#Sam Reid you are making me question things

[creativelycomplex]

This gif right here made me bleach my hair blonde and get a bob

[indelicateink]

just going over some things jacob anderson has hinted at in recent press that make me feral about the pending back half of season 2 lol

Louis, for example, might not be the tragic figure we think he is. Anderson teases that viewers still haven’t seen his character as he truly is. Maybe in Dubai, where he lives with Armand in the present as their kind is quietly setting in motion a worldwide coup of sorts. But even there, he speaks of his past from the perspective of a romanticized victim which he cautions the viewer to question as they empathize with him.

—Salon interview with Jacob Anderson and Sam Reid, 26 May 2024

——

Yeah, he’s in a very different space. The dam breaks in episode seven of Season 1, and there’s a level of pretend that he can’t achieve anymore. He still has an innate attachment to modern-day Louis that’s like an alien quality that comes in and out, but he’s pretty raw at the beginning of the season and only gets rawer. So yeah, he’s in quite a significantly different place with Louis’ journey in Europe, as well as him having to come to terms with what he’s really about. In Season 1, and it was a big thing in the book, it was about moral versus aesthetic. You really see the completion of that idea in Season 2. What is Louis really about? Is he all about morality, or is there quite a significant aesthetic element to that? He’s a complicated one with lots of problems.

—Jacob Anderson, Collider, 3 June 2024

——

“It is a very, very emotional season,” he says, before clarifying that he thinks season 1 was also emotional but season 2 provides a new perspective into his character’s psyche.

“I think that it’s an intellectual current that runs through Louis and the way that Louis speaks. It’s a front in season 1. It’s a front for detachment, and it all kind of breaks down to a raw, like what’s underneath the skin," he adds.

The Game of Thrones alum confesses that fans “are going to scream at the TV” but adds that he believes fans will “feel a huge amount of satisfaction and catharsis and all the emotions.”

“I think when people watch it, there are going to be things that are shocking to hear that come out of that,” he notes.

—People interview with Jacob Anderson and Sam Reid, 10 May 2024

——

Louis’ struggles to connect with the two major loves of his life are a sign of his inner turmoil, says Anderson. “Louis self-sabotages all the time because he’s not comfortable with who he actually is. I think being a vampire is actually what Louis always was supposed to be,” he says. “It feels like there’s a relationship between Louis’ vampiric nature and the way he was before he became a vampire. And that’s something that he finds very difficult to accept.”

“His journey in Season 2 is really reckoning with himself,” he goes on. “Imagine you go on a journey of self-discovery and what you find is that you were the problem. What you discover is that you’re kind of everything that you dislike about other people. I think that’s a very hard thing to find about yourself, and he does.”

—TV Insider interview with Jacob Anderson, 2 June 2024

[platoapproved]

I read ur lesmand porn with plot and its lovely!! So lovely, the most in character thing i could ever hope for and also painful and hot and amazing :) However! I did not read the book and did magnus really…? Like i had NO idea that rape was a part of lestat’s turning bc its just not talked abt ig? Anyway im shocked and horrified. But you wrote about it beautifully, so that was fun

FIRST OF ALL, thank you so so so much anon, I'm very glad you enjoyed the fic! 😭 It makes me so happy knowing that people are getting something out of it 💚.

I'm going to answer your question under a read-more. It got pretty long... also, is this not a thing people are talking about? I have no idea, I'm just in my little fandom corner. But if anyone hasn't read the books and wants to know more - I'll get into it. Content warning for discussion of sexual assault and some upsetting book passages:

SO. It's surprisingly tricky to answer this but I'm going to do my best. Bear in mind I've only read like half of the books...

The surface-level simplest answer is no. In The Vampire Lestat, Magnus does not rape Lestat. In the books, vampires do not become aroused or have sex - like as a rule, biologically, they just can't. (Now, there is nuance here as well, because vampires DO still have sex in the books, it just involves them performing sex acts on humans with their mouths/hands/etc). This is a big change they've made in the show.

That being said, turning someone into a vampire non-consensually IS compared to rape throughout the series. Like not just in the case of Magnus and Lestat but elsewhere, too. Here are a couple examples of this from Prince Lestat (which I HAVEN'T EVEN READ YET I just looked these up because I knew Lestat's turning was discussed) talking about Lestat's turning:

Important to remember also that Prince Lestat was published in 2014 whereas The Vampire Lestat came out in 1985. It's nearly a 30 year gap; the first few books in the series are way way way less explicit and direct especially when it comes to sex.

So, there is that aspect of things. But most of all the language used in the passage around Lestat's turning is just... I obviously cannot speak for most readers but of the people I've spoken to and seen discussing it, it's fairly obvious the whole thing is written as a metaphor for rape. Like I feel like this is not an uncommon reading at all. Hey any other book readers who made it this far back me up on this.

A few passages in support of this. These are going to be wildly out of order but since I did a kind of re-telling of this scene in my fic, this is Lestat talking to Nicki about his turning:

Can't resist including a classic 'Nicki what the FUCK' moment.

As for the scenes with Magnus themselves! A lot of the stuff in my fic is just... straight up dialogue or actions of Magnus' lifted right out of the book.

-

I feel like that's enough to give you a sense of the general tone of the scene. There's other aspects that are imho meant to evoke sexual assault: Magnus puts Lestat on a bed and climbs on top of him to turn him, Lestat tries to fight him off, he tries (and fails) to resist the physical pleasure reaction humans feel when vampires drink from them, etc. I'd include more quotes but honestly at some point I'd just be copy-pasting the whole thing.

So... my answer is yes and no. I have no idea how they are going to handle all this in the show. Like it's a really pivotal moment for The Vampire Lestat and for Lestat as a character. I will honestly be shocked if in the show they don't change the metaphorical rape into a non-metaphorical one. Certainly it seems to me that the way Sam Reid has handled the acting any time Magnus comes up (Claudia asking questions, Armand mentioning him while Lestat is on stage, the tower scene in the season 2 finale, etc.) to me reads like they're going to take it that way.

Anyway wow fuck this is so many words sorry. I'm sure there are other people who have been book fans longer than me who could speak much more eloquently on this but I've done my best to answer. 😔

[weclassybouquetfun]

Tonight is the penultimate episode of series two of AMC+'s INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE.

Well, this isn't ominous at all.

Impressed that months later content from the S2 premiere is still being rolled out.

ALL THE SPOILERS FOR Episode 14 / S2E07

It's fine. It's all fine.

If you've read the books (not me) or have seen the movie (me) or just possess the ability to read between the lines, then you knew this day was coming: The death of Claudia de Pointe du Lac de Lioncourt and her companion Madeleine.

Finally, someone chose Claudia.

They actually made a playbill. The nastiest of nasty work.

There is still a lot to be open to interpretation in regards to motivations and the truthiness of various accounts. Maybe we will get answers in the next episode (how much of a willing participant was Lestat in these deliberations? How accurate was Louis' new recollection of begging Lestat to turn Claudia despite Lestat's warnings?) and maybe we won't (at any time have we seen the real Lestat?)

What I do know is that this cast acts their collective bums off.

What I also know?

They will never make me hate you, maître. You've done nothing wrong, ever.

Even though you leveled your coven with one word, I am sure you could not stop them from putting your lover, his sister-daughter and her companion on trial and subsequent execution.

He was helpless to do anything, you just don't understand!!

Armand was able to control everyone's speech and compel them to say "banishment" and just heaves a sigh of relief for the trouble. Meanwhile, Lestat was wan and bleeding from one ear after mind controlling a room of soldiers.

I still stand by you, Armand. I'm just saying...

-I am inclined to believe Lestat's deviations. You can tell what are Sam's words and what aren't by how Santiago responds and also just how true to form they seem from a character standpoint. I could be very wrong, but I can believe Louis threatened to cut Lestat's head off.

This is Louis who threatened his brother with a knife (which turned Lestat's eye to him in the first place). This is a man who lobbed a veiled threat at Grace during their mother's funeral (and you know it's true because that was from Claudia's diary). Louis was furious in that moment so why would he be expected to hold his tongue and not scrap? As he told Lestat, "You start it, you finish it."

Louis castigated Lestat for choking their daughter. I'm not going to remind him what he did to her when she begged him to let her burn Lestat.

So many people last season were raging because their "Brat Prince" was depicted as a domestic abuser and were sure this season would absolve him. But while we get a fuller picture of the fight, Lestat still did what he did. To me it just adds more clarity on why he stayed away for so long.

The biggest question for me this episode was how long did they workshop Lestat's side? Did the coven plunder his mind or did Lestat readily give them information (they knew about the words "come to me", the killing of the priests, the church kiss, Louis' depression and the house being a shambles. We even see on the projection the raccoon that was roaming their house)?

No matter how they found out the Louis/Lestat details, Lestat is not fully a willing participant in my mind. This man was over it from the jump.

Also, he's stubbled and one thing Lestat de Lioncourt is going to do is be well groomed so those theatre nerds have had him locked away until showtime.

They summoned Lestat while he was drinking his chickory coffee and eating beignets. Classless.

Dreamstat in Dubai feels so wrong.

Spoiler filled interview with Delainey, Roxanne and Jacob after episode 14/7.

Interview with Sam.

[ca-suffit]

i agree when it comes to female characters whatever their origins, I think the showrunners did the best they could. I did find weird that anne rice never wrote any queer female characters, it's all subtext. the books are really filled with sexism and while anne rice wrote the mayfair's witches, with a main female characters it's still full of incestuous rape and I couldn't believe amc took the decision to make an adaptation of those books. Just the whole stuff with 13 years old mona mayfair... I really never understand why anne rice wasn't comfortable with her female characters. anyway we could still have merrick in iwtv. they could change some elements of her plot.

tw csa

Anne Rice included a lot of themes that are popular and common still in modern stories and ppl tend to not understand the main difference of why ppl take offense to Anne's writing and not others. Case in point, this thread I responded to the other day on twt:

Here is the source (from her official website) for what OwlsGoldberg was referencing (thnx to them for sharing this link in the thread too) "O.K. I just read a book I recommend. It's called THE DEADLY FEAST by Richard Rhodes. The book centers around a man named Carleton Gajdusek. Carleton Gajdusek is a Nobel Prize winner and he's in prison--apparently for fondling a 14 year old in a shower. I have not seen the court record and I'm not in any way qualified to judge what goes on. All I want to say is that I highly recommend that you get the book. That the contribution of Carleton Gajdusek to medicine and to science has been fantastic and that I personally am looking into the whole question of child molestation, children's rights, because it concerns me. I remember being a young adult, and I remember being real angry that I wasn't allowed to do things that other adults were doing. I was working full time and I was living in a rooming house and I didn't like being classified as a teenager, because somebody wanted to sell me something expensive. I know I sound angry--I am. I am angry. But we've got to revise our concept of teenagers in this country. If we want to stop the crime in this country we've just got to realize that 14 and 15 year old people are adults, they are not children. And leading them to believe that there is a fundamental difference between play killing and real killing."

That's not even all of it for that twt thread, but u get the point. Nobody can ever criticize anything with Anne Rice without ppl saying it's just misogyny or ....whatever that accusation of queerphobia for a cast member is about (there was no clarification who that's referencing but I'm guessing it's Sam Reid bcuz this fandom rides hard for white queerness in him / Lestat at any chance, especially in order to silence other issues). It's always easy for these ppl to erase everything about anything else except "victimization" of a rich white woman. This only happens within the fandom too, as most ppl outside it don't respect Anne Rice at all for her behavior or writing....and that's without even knowing the depths of this kind of stuff. U couldn't pull this crap on any person on the street, they'd rightfully think ur terminally online and fucking weird.

Anyway, back to the point about themes. Anne Rice had repetitive themes that ppl will argue are for "the genre." The thing is tho....it has to still serve a purpose to the story to be any good. Most of the time (at least for my knowledge of TVC books), there isn't a reason to have these things present. She simply has a fixation on them and a lot of them are things that hurt women just for the sake of doing it. The reader is also uncomfortably made to feel like this is all supposed to be ok too, which is the main issue ppl have. It's not critical or intentionally envoking horror and dread....it's just saying "this is what being a girl/woman is" and giving the message to love ur abuser (most often a very old white man in TVC), which many survivors of a lot of things find triggering af.

Mentioning Merrick too, that's a character I rly liked and yet was wasted all over. The book with her name is narrated by David Talbot, this elderly, white, British pedophile, and we spend more time hearing his gross thoughts about her as a child and other similar shit in his life (always with underage poc) instead of spending time with her in her own head as an adult. Or Louis, for that matter, who is also more who the book is about than David, yet Davis is our narrator.

There's a lot more I could write but I'd never stop tbh. It's clear to most everyone who isn't finding excuses that Anne Rice just wasn't a good writer and had so many issues with misogyny and a lot of other things. I've never seen any other author excused so much from criticism, especially one who was so obviously known in life as being a rly unlikeable person, particularly to her own fanbase. If it weren't for other ppl, there wouldn't even be a fandom for her work. She v much almost destroyed it by herself.....but she's dead now, so ppl have been quick to start rewriting history and accusing others of anything they can think of to avoid criticism. Just like she always did.

[princessxt]

Hii, below is a list of which characters and people I write about, place your orders!

Supernatural

Dean Winchester

Sam Winchester

Castiel

Criminal Minds

Spencer Reid

Aaron Hotchner

Derek Morgan (just Daughter!reader)

JJ (just Daughter!reader)

Penelope Garcia (just Daughter!reader)

Emily Prentiss (just Daughter!reader)

Harry Potter

Harry Potter

Rony Weasley

Fred Weasley

George Weasley

Draco Malfoy

Neville Longbottom

Remus Lupin

Sirius Black

Marauders Era

Young Sirius Black

Young Remus Lupin

Young James Potter

Regulos Black

Percy Jackson

Percy Jackson

Luke Castellan

Taylor Swift

just Daughter!reader

Actor's

Matthew Gray Gubler

Aaron Taylor Johnson

Tom Holland

Andrew Garfield

Timothee Chalamet

Walker Scobel

Evan Peters

Singers

Harry Styles (just Daughter!reader)

Game of Thrones/House of the Dragon

Jon Snow

Daemon Targeryan

Jacaerys Velaryon

Aemond Targeryan

Marvel

Peter Parker (Tom and Andrew)

Tony Stark

Steve Rogers

Pietro(Peter) Maximoff

CSI

Greg Sanders

Nick Stokes

Don Flack

Mac Taylor

Stella Bonasera

Danny Messer

Aiden Burn

This list can change all the time when I remember people I would like to write to.

I can write Daughter!Reader with everyone on this list, except the characters from Percy Jackson, Harry Potter (with the exception of James Potter, Remus Lupin and Sirius Black), Game of Thrones, Tom holland(Peter Parker too), Pietro Maximoff, Timothee Chalamet, Walker Scobell and Evan Peters.

You can make your requests in the comments, or by asking me a question!

remember to always specify how you want the chapters, giving ideas for events, lines and other things during the chapter

like and follow to encourage me to keep posting<33

Byee, see you in the next post👋🏻👋🏻

[puntointerrogativo]

“we’re still debating certain things about whether certain events happened, but seeds are placed.” S.R.

“When you find [Lestat] in Episode 8, where is he?” Reid asks. “Has he come back to his own maker’s prison by his own choice, or is he put there? We’ve left space for that to be explored. I think it’s more interesting — and Rolin probably does as well, and it probably took me a longer time to get around this — to continue to give each individual character their own agency rather than saying, this person is the victim of this person, or this is the baddie and this is the goodie” S.R.

“Did Louis stage the Dubai interview because he had a hunch about Armand’s lie? Anderson says, “Yeah, I do,” in response to that question, and he’s been theorizing this since filming the Season 1 finale. Louis has never seen this interview as the chronicling of a suicide like Armand (as Rashid) described it, according to Anderson […] Suspecting Armand “was something that I started to get a sense of when we did that Season 1 Episode 7 moment of ‘the love of my life,’ because Rolin always talks about that as the end of The Graduate,��� Anderson continues. “I was like, ‘Oh, it’s a cry for help.’ He found the person that he knew could draw the truth out of everyone, including himself.” J.A.

“that Armand was “forced” to direct the trial and that all of his subsequent punishment from the coven was “absolutely true. He directed it, but it wasn’t his choice to do it,” Zaman says.” A.Z.

Mmm, very interesting tvinsider article - first of all huge, GIGANTIC kudos to Sam because not knowing if your character’s doing what he’s doing by choice or if he’s being forced and tortured must not make it easy to do your job 😵‍💫 (not to mention the fun of trying to answer press questions, poor man).

Sooo, let’s say we go with this version and leave the books behind. It goes more or less like this:

The coven makes Armand choose, and he decides to sell Claudia and Louis out.

They “call” Lestat to testify, and he comes - because what else can he do? The trial will happen with or without him and if he’s there there’s a chance he can save them.

Armand directs the play. This one I’m a bit meh about but ok, he needs to prove himself, he has the experience, sadistic punishment, yadda, yadda…

Lestat and Armand don’t do the smart thing and work together against the coven presumably because previous history (Nicky) means Lestat doesn’t trust him. Also, from what we’ve seen they’re both kinda terrible at planning.

Lestat has limited energy and a choice to make - he chooses to save Louis. He has to watch Claudia burn. By now the coven knows better than to trust him and he’s either too traumatized or too drained (or both) to do much else. We don’t know if he faced retaliation from the coven.

Armand finally gets off his ass and frees Louis.

Louis goes feral and kills the coven. He’s convinced Armand was the one who saved him and wants revenge on Lestat.

He gets it in the only way he can: by going after his deepest fear. Lestat has handed him that weapon on a plate back in season 1 and it’s not the first time he goes after that particular soft spot.

Lestat feels guilty enough for both the 1x05 fall and Claudia to accept the punishment as due. He doesn’t tell Louis it was him who saved his life.

Louis traps himself in a 77 years long spite based relationship that he can’t leave without-in his head- letting Lestat win.

By 1973 he’s depressed enough and starved for connection enough to try the Interview and then walk into the sun.

Armand wipes his memories (probably consensually, extent uncertain) after calling Lestat - just to make sure Louis remembers why he can’t leave him.

Lestat thinks he died after he left him to Armand’s tender mercies. If he wasn’t in his rat-eating depression era before he surely is now.

By 2021 Louis has become, at least subconsciously, suspicious enough to contact Daniel for a second interview.

Daniel proves Louis really has an eye for spotting talent and gets him out of that farce of a marriage.

[dwreader]

Interview with the Vampire Episode 2 Podcast Transcript

Special Guests: Sam Reid and Jewelle Gomez

"Being a vampire is hard, its very difficult to endure and exist forever basically and you need to have quite a lot of strength and internal power to endure and Lestat recognizes that in Louis. When he sees him on the street and thinks that very very very beautiful man just pulled a knife on his brother in the middle of the street to look powerful to save his own skin and he has enough strength to do that and Lestat thinks this guy has enough strength to endure. And he's also got the hots for him really badly..." -Sam Reid

Sam Reid Interview

N: Sam Reid, thank you so much.

S: Thank you for having me.

N: Don't you be nice, I'm coming in here and I'm mad at you. My question is this- how dare you?

S: What are you referring to exactly?

N: Here's what I think of Lestat, I think Lestat is a messy bitch who lives for drama. What did you know about Lestat coming into the audition?

S: I know the books, I've known them for a very long time. I heard they were making it and I said I hoped I would get the chance to an audition for it. The thing that freaked me about the auditon was the majority of it was in French. It had all the lines in English but it said in paranthesis in French. I studied French in school and my sister speaks fluent French but I am not fluent so that was a bit stressful.

N: You and Jacob did your chemistry tests over Zoom, I mean does anyone have chemistry over Zoom? That must've been so tough.

S: Yeah,. I don't know what they were looking for or how to gauge chemistry from that cause it was really glitchy and speaking over each other and trying really hard to act into the camera which just wasn't really working. Jacob is such a lovely person and a fantastic actor and just an easy person to be around so I could tell he was gonna be a very easy person to fall in love with. It was fun, in fact I just came with having ice cream with Jacob. And he says hello

N: Omg I'm obsessed, give me this footage, I want ice cream footage, I want strolling the streets of downtown New Orleans footage.

S: And we hang out all the time, we've become very good friends. Cause it is a crazy journery we're on and its a crazy job so it's nice have a very good friend.

N: So Lestat has a life well before the show starts and he's been on this journey and you have the different versions of Lestat from the book and you have this amalgation. What sort of conversations did you have w/ the showrunner Rolin Jones about your version of Lestat?

S: The premise is for Louis to revisit the interview so Louis has a more nuanced way of describing Lestat so my question was how much of this is the real Lestat and how much of is Louis' version of Lestat? Because obviously this is a memory. This is all through Louis's eyes so is this actually how Lestat is like or is he different? and I think we play with that on and off. What's really important about this season is you're playing a character seen through somebody else's eyes.

N: Right right right, Gordian knot. It's a bit of a layer.

S: And everyone kept telling me stop thinking about it too much don't think about it and I didn't and I don't think about it too much when I'm doing. There will come a day when I think Lestat turns around and goes actually this is how it fucking happend.

N: Okay well Sam, you're just making me so mad cause you're too kind and too funny. cause I was coming in with hard hitting questions and I was livid at Lestat. This is what's so fun about the show and what its doing so right as a genre story, is the humor and the personality. [coffin scene plays] I mean Lestat is out here, it's such a funny monent for Lestat its like OK you wanna own a club? I was like Louis you have unlimited power and you want a club? Dream bigger!

S: I think it goes to show how in love Lestat is with Louis that he's gonna give him these things that mean absolutely nothing in the context of vampire world. But what Lestat doesn't understand is that what Louis needs is that power and is control over his life. There's a lesson for both of them and in this moment, Lestat doesn't understand.

N: Here's another question I have.. I just need you to tell me, where is Lestat's money coming from??

S: He's got investments and he's got bankers and lawyers in France. When he got turned into a vampire, he was given like the most ginormous amount of money like an entire room of treat.

N: You're giving us so much backstory, I didn't even know that.

S: If you think about inflation over the years  its just like an obscene obscene amount of money. And if you've lived through the centuries you're able to follow the trends of markets..

N: That's why I would be a vampire or travel through time, like people say they would kill Hitler and yes I would do that too but I would also get some good property, like get some good spaces like I'd go back to like 1899 when its cheap and buy it all up. One Park Ave apartment!

S: Thats why all vampires are pretty damn rich, like Louis in 2022 in Dubai he is really mega rich, he's got Francis Bacons.

N: I didn't even clock it. You also know he's rich cause his penthouse is so cold. Rich people really love stone floors and sharp edges, you know they want you to know if you're poor  you could die in here.

S: Exactly, and you're never comfortable..

N: Why do you think Lestat chose Louis cause as a viewer there's a question from moment one - do these men really love each other, are they just entangled, the whole time you're watching.. do I want them to be together?

S: Being a vampire is hard, its very difficult to endure and exist forever basically and you need to have quite a lot of strength and internal power to endure and Lestat recognizes that in Louis. When he sees him on the street and thinks that very very very beautiful man just pulled a knife on his brother in the middle of the street to look powerful to save his own skin and he has enough strength to do that and Lestat thinks this guy has enough strength to endure. And he's also got the hots for him really badly. He tries really hard to be a good normal guy as best as he can and I think when he has dinner with his familiy and he screws up, he does actually feel quite bad that he's made a mess of that cause he was trying really hard to be on his best behavior. Instead he hypnotizes his brother and makes a big scene. He's starts making innuendos and brings up God, which is never a good thing with Lestat. So he does his absolute best to pretend he's drinking wine and eating food.

N: What was it like to go from covid isolation to sex scenes?

S: Um, hmm. The sex scenes were kind of the easier part and we were all in the same bubble together and we were getting tested all the time like daily. It was a funny time cause we had these mad contacts on and they're quite cloudy. Jacob and I really clung to each other a lot of the time cause we couldn't really see, everyone else had masks on and you could only the person just in front of you. So it was this very comedic languid dream like place.

N: Can we talk more about the contacts, the makeup.. I cannot take the nails, the long nails, the cutting everyone.

S: The nails were a real process, originally they were press on / stick on nails and I had so many action I was always grabbing stuff and they were constantly popping off and so they said you should get acryllic. It took me a long long time to get used to acryllic nails and a lot of people would just come up and talk to me, like I would be in a restaurant and someone would just be like hey I love your nails. it was free reign for people to come up and chat so I became a nicer looking person with the nails.

N: It's like nails and hair. You always had short hair right?

S: Yeah it's usually always short. My hair was short when I first arrived in and it grew out over the course of the show, so we extended it with extensions and then it was my own hair. At first Rolin was like you know I think you could have short hair your hair looks good, I was like no no no no.. I think if you're gonna play a character like Lestat you kind of  have to have the nails and the hair. And he likes to accentuate things if he's really pissed off he'll flip it all the way back you know.

N: And there are time we are almost getting drag queen level drama from Lestat,  he wants you and everyone in a 10 mile radius to know when he's mad.

S: It's drama, he loves drama. I love him very dearly so I don't want to say anything bad about him but he wants to create a bit of drama he'll create a bit of drama. And if he wants to be really seductive in a moment and flip it and be really ugly, he will. He does what he wants whenever he wants and he'll make sure everyone's watching him do it cause he know he looks great doing it. He's a super vain guy but his heart is in the right place I would say.

N: Nope Sam, nope. Okay. Sam. I'm gonna have to push back. I know you played him but I'm saying you're wrong. .. One thing I think Rolin does so well that you and Jacob capture is this is now an interracial relationship, it charges these questions Anne was already asking - what is it to be human, what is power, what are relationships. [incinerator argument scene plays] Do you think that being a vampire being hundreds of years old, that Lestat think of himself as above race?

S: I don't know if he thinks of it like that, I think he definitely acknowledges the prejudices that exist, he acknolwedges it as soon as he meets Louis and I think once you become a vampire, that you can transcend that, thats what Lestat fully misunderstands about Louis' situation. I think he has a lot to learn in that regard.

N: Lestat is kinda like humans are trifles, we don't have time for it. Louis believes humanity is worthwhile and still wants to be apart of it.

S: I think he just doesn't understand yet, I think Louis at this point doesn't understand the enormity of living forever. He's just become a vampire, his family is still around, I think once you see everyone around you grow old die you see wars break outriots break out, you see the ages through the century, you see humanity is in this fucked up cycle that continues on the same hamster wheel. You're this fantastic creature that exists outside of humanity, why do you need to bother engaging with the small little fancies of these human beings. Then Lestat, there's his choice, I'm gonna live it up and have a good time and make a joke about it find it funny. He is very oscillating though so sometimes the joke is at his expense and sometimes the joke is at everyone else's expensve but he is the one who's always laughing. But what I will say is what Lestat feels about humanity is through art, like there is a beautiful pure expression and he really repsects and admires that and love musicians and artists. [opera scene plays] I mean what an amazing gift to read a scene like that I couldn't believe it when I was reading it and then it dawned on me that I would have to play the piano, sing, and speak Italian and kill somebody. Yeah, don't screw it up or you will die. But if you're a good musician in his eyes, he will make sure you're fully appreciated. If you're bad, yes you will die.

N: So the stakes are pretty chill. Either you're good and have a patron for life or you're bad and you die.

[teasing future episodes]

Jewelle Gomez Interview Highlights

N: In this episode, we learn a lot about vampires. I'm wondering how common these are in other vampire stories, like are they things Anne codified or have they been around. First, Lestat saying he had been so lonely, he says there are only about 100 other vampires in the world. What? I thought there were so many more?

J: I think the general idea has been vampires don't create much in the way of community that tehy are individualists in a great sense. No one ever really talks about the numbers but they seem to be very small so I think the tendency is to be inviduals.

N: They said the vampires can't drink the blood of the dead?

J: Yeah, thats a no no. You just don't be doing that. The heart has still got to be beating while you're taking the blood. Cause the blood from a dead person will draw you into death. That's pretty common, everyone knows that.

N: I thought maybe it was a taste issue like its a little sticky its a little coagulated that its not as good. But okay. Another tidbit we get is vampires can't read the minds of someone they've made. So like lestat can't read louis' mind?

J: I dont know if that is a general rule about makers. In general, vampires can read anybody's thoughts based on my extensive research/

N: Vampires live in coffins but do they need to sleep in coffins. I thought that was an old school idea like if you were a modern vampire you'd be like this is my studio apartment.

J: Every novel you read they sleep in coffins, although when I was writing a black lesbian vampire moving into the 20th century having escaped from slavery, she would not be sleeping in no coffin! I was like no no no no no. The big thing about coffin is the security, if you can get in there and lock it. In Dracula he carries his home soil so his coffin is lined with. In my books, I put her on a futon and its pretty uncomfortable but so is a coffin, behind a very thick door and she's good to go.

N: Alright thats the end of our lightning round, okay now Jewelle, what is your relationship with TVC and Anne Rice in general?

J: I read IWTV certainly when it first came out and I had written a single story a vampire story that got published in the Village Voice and then I thought I could write more of these cause people really liked it. Anne Rice's writing made me realize how sensual the vampire story could be and that meant the texture to a lot of my own writing of vampire stories.

N: What is it about vampires for you that you feel like lends itself to exploring queerness and sexuality more so than other monsters?

J: I think vampires have a natural sensuality. I mean the very act of taking blood is skin against skin, touching. The way that vampire interactions are set up is like a seduction in most cases. Bringing someone into vampire life involves an exchange of liquids, the lips touching, parts of the body, its sensual by its very nature. It draws in anyone who is interested in any sensual writing, queer writers allows us to create an outsider figure who's also the hero of the story. For we as queer people, being an outside being at the center our of own story.

N: Certainly this version of IWTV is doing its own thing but very much rooted in Anne's books. Before it was a little implicit, it was coded that Louis and Lestat had something going on. Here it's like this is what its about.

J: I think Louis and Lestat's relationship is core to the story and what moves the story and because its the 21st century we can now look at how two men come together and can find each other. What's really moving about this particular version is when Lestat talks about how lonely he has been for so long and I think he's giving voice to what a lot of queer people feel before they find their queer lover. So its very very moving to be able to experience that loneliness before he's able to find the lover he's been looking for.

N: There's so many ethical questions about being a vampire, like you're a vampire that doesn't wanna kill people. Do you think a vampire has to kill people in order to be really powerful?

J: I don't think so. A vampire has the power to take blood and not kill. To take small amounts from lots of people and not kill. And that's the way I wanted my character to go cause she's creating community, I think the idea that Louis could take blood and not kill, he does finally get to that when we see the interview w/ the older Molloy. I also know that all of us donate blood to the Red Cross we don't die when we give a pint of blood. So I think its possible to donate that amount of blood to a vampire and still live. That made more sense to me, that's how I created my vampires.

N: I love the idea that a vampire would take your blood and give you Orange Juice and cookies. Like here's a couple dried biscuits, take a seat for 10 minutes.

[bored-writer101]

X Reader Masterlist

Marvel

Bucky Barnes

Nightmares | Bucky comforts you after you have a nightmare.

Good Morning | Waking up with Bucky, who doesn’t want you to get out of bed.

You Deserve The Word | Bucky can’t help but think that he doesn’t deserve you, but you assure him that isn’t true.

Five Years Later | Five years after the blip, there seems to be a way to bring back everyone… including your lost love.

Distraction | You wanted to finish unpacking your new home, but Bucky had other plans.

Tom Holland!Peter Parker

Will You Be My Girlfriend | Peter takes Y/N on a late night swing through the city before popping a very important question.

Cuts And Bruises | When Peter shows up bruised and bloody, you make sure to clean him up and take care of him.

Bedtime | Peter visits you late at night after patrol. He forces you to go to bed and get some much needed sleep.

You’re Spider-Man? | After it comes out that Tony Stark visited Peter, you make him tell you the real reason why.

Druig 

Never Leave Again | After many years apart, you set out to reunite with your love, Druig.

Foggy Neslon

Happy Valentine’s Day | After a tough day you completely forget about Valentine’s Day. Foggy, being the amazing boyfriend he is, does his best to cheer you up with an amazing night.

Stranger Things

Read more of my Stranger Things works on wattpad!

Steve Harrington

I’ll Always Be There For You | Steve does his best to avoid admitting his fear of horror movies to you. But during a movie night with the kids, you let him know that there’s no reason to be embarrassed.

Eddie Munson

I Promise | After you defeat One, you run back to your best friend, Eddie. You promised him you’d make it back alive to tell him a big secret you’ve kept from him for a long time.

More Bats | You can’t stop yourself from drawing more bats down eddie’s arm in pen, but you didn’t think he was actually going to get them tattooed on him.

Name Three Songs | You're wearing one of Eddie's Metallica tees when a guy tries to get you to name three songs. Eddie swoops in just in time to tell the guy to fuck off.

Jonathan Byers

Should I Stay Or Should I Go? | While your singing and dancing around Will’s room, trying to cheer him up, Jonathan comes home. He can’t stop himself from asking you a question he’s wanted to ask you for a long time.

Robin Buckley

We’re Supposed To Be Studying | You invited robin over to study, but she’s more interested in going through your things.

Bye Billy | You’re waiting for Robin after work, when Billy comes up to you. He doesn’t seem to be getting the hint that you’re not interested.

Eleven Hopper

You’re Cute When You’re Angry | Eleven helps calm you down after you get angry about failing a test.

Supernatural

Read more of my Supernatural works on wattpad!

Castiel

Crooked Tie | Castiel’s crooked tie drives you crazy. He becomes very confused when you start to fix his tie every time he shows up. One day he finally confronts you, asking you why you always fix his tie.

My Angel | You had fallen right into their trap. The angels were using you as bait to get Castiel. They made the mistake of underestimating him.

Sam Winchester

|Supernatural Rewrite Masterlist|

Rock, Paper, Scissors | You flirt with the brothers after a successful hunt.

Dean Winchester

Rock, Paper, Scissors | You flirt with the brothers after a successful hunt.

Criminal Minds

Spencer Reid

It’s Always Been You | You go to see Spencer at his apartment to check up on him. It’s been two weeks since the fiasco with maeve and he hasn’t left his apartment. While you’re there, the secret you’ve kept in all this time is revealed.

Aaron Hotchner

Worried | When you are kidnapped by an unsub, Hotch will do anything and everything to get you home safe.

BBC Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes

Sneaky Cigarette | John convinced you and Sherlock not to smoke, but one day the two of you can’t help it.

Serenade Me | You’re bored out of your mind, so you decide to play Sherlock’s violin. He comes home to see you playing.

Harry Potter

Neville Longbottom

You’re My Happiest Memory | You and Neville find out your each other’s others happiest memory when trying to conjure your patronus.

Friday The 13th (2009)

Clay Miller X Reader | You are Clay Miller’s girlfriend. He’s taken you to the middle of bumfuck nowhere, looking for his sister, Whitney. She’s been missing for a month and a half after she went on a camping trip with some friends. You and Clay are determined to find her, but there is a hockey masked killer who is waiting in the woods for you.

[imagining-in-the-margins]

Wedding Challenge Fic Masterlist

Hey everyone! I want to start by saying thank you so much to everyone who participated - it was so much fun to write alongside you all, and I can’t wait to share everyone’s hard work.

So without further ado, here are the entries for the Wedding Challenge!

Spencer/Reader

The Perfect Plan by @imagining-in-the-margins: [SFW, GN] Reader has a question for Spencer, but things don’t go according to plan.

Forever Has a Nice Ring to It by @foxy-eva: [SFW, Fem] Spencer Reid has a hard time talking about his feelings. When he finally finds the courage to express his love for his girlfriend, both of them realize that forever has a nice ring to it.

Speak Now by @mxacegrey: [SFW, GN] “Speak now or forever hold your peace.”

To Have and To Hold by @imagining-in-the-margins: [NSFW, Fem] Reader is trying to save her marriage, but Spencer seems resigned to its failure.

Moral of the Story  (Part 1, Part 2,Part 3) by @imagining-in-the-margins: [Pts. 1&3 SFW, Fem] Spencer has a surprise for you on the night before you two get married.

You Know My Heart by @fortheloveofwonderland: [NSFW] Reader has been in love with playboy Spencer Reid for ten long years. But when you get engaged, he suddenly has to stop the wedding at any cost.

Hotch/Reader

Ring Mayhem by @mxacegrey: [SFW, GN] Jack is the ringbearer and he informs the bride/groom that he’s lost the ring… a couple hours before the wedding.

Emily/Reader

Marry Me by @leahseclipse: [SFW, Fem] A car crash turns everything into a nightmare.

(Un)dressing Room by @foxy-eva: [NSFW, Fem] Emily and her fiancé go wedding dress shopping and make good use of the proximity in the dressing room. 

Alex/Reader

Honeymoon Suite by @foxy-eva: [NSFW, Fem] Alex and her wife find the best way to start their honeymoon.

Garvez

At Sunset by @darcyfangirlsfrequently (AO3): [SFW] Luke pops the question.

At Last, I Do by @darcyfangirlsfrequently (AO3): [SFW] Luke and Penelope get married.

What Happens in Vegas... Certainly Does Not Stay There by @darcyfangirlsfrequently: [SFW] After a crazy night out in Vegas, the couple wakes up with rings on their fingers and a certificate that proves the impossible.

Jemily

Au Revoir by @writingquillsandpainpills: [SFW] Who knew a careless "Bonjour" would lead to the most painful "Au revoir?"

Temily

The Road Ahead by @gaelic-symphony: [SFW] Emily and Tara hit the road for a weekend getaway at Rossi’s vacation house on the Eastern Shore.

Two Weddings by @gaelic-symphony (AO3): [SFW] Reflections on what could have been as JJ and Emily get married in Rossi’s backyard—eight years apart from each other.

Anniversary by @foxy-eva: [NSFW] Emily plans a special surprise for Tara on their first wedding anniversary.

Moreid

Mystery of Love by @tobias-hankel: [NSFW] Spencer knew one thing for sure, they wanted to marry Derek Morgan. Everything else was a mystery.

Hotchreid

White Lace Garter by goobzoop (AO3): [NSFW] Aaron and Spencer's wedding day is finally here and Spencer is so ready to lose his virginity.

Spencer/Sam Winchester (Supernatural)

Marry Me to the Blue Sky by Chaotic_Librarian (AO3): [NSFW] Spencer got married while in Las Vegas, and the team was sure he was there to visit his mother. But instead, Spencer returns with a ring on his finger.

Thank you everyone! Keep an eye out for the next challenge, which is hopefully coming soon!

[nalyra-dreaming]

Hello! You probably already answered this but I can't find it through search (seems like Tumblr has bugs as usual)

Now that it was confirmed that Lestat was floating in ep6 too (though idk why it was such a controversy before, it was very clear to me), what do you think about Louis saying he didn't know Lestat could fly? I interpreted it as him thinking floating and flying are two different things (are they? in show it was never outright stated, are we supposed to view them as different skills?)

What are your opinion on this?

Difficult.

It depends heavily (once more^^) on "where/when" we are in Dubai.

Because Louis' refusal to apply "flying" to Lestat contrasts directly to Armand's ability to do so.

The Dubai apartment was done/set up for Louis. But... done in a way someone else, someone not really in Louis' headspace thinks he would like it.

There's a reading room, with no natural light (and no real earth for Louis to dig his feet in), because "he was missing the natural world". There are books shelves, but they're high up (Louis could obviously get a ladder, but that's not the point, the point is control. They're not easily accessible - for him.) His food is brought to him. When he has an emotional "outburst" he has to "rest". Armand protects him from himself. The doors and windows are controlled.

I'd actually like to point at the excellent article by Linda Codega once more: Armand is the reason (to watch...)

Because ultimately a lot of what Louis tells is influenced by Armand being there:

"Louis telling the story of his first abusive relationship to a third party in front of his current boyfriend, who also may or may not be abusive. He recalls the worst parts of his relationship to Lestat (Sam Reid), but also the best parts of his relationship, emphasising over and over the vampire bond that they shared and the obsessive, narcissistic, toxic love they had for each other… again, in front of the vampire he is currently in a relationship with. The motivation to embellish the worst parts and understate the best parts is literally standing in the room with him."

Of course Louis knew Lestat could fly/float/whatever, imho. If nothing else but their first night was of course one to remember. (If they can really all fly already, but that's another theory/discussion^^).

The question really is why he pretended Lestat couldn't.

Was he trying to feed a "hungering heart"? Namely passing a pacifier to Armand, so to speak?

It depends, on where we are in Dubai. :)

Some have theorized that Louis might be a prisoner.

Personally I hope he isn't locked away for Lestat to rescue him, but that he is more closely to the Merrick ending. That still involves rescuing so to speak, but... a very different one.

I don't know if you've seen the new summary - once more the point is made that there is more underneath the memories, and that their relationship... has impact.

So to get back to your actual question^^:

I think Louis very well knew Lestat could fly. But for Armand to twist the memory of the fight (and aftermath) into what we were told that must have been a cataclysmic event.

And so Louis (himself) is left with this mix of memories of his own, and "the tale someone else told to him" as Rolin put it - and they don't quite make sense within the narrative.

Yet.

Which is why Daniel is and will continue to tear the narrative apart :)

[saraminia]

5 Male celebrity crushes (who are not Noah Reid bwahaha)

5 Female celebrity crushes

I've tried for hours now to come up with an answer to this question and I'm just. I've got nothing. I don't have any male celebrity crushes. I mean, there are some that I find attractive and some that I have some weird fond feelings towards. And sometimes those two things even overlap, but. They cannot in any way be described as crushes. Like Harry Styles for example. He's a very handsome man and I love him very much, but not like that. It's more like I'm happy for his success, I'm rooting for him and want him to be happy and live his best life. And there are celebs like Sam Rockwell, Ewan McGregor and Jack White that I will always have a soft spot for, but I don't have a crush on any of them. I truly am so in love with Noah that there is no space for crushes in my head and my heart lol.

That being said, it was so much easier to come up with celebrity women to answer this question lmfao. Make of that what you will. So off the top of my head:

Kehlani

Victoria Monét

Nicola Correia Damude

Olivia Wilde

Kate Siegel

Rachel Weisz

I know it was supposed to be five, but I've already spent too much time on this answer so I'm not going to waste any more time trying to decide which one to leave out. Idk if these are crushes either. Maybe it's just easier to objectively think of women without automatically comparing them to Noah, like I do with all the men. Because let's face it. Nobody compares to him. He's the love of my life and I can't really spare more than a passing thought to anyone else. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Thank you for this extremely difficult ask 🩷 and for reminding me that I will truly never be free 😩 I will be forever pining over that man... Why is life like this?? 😭

[theputterer]

Good Things In 2023

It’s that time of year again! Time to remember all the good things that happened in 2023. I’ve done this since 2017, and highly recommend doing this as a fun way to reflect (and to have something for future reference when you are feeling Down.)

woof ok here we go

PERSONAL

I visited two countries I haven't been to before: the Netherlands and Iceland!

The Netherlands: mostly Amsterdam but did also pop down to The Hague for a day. Did the Van Gogh Museum, the Anne Frank House, the Rijksmuseum, the Bloemenmarkt, a canal boat tour, the Royal Palace, the Mauritshuis.

Iceland: I was there for less than 48 hours but I saw THE NORTHERN LIGHTS!!!! they were subtler than I expected but so cool. also did the Perlan Museum and a Lava Show, which ruled.

Related: I turned 30 this year!

My dear friend Sam came to visit me in Dublin in June! The highlight of her visit was going with her to see Hozier at Malahide Castle.

Speaking of which, Hozier dropped UNREAL UNEARTH which isn't personal, per se, but is very personal to me

My sister visited me in November! We squeezed a lot in her time here, but highlights were Glendalough, the Hill of Tara, and the Galway Christmas Market.

A few aunts went on a trip to Ireland this fall and I joined them for a bit up in Donegal, as well as a day trip to Derry, which I'd not been to before.

Completely fucking forgot about this but I did write a 158k word long ROGUE ONE / FRINGE AU, ENDLESS FORMS MOST BEAUTIFUL. it was a real fuckin bitch to finish, let me tell you that

I got really into MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE over the summer (don't ask) and wrote a couple short pieces inspired by the most recent movie, DEAD RECKONING - PART ONE: LADY LAZARUS and WORTHY THE NAME OF SIR KNIGHT.

I jumped back on my bullshit in October and wrote a long, extended epilogue to my BINARY STAR SYSTEMS trilogy: TWO DESERTS. the way the series ended was always correct and good but it was fun to write this extended epilogue focusing on the fallout, the question of what it's like to live past the end of your myth.

Anything bolded below is something I particularly enjoyed and recommend. 

MOVIES

2023 movies I saw and liked:

M3GAN

KNOCK AT THE CABIN

65

BONO AND THE EDGE, A SORT OF HOMECOMING WITH DAVID LETTERMAN

DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES

RENFIELD

THREE MUSKETEERS: D'ARTAGNAN

JOHN MULANEY: BABY J

SISU

THE LITTLE MERMAID

SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER VERSE

ASTEROID CITY

INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE: DEAD RECKONING - PART ONE

BARBIE

OPPENHEIMER

PAST LIVES

ELEMENTAL

A HAUNTING IN VENICE

CHEVALIER

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON

BOTTOMS

THE ROYAL HOTEL

DREAM SCENARIO

ANATOMY OF A FALL

THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES

EILEEN

NAPOLEON

GODZILLA MINUS ONE

FERRARI

2022 movies I saw and liked:

TAR

THE LOST CITY

WOMEN TALKING

TV

THE LAST OF US

PEAKY BLINDERS

BOOKS

super embarrassing how few books I read this year:

"Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires" by Douglas Rushkoff

"Donegal Folk Tales" by Joe Brennan

"Listen to the Land Speak: A Journey into the Wisdom of What Lies Beneath Us" by Manchan Magan

"Hell Bent" by Leigh Bardugo

"The Book of M" by Peng Shepherd

"The World We Make" by NK Jemisin

"The Echo Wife" by Sarah Gailey

"Daisy Jones and the Six" by Taylor Jenkins Reid

"White Cat, Black Dog: Stories" by Kelly Link

"Yellowface" by RF Kuang

"Ithaca" by Claire North

"Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI" by David Grann

"A Heart That Works" by Rob Delaney

"Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier

"The Crying Book" by Heather Christie

"In the Dream House" by Carmen Maria Machado

"Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels, and Crooks" by Patrick Radden Keefe

"Fleabag" by Phoebe Waller-Bridge

"The Hurricane Wars" by Thea Guanzon

OTHER GOOD THINGS

*some of these things are Good as in well-written or well-made, but maybe not Good in topic.

"Eurydice" by Adrienne Su

"What Happens to a School Shooter's Sister?" by Jennifer Gonnerman for The New Yorker. A high school student murders his parents and several students at his school, and his sister is left to pick up the pieces. really powerful story on unconditional love.

"A Friend Died, Her Novel Unfinished. Could I Realize Her Vision?" by Leslie Jamison for The New Yorker. the grief of losing not only a dear friend but her art as well.

"Fuck you, I don't know?"

Werner Herzog pronounces Eeyore.

George Washington's Dream for America, an SNL sketch.

Judi Dench performs Shakespeare.

"Walking Brittany Home" by Devin Faraci for Washington Post. a really beautiful piece on death and love.

This thread on the struggle of trying to be fashionable in Ireland.

"The Return of the Marriage Plot: Why everyone is so eager for men and women to get hitched" by Rebecca Traister for The Cut.

"We Were Never Supposed to See Our Own Faces This Much" by Lola Christina Alao for Dazed Digital. on social media and personal reflection.

sunwoof

this story about Jimmy Buffett I loved

"She Wasn't Able to Get an Abortion. Now She's A Mom. Soon She'll Start Seventh Grade" by Charlotte Alter for Time. the cruelty is the point.

had a pilot named Ken yesterday and he introduced himself by saying his job is plane

"Cillian Murphy might be the star of a massive movie atm but to me he will always be the guy that showed up in the rain to our abortion rights marches"

"The 'Troubling Reverberations' at the End of OPPENHEIMER, Explained" by Bilge Ebiri for Vulture. it's an absolutely devastating ending, but the fact remains: there was no other way to end it.

this obituary for the great Sinéad O'Connor.

Kiké Hernandez returned to the Dodgers!

this behind the scenes video from the filming of MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE: DEAD RECKONING - PART ONE where Tom Cruise's co-stars watch him drive a motorcycle off a cliff.

"How Christopher Nolan Learned to Stop Worrying and Love AI" by Maria Streshinsky for Wired. good interview with Nolan, one of my favorite filmmakers / artists. (anyone who's ever read anything I've written is probably like yes, this is very obvious.)

"The Perils and Promises of Penis-Enlargement Surgery" by Ava Kofman for The New Yorker. an absolutely BONKERS but super important piece!

a new ending to RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, lmao

"The Return of Ryan Gosling" by Zach Baron for GQ. really great profile writing going on here!

"LOST Illusions: The Untold Story of the Hit Show's Poisonous Culture" by Maureen Ryan for Vanity Fair. LOST is one of my favorite shows and has been super influential on my work. (again, this is probably very obvious). this piece is devastating in how it reveals the terrible racism and sexism behind the scenes of a show I have loved. important.

Henry Kissinger died this year (GOOD THINGS BABYYY) and this piece by Nick Turse, which came out in May, is a good explainer on why that's such good news: "Kissinger's Killing Fields".

"Talking With 'Swiftie Dads' at a Taylor Swift Concert" by Eileen Cartter for GQ. I thought this was very sweet.

The New York Times had an interactive feature about Connie Chung and her impact on young Chinese-American women, particularly the ones named after her. I love this video of her meeting some of them.

"Will A.I. Become the New McKinsey?" by Ted Chiang for The New Yorker. Chiang is best known as the writer of STORY OF YOUR LIFE which was adapted into ARRIVAL, so it's wise to listen to him when it comes to tech and science.

Loved this speech Mark Hamill gave about Carrie Fisher at her Hollywood Walk of Fame induction ceremony.

Accents white people can still do.

this absolutely incredible slapstick esque unintentional comedy scene.

As always, tagging anyone who’d like to do this!

@magalis @callioope @earnestfeeling @illuminahsti @fortysevenswrites @vaderkat @leaiorganas @garethsedwards @rifle-yes @buffyrat @alittlemomentum @i-am-slain @rogue-rook

[ofruinations]

WELCOME CITIZEN / CODENAME — PARAMOUNT.

⸻ ( sam reid, thirty-seven, cis man, he/him ) — Look who it is! If you take a look at our database, you’ll find that ADONIS MOREAU is a GENETIC SPECIALIST that works in SECTOR 4. That must be why they’re INTELLIGENT and VICIOUS. If you ask me, they remind me of a leather glove against skin, the cut of a scalpel against muscle and the ritualistic eating of hearts. They are affiliated with THE DEMOCRATIC COUNCIL.

basic information:

character name: adonis moreau

alias (es): doctor moreau, councilor moreau, goodhands, paramount

face claim: sam reid

mutation status: human

birthday: august 30

sexuality: gay

moral alignment: lawful evil

occupation: councilor and doctor specializing in genetic pathology and forensics

work sector: sector four

affiliation: the democratic council

3 positive traits: intelligent, patient, charming

3 negative traits: vicious, vindictive, spiteful

biography (optional): coming soon.

questionnaire:

how do they feel about living in sol city? have they always lived there or did they travel from another settlement?

adonis is from old money—that is, his family extends way back to one of the first few to settle in sol city as the world collapsed around them. it was certainly a sight to behold, told through old books and accounts in a private bookshelf that he frequents. the city is his home, and while the guise of the affable charmer is enough for most people, it hides a gnawing discomfort, trying to expand the borders of the city so that humanity conquers the lands once more.

do they trust the council's leadership? why or why not?

a complicated question. adonis trusts them enough to understand collective strength. cannibalizing each other for power is stupid to upset the delicate dance that they all keep doing. if a sector falls, it will be up to the others to fight over the scraps, and try to understand the arcane rules that they have in place, so he tries his best to maintain order. he does not trust the system, because he knows the system is made of people, but he trusts them enough that he's made contingencies just in case things fall apart.

if they chose their sector and profession, why did they make that choice? if they didn't, why not? were they happy with their assignment or not?

his family always had a keen interest in biology and the well-being of their constituents, and he was expected to follow in tradition. though, he had a habit of making his own way in the world, adonis adores the thought of healing people, as it subjects them to his perfectly manicured hand long enough to study and send on their way. his personal projects are an extension of it—though harnessing mutation is certainly something else, but all for the betterment of the city. or so he says.

what's one object that they always keep on their person?

sentimentality isn't one of adonis' strong suits, but even a man such as him has keepsakes. on his sixteenth birthday, his father gifted him a pen, an old one that still needed ink and a nib to be used. it's an imitation, he assumes, as the old world died out before his father, but he likes to think that it's a piece of the world that reaches back in time to touch him, because of his father.

[veryace-ficrecs]

Criminal Minds Fanfic Recs

This list will include all ratings and tags, so read at your own discretion! :)   

He Was Left on the Steps of the FBI in a Basket by schrijverr - Rated T

Maybe not a basket, but sixteen-year-old Dr. Spencer Reid suddenly shows up at FBI headquarters claiming that his mother has been kidnapped. The BAU isn’t certain first, but the case he sets them on proves to be an interesting one, wherein they get to know the young doctor until he’s practically family. 

Shuffle the Odds by schrijverr - Rated T

Spencer is a Vegas boy, who's game is poker, no matter what others might believe. The team slowly catches onto it.

Following Spencer from when he started at the BAU till season 7 with poker as red thread.

Dr. Spencer Reid's First Case by boredom - Rated T

Derek Morgan wasn't sure he trusted Gideon's judgement. After all, who allows a 23 year old who can't even pass the academy's physical exam to become a field agent? Luckily for him, Reid is about to prove just how competent (and badass) he can be.

Trigger warnings: blood, violence, mentions of school shootings, death, lack of respect towards people suffering from mental illness, and other things you would normally find in a Criminal Minds episode.

Bite Your Tongue (Choke Yourself To Sleep) by drspencerreid - Rated G

reid tipped his head back and leaned it on the shoulder behind him, making it look like he was just putting on a show. he whispered, "i swear to god if you hold what i'm about to do against me, i'm sending garcia the baby pictures your mother gave me."

••

or the one in which spencer has to go undercover in a club and his friends are far too smug

Gotta Live Before We Get Older (Nothing To Lose) by drspencerreid - Rated G

the silence that followed in the next few seconds was eventually broken by prentiss loudly exclaiming, "i'm sorry, what was that?"

•••

or the one in which spencer surprises everyone with his view on tattoos

The Times They Forget by Ena2705 - Rated G

Spencer Reid is a genius, anyone can tell you that. But sometimes people forget that his head wasn’t always buried in books, and there was a time when he did something other than catch serial killers. 

These Are My Friends (I Love Them) by drspencerreid - Rated G

"as much as i have enjoyed learning all these new sides to the kid, i should start going too. i'm very slightly starting to get old, and i really shouldn't have tested it with all those shots."

"very slightly starting to?" spencer repeated. "rossi, i think you surpassed that like sixty years ago."

••

or the one in which spencer gets drunk and honest

Dumb and Ditzy by TimelessTears - Rated T

AU. Years of being bullied for his smarts left him dreading when people figured out he was a genius. What better way to throw them off then by acting stupid? Enter: Dumb Blond Spencer Reid. 

Supernatural:

Monsters in Your Closet by AlbusCorvus - Rated G

Series: 2 Works

When Castiel goes on a hunt alone and is caught by a particular FBI team, the brothers do something they never thought they’d have to. They kidnap SSA Spencer Reid to make an exchange. But being kidnapped by delusional serial killers is nothing like Spencer thought it would be. 

Monsters are Real by WhiskyBoys - Rated T

'Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.' Stephen King.

The kid sitting in the interview room swings on the rear legs of his chair, throws back his head, and at the top of his lungs, sings a painfully off-key version of 'Wanted Dead or Alive'. Hotch looks at Morgan with one eye-brow arched in question. "You think he's your unsub?"

No Difference by The_Bookkeeper - Rated T

Derek has been in a lot of bad situations. This one easily makes the top five. Or would, if Dean and Sam Winchester were actually acting like the sadistic psychopaths he expected them to be. Instead, Dean is referencing Star Trek, Sam is comforting Reid, and Derek has never been more confused.

Batman:

How... Did I Get Here? by PurpleMango - Rated T

Spencer Reid gets transported universes, happens along Batman, and ends up with a job as the resident quirky profiler to the Bat Family

[ca-suffit]

Show's cast has explicitly said racial motivations weren't what lead to it happening (they were white in books, Louis a plantation owner and it still happened). You can see what you want to see but it's a show made by a white guy at the end of the day.

Fixating on something the people involved haven't given an indication is even there to rally against the guy who is the one very vocal about the queer text (which they do admit is an actual thing they are intentionally putting in there and talking about) in a cast of mostly straight people is icky as hell.

The trial happens in the book but not exactly the same way it happens in the show. Book ppl luv to cry about changes made between the 2, I wonder why it's always silence on detail changes like this?? I rly wonder (/s).

The show intentionally put an abundance of slave / lynching refs into every part of the trial, things that are *not* in the books and specific to black ppl only. that isn't stuff that just whoopsy daisy ends up here, from a series that has consistently been incorporating these things in the story. ur attempt to discard that even more by saying a white guy is behind the show is also just stupid. unlike anne rice, there is not a single creator for the show. no *one* person is responsible for things.

there seems to be a disconnect in ppl thinking if these things are present then the main focus has to be antiblackness too. the trial has to spell out "this is a trial against black ppl cuz we hate black ppl!!" do u see anything IRL....ever? do u know anything about history or things happening rn? when lestat is on the train to get claudia and drag her home, did u also think the slave catcher part of that wasn't real bcuz he didn't call her a slur or smthg while doing it?

idk why the cast and crew won't talk about these things but I'd imagine a lot is bcuz putting emphasis on race / racism is not a real selling point for gaining viewers, especially anne rice viewers. it doesn't mean the show still isn't doing this and it doesn't mean ppl who notice it are making shit up. again, this type of stuff isn't stuff that just occurs the way it's presented here without being intentional. it's also possible that the actors of color don't want to be the ones to answer these questions, are they asking these things to the white ppl too?

I also have no idea what ur point is trying to make me sound homophobic (I do, I'm just pointing out ur manipulation technique is bad). this fandom and other fandom's focuses on (white) gay rights above all else is another issue u never want to talk about. just like in the trial, u'll throw in talk about standing up to homophobia bcuz it stomps over racism rly easily, bcuz nobody cares about racism in the first place. I'm sure u felt rly good when lestat went after that homophobe during the trial where claudia dies anyway. it's possible to talk about multiple things at once, btw, and I've never said anything negative about gay ppl or gay rights so this was rly a reach. if u rly think sam reid is some kind of gay rights activist for this stuff too then no wonder it's a struggle to talk about anything in this fandom lol.