#food and intimacy

[sapphicscholar]

A/N: this one’s for you @howmanycatsistoomany and @hashtagtheyfucked - hope ya both feel better! It’s my first time writing for this show/fandom, so hopefully I did the characters justice!

Fic Preview:

Spunky. It’s the one descriptor that seems to stick, no matter how many times Melissa’s been forced to reevaluate her feelings about Janine over the past couple of months. Melissa once tried to describe it to someone else—none of your business who else, that’s who—like those carnival ducks with weights at the bottom. Doesn’t matter what you do, those fuckers aren’t tipping. Well, unless you cheat a little, too. But that’s not really cheating. It’s just evening the scales. It’s not like the Morey’s Piers carnies can’t afford to lose a crunchy stuffed animal or two that’ll make her cousin Tony’s kid’s whole damn year anyway.

Point is, Janine isn’t someone who gets knocked down and stays down. Melissa teases her, says it’s because her center of gravity is so low, but deep down she recognizes it for what it is. The thick skin grown out of necessity masquerading as a sunny, can-do attitude. Maybe not masquerade…not with Janine, at least not anymore. But Melissa still catches glimpses of depth behind that PBS very special afterschool programming smile, and enough glimpses have grown into something like respect. And not even the begrudging kind of respect she gives Jacob for managing to stick it out more years than most of the NPR-listening, TFA-indoctrinated kids that come stumbling through the doors with big ideas and a spine made outta wet tagliatelle do. At this point, she maybe has to admit that she just…likes Janine.

She’s still a pain in the ass, of course.

But that hasn’t stopped anything.

Really, it all started with those damn cooking lessons. They’re the worst thing Melissa’s ever subjected her kitchen to, and she once let Barbara cook meatless balls in her oven during Lent. God bless and all that, but Melissa’s pretty sure her nonna would’ve said they tipped the scales right over from venial into mortal sin there. But Barbara was Barbara, and Melissa’s never quite been able to say no to her. Not when she shows up with a hundred-and-one good intentions in that way she does.

Read the rest on AO3!

[beccawise7]

"The beauty of human connection defies logic, tradition, and our inherent beliefs. It drives our need for passion, touch, and understanding from those who see us as we are, not as we pretend to be."

~beccawise7💜🖤('23)

[girlfictions]

Ella Risbridger, from In The Kitchen: Essays on Food and Life

[fascinationstreetmp3]

the lamb smiling up at the wolf with unsettling passivity etc etc

[katerinaaqu]

Here is a little thing that came from the post of @deadbaguette which you can see here

Have you noticed how little dialog Achilles and Patroclus share in the Iliad? Achilles is a talkative man. He exchanges long and even philosophical dialogs with most people he encounters, with his peers and even his rivals and enemies. But his scenes that involve Patroclus hardly mention any dialog between them and yet their scenes are the most tender and most talkative.

They prepare food, they entertain their guests, they just sit by each other. They hardly speak. Homer was telling us all along; words were not needed between them. Their actions spoke for them; their closeness and their intimacy. Their scenes are peaceful amidst the war: silent amidst the loud noise and speeches. That is why the loss of Patroclus speaks so loud; the piece of peace in the flame of war was lost.

Which is why also Achilles found closeness to Antilochus next. Antilochus who also hardly exchanged a word with him and yet he was there in his lowest, just holding his hands to keep him alive out of fear that Achilles would try and kill himself. Achilles wanted someone to hold his hand. Antilochus did that both literally and metaphorically

They do not need to talk. Their closeness is enough. The absence of both of these silent yet close and intimate relationships so violently by war destroyed Achilles beyond repair. He lost Patroclus by violence and war while he was absent. He went on a lament and on absolute rampage by killing his enemies, performing human sacrifice and hubris against the dead. He lost Antilochus and he lost the last bits of his sanity, slaying Memnon and pushing carelessly the Trojans back uncovered and was killed by Paris. The strongest of Greeks fell from the hand of the arguably weakest Trojan because all that was left of his strength was gone; his strength, his will to live and his sanity. He was already tripping. At that moment he was beyond saving.

I am surprised I don't see more people talk about it

[merchandis]

[vorestarr]

just always thinking about Astarion's ever-present hunger and how it's the first thing he comments on after ascension. ("I... I can't feel it. That ache in my stomach, that hunger - It's gone.")

thinking about how such a key aspect of Cazador's control and torture was keeping the spawn hungry. the seven in his house forbidden from eating thinking creatures, Astarion fed a diet of rats only, the 7000 below not fed at all.

and how Astarion's first time feeding on a thinking creature is because he's testing whether the tadpole that lets him walk in the sun also freed him from Cazador's control. how he finds himself thinking about the blood of whoever he's talking to in casual conversations. how he keeps fully draining the animals he hunts, and even drains a bear in one night. how he kills the player character when he feeds from them for the first time if they don't stop him. how if the player sleeps with him and agrees to let him drink from them during sex, it's a huge approval boost. all the little comments about his hunger throughout the game -- if you dig up the tiefling grave in the grove he remarks that it's not fresh but he'll keep it in mind if he needs a snack later, in the mausoleum he quips "bodies bodies everywhere but not a drop to drink" about the skeletons, if you read his mind before ascension he's thinking about the smell of blood all around, the examples go on and on.

it seems like such a critical part of his internal state to me. he lives his entire undead life in a state of constant hunger, and when he's finally free to eat his fill, he's also hyper-aware of how the people around him may turn on him or try to kill him for how he eats -- he emphasizes that he feeds on animals when he confesses his vampirism to the player, even when he's caught almost feeding from them in the middle of the night.

i just think that must be such a powerful motivation. this need that is constantly at the surface, that he is constantly aware of and consciously not acting on, and that was also used against him, to control him, for centuries.

and i think it's so fascinating from a character perspective that he doesn't feed from humanoids not because of any moral issue, but because he was forbidden and physically could not do it. (Dalyria tried to drink from the girl you find in Cazador's mansion and she was physically sick, retching and choking.) he doesn't drink from humanoids when traveling with the companions if the player specifically forbids it, because he recognizes he needs the party and he's willing to put up with this to stay with the group.

but he's always thinking about it.

and then all of that, plus the fact that when he confronts Cazador, he views his options as killing Cazador without performing the ritual or killing Cazador by performing the ritual. he seemingly never even thinks of the idea that he could drink Cazador's blood, and that feels pretty significant too.

[greelin]

really like that the “what do you believe the stance vampires generally have towards periods?” question is either met with immediate disgust (loser/skill issue) and shutdown with zero discussion or the most scholarly of debates (normal. well-adjusted and good) for various viewpoints on the matter. people will be saying paragraphs to you. people who i respect, anyway

[tibby-art]

its because you always on that damn convex

[zaratk]

The woman who begged for your time will one day stop asking—and that’s when you’ll realize what you’ve lost.

[wisyhana]

Is it me or people had sexualize the concept of intimacy to the point where is only explored in romantic/sexual relationships?

For me intimacy is when you can be vulnerable, emotionally and physically with someone. It can be a partner, a friend, a family member, anyone. It's not about sex. It's about emotions and boundaries.

Being naked in front of someone and be comfortable with it, talking about your body, expressing about your deepest thoughts, being able to cry in front of someone when you know you can't do it with anyone else.

That's intimacy.

But why is mostly explored in a romantic way? Is a cultural thing? In some places is only valuable when it's done with your love interest?

I fell for that idea before, so I'm also asking myself the same questions. And I'm finding a bigger and wonderful field of new possibilities because I'm letting out of how romance have controlled most of my ideas on fiction.

I want to explore intimacy in other ways and I'm so excited to do it. I only hope for people to be open minded for the day I share my discoveries.

[beccawise7]

Make his world a little less difficult.

A safe place to be adored and accepted for who he is and what he needs.

~beccawise7 💜🖤

[amandra-strella]

[erasmia249k]

[merchandis]

[askblueandviolet]

Have you ever tried dating Syntax?

MASTER POST

Asks Start 💙

Previous 💙

Next 💙