#and smiles sadly at you

[carnivorousyandeere]

BRUCIE ANGST BRUCIE ANGST BRUCIE ANGST

Was the last Brucie post real or was he dreaming? :]

[samipekoe]

RIN!!!!!!!!

[spelacchiotto]

happy birthday, Nedward Liddle, you don't look a day over 210

[sweetprinceanunoby]

[stwinsgstdrop]

Chapter 1.

Polite Stranger Smile

Characters: Ford Pines, Stan Pines, mentioned Bill Cipher

Tw: swearing (from Stan)

Ford didn’t know what he'd expected. He hadn’t spoken with his brother in a long time, hadn’t even seen him aside from his infomercials. Ford didn’t like that his face was plastered in those ridiculous things, but it did bring him comfort to see his brother's smile.

Stan's smile was something only he had, one of the few traits they didn’t share. Ford's smiles had always been a bit tight, a bit nervous, because he was never quite relaxed in his own skin; it's hard to be so when you have such a huge sense of alienation. Stan's smiles were bright enough to light up a room. It could be a wide toothy grin, with a playful tint to it, or a small subtle smirk of someone you know is proud of you. Ford had loved Stan's smiles, and used to have a mental list of their differences and meanings.

The one Stan was using right now was the Polite Stranger Smile #2, mostly used during festivities when they met relatives they were supposed to know but didn’t quite recall who they were. It was a funny smile all things considered, specially because it was usually followed by his favorite, the I Don't Know What I'm Saying, which Stan always directed at Ford as they greeted the unremembered relatives. But right now Stan wasn’t looking at someone else with the Polite Stranger Smile. It was at Ford.

Ford, who had a crossbow pointed at his twin and could not afford to get lost in memories, even though those thoughts pulled at his heart in a way that made it hard to breathe. He had to focus, focus.

"Were you followed?" He inquired, looking over his brother's shoulder but never leaving the crossbow unaimed. Stan narrowed his eyes and cocked his head, his smile straining. It was now more akin to a grimace.

"Hi, nice ta see you're alive too." Stan chuchkled, but Ford sensed no humour from it. "No. And I know 'cause that's totally a concern normal people who aren't doing anything wrong have." He said, and Ford couldn’t tell if Stan was being sarcastic or not. He couldn't do it without much concentration in good days, so trying now would be futile at best. He decided not to press the matter further, and tried to pull Stan in to check his eyes.

Only, Stan stayed firmly planted in his place, looking at him with that same grimmace, slightly furrowed brows and narrowed eyes. He was suspicious. Scared? It was hard to read him, now. Ford would not think about the implications of it, he didn’t have time nor energy to afford getting emotional over a face. Even though it's an important face.

"I'm sorry bro, I'm sure you don't have any terrible or, uh, vengeful intentions, but I'm not getting in while you have that crossbow pointed at me." He said breathily, like he was trying to say something serious with a humorous delivery. Ford frowned and slowly put down the crossbow. "Now we talkin'."

Stan followed Ford's pull, and Ford checked his eyes. Stan stared at him, not even pretending he wasn’t weirded out by the situation at this point. He rolled his eyes.

"Good to see you don't think I'm a junkie." He said with what Ford knew to be sarcasm, so he had to stop for a second. Upon further thought, yeah, he could see why Stan would think he'd thought that.

"No, no, I just had to... You could've been..." Ford looked away, trailling off. "It's complicated."

Stan seemed fine. He could handle this task, right? But what if he couldn’t understand? What if it was too much? But if he didn't explain, what if Bill got to him? He had to explain everything. Yes, yes. He could do this. Stan could do this.

"Uh, you gonna explain what's going on, here? You're acting like Mom after her tenth cup of coffee." Stan said, interrupting Ford's musings. Ford looked at him and took a deep breath.

"Listen, there isn't much time. I've made huge mistakes and I don't know who I can trust anymore." From the corner of his eye he saw his research skeleton (for anatomycal comparisons with gnomes) flash a bright yellow eye at him, and quickly turned it away. They weren't safe. What if Stan didn’t understand? What if they really were just strangers sharing a face after all these years? Ford started pacing, muttering to himself.

"Hey, uh, easy there." Stan had both his hands extended like he was trying to calm down a wild animal. Which, fair enough, Ford could concede he might look a little... rough. "Let's talk this through, okay?"

"I have something to show you. Something you won't believe." Ford said, rubbing his hands. Everything felt scratchy, like his consciousness was just barely there. Stan smiled, and this time it was his reassuring one. Ford liked this one. Their childhood was filled with this smile, reflecting how their own mom smiled at them.

"Look, I've been around the world, okay? Whatever it is, I'll understand." Stan said. Ford hoped he was right, but knew he couldn’t be.

Ford led his brother towards his secret lab, and only as they stood in the elevator, did he stop to notice Stanley himself. Ford was hungy and exhausted and on the lookout for a demon who threatened to gouge his eyes from its sockets. He couldn't afford to pay attention to these details at every waking moment, but it didn’t mean he didn’t care. He just had a lot in his mind.

Stan had a tidy jacked that looked well worn, but cared for. His hair was wrapped in a ponytail, and he had a bit of beard on his chin. He looked nice. Didn’t have huge bags under his eyes like Ford, and didn’t look too thin. He wasn’t as big as when they were teenagers, but strongly built. Ford was glad. He'd always had a tiny voice at the back of his head worrying if Stanley would be able to make it alone in the big world, specially when they were teens. But by the looks of it he'd been fine.

It almost made him mad. Stanley was here, a fully functional adult with his 5 normal fingers and no demons to haunt him, after costing Ford everything. No, no, not now. He couldn't let himself go that way. He had to finish this. He turned on the lights as they walked into the lab, revealing his beloathed portal.

The room was cold, as to keep the machinery cool and avoid overheating but also because Ford constantly forgot to turn up the thermostate when they were turned off. The portal itself was of a large triangular shape with an opening at its center, where his muse were to come out of, before Ford's realization of the demon's true intentions.

Stan gaped. Ford expected something like 'there is nothing about this that I understand', maybe a joke about it being a doomsday portal, or just a questioning look. He hadn’t expected Stan to look at him like he fully understood what he'd done, the magnitude of the situation, how much danger they and the whole wolrd could be in, like he got it.

How could Stanley get it? Ford must've been imagining it, projecting wishful thinking onto his twin. He needed to explain the situation, how it came to this- and it had nothing to do with the look of abject horror his brother was pointing at him. He needed Stan to know he hadn’t meant for such danger.

"It's a trans-universal gateway, a punched hole through a weak spot in our dimension. I created it to unlock the mysteries of the universe. But it could just as easily be harnessed for terrible destruction. That's why I shut it down and-"

"Ford," Stan said in a raspy, breathy voice lacking any of his usual humour. "What the fuck did you do?"

Ford looked into Stan's eyes and realized the look of horror was filled with an actual understanding. That couldn’t be right. How could Stanley of all people know what was going on, even begin to comprehend the scale of what he was dealing with? His brother had to be thinking of some sci-fi movie. It was impossible.

"I- I shut it down and hid my journals, which explain how to operate it." He kept going. Stanley had to understand it. Once he did everything would be okay.

Stanley stared at him.

"There's only one journal left. And you are the only person I can trust to take it." He handed Stan the journal.

Stan looked at it, and then back at Ford's face. Before he could ask, Ford kept going. They didn't have enough time for questions and pleasantries or whatever else Stan might want. Bill was always watching, always waiting for an oportunity to possess him again, and he didn’t know what the entity would do when he found out about this.

"I have something to ask of you: remember our plans to sail around the world on a boat?" Stan frowned. "Take this book, get on a boat, and sail as far away as ya can! To the edge of the Earth! Bury it where no one can find it!"

Stan stared at Ford like he'd personally insulted him. Stan breathed deep, and exhaled slowly. When he opened his eyes again, it was as if he were a different person.

"I'm not asking again, Ford." He said in a serious tone Ford had never heard from him before. "What the fuck did you do?

Chp. 1; Next.>

[that-fish-who-writes]

hello.

.

.

.

*deep inhale*

KEEFITZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

...uhhhmm.

.

what's a keefitz...?

I don't think I've ever heard of such a thing :( sorrryyyy /j

anyways wanna see this cool drawing I made of a certain two characters? :3 !!

[loverboybrightsideghost]

rqg wilde gravestone that reads "third time's the charm ;)"

[martianbugsbunny]

You would expect it to turn out differently, wouldn't you? They wear the soulmate trope like a tailored garment. Their lives revolve around each other in a singular way that no other character can come close to matching. They have their inside jokes and their little rituals and the things only they would know about each other. It's each other's hearts they always seem to see and believe in, more than physical strength or years of brainwashing and control. Their smiles turn so much softer for each other. They were both believed to be dead, yet somehow both turned up alive the same number of years later, drawn inexorably together. They have shared life experience in two ways: they literally shared their early life, and they've gone through similar events since then separately. They're both beaten and bruised by the world in different ways, and yet their belief in each other of all things is never changed. One of their names was the other's last word.

You would expect it to turn out differently, wouldn't you?

[geeky-nightphilosopher]

🦇Batfamily🦇

Duke: *Walks by Damian* Why are you smiling?

Damian: Can't I smile?

Duke: No. It's creepy... what do you have to be happy about?

[i-like-forcefem]

But, what if somebody notices the makeup. You're right, it does even out my skin. But I'm not supposed to wear this stuff. I'm a guy.

And why do you always smile like that when I remind you I'm a guy?

Awww don’t worry cutie, no one will notice

And if they do what would be wrong with it? You’re a grownup aren’t you? You can make your own choices and no one can judge you if you choose to wear makeup, especially not with how good it looks on you dear

And don’t worry your pretty little head about when I smile cutie, now come here I still need to do your eyeshadow

[beevean]

I feel in a very generous mood, and after I talked about how much Lenore fails as a character, I wanted to for once praise the few times when she was pretty well written for who she was meant to be, a professional abuser, liar and manipulator with excellent strategies to make Hector lower his guard. All of these scenes happen in S3E6, for some reason: before and after, she's actually rather sloppy and in your face, and only succeeds because Hector was lobotomized by the writer lol. But this episde is what I mean when I say she had potential.

First, the part where Lenore "offers" the leash:

Lenore: Now then, would you like to go for a walk? Bit of fresh air in the starlight? Hector: I think I would, yes. Lenore: Good. Sadly, there's a condition. *shows leash* Hector: Oh. Lenore: Not my idea. Striga insisted. It should be quite comfortable. She just wanted a little extra security. Hector: You're ten times stronger than I am, Lenore. Lenore: Striga pointed out that you're a magician. And you do want to go for a walk, so… would you mind?

So.

Lenore kickstarts the episode with some fresh humiliation, because she has no time to waste. She jokes that Hector is now walking "on his hind legs" and looks "almost human", jokes again that she dressed up Hector so that his dick won't be stolen by birds, and asks him to smile in the face of his embarrassment like a creepy old man harassing a waitress.

This is the prelude to her downright falling into sexual abuse, which is this entire part.

The request is obviously unfair. Hector has been cooped up in his stagnant cell for what could be weeks, so it's only natural that he would enjoy some fresh air. But in order to get that basic comfort, Hector has to accept being treated like a literal dog for no good reason. And his braincell does activate for a moment, as he points out that yes, there is no good reason to force a leash on him, because Lenore sure showed him how strong and fast she is:

There is no way Hector would even attempt to run away, not when he has no tools at his disposal, he's starved and weakened, the castle is full of other vampires, and Lenore could snap his ankles in a second Annie Wilkes style.

But Lenore is undeterred. First, she says that it was Striga's idea. It's still ambiguous if she was sincere or not: Striga couldn't give less of a fuck about Hector and shows no reaction when, later in the episode, she sees the two on the balcony. That being said, the fact that she is the one complaining, in E8, that Lenore is taking Hector "on fucking walkies" implies that yes, Lenore lied and mentioned the queen who was less likely to bother Hector. As a bonus, she doesn't blame Carmilla, despite her being the first one who put Hector on a leash as he himself points out later on, therefore creating a precedent, because Hector already has beef with Carmilla, and Lenore is aiming to make him get over his resentment. Hence, the name of a vampire he does not care about. (although, logically, Morana would have been better because Striga will have to work closer to Hector once he starts to supply an army, but eh, I guess even Lenore forgot about her lol)

But whoever had the idea doesn't matter, actually. What matters is that Lenore is shifting the blame on someone else. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I wouldn't do this to you, but I'm a poor little girl and I had no choice 🥺 blame her, not me, I'm just the cute princess obeying superior orders 🥺". And since Hector doesn't know Striga at all, and she has no intention of talking to him, he can believe that. She also subtly blames Hector, because well, he wanted to go on a walk, and she's just giving him what he wanted! He should be grateful, really!

Naturally, this excuse falls flat on its face because even if Striga was the one who suggested the leash for "extra security", it's Lenore who decided to make a sexual game out of it. She is the one who has expressed multiple times her attraction to Hector, first by kissing him after beating him to a pulp, and then by playing some more "genuine" compliments during the interrogation - as genuine as they can be after she spent the entire interrogation making him realize how much of a dumbass he was. She didn't need to do any of this. She's having fun for her own amusement, lording her power over Hector.

(mhh, Lenore using sexual abuse for no reason? It's almost like it's a pattern :) it's almost like being a rapist is in her character :) )

On top of this, notice how hypocritical she's being. Lenore is often treated as inferior to the other three, like she's just a silly girl sitting among adults and not one of the important queens. She clearly resents this, to the point of, as linked above, beating Hector to a pulp when he too underestimated her. But here? She'll gladly pretend Striga is her superior and he has no other choice but to comply with her request. Now that it's convenient to her, she'll happily play the part of the powerless little princess in a den of evil queens :)

But she's not done! Because at Hector's "You're ten times stronger than I am", Lenore retorts (again blaming Striga, because she has to look blameless) that he's a magician. This is a profoundly stupid excuse because Hector is not a magician, he's a Forgemaster who can't do shit without a forging tool: if he were a "magician" like, say, Sypha or the one who brainwashed an entire village, Lenore would already be a pile of ashes. But again, logic doesn't matter: what matters is that Hector is painted like the real threat to Lenore, the one who has the power to hurt her and not the other way around. See, she's just trying to protect herself from the mean Forgemaster, poor thing! This comes into play later.

Now, were Hector a stubborn person who valued his own dignity, this would be the moment where he'd show Lenore the middle finger and resign himself to staying in the stagnant cell. But Hector is not stubborn. Hector doesn't care about his own dignity and honor: he wants to feel safe and cared for. Plus, Lenore has already beaten him at the first sign of defiance: how does he know that she wouldn't punish him again if he refused her proposal? Even just by taking away the few "gifts" she had given him. So, powerless and too weakened to put up a mental fight, he caves in, because he's willing to give away his humanity for a few minutes of comfort and pretending Lenore is taking care of him.

Before I move on, I need to point out the half-clever, half-frustrating ironic echo the "magician" line gets in S4E6 that almost redeems it:

This is what in a vacuum I would call a big dick move lol. How delightfully sassy it is for Hector, after getting his heart broken and biding his time by coddling his abuser's feelings, to throw Lenore's excuses back in her face to put her in a position of helplessness! Oh, he can't be trusted because of his powers, and that was the reason he was treated like a dog and had a slave ring brute forced onto his hand when he would have willingly agreed to becoming Lenore's pet? Well, then Lenore was a giant idiot for trusting him after raping him into slavery and believing he would be harmless and happy with her, right? :)

(it would have been better if they used the exact word again, but whatever, nitpick)

Sadly I can't be fully happy with this scene because, despite his satisfied smirk shown here, Hector isn't really getting back at Lenore for the disgusting way she treated him, but he's instead trying his best to protect her with no malice in his heart, as shown when Isaac arrives and as shown by how he apologizes before trapping her. The parallel between Lenore "protecting" Hector by ruining his life because of her selfishness and Hector returning the favor is obvious, but it's as unsatisfying as possible, because by now the story wants us to feel sorry for Lenore, and Hector's gesture is meant to be tragic, not the rightful comeuppance. Also, due to how wishy-washy the worldbuilding is, I really can't tell if Hector deliberately used the wrong word as a reference to make Lenore really feel bad for her past actions (unlikely, given how he forgave her of everything, but a girl can dream), or if he's seriously calling himself a wizard, which even in the context of the show is very wrong and would be yet another way the animated franchise has watered down the concept of Devil Forging.

That being said, I can ignore the rest of the episode and pretend Hector was being snarky against his abuser 💖 I don't care if it's OOC and it's not like Hector to be this spiteful 💖 go king 💖

After this digression, back to S3E6, before Lenore became a woobie love interest and was still a vile manipulator.

I talked about this scene here, and mostly said that it was wasted potential for Lenore's final act in S4 for multiple reasons. But, for the purpose of this post, it is another nice attempt at manipulation, even if it's a basic "look how nice this place is! You'll enjoy it every night if you'll work for us!". Symbolically, it could be seen as Lenore dragging Hector away from humanity and towards the world of vampires... which would be poignant if Hector didn't start already as someone who turned his back against mankind in favor of vampires and hasn't budged from his beliefs. But eh, I get the idea, and it can be seen as foreshadowing to Lenore allowing Hector free roam of the castle once he becomes her pet. It sure is a nice gilded cage, isn't it?

Then, we have the scene on the balcony:

Lenore: Does it hurt? Hector: No. It just reminds me of the last time someone put a collar on me. Lenore: In Braila? Hector: When Carmilla almost killed me. Lenore: Well, she does have a temper. But she would never have meant to kill you. Hector: No. Because she needs me to be her forgemaster slave. Lenore: No, because if she'd meant to kill you, you would quite simply be dead. Hector: Hmph. Lenore: And if she'd meant to torture you, you would have arrived here carrying your guts in both hands with a spike up your arse. Hector: I suppose that's true. I mean, I can see her doing it. In nightmares and such. Lenore: She does have a temper, but she's logical. She never lets it run away with her to the point of, oh, I don't know, condemning the entire human race to death? Just a recent example of what being genuinely insane with murderous rage looks like. Hector: All right. Lenore: You may not have been treated like a boy king on your way here, but you did show up alive. Hector: Might have been nice, though. Lenore: Have you considered that you're only alive because you listened to Carmilla back in Dracula's castle? Hector: I hadn't. She tricked me. Lenore: I don't think she did. I think she made complete sense to you, and you felt guilty, understandably, about how it all played out. Hector: She made me betray Dracula. Lenore: No, she didn't. She showed you the old man was insane, and she saved you from the consequences. Nobody here wants to harm you. We just don't quite trust you yet. Hector: Trust me? Lenore: You did try to hurt me, Hector.

I still don't know why I can't find a clip of this part. With how crucial it is to their development (and you know, shippers would get a kick out of seeing the peggable boy leashed by the dommy mommy having a cute bonding moment), you'd think there'd be plenty of videos.

Nevertheless, this is the only time Lenore disgusted me in an intentional way, which I appreciate. His character development on stall, Hector has no moral qualms about working for vampires who want to turn humans into livestock, but he is still angry at Carmilla for tricking, beating and imprisoning him, understandably so. She is the only reason Hector still hasn't accepted Lenore's proposal: he doesn't want to work for her out of spite. So what does Lenore do with her amazing diplomacy skills? Launch herself into some pristine abuse apologism, the likes of which are only paralleled by Lenore stans themselves, using every excuse in the book to downplay Carmilla's brutal, sadistic beatdown of Hector, because oh, she just has a temper! Oh, it was just a one time thing! Oh, she saved your life nonetheless, even if you were treated less than royally! Oh, but Dracula was even more insane, so you can't be mad at Carmilla, she was just trying to help!

She's hitting every point possible to make Hector give up his grudge, because who cares about how he was treated, he's alive now, right? He should be grateful that he was "rescued" from Dracula's insanity, shouldn't he? Which is very similar to Lenore's overall attitude, like when she lowkey implied that she was the only one in the castle willing to treat Hector nicely after brutally beating him into submission :)

And as the cherry on top, she is blaming him for that, too! Hector tried to hurt her, the meanie, so really, no wonder he's being treated like a dog! No one wants to hurt him, she swears, it's just that these four super strong vampires are scared of this human prisoner! And if Lenore beat him to a pulp the other day (not that she is directly mentioning it, of course, the accent is on how he tried to hurt her), well, it's all his fault, so he can't complain. Mhh, reminds me of another scene where Lenore downplays her disgusting actions by shaming Hector...

Goodness, but Lenore must have gotten a degree in abuse apologism with flying colors! Look at that flawless DARVO! She would be a brilliant portrayal of a self-centered piece of shit who refuses to take responsibility, if I knew it was all intentional!

I also like that, near the end, when she's rebuking Hector's protests, for once she doesn't sound insufferably smug, but like she is patiently correcting a stubborn child making him reason. This is much better than her usual tone of voice that can only be described as "I get wet at seeing you humiliated", and not just because it's less grating on the ears: she is supposed to sound trustworthy and well-meaning, emotionally comforting Hector and not making fun of him. This is the tone she should have had from day one. It also would have helped distinguishing her and not making her sound like Carmilla 2.0, BDSM patch included.

The rest of the sequence speaks for itself. Lenore gives Hector a bigger cell (with added symbolism of her tugging his leash to lead him to it, showing that she is forcing all these comforts on him), complete with a book about vampires that he might find interesting, and engages in yet some more sexual play by removing the collar in the most erotic way possible for the joy of the shippers and the thirsty fans. But I want to focus on two things.

One, the book.

When it came to convincing Hector that nighttime is better than daytime, thus the vampire world is better than the human world, I said it was redundant because Hector already feels closer to the former than the latter. This, however, is a much better way to lure him in: Lenore is welcoming Hector even further in their world - or rather, her world. She is sharing their knowledge, the secret knowledge lost by humans and preserved by vampires, much like when during their walk she flaunted the castle's hypocaust that keeps the cells warm ignore that it's normally kept lit by slaves, giving us some unintentionally clever foreshadowing. In E8, Hector is genuinely fascinated by it:

Lenore's strategy of "humanizing" her race, and thus herself and the council so that Hector won't be scared, is pretty obvious but efficient. It's a shame that it's redundant because Hector has no prejudices, nor has he shown any, against vampires (because that would have created conflict between him and Lenore's plan): but hey, better be safe than sorry, right? In a way, it's a continuation of Lenore's abuse apologism, when she tried her best to paint Carmilla as a logical person "with a temper", and not as a violent beast to be scared of. "I keep telling you, we're not monsters." Because if we act like monsters, it doesn't come natural to us, the civilized species that we are, so you must have done something to provoke it :)

Most importantly, this really hits one of Hector's weakest spots: feeling appreciated for his talents. It's all but said that the reason he feels more comfortable around vampires is because they mostly value him for his Devil Forging and necromancy, unlike humans who chased him away for that. For a human being who feels no connection to mankind, being offered a peek into vampire culture must have felt a honor.

Lenore giving him that book "given his profession" shows that she's meeting him on his level, and she doesn't simply see him as a tool like Carmilla, but someone whose blasphemous knowledge is respectable and worth nurturing. She didn't need to do that: Hector is already a genius in Devil Forging, so it's not for him to study to become more efficient. But it's basically a kind gift based on his interests.

But the really brilliant line is this one:

The levels of mindfuckery here!

Lenore coerced Hector into wearing a dog collar and leash for the simple purpose of walking around, making him feel like it was his fault he had to be treated that way, and all for the purpose of gaslighting him into forgiving Carmilla for hurting him. And after that gratuituous display of power over him, she is acting like they just went on a date and she is sheepishly asking permission for another one. (There is no clip, but the tone sounds soft and honestly grateful, too, like he's really doing her a favor.)

This is the exact same strategy of blaming Striga for the leash. She's passing the responsibility onto someone else: Hector, in this case. Lenore is pretending Hector has any power over their encounters. She's just a poor girl who wants to spend quality time with him, but she would never intrude upon his space without permission 🥺 even thought she just literally did by nearly kissing him while taking away the collar before he could ever express any interest in her 🥺 no, really, she leaves the choice up to him 🥺 (so that everything that follows will be his fault, obviously)

But Lenore doesn't just delude Hector into feeling like he has control right after stripping it from him: the point is, naturally, making him feel wanted. Not just as a thing to play with, because otherwise Lenore can just visit him whenever she pleases, but as a person worthy of respect. She likes spending time with him, and she demurely asks if he too wants to see her - and after popping a boner after her little stunt being lovebombed like that, of course Hector can't say no. Not after feeling genuinely cared for as a person, his biggest weak point.

How nice, after their rough start, they're finally developing a relationship of equality and respect despite their circumstances!

This is what Lenore should have been since the beginning. Wearing the mask of the demure little girl whom others make fun of, who is completely harmless (unless the other person deserves it), really, her hands are tied but she always tries her best, look at her gifts made from her pure kindness of heart! And subtly but constantly snipering at Hector's heart, sensing the chinks in his armor and pouncing on them like only a consummate liar and inherent predator can do. Not smugness, not humiliation, not sexual molestation: the believable lie of love and affection, targeted to someone who would sell his soul to taste those crumbs.

Or worse, the other interpretation is that this isn't even malicious lying at all. Now sure, Lenore can't spend one second in S3 without that obnoxious smirk on her face because she's just enjoying so much taking advantage of the power she has over her prisoner, and sure, I have proof that the ring was a pointless act of cruelty that nullifies all her hard work... but who says every word out of her mouth is a lie meant to harm and psychologically break Hector? Maybe it's just 90% of them! Maybe she's genuine when she shows attraction to Hector, and compliments him, and is happy when gets "permission" to see her again because it also makes her feel wanted (after all, Lenore's priority is feeling good about herself). Maybe she does care about him and she was earnest when she tried to "comfort" Hector after raping him into slavery - oh, my bad, into a position of pet... problem is that she is still a vampire, who cannot conceptualize love as humans do, and sees relationships as inherently unbalanced where she is the one where she has to have all the power. And she's willing to do whatever it takes to gain it, say every lie that comes to her fangs, twist every word, shift every ounce of blame, as long as it's for her pet's own good. Because that's what vampires do.

It's a shame those are the only instances Lenore is well written as a villain, because man, the depths of the realistic, relatable horror displayed in one episode are staggering and well conveyed. And most of this behavior is still carried into S4! ... completely by accident, which ignites my fury like few things.

She could have been a great, viscerally repulsive villain and an accurate depiction of an abuser who truly thinks she's in the right, and not just mere masturbation fodder. Now, if only Hector was written with more spine than a beached jellyfish...

[dinosaurwithablog]

Kate Beckett, played by Stana Katic, looks gorgeous dressed in black!!🖤🖤🖤 I love the way Castle and Beckett look dressed as cowboys!! Yeehaw!! 😁 🤠

I grew up of dreaming of being a cowboy and loving the cowboy ways... excuse me... I got caught up in the moment and started singing that Willie Nelson song. It's a great song, but I digress... 😁🤣🤣🤣😍

[cyellolemon]

Myel and the most normal of his boyfriends <33

[giddlygoat]

you have the vibe of someone who is strangely good at obscure instruments

that's a compliment btw

you’ve made my day awww

[deitycrows]

I gotta say reading all the posts about cr3s ending is interesting to me. But I wanna talk about Vaxleth really quick and how it really isn't a happy ending. If anything, it's worse and that's why I LOVE IT so much, it isn't them falling in love again (kinda). Starting with Vax. It's Vax who's a completely different person at this point, with only a handful of fragments of who he used to be left. How he hasn't been a mortal for 30 years (he's still not), 30 years is still a long time. He still has his duties he willingly does with the Matron, especially now if cr4 (whenever that is) and her also being a mortal again and whatever Matt decides to do with it. How he has to fit in with all this new change, so big. His story is bittersweet tragedy, yet he is walking again with his family, people would call it a miracle. I'd call it a curse, it a sense it IS such a horrifying thing. Having to not only find himself again, but figure out just How he is as well, to navigate how he as now is the same spot Keyleth is in. He'll have to watch his sister, her children, his beloved friends and family including those named in honor of HIM die and maybe that's not a bad thing. Maybe he won't feel as torn as I am writing but he still has to watch all that happen or not even be there 100% of the time because he still has a job to do. He's a walking anomaly. He shouldn't be Here anymore, yet he is. And Keyleth, poor Keyleth deserves to move on. She truly does, but wouldn't, couldn't because Vax won't himself. She was healing, I'm not one to say she should've moved on in those 30 years, it's both a long time and not, especially if you're so deep in grief, but the work was being made toward healing till she saw him and it brought back everything up again. That loved saved her again, yet most likely sent her back right to square one. And here she is with him back and short term of course they're happy, but long term real soon is going to show just how messy things will get. She's also changed, she still holds the same resentment, guilt, sorrow, etc she did. And now him being in front of her? the utter cause of all of her feeling she's been under in so long? Wouldn't spite not just be aimed at the Matrons way but his as well? They both know things won't be different or easy but with everything and I mean EVERYTHING that happened in their relationship I can honestly see them still not being together in the long run if we ever do see them in a one shot or in c4. How does one explain to people? to herself of all, even if she got the one she wanted back. Why isn't she happy? Why does her step still carry the same weight as before when he was gone? Wouldn't it just be better to split up and let that love finally die. It is tragic in a different sense if they did. Or will they actually take the time to rewind and start again? Will they agree it's good for them or not? Especially Keyleth since at a certain point she also will die and Vax will be alone again.

[amanminushkusunminush]

i will now present to you various facets of the fuckoff famous monster band known as 2 dead men and a dog. doyle. or do will. dewell? fucking? deieuel? grief. that's what it was it was grief. i have observed a number of ways people play with their relationships and with help (art) from my good friend i will helpfully explain the popular interps.

smarter men would order these by popularity. i cannot on account of theere is an elephant bone where my brain should be. have mercy

loverstyle:

this is one of them polly cools. happily inseperable nevermind their conflicting personalities and tour stress. very discreet in front of an audience. smile or ash is usually middle of the sandwich when i see these.

shippy. ashyuli/yuliash. the prevailing ship for the youkai bando as far as i see. the tsun and the dere full of repressed feelings. ash reeducates yuli of the power of love with unbidden loyalty. smile plays a fillial role or a noniintrusive third wheel depending on who you ask.

another shippy. smiyuli/yulismi. the tsun and the doro. smile is the devil yuli is the christian under temptation. not as popular as ashyuli/yuliash but it is there. ash has a diminished role. i notice the dead men become Dark and Sexual under this lens.

another another shippy. smaash(like earthbound)/assuma(like asthma). the dere and the doro. smile likes to tease and ash likes to game his system. prob more popular than smiyuli as of recent. usually its them trying to deny what yuli already knows.

inevitable love triangle. the primary setup is a right triangle. ash and smile competing over yuli is scalene (ash on the short arm) and ash and yuli competing over smile is isoceles (a longer journey for both). st there are interlopers. they do not live long.

genstyle:

all just good friends who went past coworkers into roomies who are still coworkers. sweet and simple. happily inseperable despite their conflictin personalities and tour stress. probably closest adherance to canon.

yuli and smile are a stray hair away from eating each other six days a week. ash keeps blood (or. hairskinnails) from flying until the seventh day where theres forgiveness and peace. like the lord from the jesus book.

these interps have yuli as the oldest so smile and ash must teach him about this World Beyond 1855. or whenever the fuck. how old and behind he is varies sauce to sauce. this also feels canon thanks to yuli's fucking. phone incompetence in hello!pop'n

the idea: smile is clinically weird. yuli wants his talent when he hires him but not his personality. ash is more forgiving but wants him housebroken. they both fear his power and want him on a leash. this one is played for drama but its not so popular.

smile and yuli are dead ass goths who forgot how to give a fuck about the living and it is up to the manwolf to keep them slipping into complete darkness. this is different from the nanny vs. bickering children bc yoohoo and smeel save their bitching for the public and not each other. played for drama as often as comedy.

yuli, sitting on inheritance, abuses his employer role in the band to get favours done & offload responsibility. ash honours him to make a living. smile is the jester who is just funny enough to not go to Hell. i dont see this but its there. never played serious.

smile is a clever little not ghost. takes the piss out of his srsbznss bandmates every day. torture torture torture yipee. he always seems to be winning even when he eats shit for his tomfuckery. played for comedy . good dynamic for gag doujin

bonus:

if you think about it. right? vampires butcher? chefs bake? alchemists make? it's geeeeenius? the real holy trinity. (there was a real holy trinity joke planned but i. who the fuck. i thought it should be yuli the father ash the son and smile the holy spirit based on temperment but i'm crazy. you're crazy.

yeah you read all the way down here you're crazy. crazy person.)