okay to be like this is Lilia)

And Lilia and Alice are people of physical touch. I think they gave the best hugs you can think of. You felt bad and they just gave you a hug and you immediately feel better you know? Alice favourite people to hug are Teen and Jen. She loves it to hug them because she knows how it calms them down and she's glad that she helps them. Lilia also always noticed when Agatha is nervous when Rio isn't there and makes sure she is somewhere in her near. Sometimes she also plays with her hair if she lets her.

I can see Jen being a acts of service person. She would totally do everything just to see you smile again even if she would never admit it. Every year when the other coven members celebrate their birthdays she get's all their favourite things (from food to some of her cosmetics) and create a great bsaket with everything. Also when someone is really stressed she does some private relaxation sessions with self-created aroma scents, which she has created exactly for each cove member. She's a big softie and hates to see the people she cares about being hurt.

Billy's something between quality time and words of affirmation. He loves it to be with the persons he loves and he defently loves to be with the coven. Especially with Alice because they have actually pretty much in common. But when they talks go in the direction of Alice's mother and he realized she got sad he immediately starts talking about how great she is and how proud her mother would be. And he literally starts to write a fan letter about her and won't stop talking until Alice can't stop smiling.

Their happiest memories

Idk why but this actually made me kinda sad...

Rio's a memory of Agatha and herself with Nicky in the rain. It started with only her and Agatha out in their backyard. Agatha was stressed bc she was so worried after Rio told her that she felt that something's wrong with Nicky's lifeline but she couldn't tell what it was. So when it was raining she took Agatha by her hand and leads her outside of their house and they danced. It was calm and mostly just swinging around while she sometimes she turned agatha which made the purple witch laugh. It was the first time since Rio told her about that strange feeling. Nicky heard his mothers and joined them and played in the puddles and even manadged Agatha to really join him. It was one of their last real happy moments together before he died bc after that a few days later Nicky became even sicker.

Agatha actually has two. One of them is after Nicky's birth. When she looks up to Rio and back down to Nicky and realized what they just create. The other one is playing during the salem days. She and Rio are in the woods at a rainy day and it's the first time she really realized that someone cares for her. That she's not as worthless as her mother always told her. And that she's able to love and be loved.

Lilias favourite memory is actually something bittersweet. Because it's the woman she felt in love with decates ago and who died because of her age. She was a witch too and they meet sometime after Lilia lost her Coven. She took care of Lilia when she didn't knew where to go and they have great years together. It's sad but the beautiful thing is that she didn't die in pain or bc of an illness. It also took a bit of her fear of death. She died in peace and the total opposite of Lilia's coven and that's everything she could wish for the woman she loved.

Alice's memory is one of her mother. The first years she wasn't even sure if it's a realy memory or if she just mad eit up in her head but she likes to think that it's real. Alice was the first person who heard Lorna's Version of the ballad because the night before she wanted to make it one of her hits she sang it to Alice. While she did that she also speak some spell so the song and it's protection spell is bound to Alice. She was very young when that happened so she never was sure if it really happened until she walked the Road and Agatha told her that the song was a protection spell.

Sadly or not, but the first real good memory for Jen was actually when they all sat around the fire. It's not like she has no good life or something but this was actually the first time that she felt as a part of a coven and that she talked about what happened when she was bound. She also really appreciated it when Agatha told her she thought what she did during that time was something good but she would rather die than ever admit it.

Billy's is when he told Eddie who he really is. When he told him everything about Westview and all his theories and Eddie didn't left. He stayed, he believed him and he even helped and followed him to meet an stranger in an underground car park.

[acatinabox]

A collection of cultural and food suggestions related to Antiva

From an Italian amateur writer.

Big disclaimer: I am not trying to claim Antiva or his characters as Italian, if you want to see it more Spanish, be my guests. Things in the setting are ambiguous so let's make the most of this vagueness and make space for each others' headcanons.

That said, I'm Italian, and these are the things I can relate/speak about confidently, so I will. I do write Lucanis more Italian in my fanfiction because he was written as such in the Wigmaker Job and it was such a boon to feel represented in a piece of media I loved but I support fan creativity so do whatever you want.

Also these are generalisations. People are not a monolith, goes without saying.

Nobody asked for this, but I hope maybe it helps someone or is interesting.

With that out of the way, here's a collection of themes/suggestions that speak to me, and that might be useful if you want to write them in in your fanfiction and that aren't coffee or organised crime related.

The smell of soffritto at lunch time in the streets. People cook with their windows open when the weather allows it, and the smell of their food permeates the air. You can smell it from the street. Soffritto is the base of many Italian preparations and sauces, so it's a very familiar smell at lunch and dinner time. It's a mix of onion, celery and carrots minced and put in a pan to stir fry with olive oil. If you add a little bit of tomato sauce you make the most basic pasta sauce. Congratulations.

The smell of freshly made bread is fragrant and unique. Every region has its own type of bread and you can easily find a variety of them in most cities. Italian bread is fluffy and light and sometimes a bit dry. Potato bread is made in mountain areas. In the south, bread has a thick dark crust and an airy centre. We eat bread almost at every meal, it's just as iconic and pasta.

I can easily see Lucanis make his own pasta sauce and bread from scratch.

Speaking of bread, I can also see Lucanis make "scarpetta" after he finished eating, which means scraping the sauce from the plate with a bit of bread.

People make small talk in the streets or in the stores, sometimes with complete strangers. It's not a strict social rule but it happens quite often.

The Lucanis/Illario conversation in wigmaker job about not eating Antivan food abroad is the quintessential dynamic between the expat and the relative visiting who expects to not go out of their comfort zone. It happened to me more times than I can count.

Family functions can last all day, we can meet for lunch on a Sunday and spend the whole day together. If you get out of the table before 5PM on a holiday like Christmas or Easter frankly it means you failed as a host (harsh but true). More often than not you'll find yourself staying for a lighter dinner too.

The usual composition of a big meal is antipasto, first course, second course with a side, dessert, fruit, caffè ammazzacaffè. On normal days we only have a main, though.

Ammazzacaffè is the sacred ritual of the digestive after coffee (it literally means coffee killer). I mention it because it's mentioned in the game and in the short stories. It can be I think any strong liquor. We have it after a big lunch or in the evening, usually not at lunch on a working day. It kinda resets you, closes the meal.

Drinking wine has a big convivial function. Drinking alone is not something most people do often, we reserve it for social occasions and usually with a meal.

Dressing up is kind of expected in certain family functions and situations. Not in all families and not at all occasions but I can see it would be expected especially in high society.

Veneto, where RL Treviso is, is known for their creative swearing against god. I can absolutely picture Lucanis shout "by Ghil'an'ain's saggy boobs" or "by Elgar'nan's dried balls" when angry. Honestly go wild, please make up some insults for them and tell me about them (also sorry for the apostrophes, I don't know where they go).

We have a chocolate bonbon, Baci (means kisses), that have paper slips with sappy, romantic quotes in them. Some of Lucanis's phrases remind me of that. I think he'd be a fan and note down his favourite quotes. It's a dark chocolate bonbon with a soft heart and a hazelnut inside.

I said I wouldn't mention coffee but I lied. In some Italian cities there's the tradition of caffè appeso (hung coffee). Someone pays for coffee for themselves and for someone else they don't know that might want one and not be able to afford it. It's adorable and I can see Lucanis do it exaggeratedly all the time because he seems quite generous.

I think I'm done for now and maybe more people will jump up in the mentions or the replies to add their own useful things. I'll try to add some if they come to mind!

[indigo-greer-collins]

darlin who was either such a quiet child that people thought they were/would be mute or they were either energetic as fuck and mellowed out as they got older.

this is funny because the 1st suggestion is my darlin oc, andrea, and the second one is just me💀.

for the first one, i think they’d get picked on a lot for being quiet. more “popular” kids in school treated them as some kind of test subject and say shit like “omg they can talk?!” whenever they said a couple words.

asher would be super understanding about it, especially since his best friend (david) also didn’t talk a whole bunch. sometimes asher would sit with them and do all the talking, darlin would then communicate with him by writing to him. one of asher’s biggest flexes is that he was the first to make them laugh when they first joined the pack.

milo used to be a little confused by the fact they didn’t talk as much, in fact he was almost jealous they got away with it because whenever he didn’t talk, people made a big fuss of it, so even when he was feeling non verbal he had to force himself to explain to everybody. he always stood up for them though & would shoo off other kids when they were very clearly making darlin uncomfortable. their conversations used to mostly be made up of questions, shrugs, nods & head shakes, then one day darlin got comfortable and they had a full verbal conversation for what felt like hours. (milo could barely contain his excitement about this moment and fangirled to marie about it)

now in my personal headcanons, david & darlin used to bump heads quite a bit when they were younger. he found himself being jealous when ash would cosy up to them (though he’d never admit to it) and they generally kept their distance unless they absolutely had to be in the same place. he wasn’t very talkative himself though — as the wolves grew up a little, they found they can be a pretty great safe space for each other. the two would either do their own things or work together in comfortable silence. david enjoyed not having any pressure to speak and it helped darlin feel a little less out of place in the pack.

[epickiya722]

Okay, I want to bring up this post again where I talk about the interesting choice of Yuji's hair being pushed back in Yuko's part of the epilogue.

To summarize, I feel like Yuko's part was to show the gentle side of Yuji, contrasting how Mahito saw him in their final confrontation.

But then I further thought about it and remembered the post I written about chapter 268, read that one here.

What if Yuji has his hair pushed back to also show Yuji coming full circle into accepting himself?

Hear me out now!

What is something that the final confrontation with Mahito, final confrontation with Sukuna and the final scene with Yuko have in common that I just mentioned?

Yuji's hair style, right! It's pushed back.

Who else wears his pink hair just like that? Sukuna!! Yes!

Here's the thing about Sukuna. He is very self-confident to the point of pride being one of his biggest flaws. Yuji is opposite.

Take note of how Yuji carries himself. He doesn't really give himself all that much credit. People will be astonished of his strength and other capabilities and he'll brush it off like it's nothing special, like he's nothing special.

He's selfless to the point of being self-sacrificing.

Just as pride is Sukuna's flaw, Yuji's lack of it is also his flaw.

By the end of the story, this switches. Sukuna is in the afterlife and admits defeat and chooses to go a different path. While Yuji isn't prideful, he does hold his life to a higher regard, choosing to live life how he wants than throw it away as he realized how you live is what matters not how you die.

Which, when you think about it, Sukuna was going by just that in his life. He lived how he choose to.

Just hit me at the moment of writing this, but I would even say their character designs serves to showcase the type of people they are.

Both dress for comfort, but think about the pieces they choose in doing so.

Sukuna, while wearing more traditional clothing, tends to favor bright colors (white) and exposes his skin. He isn't hiding. He doesn't hide his tattoos and that includes the one his forehead that he proudly shows off by pushing his hair out the way. It also makes him look older (whenever he's possessing someone's body). Sukuna is well over 1000 years old.

Yuji, wearing more modern day clothing, favors hoodies and his uniform is dark colored (deep blue leans to looking like black). With hoodies, other than to keep warm you also wear them to hide. Yuji's bangs are down and usually when a character (or anyone really) has bangs, it doesn't mean much, but with Yuji it's opposite of Sukuna. Sometimes bangs are used reflect one is "hiding" and with his hair down he does look more youthful. Reminder, that Yuji is among the youngest of the cast at 15 years old. Keep that youthful part in mind.

With that said, thinking back to the hair and sure, it may mean nothing, but Yuji wearing his hair up makes me feel as if he has fully accepted the words he told Sukuna.

He has came to accept that him and Sukuna are one in the same. He has came to accept a part of himself.

By the time he meets with Yuko again, he has chosen the path he wants to take and by visualizing showing so with his hair, reflecting Sukuna.

I say these certain points of the story (final confrontations with Mahito and Sukuna, and seeing Yuko again) are "stages" of Yuji coming to fully accepting who he is and deciding who he wants to be.

Think about even the environment of the Mahito confrontation and meeting with Yuko.

Both involve snow.

Let's think about what the snow could mean for those scenes. Snow has many meanings and really could mean anything depending on the context it's used.

With Mahito, the snow here could be "death". Mahito does die a little after, but focusing on Yuji, with death the snow represent the death of who Yuji once was. His self of who he once was has now been destroyed (as snow is also destructive) and replaced by that "I'm a cog mentality". His old self has died.

With Yuko, the snow could also be more positive. It's presenting "new beginnings", a "fresh start". It's to symbolize Yuji's acceptance and fresh start to the path he is now choosing. He has abandoned his cog mentality and now holds the value of living life as he chooses to be, do what makes him happy.

When Nobara states at the end of that part of the epilogue that Yuji is "stepping into adulthood" it's comes off comedic like "oh, he's getting with a girl" because Yuko is there, but no.

Remembering how I mentioned his hair makes him look youthful?

Yeah, he's not literally becoming an adult (he's still 15 at this point of the story). In a metaphorical sense, wearing his hair up and looking older, Yuji is showing he has matured. He's grown, he has learned his place and who he wants to be.

Thinking about his acceptance, this is him stepping into that path, that next stage with a brand new him.

Overall, just saying that Yuji wearing his hair up at certain parts of the story is him being the most open about how he is feeling at that moment and going through those changes. By the end, he has fully embraced who he is and just as Sukuna in the afterlife is choosing to start anew, Yuji is also choosing to do just that.

[elianzis]

I honestly love your art, but I'm so, so sorry to ask this. Honestly, this is just reassurance. I saw a while back that you reblogged a post smoolio posted, talking about the fandom is.. kind of annoying? Basically, we're happy for attention jorge is getting, but the fandom is spiralling into chaos and not the good kind...? If I remember correctly, of course. Now that the itheca saga is out, what do you think about that situation now compared to before? I'm sorry if this is uncomfortable! It's just.. I also fell this way, and I felt super guilty. I'm not going insane right? Because after they slammed my DMs in Discord and a multitude of instances and situations I've seen go on in that chat, and seeing no one talk about it I thought I was absolutely going insane or something. Again, sorry for the bother and disturbing you, but I'd really like to hear your opinion. I hope you find this message well!

Hi. Don't worry, it's a totally normal question!

First, I'm really sorry you're faced with such a situation, it's just terrible…..

Before answering, I also asked my friends what they thought, if the fandom had changed. Some said that when the fandom was smaller, it was really comfortable and warm and said that with the release of the latest saga everything +- leveled out, some said that fandoms that explode in popularity and with more people coming in, there are those who don't always behave appropriately. Some of my friends decided to avoid the fandom and just socialize in the circle of those comfortable people (I mostly do the same)

So now my opinion… Personally, I don't think the situation has quite improved yet. A lot of epic's audience is teenagers and sometimes even kids (at least that's what I notice very often), and on top of that a lot of them are tiktok audience, I won't go into details, but sometimes tiktok people scare me. As my friend pointed out, it's not that the situation has improved, it's just that some people have become more careful not to provoke other parts of the fandom (I do the same thing). My friend also suggested that in a year or two some of the audience will drop out and maybe it will get better. It's also probably because people in tiktok are also rather sensitive….

Now I try not to get into the fandom space too much, if I don't want to see something I scroll away (basic rule of the internet), I also don't really participate in discussions of any topics about characters (unless with friends who understand me and with whom I feel comfortable)

I think the main thing now will be to endure it for a while until the fandom calms down a bit

I hope that answer was okay :)

[alltheboysandgirlsiloved]

hi❤️! Could u pls give me ur thoughts on this? :

I was thinking abt the whole Yasmina coming out scene with Ben, and I can't stop seeing a subtext on this. Like, why choosing Ben between all the campers👀? And Is it "over reading" the context to say it looks like Ben knows more about coming out than he confess to Yasmina? 😅

I'm asking bc I'm afraid they'll make him straight, ngl. So I'm questioning, do u think we're really over reading on the context? bc no way fandom is the only one seeing queer subtext on this character 😭

I will answer this question in two ways so that everyone can choose their own adventure.

First of all, plot-wise Yaz coming out to Ben first just made sense! Their friendship has been steadily growing and once they overcame their initial hesitation, I think they just clicked as friends. They were different enough to be forced to learn how to understand each other from day one. Whether people agree or not, Ben is simultaneously very strong-minded and awkwardly delicate, very similar to Yaz. He will always speak his mind and at the same time, he is very accepting. I think that this is exactly the type of person Yaz needed back then - someone who would speak their opinion no matter what, would offer support and comfort But at the same time would not try to baby her. Does it make sense? I think that at that moment there was no one other than Ben who could have offered this kind of non-judgemental and honest support (also because most of the other characters were engaged in other drama!!).

It also makes sense considering their conversation in season 4 when Ben thought that Yaz had a crush on him. I mean, it couldn't get any more awkward than this, right? As silly as it sounds, in the end, it probably helped them solidify their friendship on an emotional level. At least, that's how I've always seen that.

Plus! Let's remember that Ben was the last to find out about Brooklynn and Kenji getting together! So, I guess it was fair for him to learn about Yaz's feelings for Sammy first, haha!

Okay, so that was canon, now it's time for my off-screen rambling.

I said it before and I'll say it again: jwcc Ben is absolutely queer-coded. Has been since season 1 and it has nothing to do with his looks but everything to do with the way he interacts with the world and people around him. Sometimes he is cautious, sometimes he is bold; he bites and curls in himself, he is hesitant but hot-headed; the world is a hostile place that requires taming. He likes the safety of his own shell, but once he peeks out of it - he makes the way for himself on his own terms.

I also believe that Ben was initially written as queer-coded, even if he was never meant to end up in a queer relationship (again - speaking about jwcc only). It would also kind of explain Darius and Sammy's reaction in jwct - their surprise when they learned that Ben has a girlfriend. jwcc Ben was queer-coded, his queerness was never commented upon, but it existed nonetheless. You don't have to come out to be queer, and you don't have to come out for others to be vaguely aware of your queerness. If you're any familiar with older tv shows, in which openly queer characters were a rarity, you would notice that a lot of the characters that are currently referred to as "queer-coded" were presented to the audience in a similar way as Ben was presented throughout jwcc. So yes, considering that I really choose to believe that jwcc Ben was queer-coded, I think it also explains why Yaz reached out to him. She knew that he would understand.

Additional notes:

When I say "Ben's gay-ass speech" at least two things come to mind:

1) Ben's iconic quote from season 1 - "And so what if she is asymmetrical? There's nothing wrong with being different, or bumpy," – don't argue with me "but he was talking about Bumpy" yeah, so? He was talking about "others being different", it's obvious that it's meant to resonate with more issues than just Bumpy's, well, bump

2) His conversation with Yaz when he openly said that he was "just now starting to find himself", self-discovery, figuring yourself out, sounds familiar? yeah.

I also have a whole theory (while I don't believe that the writers intended to write it as such I sometimes think about it) about Ben's entire character arc in jwcc being a metaphor for what it's like to grow up as a queer kid:

Stage one (season 1) - being in a closet, being really cautious about things you show interest in (pre-monorail Ben)

Stage two (seasons 1/2) - experiencing an event/trauma that makes you come out of a closet; as a result, your perception of the world changes and you completely redesign yourself (the "wild child" Ben era)

Stage three (season 3) - gaining courage, making statements, being bold about your choices (Ben intending to stay on the Isla Nublar)

Stage four (season 4) - understanding that just because a part of you is out, doesn't mean that you have to abandon your past self (Ben "figuring himself out", changing the habits he gained during stage two)

Stage five (season 5) - accepting yourself for who you are - queerness and everything that comes with the entire concept of you (Ben becomes a mixture of a jungle boy and that boy from season 1, these personalities merge seamlessly)

This particular interpretation is definitely me over-reading but this metaphor always worked for me, I really like it, mostly because it also reflects a bit of my own experience as a queer kid.

Hope that I answered your question anon :D

[margridarnauds]

Too afraid to ask. But what do you mean by people complaining that remake of Nosferatu is not Dracula? The characters have different names and it’s in different setting and even themes are different

You would think, Anon, you'd really think.

I've seen a number of posts in the tags complaining that there isn't a cowboy, that Mina would do this, that Jonathan would do that, why is there this psychosexual connection between Ellen and Orlock (I mean, it isn't there in the OG in the way it is in the 2024, no, but he does see her image and become obsessed, so there was some element of it as early as the 1922), why does Mina have more agency than Ellen (...we can talk about agency in 2024 Nosferatu, but first, we've got to accept that Ellen, in both 1922 and 2024, is in a totally different situation from Mina Murray.)

(I also think there's something to be said for equating "agency" with "writing female characters well", given that sometimes, female characters don't have agency deliberately, as a way of delivering a message. I feel like Ellen is a much more vulnerable character than Mina in general, but I also don't think that means she's an inherently worse character; it's all in the quality of the writing.)

Usually, these posts are phrased in a very....memey way, if that makes sense? Not in the sense that the complaints themselves are memes, but in an "I don't want to make immediate judgement calls, but I suspect that your involvement with Dracula begins and ends with DD and *maybe* the Coppola film, which is fine, far be it from me to gatekeep the 19th century vampire novel and its related media, but it does mean that your understanding of the legacy of Dracula, including the 1922 Nosferatu, is going to be...limited" way. I've also seen posts, for that matter, comparing visual shots of Coppola and Nosferatu (2024), arguing that Nosferatu (2024) is paying homage to the Coppola...when the Coppola shots are a reference to Nosferatu (1922).

And, on the record, I'm not saying "Nosferatu is the best film EVER, how dare you criticize it!" (...as I keep trying to emphasize, I am STILL trying to sort out MY thoughts and they definitely aren't single-minded worship) or "You can't possibly compare these two pieces of vampire media". I think the relationship between Dracula and Nosferatu, both 1922 and 2024, is complex. Nosferatu isn't just a knock-off of Dracula (even if it wasn't legally distinct enough for a 1920s copyright suit), but, at the same time, it is also intricately entwined with the adaptation history of Dracula, and it isn't a one-way history. In the same way that Nosferatu very obviously takes...a lot of inspiration from Dracula, every time a Dracula adaptation has Dracula see Mina's portrait, or that features Dracula dying via sunlight, it is borrowing from Nosferatu. With the 2024 remake, it's even more complex, because now we're dealing with an adaptation of a bootlegged adaptation of a novel, which, in turn, brings in material from the OG novel (Dafoe's character being expanded from the character of Bulwer in the OG, Knock eating animals, Orlok's mustache, the expansion of Anna and Harding from the OG to be slightly more Lucy and Holmwood-esque even though they are still distinct) while also doing its own thing in other ways.

...basically, I can see the impulse, but I also hadn't realized how many people weren't aware of the 1922 film? Or at least...weren't more curious about where the 2024 comes from? I'm seeing people on Reddit also having this trouble (I have compunctions about sharing Tumblr posts, due to how easy it is to reverse search, even with this website's terrible search function, and I don't really feel comfortable drawing attention to individual posts, especially when their main problem is just...narrow-mindedness and a lack of curiosity, not like. Outright bigotry.) :

(Interestingly, this thread had people saying that OP was being a snob for expecting people to be aware of a hundred year old film -- which, again...I wouldn't say I'm judging people for NOT being familiar with it, it's just...it's such a big part of pop culture and pop cultural vampirism that I'm *surprised*. But then again, my first interaction with Orlok was in a children's book of monsters and my mom used to recount a PG version of the Coppola film to me when we ate at Denny's when I was, like, 7-8, so I'll also accept that I might have just been an exceptionally goth child.)

Anyway, tl;dr: Adaptation is complicated, especially with this particular film, I think the film is doing varying things with the Dracula tradition while also being its own distinctive part of it (which is NOT in and of itself me saying the film is flawless), I don't want to make fun of people for simply not knowing but I do think that DD has created this environment of "if it does literally anything different from the OG novel it's bad" while itself often providing a memeified understanding of the novel itself and its impact and legacy, and apparently my viewpoint on what is common knowledge is skewed by my being a little goth child.

...and now I need to watch the Herzog because my guilty admission is that I've mainly ignored the Nosferatu side of Dracula adaptations for years and that should probably be rectified.

[vaguely-concerned]

Origins is of course the DA game most closely in conversation with and playing around with Tolkien (right down to the walking talking poetree haha) -- and even more so than most works in the larger western fantasy tradition derived from Tolkien's work that DA:O also hails from and owes a lot of its Stuff to, what makes the game so great to me is that it's doing so very deliberately, and is subverting and deconstructing those tropes and entrenched ideas in some very interesting ways without at all denigrating what it's commenting on. (it doesn't have the almost disdainful undertones of the vein of fantasy that seeks to make the world more 'realistic' ala the more tedious reactions to G.R.R.Martin's work, for example, despite having the darker fantasy bent to it.) among other elements it adopts, what I find the most fascinating is the choice to use the same literary device/conceit Tolkien did in ostensibly only having in-universe biased sources and works to deliver the world through (which I feel is an underappreciated thing about his approach but is part of what makes his world so enduringly compelling and real-feeling -- the feeling of real scholarship devoted/applied to a made-up world. the grounding effect of a good diegetic footnote about source criticism, truly).

many things to be said there, and I'm glad each following game has taken on different perspectives and lenses and traditions to view the world of Thedas through because if you stick with that one too closely for too long I fear we could teeter precariously close to Pratchett's famous and bitingly accurate accusation of most modern fantasy of that era just being about rearranging the furniture in Tolkien's attic lol. and while you could accuse DA2 (my perfect wife who has never done anything wrong in her life to be clear) of many things, that's not one of them, they are pulling on some completely different strings for that one and both the game and DA overall is better for it, to my mind. as so many things in this series: worth staying with and exploring for an installment even if it might get stale if all of it was like this! people are understandably sad about the elements from previous games that they liked which were lost along the way, but that capacity for reinvention is to my mind a huge strength of dragon age as a whole.

(I think Veilguard is coming in as a close second in Tolkien conversation-ness if only in outlining/revealing the worldbuilding that indeed may have been planned since DA:O around the animosity that SHOULD by all rights exist between dwarves and elves in this universe (as per Tolkienesque tradition standards). but doesn't really because you see: politics and the many pitfalls of conservation of knowledge over the ages. our ancestral enmity got semi-intentionally lost between the floorboards of history and you know what. maybe for the best. the humans are already up to so much shit you gotta keep your eyes on them at all times you can't be brawling with each other in the deep roads while they're still around getting up to their nonsense or they'll just pile up even more of it)

[itz-pandora]

I feel like I made everyone sad n now I feel bad

[lucid-daydreaming-archive]

this is like the third time ive had to post something like this but you guys need to stop treating unodum like a celebrity or fangirl over him or act like its some sort of gift to be talked to by him or especially treat his friends weirdly because they talk to him regularly. ive gotten word that his friends are being treated as special just because they have connections to him and being asked to like say stuff to him or whatever??? which is legitimately very very gross behavior. cause its not only really uncomfortable for uno but it gets very awkward and uncomfortable for me and his friends. im aware my popularity in the regretevator fandom is largely because im associated with him and in all honesty from the START that concept has made me pretty upset. neither me nor his other friends want to be seen as special just because we’re close to him. its part of why i didnt make much outside of the blog AND why i just abandoned the blog and the fandom altogether. i think a lot of you guys are a younger audience and are still learning internet etiquette and social boundaries, but this needs to be a lesson in how NOT to treat others on the internet, especially content creators. this isnt to say dont attempt to build friendships with people you think are cool and feel like you have things in common with, but you cant go into that with the mindset of “i worship you notice me.” you need to understand that no matter how popular your favorite creator is, theyre literally just a person. thats it. just a person. not a god, not a character, just a person. im really fed up

[icewindandboringhorror]

"We can get through this by working together, reach out to your friends, community is all we have, a social network will be your security in the world, now is the time to lean on others!"

I do agree, and it's scientifically sound (pretty sure there is data about how people with better social networks live longer and etc) but also....augh..... what about the severe social issues, difficulty to leave the house, physical issues which lead to like zero socialization energy a majority of the time, etc. etc. Social support can be a replacement for structural support, but.. I guess I just wish it didn't have to be. Community is extremely difficult to build, even moreso if you're someone who has issues with social cues or group conversations or even just being around others in the first place. And blah, nuance, of course I'm just complaining or maybe being too negative or maybe misunderstanding, but, I hardly have the energy to brush my hair once every 2 months.. how am I supposed to maintain a wide social network and be active in a Community and Join Groups lol... sometimes it kind of feels like "er.. well if thats my only option then...... ruh roh". It's overwhelming

[sherlock-is-ace]

.