#and here is My Interpretation: childe knows his position and knows it will force him to hurt others

[badgalsasuke]

Continuing the re-read of Naruto Gaiden.

While at first he looks shocked to see Sarada for the first time ever

The rest of the manga he's simply not happy to see her

Like, not in the slightest. You'd think if she was the child Sasuke had with someone he loved and wasn't able to see her due to a very dangerous important mission like SS shippers claim, he'd be happy to see her, a little smile here and there at least.

He's so uncomfortable by his daughter's presence

YIKES

I find very interesting what Kishimoto did here: 1. He had to place Sarada next to Naruto and 2. he had to make sure Naruto was injured and couldn't defend himself to get Sasuke to move and become a shield for them, basically bring back the whole "my body moved on its own" instinct Sasuke has to protect Naruto to then be able to create some sort of father-daughter moment so Sasuke wouldn't look absolutely terrible as a father.

It reminds me a lot of the interview Kishimoto gave years ago about forcing Sasuke to drink the juice he doesn't like, which is basically creating scenarios where Sasuke is forced to interact with certain characters in some way. You can read more about it here

he hates Sakura's guts so bad, like damn not even containing himself for the sake of Sarada.

The difference in Sasuke's reaction when Naruto is stabbed vs when Sakura is sent to a difference dimension.

They really don't give a fuck about Sakura at all, this is so sad.

Mmmmm the hesitation. When Naruto got stabbed and said *four* times it was no big deal Sasuke was still scared shitless for him but when Sakura is kidnapped, he isn't worried (or dgaf) and struggles to talk confidently about her strength as kunoichi. If he was smirking or something it wouldn't feel like he's forcing himself to talk that way, but he still has that uncomfy face he makes whenever Sarada and Sakura are concerned.

Kishimoto really refuses to write an interaction between Sasuke and Sakura where Sasuke shows genuine care for her. Sakura also looks kind of resignated to Sasuke's treatment here.

And this is Sarada's reaction and I cannot really decipher what Kishimoto is going trying to communicate here. It's not really a smile but she's not totally sad either. She looks baffled? Is she, just like the readers, trying to make up where Sasuke and Sakura really stand as a couple? It seems like so to me.

Okay, finally for once he shows some positive emotion towards Sarada and is proud of her strength.

Oh brother, he truly does not give a fuck about Sakura. I also find it an interesting choice that we don't see Sasuke's face when he's talking about his feelings for Sakura.

Don't worry Sarada you're not the first child to come from a loveless marriage, multiple children across the world see themselves in you!

Right here I almost felt like despite not loving Sakura, Sasuke doesn't find it necessary for Sarada to pay for that and that his uncomfortable face has more to do with not knowing his child and not knowing how to act around her rather than some actual misplaced anger against her.

But then Sasuke did this, meaning he has no issues to make false promises to Sarada just like he did to Sakura and just like Itachi did to him. He doesn't feel close to her nor is he interested in strengthening their bond.

Sakura is so pathetic like you cannot even feel bad for her because she herself refuses to stand up.

Some SS shippers interpret Sasuke smirk as him liking to tease Sakura. Now, Sasuke's VA had apparently stated that Sasuke does like to deny Sakura affection as you can see here.

So if that's the case then Sasuke is not denying Sakura a kiss in a playful way as SS imagine (they like to say he doesn't like kissing her in public when Sakura had already implied they've NEVER kissed), but he's rather smirking because he's happy he's on his own again, like he rejected Sakura again plus used the forehead poke on Sarada that symbolizes distancing and false promises, it's a sensical conclusion to me.

And ofc we could not not talk about Studio Pierrot doing damage control of Kishimoto's work. In the family portrait made by Kishimoto Sasuke is the only one that isn't smiling and instead has a hard look on his face which fits his attitude and demeanor during all of Naruto Gaiden, but in the anime they have him smiling and gave him a softer look... Mmmmmmm...

[mandalhoerian]

Gosh I wish you made such big analize about Xavier and Sylus, sometimes I feel so dumb that I can't read so good behind the lines. 😭😭😭

HEY NO CMON NOW NO NEED TO DISCREDIT YOURSELF LIKE THAT!!!! First of all, this is an ongoing game and story, think of it like an incomplete ao3 fic you have theories for. There are HUUGE gaps in there that will be filled later and until then, they are left to the interpretation of the player. It's only natural, there's SO MUCH stuff and lore out there to be consumed, which are often non-linear that it makes things confusing on purpose. It's all about feeding us crumbs about what's coming, of course we get lost!!

Secondly, I made the rafayel analysis because it confused the lights out of me with the constant nagging feeling that I was missing something and that's why I didn't understand most things and wanted to get my thoughts straight. Like the ebb day theories floating out there as to why he was Like That, why he said the things he did out of nowhere and randomly like "what if i take from you will you leave me?" after the topic was JUST about sceneries and the love and art burns me talk after YET AGAIN another art talk about inspiration in pain. I had whiplash over whiplash and felt the need to dive deep into intertidal zone.

It's not like that with Sylus and Xavier (and Zayne's) cards. At least for me. All of them are fairly self-contained compared to his, I feel like. And I'm sure other people have discussed this already, much better than I can as well -- especially Sylus, but I'll put my two cents in for a general review of both their memorias!

Xavier is experiencing negative emotions such as jealousy FOR THE FIRST TIME with MC. He doesn't know how to process these feelings which are allowed to be nurtured in a safe environment when that wasn't the case before in his life. They manifest in temper bursts that stem from a life of being forced to be emotionally blank. He wasn't allowed to be a child or freedom for himself and his thoughts and feelings and wants, so he starts behaving in a childish way -- it's something he's surprised about as well. This happens when you feel safe with a person that those repressed parts begin to open up and you start being yourself more with them. It's sad when you think about it, as cute as it is coming from Xavier. MC is so understanding of him and finding him being "expressive" more as a really positive thing. She's an amazing partner -- because let's face it, if this behavior came from a man in real life, it would be so annoying. Xavier isn't like those other men though, his jealousy doesn't come from a need to control or possess, a place of distrust, projection or disregard of personal boundaries. It's cute because it's followed by healthy communication to allow Xavier to process and grow and open up more, it doesn't threaten the relationship. This is just my interpretation, aside from the context of their previous lives together (the desire to monopolize now that he finally is with her) and this being Xavier's possibly last year on earth that gives a "i've got so little time left and i don't want to waste it" stuff.

And Sylus is. Well. There's a lot in there. The theme here is "their first time", and it's not limited to sleeping together, in my opinon. Theirs is a burgeoning relationship compared to the other "established" relationships. They're new to each other. We even see domesticity from them in MC's house for the first time, though it is a result of Sylus's Onychinus life making an introduction in their relationship as something that has to be legitimately talked about eventually. MC wants to come along with him and know more but Sylus hides a lot from her to keep her safe and separate from him, and yes it's his business and MC doesn't push (the mutual respect is insane here), but it's affecting their time together. Not that MC sees this as a problem because she's always ready to throw down (AND does lock in and gets one step ahead of him).

I read this as MC's first time finally letting him in and her desires/feelings for him that she asked him to stay and kept making the moves when it had all been him before. Her feelings are growing. And you can see how much it pleases him and makes him happy, he was waiting for this -- for MC to voluntarily want him and be honest with him. That's all Sylus wants. He can see into what she wants, and sure yeah he knows, but her outwardly voicing them to him is a different story altogether. It shows she trusts him, and that's important to Sylus.

She was mostly closed off and withdrawn from him emotionally because they have this dynamic that started off hostile that turned into teasing and provoking where she sees being vulnerable with him as a weakness that would be embarrassing. It's a budding relationship, remember? No couple is all in & open with each other right from the beginning, it comes later. And Sylus is a dominant man (not domineering, that's a different word) and I think MC doesn't like being weak next to someone like him, and she perceives a power imbalance there unconsciously even though Sylus wants her to be open so bad and rely on him more and give her everything she wants and needs.

So it's HUUUUUGE that they showed Sylus intertwine their hands together when he had to FORCE IT before. MC is finally receiving him with open arms and you can see he's delighted. It's so romantic first of all, but mans is hungry, BUT HE'S ALSO SO TENDER AND LOVING !!! GOOD FOR YOU SYLUS GET IT. I love this for him and that he felt safe enough to sleep even though he's nocturnal. Or she sucked the soul right out of his dick and knocked him out cold 😭 the sex was so astronomically soul ascending i guess LMFAO

Again, I'm sorry if I got anything wrong. These are just my thoughts, and they are surface level!

[bogos-bint3d]

random thought bc i was making alphyne sims LOL, do you think undyne would ever want to have children? how do you think she’d be as a parent?

While I personally don't quite have a "definite yes" or "definite no" answer for this I personally think that, yeah, possibly! I think it's a question with a lot of layers to it, "is it something the character would want?" "Is it something the character should do?" "How much thought would the character put into it all beforehand?" "How long would the character wait before making that choice?" And first of all I think I should talk about fandom culture's view on kids in general. Why? Because I'm obsessed with validating my opinions like this

It's been said many times by many people now how there are a lot of times where fans end up writing completely out of character for the purpose of placing characters into positions of stereotypical familial structures- ESPECIALLY forcing women into the roles of motherhood where it doesnt fit or make sense for them to the point where I don't think I can really add anything substantial or important to the topic. The pros have very much said what needs to be said.

HOWEVER. I ALSO LIKE TO HAVE FUN WITH FUCKING CHARACTERS. I LIKE TO EXPLORE DIFFERENT TOPICS AND SITUATIONS WITH THEM. I WANT PEOPLE TO BE ABLE TO SHAMELESSLY ENJOY THEIR RIGHT TO INTERPRET CHARACTERS WHERE THEY THINK NESCECARY. WHERE THEY THINK FUCKING FUN!!!

So with that said, while demeaning female characters to singular sad and one dimensionsional traits of "Mother" is very clearly to me Not A Good Thing, people should stop acting like it's a fucking sin to imagine the possibility of a character having a child while still retaining all their accurate attributes, because it is a very possible thing that can be and IS done!!!!!

What are my thoughts on Undyne with all this?

Hehhaahehehaa....... strap in.

Where do I BEGIN. How about the inspirations behind the character of undyne herself.

Ok so see this wonderful lass here. That's a sculpture by Chauncey Ives of the mythical water spirit, Undine. Thinking about it, you all probably know this anyway because I do fairly often reblog Undine themed stuff too. Because I'm just like this. But how about the interesting stuff?

The original myth, created by Paracelsus, an alchemist and philosopher born in the 1400s, I believe comes from his work "A Book on Nymphs, Sylphs, Pygmies, and Salamanders, And Kindered Spirits". I think that's what it was called. I'm too tired to talk fully about it specifically and we need to get to the point so have a video of some guy reading it here

Yay :]

It's pretty much what it says. Paracelsus essentially believed that elemental beings (whom he had adapted and reimagined from ancient or traditional at the time sources) were simply part of the strangeness of God's natural creation and should be studied, as part of appreciation of the Bible etc. And we know ALL ABOUTTTTT utdr and its biblical links/imagery. But back to undine :]

Paracelsus named his takes on the classic concept of elementals: gnomes for earth (YES HE INVENTED THE WORD GNOME!!!!!), sylphs for air (yeah he also invented the word sylph), salamanders for fire (he didn't invent that :[), and of COURSE! UNDINES FOR WATER! He believed undines to be fairly similar to humans, a significant difference being the lack of a soul. Which surely means nothing when talking about Souls Are Important the Video Game. And anyways according to him they were apparently fairly capable of getting a soul through love. Wikipedia also says that Paracelsus says that a child from this love will too have a soul which is nice

Blablabla Wikipedia says undines are like fucking desperate to get a husband or whatever but dudeeeee she can do whatever she fucking wantssssss. I think she can and should be enjoying her life with alphys rather than it being a thing just for a living soul or whatever. They're just happy, no mythology attached

Onto the most iconic interpretation of the myth, 1811s Undine by Friedrich De La Motte Fouque. When you think of the tale of Undine it's almost always that it's this specific story you pull from. Apart from another one I'll briefly touch on later (please hope it's brief). In it, Undine is a woman adopted by a fisherman, who was taken in by the fisherman after his own child died. Hmmmmm wow hmm sort of like how asgore took in undyne after his children died HM BACK ON TOPIC. Personality-wise, Undine is described by Wikipedia (because I don't have the book) as "erratic", and "capricious", which Google dictionary describes as "given to sudden and unaccountable changes of mood or behaviour", which again sounds quite similar to the Undyne we all know and love.

It mentions that when married to Huldbrand (the main guy in the book he's not important tho) she is "kind and gentle" and yeah imo the writing with this IS kinda shit HOWEVER I think if were simply using this as inspiration for undyne I can definitely imagine her *eventually* becoming a calmer and more thoughtful person with A: the presence of someone like alphys to mutually love and understand her for her and B: the absence of having to worry about a war to fight and always sort of being on edge and just being. Like that. And again this would all be a *progressive experience*, rather than in the book where undine literally switches up over night. I do like to consider character and stuff

There's this line from the Wikipedia summary which jumpscared me

I 0% believe this has any significance to deltarune whatsoever however it was so funny out of context I had to add it

Another completely unrelated thing here but there's a fucking guy called "Kuhleborn" and I just. Can homestuck leave me alone. FOR FIVE MINUTES.

Sorry back to cherry picking the story to fit undyne.

Ok so truthfully I don't find anything else from that specific story that I find particularly helpful to undyne, the rest of it's kinda just useless to my point. Re-establishing the fact here that I skipped over a most of the actual significant parts of the story because I specificly want to talk about how I see it parallel to undyne. But that's it really. I just especially wanted to mention this adaptation of the story as it is pretty much the most iconic interpretation of the myth.

That is, interpretations that specifically refer to its source by name. Because by far the most well known media to draw influence from the myth of undine is the iconic Hans Christian Andersen fairytale, "The Little Mermaid". I don't have much to say on how the little mermaid does take much inspiration from undine, other than the way andersen himself interpreted the story. Simply, the fact that Hans Christian Andersen, a man who based this story off of his own feelings at the inability for another man to reciprocate feelings of romance for him, and resonated with the story of undine so much that it was a source of inspiration for the little mermaid itself is so crazy to me. Like. Here is a queer man who read the tale of Undine and understood it so much he wrote his own story inspired by it and made it tie in with his own experiences of homosexuality! Like that's so crazy to me! Because it just makes the undertale character of undyne being sapphic so much better to me! It took the sad story of gay tragedy and took it and made it a story of gay joy!!!!!!! We are all so happys forever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok ummmm. I got carried away because we are steering very far away from what this post was originally about. Umm. Point is. Original story was of queer sadness but undertale is now of queer joy + the story of queer joy being based on story where being with this person who you really love and being truly and properly bonded in an undeniable and magical way is enough to give you a soul that will live forever. I think that's somewhere near the point I'm trying to make but at the same time it's not quite the point I was trying to make. And this is absolutely just one interpretation of one relationship and this is by no means in any way supposed to be the end all be all of what ANY relationship should be. I really don't think this is what the definition of love is. However for these characters I feel it can be a huge aspect of it for them

NOW FINALLY MOVING ON TO THE ACTUAL CHARACTER FROM UNDERTALE THANK FUCKING GOODNESS!!!!!

Oh undyne. With some of the implications in game that she lost her family, I very much imagine her being cautious with this sort of situation. Would she be able to handle is for example? Would she know what to do. Given its something she might not even have real first hand experience of, is it something she would even want to risk forcing upon another person? I think she struggles so much with responsibility as it is. She wants nothing more than to protect people and cheesus if she had a kid of her own you know she would be doing every single thing in her power to make sure that kid never has to face what she did. Undyne says at one point in game (if you kill her in neutral i believe) she never told alphys the way she felt because if/when she died in battle, she wouldn't want alphys to deal with that. And again, she really would not want to have a kid if she worries that one day that kid would have to worry about someone they truly care about not being with them anymore

So *would* she want them? I don't really think it would be an overwhelming innate desire or anything like that, but really not against it. Sged need a lot of time beforehand first. Some time to live her life to the fullest, time to make sure it's something she can handle without guilt, time to make sure it's something that does bring her joy. And then yeah, 6 or 7 years minimum I can see it happening. And I think it would be nice

"Now let's talk about susie, can we talk about susie? Please stun (and other readers) I've been dying to talk with you about susie all post, okay?" /ref

I don't really have anything to add I just think alphyne should adopt susie. In every timeline. Undertale deltarune I just think ok. Because she doesn't have a good home life to the point where she's like just Not Safe and hm young couple with no children in her area? Undyne would want to help her soooo bad because she understands just what it feels like to be young and alone not really cared for and she would NEED to fix it. That's defo how it is for undertale at LEAST. Idk entirely with dr if it'd be exactly like that cause we don't know what undynes got going down in dr yet.. but even so that's nothing to stop them

Anways yeah I think you mightve been waiting just a wee bit long for the answer to this ask I uhh.....m.....mmmm. yeah man I... yeah. I really do genuinely hope you enjoyed his tho cause uts currently quarter to 2 in the morning and I'm going on a train & to the aquarium tmrw so my ass CANNOT be waking up at 11 am again. Shits fucked. But when I tell you when I'm locked in on an undyne topic I AM LOCKED IN. IT TOOK A WHILE BUT I FINALLY DID IT. MORE THAN HALF OF THIS WAS WRITTEN WITH NO BREAKS OF CHECKS BUT THATS THE BEAUTY!!!!!! FLY MY SCARAB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bababerries]

Jack is a lot of things but tbh I don’t really get why people call him a stalker and I do take issue with insinuating he was abusive to Lacie in their relationship (when she was alive that is. His behavior towards her daughters, her best friend/doll and all the things she loved post her demise was extremely awful)

Jack’s behaviour towards Lacie is never normal or healthy and is definitely creepy. But I don’t see how he’s abusive or a stalker. If anything id say one of the issues in their relationship was Jack was too much of a pushover who had such little respect for himself that he never had the will to truly fight for a bond that they both cherished because he just couldn’t see anything beyond. I can’t help but feel like labeling him as abusive in this stage of their relationship a bit cruel towards him and unsympathetic. And I love Lacie to the moon and back but I’ll be honest I do think she was abusive to Jack in this relationship. (I am in no way trying to demonize her for this that’s my babygirl and she’s been through a lot. But I think Jack’s feelings also matter here)

I don't think we talk a lot about how Lacie sexually assaulted Jack (COCSA) in their first interaction with one another. And then later goes onto encourage him to do sex work. And Jack listens.She purposely choose to talk to him as he was someone in a vulnerable position. (Homeless and abused) so that she could play with him. She gives him her earing and tells him to come and find her Do I think Lacie was serious when she was saying this? No. I don't think Lacie genuinely made plans to see Jack again. She was just simply fouling around. This encounter meant very different things for both of them. And for Jack it flipped his whole world on his head. He was shown love for the first time in his life and was encouraged to chase after it by that person so he did. While the efforts he goes to get her is concerning I feel like calling this stalker behavior gives a much different impression and also feels a bit unempathetic to me? And is also just incorrect. Jack spends 7 years trying to find Lacie under the impression that she to wanted this shown physically with the earring. Not 7 years watching her from afar. I think it's also worth noting Jack processed Lacie's love as maternal to an extent. She did things for him a mother should do for a child (give him food, cut his hair, give him life advice and orders, protect him from bad guys, hugs) I don't wanna go super in depth bc i'd love to make a whole analysis on Jack's feelings for Lacie but Lacie even makes this comparison herself

(And once again I wanna preface with I don't think Lacie owes Jack motherhood. In fact i'm very uncomfortable with viewing motherhood in a positive lens in regards to Lacie's arc as it felt like it was always something forced upon her to further abuse and mystify her. )

And the second time. Lacie once again is the one to ask Jack to see her again. (This time however out of genuine desire.) She makes the first move and suggest this of him

I think it's fair to say Jack would probably want to try to see her again after this as an alternative response to "What are you going to do now Jack?" But I feel like it's a bit up in the air/up to interpretation. Of course I 100% think he wants to see Lacie. But he to is scared of overstepping boundaries to an extent that damages their relationship. He doesn't answer his question to her saying "I want to see you again" "I'm going to see you again" "Can I see you again" It's "I don't know." Which I think you can also take as now that Jack has completed the only life goal he's made for himself he doesn't know what to do with himself. He could be hiding his want and desires to surprise her and see her but he has no reason to do that here. Levi also giving him the paper in this scene suggests Jack lacks the knowledge to come back on his own. Point is Lacie made the first move here and asked him to come back once again she's the one pushing things.

Lacie has power over Jack. She's the on with power over him because he was vulnerable towards her. I don't mean to demonize Lacie with this post and perhaps I focused too much of her flaws in the relationship but the main point I wanna make is I do feel like people are too hard on Jack in regards to how he acted in their relationship when she was alive. Unfairly antagonizing him when he's the bigger victim in this relationship.

[1010ninetynine]

a masterpost of what i consider gay subtext in Uramichi Onii San - the Manga

not the Anime quite yet. no offense Touko Machida but I simply do not want to deal with two interpretations of the work at this point in time.

Generally Kinda Romantic Subtext Between Certain Characters that I Think Can Be Interpreted Either Way

Uramichi and Usahara I cite this for the near telepathic communication. Say what you will - married couples are known for this shit - and while it's definitely not anywhere close to confirmed that these two characters have strong feelings for each other, imo this was pretty gay of them. But to put it one way - are you really friends if people don't mistake you for a gay couple at times? imo not really.

additionally, while it might be just beginning chapter art...tell me where our favorite bunny is looking? Is he being respectful?

(honestly i do think usahara is straight but yk...this mangaka likes his gay men pathetic methinks so there is a chance!)

2. Uramichi and Iketeru

back when iketeru was in hs and uramichi's age isn't given - but i think they're the same age? anyway the lyrics over this scene are just...gay as hell. And they're helping a child find their mom. That is married couple behavior.

(obviously could just be a joke/not intended. their relationship is literally a gag on not understanding each other because iketeru is too happy for uramichi)

3. Kumatani and Iketeru

there's also some somewhat strong subtext between kumatani and iketeru. Like first, kumatani was the first guy who got the weird shirt iketeru found.

and next, the constant protection of iketeru from alcohol is courtesy of kumatani our mvp

he even protects him from our favorite loser

while not as extreme as his protection of HACHITA THE BABY it is still noticeable that Iketeru is someone he cares about.

and both kumatani and iketeru hid their love life from the camera (as did the whole cast hehe). Kumatani literally says his love life isn't family friendly - which can mean a lot of things, including that he's homosexual. Iketeru says it's too beautiful to be shared - which can mean anything really, even that he's straight and had a normal love life that he ain't willing to share.

Imo this sequence of behaviors can be read one of two ways. First of all, you'd have to be blind to not see the obvious resemblance between Iketeru and Hachita, so the affection and thus acceptance of strange gifts due to their similarity is natural. But also...gay? Hmmmmmmmmmm

4. Uramichi and Kumatani

They kind of just hang out a lot, and Kumatani regularly reads more positivity in Uramichi than is probably there. Not really as showstoppingly romantic as the other three examples of subtext, but imo still quite a nice bit of fun in its own right. They're probably the ship easiest to imagine writing besides kumatani and iketeru and my personal favorite but before we get to that...

The Predatory Gay Man I Must Mention For The Completionist In Me

ok look. homophobic caricature he may be. but i said I would catalog all gay subtext in uramichi and imo on this website gay subtext include gay text (hxh moment) and capellini furitsuke is in fact. gay. and a horrible predatory man the likes of which rival your worst coworker. And probably beat him.

he torments the men around him and forces them to engage in behavior they're not interested in. i cite here usahara and saito's mistreatment but there might be more I missed.

like you can't describe capellini's behavior as anything but horrid and disgusting. i'll call uramichi onii san many things - particularly pro-lgbt in terms of rep isn't close. Still love it in general - and I'm pretty sure the author himself is gay given the ludicrous amount of male character thirst traps he draws - but i don't think he likes that about himself tbqh. But I don't really know him - just go on his twitter now and then.

Finally, the moment I've been waiting for but you all don't realize is coming maybe idk

Uramichi and Kikaku - a mostly one sided love story

This relationship isn't so much implied as it is easily ignorable yet true: it is obviously intended to be read as a love story of sorts, whether it be a gag about how lonely uramichi is and how he needs some emotional connection, or just plain 'he's gay'. This is literally the only guy who gets the door to Uramichi's heart regularly attempting to open treatment, let alone the fact that when Kikaku begs Uramichi to help him out with work he always agrees...maybe more so due to fear than genuine care but still.

there's probably more examples, but these are enough to prove my point imho

he also invites Kikaku to the first end of year party (there aren't any others at the time of writing, specifying in the case of a reader from the future)...or attempts to. Not to Saito Uebu or any other staff member - perhaps because he expects the ones he's closer to already be there, but still - specifically the guy who's only ever bothered him to help complete his work. It's what being horrifically lonely and dick brained does to you (i would know that best).

which leads to yet ANOTHER HEART DOOR SCENE THING

so uh yeah. uramichi's constant giving in to kikaku i think makes more sense if we consider the (slight) romantic inclination he ""might"" have for him.

BONUS: Uramichi and Utano had a moment that was pretty cute but not enough to qualify as subtext in my eyes because they kind of have no chemistry in canon so i still get to title this gay subtext but I also like them

[lullabyalikpoptarot]

Wong Yuk-hei (Lucas) Perspective Reading

Disclaimer: No facts, all alleged. This is my interpretation of the cards and energy I work with.

Okay, I am being pulled to him next, so let's see what shows up for him for this reading. I don't know much about his energy, so this would be pretty new to me the insights I can get from him and what is going on with him.

I had a feeling that the temple of my body card would pop up and there it goes the first card, which usually means for me being used for his body, so there is that. There is this fear of opening up when it comes to him. I can sense fear or the fact that he feels he is being watched or observed.

I think he may be trying to create the life he wanted as a child. I am not sure why I get reliving his childhood. But I see him wanting to live out that he wanted for his childhood. To bring more color and creativity to his life.

I see him feeling shame for some fallout he had or disruptions he may have created. Also, there is a sense of him wanting to shield his body somehow, even though he tends to show it a lot in pictures. There is this sense of wanting to move in a positive direction and leave the past behind him, or the things done in the past.

I see him wanting to escape his problems and mental struggles, but I am not sure how he goes about that really. It is like he uses escape mechanisms to cope with things. I am seeing a bunch of card that seem to me he may enjoy camping or disappearing somewhere to clear his mind and escape all the noise I hear. I am not sure how often he can do that though. Or if he can do that, but may be something he wants to do. It may be something he may need to do to deal with hs struggles, but it is hard for him to go about that.

This could also help him ignite his passion and maybe inspire him to write things, like sitting by a fire can be really inspiring for him and get his creative juices flowing. I feel being somewhere in the middle of nowhere near nature can be beneficial for him. There is this strong message for him to be alone or maybe he tends to feel that way and can only depend on himself. There is this lack of being able to cleanse himself from the past and remove that, even though he may try to make positive changes and move forward.

I see him acting on things and he struggles to be in the present moment and face the reality of his situation to try to make changes and heal. One thing I have learned for myself is to continue to escape to cope is not going to allow you to heal. I see this a lot with these idols and people in general. Although, it sucks the only way to heal and make positive changes and to learn to deal with struggles is to face the situation you are in head on. So, he may struggle with that.

I feel he may have foolishly put himself in ridiculous situations. I see him feeling shame from the past. I mean, we kind of know this. I am not getting anything insightful here. I get unexpecting things happening for him and him learning to make changes and start fresh. This may have had an impact on him. This rescuer card he got seems out of place with this spread.

Well, he seems like he comes from a place of love. And tries his best to help others in need, but not sure he gets much of that in return. He comes off selfless when trying to help others. I am not getting the vibe this dude is as much of a creep as people say he is. I mean I got a card that states, I protect people's boundaries and I expect the same for them. That isn't the vibe of the stuff I heard about him.

Also, I am seeing lies being spread about him, or things not being as true as they seem. Also, he isn't able to speak his truth. He is kind of silenced. Was he part of a humiliation ritual, could be with what I am sensing. Not sure I believe the stuff said about him I am going to be real.

I do see him trying to fight against forces against him and he seems willing to face those challenges. I don't see him as someone who doesn't back down of a fight. I see him trying to focus on himself and his own journey in life. Maybe he is trying to learn more about himself and depend on himself more.

Something is up with his Mother or Mother figures around him. She may play a role in all this. I feel he wasn't protected the way he protects others. Not sure why I get that. I see him being failed by people around him. I don't think he has a good relationship with his Mom. I think he wanted to get away from her. She could be someone who pimped her son as well. I don't see her being very stable either-or providing structure in his life.

Alright, done with going down that memory lane. Now to end with my Tarot cards. Yeah, there is something with his family, Mom, home life not being that great or stable. He may have resentment and be hurt over that situation. I see this Queen of Swords. That could be his Mom's energy. Someone cold, judgmental, critical and mostly logical about things. Someone not very emotional and loving at all.

I keep getting this protective energy around him and this need to protect others, who, not sure. I feel he can be insecure and his Mom may have been manipulative. I feel he may wanted his Mom to protect him more, but she didn't provide that. So, he seems to have Mommy issues here.

It is like he battles with his soft, emotional, tender side, but also has to be more calculated, harsh and logical. There is this sense of wanting to communicate his ideas to the world and share what he thinks, but he can't really do that as being an idol you can't really do that. So yeah, his energy is rather light, not that complicated and barely struggled with his energy. From the energy I am sensing, not seeing anything too bad here.

[youremyheaven]

https://www.tumblr.com/youremyheaven/754446269650452480/they-dooo-notice-everything-i-love-it-sometimes

Jupiter women can lowkey be like this too. Idk about the Freud stuff, but jupiter is the husband. When their dad fails to display positive jupiter traits and becomes arrogant, withdrawn and selfish, they become their own dad. So they embody or atleast attempt to embody positive jupiter traits of generosity and virtue. Now that I’ve typed that out, it doesn’t sound as relevant as it did in my head 😭

However I do think that what OP was describing is more of a Bharani thing than anything else. I’m sure other venus naks do it too but still.

Bharani has major connotations to childbirth and so many women make sacrifices when they have children, some are forced to leave education, some develop long term health problems, and some struggle to leave difficult relationships since children complicate that kind of thing. Before medicine advanced it was somewhat common to just die entirely bc of childbirth.

So therefore I think a lot of Bharani natives (esp moon bc we’re talking about mothers) are overly aware of the sacrifice their mothers made and it weighs on them. It becomes their “burden” as the translation of Bharani, “she who bares” takes on a literal and metaphorical interpretation. So basically Bharanis like to acknowledge the people who came before them and their sacrifices but they can have a bit of a chip on their shoulder bc of it. Inheriting their karma in a sense.

So when they experience that humiliation from their abusive parent they “eat the pain” as part of the burden they bare. Fighting back will always lead to more suffering for them despite their anger and resentment (aries). In mythology Yama was about to kick his mom but even though he holds himself back, she still cursed his foot.

Yama’s father ☀️ ☀️ also got mad at his mother for struggling to look directly at him and cursed Yama as a result, which is such a good example of the dynamics their parents have and how they suffer from it.

In conclusion, Bharanis are stoics become pushovers with daddy issues. Sorry for the unsolicited lecture, it may happen again

Nahh you're right. Jupiter women and their daddy issues are well documented (by me lmao 🤣🤡) they do become excessively giving because their dad's weren't giving at all 😤

Jupiter is a masculine planet for a reason after all. Reminds me of Rekha, Purvabhadrapada Moon. She and her siblings were the illegitimate children of a famous actor and he never acknowledged them publicly. Her mom had many other kids from other relationships etc and they were dirt poor. Rekha even went to school with her father's legitimate kids and other kids in school knew about the whole situation and called her a bastard 🥺🥹

She started acting at the age of 13 to support her ailing mother and 6 or 7 siblings. She hated being an actor and was severely exploited in the industry, esp since she had no mentors or father figures :(((( in turn she made sure none of her siblings ever had to work in the movies to make a living and supported everyone financially until they settled down 🥺 she in turn never got married or had kids :((( (she was manipulated into marrying a guy once and he committed suicide and she was hella traumatized by that as well, but that's a separate story 💀)

Here's a pic of Rekha with some of her siblings (2 or 3 are missing in the picture)

She does embody that Jupiter woman being the man trope.

(This is Rekha & her mom Pushpavalli)

Despite everything, she's never spoken ill about her father or even her mother, who clearly made her the scapegoat and placed undue pressure on her to provide even though she was a literal child. She even named her house after her mother 🥺

Anywaayyyyyssss

I agree that Bharanis are in a unique position because of their mythology and in general I think Bharanis are more dignified and humane than other Venus naks

They're outcaste naks who know what it's like to be the outsider and work their way up

But yes they're pushovers with daddy issues 😭😭😭😭

I lowkey like how empathetic they are to women bc of what they saw growing up 😔😔 like they're genuinely just like "no this is not how it should be, women need to be worshipped period, my woman will never suffer this way" and 🤧🤧😩😩😩i fall for that shit lmao

I had a recent experience with a Jupiter conjunct Purvashada Rising man who thought that broke men did not deserve to have women 💀💀💀 he said men who cannot provide have no business dating or marrying 💀💀and that "real men" should never ask for a 50-50 and put the burden on his partner and if he truly loves her, he should want her to be relaxed and enjoy life. He said things like "what's the point of me working so hard if my family isn't enjoying themselves and having a good time, my wife can do whatever she wants and I'll support her but she will never have to work to pay the bills" and ngl I love this mentality lmfao 😂🤣🤪🤭

Venus men being scarred by incompetent dads and overcompensating by being the provider and father they never had is >>>>> 🥵🥵🥵🥵so sexy of them tbh

[ladysternchen]

Alright. Now, this is gonna be long. And passionate. And the second rant I've written in an unusually short time. But today, I just about reached breaking-point.

Why the hell does the Silm-fadom do to Elu Thingol what it does to Elu Thingol. To be fair, it's not solely him, Elwing gets it far worse (what for????), but that's a post of its own. No, honestly. What the fuck is going on in the minds of people who demonise one character so much while totally glossing over EVERY character fault of others?

Now, don't get me wrong, as much as he is my favourite character in all I ever read or watched in my life, I know full well that Elu's no saint. He makes terrible mistakes, and he behaves at times in ways that make me want to forget that he's my fave. I also admit to reading/interpreting him a little differently from most people in the fandom (you know, being autistic sometimes comes with having a different view on people's motives and behaviours), but my opinions and headcanons are still canon-based. That's kind of the beauty of the Silmarillion with its very shallow character-descriptions, that it allows for various interpretations. That some are more apologetic than others is a result of that, and what in truth makes this fandom so very interesting. So being critical towards him is not at all what I am ranting about here.

But there is a difference between being critical and demonising.

I read a fic today that honestly shocked me to the core. And just in case author should come across this post and recognise their work in this text, please know that I am in no way criticising your story- on the contrary, it was a very good read, I found Elu as the narrating character to be hugely in character and perhaps in other circumstances, I would have quite liked it. I would have written that to you directly on AO3, but I know that critical comments are usually not well-received, and I also really didn't want to pester you about it. After all, it's don't like don't read. So to cut this short, my problem lies NOT with the fic, but with the reactions to it. And it really only was the final straw.

AND, had it been intended as a parody on fanon regarding Elu Thingol , it would have been spot-on as spot-on can be. It was basically saying that each and every thing that went wrong in FA was Elu Thingol's fault. The second and third kinslaying his fault, the deaths amongst the Noldor his fault and so on. And he drew the appropriate conclusions at the end. For which he was called a coward in the comments. And the thing is, that story is fanon on him in a nutshell. The Noldor are always depicted as the victims. And while I'm totally fine with that, be the fuck as apologetic to all characters, fandom.

Like, I'm totally fine with excusing the actions of the Noldor by mental health or just mistakes made or curiosity or hot-temper or a specific view on things. Yeah, great. Compassion is such an important element in all Tolkien's works that I am always in favour of displaying it also in the fandoms concerning his legendarium. But you can't just do it on one people. You can't depict Maedhros as the tragic hero while at the same time condemning Elu Thingol for naming the Silmaril in a flash of impulsivity, when he was telling Beren to begone. Yes, that was idiotic, yes, he was in the wrong there, yes, what happened after was totally a result of that mistake. But still I daresay that he was punished for that in the most terrible way possible, which was the death, the ultimate death, of his only child.

You cannot pass over the Noldor invading Elu's lands and then claim that the ban on Quenya -a language that had by then already been replaced with Sindarin in mixed settlements because Sindarin was easier for the Noldor to learn than Quenya was to the Sindar and Nandor- is cultural genocide.

you can't claim that the kinslayings were caused by Elu and Dior and Elwing's refusal to hand over the Silmaril, that they positively forced the Fëanorians' hands, and at the same be very understanding about the dwarves murdering Elu (yeah, he insulted them, is was an absolute arsehole there, but that still is no excuse for murder)

You can't go saying how the Oath drove the sons of Fëanor to all their actions and then be convinced that what made the Silmaril such a trap for Elu to be nothing but greed.

And just so I make my point completely clear, I am all for being apologetic. About Fëanor and his sons, about Eöl, about the smiths of Nogrod, be apologetic about Sauron and Morgoth even if you can find that in canon for yourself, or if you just happen to feel those characters. Be open and curious about the apologies other people have for their favourite characters. But apply those rules to ALL characters.

Honestly, please stop. Please, if you want to hate Elu, to which of course everyone is entitled, hate him for what he canonically does. Don't make up stories about him just to make him look worse. You know, you can love your faves without having to demonise others.

And please, if you need to vent your feelings about Elu Thingol... tag it as such. It's so so so annoying to try and find content about your character and then get nothing but bashing or the same half-truth repeated again and again and again without further evaluation.

(Even better, stop hating all around. Yeah, it's just fictional characters. But you know, courtesy to the internet, real people look a whole lot like fictional characters. Judging, demonising, bashing, scapegoating, that all works on real people (or peoples!) just like it works on fictional characters. And the trouble is, real people might react in real life just as Elu reacted in the aforementioned fanfic and take their own life. Only that in real humans, dead is dead.)

[pinksilvace]

Fern guides their mutuals and followers through Cats 1998 as if we're all sitting on the same couch watching it and I'm shouting out stuff (4/?)

MASTERPOST

Character Wiki Pages

On to Bustopher!

8: Bustopher Jones

Everybody is SO MEAN about Bustopher Jones (joking). I love him so much but nowadays when numbers are cut his is usually one of them since he usually shows up once and disappears 🥲

The actor for Bustopher sometimes dons a chorus costume for the opening number, often named Peter. They're also usually the actor who plays Gus later, as both Bustopher and Gus traditionally had operatic moments in the show.

Tom Hooper clearly did not know how to interpret media because could you IMAGINE 2019 Bustopher cleaning up his appearance as a first impression???

When I was little, I was under the impression that Bombalurina, Jenny, and Jellylorum all liked Bustopher Jones in similar ways; it wasn't until I started interacting with the fandom on here that I learned how some people interpret Bombalurina as being completely sarcastic in this song. Art's always up to interpretation, of course, and that's the fun of it, but I never really got that impression, even with Rosemarie Ford's eye rolls. To me, this moment shows Bombalurina as a character that can show others respect. It also cements her as being at the older end of the "not-old" adults.

This is YET ANOTHER song that is PERFECT for examining whatever Pouncival is getting up to at a given moment. I am once again saying that the Pouncival cut in this show is the most fun

Subsequently, this is also the "Skimbleshanks is three wrong moves away from a panic attack" song, which to me means that he respects Bustopher just as much as Jenny does. I like to think that they grew up together.

(For an incredibly anxious Skimble, here's Boston 2007; skip to 28:30):

(While I'm at it, there's this part in Moscow 2005 when the boys are all lined up like they're going to take a family photo, and I think it's very silly and cute; skip to 27:45)

Have you ever watched Cats (1998) and wondered who that cat that's really excited to see Bustopher is? That's George. The George Cut (TM) is probably my second favorite version of '98, after The Pouncival Cut (TM).

No doubt, you'll notice the number of Mistoffelees & Bustopher moments in this number. This is probably where the most popular headcanon about Bustopher originates: lots of us like to think he's an uncle, usually in conjunction with monochromatic siblings (Misto & Victoria & sometimes Alonzo)(Alonzo is like. Y as a vowel). I've also seen some folks frame him as Misto's dad, and in those cases, Misto is usually an only child.

Slightly off-topic, but my friend @thepineconelord likes to think of Mistoffelees as butler-core, and I think they're especially correct in this number.

(Yet another side note: the monochromatic siblings staging is a bit stronger in post-US Revival choreography, especially between Alonzo and Misto. Head to 30:00)(<- pretending to see things that supports the tunnel vision)

(Is it obvious yet that I've watched this number, specifically, many times?)

Okay I only just noticed this one but WHAT is up with Plato in this part. This picture doesn't do nearly enough justice to his posing but. My dude are you okay??? He was built to have an arm slung over the back of a park bench and instead he's here and forced to harmonize

The rare moment when Mistoffelees is peeved by Pouncival (and the altogether common moment where Munkustrap is also peeved by Pouncival)

One incredibly interesting thing about this number is that it's one of the most gendered numbers in the whole show, speaking from a choreography standpoint. When I was younger, I thought it came from a position of "all of the girls have crushes so they're all fangirling together," but that's not true. Only Jenny is shown to have a crush, and Coricopat, George, and Skimbleshanks could all very easily start fanboy-ing with them.

What is it, then? Is it because Bustopher presents as a much more "traditional" character than the rest? Do the things they're describing about him ascribe to him a certain level of masculinity that he can only share with the boys? Are these formations all part of some sort of militaristic protocol? Leading from that, is his appearance at the Ball (and approval) a right of passage thing for the boys? It's not something I've really seen anybody touch on, which is odd to me, because Cats in general tends to have interesting messages re: gender roles, especially with Mistoffelees, who obviously shares some sort of close connection with Bustopher! GILLIAN LYNNE REVEAL YOUR SECRETS

The cats know what golf is. Either that, or Bustopher saw a rich person play it, decided to copy them, and everybody else is amazed for his benefit.

[allthefujoshiunite]

Hi, Nora....My friend and I made a list of ace and aro characters from BL, and then we get to Love For Sale. We think Sieon is aro, based on he never regret his previous relationships until he is with Namwoo. And how he felt so indifferent about them. But what do you think? Also, do you have any BL characters that you think are ace or aro?

Great question! And thank you for giving me a chance to talk about Sieon. I'm always happy to do so. If you want the tl;dr answer, I don't consider him to be one. However, as is always the case on Wild Wild Web when you express a thought or preference, people take it as me condemning all the other thoughts/preferences. So here's a PSA: if you consider him Aro, good for you! You can interpret him however you like.

Also, lots and LOTS of spoilers for the uninitiated.

As for how I read his character. I think Sieon is hard to understand for a lot of people because they expect him to be either this or that and try to put him into categories he doesn't fully belong in. It's one of the reasons why I'm so enamored with Love for Sale as a whole, and Sieon in particular. Dal Hyeonji, even though this is their first commercial BL work, does an absolutely fantastic job in this character study.

Back to the point. When the story was still being released, I entertained a similar idea myself about him that, maybe he's demiromantic. Not a romance-aversed aromantic, but still a part of the spectrum. Then I kind of abandoned that as well.

We are a melting pot of our environments, cultural codes, family, and our characteristics. That's why most of the time, it's hard to make out whether you've become something due to some external force or you were that something before anything else. A very lame example would be, do I find red lipstick sexy because I find it arousing, or is it because it was marketed in such a way that I am conditioned to think it's sexy? Similarly, it's not always easy to tell apart whether your feelings are genuine, you feel like you have to feel certain ways towards certain people, or something impacted you in such a way that you don't feel a certain way anymore. I know I'm being vague but hopefully, it'll make more sense now.

Sieon, having to shoulder her mother's emotional well-being and their reversed parent-child roles, has found himself in a position where he seeks gratification through the things he can provide to his partners so he can feel 'needed'. The comfort he can provide for his partner becomes his purpose to be in that relationship. I was throwing him bombastic side-eyes very early into the story where he never expressed any type of preference and was very evasive whenever Namwoo tried to probe. Naturally, it was quite frustrating for Namwoo. As for me, it was as if Sieon was trying to erase himself from the relationship and be there for Namwoo as a combination of 'bank account + lips to kiss + a hand to hold' and blend into the ether as a person.

That's also why his relationships ended the way they did. He knew his mom wasn't happy, and even if he tried to alleviate her pain, it ultimately didn't work, thus, the one last good deed he could do for his mom was to let her go. To not be greedy. To not be selfish and say "I need you, don't go." This is the root of his letting go of his exes 'too easily', rather than him not 'loving' his partners.

Here's where things get tricky. Ideally, a romantic relationship requires you to be vulnerable, communicative, diplomatic, etc. Ideally. But none of us are exempt from carrying our baggage with us into the next relationship, no matter how big or small. In that sense, should we say that just because Sieon hasn't been perfectly vulnerable or has been avoiding conflict, he was never in a real relationship before? I don't think we can. 

One of the moments my heart ached for him was during his conversation with his close friend. He reiterates it later on when they're having the talk with Namwoo, but he desperately tries to convey that, no matter what his partners felt, whether they were satisfied on their own account or not, he was always genuine. Has always been. It may not fit the mold of grandiose, shouting-from-the-mountaintops, I'd-swallow-a-sword-for-you kind of love we are constantly sold in the romance genre, but that doesn't mean he isn't capable of love either. On the contrary, I think he does look for romantic companionship, but he just doesn't know how not to intellectualize his feelings.

So, in my opinion, "he didn't love anyone else before Namwoo" is not exactly the correct way to read him. Up until Namwoo decided that he was going to hold onto Sieon and 'show him a selfish love' in Sieon's mom's words, their relationship was following the pretty much same direction as the others. At first, Namwoo is content with what Sieon provides, but then he develops feelings for him and expects Sieon to return them in a way he can't. The same old story that is bound to end with a break-up.

Emphasis on 'in a way he couldn't'. The way I read it, his way of loving is different from what others deem as 'romantic love', so he's convinced that he can't reciprocate others' feelings. If that's love, and his feelings don't look like that, then he must not be in love after all. And when Namwoo shows Sieon that it's okay to be needy and selfish at times, and it's okay to be vulnerable and honest, we see that was the wake-up call he needed all along. 

The verdict? If you consider his past partners through the "he wasn't able to genuinely love them" lens and interpret his "not being able to reciprocate romantic feelings" literally, you can think of him as an aromantic who's not really averse to dating. But as I've tried to elaborate, rather than not feeling romantic love, he does feel love and seek companionship but doesn't know how to handle conflict and can't break free from the behavioral patterns ingrained in him in childhood. 

About aro/ase characters in BL. There's only one work that comes to mind which, interestingly, makes asexuality/demisexuality one of the core themes it explores and that's This is Love by Ziki Masaya. I have reviewed it before (click me) and I highly recommend it! I can maybe mention Sangwoo from Semantic Error, but then again, I think he's just autistic and his approach to romantic love for another guy is different from his normie boyfriend Jongchan because of that. I can't really think of any other works with Aro/ace characters as there's always romance/sex involved. Or maybe I just haven't paid enough attention! Let me know about the list you two came up with ~

PSA: I added the intro because the original link needs you to login to Lezhin as it's a Mature title, but you know the drill. Read on the official platfrorms!

[thedupshadove]

Lois + Clark roleswap AU (interpret this however you will)

Kala Jor-El lands in rural Colorado, only a scenic drive away from the U.S. Army base where General Sam Lane happens to be serving...

After bringing her back to their residence, Sam felt it was his duty to alert Washington to this clear extraterrestrial presence, and hand the baby--and the shuttle that brought her--over to Area 51 for further investigation. His wife Eleanor had to rather strenuously argue him out of it. What neither of them knew while having this discussion was that one of the abilities granted to Kryptonians by a yellow sun is near-perfect infant recall. After this initial reaction gave way to a childhood of overall better treatment, Lois does love her foster-father. She supposes. But she'll never entirely trust him.

It was also Eleanor who pulled a few favors from her own mysterious circle to have the remains of the shuttle moved to somewhere safe until Lois was old enough to claim it.

Having been raised in crowded environments full of brusque, no-nonsense people, Kala's mask didn't develop in the same way that Kal's did. She tends much more toward overt charisma and force of personality, because surely no one so in-your-face could be concealing anything about herself, right?

If anything, it's Superwoman who's the less assertive persona, since a woman known to be able to crack mountains with her bare hands has to carry herself carefully if she wants people to react with anything other than fear.

Given her renowned beauty and staggering list of accomplishments, it's unsurprising that Superwoman has received romantic overtures from some of the most rich, famous, and powerful men on the planet. But she doesn't want any of them. She wants Clark Kent, the sweetheart of a Kansas-born sci-fi nerd whose overall lack of physical prowess never seems to stop him from trying to talk down a mugger, or pull a child out of the remains of a building ruined by Brainiac.

"I'm not brave, Clark. Nobody with my inbuilt armor and arsenal can be called 'brave'. You've got nothing but your fragile human skin, and you still faced down a squad of Lexcorp goons in the name of letting people know what Luthor's 'charitable donations' were really going to. That's brave."

Clark's background is mostly the same, save for being Jonathan and Martha's biological child. Not needing to hide his powers or cultivate an easily-overlooked persona might make him a little less timid and stammery, but he's still a farm-boy in the big city for the first time, still ridiculously kind-hearted, and still an absolute dork. Also the glasses are real in this version.

Rather than chasing after Superwoman and ignoring Lois, I think the conflict here is that Clark is deeply smitten with both Superwoman and Lois, and his moral code won't allow him to be with either of them while he knows his heart would still be drawn to the other.

As a stepping-stone before telling the truth, Lois might suggest that they go the polyamory route. Clark is skeptical, but says he's willing to try it...as long as the three of them can meet to make sure everyone is on the same page. Whichever persona didn't make the suggestion has to feign unwillingness in order to keep the secret from crashing down too soon.

Lucy would take the role of the Imperiled Civilian more often, I think, now that her position relative to the hero has gone from "My girlfriend's sister and my best friend's girlfriend" to "My sister (and my best friend's girlfriend)". Clark, Jimmy, and Lucy probably get Damsoled about equally (Lucy knows the secret; the other two don't).

[sapphire-writes]

Jo!! Miss!!! Friend!!... I come to you in a time of need. Everyone, gather around. I just finished watching the episode. Mind y'all it's like 7:30 am so my wording will not be wording.

Anyways .. i am just like in a dilemma... Is writing that makes me uncomfortable bad or am I just not seeing a bigger picture?

I think that for Aemond it makes sense. It has been established that Alicent is a shit mom (not saying she hates her kids!!!! She doesn't! But like Cersei proved loving your kids does not a good mother make). She is not affectionate or really knows how to comfort them (it's like losing her mother at a young age and being maritally raped into the role of one kinda stunted her development!)

I can totally see Aemond shedding that arrogant confident super capable persona of his (not that he isn't all the above he just plays it up and uses it as armour) behind closed doors, in a place where HE feels comfortable.

It's just that i H A T E that that person is the woman sexually abused him as a child. Like... I think we are all entitled to that feeling.

I feel very sorry for his character. He was a child he didn't deserve any of it. Much less now deserve to only have a stranger to find comfort in. To be raised in such a family that this is the only logical option for him? Ilhsm, that's devastating.

But i think it makes sense. I hate that he has to be in this position, but i think this whole mess (so uncomfortable a scene) is the point in a way.

Helaena is being exploited by her family and the one to force her in this position is her mother. Alicent feels guilt over the BnC incident and she throws that burden onto Helaena and Criston. Otto started the entire thing and now when his daughter seeks the least bit of comfort he has the audacity to not want to even hear it. Aegon is crying and acting out and still his mother cannot bring herself to give him anything. Not even the slappings she used to. Now she has Criston to make herself feel comforted.

Also the whole scene like... The way it was filmed..idk... And if i understood correctly she tried to like...touch him? And he said not here? Like.. ooooof... Triggering .. okay im not going to touch that one now.. too soon.

But yeah... A man needs his basic emotional needs met and that was his best option.

Idk.. what are you thinking? I think despite the difference in the fanon interpretation of Aemond that emotional core was sth that we all clocked quite correctly. So.. i think the root of his personality is everywhere the same.

Bestie!! Love everything you’ve said and I agree! I can totally see why they went this direction with Aemond, and though im not the biggest fan I can appreciate they’re giving emotional depth to his character.

As for Alicent and Aemonds relationship, I hear what you’re saying but my perception was that Aemond and Alicent were closer than her relationship with the other Targtowers and maybe that’s on me, my fandom goggles on again, so the mommy issues is throwing me a bit— it feels more Aegon coded idk!

I agree— I think it’s super uncomfortable to watch Aemond seek comfort from his abuser and at the same time very realistic!

I’m interested to see where this goes for sure and trying to take off my fandom goggles 😂

[babyspacebatclone]

I made a comment yesterday about Catra from SPoP having a lot of the same traumas as my brother.

It reminded me of something.

I babble, so the story is below the cut.

But it exactly describes why I, personally, am unsatisfied with the “closure” shown in canon in regards to Catra having a healthy relationship with Adora - any kind of relationship - with the state of self-awareness she ends the series on.

TL;DR:

If my brother interprets something innocent I say as an “attack” on him, there is no winning for me to try and change his mind.

Having a third party attempt to change his mind is most likely to just add to his trauma of me being the “golden child” growing up, which I’ll discuss at the end of the post below.

And my brother interpreting statements from other people, not just me, as a personal attack is not an unexpected occurrence.

Link to a different example that expands on the kinds of things he’ll get into this state over….

I’ll start that my younger brother’s and my history of emotional abuse from a parent figure (our biodad) is many order of magnitudes below Catra’s and Adora’s. And this is not an “obvious” statement if you don’t know me, because sadly there are examples of child abuse out there to be found that surpass Shadow Weaver….

Nevertheless, we very much developed very similar trauma responses and issues: I was the “golden child,” someone who tends to be submissive and helpful as a temperament, lucky enough to find things like school easy; my brother struggled more with his anger, school, and in general just about everything I seemed to be good at.

Even as a teenager (around 16), I could clearly see a dynamic of “I get more positive attention, he gets more attention.”

I don’t know if it’s personality or trauma based on his part, but I also used to have a “joke” about our belongings: “What’s mine is ours and what’s his I don’t touch.”

Both sides of that were dictated by him.

Nevertheless, I always viewed my responsibility as both the oldest child and “one who had it easier” (like, 10 out of 100 is higher than 5 out of 100….) to take care of and protect him, and it wasn’t until we were about 14 and 16 respectively I started to resent that.

I’d resent how he treated me, sure, but I’d always recognized a lot of his behavior problems were my father’s fault.

Speaking of my father, there’s definitely cycles of abuse here; I never wanted nor could have handled the details, but him being raised by first generation German immigrants and then entering the Canadian Air Force gives me things to suspect.

I also cut ties with him at 24; my brother when he was kicked out of the house by him at 17.

(very very long story; we were living with him after the divorce until Mom could get on her feet)

Anyway…..

We’re now both 40+. In many ways, our relationship has improved - we’re the only ones we’re comfortable with discussing we’re Queer within the family, for example - and he definitely wishes we were closer friends.

In the past few years, I’m slowly losing the guilt over me not feeling the same way.

This is the perfect example why.

It was 2019, my brother was early into a new romantic relationship , and Episode 9 of Star Wars was coming out.

My brother was really excited that me and his then-girlfriend were bonding over both being geeks, and he excitedly invited me to go to an advanced showing of The Rise of Starwalker that was happening in a nearby town.

I had very little interest in actually seeing the movie, and am an Autistic Introvert to his Autistic Extrovert, so none of this really sounded like “fun” to me.

But he was excited, and as sibling outings go didn’t sound painful.

So I put on my big-girl big-sister pants on and agreed.

Something with my family is that the person in charge of an outing drives - which is 100% a control thing, and functionally means if you can’t justify driving yourself my mom or my brother (depending on if she’s involved) is picking you up.

(despite not meeting him until I was 22, my step-father and I are exceptionally similar and neither of us rock the boat there)

Once I finally got a driver’s license at 35, I started to hate this system, but again it’s rarely actually painful and thus not worth making a deal over.

Anyway, on the day my brother comes to pick me up. I technically knew he was picking me up first and then we were going to his girlfriend’s new place, but I hadn’t quite processed that this was a short visit and not just her jumping into the car.

So I got into the back seat so she could ride shotgun when we got to her.

My brother found this hilarious (or maybe was pretending to? idk with him…) and teased me for not getting up front with him.

I work as a daycare teacher, and at that time it probably had been only a month since a lead teacher hd come back from maternity leave, and trying to cover her duties for several months had almost - and I am serious here - broken me.

I remember it taking almost 30 seconds for me to understand what the problem was, and when I did I did not want to have to deal with him laughing at me over something so stupid.

So I said something along the lines of “Opps, sorry, braindead, tired from work.”

I need to emphasize:

All I said was that I was tired and blamed my work.

In response, my brother gave me a cptsd flashback.

I was being shouted at, being told I don’t appreciate how tired he is after his - and he’s right here - physically intensive job, do I appreciate anything….

When confronted with something that reminds me of one of my biological father’s outbursts, I immediately drop into “freeze” out of “fight, flight, freeze, fawn.”

I did not understand why he had taken my statement as a direct attack on him, but he had, this was happening, and there was nothing I would be able to do to stop it.

I sat there, silently crying, waiting to be ordered out of his car because I physically could not move until I was given that.

To my complete shock he got silent…

And started the car.

I felt like I was in a parallel universe.

The raw rage was still radiating off my brother, but somehow he had chosen to drive to his then-girlfriend’s place as planned.

I don’t think I was able to give her the full story, but once I basically said I’d upset him she ripped into him for making me cry.

Kinda wish she hadn’t been such a flake in just about every other regard; a girl needs a strong backbone to survive my brother.

After he’d been calmed down, we were back in his car and driving to the movie theatre half an hour away.

By the time we got there my brother was back to his happy excited persona, very very proud that he had thought of such a cool thing for his two geeky girls to do, and the fact it ended up with us seeing Rise of Starwalker didn’t dampen it.

(I shall say I was not impressed with directions taken in the movie, and my overall impressions are shared by specific segments of Star Wars fans)

However…

I never stopped being upset by the entire thing - specifically, that while my brother had apologized for shouting at me, he never apologized for why he had shouted at me.

And as I said at the top of this post, there is no winning if I were the one to try and bring up how hurtful that had been.

I’d either set him off on the entire “you don’t appreciate me!” thing and, ya know?

No, I didn’t appreciate much about this entire endeavor, I was doing it entirely as a favor to you so you could have a fun night out with me on your terms.

Just because you spend a lot of energy doing something you think someone else is going to enjoy, doesn’t automatically force them into actually liking what you are doing.

Sometimes, you have to do a bit of calculus, and figure out mental energy put in versus mental drain during activity versus outcome, and pick things that have a low net loss in order to be a nice decent human being.

Doesn’t mean it’s still not a net loss.

Having a third party explain to my brother he completely flipped over nothing and not every statement about my life being hard means his suffering is invalidated is thin ice too.

Because that’s exactly what had happened.

The only way my brother can feel secure that his needs will be met is if his suffering is acknowledged as the worse, and therefore will be prioritized.

Just like my biological father’s suffering always had to be prioritized.

Just like I learned somewhere early in elementary school that I had to hide my suffering, because entering into the arena of “who needs attention more?” would only end with more trauma for me.

Just like I learned I had to be satisfied with the positive attention people gave me for doing things they thought were worthy, but also not being a “show off” and actually seek out attention because that made me a bad person.

Because I got the most positive attention.

And my brother got the most attention.

And I understand my brother’s traumas.

And the fact he tried to fix things for me by not canceling our event, does show that he does try and improve things, he does know he’s hurting me.

But I can’t think of how explaining “punishing your sister for you mistaking neutral statements for personal attacks” to him is going to be helpful

unless it’s done by a professional.

And I can’t be involved in it in any way, or else it just quite naturally is going to just add to the existing resentment that neither of us could prevent happening when we were children.

Because, yeah, it’s shitty to realize you’re hurting someone you love because of your mistakes.

It’s not something people want to have to admit.

But both our work schedules got super packed due to COVID.

And I haven’t had a “brother led” activity since.

And I don’t fucking ever want to again.

And I still feel guilty about that.

But a fuck ton less than I did in 2021.

[mangoisms]

there is something so incredibly interesting about this conversation and alfred’s view of bruce wayne and batman… i typed out the entire convo so its all under the cut because it's a Lot (that way no one has to read through the panels themselves. but also after this There are my Thoughts. which there are many)

Alfred: Perhaps it is less than a tragedy that Bruce Wayne’s affairs, for once, have displaced the Batman’s obsession. Bruce: What do you mean, Alfred? Alfred: Sir, forgive me for saying this, and understand in advance that I have had the pleasure of knowing no man more admirable than yourself… Bruce: But—? Alfred: But… Well, sir… As much as Gotham could not survive without the Batman… I doubt the Batman could survive without Bruce Wayne. Bruce: Have I been neglecting my personal relationships that much, Alfred? Alfred: Certainly not with me, sir, and not really with young Jason—but insofar as the Batman must take up much of your time, it is inevitable that Bruce Wayne’s affairs should suffer to a certain extent. You relationship with Miss Vale in particular— Bruce: Yes, I know I’ve been neglecting Vicki—but ever since taking on Jason, my time has been— Alfred: I fully understand, sir, and with luck, so does Miss Vale… But my meaning goes beyond such details, however important they may be. Bruce: And in the larger sense…? Alfred: By his very nature, sir, and necessarily to ensure his success, the Batman is a… a creature of but one overrriding emotion… Supreme outrage. Alfred: His consuming need for justice and retribution is the very factor which encourages his success. Therefore Bruce Wayne represents your positive side… The full spectrum of all your other emotions. Bruce: And I should pay more attention to those other emotions—even when I’m not forced to, as in the current crisis involving Jason? Alfred: It may be selfish of me, sir… Alfred: But I was never more proud of you than when you momentarily ignored the Bat-Signal to concentrate on Jason’s plight. Bruce: And as an ironic result, both Jason and Bullock were almost killed. Alfred: I admit there is that lesson to be learned as well, sir… But the Batman truly is a creature to be feared—even by yourself in the dark corners of your own soul. Without Bruce Wayne’s compassion to balance the Batman’s obsession… I fear the night-creature would devour your very heart. — Batman (1940) #377 

that last part especially is just so interesting. just because i feel it’s so different now?? like how bruce views himself, how everyone else views himself, where we are at the point in which batman is the true persona and bruce wayne is the fake one. like that one panel of diana, clark, and bruce with diana's lasso of truth where they introduce themselves and give out their real names but bruce's answer remains 'batman,' clearly implying that is how he truly sees himself

which i know, i think it was from the new-52 reboot of the league, so whether it was even any good is another question but i do think on the whole, dc has really pushed the whole bruce wayne is the fake side, the batman is the real one and it's not... bad, i guess. but i really like this interpretation so much more? where they are two sides of the same coin? you can't have one without the other and as alfred is saying, you shouldn't

in a way, i think what we have of bruce right now kind of proves alfred's point in how bruce would be consumed by his mission as batman if he neglected the other side of himself. i'm SURE it was not intentional on dc's part and they were trying to lean more into a grittier version of him and emphasize the batman side of him more for the audience but i also think it's what led to the deteroriation to him as a father? like a child - like jason here - doesn't need batman, he needs bruce. and i feel like we do see what happens when they get batman instead of that (like tim and cass; though it is received very differently since tim needs something else but takes it anyway and cass truly doesn't know any better and idk its that post about how bruce enabled her and saw himself in her and YEAH)

and i mean yeah, keeping in mind this is pre-crisis but still. did all of this happen because of jason's death??? maybe so. maybe so. i wanted to say no initially but it really is so impactful for him because like... that was his son. so i do kind of feel like it's safe to say that when jason died, this bruce wayne died alongside him too. idk if any of this makes sense but. yeah. yeah. yeah

[mermaidsirennikita]

Can you rec some books with marriage of convenience/grumpy hero? those are my weaknesses and I do love reading about the love forming slowly, gets me every time

Definitely, dude!

I would for sure recommend several of Stacy Reid's books--she does marriage of convenience really well, and a lot of her heroes are grumpy.

Accidentally Compromising the Duke--heroine intends to "compromise" a friend into marrying her to avoid a planned marriage to a lecherous asshole... But she ends up compromising this intimidating widower duke, who needs a stepmother for his daughters anyway. He's more stern than grumpy, but she interprets his distance as coldness; he doesn't want to consummate marriage because he lost his first wife to childbirth. (He folds like a lawn chair.)

Wicked in His Arms--SUPER grumpy hero here, and he also writes SECRET MYSTERY NOVELS LOL. He dislikes the heroine immediately because she's vibrant and makes him horny, but she's visiting his estate as she looks for a husband. They end up fucking in a closet, and she like, runs out of the closet because that was her whole virginity he just took, and he runs after her, and they basically crash into HIS MOM. The story unfolds from there, he has to totally defrost.

When the Earl Met His Match--maybe my favorite Stacy Reid, but the hero really isn't grumpy for most of the book. The heroine is a society girl pregnant by another man who didn't stand by her, hero is a Scottish viscount whose family is super scandalous and hasn't been in society for years. They'd been exchanging letters as strangers for a while, and she basically shows up proposing a shotgun marriage to keep her baby safe from her horrid parents. He claims the baby as his own, and it's this delicious slow burn. He's mute, and there's some communication issues to get over--she does learn sign, and it's reeeeeally lovely. Picks up angst in the last 1/3.

Magnate by Joanna Shupe. Hero is a cold self made man, business... allies...? with the heroine's brother; heroine is from a more blue-blooded family. She asks him to mentor her in the stock market or whatever, her brother ends up catching them making out and forces the hero to marry her, and a lot of "he wants me but he doesn't love me" stuff follows. Really hot and well-done, and I love the way the marriage unfolds.

The Chief by Monica McCarty. Medieval romance, big stern hero paired with lovely virginal heroine. Issue is that her father wanted them to marry and the hero refused... so the father coerces the heroine into sliding into bed with the hero. He's sleepy and her back is turned and he though his dudes were sending a sex worker anyway, so he kinda.... goes for it, which she didn't expect because she thought her dad would come in before sex is had. Dad purposefully rushes in MID-COITUS and demands a marriage. The hero is cold and doesn't want to love and shit, so while they have really good sex, he withholds emotionally. Also: there's this amazing moment where she tries to give him doggy style sex for the first time, and even though it's normally his favorite position, he gets mad because he didn't get to look into her eyes while she came. I'm trash for it.

The Recruit by Monica McCarty. Another medieval, Robert the Bruce wants the hero and widowed heroine to marry, but she has sex with him knowing who he is while he thinks she's a random maid. He basically implies he'll fuck around, not realizing he's talking to the woman he's supposed to marry, so after he realizes who she is, she refuses to marry him. Then they reunite a few months later, and oops, she's pregnant, and he DEMANDS! TO MARRY HER! The whole situation makes him grumpy and distant at first, but they slowly bond while planning for the baby and stuff. Also, he gets to be a Father That Stepped Up for her firstborn child.

When a Girl Loves an Earl by Elisa Braden. Heroine becomes obsessed with the big, cold Scottish hero who can't love, and basically frames a compromising thing in order to force a marriage. He's real mad about that at first, but like. Partly he's just afraid of marring her with his GIANT SCOTTISH COCK. With good reason, because it does sound kinda massive. I love how batshit this heroine is.

The Truth About Cads and Dukes by Elisa Braden. Classic example. Heroine is actually ruined by the cold hero's stupid brother (not in a sexy way) so the hero steps up and marries her. He's got some issues and is very chilly to her at first, but he's really sexually obsessed with her from the jump. She just doesn't get that because she sees herself as ugly, etc. Great love confession in this one.

The Viscount and the Vixen by Lorraine Heath. Hero's old, wacky father brings in this random woman--he answered her ad for a husband and has signed a contract wherein if she doesn't get a husband with a title, she'll receive a huge payout. Hero is like, "oh fuck no, not my senile dad" and marries her himself, which may have in fact been his (not) senile dad's point lol. He sees the heroine as a fortune hunter, but is obviously super into her from the jump and hides it.

When A Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare. Hero is a grump, PTSD-ridden Scot. The heroine has actually been sending fake letters to an imaginary dude with his name for years in order to avoid suitors, lol, and he received the letters the whole time. She's inherited a castle, so he shows up outta nowhere like "MMMM I THINK IT'S TIME WE MARRY". He's grumpy and it's emotional but light, the way of Tessa Dare.

The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare. Grumpy scarred hero needs a wife for heir purposes, and his fiancee ditched him due to his scars. The heroine made the wedding dress and shows up wearing it to demand payment, and he's like "fab, let's marry and I'll fuck you with the lights off until we have a baby". He's grumpy, but it's mostly insecurity because, you know, scars.

This Scot of Mine by Sophie Jordan. Hero's family has this apparent curse wherein the men always die before their heirs are born. The heroine faked a pregnancy in order to avoid a bad marriage, so when he meets her he's like oh sick I'll marry her and claim her baby as my heir and I'll never have to worry about the curse because the baby won't actually be mine. She's unaware of this, and they fuck on the wedding night--he realizes she's a virgin and flips. She then gets pregnant lmao, and he's very grumpy because he thinks she BASICALLY KILLED HIM LMAO.

The Duke I Tempted by Scarlett Peckham. Hero and heroine end up getting married for like, practical reasons, and they got along at first... But he's actually sexually submissive, and he's afraid of her finding out, which puts up this wall between them. Super good and kink positive.

The Highwayman by Kerrigan Byrne. Hero is a criminal mastermind and kidnaps the heroine in order to basically convince her to marry him in order to "get this inheritance" she has (there are... other reasons, lol). She's like, fine, but I want a baby and you have to fuck me for that. Problem is, he's incredibly traumatized by his misdeeds (and the childhood SA he suffered, TW) so he doesn't like skin to skin contact... at all. Which means. He fucks her with his clothes on. Wearing leather gloves. A LOT of angst, super good.

Non-historical:

Lush Money by Angelina M. Lopez. Billionaire ice queen CEO heroine proposes a marriage of convenience to the genius prince of this tiny principality. She'll bail out his nation, and he'll give her a baby. He haaaates her at first. Wild, hot, great.

[aranostra]

Okay, characterization thoughts about Armand and Louis after finishing s2.

Clearly, nothing we see of Armand or Louis in flashback is 100% reliable. In part because of Armand's lying and manipulation, and in part because Louis' memory is not reliable regardless of Armand's fiddling. They have both been through an incredible amount of trauma, and the way they deal with memories reflects that. They are constantly in a state of trying to protect themselves, whether they realize it or not. They both try to rewrite history in their own ways.

That said, I think the flashback to the 70s is fairly accurate, because of how it's presented, Armand being absent, and Louis and Daniel both earnestly trying to remember it.

So with that in mind, here's how I interpret each of them. It'll be messy, because I'm still processing. (Note: I have to talk about Marius kind of a lot for Armand, but I’m not going into details about the worst stuff.)

For the record, this ended up being over 2,500 words, so if you read it all, you're my favorite.

ARMAND

Defines himself through others. Through Marius, through his first coven, through Lestat, through the Theatre des Vampires coven, through Louis. With his covens and with Louis, he is both protector and punisher. He protects them from the outside world and from themselves... but he will punish when they do something wrong. Because Armand believes vampires are evil (I don't think this is very clear in the show, but I think it's extremely important for his characterization), determining what's right and wrong requires him to rely on the laws rather than internal or situational morality. (More on this later.)

Marius completely stripped Armand of his identity. This is clear in the books and implied in the show, and I think it is integral to him as a character. Marius took a child who was already traumatized by being forced into sex work, and instead of helping him heal, he completed Armand's destruction. From Armand's perspective, though, his live with Marius was such an improvement from the brothel, he didn't realize how bad it was... that in some ways it was worth because there was the illusion of love. (Also, I don't know how much Anne intended this--and I don't care, to be clear--but Marius always came across as a white supremacist in the books to me, and that is part of how I view him... And part of why I think he did this to Armand. I would include quotes to back this up, but I can't read The Vampire Armand again without getting into a bad headspace.)

The stripping of Armand's identity is obviously reflected in the names. His apparent birth name, Arun (although Armand says he's not completely sure), is one he seems detached from at first--we'll circle back. Then Amadeo, which Marius used because 1) his supremacist ass needed to give him a name from Marius' own culture and 2) it means lover of God, which is tied into the religious trauma Marius introduced into the picture and... y'know it positions Marius as Armand's god. Finally, Armand, which he changed after Marius and all the other boys were burned, because he believed that vampires were evil and couldn't have a godly name.

Armand is desperate for love, but doesn’t feel that he’s ever really received it (although he will lie to himself that Marius loved him, ow). When Lestat arrived, he realized his coven didn’t love him, even the ones who ended up staying. Of course, Lestat didn’t love him… and I think Armand overstated the extent of their relationship. I doubt they were ever actually together, and certainly didn’t make Nicki jealous. Then, Louis’ arrival made him realize that he was losing the Theatre des Vampires and they didn’t love him. And he wanted to believe Louis loved him, but he never believed it fully. (God, the whole back and forth with ‘companion’ and Louis rejecting him in front of the coven, and how that relates to Madeline calling Claudia her coven.) Even when he and Louis were at their closest, Armand knew he was hiding things from him that would make Louis not love him.

Armand’s reasons for directing the play are complicated. I think the show really failed to explain (at least thus far) why Armand is so dedicated to the laws. He doesn’t have an internal sense of right and wrong, but he wants to do what’s right. He uses the laws to feel that he’s doing what’s right, no matter how horrific it is. That’s why he killed Santiago’s sire. Santiago takes it very personally, but to Armand it would not be personal. He NEEDS a structure to exist eternally, or he would be totally lost. That’s why he is fixated on Lestat for a while. Lestat lives without that need for structure, and in fact will break whatever structure he finds, but Armand could never be like that. Even when he lets Lestat destroy his first coven, he rebuilds the same structure with his new coven under a different guise. He’s also in the process of losing his coven again, because he’s fallen in love with someone who has no respect for structure again. He tries to recreate some kind of structure between the two of them, letting Louis become the maitre and he once again Arun, but he could feel that already beginning to break down. In particular the fact that Louis gave him choices (are you asking me or making me) showed him that the structure was not strong enough. So, he returned to his laws and to his coven, willing to take whatever role within the structure as long as he could feel that there was structure. It didn’t matter to him if he was the leader or if Santiago was; he just needs the structure.

I have some complicated feelings about the maitre/Arun dynamic with Louis and Armand… I will talk about this more in the Louis section, but Louis steps back into his role as a mortal and uses Armand’s trauma from the brothels to control him. I think it weirdly makes Armand feel safe (due to the above discussion of his need for structure) but it’s also extremely toxic, obviously. It makes both of them lean into the worst parts of themselves, and also stops them from really knowing and understanding each other. It’s also an uncomfortable parallel to Armand’s dynamics with Marius, and it makes me uncomfortable to think that Armand told Louis about that, and Louis uses it against him. I don’t know… if I rp any s2-based Armand/Louis, we’re going to have to discuss it first probably.

The way Armand sees Claudia as manipulative is fascinating to me, although I haven’t been able to fully process it. I think Armand might hate Claudia because he sees himself in her. Although in the show, Armand wasn’t turned at a young age like Claudia, I do think he was emotionally stunted by his trauma and relates to being trapped in his childhood (although not physically in this case). I also think that’s why he put her in the role of a little girl for the play, he’s angry and spiteful toward her because of what he hates in himself. He’s also convinced that she’s doomed because she was turned when she was young, because if she isn’t doomed, then the laws are wrong. And the laws can’t be wrong, as I’ve discussed.

I’ve posted about this elsewhere, but I also feel that the show really missed out on Armand’s wierdness. Let him make his meat smooties. Let him fixate on modern film. Let him wear his skewed interpretation of modern fashion. Let him be even more of a voyeuristic weirdo. I will be incorporating this into my chracterization.

I have more to say, particularly about the theatre, but for the sake of this post, I’m going to move on to Louis.

LOUIS

FIRST OF ALL, the retcon of the fight where Lestat almost kills Louis? I don’t… like it. The things Louis said were out of character, as much as he can be cruel at times, and the undermining of an abuse survivor’s testimony really bugs me. If I RP with a Lestat, we can discuss what to do about this.

Second… I talked about this on my Louis solo blog ages ago, but I’ll reiterate here: I vastly prefer the show version of Louis. I barely tolerate him in the books, so… Unlike Armand, I won’t be incorporating any book canon into my interpretation of Louis. 

With that out of the way…

One thing Louis and Armand have in common is defining themselves through other people. Unlike Armand, we see Louis as a mortal, and can see this has been true even when he was mortal. He defined himself through his role in the family. The failure of his father, the death of his brother, the rejection by his mother and sister… It’s no coincidence that when Louis and Armand are shouting at each other, Louis attacks Armand with Marius, and Armand attacks Louis with his family. Those are their weak spots, and they know each other long enough at that point to know how weak those spots are. If they don’t know anything else about each other, they know their weaknesses.

Another difference is that instead of latching onto someone who is actually with him like Armand does to an extreme fault, Louis increasingly defines himself through people he’s lost. When he has Lestat, he defines himself through Claudia. When he has Claudia, he defines himself through Lestat. When he has Armand, he defines himself both through Claudia and Lestat. He is constantly in a state of grief, in part because he can’t let himself get as close when the people he loves are actually there.

I’m still processing this, but I’m fascinated by the way Louis dominates the people in his life. He can easily, easily come across as submissive but he’s absolutely not. I think he might want to be. He’s got that eldest son mentality of needing to be in charge because nobody else can get shit done. In his mind, he’d rather be passive, but people push his limits either through aggression or incompetence. One of the many, many, many issues with him and Lestat is that Lestat wants to dominate and Louis thinks he wants to be submissive, but Louis will dominate even if it’s through being passive aggressive. Maybe he won’t shout orders, but he will withold affection, he will guilt trip, he will say the cruelest things imaginable in a soft voice. This is why their relationship becomes so violent. Lestat is self-centered and needs control and Louis breaks him down and makes him feel helpless. Meanwhile, Lestat crushes Louis’ strengths by by trying to control him instead of respecting who he really is.

The way Louis was so fulfilled with photography until he was told it wasn’t good enough. The way losing that way of exploring his own interests and his own happiness had him turning to controling Armand and his coven. Capitalism really chokes Louis’ soul of happiness, but he still turns to it as a way to judge his success. If he’d never tried to sell his photographs, he could’ve gone on exploring the world through captured moments and slowly discovering himself. Wandering through the city and finding himself back at the river. But because his photography wasn’t good enough, he went back to what makes him feel successful; running a business. Instead of finding a moment of vulnerability in a photograph of Armand, he uses Armand’s vulnerabilities to control him. Louis’ relation to his art (as reflected by Armand, Nicki, and Lestat with their own forms of art) shows that he has this gentle soul that loves humanity and is trying so hard to discover himself… but he needs that external validation, and when he’s denied that, he will turn his back on the better parts of himself and shut back down until he’s hard and cold and controlling again. It goes back to his mortal days, when he had to be tough to protect his family, even if it made him a worse person. Even if it made them love him less.

Louis’ love for Claudia is so fucking complicated, I don’t think I could write it all down without making this post even MORE too long than it already is. Briefly, I’ve seen a lot of people in fandom be extremely harsh toward Louis for not always putting Claudia first as his daughter. I think this is a bit wild, because he was not a bad father when she was still a child. But once she’d lived long enough to be well into adulthood mentally, their relationship gets complex. He never loves her any less, but as I mentioned above, he struggles with showing affection and so both Lestat and Claudia feel that Louis favors the other. It was natural that there would eventually be some distance as Louis and Claudia slowly found their own lives separate from each other, but if she would have lived, I feel that they would’ve found a way to care in a healthy way. Of course, that doesn’t happen, and there is a jagged edge in Louis where Claudia was torn away.

Louis is cruel toward Armand. Even with what Armand did, I think Louis is cruel. In Armand, Louis found someone obsessively devoted to him… even moreso after Armand betrayed him and was trying to find forgiveness (although Louis didn’t know the full extent of the betrayal). Louis likes to feel that from Armand, but that’s also why he calls him boring. Lestat and Claudia were both fiercely independent in a way that made Louis feel frustrated or abandoned at times, but which kept his interest. Armand does not have that. So, while Louis likes the feeling of dominating and being cared for and not worrying about Armand leaving him, it also brings out the worst in him and allows him to wallow in his grief. When he finds Daniel, he rediscovers this desire to find himself, although he fails in the 70s. That’s why he needs the interview. Like his photography, it’s a way to capture moments, to try to discover himself in those moments. That’s why the photographs that aren’t his make him so upset, just like the memories that Armand has implanted or changed or taken away. Armand knows that, when Louis finds himself, he won’t need Armand anymore. I think Louis knows it too, although he doesn’t admit it until the end.

That last conversation with Lestat in the hurricane was… I didn’t like it. I rolled my eyes through the whole thing. I thought it was a really boring way for them to reconnect, and if I RP with a Lestat, I’d love to like, redo that our own way or just ignore it.

AND I WILL STOP THERE. These are my basic thoughts on my guys after season 2. If you want to discuss any of this please FEEL FREE to message me. Also if you want to RP any threads that expand on any of these ideas/thoughts, please lt me know I’d be so down.